I sound like...

"I sound like a hippopotamus."
This is what C said on the way to school today after trying to determine the sound coming from his whistling nose. Pretty good, right?
"No, maybe it sounds like an elephant."
Elephant, hippopotamus...either way, a pretty creative way of thinking about what sound he was hearing!

a letter from your (sometimes) frustrated mommy

Dear A & C,
This morning I wasn't the best mommy for you. I got frustrated when you couldn't find your gloves. I got frustrated when you couldn't find your hat. Then A, I left your lunch on the counter. I got a little upset even though sometimes things like this happen. I'm sorry.

Sometimes it's hard to be a mommy. Sometimes I don't plan as much as I should. Sometimes things don't go the way I want them to (ahem...type A personality) go. I need to be more patient with you and remind myself that you're only 4. Sometimes it seems like you're 6 already. But you're not. Just 4.

You do a lot of things for being 4 years old! You know how to pick out your own clothes, get ready for the day, eat your breakfast and put your dishes on the counter. I know that's a lot for a 4 year old. You're already so grown up-I really shouldn't rush you any more. But sometimes I do, and I'm sorry.

I will try to look at you with Mommy eyes, no matter the situation. Yes, there are times when you won't listen and I will still get frustrated. But again, you're only 4. I hope that when you get older you'll know that I loved you so much when you were little and I will always love you-even when we have mornings that don't go the way I expect them to go.

I love you...
Mommy

Nature Center

Doing things on a weekend is one of my favorite things. That was a vague statement. Let me rephrase: I can't sit at home on a weekend so more often than not, we are out doing something. Just ask J...he would tell you the same thing. This weekend was no different! Plus, the weather was warmer and the snow piles (most of them) were gone!

We went to Wood Lake Nature Center which is not far from us. It's a place we haven't ever taken our kids to, but they've been there before on a field trip with their class. They knew, right away, where things were and what we could do. We started off inside looking at a few snakes and some turtles. Then it was outside to walk around the trails.

You'd think that being in a first-ring suburb there wouldn't be much for wildlife. Well, on our walk, it was hard to tell if we were in a city or in the middle of nowhere!

We were on the lookout for anything dealing with animals or plants. Here A found some animal fur-we're still not sure what it was or where it came from.

We saw 3 muskrats on our walk. This was the first one we encountered, nibbling on some tall grasses. 

There were plenty of geese to be seen, too! These ones seemed to be doing a dance of some sort. Perhaps it's part of a mating ritual? We passed by one mama goose sitting on her nest-she hissed at us from about 100 feet away. We saw these geese:

A & C weren't too sure about them. A jogger walked by them and (I'm assuming) the male hissed at him. So we kept our distance and didn't get any closer. And then there was this goose:

Just standing on one leg, sound asleep. A & I had already passed it, and then it was J & C's turn. As you can see, C isn't too sure about this goose. Truth be told, neither were J & I! But, it just kept on sleeping!

It was a beautiful day to be out walking around with signs of spring everywhere!

We're so glad spring is here to stay and that we have a place like this to explore with our kids!

Great Restaurants

Do you like to eat out? We do. This comes as no surprise, whatsoever, to those of you who know us...or, ahem, me. Right now we are watching "America's Next Great Restaurant." It's a fun show to watch for many reasons, one of which is the fact that they're opening one of the winning restaurants right here, by us! It's going to be a fast-casual type restaurant, similar to Chipotle. It got me thinking about our favorite restaurants.

For J and I, when given the chance, we would pick Broders-hands down! It is our very favorite place to eat because of the atmosphere, the food, the wine and of course-dessert! This is a place we used to go all the time before we had kids and now it really makes for a fun, special night out. Other favorites of ours include Chiang Mai Thai, Cossettas, Murray's and Cafe Latte. I've been known to go to Cafe Latte for their chocolate chocolate cake alone. It's my favorite dessert place!

When we're talking restaurants with the kids, that's a different story. The first restaurant they really knew enough to say, "Let's go there," was Davannis. They originally called it Savanni's or Vivanni's, so that's kind of a standing joke in our family. Davannis is the go-to Friday night pizza night place if that's what we decide on. They would eat there every night if they could. I mean it's pizza, right? Another one of their favorites is Snuffy's. The sole reason they like that restaurant is because they get to have their ice cream before dinner, with it being a malt shop and all. I do give them credit, though. They end up eating their whole meal including all of the ice cream! One last favorite is Rudy's. Part of it has to do with the fact that A likes going anywhere to eat after church, and that's often where we end up! The acoustic music and brunch gives it an easy feel for a Sunday. And the best part about it is that kids under 5 years old eat free! Bonus!

We love restaurants. We love eating out. I would eat out every night if we could. We have our favorites but are always ready to try something new. So, "America's Next Great Restaurant," what's it going to be?

a picnic dinner by a frozen lake

"I have a question for you. (me whispering) Who wants to go Lake Harriet and have a picnic dinner?"
"Me! Me! Me!"

I couldn't resist today. I know the lake is still frozen. I know the ducks and geese are swimming in a very small patch of open water (in the background). I know it was still cold enough that I had to eat with one glove on and one glove off. Yes, I know all of these things. But I still couldn't resist.

This lake is one of our very favorite places to visit as a family. On the way there the kids were talking about all of the fun things we do together.
"Oh, I like that building over there. Yes, that one with the points. Because there's a beach over there. Well, why isn't it open? Oh, right. It's too cold to swim."
"But Mommy, over there we can see the ducks, right? Why won't they be there? Well, where will they go since the lake is still frozen?"
"Let's get ice cream after we're done eating dinner. We can do that, right? But why are they closed? But it's nice out today!"
"I guess the only thing to do today is walk around since there's nothing fun to do around here."
It's all about perspective, right? Right. From my perspective-the perfect day to go to the lake for the first time this spring. From the kids' perspective-not one of the best days because the things they like to do weren't "open" for them. On the bright side (for them), they did get to play at a park by the lake!

We went for a short walk on either side of the bandshell, saying hello to as many puppies as we could (per A's request) before settling in at a table with a lovely view of the frozen lake. It was a great end to a week spent together.

Dare I say it?

Shhh... (spring is here.) I didn't want to say that too loud. You never know...with the forecast here and such, it seems as though our 56 degree day won't last much longer. Tomorrow-rain/snow mix. Which, I'm an optimistic person, so I'm going for the rain piece. Rain I can handle. Rain can come and wash away the dirt and grime that is stuck on our driveway and our street. Rain can come to help with the snow mold. Gross. Rain can come to help with my garden and bring a little bit of life to my otherwise brown plants. Rain I can handle. Snow, not so much.

You can see that we were outside enjoying this day by getting out the baseballs, soccer balls, the hippity-hop, hula hoops and anything else that was in our storage tub. The chalk was in good working order as well, so our sidewalk is now beautifully decorated with roads and flowers.

I love that spring is here. I know where we live it doesn't always stick around for good until later in April, but with the kind of winter we've had, I'm just going to say it...SPRING IS FINALLY HERE!

Another Vintage Pearl Giveaway

There's another giveaway at one of my favorite websites...in honor of her birthday! Maybe I'll win THIS time.