My Mom

For the past 34 years, I have been blessed with the most amazing mom.  So on Mother's Day, here are 34 reasons why I love my mom:

1. She loves me.
2. She taught me how to sew.  (Too bad I never really caught on that well.)  Now she just sews stuff for me.
3. She has tea parties with my girls.
4. She never missed an activity of mine growing up -- games, concerts, . . . if I was in something, she was there.
5. She tried her best to get me to like vegetables.
6. She always puts everyone else above herself.
7. She loves my husband and laughs (sometimes too hard) at his jokes and stories.
8. She is never critical of my parenting even though inside she is probably thinking, Wow, I sure wouldn't do that!
9. She loves to play games.
10. She once paid me $100 to not watch TV for a whole year.  Yes, I did it.  (I think I was in 5th grade?)  Crazy, I know.
11. She loves to read and shared that love with me.  Now if only I had more time to actually do it.
12. She has come to our house for a month every summer since Emily was born.  What a blessing that's been.
13. She taught me the importance of doing chores when I was little and working hard.
14. She loves Scrabble, especially playing it with my dad. 
15. She always said, "Don't make a mountain out of a molehill."
16. She is always so supportive.  When I went through some rough times this past year she was never critical, she stuck by me and shared words of encouragement.
17. She taught me how to garden.  Let's see if I can remember anything this summer as I attempt my first real garden on my own.
18. She loves taking my girls to places I would probably never take them -- the Kelley Farm, Fort Snelling, etc.
19. She hasn't aged a bit.
20. She always made us a hot breakfast every day growing up.  Now she's the grandma who makes homemade waffles, which the girls love.
21. She memorizes chapters of the Bible at a time.  Even whole books.  Wow.
22. She never buys herself anything but also never complains.
23. She loves going on picnics.
24. She taught me that "a job worth doing is worth doing well."
25. She is the best tutor in Nebraska.  All her students are lucky to have her.
26. She sewed the most amazing Snow White and Sleeping Beauty costumes for my girls.  The compliments on them never end.
27. She was always there to help me with my homework, even the most frustrating writing assignments.
28. She likes to have "puzzle parties." 
29. She spent countless hours and dollars on piano lessons for me.
30. She's the only one I know who actually enjoys public transportation.
31. When we visit her or she visits us, she always lets me sleep in while she watches the girls early in the morning.
32. She prays for me and our family. 
33. She taught me about Jesus.
34. Better yet she showed me Jesus with her life.

I'm sure most of us at some point in our life say, "I sure hope I don't grow up to be like my mom."  Then suddenly one day we realize that wouldn't be so bad.  If I could be half the woman my mom is, I'd be doing well.  I love you, mom, and hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day.

We have a 5-year-old??

It's hard to believe that we already have a 5-year-old.  My, how time flies. 

While in Nebraska, we celebrated Emily's birthday with a giant cupcake cake, and with Grandpa Miles and Rita coming over to help us celebrate.

Back at home the next week, Emily chose to go to Mall of America for her birthday again this year.  We did "Toddler Tuesday" which means toddlers get special deals on rides and at restaurants.  Both girls had a blast on the rides this year, and Bri was much more brave than last year.

Even though Emily is not into American Girl dolls, we decided to eat lunch there since we knew she'd love it.  The restaurant is above the actual store and looks out over Nickelodeon Universe.  It is also all things girly and totally pink.  They let each of the girls pick out a doll to eat lunch with us, which they thought was pretty great. 

Her actual birthday started out with the traditional donut from dad. . .

and then she got to open a couple presents. 

She had preschool that day so she got to bring treats for everyone.  While at preschool I was busy working on her Minnie Mouse cake.  It was then a very last-minute idea to invite a few of her girlfriends over for cake and ice cream that night. 

As you can see, it was quite the crew.  I think they all had fun and Emily sure had a special day. 

P.S.  My dear Emily, I don't mind you turning 5;  it's kindergarten in a few short months that has me a little apprehensive.  :)

The Good Life

Jeremy had a work convention in Las Vegas the beginning of April so we all drove to Nebraska together and he flew from there with his friend Brian.  Then us girls got to stay with my parents for almost a week, and had a ton of fun.

One day we went to Morrill Hall, a museum on the UNL campus.  It was a special "animals day" so we got to see lots of neat animals and do some crafts.

I don't know if this is my daughter.  I cannot stand snakes!

The weather was beautiful while we were there, a wonderful change from the long Minnesota winter.  My brother and I used to spend hours throwing rocks into the creek when we were younger.  The difference is that I used to get way closer to the edge than I dared let Emily get.

Making some Tinkerbell stepping stones.

A fun morning at the Chet Ager indoor playground.

Another day it was a trip to the Lincoln Children's Museum, which they always love.  Here are my little Huskers.

Snuggles with grandpa.

Lots of time was spent playing in the yard -- soccer, volleyball, ladderball, . . .

and swings.

Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful week!

