Four Hawkers on the Prairie

Spit cups & cigs

2012-02-15T16:04:00.004-06:00

As most of you know, Bradley smoked cigs & chewed....bleh. Obviously I am not a fan since it is EXTREMELY bad for you in so many ways not to mention quite costly. I was thrilled when he quit smoking a few months back. I know it probably wasn't easy. No more cigarette butts flowering our lawn, cig breath or smelly fingers! He still chewed which filled the nicotine void left by not smoking but I was happy with "one down". The chewing thing to me is just gross. He used pouches not loose stuff so at least I didn't see it but I DID see the "spitters" (empty pop bottles filled with spit & used pouches) all over the house and his car. Ewwww as Alayna would say!!! However, I am happy to say that he has quit chewing as well!!!! I am so proud of him and hope he sticks with it. Habits of any kind are hard to break, especially when it is addicting but he is determined which is great. I wish I could do the same with sweets and going to do my best in that department.

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-15T08:32:00.006-06:00

Here is a valentine that we received from our Sweets/Peanut. She was so excited to show it to us along with a card she made at preschool...........

Brad then couldn't wait to give gifts to his ladies. On Monday after work he ran a few errands and after Alayna gave him her Valentine he presented Kalyse & Alayna with cute cards and gifts. I got a card as well. He is super sweet! He also sent me flowers on Tuesday....totally unexpected. I surprised him at work with a steak & shrimp lunch, rose, card and chocolates.

I know this holiday is HIGHLY commercialized and seems all about presents but when you enjoy giving gifts then it isn't the "work" that some people make it. I know some that expect things and are disappointed when they don't get what they think they deserve which is unfortunate. I think it is fun but it wouldn't sadden me if I didn't get anything. Thankful to have a loving husband & wonderful girls which is all I could ever want or need!!!

Retirement

2012-02-14T15:28:00.000-06:00

Once again I have fallen behind in my blogging, sorry! I want to give a big CONGRATULATIONS to my mom who retired from the full time general manager position at The Land magazine on January 13th after over 20 years with the company. She has filled many hats there and worked hard getting the best agricultural publication out possible. She is not completely retired, however, as she decided to stay on part time to help the new GM get into position. This happens to be a win-win because although my mom is "ready" to retire she is by far "ready" to retire….if that makes sense! She enjoys working but at this point in her life would like to slow down therefore working 20 hours a week. This gives her time to volunteer, travel with my dad and probably her favorite thing: spend time with her granddaughters! She has already been to one field trip to Dairy Queen and planning to help with one next week to Pet Expo. I am sure it is an adjustment but much deserved!

Winter Dance Show

2012-02-01T16:22:00.003-06:00

Alayna had her first Just for Kix dance show on January 14th and she ROCKED it! All of the girls did so well and it was fun to see different ages. We had a great time and were so proud of Alayna. She is usually quite shy but had no problems performing in front of hundreds of people along with the other little ladies. She dances this Friday during halftime at the boys basketball game and has a Spring show in May.

Alayna (on far left)

Poised and ready

First dance was to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Second dance was Santa Baby

No cavities!

2012-01-16T21:03:00.002-06:00

Do you remember being at an age when going to the dentist was fun?? Well, I sure don't and you can tell by my teeth that I was not fond of going. Alayna was looking forward to her 2nd check up which Brad took her to last week. She has NO cavities but one wiggly tooth! She was really excited and brought home a bag of goodies (floss, toothpaste, gum, tattoo). She also did awesome while Brad got his teeth cleaned.

New words

2012-01-09T19:37:00.003-06:00

Kalyse is now 15 months and is understanding plus saying so much more now. She's able to find her piggy, baby, ball, drink, pillow, book or other items and will bring them to people. For example, we'll say "Where's the horse?" She does her "I don't know pose" (hands with palms up and shrugging) then will get the horse. We will say give to Alayna and she will. Or we will say "Diaper change?" and she will get a diaper and the container of wipes and bring to us. She also knows where her nose and belly are and will point to them when we ask her where they are. It is so fun to see each stage little ones go thru!

We definitely watch a lot of football because when we have it on TV she points to it and says "booh-ball?" and then puts both hands in the air and says "buh bown?"

She also says Dada, Mama, Nay-nah (when she wants Alayna), makes some sounds similar to words ("seys" for socks), says "Uh OH" when she drops something and her latest is now pointing her finger in the air and says "NO"! She can blow kisses and puts her finger to her lips to say shhhh.

Kalyse is definitely spunky and silly! When people are in a room laughing she will scrunch her nose and bust out laughing. She also loves to spin and copies whatever Alayna does.

Reading the Menards flier

Alayna & daddy read books so Kalyse joins in!

"Ohhhh" as she plays with her baby

Being silly balancing a cup on her head

Just for Kix

2012-01-09T19:19:00.002-06:00

Alayna is very excited for her first dance show! She has practice tomorrow night, dress rehearsal on Friday and then the Winter Show on Saturday. Her Tiny Kix class (ages 3-5) is performing two dances. Coach Molly is great with the kids and we can't wait to see the little ladies on stage all dolled up.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-09T18:12:00.004-06:00

On Friday the 30th, Brad and I met some friends for supper. We had some much needed adult time and lots of laughs! Always fun to go out with great friends....just like old times, well except we didn't stay out or do anything stupid like we used to do.

We had a nice time celebrating with family on New Year's Eve. We went to Brad's sister's house where we enjoyed lots of food and chit chatting. Brad's brother Jeff, wife Crystal and kids came too. The kids had fun playing together but were getting antsy so we decided to head home about 11:15. Kalyse went to bed but we let Alayna stay up with us to welcome in the New Year!

Hayden, Makynna, Asia, Austin, Kalyse & Alayna

Kalyse, Asia & Makynna

Waterslide

2012-01-08T14:55:00.002-06:00

Brad took vacation the Mon-Wed after Christmas and enjoyed being home with the girls. On Wednesday the 28th he took Kalyse to grandma & grandpa's then him and Alayna went to the LC Area Rec Center for a day of games, gym time and of course swimming. They had a blast and she went down the big water slide so many times Brad lost count!

Bradley & his girls

2012-01-03T19:19:00.002-06:00

Brad with his little ladies, Alayna & Kalyse. He is such a great dad. Patient, loving, funny, always on the floor playing with them, reading books, taking them places, scooping them in his arms when they cry, giving a high five when they do well, tickles and kisses and so much more. Very thankful to have him in our lives!

Puzzles

2012-01-03T19:01:00.004-06:00

Lately Brad & I have been on a kick of doing jigsaw puzzles.

I know.......sounds LAME-O.

How did two 31 year olds get on such a kick you ask? Well Alayna is into them now and received a few for Christmas. One night Brad & Alayna started working on a 200 piece Tangled puzzle and then I jumped in. After a while, Alayna got tired and went to bed so Brad & I stayed up. We couldn't let it sit there so we stayed up until it was done. A couple nights later we started a 300 piece puzzle and spent 3 hours completing it...staying up until 12:30! It probably would've went faster but I threw the box away by accident so we had to really think about things. The time went super fast and it was nice to have the TV off for us to chat, be silly and finish it together. We accomplished it and had fun in the process! The last time we went to the store we walked by puzzles and talked about the next one we should try.

You can say it..........dorks

Christmas weekend

2012-01-03T18:45:00.002-06:00

We had a very nice Christmas weekend with family and our church program. I teach Sunday School and coordinate the program with others in our church. The Friday before Christmas Eve I had to close so I peeled out at 5pm to pick up Brad and we cruised to Rapidan for our dress rehearsal and pizza party at 5:30. We have a small church so we like to keep it simple so it went fairly quickly.

Christmas Eve day was fairly quiet and then we had program at 5pm. The kids did great and I just LOVED how loud they sang for certain songs like "Go Tell It on the Mountain"! It always reminds me of our programs growing up. After the service, we went to my parents for appetizers and we watched It's a Wonderful Life, a favorite of Brad, my mom and me. Alayna passed out presents and Kalyse as always was in the middle of everything. She even ripped open her presents a bit.

