picture this

more photos to enjoy!

Kdee enjoying some freshly made cotten candy, ribB and little B enjoying some apple fest food, ribB and little B with the cabin's resident "deer"...

When we last left the Ribclan...

So, it's been a week+--where does the time go? Well, I guess that's a silly question. I do know! Family, friends, fun. And lost teeth. And infections. And Civil War medical re-enactments. Intrigued?

After I last wrote, I was greeted by Kdee during her school pick-up with a "Mom, mom, I have a surprise...close your eyes!". When I opened them, I was handed a small ziploc bag with a tooth inside it (as well as a "I lost my tooth!" sticker). According to Kdee, she was eating lunch when she noticed her tooth was bleeding. She then went to the bathroom and decided, in her own words, "now is the time to pull it out". Since the tooth was already swinging in the breeze, it pulled right out. Her teacher gave her a sticker and she was super proud. The tooth fairy actually followed Kdee to the cabin, where we went that weekend, and left her $1.25 (she gets an extra quarter when she pulls it out...and, yes, she remembers that fact now!). She laughed that she'd have to tell her Great Uncle Bart that "he's out of a job", now that she can pull her own teeth out (this is tooth #2 for her). She can sing loud and proud now during the Christmas classic, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth". She's adorable.

Little B no longer resembles Eric Stoltz's character in Mask. Thank goodness. I was getting worried that ribB would receive a referral call on us (as he does Child Protection social work). Little B really looked miserable. Our Dr. wasn't sure if it was a histamine reaction or an infection that resulted from a bug bite, and in the end, the antibiotics were the trick that cleared up his swollen face. Throughout the few days of swelling, he was really a trooper and didn't seem too impacted by any discomfort. Any adult would have been grumbling, but kids are amazing that way.

He was probably so happy because we decided to go with ribB up to the cabin for the bow hunting opener. RibB didn't see much, but still enjoyed his time out in the woods. While he was in the woods Saturday night, Kdee, Little B and myself went for a big walk. Kdee was determined to walk all the way to Bart & Donna's cabin...which would be a long way on little legs. Kdee is quite the negotiator, and was really trying her best to influence me that we could do it. Needless to say, I turned us around earlier than she wanted (although she handled the disappointment better than I initially thought during her "almost tantrum" moment (as little B began to fuss, and I wondered "what have I done? We're a good 15-20 minutes from being back to the cabin!!!)). Near the end of our walk back, Kdee then realized how tough a long walk can be on little legs. She was a trooper (again!). And ready for bed that night...yippee! Thanks to Cassie & her friend KC, ribB & I got out for a "grasshopper" break with Uncle Bart later that night, which was very fun.

Last week seems like a blur now that it's Monday. One highlight was the date night ribB and I had on Thursday, which was our first date since late July. We are very blessed to have a great babysitter who was flexible to fit us into her busy college & work schedule. We had a blast going out to a movie ("Little Miss Sunshine") and coming back home to kids in bed and taped season premieres of The Office (so dang funny, I so love that show) and Grey's Anatomy (I'm trying to see what the buzz is all about, especially with all of my friends!). It was really nice to get 3 hours of uninterrupted talk and time together.

This past weekend was overall good. We enjoyed (in no particular order): Michael's first birthday party (thanks for the cupcakes & goodie bags for little B (since he was napping)!), visits with Michelle and her family (especially nice since they made time to stop by after a busy weekend), visit with my mom (who gave me a surprise hour break--yippee! Odd side note: was it wrong to run out the door during a tornado warning?), hunting for ribB with Uncle Myron and Cousin Dan (during lots of rain and area tornado warnings), gardening/yardwork and enjoying a fall Apple Festival (full of delicious apple foods, pony rides (little B was too scared to get on the pony!), apple picking, a magic show, music and Civil War encampment. The Civil War piece had us laughing pretty hard--as we entered the Festival, we were approached and told that the "re-enactment of Civil War medical care was at 4:00pm"...and there, next to the "bloody" looking table, were fake severed limbs. Just the thought of taking our young kids to that just left us in stitches. Later that night we enjoyed some fresh apple cake and prepped lots of apples for our freezer...always enjoyable during the long winter.

With such a full and fun family weekend, we look forward to a nice week. Next weekend, we might get a nite or two away without kids. That would be our first time in a year without kids, and to say that we're just a wee bit excited is an understatement. Cross your fingers!

