Day 60: February 29, 2012

Happy Leap Day!

FYI - It was really difficult to get these three to leap together! And Morgan is not pictured, because she really didn't understand what we were doing :)

If you'd like to see the "rejects", here's a link: The Kerzman 6

Day 59: February 28, 2012

In 2012 I vowed to be more organized and more financially responsible.

For me, menu planning is the first step toward accomplishing both of those goals.

This our menu board:

It's nothing fancy - just a piece of a chalkwall from  Uppercase Living on a picture frame. Every Sunday I plan out our evening meals for the week, based on the ingredients we have on hand. It's helped me be smarter at the grocery store (I try to only go grocery shopping once every two weeks), and add a little variety too. Pre-planning means we no longer eat the same four meals every single week!

But there's another benefit of this menu board, one I just discovered tonight. I had to work late, and when I got home, Brad has supper ready... he read the menu and took it upon himself to cook supper.

There's no way I want to work until 6:00 every night, but I could get used to someone else doing the cooking!

Day 58: February 27, 2012

Me: "I'll be right there Lizzy."

I was too slow... this is what I found when I went in to the girls room:

Poor Lizzy (and Woof-Woof) fell asleep beside a pile of books she wanted to read :(

Morgan, however, continued to run around like a crazy woman for another hour!

Day 57: February 26, 2012

Today was a very long day of basketball.

Lexi's team went to Minot (last night, to beat the storm) to play a three game tourney today. But because of the storm, a few other teams didn't make it. So the Sparks played in the 7th grade division and the 8th grade division.

It was a great experience. The girls did awesome - and gave two 8th grade teams a run for their money (lost one game by 7, and the other by 2 in overtime). What a confidence builder!

It also meant back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back games. Really. These girls played from 8:00 am until 12:00 pm with no break, then again from 1:00 until 3:00.

It makes me tired just thinking about it.

But it was a super fun tournament, and while I missed two of Jake's games (I'm really, really feeling bad about that.. sounds like they were good games.. a huge win and a nail-biter) and I missed the little girls and Brad like crazy (I can't remember the last time I was gone overnight without them), it was kind of fun to watch Lexi play, without also keeping the little girls from running onto the court to join the game!

I even got to move around and take some different, closer pictures. Here is one of my favorites:

This was a pretty intense time out, with 5.8 seconds left in overtime. Our team lost, but winning isn't everything!

I honestly mean that.

The lessons that these girls are learning on the court will help them long after they've hung up their basketball shoes.

Teamwork.

Dedication.

Hard work.

Really, lessons that will help them in all aspects of their lives.

These girls are going to do great things one day, on and off the court.

Day 56: February 25, 2012

Lexi and I are getting ready to head out of town for a basketball tournament.

Much to my surprise, Lizzy hasn't asked to go once.

But, she did make me some pictures of herself, so I won't forget her (we will be gone for one day!):

Day 55: February 24, 2012

What did we do in the days before smart phones?

Days like today, I'm not sure how we survived.

My phone beeped/rang/buzzed all day today.

Emails.

Texts.

Phone calls.

I'm not really that important most days, but today, I was pretty popular.

My phone is now dead - too much use! I'm tempted to not charge it, to "unplug" for the weekend.

But I can't.

I need to get up early for Jake's ball game tomorrow.. and without my cell phone, I don't have an alarm clock!

Day 54: February 23, 2012

Snow!

Finally!

I say yuck... Lizzy says yay!

She was pretty excited to make snow angels and throw snowballs this afternoon!

Lucky for  me, she's got a terrible aim!

Day 53: February 22, 2012

My sweet boy.

Every single night I go into his room before I go to bed... and take off his glasses, put his book away, and shut off his lamp.

Every.

Single.

Night.

It makes me smile.

Every.

Single.

Night.

And most nights, he mumbles some really hilarious things in his sleep when I take his glasses off...tonight he was frustrated, because he didn't "know what to read"!

Love him.

Day 52: February 21, 2012

I took what I believe to be a very well deserved break from the little girls this evening and took the big kids (and Chrissy) to the BHS/CHS basketball games.