Christmas Day we went to church and back home for a family nap! We went to Grandma Krummel's in Lake Crystal to see Brad's family. The meal was yummy and it was great to see Brad's aunt, uncle and cousins from Wisconsin. Like every year, it went so fast after all the hype!

Rock Star

2011-12-30T16:57:00.004-06:00

We don't listen to country music and I don't think Alayna would know a country artist but she loves her cowgirl hat, cowgirls boots and belt buckle AND singing with her new microphone and amp that she got from Aunt Amy & Uncle Nikko!

Looks like a rockstar to me......

Christmas Program

2011-12-29T22:11:00.003-06:00

Alayna had her very first Christmas program for school on the 19th. Her preschool class has 19 kids and they all did really well! The sang 6 songs and did a "Reindeer Hokey Pokey" dance at the end. She had practiced the songs at home for the last few weeks and sang so loud we could hear her from our seats. We were very proud of her and it was just another reminder of how grown up she is getting. At the end the kids gave the parents each a bag of things that they had made and she was so excited to show us her projects the we had juice and cookies. Brad and I had to go back to work but Grandma & Grandpa took Alayna to Whiskey River for lunch.

Before she left the house in her sparkly shoes & curly hair (I took this pic with my phone so the colors look goofy)

Holidazzle

2011-12-29T21:57:00.003-06:00

My mom and I went to the cities on December 16th to do our Christmas shopping and checked in to at the Millenium hotel in downtown Minneapolis. My dad and Brad came up later with the kids. We walked a couple blocks to the Holidazzle parade and both girls had fun! We went swimming and did a bit more shopping on Saturday.

Cinderella's Carriage

2011-12-29T15:37:00.002-06:00

We had our company Christmas party on December 9th and enjoyed a magician and a delicious pork meal along with cocktails with co-workers and their spouses. Brad worked early the next day so I took the girls to Amboy for their winter festivities. The highlight was taking a ride in Cinderella's carriage and then we warmed up with a yummy meal at The Amboy Cottage Cafe.

Grandma & Grandpa came with too!

Birthday

2011-12-29T15:29:00.002-06:00

December 4th we had 2 birthday parties to attend! The first was my cousin's daughter, Layla who turned 4. She celebrated by having a pool party at the Lake Crystal Rec Center. Alayna loved swimming and playing with other kids. We left that early in order to pick up Bradley and get to our niece's birthday party in Eagle Lake. Asia turned 2 and we enjoyed eating, cake/ice cream and watching her open gifts. Fun times!

Snow Ball

2011-12-29T12:01:00.003-06:00

The main reason we went to Arlington's Arlidazzle celebration was to watch the guys play 1860's baseball versus the Arlington Greys in the snow. At the start of the game, the field was brown and as soon as the guys start to play the snow began to fall. It was fun to watch. The guys lost but I think this will be an annual event!

Brad at bat!

SNOW BALL GAME, December 3, 2011

Mankato Baltics vs. Arlington Greys

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-29T11:46:00.002-06:00

Alayna's preschool, Little Saintsm has a fundraiser the first weekend in December called Breakfast with Santa. There is a silent auction, toys and books for the kids, face painting and of course, breakfast plus pics with Santa. It always does really well and is well organized. Brad and I helped set up on Friday night and then I worked the morning shift Saturday because Brad had to work. This is the first year Alayna actually walked up to Santa, sat on his lap and talked to him!

Here she is telling him she would like a Barbie car.

We were so proud of her~she's growing up! After the Breakfast, my dad took lil monster (aka Kalyse) while my mom, Alayna and I cruised to my cousin's craft boutique in the cities. We got some great gifts and had a nice visit with my aunt Zada and cousins, Deb & Bec. Then we drove to Arlington to participate in some of the Arli-dazzle events.

Pickles in their PJ's

2011-12-05T16:26:00.003-06:00

Most of you that know Bradley, knows he is a pickle freak! There have been times when he will polish off a jar of pickles and drink the juice. "Cleans out your kidneys" is what he always claims. Recently I found an article that shows that pickle juice may be better than Gatorade!
http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/pickle-juice-and-gatorade-vie-to-be-the-top-sports-drink?src=soc_fcbk

Alayna is a pickle lover and now so is little Kalyse. I on the other hand will eat them but not to the extent they do. Whenever we stop at a Kwik Trip (which we do often) the girls pick out a snack. It has to be healthy like an apple or carrots and then I get home and there is a giant pickle in the fridge.......from who else? Bradley! So they sit down and enjoy their giant pickle handing it back and forth until it is gone.

Here Alayna is sharing with Kalyse afterward Kalyse takes a bite she says mmmmmmm. I just laugh and prepare myself for the pickle breath kisses I endure later.

Black Friday

2011-12-05T16:22:00.004-06:00

I was NOT one of the crazies that went out shopping on Black Friday. Instead I worked and it was nice to be in the office on a quiet day. I felt very productive! Brad took the day off to enjoy a nice 4-day weekend and watch the girls since daycare was closed. Grandma & Grandpa took Alayna to the Old Log Theater to see Cinderella

She enjoyed concessions & saw Santa before the show.

Her she is with her glass slipper. Their seats were right at the front so they were able to see all the action. She had a great time and still talks about it! My dad even enjoyed it.

After the play you could get your picture taken with the characters. Here are the 2 ugly stepsisters, which as you can see where men in dresses. Alayna said, "Mom, they were really ugly!"

Only in Minnesota........

2011-11-28T16:34:00.002-06:00

will it snow one weekend and

(Alayna was so excited to shovel & was disappointed when we told her there was not enough snow to go sledding)

then look like this 4 days later!

Thanksgiving Day 2011. Playing outside & wearing no coats!

Saturday the 19th my dad, Brad and I headed to Red Wing for a meeting. The ride down was a little rainy but the road home was AWFUL! Cars in the ditch, trucks doing 180's in front of us, accidents everywhere and us fishtailing about a dozen times. We said a lot of prayers that day and thankful the good Lord got us home. It was a rough one and Brad was steady behind the wheel...whew. When we hit Mankato it was smooth sailing. On Sunday Alayna had fun outside in the little snow we had but I didn't mind seeing it all melt! Thanksgiving Day was beautiful outside and it was nice to enjoy it with the family.

Honeymoon

2011-11-17T22:22:00.004-06:00

We just booked our honeymoon!!!! Well kinda. We have done a lot of traveling over the years before and with kids but did not take a honeymoon when we got married since we were also building our house at the time. In July we celebrated our 10 year anniversary so we decided to go for it otherwise it might be another 10 years!

It took a while to pinpoint where exactly we wanted to go......Spain, Italy, Dominican Republic, Alaska, Costa Rica, Bahamas, etc. It was harder than I thought. We actually both have the same idea of what we wanted just found it difficult to find the right place to go and after googling, asking around, working with a travel agent we finally decided. Originally we wanted to take a cruise to Greece but then assessed our vacation days, finances and how long we wanted to be away from the girls and 10 days seemed like a lot at this point. We put that on the back burner in hopes of doing it perhaps on our 25th anniversary??

Anyway, we settled on an all inclusive resort on a remote beach of Kantenah in the heart of Mexico's Riviera Maya. We are SO excited to relax, get pampered and enjoy each other's time and have fun. The hardest part will be 6 days away from the girls but someone told us to keep busy. "Do things that you know the girls couldn't do or something you maybe couldn't do if the girls were with you." I thought that was really good advice. It has been 6 years since we took a trip just the two of us so we are looking forward to getting away the end of Feb/early March.

Miss Kalyse

2011-11-17T21:48:00.002-06:00

Who needs toys when we can use canned goods? Oh our silly Miss Kalyse would much rather stack cans than play with toys some days. She is very selective of her cans and meticulous as she places them. After she has placed them she smiles and puts her hands at her sides like she is pleased with her work.

She also likes to take books out of her basket and flip through them, pointing to different objects. Many times Alayna will put Kalyse on her lap and read her books. We love how well they get along.

