Mmmm, dinner.
Watching their mommies go.
One of Danica's more interesting outfit choices.
We were surprised with a lovely little mini-birthday party at Stef & Jill's last weekend. Averie and Tate even made us cupcakes!!
Dani loves her new toys!!
It took Dani a couple days to adjust to playing with 2 other kids.
But Aves and Tate were both SO great with her.... very patient and sweet. She had a lot of fun playing with both of them.
A very cute site in the mornings.
Deliriously happy.
2 peas in a pod!!
They all love each other so much!
We all really enjoyed ourselves. We got to see Tate's football game - what a bruiser!! We were so proud of him. He's a natural. 
My little turkey, cute as can be, enjoying a nice fall day. 
She had lots of people slowing down to watch her ride her scooter (we have a lot of very old people in the neighborhood).
In her butterfly wings, Mardi Gras beeds, and tutu.
Dani got to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house last Friday night. She was so excited to go and was sure to let Duane and me know that we were not welcome to join her. According to Dani they had a birthday party with presents and cake, which I'm pretty certain didn't happen, but she seems to have had a great time anyway. Dani and I just shared our first cup of hot chocolate together. It's such a brisk fall day today, so we bundled up to go outside and play. We counted fallen leaves and collected them (surely Dani had some master plan for these leaves... I didn't question it). After a while I got very chilly - Danica, however, was bundled up like it was 30 below (by her choice). So we came in to warm up. Hmmm, hot chocolate would be perfection (a nod to you Friends fans). So we shared a cup while listening to Christmas music. That's right you heard me!! Christmas music!! And it's a miracle I waited this long to bring it out. Aaaahhhh, it was a very Norman Rockwell moment... until Dani kicked Emma in the face. Back to reality!!
Dani just put on her Vikings jersey and ran in the room saying, "Look at me Mom, I'm a Brett Favre!!"
Every time she goes to the bathroom now she turns on the fan and says, "I'm gonna turn on the stinky."
Dani and Hannah in their Viking gear! 
A very sly, mischievious look.
Sweet little profile!!!
Amma, Grammy and Dani in Amma's backyard.Danica had her first dentist appointment today. She was very excited to go, and the excitement continued after we got there. She LOVED the waiting room filled with toys and games. Then her name was called. She stood with a stone cold look on her face, not willing to budge. I'm sure she was thinking, "uh, I thought this WAS the dentist... this room with all the toys." So after some coaxing and a promise of a new Dora toothbrush, the dental assistant finally got her to follow us back. We got to the room and had fun with the chair that rides up and down, and the t.v. on the ceiling was a hit. Then the lady put the chair back and got ready to look in her mouth. Holy smoke!!!! I don't think I've heard screaming like that since the day Dani was born!! And it only got worse. The dentist came in and she really flipped out. We held her together (me holding her hands and him holding her head) as he looked in her mouth. I suppose that's the only good thing about the screaming... he didn't have to say, "open wider!" I was reassured that all kids scream like that their first time and they eventually become the best customers because they started so young. And Dani was reassured at the end with a care bear toy, some stickers and a new Dora toothbrush. We went to the park after (to ease my guilt), and Dani said, "NO! I wanna go back to da dentist!!" Ugh.
The garage sale was a success!! Thanks Nicole, Mom, and Amma for helping!! We are all quite tired from the weekend and all the preparation for the weekend. I think our next garage sale won't be for a very VERY long time.
Dani caught a little bit of a cold which is making her pretty fierce. She woke up at about 2:30 this morning and was pretty ticked off that she had a runny nose. She chewed us out real good. She's been asking to go outside and I tell her no because she's sick. Boy, she gets better real soon!! "I'm not sick anymore, Mommy. I think I feel better now." Ya, sure you do.
We had a great time last weekend at our little family reunion. It was to celebrate Afi's (my grandpa) 90th birthday and Amma's (my grandma) 85th birthday.
Dani and Averie at the park.
That auntie Jill is quite the photographer!!
Aves, Dani, and Tate... beautiful kids!!!