But I'm never too far from the girls.

Brad sent me this picture halfway through the girls' game, with the caption "Photo of the Day":

I love this picture because these are two very cute and silly girls and also because Brad made the effort to help me with my 366 project!

PS... I did have a cute picture of a very hyper Jake and me at the game that I was going to use, but this one is cuter :)

Day 51: February 20, 2012

You can take the girl out of the newsroom, but you can never take the newsroom out of the girl.

Despite not working in tv for almost a year, my kids still manage to get on tv quite frequently. Perhaps it's because I still think like a reporter.. I have a dozen story ideas every single day. Once in awhile, reporters get desperate and use one of my ideas :)

Today, Jake was interviewed by KFYR-TV (my former employer) for a story on an upcoming babysitting course offered by Custer Health (one of my new employers..talk about worlds colliding!).

The girls and I left the room while Jake and Juli visited.. but I tried to quietly take a picture.. I wasn't very sneaky though.. Jake giggled in mid-sentence when he saw me!

It was fun to see my former co-workers again.. and it kinda made me miss my old job :(

Anyway, Jake (and his two little sisters) will be on the news later this week.

Day 50: February 19, 2012

It was a beautiful day again today.

So while Brad and the big kids went to a freethrow contest (no winners this time... bummer!) the little girls and I went to the park.

But, we decided it's time to try out some other parks. We always go to the same one. We need to venture out.

So today we went to a park we've never gone to before.

I'd say they liked it!

Day 49: February 18, 2012

Who needs expensive toys?

Lizzy was busy for hours this morning, looking for "treasures" to fill an old egg carton.

Then, she spent even more time tricking everyone with her carton of eggs :)

Day 48: February 17, 2012

I had a wonderful afternoon playing the game "Guess What I Am?" with Miss Lizzy.

She was so excited to be the doctor!

I'm so happy to have my afternoons off to spend doing fun stuff like this! Yesterday we made a Barbie beach scene out of construction paper :)

Day 47: February 16, 2012

Morgan is really into picking out her own outfits.

This is the outfit she picked out for bed tonight:

By the way, I'm totally ok with wearing clothes to bed and jammies to daycare. Morgan has been doing it for days, and it seems to work for her. I mean just look at her.. she's zonked!

Day 46: February 15, 2012

Love her.

My baby is getting so big, but she will always, always be my baby!

Oh, and the scratch: she did that to herself.

And before bed, we clipped her fingernails... because I don't want to have a matching scratch on my forehead!

Day 45: February 14, 2012

I'm not really much of a flower person especially not on Valentine's Day.

But today, these flowers were exactly what I needed.

Oh, and the Diet Coke in a bottle. That was nice too.

Day 44: February 13, 2012

I am, by nature, a procrastinator.

I'm working on this. But I have apparently passed this bad habit onto my children.

Despite my best efforts, and best nagging, I just finished the kids' valentines a few minutes ago.

I swear I asked the big kids if they needed valentines weeks ago. They said no.  Jake also said he didn't need a valentine box.

He was wrong.

So, for the past six hours, I've been working on valentines and a valentine box.

I am happy to say, my kids are now ready for Valentine's Day.

And I'd also like to mention, we now hold the world record for fastest valentine box construction. It took Jake and me about 15 minutes to turn a cracker box into a locker.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Day 43: February 12, 2012

Sparks take first place!

So proud of these girls.. for playing great basketball (especially great defense) and keeping their heads high, despite some major distractions.

They are a great group of girls, both on and off the court.

Day 42: February 11, 2012

Another Saturday, another four basketball games.

While I love watching Lexi and Jake play basketball, it gets to be a bit much for the little girls. I worry that after watching so many games, they won't want to play when they're finally old enough.

So I pack a giant backpack full of stuff to keep them busy: crayons, coloring books, Barbies, video games, snacks.

But it's never enough.

During the last game of the day, both girls had had enough. I wasn't sure they were going to make it through the whole game.

But then they surprised me.

Morgan found a pack of gum, which kept her busy the entire second half.