Here she is on her second tomato and just like Alayna loves her veggies. Grandma Evelyn would have been proud. For those of you who didn't know her she had a very large garden and her biggest produce were Walla Walla Sweet Onions and tomatoes. She eats most everything we put in front of her and I am pretty sure pickles will be next just like Bradley & Alayna.

Here we are just before going in to church. I decided to put her hair in pigtails because 3 people in one week had told us how cute our little boy was even when she was in pink from head to toe, ha!

Daddy's girls

2011-11-17T21:15:00.000-06:00

Brad has been working lots of hours yet he always has time to help with stuff around the house, cook supper or get it started and play with the girls! Here he is reading books with Alayna & Kalyse. They play several different games, read books, jump and play on the bed and their favorite "crawl on daddy and ride on him like a horse". It is cute to watch~he's a great daddy!

Birthday parties

2011-11-17T08:57:00.002-06:00

The first week in November Alayna was invited to two birthday parties! One was Saturday at McDonald's for her friend Nevaeh and the other was a swimming party on Sunday at the AmercInn hotel in St. Peter for her friend Cadence. She had so much fun and did really well! Brad had to work 12's that weekend so he missed out on all the parties but Alayna made sure to fill him in with the details. I think she thought every weekend people should have birthday parties.

Baltics

2011-11-17T08:52:00.002-06:00

Well just when we thought 1860's baseball was over.....it is surely not! We had our end of the year bash a couple weeks ago and had great discussion about hopes for 2012. We have a meeting this Saturday in Red Wing with other vintage team coordinators to schedule games for the 2012 season. Seems crazy to do that already but I guess they like to keep the ball rolling! We also have a "snow ball" 1860's baseball game on December 3 at the Arli-dazzle in Arlington.
http://www.arlingtonmnchamber.com/arlidazzle.html

KEYC - Mankato News, Weather, Sports - - Rasmussen College Thanks Veterans

2011-11-17T08:49:00.000-06:00

KEYC - Mankato News, Weather, Sports - - Rasmussen College Thanks Veterans

A couple Saturday's ago (sorry trying to catch up here), I took the girls to Rasmussen College to decorate cards for veterans. Brad's brother is in Kuwait and we know others who are active or who have served so we were able to bring in those addresses for Rasmussen to mail out in time for veterans. Alayna had fun decorating and they gave snacks and book to the kids. It was a nice event and we happened to get caught on camera.

Happy 62!

2011-11-17T08:32:00.002-06:00

On November 2nd my mom turned 62, yeehaw!!! She is anxiously counting down to her retirement sometime in January. It will be nice for her to be free to do things she wants and they can travel more. I am sure she will do lots of volunteering and perhaps work a part time job. On her birthday my brother cooked supper and we went over to their house to eat before our volleyball game.

Toy Story Family Halloween

2011-11-07T16:37:00.003-06:00

As you can see this year's theme for our costumes was Toy Story. Yes, we are those dorky parents but we have SO much fun. Brad was Woody, Alayna was Buzz Lightyear, Kalyse was Hamm the pig and I was Jessie.

Here you can see Hamm's tail

Happy Halloween

2011-11-07T16:30:00.002-06:00

In the past 3 weeks, Alayna was able to wear her costume 5 times! I took her to the Mankato library a couple weeks before Halloween for an event where there was a magician/comedian who did a great show, suggested some fun books and gave tips. Then the kids got to trick or treat around the library.

On the Sunday before Halloween we took the girls up to MSU-Mankato for an event put on by the athletes. Each sport had a station and then kids got candy. Baseball team had the net to pitch in and a guy with a radar gun to tell the kids what they got. Alayna's first toss was a 13 and he said to try for 14 and she got an 18! Next was bowling, volleyball, swimming (threw goggles in a bucket), bean bags, hockey (which she netted 3 of 4 against a defender), basketball (she swished the first shot), football toss in a net (harder but she got it), track had hurdles, golf had a little mini put put hole and more. It was fun. Then Monday she got to wear her costume to preschool and daycare. Monday night was Halloween so I can say we got great use out of hers!

Mr. Potato....um....Pumpkin Head?

2011-11-03T15:22:00.003-05:00

Alayna & Kalyse with their Princess & Witch decorated pumpkins. Super cute gift from their Aunt Lori

Exploring

2011-11-03T15:06:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago my dad took Alayna and I out in the woods to explore. It was a bit chilly but didn't matter because it reminded me of going out there when I was younger. Oftentimes, I would venture out by myself to hike (sometimes slide) down the hill, follow the creek to the river and just sit there. It was peaceful, colorful and I enjoyed the sounds of nature. It wasn't rare to actually see a deer or hear turkeys. My dad used to talk with me down there and show me tracks and tell me about how it used to be, farming, stories, etc and that's what we did with Alayna. She loves nature so it was fun and she liked to find "treasures" as she called it. Like an old faucet that was still in the ground or feeders from an old turkey shed. It's nice to take the time to enjoy things like that & I'm glad we can show the girls.

Sever's Corn Maze pics

2011-10-31T12:48:00.006-05:00

Aerial view of corn maze

Tons of animals, pig races and wildlife shows

Straw bale maze

Corn pit.......pool? Alayna is swimming here

Happy Birthday Kalyse!

Pumpkin launcher

Minneopa

2011-10-31T12:43:00.004-05:00

Not sure if I posted these or not. Beautiful Sunday afternoon at Minneopa park.

Alayna

2011-10-29T16:12:00.002-05:00

We had conferences for Alayna on the 10th and she is doing well. She's really quiet but plays with everyone and likes to play by herself. They took a field trip to a local pumpkin patch and got their own pumpkin to bring home. Grandpa went with and took some great pics which I will post sometime. We really appreciate the field trips and special projects that her school does.

1 year appointment

2011-10-29T15:44:00.002-05:00

Kalyse had her 1 year appointment on the 11th. She had 4 shots including the flu shot and her finger pricked. Brad got his flu shot and Alayna got the mist. I chose not to get it at that time because my Uncle's funeral was Saturday and I didn't want to get sick. I have never had problems before but I figured the time I did would be this and since I said I would speak at the funeral I didn't want to risk it.

The appointment went well overall. Kalyse is 28 3/4" and 21 lbs. She is walking all over the place and likes to climb! She is a little daredevil and we call her monster! She is still quite vocal, stubborn and pushes every limit. Another fiesty woman in the house...........yes, yes, poor Bradley. But most of the time she is silly and happy. I have a feeling she may give me a lot of grey hairs!!! Love our Kalyse

Birthday weekend

2011-10-29T15:35:00.002-05:00

The weekend of Kalyse's birthday was busy with lots of family time. We took the girls to Sever's corn maze by Canterbury Park in Shakopee on Saturday. It was a warm, sunny day and we spent 5 hours there! I highly recommend it. They had tons of animals, a corn pool, pumpkin launching, corn cob launch, magic and wildlife shows, hayride, giant slide, pig races, food and more. We had a great time and got some pumpkins too.

Sunday we went to my Aunt's. It was nice to chat with family and enjoy the sun. We had Kalyse's birthday at Sibley Park in Mankato. The kids had fun playing outside and feeding the animals. Again, it was a beautiful day to celebrate our pumpkin's birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday to Kalyse!

2011-10-23T13:06:00.003-05:00

October 8th, Kalyse turned 1! Woo hoo :)

We decided to take the girls to Sever's Corn Maze in Shakopee. It was a gorgeous day and we ended up spending 5 hours there! Will post pics soon.

Sunday we visited family at my aunt's house then had Kalyse's birthday party at Sibley Park in Mankato. It was another warm day and was nice for the kids to play outside.

