And I thought I was going to be lonely on Christmas break.

 Not with Ava and Eliah here for three sleeps!

The snowblower made some great paths to chase each other on.

Could it be a more glorious day for Christmas vacation? 

And we were able to squeeze in a chopstick lesson.  I only had one set of children's chopsticks.  They immediately figured out how to share it without my help at all.  Eliah is 5 so he gets 5 bites and Ava is 2 so she gets 2 bites.  They ate really well, too! 

Snow Like the "Olden" Days

Sunday was a beautiful blue sky, still, cold day after a fresh mountain of snow had just fallen.  As Aaron, Eliah and I worked at pulling the 2+ feet of snow off the porch and garage I couldn't help but be transported back in time to those fabulous snow days that found us working just as hard building snowforts in the ditches and commencing with snow wars.

We would play outside by the hour in our two pairs of corduroys, two pairs of mittens, scarves wrapped around our faces and our boots with plastic bags in them to keep our feet dry.  I remember my boots chafing around my calves until the skin was raw and snow getting stuck between my mittens and the cuffs of my jacket freezing my wrists.  But all that fabulous white, white, white snow...we loved it!

I'm sure Mom remembers us all coming in at the same time, draping our soaking wet paraphernalia everywhere.  Can you smell those wet mittens yet? 

But, we all loved being outside and Mom loved us being out there!  Admit it Mom, you know you did!

Eliah and Oskar were also born for snow, but Ava...not so much.  Katri thinks it's because she doesn't like all that confining snow gear.  Now, if our little girl could just be naked in the snow that would be another story. 

Who knew?

Last Christmas I had the joy of helping my friend, Diane, decorate her Christmas tree.  Granted, I had always thought she had the most beautiful tree in all Christendom, but I didn't really understand how she made that happen.  So, when I arrived at her home that long ago December day, she had a myriad  of boxes neatly labeled in the living room and it was my task to put the tree together.  It went quite well.  It was of the prelit variety, but oh my, that would never be enough lights.  So we added several strings....can't remember how many now.  We started opening the boxes and distributing the simple but shiny colored glass balls, making sure to get them at different depths, some very close to the trunk. 

After that I can't remember the order of events, but we kept opening boxes and talking about where all the ornaments had come from over the years.  The sweet Santa ball in the picture is from her childhood.  It held little treats, but only for good little girls and boys.  I don't know that she ever got anything from it, but I digress.  At one point, I said something like, "I don't think we can get another ornament on this tree."  To which she replied, "Oh, sister.  We are not done yet!" and disappeared down to her basement to return with some more enchanting ornaments.  Weaving the richly colored ribbon throughout the tree was a work of art in itself.

When I returned to my sparsley decorated tree I vowed to get some more glitz for my tree at the after Christmas sales.  And I did.  I had so much fun looking for some shiny ornaments to fill in the gaps and I did quite well.  It turns out my most delightful buy was the snowflakes that catch the light and throw it all over the tree and I got them for the amazing price of six for 25 cents.  Now, after all that work of decorating my tree, I have to learn to leave it up until February like Diane does.

You want what?

"You want what?"  That was the response when we were cleaning out Grandpa & Grandma Hanson's house a few years ago.  I loved that little chipped pink chair from their bedroom.  I adore  those well used common things from someone you love.  This chair speaks, "Grandma Hanson" to me.  I didn't realize the bonus would be that plants would flourish sitting on it. 

For Better or Worse

When I was young mom Lynn Johnston started writing the comic strip "For Better or Worse".  My mom and I would laugh about how her Michael and Elizabeth mirrored our Aaron and Rebekah.  Now I see my grandchildren showing up in her reruns...if this isn't our Ava I don't who is!  Have a fun night kids!

Autumn Leaves

Grandpa & Grandma Skogerbo lived on Second Street in Rochester, Minnesota.  It was an exciting place to visit with ambulances and police cars racing up and down the street all hours of the night.  Just a little different than our small town life. 

Grandma had a way of cooking up good ideas to keep us busy when we were there.  One of our fondest memories was raking gigantic piles of leaves in the autumn.  Cindy and I were reminiscing about the joy of this day a few days ago.  It seems like yesterday we were those laughing little girls lost in the delight of a moment that has lasted a lifetime. 

