Enough already...here are my quirks.

I don't feel like I have to list 6 quirks since Billie Jo has previously listed 2 quirks:

1)I know and have watched every episode of Little House on the Prairie. I feel like if I were able to be reincarnated I would come back as Charles Ingles.

2)I shower two to three times a day. Enough said, I like clean.

3)I always turn the radio down to zero before I turn off my truck in case the on/off button ever breaks I will not be stuck with a radio that never works again; as well as turning the fan setting in the control panel to low. Same reasoning, if it ever breaks I do not want to be left with air blasting in my face.

4)After drinking a cold beverage I always click my tongue on the top of my mouth and make a refreshing sigh to signify my satisfaction.

5)I sleep with my hands above my head clasped together as well as making a steam engine whistling noise while exhaling, (so I have been told).

6)I despise things that do not work properly. I would rather throw it away then put up with something that only semi works.

I re-re tag Allen and Max.

Random Ramblings!

As I have stocked many other blogs, I have realized that I don't take enough random or spontaneous pictures. I want to have all these images of my beautiful girls just "living" life. I think I may have to invest in a better camera or do some studying to capture the perfect photos. So in an attempt to catch some moments here we go:






This is my little bed bug! She manages to sneak into my bed 5 out of the 7 days of the week. She is so snuggly that I don't care and since I try to let her sleep in while Tess and Ellie get ready for school it is much more quiet in my room. Her eyes tell so much about who she is. She can melt your heart just with one flash of those baby blues. As you can see by the clock. She managed to sleep until 8:21. This is a miracle for my children, she can sometimes pull it off. Bless her!

Our big attempt at being self reliant. Well let's just say that if we had to live of our harvest, we would starve. Not entirely all my fault. I get lots of help from the deer and the frost. We planted zucchini, squash, carrots, peas, strawberries, raspberries, and tomatoes. Then of course there are the apple trees. Those tend to be the deer favorite. I will say that we ate zucchini this and zucchini that for several weeks and devoured several zucchini cakes. I have learned a lot and will give it another shot next year. (It would help if I built a ten foot fence and invested in green house.)

Noah tagged all the guys in the family and so far none of them have answered. Mom did a great job filling in dad's information. I however will fill you in on one little "quirk" about Tim. He LOVES and I emphasis L-O-V-E-S to clean. I try and try every day to have the house clean but there is always something that he can one up me on. The latest being steam cleaning. He found this gadget from someone who comes in to clean their office. He was bound and determined to steam clean our shower and anything else he could get a hold of. He just kept going and going (energizer bunny). I love this "quirk" he has but someday I would like to feel like I am not the worst house keeper in America. (I know, I know, Olivia and Robbin you don't have to tell me you would take it any day.) One other little quirk. Tim spends A LOT of time primping. He once was a hair model FOR REAL and I think he picked up some habits of spending time in front of the mirror.


So here is my best effort at casual photography. I love to watch these two walk to the bus in the morning. I often wonder what they talk about or say to each other. When they were younger, (ok two years ago) I would try to dress them the same. Now they try to plan out what they wear the night before and there are some outfits they have that match. Then they want me to do their hair the same. The are both getting way to big and it was really evident this weekend with Evan around.


Yeah Evan came to see us. We LOVE to have house guest. I feel like Evan is really a special little nephew since I was the first one there after his birth. I got to go into the special NICU and hold him. Boy has he come a long way from that little isolete. We are excited that we will be spending a lot more time with this little guy in the near future.

Well duty calls. Someone needs me to clean up their mess!

Pre-school Princess

As hard as I thought it would be to have Tess go to kindergarten, it was even more difficult to let my baby go to pre-school. Mia had her first day of pre-school on Wednesday, September 3rd. (This picture is really from Thursday because when we got to pre-school yesterday my batteries were dead!AHHH!) She had been so excited for her BIG day.

She looked so small compared to all the other kids and I wondered is she would be ok. After all the bookbag is as big as she is!!!However, she fared pretty well and talked for at least an hour about all the other kids in her class and who sat by her, who scribbled on their paper instead of staying in the lines, and of course the hello song that they learned. Apparently she is ready and able. Now I am just wondering what I am to do with 2 1/2 hours. Let's see update my blog, clean my house, and do the endless amounts of laundry!!!

More firsts and Sisterly Love (Finally)

I knew the day was coming. In some regards I was looking forward to it and then there is the reality. Tess was so excited to start school the last week had just about killed her to walk up to the bus everyday and watch Ellie leave. She had laid out her clothes, which she chose by herself, and got up and was dressed before I even went to her room. The excitement was just to much for her to sleep.



The morning was wonderful as she anxiously prepared for the day. She is such a positive little girl with the sweetest personality. I had been telling her for days that I changed my mind and wanted to hold her back a year (she just turned 5 at the begining of the month) but I realized that would only be holding back her dreams. I want my children to live life to the fullest and do and try whatever they want. Although my heart broke 1,000 times when she got on that bus knowing how quickly they are growing up and they aren't the little babies that I hold on my lap and one day they will leave my arms for good. AHHHH!