Saying goodbye

2011-10-23T12:30:00.003-05:00

Wed Oct 5th my dad went to my uncle's about 5pm to stay with him while my aunt ran errands and to help. Things were ok until the pain got to be too difficult for them to manage so they decided to take him to Madelia hospital. My aunt went home to sleep while my dad stayed there and my cousin, Deb came down to be with him overnight. It was nice for my aunt to get sleep and have a break. My dad went home in the morning and then stayed most of Thursday. Brad, the girls and I went down Thursday evening. He had lots of visitors throughout the day. He was pretty medicated and was sleeping a lot. I went in the room, tapped on his arm and said, "Hi Uncle Lee it's Ariane". He looked up and squeezed my hand and squeezed and squeezed. I couldn't believe it as he lay there weak that he still had such a good grip. I continued to admire his toughness but whispered to him that it was ok to let go and just rest. That was the last time we communicated.

On Friday October 7th, my dad stayed with my uncle, aunt and cousins at the hospital. I was at work and since it was quiet was getting a lot done however I kept having the feeling that I needed to be with Lee and my family. Thankfully I have awesome bosses and co-workers who understood my wish to leave and I took off at about 1pm. My aunt, cousins and dad were chit chatting in the hospital room and my uncle was resting pain free which was nice to see. I touched his arm and said hi, no response and knew it wouldn't be long. He passed away peacefully at 3:15pm. One of the strongest figures in my life was no longer suffering so we were thankful yet sad because he brought a lot of fun and joy to people. Tough day but I was glad to be there to support my family.

Uncle Lee

2011-10-06T07:35:00.003-05:00

Lee, Evelyn, Harlan, Harold & little Hugh hugging the dog

Lee (hat on), Hugh

Uncle Lee & Kalyse

Lee, Grandma Belgard, Hugh

Belgard boys: Lee, Grandpa Harold, Harlan, Hugh

Last week I felt the need to write my Uncle Lee a letter and tell him how I felt about him. That I viewed him as my Uncle Lee and see him as the tough, hard working person that I grew up idolizing just like my dad. He has a wonderful sense of humor and a "kid" in him always. He lived a very active lifestyle in farming, golfing, wintering in AZ, playing softball, doing craftshows with my aunt and so much more. ALS has changed those things and his life is quickly coming to an end yet I wanted to tell him that I view him as the guy jumping out a tractor or walking up from our woods after hunting turkey or deer not the person laying in the bed weak and succumbing to the affects of ALS. He is one of the three supermen in my life and always will be. Last Saturday he thanked me for that letter and he appreciated it. I was happy to hear that. Brad told me everyone should get letters like that not just when they are dying because things are often not said which is totally true. I guess we always think people will be here.

This has been difficult on everyone obviously my Uncle and especially my aunt and cousins. Exhausting both emotionally and physically plus devastatingly painful because we know there is no cure and his journey on this Earth will end. We are praying for his pain to end and for God to take his hand and give him peace.

Riding horse

2011-10-04T21:38:00.001-05:00

Alayna petting Roxy

Flavors of Fall

2011-10-01T21:33:00.003-05:00

I think this is one of my favorite times of the year. Combines and field work, pumpkin patches, fall colors, cool air, layers of clothing and scarves, apple crisp, football and volleyball, Halloween costume making and basically squeezing in enough outdoor time as possible before the snow flies. Today I took the girls to see my cousin Becky at a craft show in New Ulm and rode horse at my friend's house. When Brad got home we hiked at Minneopa which we ALL really enjoyed. It was a perfect day!

Alayna: Loving preschool and dance as well as hanging out with her friend Mackenzie (neighbor) but has meltdowns when each one has to go home. She is such a sponge and we like her creativity and imagination. She is so sweet & awesome big sister. This last week she took her friend Dakota to buddy night, played at the park then went to buddy night with Mackenzie. She was a rockstar and showed us all the moves she learned.
Kalyse: Walking. Oh yea, watch out world little Kalyse is on the move! She turns 1 on the 8th so I will be sure to update more at that time.
Brad: Played his last fall SB game last Thursday. Baltics season ended last Sat after a tournament in Arlington on the 17th & game at the ArfWalk on the 24th. He is working lots of 10's & 12's and sounds like it will be that way for a way due to winterization projects. He practices Alayna's dance routines with her which is so cute and plays a human bridge as Kalyse crawls under and around him. He is an awesome dad!
Me: Would rather play outside then get housework done which is why the place is a disaster! I really need to spend a day cleaning out closets and doing a clean sweep. Being Baltics coordinator was sure fun this summer and I thought I would get a break but got an email that vintage coordinators of teams in MN want a meeting mid November. Wow! Nothing like keeping the ball rolling but that is a good sign for growth so we are all for it. Sunday School is going well and work is busy as usual. I'm looking forward to winter volleyball too!

Preschool

2011-09-22T21:57:00.003-05:00

Alayna is attending Little Saints Preschool 3 days a week this year (Mon, Wed, Fri). She had a great first week and saw a lot of her friends/classmates from last year but met new friends as well. On the second day, it was Alayna's turn to bring snack and the sharing bag so she wanted to wear her cowgirl boots.

She also started dance class on Tuesday night and did really well. She's had 2 classes and next week is Buddy Night so she is excited to bring her friend Dakota.

Baltics at Farmamerica

2011-09-21T21:15:00.003-05:00

Monster

2011-09-10T13:35:00.004-05:00

Our little monster turned 11 months on Thursday!

Kalyse is into everything so we can never turn our back on this little one.

Happy & giggly and yes still loud as ever. I get embarrased in church because she jibber jabbers or "barks" at ya to let ya know she is there.

Climbing stairs and going down

Got 4 more teeth in the back for a total of 12! She doesn't get crabby but she gets the nastiest diapers which led to a bad rash. I don't think I have ever seen so many diapers like that....even Brad gagged once and he NEVER has with either girl. Glad he has always been so helpful with diaper duty!

Laughs the most with her big sister

Likes bathtime but tries to drink the water

Eats pasta, deli meat, fruits, veggies, you name it.

Brad calls her M.J. because she always sticks her tongue out like Michael Jordan

She is SO close to walking. Today she took 4 steps towards me and is getting braver each day. It won't be long...YIKES!!

Pushing stroller in her little nightgown

Reminds me of a little ol' lady

Here she is standing alone while Alayna puts toys in her push thingy. Kalyse is getting good about moving this around but sometimes she will get caught on come to a dead end and she gets really angry. She will crawl in front and throw things out of her way or just try to plow through it.

Kalyse giving love to Hunter

Pics from the MN State Fair

2011-09-05T22:21:00.005-05:00

Another fabulous time at the great MN get-together! This year we stayed from Sunday to Tuesday and the girls stayed until Thursday. We stay in my parents camper which is parked directly behind the swine barn. It is nice to enjoy the fair in a few days but we sure walk a lot during those days which is probably a good thing. I don't even want to know the amount of calories we consume! The weather was ideal and the girls did great.

Alayna just got a "cowgirl" hat and wanted to pet this horse. This kind gentleman said of course and invited her to sit on the horse with him. She was in heaven! Here she is in her cowgirl boots and hat. She just got a leather belt with her name on it too but you can't see it.

Alayna helped spray down the pigs and "drive" them from the wash racks to the pens. She had boots on and whip in hand. We all loved to see the enthusiasm but she really surprised us when she said she wanted to show one. One of the gilts had been shown quite a bit so here she is practicing the night before the show (grandpa & daddy there to help). At one point several people were standing there watching and snapping pics like the paparazzi! It was cute.

Shorts and cowgirl boots.

Here she is standing by the boar sporting her cowgirl attire. The belt buckle she is wearing is a spot pig. It was one of my grandpa's! Alayna showed her gilt in a class of 3 and got 2nd place. Daddy went in with her and we all thought she did so well for only being 4! It is important to us that it was her choice which it was and she had so much fun. She keeps telling me she can't wait to be 5 so she can show by herself. We'll see about that tho as things may change but we enjoyed seeing her get so involved.

Daddy & his girls

Miss Kalyse - she kept us ALL on our toes and is to that age where she wants to be a part of everything! Thank goodness for the pack n play. It was nice to put her in there so she could play and have some space.

