Superior Little Lady

Just Some fun Pics

2011-03-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

Dancing in her St. Patrick's Day best!

Doing a jig!

Cute

We have been very into face painting lately and pull it out whenever possible!

Liesl and her good friend Zoe having some breakfast.

Notice the face paint again.

Speeeeeed!

2011-02-21T16:47:00.000-08:00

Today we went out to Uncle Jim's to try out snowmobiling with Benjamin. He had a little lesson from Uncle Jim then very quickly got comfortable enough to zoom around the lake on his own (he informed us later that he reached 70mph ugh!). Liesl even road on the machines, which is pretty impressive since she really does not like loud noises. I think the fact that she had my cousin's pink helmet made everything happy!

This may have been B's favorite activity of the whole visit. Big thanks to Jim and Jodie for letting us play with the snowmobiles for an afternoon! It was so cold outside that my camera battery died before getting a good video, bummer!

Benjamin Visits!

2011-02-20T06:21:00.000-08:00

Liesl's cousin Benjamin is visiting from Florida this week. He has not really experienced snow or cold weather much so we are trying to do as many things as we can to give him a good taste of MN winter fun! We started out with sledding in the 25-50mph gusts of wind and 15 degree weather (why not?). Then somehow I convinced Dave and Benjamin to do the Polar Bear Plunge! This entails you and about 800 other crazy people to jump in to Lake Superior! The temp was around 15 and they had to clear the ice chunks out of the jumping area. We quickly made phone calls to raise the required funds, for the Special Olympics (no this was not just for kicks, it was a great cause). I think Benjamin could definitely be a Minnesotan (if only we could get him to zip up his jacket!). A great first 2 days don't you think!?

Benjamin was really questioning our sanity as we made him put on layer after layer after layer. When we got outside he began to understand.

Whoa!!!

10 for originality 8 for skill

Minnesota fashion!

Liesl went into hyper show and tell mode the moment B arrived!

toasty toes

learning letters - what a good cousin!

Through the polar bear to the lake!

Check out the Slush!!! Brrrrrr!

Here They Go!!!!!!!!

Still smiling and alive afterward!

Winter Fun!

2011-02-13T16:20:00.000-08:00

Winter is flying by. We have been having so much fun skiing, making forts, doing art projects, and learning to fly. Liesl and Dave spend many weekend mornings jumping off of things in every fashion you can imagine trying to get lift off. Here is a hodge podge of photos for you.

Beautiful night for playing outside in the fluff!

snow in the eyes!

we have dug a snow fort around our largest tree in the yard.

when you are in the fort you must hide from every person walking by, so this means most time is spent on the ground .

what a great winter for playing outside!!


Liesl has also been doing cross-country ski lessons this year. The program is really fun. The very last day there is a race for the kids and Liesl rocked it! If you notice one ski is broken, lucky for us that happened after the race or we might have had a real problem. So I guess since she loves it so much we are now looking for "fast skis" as Liesl likes to call them.

She was soooooo proud of finishing the race. It was 1/2 K through the woods, without us. She just took off and about 5 minutes later there she was racing for the finish line with a huge grin on her face.

Sad ski, I guess we won't be handing these down to anyone!

Liesl has also decided that she will be an Artist when she grows up. So we have been practicing many different kinds of art. This day we were sculptors.

Concentration!

Liesl named each sculpture. This is Star Flower.

From Left to Right - Curl Cottage, Star Flower, Cake Top, Fairy Twinkle Star, and Twinkle Cottage.

Sunny New Year!

2011-01-05T06:03:00.000-08:00

Here we are in Florida visiting Dave's family. We had a wonderful trip filled with family time and fun. The weather cooperated and was just perfect for our MN bodies! Sunshine and 70ish every day. I have posted some highlights of our trip. To be sure this is just skimming the surface of the wonderful time we had. Huge thanks to Karen and Chris for hosting the whole crew. We always feel so welcome and at home when visiting. And thanks to Gram and Pop Pop for helping us get there! As Liesl gets older it is more and more fun to visit, and more and more important to us for her to see her family that is so far away. Thanks to everyone. We miss you already.

