Break in the Action

Wow, so it has been a while since I have done some posting. It may be due to several different things, but mainly my desire to have everything just so before this baby arrives. Some people call this nesting but I call it reality. The reality is that if it doesn't get done now it surely will not get done after baby is here.

It has not been all work and no play. The girls and I took a trip to SW Minnesota last weekend due to Mike's work schedule. ( Don't say "poor Mike" quite yet, he did get to golf 18 holes on Saturday and the weather cooperated beautifully.) We headed "home" on Thursday because Hailey had the day off from preschool due to MEA. The trip home was a bit challenging due to the relentless rain and impatient travelers. Once arriving we always have a great time. The girls got Mike's old "There's a Monster at the End of this Book" book from Grandma Miedema. (I have since limited it to being read twice a day.) I enjoyed a good old $11 hair cut in Leota--that included free babysitting from Grandma, wash, and style. Stephanie & Makenna joined us at Grandpa & Grandma because of pheasant hunting. Ginnie visited from Sioux Falls, the Zeinstras' visited after school, and we were surprised by the Vis family coming to church with us on Sunday morning. Taylor again made it through an entire church service in Leota--it may have been due to the fact that she is deathly afraid of Uncle Brad. Every time he looked at her she crawled up on my lap and buried her face.

The trip home went well; Mike was ready for his girls to return home. I always get a bit spoiled by Mom's cooking and being able to relax. We hope to go back before baby boy arrives, but we will see!

Apple Orchard

Following our overnight stay at the hotel we headed east to Afton Apple Farm where we enjoyed awesome weather, hay rides, apple picking, face painting, fresh cider, and cow rides. The girls thought the endless supply of apples was very convenient and ate each variety. Taylor did try and put her half eaten apple back on the tree that she picked it from. I have to admit we are becoming quite the city slickers finding ourselves excited about the tractors, animals, and piles of hay. Taylor was the youngest child on the cow rides and definitely the youngest to make it to the top of the round bales of hay finding herself unable to get down.

Weekend Trip

This weekend we decided to have a little getaway and thought that it didn't really matter to the girls whether we went to Wisconsin Dells or to a pool at a local hotel. We decided that the local option allowed for less car time and more fam time. We had a wonderful time at the hotel. We had a suite so that the girls could sleep in one room and us in the other. Hailey thought it was awesome that they had their own room. The pool was perfect. Hailey learned to swim for the first time without her life jacket. From a distance it appears as if she is drowning, but can make it across the pool in that manner. Our big surprise of the trip was that Taylor was very tentative at the pool and did lots of sitting on the edge. This made it even more relaxing than anticipated. (I spared you some pool pictures of the 33 week pregnant mom.)

Priceless

Wagon stolen-$69
Failure to clean the laundry room-$30
Booster seat confiscated-$20
Fined for having pumpkins outside our door-$30
Finding wagon blocks away on E. Hennepin-+$69
Living at Como Student Housing-PRICELESS

Hearts At Home

This weekend I attended my first Hearts at Home conference for moms in Rochester, MN. Laura and her friend Jenni convinced me to register on the last open registration date back in August. I was very reluctant to go since I find it quite stressful to leave the girls, but I have been so very blessed. The conference was a wonderful experience. There was great praise & worship, testimonials, and well seasoned moms with lots of encouragement and advice. There were main speakers as well as several smaller sessions to select from depending on your interest of various topics. My favorite speaker was Lisa Whelchel, better known to some people as "Blair" from "The Facts of Life". She lectured on "Creative Correction" and "Finding the Me in Mommy". I learned so many practical ideas---the girls are in for some new ideas this week!
Before I left for the conference I was explaining to Hailey that I was going away overnight with Laura to a class to learn how to be a better mom. She said "I think that you are already a good mommy." Bless her little heart.
Driving home from the conference I felt full and overwhelmed all at the same time. I was preparing myself for the reality that lie ahead of me at home. I knew that the girls hadn't read the books while I was gone and that Mike had probably had a long day with the girls. Boy was I wrong! The girls greeted me with lots of hugs, kisses, and "I missed you". Mike took them shopping for chocolate and a pair of new earrings for me AND he washed all the sheets and towels! Need I say more.
I am so blessed by God with wonderful children, a loving husband, and the privilege to be a mom.

New Do

We have been growing Hailey's hair out for the last several months, but the amount of annoying tangles were increased as well as the number of tears when it came to doing hair. I had been trying to convince her for a while that we needed to get it cut, but she would hear nothing of the sort because none of the princesses have short hair! On Friday I asked again and she finally agreed; we were in the van within the hour to make sure she didn't have time to change her mind. We took off close to three inches.
Operation Princess Sheets Update: last week I wrote a final note from the princesses that they were going to stop giving gifts, but continue to check on Hailey every night in her bed. If they didn't find her in her bed she would have to return one of the gifts. She was totally fine with it. She has slept all night in her bed the last 10 nights straight and counting. She is so cute about the sheets. She said to us on the way to church today "Ya know how Cinderella got me those princess sheets to me. I think that when I watch Cinderella she sneaked out a little hole in the TV and brought me those sheets."

Tri-State Visitors

Tri-State Weekend in October regularly allows the Miedema family to enjoy visitors from back home. This year Auntie Teresa, Macey, Mallory, and Mariah came for a visit. On Thursday morning we visited a nearby pumpkin patch where they enjoyed some farm animals and picking out their own pumpkins. (We did realize that the Zeinstras' probably were not very fascinated by the farm animals.) On Thursday evening we got the girls wristbands for the rides at the Mall of America rides. There were very few people there so the girls went on countless rides for hours; little Taylor went on the "Frog Hopper" twice!
Teresa and her girls watched our girls for us on Friday evening as I went out of town for a Mom's conference and Mike had an all day fall golf trip. Hopefully this is Mike's last golf outing for the season. (Sorry, did I just write that?) Anyway, Teresa braved the Children's Museum with all five girls and according to Hailey they had a great time.

Murder Mystery Dinner

Mike and I were invited to a "murder mystery dinner" at some friends on Saturday night where Ralph Rottengrape (Mike) posed as a "bad boy" winery manager and Hedy Shebbley (me) posed as his neighboring winery competitor. Mike played his role out well with is earings, chains, sunglasses, and attractive chest hair. I did my best to dress the part despite my limited wardrobe. We had a great time. (Thanks to Jessica who watched the girls and spoiled them rotten at the MOA).