Long Time.. No blog

Yes, I realize it has been a tremendously long time. I really have no excuse. The main reason is I decided that I was going on strike from blogging..... not sure why. Seemed like something everyone was doing, so immediately, that meant I had to stop......

But then I started reading some of the FABULOUS blogs out there, and thought, this blog deserves another chance. So here goes nothing....

Before I get too far, I had better give you an update as to what we have been up to so far since April 2009......

Let's see...

August 2009... Jaina turns 5....
and starts Transitional Kindergarten with Mrs. Groen :)























Fall 2009.... Jaina moves into her new bedroom downstairs (and yes, it is this messy all of the time)


To make room for this......

December 2009.. got an early Christmas gift from my Brother and Sister in Law.....

We call him Eli......













In March 2010 (March 31, 2010 to be exact..) We got an early Easter present...

This is Jackson Davis Groen

In August 2010.. Jaina turned 6, and started Kindergarten

This is pretty much the only expression I can get out of her these days. It is a little annoying and frustrating all at once.

And then, Jaina lost her first tooth.... right before school pictures. (Which, oddly enough i didn't take any pictures of.) But the tooth fairy came, and paid her $2 for her tooth (inflation is on the rise.)

So, that brings us to today, September 28. I worked from Home this morning.... and am taking the afternoon off to take Jackson to his six month appointment. I hope to post more later, but really should do some cleaning first...

Yuck, Yuck, Yuckity Yuck

If I average once every sixty days, I am doing pretty well. :)

This has been a LONG week. We were stuck with influenza at the Groen house. Not a fun time.

Last weekend, we started to notice that Jaina was getting a cough. Not really a big deal to us, as this tends to happen this time of year, especially in our neck of the woods, when the weather can't decide if it is spring or winter.....

But on Sunday afternoon, she started running a high fever. We gave her some Tylenol, but, to quote her, she just "wasn't feeling 100% mom." We put her to bed, and called grandma with a back up plan for Monday.

On Monday, she woke up, and she was burning. Mike decided that she should go to the doctor, and I couldn't disagree. After a short game of rock, paper, scissors, I got to go. After making arrangements at work, I got Jaina and myself ready, and off we went to Sioux Falls to see Dr. Broderson.

Jaina's primary concern was whether or not she was going to have to get a shot. My main concern was the horrible influenza test (if you have never had one, please try to avoid it.) But, she popped up positive for Influenza A. FANTASTIC! When the doctor found out, she came in the room singing about it. Not impressive......

So, home we went, with two prescriptions for Jaina, and two for Mike and myself. But we also got the coolest thermometer. It goes in the ear, and depending on your temp, it changes color. The bad news, is Jaina's was on red most of the day. :(

Our new toy ( I apologize for the blurriness, but it wouldn't get the color if I had the flash on, and i couldn't get still enough for a good shot)......

Jaina's temp....

My temp.......

But it gets better. On Tuesday, Mike started to feel it, and his temp started to go into the yellow region. So he stayed home on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, Jaina's doctor called to let us know that the 48 hour strep test (that was negative on Monday) came back positive. FANTASTIC! So I went and got another prescription.

But, it is now Friday. Everyone, I think, is back on the mend. Jaina's fever has been down for four days now (but we kept her out of school until Thursday,), and Mike is finally feeling good enough to sleep upstairs, instead of coughing all night in my ear....

Nonetheless, I have subjected us to a weekend of quarantine. Get out the bleach!

And come on, nice weather, let's get rid of these bugs!

Jaina-isms

I apologize for the delay.........

It has been crazy, and Christmas, and January, and frankly, I just get tired.

But Jaina just says the funniest things....

I have to admit, her being an only child is probably what does it. She tries to interject herself into adult conversations, convinced that she knows exactly what is going on.....

Here are some examples....

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Daddy dearest?

One night, before I got home from work, Jaina was asking her father, "Daddy, someday, when I am older, will I get to become a mom?"

to which Mike replied, "Yes, someday when you are a LOT older, you can become a mom. And then I get to be a grandpa."

At this, Jaina broke down. She went into hysterics, and couldn't control herself. This is when I got home from work. I asked her what was wrong, and she said, "Mom, I want to be a big sister."

"Um, okay..." Was my reply, with a confused look at Mike. What had they been discussing?

Mike explained the whole conversation, to which Jaina started crying again.

I said, "Jaina, Daddy will always be your dad, no matter what..."

And she said, "But he can't be a grandpa. Because I would miss my daddy."

It made my heart melt. And then she made me promise to never become a sister, aunt, or grandma. So Alayna, Baby Hegwood, and Leo, we will have to keep that a secret, okay?

