Sleeping Baby Will

Meet Your Teacher

We went to Meet Your Teacher today. Eliza meet her teacher Ms.  Huisjen, but of course wouldn't let me take her picture with here. Here is Gretta with her teacher Mrs. Rochefort. 

It's going to be a great year!

Class lists 2014

The Day Class lists are posted is always super fun for the kids! They post the list at 5pm and then all leave, so you can't go bug them about who your kid got. Then the next day is meet your teacher. This time we didn't know who any of the teacher were or many of the kids. Eliza did end up with 3 kids she already knows in her class. It's going to be a great year!

Hanging around

Well this week mittens and tiger did much better- no pooping or peeing outside the litter box. Yeah!!! Plus we got two new little boxes. They are much less messy and Gretta is a pro at changing them so things are looking up. I think mittens and tiger like it here:). Tiger is super sweet and nice and mittens is more plateful. He also is more wary of Carli which is pretty smart of him:) Carli sure loves her baby cats. Eliza has been so much happier since we got them and Gretta has shown a lot of responsibility. So it's been super positive.  

Frog Pet Sitting

I watched my friend, Abbey's, pet frog while she was on vacation. I didn't know before she dropped him off that he was poisonous or maybe I would have backed out. Luckily he survived 11 days at our house. 

Getting Ready for Back To School

Eric hung this rack today in the garage for the girls backpacks. Gretta informed me this morning that school starts in 1 week and 2 days. So I guess the count down is on. I will miss having Gretta and Eliza home all day. At the beginning of the summer I wondered how we were going to survive but with the help of lots of friends and family we survived an epic summer and now I am sad for it to end. 

Pickles

For some reason our food co-op has been giving us lots of cucumbers. In my attempt to find something to do with all of them I made Pickles. Or I should say Eric helped me make pickles. Some sweet and some dill all refrigerator recipes. We have to wait a few days to try them. 

Doug Jones Memorial Award- LOTOJA

I am so proud of my sister Anna. She and some of her girl friends are going to ride the LOTOJA. She wrote a beautiful essay about why they are doing it together and won the Doug Jones Memorial Award. Her essay is touching. Enjoy!

The ride does not define us, we define the ride. 

The story of our relay team begins about a decade ago in the small town of Rochester, Minnesota.  All of us were transplants brought to a new city for various professional and career reasons.  We were fortunate to find each other and given our similar situations, marital status, and family status – all of us young moms—we became fast friends.

A weekend “girls” trip to Chicago one September began a tradition of September “girls’ trips”. Notably, never planned on the weekend after Labor Day because Ariane’s husband always rode LOTOJA.

Fast forward a few years, and we were now scattered across the country living in Utah, Colorado, Kansas, and one lone holdout in Rochester, MN.  Our September girls’ trips became a way to renew old friendships, escape from the sometimes drudgery of motherhood, and support each other through the relatively normal-type challenges of life.

Fifteen months ago, we were devastated to learn that Lindsey received a diagnosis of Stage 4 Colon Cancer.  This was an extreme shocker given that Lindsey is a dietitian by profession and thus a healthy eater, and she also is an avid exerciser.  The fact that Lindsey was only 33 year old and the mother to four children under the age of eight made the reality of the diagnosis even more severe. 

Last September we returned to the city of origin of our “girls trips”—Chicago—to accommodate Lindsey who had been receiving chemotherapy treatments every other week since diagnosis.  Chicago was just a short flight from her home in Wichita, Kansas, which would make the trip doable for her since the dates had been selected the year before and happened to fall at the end of one of her chemo weeks.  We reveled in the opportunity to rally around Lindsey in Chicago.  But, the amazing thing is Lindsey is the type of person that lifts you, even while you are trying to lift her.  In the face of an insurmountable challenge, Lindsey has looked Cancer head-on and said “Game On”.  Although she now has received Chemotherapy treatments every other week since diagnosis 15 months ago, she has been able to maintain an active lifestyle including playing tennis, running a half-marathon, and training for LOTOJA. 

As we began to make plans for this year’s girls trip, Ariane brought to our attention her looming fortieth birthday.  Since being both a veteran LOTOJA support crew and rider, she revealed that she would love nothing more for her 40^th birthday than to ride LOTOJA with her ‘girls’.  Being from various athletic backgrounds and at least one of us being more of a leisure rider/road bike novice (translation: I owned a rode bike, but it sat in my garage) the thought of a tough goal coupled with the opportunity to do it with best friends seemed like a winner.

While it is just the 5 of us riding, 8 more will be at the finish line to greet us. So, as we ride with Ariane into old age and with Lindsey into unknown terrain, we know there will be many more challenges and mountains to climb, but with the strength of our peloton we can prevail.   As we ride through life, the ride will not define us, we define the ride.

Thank you for considering us for the Doug Jones Memorial Award.  When I registered for the race and read the story of Doug Jones I was deeply touched.  I feel our team embodies the spirit of friendships that inspire you to become better, which is the basis of the award.  We will be deeply honored if we are selected.

Sincerely, Anna Bartoo

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

Eliza lost her second front tooth and the tooth fairy gave her $4. She is so excited to sing, "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" for Christmas. 

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Back to School Shopping the Dave Ramsey Way

Eliza -- many faces of slime

Riding the Swan boats

Riding in the bug car

Beach Day with the Christensen's

We were so sad to miss our 4th of July Camping trip with our MBA friends this year. 3 years ago when we moved here 4 other families from our MBA class moved close to us. Now we are down to two. Us and the Christensen's. We lost the Conran's first to St. Louise, the Vach's to Seattle and the Anderson's this summer to Phoenix. It has been a crazy summer and the Christensen's were busy with family reunions and Mike being Bishop, so we have had a hard time getting together. Luckily we ended up with an impromptu beach trip together and it was a great day! I took this picture of the boys before we left for the beach. They are getting more interactive with each other. 

Also this summers fun was sponsored by Emma and Erin Callahan.  One of them went with me on almost all of our outings. It was great to have their help. The girls love them and they love the babies. It was a win win for everyone.

Elizabeth and I enjoyed a nice chat on the beach and our kids had a great time building a raft with drift wood. Nothing is much better than a beach day with good friends:) Followed by a nice warm bath with your siblings. 

Thanks Vida!

My mom's friend Vida send the kids a back to school package. They were so excited. 

Swimming at the Yacht Club

We sure had a fun summer swimming at the Yacht Club this summer. My friend Liz and her kids came with us today and she took this picture of me and the boys. 

Berrien County Youth Fair 2014

We sure had a fun time at the Fair this year. Carli was SO HAPPY that she is finally tall enough to ride on the kiddie rides. She has a great time. I think she rode every ride!!!! Erin and Emma rode rides with Gretta and Eliza all day too. We went home in the afternoon to take a break and even came at night to ride more. Eric even joined in on the fun. We also looked at the animals and walked around and looked at the exhibits. It was a great day at the Fair. 

Back to school shopping- Dave Ramsey Style