Caption Contest!

I have this funny, great picture from Mandy's house and would like to invite you all to come up with the best caption for it! :)

Thank you Breanna for being the peace-keeper in our midst. Clearly, we need you for playing air piano as well.

Thank you Mandy for putting wieners and my bday greeting all in the same post, it really touched my heart.

he he he :)

Ah yes...back to school

Today it really hit home that I was back at school.  This afternoon, while teaching two kindergarten classes whom my long-term sub obviously let run the show, a young man told me, "Mrs. S! When my brother and I are being sassy, we pull on each other's wieners!"

Enough said.

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!  :)

The Peacekeeper...

Yes, I will play the role of the peacekeeper, especially since Elizabeth is arguing with Sarah...otherwise, I may find myself arguing against Sarah just because it is fun :). I have to agree with Sarah that the snow the other day was nothing of accumulation, therefore, it was not "a lot of snow" as stated by Ms. Damico. However, I do also agree that it is a matter of interpretation, especially if one is not a fan of February snow.

Sarah, you just may see some more snow today/tonight. So, enjoy. Elizabeth, I am sorry for the news about snow.

Life is good here....I am getting rather large. But, I guess this happens.
Enjoy the weekend!
Love,
Breanna

Treatise on the freedom of exaggeration.

"continued efforts to speak the truth"
"as in my nature, I seek to report what is accurate"

As I am sure my fellow Lighthouse occupiers will concur, the above statements are heresy! We know the true nature of Sarah C. Anderson, and while you do truthfully communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ through words and deeds, that is where the truth ends. Our years of co-habitation in the Lighthouse yield countless accounts of lies, fibs, story-telling coming from Sarah, a.k.a, Scanders. The way in which one may measure the amount of snow outside, is a matter of interpretation. I would describe the snow as "a lot of snow" by its mere existence alone, no matter how small the amount. I would like spring to come and therefore, would like all of the snow to go to hell. I do appreciate the art of exaggeration in the spoken word and will continue to use it freely, however, I do not allow this creative gift to muddle my message or truth-telling, but simply enhance my foundational point. Here I stand, I can do none other, God help me.

Let me clarify

I would like to challenge Elizabeth on her statement that we received a lot of snow today. Put frankly, that is simply not true. The exaggeration bug has gotten to Elizabeth, and it needs to be exposed. There is barely enough snow to cover the ground and my wish has NOT come true because there is NOT enough for me to go skiing. In my continued efforts to speak the truth, I wanted to bring to your attention the differing opinions and what is meant by "lots of snow." However, I do agree that the wind continues to blow mightily and make my cheeks hurt when I walk home from the library. Let it not be confused that I am disgruntled with Elizabeth and her weather accounts. But, as is in my nature, I seek to report what is accurate.

winter, again?

I'm sitting here with Micaela in my lap to write hello to you all.

E: Micaela, what would you like to say to our friends?

M: that we want to spend time with you and have music with you and sing and then Hi to them and have dancing music and we have a treat for you! Can we watch the "Julia Show" again (which is what Micaela calls the dancing queen video)

E: No, we're writing to our friends, silly!

Anyways, Sarah got what she wished for...there is lots of snow today and LOTS of wind to go with it, its not very fun to walk around campus today. We are also feeling the busy-ness of a new semester. I have an extra class this time around, so I have to be really disciplined with my time (we all know how good at THAT I am). Otherwise, we're doing ok. Micaela is re-adjusting to full time daycare, so with that comes the full time guilt of being a mom. yuck. The next few months look pretty boring and full of routine--work/school/mommy/work/school/mommy...until May that will be our story. I did decide to just take classes this summer instead of doing the CPE (practical educational piece of the program). So, I'm kind of looking forward to being on campus this summer again and hopefully having lots of weekends away camping/travelling/visiting you fun folk.

Here are 2 pictures...one from Micaela's first skating experience and another from a very early morning with the girls (hence, my beautiful look) at Mandy's house. I was covered in precious pink.

E: Micaela, would you like to say good-bye to our friends?

M: Good-bye to our friends!

E: Do you want to say anything else?

M: No! That's all I get.

We love you all! Hugs!

I want more snow

I want more snow so that I can go cross-country skiing once again. With the recent high temperatures all the good stuff has melted and what is left is greenish-brown grass surrounded by sheets of ice. However, if the snow doesn't fall, I won't be that disappointed because I'm not sure I'll have the time to ski anyway. Second semester started last week with a bang! In addition to getting a feel for all the new classes and I had a couple of interviews for internship and will have three more this week.

Last weekend the community chorus, of which I am part of, gave their concerts in order to raise money for Compatible Technology International. With three concerts we raised $16,500 which will all go directly to the organization. I like this choir because it's a low-key commitment, the musical repertoire is good, the people are friendly, and the hospitality of the church we practice in is remarkable!

I don't have much else to say I guess - I just wanted to say hello to all my blogging friends. I hope you are all doing well.

