Raising Cubs in a Campground

Gifts and Gab A bloggers' holiday get together featuring friends, shopping, and space for working on holiday projects! November 13th, 2010 9am - 4pm The Mill House Norwood Young America, MN Take a scenic drive 45 miles west of Minneapolis, and gather in a old feed Mill turned spacious 12,000 square foot antique, home furnishings, and gift store. Nestled in rural Norwood Young America, The Mill House is a fabulous find filled with gently used furniture, accessories, clothing, jewelry, pottery, baby gifts, books, a flower shop and coffee house. We will have a private room for lunch and mingling, and table space for any project you wish to work on offline. Bring knitting, needlework, scrapbooking, or just your smiling face! Cozy up next to a fireplace and the warmth of new and old, online and real life friends. Browse and chat and munch. We will have coffee, tea, & muffins for the early birds. A light lunch will be served, or you can purchase something at the Mill House Cafe. ...

a mommy dragon kissing a baby dragon. What do you see?

Gifts and Gab A bloggers' holiday get together featuring friends, shopping, and space for working on holiday projects! November 13th, 2010 9am - 4pm The Mill House Norwood Young America, MN Take a scenic drive 45 miles west of Minneapolis, and gather in a old feed Mill turned spacious 12,000 square foot antique, home furnishings, and gift store. Nestled in rural Norwood Young America, The Mill House is a fabulous find filled with gently used furniture, accessories, clothing, jewelry, pottery, baby gifts, books, a flower shop and coffee house. We will have a private room for lunch and mingling, and table space for any project you wish to work on offline. Bring knitting, needlework, scrapbooking, or just your smiling face! Cozy up next to a fireplace and the warmth of new and old, online and real life friends. Browse and chat and munch. We will have coffee, tea, & muffins for the early birds. A light lunch will be...

Sam and Brian learned how to play chess tonight using a book.

This week Alphabitty Moments is brought to you by the letter P. P is for P lastic spoons (and if I can get more pictures of the other plastic items my kids used as toddlers I will add those to the book before printing) Wait, you say, that's not a moment - that's a thing ! Here's how I look at it - It's something that my children used at a time in their childhoods. That time feels like a moment in the grand scheme of things. In fact we are really close to retiring the Gerber bowls the kids use for cold things (hot items are reserved for glass custard dishes or Pampered Chef Prep Bowls). Pretty soon there won't be any colorful items in my cabinets anymore and a moment of their childhood will have passed. What P moment do you want to remember this week?

If you haven't been to to Fall Harvest Orchard then you are missing out on a whole lot of fun! September 4th in BearCountry was BEAUTIFUL so we packed up the van for a little road trip and headed out to find Fall Harvest. I'd visited their Facebook page so I knew a little bit about what to expect. Everyone raved about the place and the orchard (and working farm) didn't disappoint. Upon our arrival the owner greeted us and directed us towards a girl with a basket of (FREE) food for the goats. Sign me up! I HATE having to pay 25 cents for a small handful of grain! Back to our outing...we fed the goats half a bag of grain and then moved on to the other baby animals on the farm. Adorable chicks and sweet kitchens were the highlights of the day for me. The kids really enjoyed the corn bins and feeding the cows. Two hours after our arrival we were ready to take a wagon ride through the orchard. The driver stopped along the way to let us pick popcorn and a gourd for each of us...

At 9:30 Sunday morning we found out that PapaBear and I were going to a 1pm Twins Game. When you work every single day for six months out of the year it isn't easy for us to do something like that on a moment's notice. Thankfully we have great coworkers and family that made it possible. (Thanks Jamey and Sharon for the tickets, Jo and Howard for covering for us, and Grandma and Grandpa for babysitting and for paying for our day!) We don't go to the Cities very often so parking is always a little stressful. Add to that the Vikings playing on the same day and I headed straight to Google to find out what to do about parking. I found a forum that suggested the La Salle Court Parking Ramp for only $5 a day. It's about 4 blocks from the stadium and was really easy to find. So if you're headed to a Twins game and don't mind walking four blocks, park at the ramp at 811 La Salle in Minneapolis for a stress free and cheap Twins Game experience! We met some people in t...

