Dirty 30

It's been a while, I know. We've been incredibly busy so far this summer so it's been hard to just sit down and get the photos off of my camera. Let's see... Jessie, Chris, and Ethan drove their Michigan butts all the way out here for my 30th. It was the best weekend ever. I wish sooooo much that we could spend more time together. I miss my BFF and just don't get to see her enough. We went to the "Back to the 50's Classic Car Show". It was HUGE! And I say this as a veteran of the Woodward Dream Cruise. It blew my mind how many cars and people were there. I was told it was just shy of 12,000 cars. So we whipped through it pretty fast since we had the little ones with us... and my attention span was growing short. Then we went to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Minneapolis. So much fun! I've never been there so I didn't know what to expect. We got there about 4:30 (I know, blue-hair special) and the restaurant didn't open till 5. But they had a remedy: their lounge was open. So we hung out and the kids were so well behaved, it's like they knew we were having a special night. Then Saturday we went to the Zoo. Pretty standard zoo trip, except for Claire having an alergic reaction to sunscreen. Scary! But we water-boarded her right there in the cafe (laid her down and rinsed out her eye) to much screaming. But about 30 minutes later she was good-to-go. That eveing was my Dirty 30 birthday party. It was a great eveing spent here at the house bbq'ing shish kabobs and enjoying some cold beers and great friends. We topped off the night with a bonfire complete with s'mores. Which I have discovered are quite complicated. ;) For Father's day Tim got a new Weber grill. We'll be breaking her in this weekend. We took Tim and Chris to the Freighthouse for Father's Day. Then sadly, the Shamie's had to depart on their loooong trip home. =( All-in-all, it was more than I could hope for on my birthday. Now, on to another 30 years!

Claire and Ethan chillin'

Jessie, Chris, & Ethan at the Minnesota Zoo

Claire is ready for the Zoo!!!!

This is Claire in the freezing cold pool....

This is Claire taking the liberty of removing herself from the freezing cold pool.

Claire has her very own Adirondack chair!

Turning 30 has made me realize how much I have to be thankful for. I know I whine and complain about things and have a never-ending "wish-list" but I also have soooo much. Namely: a healthy beautiful daughter, loving & ever-patient husband, dear family (all over the midwest), incredible friends who do so much for me (make food for my party even though they are the guests or are 38.5 weeks prego), and a pretty cool house over my head. I pray for a lot of stuff but I really need to pray in thanks for the life I live. I can only hope that everyone is this happy! So next time any of you here me utter a complaint about work or "Ooo, I'd give my left arm for _____", you have my full permission to flick me. But not too hard.

If I haven't told you lately, I love you. I heard a quote once, probably at Team of Destiny, "You are who you surround yourself with." Well, I must be a pretty cool person because I have the best friends and family a girl could ask for.

Slainte,

Kelly Jane

Girls' Weekend!

Howdy. Just thought I'd drop a line. Last weekend was pretty low-key around here. Tim went to Milwaukee to help Joe and Heather move into their new place together. Which meant that Claire and I had a girls' day out. Saturday we went to the Mall of America bright and early. I just happened to find out the weekend prior that Betsey Johnson opened a little store there. Well, since Mumma has been working very hard the last few months, she may have splurged. Just a little. Claire helped. The fabulous gay guy working there was cooing over how adorable she was (and how he loved my current Betsey Johnson handbag that I just happened to be carrying that day) and it just put me in a spendy kinda mood. So I got a necklace, ring and clutch. Now I just can't wait to wear it all out on the town... Ya know, since we do that soooo often. I finally found real shoes for Claire-bear. The See Kai Run's were just a little too big and came off a little too easily. So we went with Robeez (not that anyone probably cares). The rest of the day was spent playing with Mikko and doing laundry. Claire isn't so great at sorting or folding, yet. Oh and Mikko's collar broke on our walk and she got away. And what does Mom-of-the-year do? Goes after the dog. I panicked. And left Claire in her strollar in the street. I thought maybe the little girls that were petting Mikko would stay with her but they thought it better to chase the dog as well. Luckily we have an angel for a neighbor and when she saw Calamity Jane leave her daughter in the street she ran over to her. Luckily (and I say that with much hesitation) I caught the dog and all was well. I've just never felt like such a tool in my whole life. *Note to self: Next time let the dog go!

Sunday was more running around and chores around the house. So it was a productive weekend at least. When Tim got home on Sunday we made our annual flower shopping trip. This usually does not go well for us. I like big, bright annuals. Tim likes leafy green perennials. But this year, he just let me pick without a fuss. It was nice! He knows I'm never gonna give up my color. I just wish we had more of it in the front. Maybe someday. (I have a dream front yard in my mind....)

Oh, and I did something I swore I would never do: I fed Claire Gerber's pureed meat. YUCK! I will never do that again. She made this hilarious face after almost every bite. I laughed the entire time. Poor thing. She must think Mumma's crazy.

Love and miss y'all!

Day Two .... by Claire

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That was from Claire. She just wanted to test out this blogging thing. I'll have to ask her how she found the upside down questions marks. =) Now she's helping me file today's customer inventory reports. She's mommy's little helper. Now we're off to go cheer for Daddy's softball team. Go Hogsbreath!

Day One

I've talked about blogging for a rediculously long time. My latest excuse has been lack of a good blog name. So rather than procrastinate any longer (yes Mom, I know I'm an expert) I'll get 'er done. I can't promise I will blog often. I also will not promise any intelligent statements will be made here. However since most of our family (and a lot of friends) live somewhere besides Minnesota, I will keep y'all posted on our little family. I hope someone reads this besides my Mom and I hope that we'll hear back from some of you.

Cheers!