Red Wing Minnesota

Lisa and I had a blast today. I loved every minute. I think the time flew by. I am posting almost all of the pictures for two reasons. #1 I love most of them...#2 for Lisa! I know it is a lot of pictures but I hope you enjoy.

It is hard to read the title of this book in the photo but we thought it was funny at the time.

This is what happens when women have the remote. This coffee shop was so cute. It was right next to the theater where the comedy show was.

I thought this was kind of a cool shot. I was still trying to figure out the remote at this point.

The little shops in Red Wing provided many colorful things for my lens!

Lisa holding up the Montana glass I bought for Mike.

I thought this sluggish pair were too cute.

Cute bracelet Lisa!

These yard sticks made us both reminisce about being beat as children...well kind of:-)

I have a thing for blue glass. It is my only collective weakness. I settled for pictures though.

Well hello Minnie! How are you today???

The way cute candy shop.

Out of my element

Almost all my friends do blog posts without pictures. They are great about just typing a little FYI about what is going on. I on the other hand am a picture gal. I feel that posting is so much better when it has a picture....I am surprised that I ever graduated from picture books now that I think about it. However, I wanted to give you all a little heads up about a few posts that will be doing soon.

The first one will be on our family blog. My friend Lisa and I are going on a girls day. It is through Byron Community Ed. We get on a bus at 1:45 and drive to Red Wind Minnesota for some shopping at the little boutiques and an Antique Mall. All I can think about it taking pictures! I can just imagine all the great colors and things at the places we will visit. The day is capped off by a women's stand up comedy tour at an old theater in Red Wing. I for one LOVE stand up comedy. I will keep you posted(pun intended!) I keep thinking about how much my friend Tina would like this day. Thanks for the call yesterday! It makes me feel good to know you are checking in on our blog. I only wish you had one.....HINT HINT!!!!

The second post will be found on Matt's blog. You see he and Mike planned a giant day together of MAN things. We made sure Matt had his camera all ready for the day. I am sure he will have some great pictures for his blog. They both looked so darn cute when they left this morning. I am sure they are going to have a blast. I know they are going bowling, and then to a movie for sure. They started the day off with a trip to Home Depot for the kids building day.

Keep an eye out for our posts!

My lunch date

Huddy loves the rocks at Arby's. He kept making piles for me to take pictures of.

Stop!!! No more pictures.

Take pictures of my curly fries!

Picking him up from school.

Auntie Bionica

My friend Shana is very close to having her third baby. After 2 boys she is having a girl. Her boys are very dear to my heart. The oldest one is Matthew's age and they met right before she moved across town. That is the greatest gift of children. They keep you linked to people. Her youngest boy Hudson just melts me. He is such a pumpkin. She has hopefully one of her last Dr's appointments today. I get to play the auntie today. I am picking Huddy up from school and taking him to lunch. Last time I tried to get Huddy lunch it was a big swirly sucker and a soda....I was asked it it was my first time being a mom! No, just my first time being an aunt. Huddy calls me "Bionica" by the way. Making me sound much more like a super hero! I have already been warned that a turnover and a milkshake at Arby's would not be a good lunch...my only promise was not Mt. Dew, not until you are 5 Huddy!

Matthew has his own blog

Matthew keeps asking me to post pictures that he has taken or just loves. I talked to him about starting his own blog for them and he loved the idea. It turned out pretty cool too. Here is the link to it. I hope he and I both have some fun with it. I am sure some of it will be....a little strange and funny.
http://theviewfrommattseyes.blogspot.com/

Best day all year

Much to the dismay of Mike we did not break any records today in Minnesota. It finally broke the freezing mark with the high reaching around 37 degrees. Literally the best day all year. Mike got a call for an emergency in Waseca so we all went for a little drive. On the way back Mike let me photograph these cool windmills. They are across from Doge center Minnesota were Mike has family history. Clair had relatives that were among the first people to live in Dodge Center. The Tallman family. They started one of the first turkey farms and if I remember right eventually sold out to Jenny-O. I must tell you that I have decided this last month that I am not a big fan of Photoshop. I think there is something great about a photograph that has not been doctored. I am going to make it my goal to not photoshop pictures unless it is a must, other than maybe a little color adjustment.

