Playing Catch-up

I know, I know... I really suck at keeping you updated. I think I say something to that effect when I post after it's been a while. So much has happened since June, so I guess I'll just try to give you a quick recap...
We were able to see my dad over the July 4th weekend. He and his wife (Cora) and their dog Kika met us at my sisters house, which was great because we hadn't seen the Meyer Clan since January or so. When we pulled up, the girls ran to him and gave him a hug like they've known him all their lives. It was so sweet! We had a wonderful visit and have some beautiful memories and pictures. Rather than fight with blogger and try to post them, it's just easier to refer you to Kerrie's blog...www.tableforfour.blogspot.com. She has some great pictures posted of both families. It was a great visit. Although I was very sad to see it come to a close I'm also thankful we all had the opportunity to go.
August brought the Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat races on the waterfront (www.bemidjidragonboat.com). It was really fun. I volunteered early in the summer to be a rower in the Dragon Boat...something I had never done before. I've rowed a canoe, but it's a little bit different than that. It wasn't just a casual "stroll" up and down the shoreline, it's an all out race...about 2 minutes of continuous rowing! Ufda! Anyway, it was fun and I'm glad I did it. The girls came with me to the festival and seemed to have a good time. It was also Crazy Days downtown, so we went and checked it out. They got their faces painted, and played a game where they had to toss zucchini into a bucket (which they thought was pretty cool)

Here's a picture of them as we led our team in the Parade of Teams

Ok, so they're a little farther back in the picture than I thought, but you get the general idea.
Here they are getting their faces painted.


Evie wanted to be a kitty


...and Iz said she just wanted Red Flowers.

They thought it was fun and they both sat amazingly still while it was being done!

There's more to report (like the first day of school!!), but I'm running out of time. I'll try and get to it soon!

Dinner Table Conversation

Last night, I made a small ham that I had picked up along with mashed potatoes and corn. Thinking that this would be a sure hit, since it's one of the few meals where my kids will eat everything that is offered to them.

We sat down and got everyone's plate dished up, said the prayer and away we went. After a few minutes, I noticed that Evie hadn't eaten any of her potatoes. Hmm... I wonder what's wrong, she LOVES mashed potatoes? Here's how the conversation went.

Me: What's wrong Ev? You're not eating your potatoes.

Evie: Yeah, they're just not good.

Me: Oh, they're not good. Sorry.

Evie: Con - NOT - gratulations to you Mommy!

Me: Con - NOT - gratulations to me?

Evie: Yes. Not congratulations, con-not-gratulations is when something is bad.

Ok then.

Stuff

I don't have anything in particular to write about, so I'll just ramble about what's been going on since last time. :)

Hmmm... I guess not too much is happening. I think they've finally found a spot for me here at the radio station. The PD told me this morning that he's waiting for final confirmation on Monday morning, so hopefully I'll have more to report on that next week. Until then, I just do what I can to look busy. Actually, I've kind of become the "back up" copy writer which means that I help write commercials and distribute them for production, so that's something I guess.

At home things have been interesting... well, actually one night in particular was interesting, hee-hee. For some reason I stayed up way later than I normally do, watching TV I'm sure. Anyway, as I was getting out of the chair to go to bed, Jim got up for a snack and was going to watch some TV for a bit. So, I went to bed... and let me mention that I was BEYOND tired. About 30-45 minutes later, Jim yells at me from the living room to come in there. I was in that "not awake, but not asleep" stage of rest, so rather than jump right up, I asked him what he wanted. He told me he thought we had a mouse as he had seen a "brown streak" run across the doorway that goes from the living room to the kitchen. Fabulous. Grogggily, I told him "ok" and rolled over. Long story short, he decided to run to Wal-Mart for some mouse traps. Oh, and did I mention yet that he was behaving like such a girl :-)? He has a thing with mice the same way some people have a thing with snakes or spiders, he just doesn't like them. Anyway, he came back from the store, baited the traps and came back to bed. I should mention that he said he saw this thing run behind the stove, and after hearing the little scratch of little feet we confirmed that was indeed where it was. The stove is also just outside of our bedroom, which has no door. Obviously, that's also where he set the traps... yes trapS, just in case. At about 4 something, I heard one of the traps SNAP. "Yay, that didn't take too long, problem resolved".... until about 4:30 when I heard the other trap SNAP then rattle around. "Oh shit, there is a mouse dragging a stupid trap all over the kitchen". So, I made Jim get up and check it out. Sure enough, one mouse had met his demise, but the other sneaky bastard was caught by his front right paw. Once again, Jim shuddered like a girl and wondered how to dispose of the little critters, because heaven forbid he TOUCH the trap :) He used the tongs. I found it pretty amusing... big tough man letting little mice give him the heebie-jeebies.

The girls are well. They slept through the mice experience, but learned of it when we told them that mouse traps aren't to play with. (I had visions of Isabelle with multiple broken fingers.) They're glad that summer has finally come the the NorthWoods and they can play outside in their swimsuits at daycare.

