Yeah, I'm really likin' this vacation thing. Not sure I really want to go back on Monday! Went to another movie today - this time, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Andrea and Becky. Then I went to get a haircut - I think it's adorable. :) And finally, Spaghetti dinner with Grandma and Grandpa - Matt/Sarah/girls/& Sarah's sister and Lonny/Alice joined us! Good times! :)
Today was a fun day of running around. I was actually up in Blaine by 9:30am to pick up my dates for the 10:10AM! showing of Marley & Me. Grandma, Grandpa, and I enjoyed the movie - but yes - the tears flowed freely - and I did cuddle with my own babies when I got home!
I spent some time with Amy (in Anoka) for a bit - and then met Ann for dinner at Flame. The food was fine - but the cool part was our dessert of S'mores!
It's been really cold - but today was nice enough to get outside. Alice and Lonny came out to play with the pups . .and then Lonny took Alice to the front yard to teach her how to make Snow Angels in the fresh snow. (Baxter and Bella watched from the front step ... as close to the front yard they could get without being "corrected")
The evening brought us out to Bob and Sue's again - this time for Grandma's request. . a re-run of the Rice Krispie Chicken dinner she was too crummy feeling to enjoy the last time.
What a weird Christmas Day! We really did just lie around in PJs. The biggest event was Alice coming down to Santa's presents - and then getting to play with her new dollhouse.
And. . .to illustrate how weird this was - here's our menu from today:
Breakfast
eggs
bacon
biscuits
cinnamon twists
Lunch?
Didn't really have one - but snacked on meat, cheese, crackers
Christmas Dinner??
Fishsticks
Tater Tots
Corn
Next year. . still PJs .. but maybe we'll plan for a meal or two! :)
(Ok - I'm totally cheating - it's really Jan. 1st as I write this - but I will SIT here and blog until I'm totally CAUGHT UP! - so here goes. . . )
I hung out with the Christensons for Christmas Eve - and it was a blast! Dinner was awesome (yup - I contributed my Polish goodies) - and it was great to see the little ones so into their presents!
Dinner
The Entire Christenson Family . . . For Now :)
Grandpa, Me, & Grandma
(update 12/29) - Grandma was in the hospital for a few days. She did have angioplasty - 2 stents put up in(?) her heart. Anyway - Sun - she hadn't had it yet - but was already feeling better / less stressed - knowing she was in good hands. She went home to Bob and Sue's later that week - and has been getting more back to her old self every day!)
(back to Sat. Dec. 21)
I stopped to check in with Grandma - and then - even tho the roads were still pretty crappy - I slowly made my way to Heidi's place in Eagan. This was her 2nd annual Cookie Exchange - and GEEZ - aren't these things the coolest! I came away with a variety of yummy treats! and of course - Heidi put on quite the spread. AND surprise! Auntie Phyllis was there! Fun afternoon!
The Cookies
Heidi's Spread
Amy, Auntie Phyllis, Nancy
Heidi and Amy's Haakon
Well, it was a pretty yukky Saturday - but Alice and I did find ourselves out at our new library. What a fun way to spend an hour. She plays with the "store" "pay phone" and puppets. A new favorite is sitting at a table doing puzzles. Her favorite one is a wooden puzzle of a guy working on a telephone pole. :) We were supposed to head up to Bob and Sue's for chili but because of the crappy weather - we didn't venture out. I also did not try to head up to Coon Rapids to visit Grandma in the hospital. She ended up as a patient after complaining of some pressure in her chest - and just plain not feeling good. Updates on this to come. . . .all is well tho. (well, better, anyway) :)
Well, this week was completely bearable - knowing that a 2 week vacation was coming soon! The kids were really good - and I didn't spend much money for our "party." They brought their own money for pizza - and bought sodas. I didn't even pass out pencils!! I know - a lot different for me. (however, they will get pencils AFTER the break - no point in giving them out early - and them just LOSING them!) Anywhoo - I did sneak in some fun this week - a Wolves game with Julie and Heidi. Julie got us some GREAT seats to see Lebron James. . .oh and the Timberwolves too! Travis brought a buddy - and . . . I think they had fun also. :)
Sunday brought Mini Christmas (as I've dubbed it). We planned to spend the day together - as Christmas. We opened presents over at Alice's house. It was cool to see her really get into opening . . 
and all the cool things she got (and the fun of Grandma and Grandpa trying to assemble them) . . . and then . . .to really just enjoy playing in the box!
We moved over to my house for the afternoon - where dad made his famous Orange Cookies
. . .and mom prepared a typical Sunday dinner of Rice Krispie Chicken and French Potatoes. Grandma and Grandpa got to hang out with us too - although - you can see that Grandma still wasn't feeling very well. 
Sue and Bob joined us for dinner - and more visiting and laughing!
Happy Mini Christmas to all!
We spent mom and dad's 2nd day in MN running around and being festive! The morning brought us all to Blaine for a wonderful brunch at Bob and Sue's house. Grandma wasn't feeling well, so we didn't get to see them quite yet, but it was a great time of chillin' with family.
After brunch, the Jerome's all went their separate ways. Lon and Jaime went to Who Made Who for their 1st Birthday Bash. Mom and Dad had some shopping to do. Alice and I went to Jaymie's in Andover for her 2nd (?) Annual Cookie Party. Alice was by far the youngest there, but loved every minute of being with the "big kids." 
