Friday, August 30, 2013

Minnesota 7 QTs

So I was inspired to write my 7 QT's with Jen's link up on why MN is an awesome state because Heather over at Mama Knows, Honeychild felt compelled to take us off her "to visit" list because of the man eating wolves we have roaming around.  What the what??  I'd say we have a lot to outweigh any dangerous carnivores you may encounter.

1)  We are super nice.  It's even a term - Minnesota Nice - and we take it seriously. I'm totally tootin' our state's proverbial horn but people around here are just downright go out of their way to help out kind of people. Need directions? - check. Need to know the best restaurants? - lots of people will chime in. Want to join a dodge ball team? - seven people will offer theirs up in a flash.  Mean people need not apply for residency.

2) The Minnesota State Fair. I've been blogging about it this week and it's completely awesome and the best state fair out there.* Where else can you find a llama costume contest, a daily parade, high school rodeo, a zagillion calories worth of delicioso food, seed art, 4H projects that will blow your mind, and the biggest pumpkin in the state all in one vicinity?  It is the holy grail of the best time wasters ever.

*disclaimer - I've never been to another state fair, but ours is so crazy cool I can't imagine another even coming close to it
3) We have tons of lakes - in fact about 10,000 of them. We have more shoreline than Florida, California, and Hawaii combined and we utilize our lakes to their fullest. Canoes, kayaks, water skiing, fishing, wind surfing, paddle boarding, pontooning - we do it all. 

4) We go through looooong winters here and I have never encountered people who embrace summer with such passion and verve because we all feel like frost is lurking right around the corner.  Minnesotans realize that you have to soak up every minute of heat in order to survive February.  If you visit us when we don't have snow you will see everyone outside as much as humanly possible. 

5) If you visit us in the winter you will probably find that most Minnesotans believe that the long winter is better passed by embracing the opportunity to play outside in sub-zero temperatures. We've got hockey, figure skating, cross country skiing, downhill skiing (icy conditions at their finest), broomball, sledding, snowshoeing, winter camping, and a Winter Carnival complete with two parades (one by torchlight) and a weird rivalry between the Vulcans (who herald the beginning of permafrost melt) and the winter royalty (who bask in their frosty glory to the often bitter end). Oh, and we have an amusment park inside the Mall of America so if you're sick of being outside just go there and pretend it's summer for a bit.
6) Our farmers markets are amazing. We're so close to our farms that it takes no time at all to get fresh produce into the Twin Cities area. Our downtown Saint Paul market boasts only local produce within a 50 mile radius to satisfy locavores as well.  We have many local Hmong farmers that have expanded the traditional Minnesota table to include yummy veggies like bitter melon, thai eggplant, thai peppers, bok choy, and hmong greens. 

7) We're the birthplace of Target - the best most dangerous place in the world to drop $50...or sometimes $100....and unfortunately sometimes more. Man that place is a money suck. 

BONUS #8 just for Heather.......
WE HAVE NO SHARKS!  I too have a major phobia of sharks (when my imagination runs wild I can convince myself there are sharks in pools - crazy) and I am pleased to tell you that while there are sharks at the MN Zoo and the Mall of America Aquarium I think that's about it for those swimming, man-eating machines.  No need to worry about shark attacks or swim next to shark bait while in our lakes and rivers - hooray!!

Heather, I hope this list convinces you to take a second look at Minnesota before permanently taking us off your list and doing something I'm sure you'd regret for the rest of your life (wink).

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Guest Post from George!

I'm exhausted today so George offered to guest post on the blog to keep things going.  I will type for him since he prefers to open-hand smack the keyboard or eat it.  Thanks George!


***************
Hey Everyone!  Thanks to my Mom for letting me blog a little today.  I know everyone is chompin' at the bit to hear from me so here goes...

***Ten Reasons I Didn't Want To Sleep Last Night***

Five Faves - Lands' End Style

Booooring to go all love it from one place on you, but I got an email from LE and I think it was tailor made to my taste because it all looked so cute to me. Like I want to get the credit card out right now cute.  Also got an email from J.Crew and was pretty unimpressed with their quick glances.  I haven't bought anything from them in a long time and now they have leather accented jodhpur pants?  Um, not the trend for me and it's just so dang expensive.  Enough on that, back to the likies...

Monday, August 26, 2013

Hot Stuff

I know it's super boring to talk about the weather (I've never shied away from writing about boring stuff before!  Why start now?)  but it is hotter than Hades here in MN and so what does any sane and sensible woman decide to do?  I drag my entire family around the Minnesota State Fair in 96F weather that equalled 103F with the heat index.  The kids held up better than I did.  I get super cranky in humid

Friday, August 23, 2013

Friday - 7 QTs

Here it is, nearing the end of another week....
Thanks Jen for hosting the link-up

1) Last night was a dream come true for the boys.  They had hip hop class followed by Dairy Queen...
^^^notice half of Stan's m&m blizzard sadly melting under the bench.  Bwah bwah.  Frank wins both the ice cream speed eating contest and the always

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

G's Baptism WIWS

This is A Very Special Edition of What I Wore Sunday....  George's Baptism!

Looks like there's another baptism edition over at My Domestic Monestary to peruse as well.