March 12, 1995

16 years ago I went on a spring break missions trip to Mexico with a group from Northwestern my freshman year of college.  At the last minute this other freshman student decided to go on the trip as well (I will call this other student Jerry to protect his innocence.)  I had seen Jerry around campus here and there but didn't know him;  I think I had met him in front of 'Riley' with my roommate one time.  Anyway, so our team was working at an orphanage in Mexico for the week.  I remember this guy Jerry was pretty crazy;  I distinctly remember him driving his wheelbarrow full of rocks pretty crazily and it was always tipping.  On Wednesday of that week a bunch of us were playing cards after dinner which we often did.  At some point everyone decided to go to bed except Jerry and I.  I got to know him a little that night, then we went to bed as well.  The next morning another girl on our missions trip came up to me and said, "I had the strangest dream about you last night.  I dreamed that you were in love with someone on this trip!"  We laughed and joked about what an odd dream that was.

A week later I saw Jerry in the bookstore at Northwestern and we chatted for a few minutes, something about needing to pick up our pictures from the trip (back then you actually had to take film in to get it "developed.")  We started hanging out a little, playing cards (speed) in the end lounges of the dorm.  On March 12 I got a phone call on a Sunday afternoon that went something like this, "Do you want to go to dinner tonight?  Can you drive?"  :)  I then proceeded to take a Sunday nap (which my roommate always gave me a hard time about.)  That night I drove Jerry and I in my Mercury Topaz to Chili's in Roseville where we had our first date.  He couldn't believe that I ordered Chicken Caesar Salad without the Caesar (I don't like salad dressings.)  We talked that night and were amazed at how much we had in common (couldn't have been farther from the truth.)  We were falling in love . . . 

Fast forward 16 years.  Married for almost 11 years, 2 kids, house in the suburbs.  And hubby (ok, so his real name is Jeremy) was just awarded the American Family Agent of the Month for the Twin Cities.  So proud of you, honey!

FEBRUARY AGENT OF THE MONTH

JEREMY BRANDT

DISTRICT 073

2,025 ALL AMERICAN POINTS

And Chili's is still one of our favorite restaurants.  :)

Hurry, Spring.

Ok, the snowflake background had to go.  I blame it for the reason winter keeps hanging around here.  I know it's not even March and we often have our biggest snowstorms in the next month or so, I'm just praying not this year.  I am so ready for this cold weather to be done.  I don't usually get like that but for some reason I am wintered out this year. 

Here are a few things we were up to in February.  First of all, the girls had a great Valentine's Day consisting of heart pancakes, heart jello, heart sandwiches, passing out valentines at preschool, sorting through the candy, and swimming lessons that night.  They love holidays and are always talking about which one is coming up next.

Emily got to go to a birthday party at Jam Hops, a gymnastics center, and had a blast.

Finally, we got to go to the Chris Tomlin concert (our Valentine's present to each other) with another couple and had a great time.  The only drawback was that eventually the concert ended.  :)  Here are a couple videos.



St. Paul Winter Carnival

Last weekend my parents and good friends the Weekly's came up for the St. Paul Winter Carnival.  Our first stop on Saturday morning was the State Fairgrounds to see the snow sculptures.  As you can see below they were pretty neat.

If you can't tell, this one is a monster hiding under a little kid's bed, and was Brenda's favorite.

This Twins one was me and girls' favorite.

I love these 4 people (my parents are sitting, and Mike and Brenda are standing).  We all had a blast watching the Superbowl together with my sister and Kevin on Sunday night, too. 

Our next stop was the conservatory at Como Park to see the flowers and warm up a bit. 

We then went to another park to see the "ice castle", which if you look closely you can see isn't ice at all.  Must've been a low-budget year for the ice castle.  The sad thing is that on the website they had a picture of what must've been an ice castle from a past year!

But the girls did have fun sliding around, sledding, painting snow, and. . .

roasting marshmallows on this crazy contraption.  Never seen anything like it.  Note to self:  if I ever get too lazy to hold a marshmallow on a stick over a fire, I can turn a bike on its side and stick the marshmallows on the spokes.

When we were getting ready to leave, we saw this freaky sight -- a "tiger" walking down the street.  Its face was even scarier.  I'm not sure what the point of this was -- was it part of the winter carnival's theme?  I will never know. 



Photos by Emily and Bri

Emily and Bri would like to share some more of their amazing photography with you.  Ok, so their crazy mom would.  The last round of "Pictures by Bri" got an overwhelming positive response so here is another round. 

How they actually got a picture of Bella mid-lick, I'll never know.

My camera is never lacking for pictures such as these.  Do they really think these are going to turn out nice?  Or maybe they just want to see if their tonsils really are gone.

I usually find several of these picture on my camera as well.  Amazing, Bri actually has her shoes on the right feet in this one.  By the way, do any other moms fight the, "No, you cannot wear those socks" fight as much as I do? 

I am guessing Emily took the picture of this Littlest Pet Shop display, with a Leapfrog thrown in. 

As time goes on I am more and more glad that they are so close in age.  They have their moments and do PLENTY of fighting, but each day they play more and more together. 

I am so glad they have each other.