Where Have We Been?

I just realized it has been almost 2 months since I posted a blog here. Yikes! Where did the time go?

We've been busy with lessons, training our now 93-pound puppy, and home renovation projects. We've been tearing apart our kitchen and putting it back together (still in progress), having a new well pump installed, and now we are getting ready to rip out drywall and replace all the plumbing in our house.

Here are some photos, just for fun. This one is Aidan with Juno about two months ago (photo taken by my mom)...she was smaller then than she is now.


Colin loves playing with the snap circuit set they got for Christmas. It says it's for ages 8 and up, but he seems to have caught onto how to make it work pretty well. If anyone has thought about buying one of these for their kids, I highly recommend it. This is the starter set, and it EASILY keeps MY wiggly boys focused for an hour or more at a time!


I've been trying to do more painting. It has been a really icy winter that has not allowed for us to have much time outside. Painting helps me to cope with the lack of color and light we experience in the winter. I mean, look at my pastels, below. How could anyone look at all of these beautiful colors and resist the urge to pick them up and start painting?

Basically, pastels resemble chalk, but they're almost pure pigment...the same pigments used in artist-quality oil paints.

I started a separate blog for my art and photography. If you are interested, you can get to it by clicking here. I HAVE been updating that blog regularly because I've been painting regularly, thanks in large part to my mother-in-law, who watches the boys once a week so I can go to the "Open Studio" time at the Dietrich Theater and have some dedicated time to paint. Have I mentioned that I have the best mother-in-law in the world?

Exciting Day

Well, we've had some excitement today. We woke up at about 7:45 this morning to some low rumbles of thunder and a very dark sky. I decided to check the radar to see what was coming our way before we drove 2 hours to my mom's house. Hmmm...severe thunderstorm warning and winds in excess of 65 mph headed straight for us.

I headed back into the bedroom, figuring I'd distract the boys with getting dressed and stuff. Not a chance. The wind picked up like crazy, the rain came pounding down...and then the power went out. The room was as dark as night, and the boys were scared. Then the sirens started going off. (My dad's house does NOT have a basement, by the way.)

Knowing that taking cover would possibly scare the boys even more, I debated it, but only for a second. There was a loud THUD on the roof, and I ushered them under the built-in desk in that bedroom and hauled pillows and sleeping bags in there with us, figuring they would at least be protected from flying glass if something should come through the window. We sat under there, listening to debris flying around outside and the loud wind and the thunder and the sirens. Once it finally quieted down, I got up to go see if it was safe to have them come out yet.

Here is what I saw looking out my dad's patio door...and yes, the sky was still that dark and it was now 8:15 a.m.

That tree lying across the walkway to the lake and leaning on the picnic table is NOT normally there. It is a huge oak tree that blew down and took part of the roof off of the building where my dad keeps his fishing and boating equipment.

I decided to wait until it got a little bit lighter to come out of our spot under the desk for good.

Finally, (it was really only about 5 more minutes), we emerged from our hideout. Then, my dad and my cousin, Andy, came home from work to survey the damage.

As you can see, there was lots of small debris laying around all over the place:

Here is a view of my dad's back yard, with tons of debris and the tree on the ground. I don't recall the chair on the deck being up there...I think it was blown up there, and it barely missed the patio door.

Here is part of the oak tree that blew down, apparently trying NOT to land in the lake!


Another shot of the tree and the damage it did to my dad's storage building.

Oh, there's where the roof landed...in front of the door of the building!

More debris:

My dad told me that he heard on the radio that it should be clear for driving now. So, we decided to head up to Minneapolis, considerably later than we had planned.

We stopped a few times as we were leaving my dad's neighborhood, to look at some of the other damage the straight-line winds caused.

Here is a camper that was flipped onto its side:

And a dock and a boat lift all mangled by the storm:

Another mangled boat lift, and a boat completely flipped over:

A pontoon that was COMPLETELY flipped over. Do you have any idea how HARD it is to flip a pontoon?

A broader view:

The road signs were casualties as well...

We learned later today that these were straight line winds that were up to 84 mph.

Hey, Becky, aren't you glad you and the kids weren't camping in a tent for THAT?!?!

ON A HAPPIER NOTE... Fred picked up Juno today! Here he is, at the home of her breeder, holding our "little" puppy!

She's only 12 weeks old...I don't think she's going to be "little" for long!

Sick Day

I've basically thrown the boys' social schedules out the window for this week. Colin's fever was running 102.4 this morning, and he was croupy last night. His strep screen came back negative, so this is probably viral, but it's still something I'd rather NOT be passing around to all their friends.

So, since there's nothing exciting to photograph as we are "quarantined" at home and not doing anything really exciting, I thought I'd share a couple of other cute photos.

Here is Aidan with a bouquet of flowers he picked for me:

This is a cameraman from Animal Planet filming Juno's littermates for a show called Dogs 101, which will be airing on Animal Planet on October 18. I don't know if they got footage of ALL the puppies or not; I don't know if Juno will be shown in it or not; but I will DEFINITELY be watching it!
Can you believe they're only 7 weeks old in these photos? Most of the puppies will be going to their homes this weekend. I wish we could bring Juno home then, but that would be like playing a cruel joke on her with all the travel we have coming up. No, it will definitely be better for her to stay with her mother for another month, instead.

Meet Juno!

Today was puppy selection day for our family. I took the boys to visit the breeder and the puppies...oh, they were ALL so cute! Two in particular seemed very interested in the boys, and kept walking over to us right away.

It was a very difficult to choose between the two who kept wanting our attention. The one we selected together, our little Juno (not little for long!), was calmer and more submissive than the other dog, but since she was interested in the kids, she seemed like a good choice for our family. I am certain that Sadie and the cats will appreciate the calmer temperment.

So...here is Juno, before we officially decided on her:
And here she is wearing her new collar that we brought for her:

And, one more photo:

She's the second-smallest of the litter, but she will still be a LARGE dog, probably 100 pounds, anyway. She was just so gentle and VERY cuddly. We will be bringing her home at the end of July.

Puppies, play, and rainstorms

First, a quick puppy update...

The puppies are now 4 weeks old, only 2 weeks until we get to pick ours...here's a new photo I got from the breeder today:

Photos from a couple days at Grandma Margie's...

Those ferns are TALL! Even for Fred!

The boys seem to have the most fun with simple things, like a hose...
Or a wagon...
Or a good tree to climb!
When we were at Margie's yesterday, we got a very sudden, soaking rainstorm. There is real beauty after a rain...

New Addition Coming Soon!

We are getting a new addition to our family at the end of July -- a Newfoundland puppy!

The litter is currently 4 weeks old, and we'll be picking out OUR puppy in 2 weeks. Here are some photos of what they look like NOW...(I cannot take the credit for the photos, they were sent to me by the breeder). The female we will be getting should be about 100-120 pounds when fully grown, and will basically look like a black St. Bernard. I guess we just have to hope our neighbors don't confuse it with a black bear!