Welcome to Alphabitty Moments where we stop and remember the little things of childhood! These are not the milestones or the well documented events like holidays or birthdays, but the every day things, events, and emotions that might be forgotten as our kid's interests and abilities develop. This week 'O' is for "Old McDonalds", the name my kids gave McDonald's long ago. I suppose some day I should correct them but for now it's Old McDonalds to us! I took these pictures at a McDonald's an hour from home. Our local McDonalds doesn't have these fun chairs or the yummy chocolate ice cream, but I snapped these as a reminder of Sam's favorite food there - "douvle hamburger" and ice cream! What's your Alphabitty Moment for this week?

Alternatively titled: Simple Woman's Daybook FOR TODAY .... Outside my window...it's perfect out! cool & partly cloudy. Now if only the mosquitoes would go away so we can enjoy FALL! I am thinking...about how to stick with my new routine I am thankful for...my kids' teachers. (NOT)From the kitchen...going to try to eliminate gluten & sugar from my diet. I am wearing...$2 garage sale jeans & a sweater I am creating...(with the help of Kristina ) an event for readers & their friends at The Mill House . Stay tuned for details! I am going... in many many different directions these days I am reading... The Marriage Project and The Love Dare I am hoping...that I can successfully give up sugar I am hearing...the washing machine Around the house... we're organizing and decluttering. One of my favorite things... listening to my kids tell me about their school day A few plans for the rest of the week: photoshoot tonight, set up for garage sale number 3, pick up an...

Welcome to Alphabitty Moments where we stop and remember the little things of childhood! These are not the milestones or the well documented events like holidays or birthdays, but the every day things, events, and emotions that might be forgotten as our kid's interests and abilities develop. This week I'm on the letter N, though I know we got off track there for a while so link up whatever day you are on or if you want to jump on board in the middle of the alphabet you are welcome to! When we get to the end of the alphabet I always start over again! This time around N is for: Both of the kids love the outdoors and all God's creatures. Sam is especially observant and shows no fear in picking up frogs, worms, butterflies, bugs, and whatever else he can find. This wasn't the first time he brought home a turtle . The first one he named Yertle . This one he named Brianna. What N moment do YOU want to remember?

Welcome to Alphabitty Moments where we stop and remember the little things of childhood! These are not the milestones or the well documented events like holidays or birthdays, but the every day things, events, and emotions that might be forgotten as our kid's interests and abilities develop. This week I'm on the letter N, though I know we got off track there for a while so link up whatever day you are on or if you want to jump on board in the middle of the alphabet you are welcome to! When we get to the end of the alphabet I always start over again! This time around N is for: Both of the kids love the outdoors and all God's creatures. Sam is especially observant and shows no fear in picking up frogs, worms, butterflies, bugs, and whatever else he can find. This wasn't the first time he brought home a turtle . The first one he named Yertle . This one he named Brianna. What N moment do YOU want to remember?

Now I lay me down to sleep, I thank you Lord for the butterfly that Mommy let us keep. May angels watch her on her flight, and keep her safe until mornings light. Amen. The other six posts in the series can be found here .

again * *No butterfly was harmed during the making of this post, or this one, or this one , or this one , or this one , or this one .

Day 5 of a week long series on The Birth of a Butterfly Day 4 Day 3 Day 2 Day 1 (with Linky)

The wings are starting to dry but the butterfly is showing no signs of taking off any time soon. Plenty of time for a few more photos.... Day 1 (with linky for your own butterfly posts) Day 2 Day 3

My blogging time is limited as I am swamped with work & preparations for the Minnesota Blogger Conference next weekend so I'm combining posts today. I'm on the letter M for Alphabitty Moments so it works out quite well actually to post these Monarch photos. If you missed the first and/or the second editions of Birth of a Butterfly you can click on the links and be directed to the other posts that show the Monarch before it emerges from its chrysalis and it's first moments of life. Go ahead and link up YOUR alphabitty moment for the week, regardless of what letter you are on:

Our monarch was still in its chrysalis when we started this series yesterday, but today, there is major progress as the butterfly emerges and takes its first steps.....right towards Sam and then well.... he just kept going...right up the side of his head! Stop back tomorrow for day 3 of our week long series on the birth of a butterfly and if you blogged about raising butterflies (or moths) this summer click here to link up so we can visit and relive the remarkable transformation again and again. My friend Darcie has some great photos of their summer butterfly adventures so be sure to check out the links and add one of your own!