Here is the gang.

I love this photo, because this is how it really is!
Check out Pop Pop and Jonathan's death stares (what on earth!)

Blue Springs Park - this is where many manatees go to get warm.
The manatee count for the day was 271! It was very cool

It is hard to see how big they are in photos. I think they look like surfboards!

Liesl and her cousins.

Dave and Alexander

Jeff and Zhen.

Jonathan got some caterpillars and while we were there they came out of the cocoons.
It was time to release them to the warm Florida sunshine.

Watching the butterflies fly away.

This sums up Liesl and Jonathan's relationship. They were absolutely inseparable the whole week.
I have never seen two people get along so well. Imaginations ran wild! Cardboard boxes were a huge source of entertainment, used as sleeping bags, wings, rollers, pokers, tables you name it!

This turtle was also a huge hit. They filled it with water and dirt and woodchips,
and here they are sailing in a rubbermaid container.

Screaming because the boat was tipping!

I believe the sticks with various bowls and toys hanging from them are the lost and found trees.

Zhen picked out a beading kit for Liesl for Christmas.

The decisions were difficult.

Ta Da! The finished products.

Here we all are for the De Leon Springs Half Marathon and 5k.
Dave, Karen, Chris and I all ran the 1/2 marathon. The boys and Craig and Pop Pop ran/walked the 5 k.

Dave finishing strong, spares a wave for the camera.

Yay!!! I made it, and with a smile too!

Just Checking to make sure our medals were indeed gold!

After the race photo.

Dave ended up 11th overall and 2nd in his age group.

What is a trip to Florida without picking grapefruit and oranges!

Yum!

Holiday Performance

2010-12-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

Liesl loves her preschool so much and she reeeeeally loves when they have performances. Now this is not just kids shouting jingle bells. Her teachers are amazing and they work on dances and songs and poems from about October on. They did a great tap dance to up on the housetop. I will try to get it on here. Anyhow the performance was a success, only one little girl left the "stage" crying. Then we had an amazing potluck with 25 crazy preschoolers running around like mad. Nana and Papa came and Liesl was so glad -even though she was trying not to smile.

Liesl and I found this fabric and we decided she must have dress made from it.
So last week I sewed up a storm and here it is, it fits!
I was a little afraid we wouldn't get it over her head.

Posing

Hamming it up!

She is trying sooooo hard not to smile.

Here is the start of the tap dance, candy canes and all.

She was concentrating very hard.

Yeah! Nana and Papa!

Suppertime with all of our friends.

Liesl and her good friend Alice.

These are 2 of Liesl's best friends from school. We managed to close down the party!

Snow Time

2010-12-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

Yippy! Snow!
We are thrilled to have lots of snow sticking on the ground already.
Liesl will be doing her first organized activity this winter.
She is taking X country ski lessons, apparently it is a blast (I hope).
I get to do my job as Chalet Parent (only one time). We are excited for it to start.

This is so funny, it looks like ping pong balls are flying around our yard.

Liesl is a huge help shoveling the walk.

Here's my girl in the Coke hat. This has appeared before in the blog. It is still her favorite.
It was mine as a child. It was probably from the Bonners. Sara P must have one too, hiding somewhere!

Halloween!

2010-11-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

the carving begins

this is the first time Liesl has ever wanted a scary Jack-o-Lantern

Liesl loves these teeth. This photo cracks me up!

That is better, a nice sweet woodland fairy.
Liesl has decided that her fairy name is going to be Birch.

We have been putting on different face paint just about every day this week.

Liesl (she has the teeth in again) and her cousin Jude ready to hit the town!

Jax looking tough in his spidy costume

Buds! Isla came over to hand out candy (this tradition is great).

Here we are, Liesl wanted me to be a leaf pile and Dave was, as you can see, an elephant.

Happy Halloween!

Fall Fun!