A typical Minnesota farm...that happens to be surrounded by windmills

When we were in Waseca we drove by the lake that makes up the center of town. In the winter a little city is formed on the ice. It was one of the first things Mike noticed when he started working here. Today when we were there I wanted to try to take a few pictures of it but it was just too hard to get them all in from the side we were on. I was pretty glad that they were such bright colors!

He...

1. Loves the snow
2. Thinks getting mail is the coolest thing in the world.
3. Thinks I am so lucky because I always get mail
4. Has no idea what bills are
5. Is an amazing speller
6. Has a love for animals that goes beyond his years
7. Makes me laugh all the time
8. Makes me cry all the time
9. Loves my grilled cheese so much that he thinks I should have a "Grilled Cheese" throw down with Bobby Flay
10. Thinks I am pretty amazing
11. Knows that he is loved
12. Will be turning 7 in just a few weeks:-(
13. Is really and truly the best gift God has ever given me (If God made you then he is in love with me)
14. Taught me the real meaning of fear
15. Refuses to believe that Jack is moving:-(
16. Loves Minnesota....and the snow
17. Is really amazing to me.

I could go on all day.

Minnesota nice?????

My intent behind the title of our blog is hard to see without the picture that goes with it. It was intended to be our Christmas cards this year. However, with the busy season and Sam's club being out of paper for a week...the pictures turned out way to dark and I did not find time to redo them. Let me just say that the picture shows you all how unbelievably cold it is here....all the time. The part that cracks me up is how native Minnesotans seem to think it is so normal. The big deal on the news right now is that if it does not reach 32 degrees by Saturday it will be a state record. The last time January stayed below freezing the entire month was in 1979! This is not exciting. I love when I am blog hopping finding all the blogs that are complaining about the weather.....One guy said that if he woke up to another 30 degree day he was going to loose it...He would not survive here. Other blogs show the first snow of the season and complain about how they are going to have to shovel...boo hoo...Try shoveling an average of 12 times a month for 5 months a year people! The only thing nice about the Minnesota weather is that the 2 months of summer we do get are amazing. Maybe we just appreciate them more than most people because of our tundra the rest of the year. Maybe it is the way plants grow seemingly on steroids because of the short season. Bare forests seem to become lush jungles overnight. Summer fades so quickly and fall seems to only last a week before winter. I just have two more things to add in my rant about MN nice. One is that Lori should send me a fruit basket for saving her life and telling her not to move here. And lastly, Thank God that new movie comes out this weekend making fun of how cold it is to live here. Maybe that will get us through the rest of the winter...All 3 months of it! What do you want to bet they don't make a sequil because none of the actors ever want to return!

My quest for thumb tacks

From the time that I made my cork board in the dinning room months ago I have been on the look out for the perfect thumb tacks. I tried pretty metallic ones, I tried little pearls, pretty stick pens and nothing seemed to fit. A few days ago while I was blog hopping, I came across a really great craft site. It had a link to marthastewart.com for directions on making these! They were perfect! Just what I wanted. I must say they are pretty easy. You just glue a thumb tack on the back of a bottle cap(I had no patience to collect any so I just bought a 100 for $3.00 from the home brew store by Menards. Here is how easy they are:
This is how I did it you could probably glue the tacks on after the resin has hardened. FYI: magnets would be cool too!
Step 1: press thumb tacks into a piece of wood, spaced apart.
Step 2: apply a small amount of glue to each tack. I used Gorilla glue after my super glue fell short. Just remember a little goes a very long way with GG...it foams up to be 3-4 times more!
Step 3: place bottle caps on tacks with a small amount of pressure. Wait an hour
Step 4: Use 1" craft punch to cut out pictures for inside your caps.
Step 5: press the pictures into the caps
Step 6: Pour resin over the top of the pictures. FYI 2: I purchased a resin mix from Menards for $18.00 and I used very little of it. I plan on making more for gifts. If you do not want to spend that much they suggested buying a 2 part epoxy glue that does the same thing. I know what they are talking about but if you don't just ask someone at the hardware store.
Let the dry about 3-4 hours and walla! Pretty cute. I still had mine stuck to the board. I just moved the whole board in front of a heater vent to help it cure.