Photos: Kdee without her top front teeth, Little B as Mask boy (photo doesn't do it justice), Kdee ready to ride (and Little B clinging to ribB in the background), me & the kids in the orchard (photo doesn't convey little B's screams to sit for a photo and me prompting Kdee to smile...we look so much more pleasant than that, don't we? :-)

It's Mad, Mad, Mad...

Greetings! The Ribclan family has had another adventure filled week. Or maybe it was mostly me?! Last weekend I managed to get away before the big hunting season (Sept-Dec) and visit my friends, Heika and Milly, down in Mad-town. Yes, that's not their real names--you may know them as Michelle and Linnea. I was thrilled to have time with these 2 wonderful, very dear friends and their families. I always miss them so much in between our visits...

On Friday, I had dinner out with Heika (sehr gut!) at a fabulous place with even better wines and food. It had been some time since we were last together, so we easily got engrossed in conversation (until 2am!) and had a ball catching up. The next day, I got to play with her little lion, Leo (lots of tower building and truck action--fun!), enjoy a super "giada-esque" breakfast by Chef Michelle, and then see Leo do some funky jumps at his gymnastics class. He is a hoot, and was working his charm on a little lady at class. He was all about holding her hand and managing the equipment with her. I really enjoyed my time with Heika, Tom & Leo, in their awesome home (all of your hard work shows--it's gorgeorus!).

Later Saturday morning, I "larked" over to my best senior citizen center friend, Mildred, house. We were excited to go to the Church's annual pie social with our "red hat society" friends. Once at the social, there was plenty of conversation all about the new Pastor, who's pie wasn't "quite right" (for Pete's sake, everyone knows to use lard in their crust!) and that family that just moved into town. We also proudly passed around the newest Church cookbook, complete with our submitted recipes. Later that day we went over to Pearl's house and joined in on the bridge club's weekly game. We truly enjoyed the kuluko punch and admired the detail on Pearl's new housecoat. By golly, we sure were exhausted by the end of the day! By 7pm, we were in bed!
Ok, really, Linnea was feeling a bit crappy and we had some adventures around town on Saturday, but otherwise we kept it pretty low-key. (Probably good since it was game day in Mad-town, and it truly becomes a zoo!) Even so, just time with her is all I need to be a happy camper. We had some big time laughs with Mitch, her husband, and enjoyed her sweet little Grey lots. I also got to enjoy some of her cooking, which is fantastic (yes, L, this includes your bluberry bread!). Surprisingly, we celebrated my b-day early when she gave me tickets to one of my fave bands, the Foo Fighters, who are touring with Bob Dylan! Wow! We're going to go together, so now I'll have even more time with her this fall--what a treat!!!! On Sunday, she and I got out for some shopping and lunch--very girly, very nice! I definitely had a blast, even when we took it easy.

The rest of the Ribclan is doing well. Little B has got a pretty wild look right now. How to describe it? Well, have you ever seen the movie "Mask"? I don't need to say more than he's reacted to a mosquito bite on his forehead, and the swelling looks a bit like the kid in Mask. Despite his odd looks, he's happy as a lark. According to our Dr., whom he saw today, his swelling is either a reaction to the histimine of the bug bite or is a resulting infection to the bite. Funny in an odd way (especially as mom/dad make him pose for pictures!). He's also been doing lots of dancing--funny moves to music or the simple sounds of newspaper under his feet. No doubt, this boy likes to groove. He also likes to wake up early lately...(5'ish)...I think he knows we're in hunting season.

Kdee has been having a great time at school. She's done well on the early testing they do and seems to really like her teacher/class. As is par for the course, she is a bit more tired lately as she transitions back into this schedule, but has rebounded a bit faster this year (than her first year). She watched a bit of the "Rockstar Supernova" finale with me the other night and correctly picked the winner. When I asked her why she thought the guy should win, she actually had pretty solid answers: good "blending" voice and looked natural/impressive on stage. I didn't expect so much of an answer from her, so it was a fun conversation. And speaking of fun, last weekend she enjoyed time at one of her good friend's birthday party and an overnight at Evan's...always a great time.

As for ribB, well...THE season is upon us. Tomorrow is the bow opener and he is truly wild with excitement!!!! So, the Ribclan family is heading north this weekend for some good ol' hunting fun. ribB even plans to take Kdee out in a "blind" for an evening hunt, her first time out with him. (No, she won't be actually hunting, just sitting with him, learning and watching.)He's prepared that she may not want to be out there for long, but he's excited all the same.