Lizzy started watching the game, and actually enjoyed it. I even heard her cheering for Jake a couple of times!

Her cheering must have worked because Jake's team finally won!

Day 41: February 10, 2012

Those are Lexi's hands, after a night of volunteering.

She gave up her Friday night (and a school dance) to help with Family Fun Night at Jake's school.

For two hours, she did hair - wacky hair, to be exact.

She had some masterpieces.

And she went through many, many, many bottles of hair spray, glitter, and color. The proof is on her hands!

She also made some little kids really, really, really happy.

And, she made me super proud.

I love this kid.



Day 40: February 9, 2012

"Whoooo's" totally excited about Valentine's Day?

Trust me. She's excited about these owl valentines.

And I'm totally excited too.

If you're really bored.. and really want to make your own cute owl valentines, visit Kerzman Kreations.

Day 39: February 8, 2012

Welcome Tesslyn Marie Klaudt!

She is perfect.

Beautiful.

8 pounds, 13 ounces.

Born at 11:36 this morning.

Love those chubby cheeks!

Day 38: February 7, 2012

Ever have one of those days that goes absolutely nothing like you planned?

That was my day today.

Or should I say that is my day today, since it is, unfortunately, far from over.

I still have three hours worth of work I'd really like to get done tonight (so not gonna happen), a couple of personal projects I'd hoped to finish up, laundry to fold.. and a two year old to get to bed.

That's right.

11pm and my terrible two year old is still bouncing off the walls.

Her sleep schedule has been out of whack all day.. she wasn't tired at her normal nap time, which meant she had a late nap (too late, obviously). We've been rocking, watching tv, talking, singing, and chilling for about three hours now.

Feels like three years.

And she is just as awake as she was three hours ago.

Did I mention Brad is out of town? This never happens when he's home.

I finally gave up.

Forget the "stuff I need to get done" list.

Morgan is wide awake, and cute.

So we had a little photo shoot while playing "hide".

She always peeks!

This was the one part of my day that went well - for these few minutes, I even managed to multi- task: I played with Morgan and took my picture of the day!

Because I'll always want to remember this day.. the day that never ends.

Trust me, it's not ending anytime soon here.

Right now, Morgan is squeezing her cheeks and pretending to be "chubby".. she even lowers her voice.

Oh boy.

This is gonna be a long night.

Day 37: February 6, 2012

Lizzy got a new crown (it lights up and even blinks!) at speech today.

Bob met us at the stairs when we got home, and she immediately crowned him king of all dogs.

Day 36: February 5, 2012

Today Jake, Lizzy and I went for a three hour bike ride.

If only we would have actually pedaled for three hours.

I'm guessing we pedaled for maybe 20 minutes of that three hours.

The rest was spent helping Lizzy, fixing broken chains, drinking slushies (Jake's treat!) and wiping Lizzy's tears (apparently Lizzy needs a new bike. Her $5 rummage sale bike major problems.)

Anyway, despite all that, it was a fun way to spend at 51-degree February day with my "middles" :)

Day 35: February 4, 2012

Great minds think alike.

My favorite Kerzman cousin and I are both doing a 366 project... tonight was the first night we've seen each other since beginning the project.

Our conversation at the wedding dance:
Me: "Michelle, what's your picture of the day today?"
Michelle: "I was thinking I need one of you and me!"
Me: "That was my idea too!"

And so.. the picture we were both dreaming of:

And before any other Kerzman cousins get jealous, let me explain why Michelle is my favorite.

She was the first Kerzman cousin I met, and I will never forget the night I met her.

Brad and I were in college in Wahpeton. On this particular night, we went our separate ways, and I went to bed early. Only to wake up sometime betwen 3 and 4 am, to voices and giggles.

It was Brad and Michelle.

Here's what I remember hearing:

Brad: "That's her. She's the one. She's the one I'm gonna marry.
Michelle, giggling.

Love that giggle.

Everytime I hear it, I think of the first time I met her.

And it makes me smile.

Day 34: February 3, 2012

The girls and I went to Disney on Ice tonight.