2010-10-29T05:32:00.000-07:00

This fall has been filled with many fun things. This is a hodge podge of photos of our fall festivities so far!

amongst the apples

cousins Nolin and Mia playing in the hammock - Mia is trying to kiss Nolin

Liesl's preschool class came over to pick our apples for cider making.

here is the last of our apples

These are her teachers Ms. Jodi and Ms. Emily - they are amazing!

Kids roaming the yard looking for dropped apples.

The kiddos did an impromptu apple song for me.

Today at school they learned about raccoons.

The apples are ready for the cider pressing!

The "Cider Man" taught us all how to make cider in his back yard.

chopping the apples

pressing the apples

oh my goodness, it was delicious!

oops sideways - Liesl and our neighbor Sydney and their leaf queen crowns

Princess Liesl and Princess Esmae frolic in the leaves.

Baby Princess Elsa hops in the hammock with the "big girls"

Who needs Disney?

2010-10-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

Liesl has been talking about roller coasters and rides and princesses etc. So we thought Disney! Then we thought, even better the MOA and the Renaissance Festival! We can drive there and do it all in one action packed weekend! We went on every ride she could ever want at the MOA and visited the wonderful butterfly garden. Then the next day we went to the Ren. Fest. It was the most fun I can remember having in a long time - and we generally have lots of fun. The costumes and actors and food and fairies were unforgettable and we are already looking forward to next year!

Liesl and Dave on the "roller coaster" train. We were not sure
that she was enjoying herself until the ride was over.

You can touch the butterflies!

here are some cocoons

finally one landed on her head (this was her goal!)

one more ride on the Carousel

We made sure to bring Liesl's princess cape. It was chilly
so she wore it over her winter jacket.

drinking hot cocoa - did they have Styrofoam during the Renaissance?

I think Liesl liked this ride better than any at the MOA. It is powered by a person
pushing the center pole.

This permagrin says it all! It was a magical weekend!

I Want To Ride My Bicycle!

2010-09-18T04:42:00.000-07:00

Check out this girl! Liesl is completely smitten with her new bike. After a summer of not finding one at garage sales, I finally took Liesl to pick out her own. This bike features a shiney noisy bell, purple handle bars with streamers, and princesses emblazoned all over!!!

Dave and I are both a little suprised at her endurance and ability to go up hills on this thing. She powers through and would bike all night long if we let her!

Liesl is instrumental in my cooking, and she loves posing for photos when I take pictures for my other blog. However I am not sure that I want photos of her on my other blog. So you will get a peek at some of our future food blog entries on this blog!

Oh just wait until I post this recipe!!! It was amazing! It is a chocolate pudding with a very secret ingredient. I wish I could post these on the other blog too!

Hay Ride!

2010-09-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

Liesl's preschool had an amazing hay ride out at a ranch last weekend. The kids enjoyed horse back rides and hay rides. The girls giggled away the entire ride. We all smiled at the beautiful night and the gorgeous shining faces of our little ones in the evening sun.

Summer Fun

2010-08-15T04:55:00.001-07:00

We went to Glensheen Mansion, a local landmark full of history and intrigue but we didn't go inside this time. You can wander the grounds anytime and they have free concerts occasionally. We met one of Liesl's friends and her family for a picnic and music and playing. Both girls (I think they planned this at school) dressed up in fairy princess costumes. They romped and played and we had a magical night!

Liesl shows us her muscles after climbing at the rock wall at UMD, we had a blast. And naturally she takes after her mom and she totally rocks!!!

Gorgeous night for a barbeque. Peps and Edgertons came over to roast various food items over an open fire. The tent was a hit!

Happy birthday Mom. Notice my crown that says mom on it! Thanks you two.

Blueberry Birthday!

2010-07-19T05:34:00.000-07:00

4 Years old! We have continued the tradition, and celebrated at Sand Lake. As a child I always had my birthday parties at Sand Lake too. So this feels so right and good. Thanks to all of the family for making this day so special for Liesl every year. xoxoxoxoxo

Oh so Sweet!!!