On Sunday George was brought to the baptismal font as a sleeping child with the stain of original sin.  He was then crudely awoken by having water poured onto his head, which alarmed him, and then he squirmed and got a face full of water as the Deacon

Friday, August 16, 2013

Another 7 QT's

It's Friday y'all!!!  That means it's time to link-up with Jen and see what everyone is thinking today.

1) George will finally be getting baptized on Sunday.  It's been crazy trying to figure out a time to get everyone together to celebrate George's blessing in the water, but it's finally the day.  Needless to say, the cute baptism invites are still sitting in my stationary (read junk) drawer

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Five Favoritas

Here we go again...the faves of the moment. 

1) After such a great weekend celebrating my niece's graduation from college I must say one of my all-time, absolute favorite things in life is that my family is so fun and that we all get along.  It was awesome to celebrate a momentous event with my family and have such

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Glamour Pants

After I wrote that title I was kind of wishing that was my nickname... Glamour Pants.  It has a really classy ring to it, no?

Anywho, I was wrapped up in one of the activities I enjoy most in the world (insert dripping sarcasm) pumping(!!) while at work, no less, when the milking production started heading south at the barn. 

First of all I'm just going to come out and say it, I hate pumping (bring it La Leche Leaguers).

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Five Favs

Here are my quickie five favs today!  Thanks to Hallie at Moxie Wife
for hosting a link-up.

1) The mattress protector Skydda Hogt from Ikea.  Blessings upon blessings that two of my munchkins slept until 9am (!) yesterday but needless to say even the strongest and most absorbant nighttime diaper was no match for the 12 hour sleep-a-thon Stan embarked on and he woke up completely wet.  The mattress, however, was desert dry.  Thank you Ikea for saving me from washing out a urine soaked mattress and leaving me only to deal with urine soaked sheets.  So easy in comparison!  Who says motherhood is not one glam filled moment after another?

2) Broccoli slaw. 
This is my go-to salad this summer.  TJ's sells a package of broccoli slaw for $1.99 and I throw in some peanuts, cucumbers, green onions, crushed ramen noodles, and other stuff I have on hand (peppers, cilantro, corn, carrots - anything that's on the verge of being kicked out of my fridge) and mix it with a super easy dressing - 1/4c veg oil, 1/2c apple cider vinegar, 1/2c sugar, and the "seasoning" (let's be honest salt and msg) packet from the ramen noodles.  I usually only use about half the dressing, unless I'm feeling crazy...then I just pour it on. Oh, and the beer in the background is no accident either - it is a delicious summer thirst quencher.

3) National Night Out.  It was so fun to hang out with our neighbors last night!  

We got rained out in the end which "upset" the kids to put it mildly.  There was much  kiddy screaming and contorted faces of agony as all the neighbors scurried to their homes amidst rain, thunder and lightening.  My boys have been asking everyday when they wake up if it is the day of the party for a solid two weeks now, so this was a highly anticipated event.  Alas, they will have to wait until next year for the big shin-dig again, but good thing we live next door to ALL of them so they will see them today.

4) These shoes.  The Seychelles Stagger Wedge
I am loving and wanting them in a big way and have not yet found my way to justifying their purchase.  I love the wedge (a more casual cousin of the pump, and easy to wear), the color (hello autumn, I hear you knockin' at my door), and the detailing (cute but stays wearable and not froofy). 

5)  This guy who helps me mow the lawn with his tractor.  

Who needs a lawn service when you have this?

I hope everyone has a great rest of today.  And first part of tomorrow.  Then I shall post again!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Sunday outfit

I meant to get this up yesterday when it was truly apropos but alas I never got a chance to get around to it. I had thought I would have the chance to get it up early this morning but that idea was dead in the water oh, somewhere between 1 and 4 in the morning when I was trying to comfort a screaming Stan about the gentle rolling thunder apparently scaring the be-hoozers out of him.

It is hard enough to have a conversation based in any sort of logic or reason with a toddler.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Friday Stuff

Hey Y'all it's a Friday round-up that I've linked up with Jen over at Conversion Diaries.  These are quickies, but enjoy!
1)  I'm beginning to realize that school is around the corner and a little bit of panic is rising in my chest as we've never had to get the kids up and out the door by 7:50am on a consistent basis.  Any have any ideas on how to start getting the kids (ahem, me) to bed earlier and up earlier to make the transition smoother?

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Reading Mommy Blogs

First - here's the article that inspired this post...then come back here and we'll discuss.
Why The Fuss About Reading Mommy Blogs?

I just read this article after it was linked in a comments section of another blog, and *wow*.  It's fantastic and articluates intelligently why I think it's important to have mom blogs out there as a source of support, mentorship, inspiration, and humor.  I know it makes me feel better to escape into these blogs for a few minutes and realize that there are plenty of moms who go through the daily trials I do with my boys.

Motherhood is a constantly changing institution and it means many different things to all sorts of different moms.  The author Lillian brings up the red tent and the village well as absent sources of support for the modern day mom.  I even think back to my childhood when my mom had SAHMs up and down the block to count on for daily support, venting, and child-rearing problem solving that simply doesn't exist in most neighborhoods today.  For me, reading mommy blogs is like running to a neighbors house for a quick chat or cup of tea when the day starts to get rough.  It gives me a break, a laugh, a refuge, and a person to sort out the tangly mess of being a mom.

Why do you read mommy blogs?

(a content mommy moment)

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