It was a great show...with great company (Madonna, Sheena, Jorja and Chrissy!).  I got some great pictures of the skaters, the girls, and the girls and me.

You're probably expecting to see one of those pictures here.

Sorry.

While those were amazing pictures, I got an even better one earlier today.

One which I'm pretty sure is a once in a lifetime picture.. at least I hope it is.

Bob, blowing a giant drool bubble.

Day 33: February 2, 2012

Patience is a virtue.

I was reminded of that this morning.

And my girls had to learn that, the hard way.

It shouldn't have been such a big deal. All we wanted to do was go to storytime at the library, and meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I figured it would be a full house, but never dreamed there wouldn't be room for us.

The room's capacity was 250 people. We got there just as the doors were closing. We were 25 minutes early.

Yes, I know we should have gone earlier, but really? That seems like a recipe for disaster: Lizzy and Morgan, hanging out in a meeting room for an hour? I can tell you it would not have been pretty. As the doors closed in our faces, and the very mean library lady said there was no room, I debated leaving. But Lizzy was so disappointed, and so sad, I decided we would stay. And I had rearranged my work schedule so I could do this with the girls today (FYI.. storytime at 10:15 am on a Thursday doesn't really work into a lot of mom's schedules.. obviously it's tailored to stay-at-home moms and daycares.. hence, the reason in almost 13 years of being a mom, today was the first time I actually made it to storytime). Even a glimpse of Mickey and Minnie through the window would have been better than leaving on such a bad note.

So we waited.

And we waited.

I spotted lots of people I knew inside. I honestly wondered how I could sneak Lizzy inside to sit with them.

We missed the story (no biggie..seriously, I've heard that was worth missing) and then people started leaving, after hugging Mickey and having their pictures taken. That's when the very mean library lady said we could go into "the room".

Yay! Our patience was being rewarded.

We let people go ahead of us, even though I knew we were there long before they were. We took our time getting into the room, and into the line.
No one said we should hurry.

We visited with a friend, who was second to last in the line and finally I decided we should get in line.

They wouldn't let us.

There was a very mean library lady standing guard at the end of the line, not allowing anyone else in line.

I was not happy.

Again, we hung around, hoping Lizzy would get to hug Minnie and Mickey.

That's when she had a great idea:

"Mom, how about you just take a picture of them, and then take another picture of me and then we can cut my picture out, and put me between them. It will look like I really got to meet them!"

Proud mom moment. Lizzy already understands the magic of Photoshop.

We giggled and took some silly pictures, with the famous mice in the background.

Morgan was starting to meltdown, and we were thinking about leaving, when the very mean library lady said all the kids who didn't get to meet Mickey and Minnie could sit on the edge of the stage and they would come pose for pictures behind them.

Lizzy sat down, at the end, because she's polite like that.

Morgan wouldn't sit down, because, as I mentioned, she was beginning to have a meltdown.

Lizzy almost got missed.

Finally, the two coolest mice ever were behind Lizzy and I got to take a few pictures.

None of them were great.

Here's the best one I got:

Mickey, Minnie, Lizzy and a girl we've never seen before (and probably will never see again!)

Oh well.Besides this silly picture, we got a great story to tell about the time we tried to go to storytime.

And for the record, I'm not sure we will ever attempt storytime again. It's at a really inconvenient time - I get that it's tailored to those who get to stay home with their kids.. and I respect that. But why not add another storytime for kids' whose parents work? Just because we work doesn't mean we wouldn't like to take our kids to events like this. I want my girls to love books, and spending time at the library, listening to someone  other than me read a book would be a great way to instill that love of reading.

I have many, many thoughts about today's event, and the way my girls were treated. And yes, I understand the fire code, and I respect the library staff for following it. I know they had everyone's safety in mind. But they were not very nice about it. I don't like it when people aren't nice to me, or to my kids.

Maybe I'll write a letter to the library, or to Disney.

Meantime, the girls and I managed to make today fun, even though it went nothing like we planned!

Day 32: February 1, 2012

I just love these little feet.

Enough said.