One word makes a big difference...

While in Marquette over Christmas we had the opportunity to enjoy an evening at Teagan's Great Grandma (GG) and Great Grandpa's house for dinner. It was a full-house with 9 of us there to enjoy a wonderful ham dinner (my favorite)! This was the first time, in a very long time that Teagan had visited GG's and she found it rather fascinating to explore the house that Poppy grew up in. By far she enjoyed the laundry chute in the bathroom and tossed down rolls of toilet paper and towels to unsuspecting people below. While she enjoyed this the rest of us enjoyed the hilarious-ness that ensued over dinner.

As a good mom should, I made Teagan's plate so all the food was perfectly placed and the perfect temperature by the time she made it to the table. Because of this, Teagan was able to get the first bite of dinner before any of us were even sitting down. As I pulled out my chair to sit beside her I hear her say something that sounds a lot like;

"This tastes like crap!"

What?!?!

She doesn't know that word?! Don't get me wrong I know kids pick up words from all over the place but I'm really confident she doesn't know it and even if she did, it's so unlikely that she would use it correctly in a sentence the first time she tests her new vocabulary on us!!

I was horrified but the looks on the rest of the faces varied from puzzled to 'I'm really trying hard not to laugh'. Meanwhile I am searching her plate to see what I would have given her that she didn't like. I spotted the unlikely cultprit - a spoonful of Ranch dressing. It was then that it dawned on me and I said "What did you say?" and she repeated it again…

"This tastes like Kraft"

Ohhhhh--- now it makes sense! For months I was throwing away bottles of Ranch dressing because she said it tasted bad and then one day she says "Mommy, can you ask Ms. Theresa (daycare) what kind she buys- I really like hers!" Turns out little miss finicky will only eat Hidden Valley Ranch Lite and don't try to pull a fast one on her - she knows the difference.

So all through dinner we're having this conversation about Ranch dressing. GG thinks it was Hidden Valley - but she threw the bottle away after she put the dressing into the serving dish. Teagan politely asks "What color was the top - because Kraft is blue and Hidden Valley is green - I only like the green." So now, we're all really curious and after dinner GG pulls the bottle, with it's blue top, out of the garbage and shows Teagan. This little 4-year old Ranch conniseur smiles and says "See, I told you it was Kraft".

Morale of the story - speak your words clearly and never try to tell Teagan she's wrong about Ranch dressing.

Our Twelve Days of Vacation

We had a wonderful Christmas trip to Michigan and are now home in MinneSNOWta! Our trip to Michigan can be summed up in the 12 days of Vacation below!

12 days of vacation
11 inches of snow
10 hour drive to Michigan
9 questions of "Are we there yet"
8 Breadsticks from the Portside (probably more)
7 Stupsky's jammed into a church pew
6 hours of Wii Yahtzee!
5 hundred trips up and and down Whitman Sledding Hill
4 Doting grandparents
3 (G) iPhone for Danielle
2 days of presents
1 Happy 4-year old girl

Okay, so there was so much more to our trip. We had such a great time that Teagan cried for almost two hours as we were driving out of town. I can hardly blame her - when she's there she has all her grandparents doting on her and she gets to spend quality time with her cousins; something we don't have in Minnesota. For her it's like a perpetual party and I get it - I totally understand how she feels. I remember when we first left Marquette coming back home was the best feeling - coming back to what I know; the people, restaurants, atmosphere. It's been so many years and it's not exactly the same feeling, but there's still that magic and excitement when we see the sign "Welcome to Marquette".



As you can see it was a fun Christmas morning for Teagan. She must have been a really good girl - she earned her first set of wheels from Nanny and Poppy! For now she can ride it in the basement - but once the snow melts watch out world!!!

It was also really nice to spend some time with Sierra - she's been living with Nanny and Poppy (and her dog-brother Max) since we put our previous house on the market. She's been spoiled since she arrived there and spent the summer running around at the Lake. In the winter she spends her time roaming the woods next to the house - she's a pretty lucky senior dog-citizen.




As I mentioned - we're home. No magic as we crossed the "Welcome to Minnesota" state line but it sure feels good to be back in my own bed. We're still trying to unpack all of the suitcases and boxes from the trip so it'll likely be a few weeks before I'm back on here. Here's to wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Since you only have a day or two you better hurry and complete your 2008 resolutions...in just a few days you'll be making more.

We are thankful...

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! I know I'm a bit late in posting our Turkey Day fun, but I just came out of my turkey coma and I'm ready to get back to reality.

This year we had a very laid back Thanksgiving, for the first time in as long as we can remember it was just the three of us. We tried to keep up some of the long-standing traditions like playing a new game, watching football and skipping lunch in lieu of dips, chips and other snackies but it just did not feel the same.

Teagan woke at the crack of dawn and was so excited to be able to wear the new dress she got from Nanny and Poppy. She looks to find any excuse to wear a dress, I guess there's no better reason than a holiday! She looked adorable and complimented her look with white ballet shoes (did I mention her ballet shoes have become a very important fixture in her life?).



Teagan had hoped for some snow on Thanksgiving so we could go out and play - the weather called for snow, just not in Minnesota. I write this blog 6 days post Thanksgiving and we still have yet to enjoy any type of snow accumulation. This was as close as she got to snow this day - still pretty cute!