Another good thing has come about with Tess going to school. I see Ellie try to help her and they have such a precious friendship. They talk about sitting together on the bus and Tess tells Ellie not to run to fast on their way to the bus stop. They put necklaces on each other in the morning and Tess just follows Ellie's every step until they are ready to leave. Which brings me to my next phase...Mia. She has been rather sick the last few days but when I told her I was going up to get Tess off the bus, she jumped up and put on her shoes, rode her bike as fast as she could and sat and waited to see her sister get off the bus.

Their little embrace was so touching. I hope my girls will remain as close as friends as my sisters and I have. I can't imagine a world without sisters!!!

Back on Schedule

Ellie and Gracie waiting for the bus

I have been trying to get us all, mostly myself, on schedule for the last week. It really isn't hard for my kids to get up early (they do it EVERYDAY) but the schedule part it what I was working on. Since school is starting twenty minutes later this year I figure we could us the extra twenty minutes in the morning for reading and practicing the piano. I love being on a schedule, it really makes life easier for me. I think that I have been on a schedule for so long that it is awkward for me to not be on schedule which is why my summer was sooooo crazy. NO SCHEDULE!!!! My next goal is to get on a better sleep and exercise schedule however until the Olympics end there is no chance of that. Ellie was so excited for school to start she got dressed in 45 seconds. A record for her, I usually go get in the shower and she still is not dressed when I get out. We read, curled her hair, ate breakfast and tried to fix her pants. Tess got up and joined the activities but she actually won't start till next week. I really am so excited for this year I can hardly stand it. I will have four hours in the week for myself. I plan on "scheduling" so scrap booking time.

Last year we missed the bus on the first day, NOT this year!


I just had to post the FREAK hail/flash flood storm we had 9 days ago. The hail blocked all of the down spouts from the rain gutter and the pipe going up to the gutter looked like a sprinkler with water squirting out. It only lasted for about 5 minutes but it came down hard. The strange thing was we went down to have lunch with the Gunnersons ten minutes after and there was not one drop of moisture on the ground!





Lastly I have to give props to Tim and Rick. They participated in a two week triathlon at the Rec. Center. I can't remember all the details of how many miles they had to run, bike, and swim. I documented the last day of their swimming for family history. However since the Olympics began they think that Michael Phelps and Jason Lezack have channeled some of their swimming power. Maybe we will see the two of them in the 2012 London Games!

Oh what do you do in the summer time?!!?

I have so many pictures to go along with this post and that I had to add them this way. Hope you enjoy it.

Once we made it through the 4th of July we spent some time having more summer fun.

First: Liberty park. I have never been before and a couple of my friends invited us to go along with them. It exceeded my expectations. There are cements water canals, a water playground, a huge sand box play area and lots of people. The girls loved exploring the water canals although I was somewhat worried about ALL the people and sharing the germs and whatever else was growing in the water. It seemed to keep them cool and they had a great time. The best part for me was that it was absolutely free.

Second: Pioneer day fun. I didn't have my camera for the girls performances at the Fiesta Days, go figure, but Giselle has some great ones once she gets her camera back! Sorry! The kid's parade was again riding bikes down main street. Mia couldn't miss out on her chance. I talked her into pulling off at Key Bank and picking her up once again on the way back. The kid's love this parade for some reason. I can't wait for the day when I don't have to walk down main street supervising them. We didn't make it to the derby this year and therefore no derby turkey either. It is a tradition I really miss. We will shoot for next year!

Third: BEAR LAKE. This had to be the highlight of our summer. I am positively sure that my kids will always have great memories of this vacation. We spent EVERY day at beach except one when we went to Minnetonka cave. The only thing that would have made it better is to have our mom and dad, Allen and Patrice and Evan, Uncle Noah, and mostly our daddy with us the whole time. The kids played hard but I am sure the parent's played harder. Somewhere between guitar hero and the pedicures I managed to thoroughly enjoy myself. I hope we get back there every year.

Fourth: Seven Peaks. I had not been there since my senior year in high school. The girls had a spectacular time and I was very impressed with Ellie being so brave based on her reaction riding the tube at Bear Lake. We stayed for eight hours so we could get our moneys worth.

Fifth: Bisel Reunion. Swinging in the trees, eating, playing in the trees, eating, going for a ride to eat, auctions, and more eating. Just to recap the weekend.

Last but not least...Happy Birthday to Tess: We had three little birthday parties for Tess. I cannot believe she will be going to school in two weeks. I hope I have taught her everything she needs to know. It seems once Ellie started school there were many more influences in her life than just me!

We have had a great summer and a great big thanks to mom and dad for allowing us to enjoy ourselves at Bear Lake. Hope you can join us next time.