Instead of Painting my bedroom I did this...

Last summer while shoppping at garage sales I found Paige's name as framed art. We had to get it for her, and we hung it on the wall next to her bed. ☺ Since then Emma has wanted one next to her bed, too. Well thanks to my brother-in-law's great talent with graphic arts she now has one. He created it for her, and I printed it off and matted and framed it. Of course when Paige saw that Emma was going to get her name in a fancy frame she wanted to match. I think they turned out pretty decent. Now I have to convince Dan to make one for Abby... *wink*The pictures are about 13" long. Emma picked out purple paper for around her name.

Paige's old picture

Paige's new picture ~~ original name plate but red paper for matting and the new frame.

Old goodies Part II

6-27-09 We went to a campfire at Dan and Marja's house (my brother-in-law and his wife)

Abigail's first campfire.

~~ My children like to poke the fire. Actually, what kid doesn't like to do that?

~~ A self-portrait.

Birthday Pictures and Videos...5 months later

My brother-in-law, Daniel, gave me a CD yesterday with pictures and videos on it that he had taken from April through this summer. I found some "goodies" on it, and I thought I would share them. I will do this in more than one post as I am not the best at getting different photos situated on my blog page.

~~This video shows me getting the worst birthday present from Daniel EVER! (4-6-09) FYI: I don't care for Peeps.

This picture encompasses Paige's personality very well. (4-6-09)

Today's "funny"

The girls and I walked to the library today. We only live 5 blocks away so it's really close by. Emily gets tired easily though, and as we were approaching the library she said, "I really wish I had a snowmobile right now." I laughed. And then she said rather loudly, "I really do! I'm serious, Mama."

Emily can read?!

Kids' Cereals ~~ Weekly Poll Results

Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms tied! I am not surprised. In my opinion they were the most delicious choices on here, and they were the only ones that I voted for. Coincidentally enough, I had BOTH of them for breakfast this morning. They were the Malt-O-Meal versions, but that still counts. ☺ Growing up when we had those kinds of cereals around they didn't last long which was probably why I ended up liking them so much; they were kind of a treat. We usually had Chex (yuck), Rice Krispies, Wheaties, Crispix (my ultimate fav), and Cheerios.

Boy, I have come to the realization that I could have a poll going infinitely, solely about foods so I'm going to mix it up a bit for this next week instead.

As promised ~~ The Great MN Get-together

Your WCCO 6 o'clock news. With Meteorologist Dave S., your co-anchors Paul and Katie, and Dan with Sports.

Enjoying chili cheese


Bumper Boats ~~ We soaked Paul.

I had a hard time steering those things.

Dan and Dave riding the Big Ben power tower.

190,000 people were at the fair. But it didn't seem very busy, surprisingly.

Dave and I were about to play Frog Toss.

I won with my first frog! My prize this stuffed frog that shed on me the rest of the day.

Mr. Pronto Pup.

We get mistaken for Marge, Homer, and Bart Simpson ALL THE TIME!

♫ Our State Fair is a Great State Fair ♪

Yesterday we went to the MN State Fair with Dave's brother, Dan, and our friends Paul and Katie. It was SUCH a great day! My goal was just to go and eat the fair food. ☺ So, I sampled:

• a chili cheese dog and chili cheese fries
• deep fried Oreos
• peach-flavored pig cheeks (I wonder if they were really pig cheeks...)
• corn on the cob
• strawberries with cream
• ribs
• chocolate chip cookies

We also went to the midway, and we rode the Ferris Wheel and the Bumper Boats. We played carnival games, and I won (shocking!) a stuffed frog playing Frog Toss, and I played a kids' fishing game, and I won a ball. (I brought the prizes home to the girls, and they were pretty happy about them. ☺)

I also was run over by a man on a Hover Round. I was taking a picture of Dave and Dan, and then I stepped forward and immediately had my ankle run over. It was both my and the fellow's fault, but boy did it hurt (and it was embarrassing, of course). But things like that can't be avoided when you are at an event with almost 200,000 other people.

If I can get the pictures from Dan I will post some of them.