Hayden, Austin, Alayna & Makynna - rides with her cousins. Sunday afternoon we met up with Brad's sister & brother's families. The kids had fun going on rides. Alayna went on rides every day. Her favorites were the bumper boats, spinny balloons, mini power tower (shown here in this pic which raises them ~30 feet and drops them), race cars, swings, yea pretty much all of them.

More publicity

2011-09-05T22:07:00.001-05:00

http://issuu.com/theland/docs/2011-0902/7

Between the newspaper, radio, TV our family has been in the media quite a bit in the last month or so! Here is a clip from The Land magazine showing my parents, Hugh & Vail Belgard at FarmFest.

Grandpa & Alayna in paper

2011-09-05T21:58:00.003-05:00

My dad took Alayna to a camp at Farmamerica in June. He said an Agrinews reporter was there but we didn't think too much of it. Then last Wednesday, he was interviewed by My Fox News at the MN State Fair. I googled his name trying to find the clip and came across this picture and article!

http://agrinews.com/games/crafts/part/of/mfu/day/camps/story-3733.html

DM Selly Photos:

2011-08-26T15:17:00.000-05:00

DM Selly Photos:

Last night after work, we took the girls to the Linnaeus Arboretum which is on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College for a photo shoot. Our friend, Dawn is expanding her photography to a side job and it timed out nicely since we were just talking about getting the girl's pics done. The location is a perfect setting with plants, flowers, benches, waterfall, etc so there were plenty of different shots to take....which she did! If you click on the link above you can see a few. Kalyse was all over the place but Alayna did pretty well. She fashioned her cowgirl boots, of course.

Favorite rides at Chuck E Cheese

2011-08-26T07:45:00.004-05:00

With her fascination with horses, you can about imagine how THRILLED Alayna was when she saw this game. I think she went on at least a dozen times if not more. The only missing...her cowgirl boots.

The reigns even directed the moving horse and turned the figure on screen. I even wanted to go on it!!

This was her second favorite. It was a rollercoaster simulation ride. The girls watched the screen (here they are going up a hill so the chairs tipped back) and the chairs moved and bounced around just like a rollercoaster. Air blew on them too. It was fun to watch them and yes as typical girls they screamed!

Hands in the air going down the big hill!!!

Chuck E Cheese

2011-08-25T07:48:00.005-05:00

On Sunday, Alayna got her first experience at Chuck E Cheese in Edina for a neighbor girl's birthday party! The little monster (a.k.a Kalyse) stayed at grandma and grandpa's so I went with for my first experience too! Mackenzie and her mom made the tie-dyed shirts for the kids. I thought that was so nice and good idea to pick them out of a crowd.

There were two other kids a boy and a girl but they missed out on this photo op because one was in the bathroom and the other was terrified of Chuck E. Cheese.

Birthday girl, Mackenzie

Birthday

2011-08-24T21:20:00.002-05:00

Saturday I turned 31. Wow can that be right? Yep it is. I actually really enjoy the 30's and this time in our lives. It was a beautiful day! Brad worked but I took the girls to my aunt and uncle's cabin on Duck Lake. Brad had some time to rest then we picked him to go to a 40th wedding anniversary party. My parents took the girls and we headed to a friend's bbq/house warming/backyard party. It was SO much fun! We played bean bags, ate well, talked smart and really relaxed with great friends. Good times but Brad kept falling asleep. I know he really wanted to stay up for my birthday but I felt bad being there late because he had to be to work at 2:30. Great day overall tho!

All work & a little play

2011-08-24T21:14:00.002-05:00

Brad has been working lots of 12's lately which means he goes in at 2:30 in the morning and works until 2:30 in the afternoon. Whenever he is on 12's I feel like a single mom because he works, eats, sleeps, works and repeat! I think he got 3 hours of sleep on Thursday, Friday worked 12's then played softball in Courtland then home to sleep 4 hrs and work 12's plus 12's all weekend. Ugh! I just don't know how he does it. We are definitely grateful for the job and everything so don't get me wrong there but I am hoping and praying a different job comes along someday so it will be work but MORE play! Ok, I'm done whining.........um........venting

Olde Thyme Baseball

2011-08-19T16:11:00.001-05:00

Olde Thyme Baseball

This past week, we organized an exhibition 1860's baseball game at Erlandson Park between the Baltics and a team of people who have never played the game. We brought in a local food vendor, Double's Diner, and set up our field in the big grassy area. My dad and I did an interview on KTOE last Saturday morning to promote it. Our goal is to get more people to see it and with the location being Main & Victory we figured we could get more people's attention. Some of the spectators were indeed driving past and decided to stop in! We were thrilled with how the event turned out and I even got KEYC tv there to cover it. The guys did great and everyone had a blast. Click on the link above to watch the clip!

Piglet time!

2011-08-19T15:47:00.003-05:00

Grandpa had 4 sows give birth in the last couple weeks to over 40 piglets. My favorite pic is the one I have at the top of this blog page where Alayna showing Kalyse how to pet pigs. She's showing her the "ropes" already!

Kalyse.......not so sure

Alayna with her chore boots in the crates with the pigs. She could sit out there all day if she could. I love that because I was the same!

Alayna educating Kalyse about the piglets

Fair

2011-08-19T15:43:00.004-05:00

We went to the Nicollet County Fair on Thursday evening. As always, Alayna had fun seeing the animals and going on rides. It was a gorgeous night and we enjoyed running in to lots of friends. We even saw a friend's daughter show a calf. Gets me excited for Alayna to be in 4H! I love that Brad enjoys fairs as much as I do too. Here he is being a big kid with Alayna on the slide

VBS

2011-08-19T15:29:00.003-05:00

One of the things I remember doing in the summer when I was younger was going to Vacation Bible School. It was a fun time to learn, sing songs, do craft projects and have yummy bars and Kool-Aid! Our church had their VBS August 8-9th and since our church is so small we make it a potluck evening event for people of all ages. This year's theme was crime solving. The first night the kids solved crimes and made an FBI badge (Firm Believe In Christ). The second night we had pizza and Pastor showed the kids how to make fishing lures. Each night we had plenty of food (Lutherans really know how to have potlucks!) and sang songs too. Brad stayed home watching Kalyse so Alayna and I had a nice time.

Kalyse

2011-08-08T23:02:00.003-05:00

This seems to be the only time I can get a good pic! The other times she is either trying to eat the camera or she scoots around so fast that I get the back of her head haha.

Kalyse is 10 months old today!

Super chatty and LOUD

Using sippy cup more

Claps, gives high fives, waves and does "so big", shakes head "no"

Has a bit of an attitude...why not? The rest of the ladies in the household do!

Super smiley and silly

Walks behind push toy

Stands up from sitting and still walks along things. No walking on own but we are totally ok with that

Into everything and SUCH a little stinker!

Excellent eater. Just recently gave her avocado, wild rice, scrambled eggs, veggies, fruit, cheese, etc. She will eat most everything that you give her.

Has 8 teeth

Tries to crawl up things like her pack-n-play. Yep a little monkey

Likes to play on keyboards

Loves being in water. She kicks her legs in the pool and has so much fun splashing.

Follows big sister around

Gives kisses...well she basically leans forward with her mouth open which is really cute until she chomps down on your cheek with those sharp teeth!

Rides of all kinds

2011-08-08T22:40:00.004-05:00

We stayed at Wildwood Lodge and went to the Washington County Fair in Lake Elmo this past weekend. The hotel was great and had a restaurant called the Machine Shed where we ate two very hearty meals. Saturday we went to the fair, back to the hotel for pool time and relaxation. They even had a classic car show which was perfect for my dad. Our friends stayed in the hotel too so once the kids went to bed we enjoyed a few drinks poolside. The hot tub was 5 feet from our door which was NICE! Sunday we had breakfast, more pool time and then to the fair to watch the Mankato Baltics beat the St. Croix Base Ball Club! It was a great game. We ate more fair food, went on some rides and cruised home. Fantastic weekend with family and friends!

Cowgirl boots and a smile. She would love to get a big buckle and a hat too!

Pony rides both days

Poppin' a wheelie!

Tough biker look.......