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Jaina's Bailout?

Last week, before the inauguration, Jaina and I were getting ready in the morning, and the CBS early show came on. They started discussing the inauguration, and Obama's new bailout plan.

this is when Jaina decided to be all adult. "Mom," she started,"The president needs a lot of money."

"Oh Jaina," I replied, "You have no idea."

"Well," she started, "I have 65 I could give him."

"Jaina, honey, he needs closer to $65 trillion."

She looked at me and said, "Mom, I don't have that much."

I looked at her and said, "No one does, honey."

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The True location of Jesus, revealed...

We went to a late Christmas program after the new year. (Due to inclement weather, it couldn't be held before Christmas).

During the program, Jaina whispered, "Mom, who is in that basket up there?" (She was pointing to the manger, by the way.)

I said "Jaina, that is the baby Jesus."

And her reply "Mom, Jesus is not in there, he is in our hearts." "Duh."

Okay, I got it......

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And lately, she makes up the weirdest analogies..... I have no idea where they come from. Here is a sampling:

• I’m stuffed like a chicken
• My horse is as hungry as a rat
• I am colder than a bunny’s nose; AND
• Our personal favorite: I'm so upset, I'm like a kangaroo hopping mad

Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.

My Starbucks Knock-Off

I don't know if anyone has been in Starbucks this holiday season, but they have the coolest decorations.





I curse those merchandising people in Seattle, because they know their clientele, and know what will touch the heartstrings, and make everyone swoon in joy (and I am not just talking about the decorations - I can't forget the Cinnamon Dolce Latte)





But miss Kara, of Inspired by Kara, came up with a step by step process for making the lovely yarn wreath of 2008.





So I decided to make one of my own for my mom. She is a yarn nut (in case you haven't seen my socks or my hats, you will just have to trust me on this one.) So I thought I would help add to her Christmas Decor.





Here is my finished result...

I think it turned out okay.....

Happy New Year, everyone!

Happy New Year!

I completely skipped Christmas. For this, I apologize.

And it has been pretty exciting here. I mean, the big guy stopped by and all, so I should have plenty to share.

Over the past several weeks, however, I have learned some very important things....

• The Kansas City Cheifs are a HORRIBLE football team......


• I don't really like football (Scratch that, I already knew that)


• I am addicted to the internet


• My daughter is a fudgeaholic.

Yes, I am now able to admit, I am raising a daughter who is addicted to chocolate. All along, I knew she would have to pick her path.......would she follow her father, who is into all things salty? Or did she inherit her mother's insatiable sweet tooth?

Like mother, like daugther......

I think in the past two weeks, she has eaten an entire 8 x 8 pan of fudge herself. I, being the sweet, kind, mother I am, I enabled her. And told myself it was Christmas, and all part of the experience.

I finally determined we had a problem when we got home from the grocery store yesterday afternoon, and I had to inform her that the last of the fudge was gone....

She still tried.....

I couldn't wait

I got tagged by Sara, and although I thought I would wait to see what my computer held, I thought I would do a little digging and see what my mom's computer held for pictures.

This is fun :)

Instructions:

1. Open up the 4th folder in your "My Pictures" location.
2. Select the 4th picture
3. Post said picture
4. Explain
5. Notepad your account (oh wait, crap, I am not at work......)

Anyway, here is the picture..

.
Over the past few years, my mom has been perfecting the art of cake decorating. The best part of decorating cakes is the frosting (at least in the opinion of most. Myself, I like the cake.)

Jaina, however, falls into the norm, and LOVES frosting. I can't even explain to you how much she loves frosting.

In this picture, Grandma and I are working on decorating her cake for her 2nd birthday, and she is reaping the benefits of the frosting making.

The part you don't see, is that we have a picture of me doing the exact.same.thing when I was 2. That picture, of course, is not digital.... :)

Stone Soup

Yes, it has been a while.

It may be hard to believe, but life is not that exciting with a four year old........right?

Don't get me wrong, she says a lot of hysterical things. But usually too fast, and too many to be documented in one sitting.

Today, we had Stone Soup at pre-school. I wish I could tell you what stone soup is, but we never heard the story. Evidentially, it has to do with pilgrims, soup, and soldiers. I heard it is a complex story for four-year-olds. But the soup is pretty tasty.

So, we watched our "pilgrims" sing five songs, and then we got to have Stone soup? And let me tell you, all of the adults LOVED it, and all of the kids.....not so much. Must have had something to do with the vegetables.

Here we are at stone soup....

Happy Thanksgiving!