It's Been a Long Time...

It's been almost two months since I've posted pictures. It's because there haven't been too many exciting things going on here in South Dakota. We go up to Rapid City every 2 or 3 weeks and take the girls to their indoor swim complex. They have a total blast and we can never get them out of the water. They've even started going underwater without any encouragement from Kevin or me. Elise and Linnaea started going to morning preschool on February 1st, and they like it. It's a block and a half away, so I walk them there at 8am and pick them up at 11:30 and we walk home. Almost every morning I have to force them to get dressed to go. They take after Kevin in that they are quite happy playing around the house in the their pajamas. But when I pick them up I have to force them to come home with me, so I know they like being there. Since they are in preschool I have had the opportunity to volunteer at the elementary school. I LOVE it! I've observed/helped in 5th and 3rd grade classes and go to the kindergarten class every Thursday. Kindergarten is a lot more work but I just love being there and getting to know the kids. I am so excited to get my classes done and get started teaching, but I'm expecting it to be another 1 1/2 years plus a semester of student teaching. I am so happy I've made the decision to go back to school for elementary education.

Well, here's a few pictures of us hanging around the house:



We were supposed to be putting stickers on ornaments but thought we'd see how they would look on our own faces.





My first attempt at French braiding Elise's hair. She let me try one more time after this but I have not been able to talk her into letting me practice any more than that.





Working on the puzzle Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Tim gave us for Christmas. We will do all 4 puzzles in about 45 minutes without any help from mom!





This is how Linnaea makes me do her hair sometimes. Two ponytails with two different colored rubber bands and two barrettes to match on each side.





Goofy sister time!





Linnaea is working on one of the Valentine's crafts from Grandma and Grandpa.





Elise paints her Ariel suncatcher, also a Valentine's gift from Grandma and Grandpa.





We made these curly crowns one day when we were bored.





My little girl who loves fancy shoes and dresses. By the way, Elise and Linnaea decided about a month ago that they would switch favorite colors. Elise's favorite color is now purple and Linnaea's is now pink. Elise insists on wearing all of Linnaea's purple clothes and using her purple things. I don't know how long this is going to last.





Linnaea in her ballerina costume and Elmo slippers.

Before I Forget...

I'm horrible at remembering to record the funny things they say, but it's probably because most things revolve around bodily functions that are inappropriate to write down. But here is a good funny one:

Kevin made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting last night, which was a real event because I can't even remember the last time we had cake or cupcakes. Linnaea got a tiny chocolate mustache from the frosting.

I told her she looked like a French man and said, in a funny French accent, "Oui oui monsieur!"

Elise, ever so concerned with being EXACTLY like Linnaea, asks me very worriedly "Do I look like a wee wee Mommy?"

The only think I could say was "Yes, sweetie, you do."

Christmas Things

Getting ready to make cookies!





Elise insisted on leaving ALL the carrots we had for the reindeer.





Linnaea takes a picture of me taking a picture of her and her new camera.





Linnaea wrote her name for the first time.





Elise dresses up her new doll and wears her own ballerina outfit to match.





Elise washes dishes in their new kitchen.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Winter has definitely come to stay here in Hot Springs. I calculated that we are getting almost 15 hours of darkness everyday! It's pitch black at 4:30pm and doesn't get light until 7am. It actually hasn't been that cold, although I do have to scrape ice off the windshield almost every morning as we are dashing to day care. Oh yeah, about day care...

...most of you already know this, but for those who don't: I have decided to go back to school to pursue a degree in Elementary Education. I have been going back and forth on this matter since I first graduated from UF. I finally decided that it's now or never, and we are in a good place to allow me to do this. My last day at the bank will be December 17, after which I will get to spend the holidays with the girls and Kevin and then give the house a good winter cleaning before classes start January 12. I'll be taking 3 classes to start, which I hope will be a good balance with watching the girls full time again. So wish me luck!

So this year we decided to go chop down our own Christmas tree, and we went and got a permit from the Forest Service and took a ride over to the Black Hills National Forest north of Custer. Despite the 19 degree temperatures, Kevin picked out the beauty of a tree below. My feet were freezing, but the girls didn't complain one bit. But I think the most fun they had was playing with a bit of rope that we were going to tie the tree to the roof with.





Here is our tree!





Linnaea puts the tree topper on.





Elise puts an ornament on.





Getting the tree chopped down and home was the easy part. A photo with the two of them smiling and looking the same direction was a challenge.





Our local Santa at the phone company. Again the challenge of getting them to look the same direction...





...maybe if we cut and splice the two photos we'll get a perfect one.

Halloween! Halloween! Trick or Treat! Our costumes can't be beat!

It's taken me a while to post Halloween pics because we forgot to get pictures of the girls in costume! I staged Halloween this afternoon and finally got some. But first...




We set up our bunk beds! We are only allowed to sleep on the top for nap. For night time we sleep on the trundle, until we turn 4.





Decorating for Halloween--Linnaea puts up bat and jack-o-lantern window stickers.