Daddy & Alayna on safari ride

After the pig races, Alayna got in line for the camel ride

Poor Brad was SO uncomfortable! He said his legs and hips are not meant to straddle a big hump like that...........oh the things he does for his girls!

Taking the time....

2011-08-07T20:21:00.004-05:00

At this point in our lives we are busy with sports, work, kids and everything in between however we have realized how very important it is stop and MAKE the time for the little things.

Last week we visited my aunt and uncle at their farm place near Madelia. 3 hours of visiting with laughs, stories, reminiscing and smiles along with times of serious discussion of heaven, God, faith, ALS and how it has affected them since diagnosis and their future plans.

My uncle Lee has ALS and like I have said before has been a strong figure in our Belgard family. To see him struggling to talk and walk is difficult but I cherish these visits and love to hear that Belgard humor he still has! As I get older, I greatly value my family and want to get as much from them as I can plus expose my daughters to their stories.

Alayna drove Lee's golf cart around the yard and Kalyse sat on his lap and pushed buttons on his recliner giving them a "ride". It warmed my heart to see him chuckle and smile at them so I am glad we took the time.

Summer sports

2011-08-07T20:13:00.002-05:00

Brad manages a men's slowpitch softball team and a co-rec volleyball team and both have come to an end. The Big Dog men's team had a tough summer finishing out with a 1-12 season. Our volleyball team finished 23-14 which is 6th place out of 14 teams in division 2. I wish the volleyball season went a few weeks longer since there is such a gap between that and winter indoor volleyball which starts in November. Oh well. Fall softball for Brad starts in a couple weeks.

Four and a quarter

2011-08-03T13:55:00.004-05:00

Alayna is 4 1/4! Never thought of it that way until I got an email update from Parenting.com or something like that. Anyway, just thought I would update what is new with our Miss Alayna.

Loves to pretend - whether its songs, read books, create stories or just with her toys. It is fun to listen to what she comes up with

Still a good helper around house and awesome big Sister

Start to read time on digital clocks and points on letters and numbers when she sees them.

Enjoys swimming and being outside

Bats Right & Left handed

Shy but breaking out of shell more

Eager to make friends.

Getting better at writing her name

Eating peanuts with Grandpa in the garage & checking pigs

Favorite singer is Pitbul

Does not like to leave fun places (meltdown occurs) but getting better

Feeds dogs, bunny and fish

It was so hot and humid at the baseball game in Lake St. Croix Beach. The kids cooling off.....

Water fight with cousins

Hayden running away from Alayna

Birthday party at the lake

2011-08-03T10:01:00.004-05:00

Our church along with other local churches had a service and breakfast at the fair on Sunday. We spent a little time looking at animals and getting one more taste of fair food while sweating our butts off. It sure has been humid. We had our nephew's birthday party at Bray Park in Madison Lake in the afternoon. It was nice for kids to swim and have fun. So glad Brad had weekend off to enjoy it! Happy 6th birthday Hayden Hawker! Will try to post pics later this week.

Rides

2011-08-03T09:59:00.002-05:00

Good thing we bought advance ride tickets because Alayna used them up Friday and Saturday! Here she is riding with her friend Kira Ulman. They had fun going on rides together and think they may be trouble in years to come :)

2011-08-03T09:48:00.002-05:00

Alayna "won" a goldfish at the fair. Honestly didn't think it would live this long! We give it another week and if it is still alive we will buy a proper fish bowl. For now, Alayna's popcorn bowl will have to do!

Free Press Photo News: Photo by Jack Madsen

2011-08-02T10:03:00.000-05:00

Free Press Photo News: Photo by Jack Madsen: "Alayna Hawker of Garden City tames a wild horse on the Carousel."

Murray: For this player of vintage base ball, lots of bad bounces

2011-08-01T19:43:00.000-05:00

Murray: For this player of vintage base ball, lots of bad bounces

The Mankato Baltics played Saturday during the Blue Earth County Fair. We were fortunate to get a writer for the Mankato Free Press to play on the team against the Baltics and ran a story on the front page of Sunday's paper!

Waterpark & Fair....again!

2011-08-01T19:29:00.005-05:00

Brad and I took last Friday off and enjoyed a 3 day weekend with the girls. Friday we took the girls to the Waseca Waterpark and were there over 3 hours! Then we cruised to the Blue Earth County Fair in Garden City. Alayna was so excited to ride the mechanical bull this year but on the way I received a text from my mom saying the bull didn't make it. I didn't tell Alayna just waited to see how she would handle it because I was sure there would be a meltdown. When she saw the spot where the bull usually was she quickly pointed it out then said that it must have been sold to market. Whew! Dodged that one. She went on rides and saw animals so she was good. Before we left she made a bird house which she was pretty proud of.

Next we cruised to Lake Crystal for Brad's softball game and home to the A/C!

Busy weekend

2011-07-25T22:33:00.003-05:00

Fri - Company summer party at Minnesota Square park in St. Peter. Ate pork and played games. Sat - Went to Truman Days parade which was excellent. Brad worked 12's all weekend. It was a rough week as he was outside all week during the hot, humid days. I really don't know how he does it! He was working 2:30am to 2:30pm and most of those days it was well over 80 degrees at 3 in the morning. Sunday - The girls and I spent a nice day outside at my folks

Washing pigs with Grandpa

Alayna had fun spraying the pigs

Alayna named this gilt, Carli and another one, Puddin'. They will be shown at the fair this weekend.

Kalyse swinging at the farm

This pic was taken from our anniversary dinner at Number 4 in Mankato. Trying to catch up on the pictures.

Pics from Baltics tournament

2011-07-23T10:30:00.003-05:00

Brad pitching

Arlington Greys & Mankato Baltics

Stretch pitching

Baltics

My dad hitting the ball

Alayna getting creative with the dress up hats

Hawker Waterfight!

2011-07-23T10:27:00.000-05:00

Alayna & Daddy getting Uncle Jeff

Cousins

Tractors & July 4th Parade

2011-07-23T10:22:00.001-05:00

July 4th parade

Goodbye Bill

2011-07-19T21:41:00.003-05:00

Brad's oldest brother, Bill was home for 4 days on break from training at Fort McCoy. He came to Brad's softball game on Thursday and was busy taking care of things at home and watching his daughter, Breanna's soccer games in New Ulm. He invited us over for supper so after our 2 hour family nap we headed to his place and enjoyed time with Brad's siblings and families. Bill left on Monday to head back to McCoy and in ~7-10 days will go to Kuwait for 1 year. We thank him for his service and hope his unit is safe during this deployment. Prayers to you Billy and his wife and 4 kids, Jordan, Breanna, Madison and Carter.

Happy 90th Birthday

2011-07-19T21:38:00.002-05:00

Happy 90th Birthday to my Grandpa Rollings! We celebrated by taking him to his favorite restaurant, McDonalds on Sunday. We had originally planned to go to my aunt & uncle's cabin on Duck Lake but with the weather at a hot and humid 90+ degrees we opted to do that a different day.

Baseball

2011-07-19T21:28:00.002-05:00

It was a steamy Saturday to play baseball but the Mankato Baltics and their families/fans drove to Lake St. Croix Beach and played two 9 inning games. They lost to the Afton Red Socks 9-5 and the La Crescent Apple Jacks 7-5. Thankfully the sun didn't come out otherwise it would have been a scorcher! We did plenty of sweating and was happy to sit in some shade. The kids played on the playground and with water. It was a fun day but we were all happy to get in the A/C. We stayed at a hotel and definitely hit the pool as soon as we could.

Wet Friday but still had fun!

2011-07-19T21:23:00.003-05:00

Friday started out with a trip to Urgent Care where we confirmed that Kalyse indeed had an ear infection which goes along nicely with 4 teeth coming in on top. Poor thing! We had planned to hit the waterpark at 10am for the Itty Bitty Beach party (pool time for kids 7 & under) in Waseca but the weather had other plans. We decided to go to the Waseca County Fair and then stopped at the waterpark. Kalyse was sleeping so I stayed in the car with her while Alayna and Brad played for 45 minutes. They had a blast and actually got to go for free because it closed at 3 due to the weather. We ran into strong winds and sheets of rain where I firmly advised Brad to pull over since it was hard to see. Another day of family fun!