Liesl received this adorable suit (it really is a swimming suit) from Nana and Papa, and she danced around in the water the whole afternoon!

On to the next cabin for the 4th of July weekend. We are soooooo lucky to have these magical places to spend our summer weekends.

Oh Yummmmmmm. S'mores

Look it's Chippie the most blogged Chipmunk in the whole world!!

Ahhhhh. Beautiful!

Yikes!

Blueberry picking was one of the highlights of the weekend. Liesl loved it and we picked.. wait for it.......... 4 GALLONS!!!!! Can't tell you where though!!

Here Liesl is enjoying a couple of her birthday gifts. The Bug Sprinkler and tree swing go very well together!! Thanks again everyone. xoxoxox

Strawberries!!!!

2010-07-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

Back to blogging. We have been working soooo hard at gardening this year and we planted 40 strawberry plants! These are NOT from our strawberry patch. Ours won't have berries till next year. So we took a trip to Finke's Strawberry farm. We picked 15 Quarts of these gorgeous little berries. We were shocked at how much this amounted to. A quart of little strawberries is much much much more than a quart of giant store bought strawberries! We now have bags and bags of strawberries and blueberries (post on blueberries next week, I promise!) in our freezer to cheer our tastebuds come wintertime!

We had to make strawberry smoothies in celebration. I can't believe any of us can look at strawberries after eating so many!

These posts are all backwards now! Ooops this is the backwards trasformation of our strawberry patch.

Random Memorial Day pics from Nana and Papa's cabin!

Our Yard in Bloom~ again our backwards posting. The transformation from snow to spring.

Snow in May!!! Oh my goodness. Notice our beautiful rhododendrons in the corner (in full bloom!)

It has been a while since the last blog. My computer is quite slow and downloading photos takes a bit of time. I will however try to post a little more often.

Here are some photos from Mother's day weekend up to this weekend.

Happy Birthday Liesl

2010-07-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

I am breaking into my sisters blog to post a picture of Liesl since it has been way to long since her last post and she promises me she will start up dating more than once every 6 months so I, her sister who is half way across the country and misses seeing updated pictures of her niece soooo... much, can see what she is up to and how she is growing more often (no pressure!) Nana sent me this picture that I am posting of Liesl opening presents on her birthday. She had a special day at Auntie Lisha's cabin swimming around like the little fish that she is. Happy Fourth Birthday Liesl. You are growing up so fast! Love, Auntie Manda

Illumination!

2010-01-05T13:24:00.001-08:00

Glo Sticks!!! So, Erin Pep must be the best sciences teacher ever, for she came up with the brilliant idea of glo sticks in the bathtub! We hit the lights and glowed up the tub the other night with Liesl and her cousin Cal. I think I could have taken photos for hours they were so fun, but Liesl politely asked me, "Mom, when are you going to be done with the camera?". So I put it away and we just played and played and played. It is kind of like the luminescence in the ocean, but in the comfort of your own home (not that I would object to a trip to the ocean). Here are some of the far too many photos!

Spewing magical fairy water!

Cal is transfixed by the beauty, as were we all!

Whoa!

Cal is part fairy too!

Spooky.

Ooooooh. Alicia these would be great as light sabers!

Here is an overhead shot of the tub and our little magicians.

2009-12-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

Winter Solstice already! We had our annual party last night to celebrate and to get us through the longest night of the year. We began our evening with some sledding. As we all slowly gathered at one of our favorite parks. The sledding was bumpy and most of the adults will have bruised bums today, the kids did not seem to mind. We had a great idea of lighting our hike home with glow sticks but soon found out they don't glow in our MN cold! Oops, so much for that idea. We got home and quickly warmed ourselves with steamy beverages and fortified ourselves with tasty treats. After relaxing and eating to our tummys' content we headed to the living room for a beautiful solstice story. The story is about the sun dying and then returning on the solstice to bring us the light once again. We ended the story by placing our Sun/Star on the top of the tree so the sun will hopefully return to us again. It was a lovely evening with even lovelier friends. Welcome back sun!!!!