Elise decorates with ghosts and stars.





Making pumpkin pancakes Halloween morning. Elise claimed dibs on the "one with the boot" (the one I messed up in the top right).





Elise as a dragon and Linnaea as a giraffe.

















Elise has dragon wings.





The side view.











Hiking Rankin Ridge.





Linnaea took this picture of Elise. Isn't it great?

Hiking, Bubbles, and Other Fall Fun

Top Ten October Things:

10. Getting robes, slippers, and warm PJs to get ready for the winter.

9. Having weather warm enough to still play outside, and we haven't even turned our heater on yet!

8. Wearing tights and dresses. Elise refuses to wear jeans (Christmas shoppers, take note!).

7. We have gotten really good at riding our tricycles! We can't go uphill yet, but our driveway has a nice, long downslope that we can race down (and crash into the back of the Subaru).

6. Trying out new hairdos. If I can talk Linnaea into a pony tail, she usually insists on 3 or 5.

5. Getting ready for Halloween. Stay tuned for those photos.

4. Hiking with friends.

3. Going to the fire department (aka "fire apartment") for their open house and getting a ride around town on the fire truck, including lights and siren!

2. Getting big girl beds! Grandma and Grandpa got the girls a beautiful set of bunk beds with trundle. We haven't set the top bunk up yet (due to us getting shorted on a set of bolts for it) but will get it up very soon. However, the girls will have to wait until their 4th birthday to sleep on the top. We've tried explaining it to them but are not sure they'll be happy about it when they see the top bunk up there.

And the best thing about October:

1. Going to the Dairy Queen for chocolate ice cream. The conversation went like this:
Mom: "Let's go to Dairy Queen for a special treat!"
Elise: "Dairy Queen is in the movie Cars!"
Mom: "No, that's Lightning McQueen."
Linnaea: "I'm not scared of lightning."

Reminds me of one of those commercials for Bing, about search overload. Anyone know what I'm talking about?


They're really into headbands this month.





Linnaea's new robe and slippers. Unfortunately, the slippers have disappeared already.





I think this was a 3 pony tail day.





Wearing tights and dresses, Elise's favorite outfit.





Cooking oatmeal in our flannel nightgowns.





Hiking around Sylvan lake. It was pretty chilly but nice outside. And there were no other people there.





A rare family photo.





Elise explores a crevasse.





And Linnaea explores it, too.





Linnaea herself up for this photo, then said "Mom, take a picture!"





Bubbles!





She's gonna getcha!





Both girls making bubbles.





Linnaea on the downslope.





Elise races to catch up.

A Novel

Firstly, we are finally settled in Hot Springs! Kevin loves working for the Park Service. He likes this area way more than I do. I still have not fallen in love with South Dakota. I miss Colorado very much. The Black Hills area where we are isn't that bad, except that our new town of Hot Springs is sort of a depressed town. Speaking of our new town, in August we moved from Custer to Hot Springs. Hot Springs is larger and slightly less touristy, and a large part of the population of the town is disabled and retired veterans, as there is a State Vets home and a V.A. Hospital (the biggest employer in the area). Our new house is super tiny but has a rent to match, so that is the reason we moved here. We've just had to get really creative with our space. For instance, our bedroom is in the basement, which was quite nice when we were hitting 100+ degrees at the end of August. However, the place is still a disorganized mess since we have not had time to keep up with the mess the girls leave behind. Which brings me to my next point...

I have gone back to work full time as a teller for Wells Fargo. I won't spend a lot of time telling you about my feelings for the job since this is a public blog. The biggest complaint I have is that I am out of the house for over 45 hours a week. My days are long and exhausting, and I really miss being a stay at home mom. We're usually up by 6:15am and home by 5:30pm. After dinner, cleanup, and bedtime, I finally get a chance to sit down at 8pm. Kevin works 10 hour days so gets Fridays off with the girls, which means they are in day care only 4 days a week. They really love it but the day care situation here is pretty horrible. It's cheap, and I truly believe you pay for what you get, meaning little outside time, lots of crummy food and more TV time than I like. But they love going and love their friends there.

Finally some photos:



Wearing Mommy's shoes.





This photo is so typical: Elise trying to steal Linnaea's treats.





On a hike at Wind Cave National Park.





At our very first theatre movie, Toy Story 3. We loved it! The popcorn and fruit punch was the best. Getting there in time to sit in the second row was a pain in the neck, literally.





Sitting at the parade in Custer.





Daddy and the girls waiting for some candy. The competition was fierce as kids tried to scramble for the the candy thrown from the floats. Daddy had to help fend off the other kids so we could get some.





Making silly faces.





Chilling at our new home. We finally got to set up our hammock again after almost 2 years.





The waterfall in downtown Hot Springs.





At Fall River. It's fed by a hot spring (hence the town name Hot Springs) and the water was really warm even though it was cold that day (Labor Day).





Some more naturally hot water. Apparently this is one of 180 hot springs in the area.