I cut out a logo from our new favorite place to dine! I think this one is pretty cute:-)

I know a few of you like crafts, and some of you give handmade gifts for Christmas. You can always borrow my craft punch! I hope you think these are as cute as I do!

Blog Hopping anyone?

Mike and I have discovered a new past time. We have dubbed it "Blog Hopping" has anyone else discovered it? If you go to the top of your blog or mine you can click on the "next blog" button and start scrolling through random blogs. There have been lots of cool photography blogs, many family blogs...Shana must laugh at all the random family blogs I send her to look at. She always says "how do you know these people"...uhhhh I don't! We even found another vinyl and sign making one tonight. She was a lot more than me though...:-) Here are some tips if any of you start trying it. If you come to a blog that does not have a next blog button click back to the last one and then forward again. If you start getting a lot of the same blogs close out your window and start over. Don't stress if you get a few from different countries just click over them unless you like the pictures. The last tip is if you find one you like make a note because you won't be able to find it again if you don't. Let me know if any of you think this is fun.

Matthew the superstar

Matthew was scheduled to be the superstar last week in school. Due to all the snow days, early outs and late starts his wonderful teacher rescheduled him for this week. Part of being the superstar is having your family come in and do something with the class. We decided to share vinyl with them! I could not believe how quick these kids figured it out. They had the names on the binders in no time. Then Matthew passed out snack. It was really fun.

Matthew's picture board

How cute is he in this picture. In the words of Missy "Can you stand it" He was so excited that we were there. Love that! Too bad it won't always be like that.

I actually worried about his hair being a mess like this until I got to see all the other kids in his class looking just like this. I guess it should be dubbed Minnesota hair.

Blast from the past part two

This is one of the pictures that makes Matthew look like Grandpa Bob. They look a lot a like in this picture. In case you don't remember from the summer Bob spends a lot of time in a Kayak. Matthew will be right there with him someday. Thanks for the pictures Bob!!!

Indoor camping?

Do you know how much I love my camera! Pictures are just so much fun. I wanted to share this idea with all my very cold stuck in the house moms. Matthew and I love doing this. We make smores indoors! I bought a pack of the "safe heat" pots from Sam's club over the summer for a rock pot I used on the deck. This winter Matthew asked if we could bring it indoors. Heck Yeah! It works awesome! Very safe, and one pot will last forever. I made a tray for New Years for all the kids at the party we went to. They sat around and roasted MM for a long time. It is even more effective if you have boys. There is something about boys and fire.hehehe! We also had Matthew's tent set up so it really was like camping indoors. Maybe we should plan a night of hot dogs, smores and tent sleeping!

Blast from the past part 1

Next week Matthew will be the Superstar of the week for his class. The student that is the superstar is featured all week. His teacher asks that you send in pictures of them for a board that she puts together. I have been looking at all the old pictures and melting. I wanted to start sharing some of them. There should be several more entries in the next few days. Here are a few if my favorites. These are all from Montana when we lived there.
Matthew and I were watching Mike flyfish when this was taken. He loved seeing the fish his dad caught. Maybe seeing Mike release them all back helped with his amazing love for animals.

This was on a youth group camping trip. He was teething from the time he was a month old so he always had the wonderful drool spot on his shirt.

This is my favorite all time picture of Matthew. He looks so much like a Gunderson(my maiden name) in this picture. I probably will not be sending this to school.

Busted!

Sorry Charlie! A few days ago we found an unstuffed animal in the living room. We all assumed it was Chuck being that he is the only one who plays with them(even Matthew who thinks Charlie is perfect) Today when I walked upstairs I surprised Portis and found this scene.....You could almost hear him saying "Your going to be in so much trouble, he he he.
Oh...um...I know what this looks like but honestly "I just have a little cotton mouth"

Did I mention how cute I am???

Well Charlie I guess you are off the hook...this time:-)