10 years

2011-07-19T21:11:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday, Brad & I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! We both took the day off and enjoyed being home with the girls. Alayna got a hair cut and then her and Kalyse went to my parents so Brad and I could go out for supper. We went to our favorite, Number 4 in Mankato and enjoyed a nice meal and of course, each other. We spent most of the meal talking about what we remembered most about our wedding day. It was so fun! We split a Lemon Tart and headed to his softball game. Perfect day in my book...

Family Reunions

2011-07-19T20:48:00.003-05:00

July 9th & 10th were busy with family reunions on my dad's side, Belgard & Wilson. Brad worked 6:30-6:30 and wasn't able to make them but the girls and I had fun. It was nice to visit, laugh and hear stories. Our family wanted to get together because my uncle has ALS and we wanted to do this for him. It was special yet sad at the same time. He is an important figure in our family and it is hard for us to see someone who was like Superman get help and have trouble walking. He is my dad's oldest brother and was always the athletic and active person much like my dad. When the tornado hit my parent's farmsite last year he came out and cut down trees for hours. We had worried about him at that time because he had a heart attack but he is tough and definitely stubborn so wouldn't listen to anyone. My dad finally convinced him to go to The Dam near Rapidan for pie so he would stop!

Uncle Harlan, my dad, Uncle Lee

Kalyse hanging out with Uncle Lee. She crawled right to him and stood up by his leg so he lifted her on his lap. Glad my cousin had her camera to capture that :)

Gone Fishing

2011-07-14T11:29:00.005-05:00

A couple weeks ago we had a volleyball game at Spring Lake Park in lower North Mankato. Since we both play my parents come in to watch the girls and play with them. My dad walked Alayna over the fishing pier and a nice lady let her use her pole. The first line she dropped she reeled in a sunfish and then a "bullyhead". Pic from my dad's phone showing Alayna's first catch....

Brad taking Alayna fishing

9 months - Kalyse

2011-07-14T11:15:00.002-05:00

Last Friday the 8th, Kalyse turned 9 months! She is into EVERYTHING and we constantly have to be on our toes with her crawling around and putting things in her mouth.

Can clap & wave

Just started to stand on her own without touching things.

Says dada, mama and makes several noises. She is quite loud with her squeals and chatters

Follows her big sister

Likes to "talk" to the dogs and bunny. I would love to know what she is saying to them!

Eats table food

We just started giving her a sippy cup.

Sleeps all night

Has 5 teeth plus two more coming in. She has 3 on the bottom and her eye teeth. Yes that is unusual and someone asked if she was part vampire! The nurse practitioner said it was totally fine and it looks like she has her two front ones cutting through now.

Stats

Weight: 19 lbs, 1oz

Height: 27.5"

July 4th weekend

2011-07-11T21:57:00.002-05:00

I think July 4th is one of my favorite holidays! It isn't too commercialized and crazy like Christmas yet it involves gather family, seeing friends and celebrating all teh great blessings we have. I had relatives here from IL so we had supper with them at my parents and Alayna had fun playing with Ana & Belle. Brad had to work Saturday. We visited my Uncle Lee & Aunt Zada Brad took Alayna fishing when he got home and then we went to Indian Island Winery for supper. It was nice to enjoy music on the patio while the girls had a place to run around.

Brad worked Sunday but I took Alayna fishing at Mills Lake which is across the highway from my parents. I have so many fond memories of going fishing with my grandma over there. Then we went home and to my boss' house to check out his John Deere tractor collection. We had a great meal, fun conversation then took a spin on a hay wagon. The highlight was probably watching my dad & Alayna drive the tractors around the yard. Good times but they were not over! We then cruised to meet my co-worker on Lake Washinton to watch the fireworks. It was nice but the girls were pretty tired at 10:30 so we went back in and went home.

We went to the St. Peter Parade on the 4th and enjoyed pork chop on a stick plus other food. Alayna got to ride some ponies and a little train. We went home for nap then over to Brad's sister's in Eagle Lake for a grill out and the kids had a great time playing with the slip in slide and pool. The "big kids" had a huge water fight. It was a blast! We drove to St. Peter to watch the fireworks and then home to bed. Wonderful weekend!!!! Again, pics to come :)

Makynna's birthday party

2011-07-11T21:53:00.003-05:00

The Sunday after the tournament we went to Bray Park, Madison Lake for our niece, Makynna's birthday! We needed coats as it was chilly. The kids went swimming but all came out shaking and cold. It turned out to be a nice day tho! Pics to come....

Baltics tourney

2011-07-11T21:48:00.002-05:00

I am so far behind on this! June 25th was our inaugural 1860's baseball tournament at Land of Memories Park in Mankato. Brad and I were on the radio and had a busy schedule the last few days of the week trying to prepare. The vendors came, the teams came, and so did the rain..BOO! The set up and take down went smoothly and actually the whole day went well with crafts and lawn games for the kids but we were hoping for a better day and better turn out. O well, we received lots of encouragement to do it next year so we will keep at it and hope it blows up by then. I'll post pics later. Oh yea, the Baltics lost against the Arlington Greys and beat the La Crescent Apple Jacks. Arlington beat the Apple Jacks and took home our traveling tropy. As we finished loading up for the day and sat down to have a couple beers, the sun came out...go figure.

Father's Day Weekend

2011-07-07T12:00:00.004-05:00

Alayna and her friend, Dakota.

Brad "Hotstepper" Hawker (manager) presenting the game ball to the Roosters. The Quicksteps gave one to the Mankato Baltics when we beat them :)

Brad playing shortstop and having laughs with the other team.

My dad crushing the ball! He did really good that day. Not bad for a 65 year old...yes I put your age on here dad ;)

Brad "legging" it to 1st base (90 feet)

Dad on third. Pretty cool to watch the two best dads play on Father's Day!

Took Alayna to Farmer's Market/ran errands while Brad and Kalyse slept in. We had a nice relaxing Saturday. Sunday we drove up to The Landing and watched the Baltics play the Minneapolis Quicksteps & Rochester Roosters. The guys won an impressive game against the Quicksteps but lost to the hard hitting Roosters. It was a great day to watch baseball with family and friends!

Boots for our cowgirl

2011-07-07T11:48:00.003-05:00

Alayna went camping with my parents in Iowa while they attended the World Pork Expo. Weather was crappy as usual but they still had fun. If Alayna is camping and around pigs she is good to go! She couldn't wait to get home and practice showing PorkChop, her Chester White gilt. She told me when she gets older she wants to get cowgirl pants, boots and a shiney buckle. The next week my dad took her to a day camp at FarmAmerica in Waseca and then brought her to Brad's softball game in these new boots. Totally spoiled by grandma & grandpa!

More from Moondogs game

2011-06-15T23:13:00.003-05:00

Brad threw out first pitch

It was a tad outside but I thought it was pretty good since the last time he had pitched a baseball was in high school.

Alayna participated in the tractor race between the 2nd and 3rd inning.

She ended up running over third base, popping the hood off and running over it!

Smiles from Kalyse and below Alayna gets a hug from Mutnik. She told me we should sell our dogs and take home Mutnik instead.

Mankato Baltics at Mankato Moondogs game

2011-06-15T22:43:00.003-05:00

On June 5th, our 1860's vintage baseball team made an appearance at the Mankato Moondogs game. The guys did a great job mingling and singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". They promoted and represented the team well! We also had a table showing for people to stop by at and a video to teach people about vintage baseball rules, equipment, etc. It was a great night for baseball!

Guys doing some YMCA moves

Pics from Livestock

2011-06-15T22:35:00.003-05:00

Alayna used to be timid going in bouncy jumper house thingy's because of all the big kids but at this one they limited the number of kids at a time and she had a lot of fun in them.