Here are Amma and Afi with all the great-grandkids.
The girlies - Dani, Grace, Ashlyn, and Averie
The boys - Haven, Will, and Tate
It was a great turnout at their party and they looked great!
Doodle-oodle-oodle.
I was looking through old videos on the computer tonight and watched this one over and over. It's funny how we can completely forget what our kids looked like and sounded like way back when. I'm so glad we have a way to document all this cuteness and keep enjoying it over and over.
Singing and dancing to Miley. Great song!!! Especially when sung by a 2-year old!
(Remember to turn off the music in the top right corner
Emma had to check out Dani's new bed.
In her car inside my car!
The move wouldn't have gone nearly as smoothly as it did if Grammy hadn't come for a few days and helped pre-move. We took over the whole kitchen and got that set up (the biggest pain in the butt about moving is having all those boxes in your kitchen), and got most of our clothes over too. We also brought most of Dani's toys, her outside toys, and a TON of our storage things. Thanks for all the help Grammy!!!
I didn't even know Dani was sleeping on me this morning... I must be soft and squishy!!!I was red as a tomato today while shopping in CVS pharmacy. While I let go of Dani's hand to grab a package of toilet paper, she took off SPRINTING through the entire store! She was zig-zagging aisles and I just couldn't catch her. The whole time she ran, she was in her deafening high-pitched scream/laugh mode. Everyone in the store thought it was the funniest thing they saw all day. I was mortified.
After I caught her I did the most instinctually natural thing that all of us mothers do - I hissed under my breath that I was going to take all her toys away and never let her watch cartoons again, all while fake smiling to the humored clerks. Once we got to the safety of outside I let her have it good and at the end of my rant said, "Do you hear me??!!" Not expecting to be answered. Danica said, "No, I not listening to you, Mommy."
GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first "penis" talk has happened, and it's a good one!!!
Dani's been obsessed with taking showers with Duane or me lately. She was in the shower with Duane tonight and apparently pointed and said, "Is that your bum?" Duane said no. So she walked around him, pointed at his bum and said, "That's your bum." Duane said yep. She pointed again and asked, "What's that?" Duane said, "It's my penis." Dani said, "That's yuck."
Let's just hope she keeps that general opinion for many many years!!
It reminds me of the story my own mom tells. Stefan and I were in the tub together when we were very young. I pointed at his and said, "Mommy, is that Stefan's ponytail?"
She's loving her big girl bed! We waited so long because she's SUCH a crazy wild sleeper. So the first night she fell out about 6 times. The second night she fell out about 3 times. And last night she didn't fall out at all! Or if she did, she got up and got back in bed herself. Either way I don't care, as long as we get to sleep all night!! This is what Dani and Daddy do every night at bedtime. It's too dark to see anything, but you can hear their song. Very sweet.
Emma loves her hugs from Mommy.
So comfy cozy!!
This is Dani's doing.
It is awfull cute!!Danica had her first 'skid marks' today. I'm not sure if I gave birth to a sweet little dainty girl or a 18 year old frat boy.
Interesting article on health insurance...
http://baselinescenario.com/2009/08/05/you-do-not-have-health-insurance/
We've been busy busy busy with the new house lately. We signed for it Friday, Grammy came to help me clean it Saturday, Grandma helped prime Sunday while Grandpa helped start a shed, Nicole helped me paint yesterday, and Nathan helped (or Duane helped Nathan) pull out our tub and shower last night. What would we do without all our family!!!! Thank you everyone! Be prepared for fewer blog entries as we're trying to do some remodeling before the move-in date. By the way, it's very bizarre that we own 2 houses and rent a third right now. If we weren't so broke, I'd feel like Donald Trump!!
For those of you who haven't heard or don't know my family, we've had a tragedy. My cousin Damien's baby had an accident and it isn't looking good for him. We need all the prayers we can get. Please stop what you're doing and say a prayer for Rylin Marsden. If you'd like to read about it and keep tabs on how he's doing, go to www.caringbridge.org and type in rylinmarsden.
