Bedtime Snuggle Conversations

Whenever I can, I love to snuggle with my kids before they go to sleep.  These are special moments for us to connect at the end of the day.  And no matter how good or how challenging the day has been, these snuggle moments are times that I relish...times that I am able to slow down and breathe and remember that these little wonders that God has blessed me with are such gifts.

Tonight when I was snuggling with my Buzz, he said to me, "the miscarriages happened before me."  And I said, "no Honey, those were after you."  "Oh yeah, those were when I was two," he said.  How in the world did he remember that?  Then he said, "Mommy, I wasn't able to be there when you had the miscarriages.  I wasn't at the hospital."  I told him, "No, the miscarriages actually happened at home.  I didn't have to go to the hospital for those.  Those little babies were so tiny.  They just left my body more easily.  I just bled a little bit and they came out."  He said, "oh.  But some people have to have their miscarriages cut out their tummies.  They have to have a needle in their tummies and help get the miscarriages out."  I said, "yes, sometimes women need extra help when they are miscarrying and need to be in the hospital.  The doctor has to help clean out their tummy."

I'm not quite sure where that conversation stemmed from today or what caused him to think about it, but I do know that my little boy is a really deep thinker and seems to process things thoroughly.  He seems extra tender about our losses.  I hope and pray that God will use this deep thinker in wonderful ways.

Then I snuggled my big Bug.  She loves to cuddle too.  And both kids always have to have their butterfly kisses and eskimo kisses.  Bug said to me, "Mommy, I miss Solveig."  I told her with tears in my eyes, "Yes honey, I miss her too.  I will always miss her."  Sweet Bug girl then wrapped her arms around me and kissed my cheek.  She is so precious and so full of love to give.  I really appreciate that the Lord gave me that girl.  She has been so tender hearted and has encouraged me a lot.

I'm grateful for these kids.  Thank you God.

The Hills Are Alive...

Ever since we lost Solveig almost six months ago, I've wanted to escape and flee the scene of my life for just a bit.  We love to travel and have been blessed with many different opportunities to do so throughout the years.  But that travel bug was really in me this spring, and I just could not wait to get out for a bit to breathe some different air and see some other scenery.

Gratefully, we were able to take a trip to Colorado and South Dakota and we just returned a week ago. I've been trying to catch up on life and that is why I haven't posted here in awhile.  I'm living my REAL life, I guess you could say.

We spent time in Aspen, Snowmass, Ft. Collins, Rapid City and just an overnight stop in Sioux Falls before we headed home.  Erik drove our van to Denver and met me and the kids at the airport!  We had enough points through something that we were able to get tickets for the three of us to fly to Denver - pretty great.  I'm so glad that we could do that, and the kids had so much fun flying!  For Bug, it was the first plane trip she remembers, as she was one the last time she flew.  And for Buzz, it was his first plan trip ever.  They thought it was awesome!  And I made sure to pack their backpacks full of fun things to keep them busy during the flight.  Sticker scene books are the WAY TO GO for kids ages 4 and 6!  They loved those and still play with them, a few weeks after the start of the trip.

We did some little hikes over the top of Aspen and Snowmass Mountains and in the surrounding area, through Rocky Mountain National Park, Custer State Park, Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands National Park.  I even enjoyed singing a bit while we were hiking.  There were lots of little streams to wade in and the kids LOVED collecting rocks of all different shapes and sizes.  A gold mine was visited and toured and we also spent time panning for gold.  We ended up bringing home two tiny files filled with mostly water and a couple seedling sized pieces of gold.  It was fun to experience the thrill of the gold hunt!  We also went to the Woolly Mammoth dig site, had dinner and saw a show at a chuck wagon restaurant/theater, learned how to make an old fashioned cowboy rope, went on a boat tour of Grand Lake and so much more.  Many animals were seen, including TWO black bears in downtown Aspen, mountain goats, big horn sheep, three herds of buffalo, gazillions of prairie dogs, fish and yellow bellied marmots.  Those were all in the wild.  Then we drove through a wildlife park where we saw a LOT of different bears, walking right next to our van, and many other animals as well.  Good thing they keep those bears well fed!