Jim is in Aberdeen this weekend, so the girls and I are having a fun girl weekend. I'm not sure what we'll do, but part of it includes cleaning the house. I'm sure that will be fun...

We're also waiting to hear from my dad what his schedule is looking like. He's doing some work in WY and will have a chance to go to SD for a visit. Whenever he does that, we'll all head down to Kerrie's and meet him there. I am beyond excited. I haven't seen him since Nathan was born (he's 6 now) and my kids have never met him. They're so sweet though. I've told them that we might get to see "Papa Wood" and Evie keeps saying that she misses him so much. (I may have said that in an earlier post now that I think of it)

Other than that, we're just hangin' out. I'm hoping to get back to Aberdeen sometime in July... kind of a Mommy get-a-way, but we'll have to see what's going on I guess. Not much more to report right now, so I guess I'll get back to work :)

**sigh**

When I got into radio seven years ago, I wouldn't have believed anyone that told me they didn't have anything to do. It seemed there was always something for me to do. Here in Bemidji... um, not so much.

I don't have a "set" air shift yet. I'm on right now from 9am-10am (which is better than nothing, I guess). The Program Director says he doesn't want to put me in a time slot that he can 't commit to for at least 90 days. Who am I to argue? Even though I've been in the business for seven years, this is only the second radio group I've worked for. I guess I don't know the "norm" for most PD's and General Managers because things in Aberdeen were done so differently than they are here. I'm not saying one way is better than the other, just different. So, anyway... here I sit everyday with essentially nothing to do. Occasionally a piece of production will float my way, or someone will give me an odd job that needs to be done. Other than that I just walk around aimlessly looking for something to do, 'cause let's face it... there are only so many things I want to look at on-line :) It bothers me though. Most days I feel like I'm in the way. This group is not as busy as Aberdeen as far as sales goes. Bemidji is about half the size of Aberdeen, so I suppose that's a contributing reason. Let me clarify... I'm not unhappy here. The people are really nice and I'm thankful they are giving me the opportunity to stay in the business. It's just a frustrating time. Hopefully they'll find a permanent spot for me soon.

Beprensing, EVIE!!!

Yes, you read it right. I have a cousin that used to "present" herself that way ("Beprensing KATIE!!") and Evelyn said the same thing when she was younger. I figured that since I dedicated yesterday to Izzie, today should be about Ev. Wow, where do I start..?

It didn't take long after Evelyn was born before we realized that she was going to be alot like me. She has many of the same mannerisms that I have, and my mother tells people that if she had lighter hair she would be a "mini-Shannon". Now don't get me wrong, she was a typical young toddler just like Izzie is turning out to be, but Evie seemed to be a little more mellow and sensitive (and is still that way). She loves just about everyone she meets... especially boys. Now... I remember being very boy crazy when I was younger, but I don't remember it starting when I was 5 1/2!! She had a crush, I guess that's what you would call it, on a little boy in her pre-school class. His name is Nicolas. Every day after school there was always a story about Nicolas, and I think the feeling was mutual. They played together everyday. The next year of pre-school there was Ashton (after all, Nicolas had moved on to Kindergarten). I don't know how much Evie "loved" Ashton, but it was very evident that he "LOVED" her. When we got to school, Ashton was always the first to literally RUN up to her and give her the biggest, squishiest hug ever! It was so sweet.

She doesn't always limit herself to concrete loves. When she became interested in TV and what was on, we watched alot (and still do) of Nickelodeon.... Spongebob Squarepants, The Fairly OddParents, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, and Danny Phantom. At the same time, she was developing a vivid imagination. Like most kids, her playtime was based on what she knew... and what she knew was Danny Phantom. So, he became her boyfriend. She would try to re-enact different episodes, or just play house but her partner no matter what she was doing was Danny. One day (recently, actually) she was getting ready to get in the shower and advised me that Danny would need to shower too. Um... no, Danny can wait. Lord help us!!

Evie is also very emotional. I remember when I was right around her age, I watched "Snoopy Come Home" on TV. In case you haven't seen it, or you don't remember, Snoopy leaves Charlie Brown to go visit his former owner and decides he needs to stay with her. Anyway, I remember it vividly because it was so sad... I bawled my eyes out! Evelyn is the same way. She cried when she thought The Beast died in "Beauty and the Beast", she even cried when Spiderman's friend Harry died in Spiderman 3 (sorry for the spoiler if you haven't seen it yet). She cries of course when she doesn't get her way, when it's time to go (usually because she "hasn't had fun yet"... you can't leave if it wasn't fun), and when she's in trouble. Sometimes her tender heart is endearing but she also knows how to use it to her advantage.

She's a good girl, they both are, and like every little boy and girl she has her good and bad side. I guess when you have kids you just learn to accept the good with the bad... unconditionaly.