seven random takes

I'm taking the lazy way out and letting my phone camera roll do all the work...
Thanks Jen for the link up!
1 -

We took a road trip to Indianapolis over Thanksgiving where 27 (!) of us could all sleep under my brother's very generous roof to spend the holiday together.  The boys stayed nestled in the back of the van and Stan insisted that his Dusty pillow was not too big to have with him in his lap the entire way.  His brothers are filled with endless patience some days.  Others not so much, but that's for further down...

2 -

Sometimes it gets really bright in the car and you need your favorites sunnies to protect your eyes.

3 -

Still with the Dusty pillow for the brief 12 minutes of slumber he had during the 11 hour trip. 

4 -

Me and my Kari on our annual sisters post-Thanksgiving shopping trip to all stores decor in Indy.  It is a pastime that I feel myself growing into even though I have not a shade of sense when it comes to home decor.  Which is why I go on this charade of a shopping trip so my sisters can guide me (and for the lunch). We especially were going for a fuzzy soft frame on this photo for a prom feel too.

5 -

Advent is in full swing at our house.  We have daily fights about who gets to move the ornament onto the countdown tree, even though they trade every day on a set schedule. We have a fight every night over who gets to blow out the candles on the Advent wreath and sometimes we resort to relighting a candle because Stan needs to blow one out and we're not to the third week in Advent yet. And, they somehow find a way to fight over their chocolate Advent calendars even though each of them has their own and so the impossible task of sharing is not even up for discussion.  Christmas is truly a blessed season.

6 -

This is what happens when people are less patient with Stan and his toddler antics.

7 -

I love slippers and I have passed this oddity onto my children.  Or maybe our absolutely freezing cold hardwood floors throughout our drafty old house has made my kids smart enough to wear them.  Either way, I think the kiddos look like crazy mini-people walking around in their out-sized feet with random stuff attached to them.  Again, don't be overwhelmed by the absolute best blog photography you've ever seen complete with cut-off heads, not centered subjects, and fuzzy movement captured.

BONUS!! -

This is the only time I have ever wished that we named this kid Richard so I could put the obvious punchline on this photo.

SUPER BONUS!!

It's a little cold here and it's slowly killing our poor nanny from South Africa.  And last night the radiator in her room went out.  I best get home and try to turn some knobs, bleed a valve, or fill a pressure tank - all things I know nothing about but I'm going to attempt or Marianne might be sleeping in my bed tonight.

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).

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