While we were gone we had the opportunity to spend time with some very special people, including my voice teacher from grad. school and his sweet wife and son who have really become such dear friends, Erik's aunt and my special friend from high school and her adorable family - they're like family to me.  I'm so grateful that we could be with these loved ones.  It was food for my soul and I miss them all already.  Thank you dear friends for the time we could be together.  I so appreciated the times we could share as well as the wonderful conversations.

The one thing that was hard for me on the trip was that I kept thinking about Solveig and how she could have been with us.  There were of course babies everywhere, and I noticed all of them...especially the newborns or those who were almost six months old, like Solveig would be.  Sometimes it was very difficult, but I tried as much as I could to focus more on spending time with my living children and my husband and how we were still creating special memories together.

Here's a few of my favorite photos from the trip:

At Maroon Bells - near Aspen

On top of Aspen Mountain - we did a nature hike with a guide

Bug and Buzz at Maroon Bells

Me and Erik - Maroon Bells

Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park

All in all, it was a good vacation and I'm so glad that we could go.  Our kids have become wonderful travelers and they really did a good job enduring long days of adventure...sometimes better than this mama! :)  They seemed to really get into hiking and finding treasures.  We look forward to more adventures as a family in the future.

July Park Pics

Bug is now four years old as of May 19 and Buzz turned two on June 22nd! I can't believe how much they have grown and changed in such a short time. About a week ago, I decided on a whim after church one day that we needed to go to the local park arboretum to take pictures, as it was a perfectly overcast day for doing so! We stopped at home for a change of clothes for the Bug, and unfortunately all her frilly dresses were NOT ironed...SO, we opted for this cute casual one that she has and it worked out just fine. She and Buzz loved the little park we were at, as there are lots of gorgeous flowers and plants and also a water fountain there! Of course, you can imagine that after awhile, they just had to put their hands in the streams of water in the fountain...and little Buzz was soaking wet from that adventure, but he was laughing and having the best time. It was hard to keep them sitting still, so my dear man and I took turns taking pics of them playing. It was a lot of fun! I need to do this more often.

More pics...

Feel the Love!

Come on Buzz, let's tackle!

I LOVE my new hobby of climbing stairs!

Betcha can't catch me!

New Pictures of Kids!

Hey Ya'all! Here's some more recent pics of my two little darlins...Bug Girl has turned THREE!!! Her birthday was May 19. I'm hoping to post some pics of her fun Do_ra the Ex_plorer birthday parties. Buzz turns ONE next week, June 22nd! I can't believe how quickly they're growing. We're really enjoying being outside more lately. Buzz likes to ride in his little push car and Bug likes to draw on the sidewalk with chalk, as well as blow bubbles. And if I let him, Buzz will eat ANYTHING he finds on the ground. GROSS! The other night he was so sick from eating leaves and such that he threw up right before I put him to sleep. Poor kid! I hope he learns soon not to eat extraneous junk. Bug is really patient for the most part, and today she sat in the office with me while I was working on paper work and making appointments. She was working with stickers and pom poms and gluing them all to paper. Fun times!

I'm off to go make some dinner and wake up my kids...well, Bug never did nap today. Little stinker! But Buzz is sound asleep. He's such a good napper for me! Knock on wood, right? I hope he stays that way!

Newer Pictures

This was one of our last snowy days in April. I bundled up the kids and got them outside when we were having "cabin fever."

My Buzz Bear loves his swing in the back yard!

Bug thinks making snowballs is tons of fun! And Buzz loved being pulled around in the sled.

Bug was trying to pat Buzzy's head...not quite sure why...

This hat was made by my friend Amy, and I think it looks very cute on Buzzy's head. Also, I found the bib that says, "Drool if You're Norwegian" at Engebretson's store in Minneapolis. Love that place!