I love playing the air piano

So, I just watched the video from DePere...how lovely that five wonderful girls got to dance together to a great song and ATTEMPT to play the air piano as well. Looks like fun!

All is going well on the baby front, I think I have a little person who likes to dance too, because it is moving A LOT lately! I hear this is a good thing, so I am happy, but it is getting to be a major pain in the ass as well. This baby is getting big and there is not a lot of room in my belly. In fact, I have to get another ultrasound next week to measure the rate of growth because I am measuring at 36 weeks instead of 34 like I should be. My mom just says, "My babies all cooked faster too...it is probably very normal." Wow, my mom the nurse talking about cooking babies...weird.

Also, my brain is not doing well. Numerous times this week I have forgotten passwords and codes that I normally know like the back of my hand...school login on the computer, cell phone voicemail code, etc. Wow. Scary.

But, we need to find something to eat at our house before we go to some more baby classes...fun, fun, fun.

Love you all!
Breanna

Dancing Queens

What fun!

Elizabeth and Micaela are on their way home from the frozen tundra of Green Bay, but they were here for the past two days and we had such a great time!!   It was wonderful to have someone else here to talk to.  And, I took a shower without any worries about what my girls were doing!  Nice! :)

We hope that you all are having a nice time in the "warm" weather!  Have a splendid weekend!

On Whining

So Mandy - I just read your post about Julia's new interest in whining, and I had to share a little advice. I'm NOT AN EXPERT - this sort of works for us thoug - it was actually super dad Kevin's idea....and so far so good. My Marie is the whiner in the family - and it's terribly ANNOYING! To the point where you want to hit your head against the wall....for fun.

Say she wants milk, and instead of asking "milk please mommy?" It's more like.....MMMIIILLLKKK!!!!!!! ...at the top of a whiny icky voice. Kevin started saying - Marie, stop whining and ask nicely. So she would start by just saying "please" - thinking that would do the trick. But he makes her ask word for word in a nice way. It used to take two or three tries to get her to ask nicely - bot now we've got it down to a look and maybe a "please don't whine". Then she composes her cute little self, holds the tears for just one second and nicely says "milk please, mommy?"

Like I said, I'm not an expert - this works for that one child. Who knows how it will go with Grace....they're all different - and it IS a phase! Ella did it - and now she's got "being nice to get what you want" down to a T!!! Good luck!!

P.S.S....No, I suck!

So the funniest little thing happened on Saturday. Schreier was at my house and she said "the other day I was reading the blog...." and I went - OMG! I seriously haven't checked this thing out for like 6 months - and I'm not sure why! I think I forgot about it completely - need to have my head examined! Yikes!

Anyhow - life in the Backstrom house is good. Kevin is keeping busy with his "truck building" - he's taking 4 junk pickups and making it into 1 junk pickup - yes, we live East of Erhard in Redneck Township! He enjoys getting greasy and can't wait to have a "custom" truck he can give to Ella when she's old enough to drive! He says she's already old enough to "rap the pipes", a good little pasttime they shared together last summer! I'm busy with work and homelife - sometimes wondering what exactly my purpose is besides work and cleaning this house. I'm ready to go on strike - hey, if your clothes don't quite make it to the hamper, they might not quite make it to the washer. Two can play this game!! : )

Ella, she is getting so big! She's proudle "five and one quarter" right now, in preschool and loving it! She loves art projects, she's a little mathmetician and the biggest drama queen I've met! It may have something to do with having two little sisters who only need to open they screamers to get what they want! I may be a little guilty! : )

Marie is the talker in the family - and the story teller! Two and a half years old now! The other day she told Kevin she lost a tooth and when he asked her where it was, she opened her mouth, pointed inside and told him she put it back. Today she told me a dog bit her - which I'm 900% sure didn't happen. (I actually was bit by a dog today - scary thing! My right arm is numb from the thumb to my elbow - a little weird feeling and i'm hoping it will be better by morn!! - it wasn't our dog "black dog Merle Mason backstrom" blackie for short - it was our friends dog.)

Ok, back on track....Gracie (1 1/2) - whoa - where did she come from! she's got this personality that I can't quite get a grip on. She's so funny - but the funniest thing about her is how funny she THINKS she is - and the way she laughs at herself. She's talking up a storm and can tell us all sorts of things with the 20 words she does say. She likes to scream at the top of her lungs to get her point across and when I give her "the look" she says .... "please?" Huh,.....

Anyway - I've attached some pictures of the girs - they were taken back in September - so they've changed just a bit since then!

but anyway - I'm glad I checked this out - I learned all sorts of things- like all the babies that are here and on the way! I'm so out of touch with everyone - and it's no-ones fault but my own! It sounds though like everyone is well, and for that I am glad! Things here are great too - may this greeting find you well and best wishes for a Fabulous February! WE SURVIVED JANUARY!!!!

Love you all - miss you too!!

Amanda