Petting zoo with her friend, Breanna from school

Snack pouches

2011-06-09T12:31:00.004-05:00

I am generally not "into" things that say organic but am ALL in favor of things that are well marketed and convenient. A few weeks ago we picked up Applesauce in pouches which is a convenient healthy snack for Alayna. A bonus was the screw on cap but she always downs the things so we didn't even need it...still I appreciate that part of it. Then in the Target baby coupons I saw a coupon for these by Ella's Kitchen. Kalyse liked the "Sweet potatoes pumpkin apples and blueberries" and Alayna tried the "Strawberries and apples". They are labeled for babies and toddlers. The website has more flavors and smoothies: www.ellaskitchen.com/baby-food-products

Since we are on the go most of the days out of the week I really appreciate these types of products!

Finally WARM outdoor fun

2011-06-08T21:22:00.004-05:00

Saturday morning we went to Livestock and had a great time listening to bands, buying craft items and donating to World Vision. They had a kids area that had a petting zoo and bunch of blow up bounce house thingys and climbing walls. She loved it & it was a beautiful day! Kalyse was content in the stroller. This was also a good opportunity for me to promote our 1860's team so I passed out our team baseball cards with schedule on the back. Pics to come

We cruised to the Victorian Lawn party at the Hubbard House in Mankato sponsored by the Historical Society. Alayna had fun doing the games and tea party. Brad wore a bonnet while joining her in a tea party and a little boy came up to him and said, "The boy hats are in the basket over there." It was hilarious! Brad sure looked cute in his white and pink bonnet tho! Brad went to the airport to pick up his brother Jeff and his family who were returning from a vacation to Florida. Alayna, Kalyse had a nice girls evening.

Kalyse is 8 months!

2011-06-08T08:03:00.003-05:00

Our little "Punk" a.k.a "Pumpkin" is 8 months old today! I call her "Punk" because she is in to EVERYTHING and is super fast for a little chubbers. This morning she was in her crib and had picked off a decal on the wall and was chewing it. Always gotta be on our toes with Kalyse!

Crawls and at full speed when she sees something she likes

Pulls herself up on furniture and sometimes sidesteps

Loves water

Has rolls and tan lines in her rolls, haha

Giggles, especially at her big sister and likes to get into whatever Alayna is doing

Not a fan of spinach but likes all other baby foods, bagels, toast, etc.

Picks up food and feeds herself. Loves cheerios, Puff snacks and yogurt melts.

Happy, mellow baby. We can take her anywhere and she is pretty content if she can be in a stroller seeing everything or in a front carrier.

Gets mad tho if we take something away that she has...like paper. She goes after all paper and tries to eat it. She will spend minutes picking at a little piece of paper or crumb on the floor. My vacuuming has definitely increased the last month or so!

1st Twins game for Kalyse

2011-05-31T22:14:00.005-05:00

Went to Twins game on Friday night. We didn't get rained on but we did witness the Twins blow a 5-0 lead and LOSE. Grrr....I still have hope for them but this season is very trying for a Twins fan!!!

Alayna, painted #3 on one cheek and
Piranha on this cheek

1st Twins game for Kalyse!

Week of baseball

2011-05-31T21:55:00.004-05:00

Our first promotional event went well. The guys took on Washington County St. Croix team at Midway Stadium in St. Paul prior to the Saints game on Monday, May 23rd.

Brad playing shortstop. Mankato Baltics lost 4-3 but did really well! We have been asked to come back next year for a bigger event so we are looking forward to that.

Alayna participated in a race on the field at the end of 2nd inning. She beat her cousin Austin by cheating (she drove straight to the end instead of through the cones, lol) and won a case of White Castle burgers. Ick! We gave the coupon to Austin's dad who "appreciates" them more than us.

Kalyse and Daddy

Our friend, Vern volunteered to sit in rightfield as the "Player of the Game". He sat on that platform the whole game and if he caught a homerun he would win $10,000. Well folks he was literally FINGERTIPS away from doing so!! A screamer came to him and he just couldn't get a hand on it. The Saints reps said that was the closest anyone had ever gotten. We couldn't believe it and I don't think he'll ever forget it either.

Laura's wedding

2011-05-31T21:29:00.002-05:00

My cousin Laura's wedding was Saturday. It was a bit rainy when we got our hair done at the church at 9 but didn't dampen any spirits. My cousin was gorgeous as usual and the whole wedding party looked pretty fierce. Pics were at 12 and it stopped raining in time for us to get some outdoor photos at 2 before the ceremony at 3. It was a nice service, especially when she got the giggles so bad it got the Pastor giggling! I'm glad she was giggling instead of crying otherwise I probably would have been shedding some tears along with 7 other bridesmaids. We took a bus to Sibley Park for more photos then to Best Western for the reception and dance. Our miss Alayna was on the dance floor most of the time and had a blast. She is a dancing fool! At one point she was just about asleep on my lap while they played some country songs but as soon as they "switched gears" she jumped up, screamed "Wooh, Usher!" and jammed some more. Both weddings were super fun!

Wedding weekend

2011-05-31T21:16:00.003-05:00

I am so behind in posting so I'll try to make these short and sweet. The weekend of May 21st was a busy one as we both had cousin's that got married and I was in my cousin's. Thursday was get nails done and Friday I decided to use a gift certificate that Brad gave me for a 5 hour pampering at Indulge spa in North Mankato. It was delightful!!!! We had the rehearsal then groom's dinner at Number 4 and cruised up to Country Inn and Suites for Brad's cousin, Celeste's wedding. Hawker weddings are always a good time and nice to see all the aunts, uncles and cousins. It also makes us miss Brad's dad as we know he would have been there enjoying the fun! The photographer had a photo booth so we took a few shots with Alayna, Kalyse was in her carseat at that point.

Baltics

2011-05-22T17:41:00.003-05:00

The last 4+ months we have been working on different aspects of coordinating our 1860's vintage baseball team and our first big event is coming up! Between Brad, my dad, my mom and I we have lined up guys to be on our roster, found new hats, someone to make new uniforms, communicated with other teams, had meetings with local businesses to ask for sponsorship, designed old time baseball cards to pass out and MORE!!!!

Tomorrow night the guys will be playing an exhibition game against the St. Croix team before the St. Paul Saints at Midway Stadium. Everyone is really excited! The Mankato Free Press featured the Mankato Baltics in Sunday, May 22nd's paper and also listed our schedule. We hope this gains exposure and gets more people interested in playing and/or watching vintage baseball. Next up is a special appearance at the Moondogs game on June 5th which is also a fundraiser for us and then our "season" begins!

Weekend fun with family

2011-05-17T22:26:00.005-05:00

We had a nice supper on Friday night with the girls at Tav on the Ave and Saturday I went to a garage sale in the morning. I had planned to go to 3 or 4 but the first one I went to had a whole table with size 4-5T girls summer and winter clothes so I stocked up which was awesome! The girls and I had lunch with Great Grandpa Rollings and then went home to play, watch Tangled and then I cleaned while the girls napped. It was a rainy, cold but productive day. =)

Brad and his brothers and sister went to the Twins game Saturday afternoon.

Sunday we headed to Fairmont for a parade, lunch and send off ceremony for the troops in the 1/34th Red Bulls 1st batallion, 125th Field Artillary (MN National Guard).

Uncle Bill with his kids and nieces and nephews

1 year of pre-school is over

2011-05-17T22:19:00.002-05:00

May 12th was the last day of preschool for Alayna! That sure went fast. The class had planned to do a picnic in the park but due to the rain that was cancelled. Ms. Terry brought in a pinata and the kids had a blast with it. Alayna was eager to show us her backpack full of projects and sing a couple songs. I'm so glad we decided to enroll her as she learned so much and made lots of friends.

Mother's Day

2011-05-17T22:14:00.003-05:00

After heading to Farm America and playing outside, we went to Applebee's to celebrate mom's day with Brad's siblings, mom and grandma. Brad had to work until 6:30 and joined us afterwards.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day at my parents house after church. My brother grilled, I took a nap and Brad actually got off work early and came out for supper. It was a wonderful day!