A More Beautiful Sight



I was enjoying a perfect autumn afternoon mowing when I noticed that glorious yellow orange maple down the street and thought it was so beautiful.  It became so much more beautiful a few minutes later when my sister Cindy appeared walking beneath it.  God has blessed me with a wonderful family. 

To the outside world we all grow old.  But not to brothers and sisters. 

We know each other as we always were. 

We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. 

We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. 

We live outside the touch of time.  ~Clara Ortega


I saw myself today...in my Grands; children, nephews & nieces



A Good Play

We built a ship upon the stairs
All made of back-bedroom chairs,
And filled it full of soft pillows
To go a-sailing on the billows.

We took a saw and several nails,
And water in the nursery pails;
And Tom said, “Let us also take
An apple and a slice of cake,”
Which was enough for Tom and me
To go a-sailing on, till tea.

We sailed along for days and days,
And had the very best of plays;
But Tom fell out and hurt his knee,
So there was no one left but me.

Robert Louis Stevenson

How to motivate children to clean?  It seems to help if they have a vivid imagination and some initiative.  Then, let them find some disgusting shed, pontoon, pony cart or chicken coop and allow them to sneak a broom and buckets out, so they think they are getting away with something.  And then, leave them alone.  It’s very hard to do that because I want to join right in.  I can’t count how many times we did this when we were kids.  What fun it was to make a clubhouse in an old shed or dig something out of the dump and bring it back to life for the day! 

Well, the kids found Grandpa's pontoon and set to work cleaning it up so they could play in it.  No need to put it in water.  These boys were quite boat savvy as Eliah slams it into gear and Broedun shouts, "Hold on to your hats."  

Grandpa Dale was happy about the whole adventure.

 

Can you hear Broedun whistle while he works?
I believe Ava is just along for the ride this time.

 

"No."  declares Keyleigh.
She's 2 1/2 years old, can you tell?





"I'll spray.  You wipe."  says Eliah.
"Okay, but I think this spot is going to
need medical attention." responds Broedun.



 

Who knew 2-6 year olds could be so productive?



Captain Eliah getting it into gear
with his piece of birthday cake in hand.





This was just before Tom fell out and hurt his knee.
No wait, it was just before Soren got bonked on his beautiful nose.



Somewhere in My Youth or Childhood...

How many grandmas have a grandson who throws his arms around you upon his arrival and whispers in your ear, "Can I vacuum?"  You have to love this boy.

All I can say about this is "Somewhere in my youth or childhood I must have done something good."  (Aaron if you are reading this, this quote is from "The Sound of Music" when the Captain & Maria are singing together.)

I love you Eliah!

You Need Your Girlfriends

I have been blessed with some wonderful friends over the years.  I know my journey would be much harder without them.  These women are my basketweaving buddies on our annual trip to Judy's Wisconsin cabin.  We connected about 20 years ago. I treasure the times we have spent eating, drinking, weaving,  laughing and crying together.     What a blessing it is to have women in your life you can count on.  Those Viking women of days gone by must have had girlfriends is all I can say. 

Grandma Lessons

A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween. ~Erma Bombeck

Between watching my mom and reading Erma Bombeck I think I'm catching on to this Grandma thing.

 

A Circle of Love and Strength

"Our family is a circle of love and strength,

with every birth and every union,

the circle grows.

Every joy shared adds more love.

Every obstacle faced together makes the circle stronger."

I've often heard camping was a bonding time.  So true. 

You see things you thought you would never see.

Aaron & Becky working together.

A five-year-old quoting his mother to his grandma. 

"If you keep trying you'll get better. 

That's what my mommy says."

Cousins putting their pyromania tendencies to good work....coffee in the morning.

A brother and sister working together to feed a poor starving dog.

The mommy gets served breakfast from the daddy.

I love sitting around a campfire drinking coffee, 

watching my family bond.

It's a Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

My neighbor, Norah smelled the Norwegian kringla baking and came over to have coffee with me this morning.  She also brought her mom, Reagan & Tanka (her grandpa, my brother) with her. My friend Rosalie and I were enjoying this hot summer morning on my back porch and it was a delight to have them join us.