Until later, I hope you all have the weekend you're hunting for!
Pictures: 1) Leo jumps! 2) Leo dates! 3) me & Grey 4) Milly & Ethel

More foe-toes!

Here are a few more fun pics to enjoy:

1) the kids enjoying the fun mechanics of (Great) Grandma's bed
2) Grandma L with my uncles Myron & Alan, Mom
3) me & Grandma L--the birthday girl!
4) Mom & Paul on their motorcycles, ready to depart the birthday party

A labor of love!

Labor Day weekend has come and gone, all in a poof of paint fumes! As you can guess, I spent a great deal of my time repainting and revamping Kdee's room. It turned out really well--it's so much cuter now than before. Kdee LOVES it, and all of her super enthusiastic "thank yous!!!!, big hugs and "I LOVE it's!!!" made all the time and effort more than worth it. I don't know that I've seen that much gratitude from her before, and it was so sweet. She now officially has a pink & purple room (I even painted her bed purple to match the 2 purple walls; it was my old bed and looking pretty sad before!), complete with canopy. In other words, this room is all girl!

Besides painting, our weekend included:
Friday: Retrieving Kdee from Grandma/pa R and having a beautiful lakeside dinner together. When little B saw Kdee for the first time, he started running, pulling ribB along, and was waving wildly saying "hello!!!". He also gave her a HUGE hug, which had her grinning from ear to ear.

Saturday: ribB went up north for the day on Saturday to set his stands for deer hunting. He got a lot of time with his Uncle Bart, which was very meaningful for him. Back at the Fort, Kdee's friend Kirsten came over for lunch (along with her mom and brother) and then stayed to play, which Kdee loved. Later that night, Grandma Honey & Paul came over for late dinner and dessert. Paul was pretty wiped out from a big week of moving his store's inventory, so it was pretty low key.

Sunday: Paint, paint and more paint. We took a break for the kid's favorite Chinese buffet, so they were thrilled about that. I was thrilled to be outside the four walls of Kdee's room and ribB was glad to have another set of hands to help with the kids.

Monday: More painting. ribB and Kdee did some bow shooting together and had fun. Kdee reported that she got to use a bush for a bathroom--always a big hit with the under 8 crowd. Later, we enjoyed a family boat ride out on the river. Kdee caught a "Moon Eye" fish--something we don't see much of around here. Later, little B had great fun touching it and swinging it around...complete with scales flying everywhere. Needless to say, it was gross to me, but both kids were laughing wildly and were in Heaven. A nice family time! Next came preparations for the first day of school and putting together Kdee's room for her first night of sleep in the renovated room. Before we knew it, the day was done!

Tuesday: First day of school! Hurrah! Lots of enthusiasm. Kdee endured the annual first day photo and the morning started off without a hitch. Once she caught sight of her best friend, Ally, Kdee was gone in a flash....and I was but a memory :-)! Later we got to hear all about her big day and she & I went out for a DQ treat for the first day back. She is very excited about her school year!

Wednesday: Happy birthday, (Great) Grandma L! We shared soup and ice cream cake with family at (Great) Grandma's apartment. It was a nice get together and the kids did well with the late night (for them) activity. The kids had fun in (Great) Grandma's room--playing with her bed (how fun when it moves up/down/etc.) and with the couple of stuffed animals she had on hand. Of course, they loved how (Great) Grandma kept sneaking them cookies...who doesn't love that?

Today: Tonight ribB & I have a date! Well, it's to the first grade parent/teacher meeting, but since it's our first outing since our anniversary, I'm counting it as a date (besides, we're paying a babysitter--that's a date!). I'll be gearing up for my weekend away to see 2 of my closest friends down in southern WI. I'm really looking forward to the time with both of them. Is it Friday yet???

On a side-note, last Thursday myself and 2 coworkers went to our client's restauant for 9 courses of garlic (right down to the ice cream with the dessert!). It was so, so fabulous--really great. The only after-affect we found was that the next morning our mouth's tasted like we'd been chewing on garlic cloves. I don't even know how much garlic we consumed that night, but it was usually used in a very subtle manner. Amazing the difference food has when prepared by a skilled chef!

I have lots of pictures to share, which will probably take up a couple of posts:
1) Kdee's room before
2) Kdee's room after--just the pink walls (keep in mind we haven't put up the artwork yet; also, notice her long-living blanket that she lovingly wrapped around the purple pillow...)
3) Kdee's room after--pink & purple walls so you get the idea
4) Kdee on the first day of school