Even though it was just the three of us we still managed to cook a meal fit for an army. My favorite part, as always, are the rolls. Teagan and I watched them rise all day until they were FINALLY ready to go in the oven. Teagan was happy (as was I) that she could stop asking "Are they done yet?" I promised her she could butter them when they came out of the oven and she was happy to help!



After dinner the fun began! Really, I have no pictures of dinner. I've never really understood why people try so hard to coordinate the cooking times of things such as the turkey, sides and wine pouring only to spend 20 minutes taking pictures of everyone sitting at the table ready to dig in like gluttens...when it's finally time to eat it's a surefire bet the potatoes are cold and the wine bottle is almost empty due to the stress of trying to figure out how to work the automatic timer.

I do, however, have pictures of the pie - simply becuase Teagan's only request this year was that she get to try Pecan Pie. What? A 4 year old wants Pecan Pie? We humored her even though neither of us have ever had a pecan pie and it seems so unbearably gross. To my surprise a Pecan Pie is filled with creamy caramel - very rich and delicious. They need to come up with a better name - Pecan Pie just does not sounds as tasty as Gooey Caramel Pie topped with Pecans. Here's a picture of heaven in a pie pan along with it's proud owner:




To top off the day we received a visit from a cute little Elf! He arrived while we were outside lighting up the house. When we got back in the house Teagan noticed him sitting on the ledge and could not believe her eyes! He brought along some special treats for Teagan and his book so we would know what to do with him. Santa sent him to watch her and each night he flies back to the North Pole to report on Teagan and her activities. If she's well behaved she might find a small holiday treasure the next morning near the elf. It's really been a lot of fun watching her try to interact with the elf. Each night when he returns from the North Pole he lands at a different location so each morning she runs around the house to find the elf. Did I mention she named him Elfie; quite appropriate! If you want to learn more about Elfie and his other elf friends you can at http://www.elfontheshelf.combut please don't ruin the magic for Teagan.



I'm hopeful you all had as much fun as we had on Thanksgiving! Now get out there and get your Christmas shopping done!!

30 is the new 80

So yesterday we're sitting at the dinner table and Ryan just has to remind me that I have a birthday coming up! Teagan didn't miss a beat when she asks "Mommy, how many will you be?" To which I respond - 25 - definitely a lie, but it's only a small doesn't hurt anyone kind of lie. This is where it gets really interesting...

Teagan proceeds to tell me "how many" I'll be in the next few consecutive years:

"Then you'll be 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - " she pauses, takes a deep breath and says "Oh, and then you'll be thirty and that's how old a grandma is..."

I'm dumbfounded but Ryan seems to think this is the funniest thing and he's very proud of his daughter for being so innocently funny yet clueless to the fact that I've spent the past several years of my (and her) life over the 'old' age of 30.

As I leave the table I begin to wonder if the small, doesn't hurt anyone kind of lie worked to my advantage. I'm thinking not, but it did provide some dinner time fodder, at my expense.

Next stop - The 30 year old home!!

Dot Com

It was a very innocent conversation with Teagan - it started when she saw the new Walt Disney World commercial regarding the 'Year of the Celebration'. If you have not witnessed this blessed event - in 2009 Disney will say goodbye to their 'Year of a Million Dreams' campaign and embark on a new concept - turning an ordinary celebration into something magical. This commercial prompted her to ask when we were going to go to Disney again and the conversation went something like this:

Me "very soon - we'll go just after your fifth birthday"
Impatient child "but it's taking a long time"
Me "It will be here before you know it"
Persistent child "How about we go next week"
Me "Next week is Thanksgiving and besides we don't have tickets to go next week"

Now, keep in mind this has worked in the past as a really good reason why we could not go/do something. She has obviously picked up on a few things since then and responded ever so innocently - "Why don't you go on dot com to get them"

Yes, my four year old just told me to go on dot com and get tickets so we can go to Disney World next week. As I approach my birthday (I'll be 25 again this year) I can only imagine what technology will look like in the years to come. I was a sophomore in college when I logged on to my first email account and I can guarantee it did not have the fancy features we have today - heck I was happy when I could finally use a font other than 'typewriter'.

Teagan has learned a lot in her 4+ years in this world, now if I could only teach her the art of patience.

By the way, in the time it took me to compose this blog post I have received an email that my Christmas order from Amazon.com (which was ordered while wearing my jammies in the comfort of my own home) has shipped. It also says I'll get an email when my order has been delivered to my doorstep - as if the ringing of my doorbell isn't enough!

I would wish you all happy shopping, but what I really should say is happy dot comming...

Sundae Night

Okay, so it was really Saturday night that we enjoyed family sundae night! As you can see Teagan got a bit carried away with all the ice cream frills. It was a bit sugary for Ryan and I, but she loved every bite of her masterpiece!






We love Sundae Nights!!!!

Toe Pick!

Teagan had her second week of skating lessons and she's a natural! Even though it was her second time on skates, ever, she was able to skate on her own and get back up when she fell. She loves to skate, and has said that she wants to skate every night! The first night of lessons she took one step onto the ice and turned and said "Mommy, it's slippery out here"! All we could do was laugh!!




After lessons a parent gets to skate too, so I've laced up my skates to get reacquainted with skating - I don't care what everyone says, it's not just like riding a bike - but I did okay.



We plan to skate a lot more this winter on some of the outdoor rinks - maybe one of these years, we'll take her to Rockefeller Plaza to skate too! I know, I know - it's only been two lessons!