She "decorated" cookies, ate a few, and ran around the house with all the other kids. Jaymie had all the kids bring ornaments to exchange. We sat around the tree and drew ornaments. After that, all the kids ran upstairs again, while I hung out on the floor with Alice. After about 30 seconds, she grabbed my hand and said, "Ree Ree, let's go to party." And she dragged me back upstairs to play. :) An exhausting afternoon, but as Alice sang later that night, it was a good day, and she wants to "do it again."
Mom and dad arrived with Uncle Jim - ready to hang out for Polish cooking, game playing, and lots and lots of laughing! As you can see - a good time was had by all!
LRH1 & LRH2 show us how to do it
Little Ones Entertaining Themselves
Sydney and Mom (Jamie) 
Alice Mae learning from the best
2nd Cousins (Alice, Zach, Lucas, Logan - Sydney and Alex had already left)
Logan and Alice work together
The "big" kids entertaining themselves!
Cousins (after Jaime and Jamie left)
No Coast came up quickly this year - and even tho Jaime wasn't 100% ready - they both had a pretty good weekend. Alice spent Saturday up at Bob and Sue's, so I got to help out at the sale this year. Good times - my highlight - Andy's sweet potato fries and the Jamaican Meat Pie. :)
For those of you worried about me in this 30 degree weather . . . the furnace has been working fine since Sunday. I called Northern Heating and Air - they're sending me the application to join their membership. I've missed the free fall furnace tune up - but I can still do it - for a discount - and if Lon/Jaime do it the same night - we get another discount - for being one call for the service guy. Heidi, Excel also has stuff like this - but none were as cheap as Northern. I will re-check this after I get the info from them - but Excel has the appliance protection, with added services like preventative stuff. Anywhoo - I'll research still.
Thanks to all who have been thinking of me this week! :)
Well - my furnace was acting funny again today. Ugg. . . Like it TRIES to kick on - but it can't. (this has happened once before - a few Sundays ago) I did the trouble shooting stuff that sorta worked last time (I actually have no idea what made it work again last time). . that didn't work. Called Dad for advice. He suggested calling Cousin Matt for advice/name of good HVAC guy. Matt ended up coming OVER!! He found more knobs and switches I hadn't seen before - and with a bunch of reading and tugging and dinkin' around - it finally kicked on! Again - still not sure exactly what caused the dang thing to start working again - but the Big Picture - I have heat tonight - and the name of the place Matt uses (Northern Heating and Air Conditioning). I'm calling them tomorrow - and they have this "membership" - pretty much you pay every month a fee - but then they come out for yearly tune ups and offer discounts on service. Anyhoo. . I'm calling them. :)
Ughh - not ready for this FULL FIVE DAY week coming up!
CRAFT FAIR this weekend! Come check Lon/Jaime out! (and YES - Lonny did the poster for this year's show!)
Greg and Mary with grandkids (minus Jim's Zach)
A great time was had by all! I hung out with my Nordin cousins all day. We had a wonderful meal, a rowdy game of Outburst, and lots and lots of laughing! Without further ado - here's who else made the trek to Heidi's place:
Travis, Zach, Don, Julie
Kelsey, Adam, Abby, Jim, Michele
Jon, Genevieve, & Baby Nordin :)
Me and Heidi
Carl and Ellie stopped by later - after having dinner at Ellie's daughter's house.
Heidi and I snapped the wishbone - SMACK down the middle!
The Little Red Hens - Julie and I hung out to finish our movie (Batman Begins) before we took off for Julie's house - ahem - after a stop at Michaels. :)
Ok - So not really a good excuse for being behind in blogging - but I'm sticking with it for now. 
Halloween was fun - I only had 6 kids - and then this cutie pie from next door (Alice was Abby Cadabby). After I turned off my lights - I headed up to Osseo to relax with some grownups at Ann's house! :)
Cousin Heidi brought me to see the Rockettes at the Target Center. It was a blast - My favorite part was all the Santas. Julie and Mary Joy went too - fun night.
I had my Pampered Chef party here last Friday. I love having people over - and it was a blast! Cousin-in-law Heather was our PC host - and she did a great job (once she figured out that teachers SUCK at being quiet and being good students!) :) Terry spent the night, and Heidi and Julie joined us for Lipstick Jungle after the guests left - another fun night.
Finally - this past weekend was nice and relaxing. Headed to The Container Store with Lon/Jaime/Alice - and then to IKEA (for shopping AND ice cream). I think the Container Store is my new favorite place! Holy Moly! There were organizer type things there I didn't even know I needed! :)
And then on Sunday, Alice and I headed up to Auntie Sue's where she and her daughters-in-law were making lefse. We missed Kyla - and the lefse making - but enjoyed pizza and playing with Paige, Caleb, and Hannah! (and Alice loved the "bread" - lefse!)
School's out for Thanksgiving break. I'm hanging out with my Nordin cousins for Turkey Day - and then plan to hang out at home - cleaning and scrapbooking and reading. Ahhh I love vacation!
Happy Thanksgiving!
**Side note - Not really totally satisfied with my new expensive digital camera purchase. My $250 camera worked great - great pics - and was nice and small (but the screen broke - which is why I needed a new camera). My new $400 camera gives kinda grainy photos - and is big enough to require a huge purse with which to carry it. Anyhoo. . maybe I'll take a community ed class - and learn how to really use this sucker. . but right now - I'm feeling foolish for spending the extra money on a "nice" camera.
