Sorry--no cute titles here

Since Megan didn't take a nap and cried for much of the evening, I am wiped out and pretty much brain dead. Thus, no cute title. Alas, since it has been so long, and I have some fun photos, I'm writing a blog post anyway.

Annika is enjoying her school here in town and has just a couple more weeks before she graduates to second grade. Lauren will join her at the same building in the fall for kindergarten. In one year, that school building will no longer be used. The district is probably going to add an addition to the 3-6th grade building--this will then house Annika, Lauren and Emily for preschool. This empty house thing is coming up quickly!



March was crazy busy for us as I worked day and night to finish editing my sister's second book. If you do webinars for work, I highly recommend it (Webinars with WoW Factor by Becky Pluth). I also did some more work for USA Today and a sales training company. I really get a lot of variety in my job! So fun.



We're settling down well here in Fairmont. Dan's really enjoying his work and we both enjoy the people here. We have a few new younger families with kids in our neighborhood which Annika, Lauren and Emily are adoring! I also get to do lunch with "The Ladies of Redwood" once a month--for many years, the women on our street do lunch. One of the ladies from our church was thoughtful enough to invite me a couple months ago so I've had a chance to get to know my neighbors despite the very cold winter. Really nice women! A lot of them are significantly older than I am, but I still enjoy the time with them. I love their stories!

And I attended my first mother/daughter banquet with Annika and Lauren a few weeks ago. The girls were in one of the songs and skits. Very fun! I enjoyed it which is good since I'll have many more to attend! Dan is wondering how he can get into the Father/Son event...



The two older girls and I also had a chance to hear the U.S. Army band for free recently. Very good evening of great music. The theme song from The Incredibles was the girls favorite part! The younger girls were in the Twin Cities with Dan and my mom for a few days while Dan was at a Covenant annual meeting.




Megan has the fiercest temper yet of our kids. I don't suggest getting into a catfight with her. She might win. It's gotten somewhat better, but it's still an exhausting process.

I have kind of been using my facebook status update as a mini-journal for cute (well, I think they're cute) things my kids say. So I'll post a few here. I'm hoping to catch some video of Emily singing a few of her songs soon--need to charge the battery in the video camera.

If you're on facebook and haven't found me and Dan yet, you can go to
http://www.facebook.com/LizPikeWheeler and there I'll be!

from facebook:




May 4: Swiper is alive and well in our house; Lauren and Emily are scurrying madly around telling Swiper to stop swiping our windows, phones and Bibles. Wow! can little kids entertain themselves for hours!

April 22: My former governor, Rod Blagojevich (from Illinois), who has been indicted for being naughty, wants to subpoena former Illinois senator Barack Obama...let me know how that goes for you, Rod...

April 10: While I was napping, the pastor's kids were out on the sidewalk hawking lemonade for $1 per bathroom dixie cup. Is that even legal?

April 4: Dan and I gave up something for Lent this year. Lauren plans to give up something until next Easter: showers. She also has been talking to her plant friend, Lily. She told Lily about what she got in her plastic eggs--Lemonheads. "Lily laughed. She thought that was funny. She'd never heard of Lemonheads before."



March 19: 2-year-old Megan woke up at 4am vomiting. I think she got it from my Facebook friend Angel. I haven't seen Angel since Christmas--I just figure Megan's illness is one of them computer viruses...

March 14: Snapping your fingers doesn't really help clean the house--not even if you're snapping at your kids.

March 9: Three-year-old Emily says, after going to the bathroom, "I don't need to wash my hands. I washed them in the toilet."



March 6: I've discovered a new way to have my house look clean: candlelight.

February 23: My 5-year-old just handed me 89 cents and said, "I have enough money to live with Heather (McMillan at North Park)." How sad for me! And it hasn't been a bad day either...

February 11: Emily's bum hurt and she wanted medicine. I told her to give me a minute. She couldn't wait that long and put some on herself--apparently her self-medication was a poor choice. Sensodyne burns.

January 9: Tomorrow's my birthday. I'll be 37. Because of the crazy week we've had, my husband and daughters (ages 6,5,2,1) decided to get a pre-made cake instead of making one. They thought hard to discern my wishes. They got a Barbie Fairytopia cake...how did they know?