Deb reading to us all.

Rosy cheeks!

Playing amonst the fairy lights.

The Cuneos join the party. A little hike does a mom good when she is due in 1 week!!

Keeping warm together!

The "big" girls.

John and Isla, recovering from the sledding hill.

Deb, checking on Doca. The little guy was happy as a little snowman all sausaged up in his warm clothes!

Up the hill once more!

The gathering.

CraftTime!

2009-12-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

It was a great day for doing crafts. Peps brought over an array of craft goodies to share and Alaina brought oranges and cookies! Believe it or not the oranges were the first thing to go (and the cookies were really good!).
This is the finished project of a glorious felt wreath.

We tag teamed and every child did manage to make a wreath in some way or another. It was a whirlwind of activity and I don't believe there were any tears! That makes a mom's day.

Where has the time gone!!

2009-12-05T11:38:00.001-08:00

SNOW!!! We have been waiting and waiting for a little snow. Liesl immediately wanted to pull out the skiis. We are looking forward to many more snowy ski days this winter.

Time to hang up the lights while the weather is still warm....ish.

Gram and Pop Pop (Dave's parents) came out to visit this fall. It was great timing for fall yard clean-up. I don't know how many bags of leaves we had this year but it was over 20! We had amazing weather and spent most of the week outside playing.

This is the process of making Liesl's Halloween costume. She had been saying she wanted to be Charlotte from Charlotte's Web for about a month. So we got busy and after more than a little effort and many trips to Micheal's we fashioned spiderwebs and legs with a purple body and black legs. So, Halloween arrived and Liesl found some pink pajamas in her bin of clothing. She promptly decided that she was going to be Wilbur instead. She wouldn't even try on the Charlotte costume (otherwise I would have a picture here). So she wore pink pajamas, no tail, no snout, just pink fuzzy pajamas. She was Wilbur, she told me to wear overalls so I could be the farmer and Dave was instructed to wear brown and have a big belly to be Templeton. I will now wait until Halloween day to make a costume, or better yet go to Target.

Liesl and her friend Isla looking out the window for trick or treaters.

Our beautiful pumpkins.

Just being a goof ball!

The Fashion Show!

2009-10-08T09:32:00.001-07:00

We like to call this one "Carrie Bradshaw".

Little Irish Lassie.

Auntie Alicia went through her bins of dress up clothes from her two very fasionable girls the other weekend. We were the lucky recipients of the fashion show in a bag. Liesl loves to put one on right after the other run into the room to show one of us and run out for her costume change. She might do well in theater (at least in the quick change). With all of these outfits what in the world will she be for Halloween? She changes her mind daily. Perhaps she will be a model and change outfits all day long over and over and over. Thanks Auntie!!!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2009-10-01T04:37:00.000-07:00

This is an old photo but a good one. I aquired this lovely bra on the 3day walk and it is a constant source of enjoyment. It is also a good reminder of what is important in life, no not boobs, family and living a healthy lifestyle so that we can enjoy eachother for a long time.

2009-09-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

This one my friend Erin took, and it just melts my heart. I had to add it to the blog as soon as I received it.

Fall Fest!!!

2009-09-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

Fall fest is one of the many great festivals around town this time of year. We decided to have a fall gathering and the weather cooperated perfectly. We had tons of kids and parents and friends over for treats and coffee and running around. Liesl is at the age where she doesn't need constant supervision and she and her friends actually play Together!!! not just next to each other. I think we might have an annual event on our hands.

Liesl rode the horse at the festival and we cheered her on. Dad was a great side-kick.

Here is the requisite face painting. Liesl choose a bug and a skull and cross bones to go with her princess dress!

Here are some of our friends enjoying the party. It was great to have everyone just hanging out in the yard lounging in the grass while the kids whirled around us.

Dad plays horsey. I think he needs a treat like the horses at the festival, maybe some apples.

After the official party was over the Peps helped us clean up and we decided the girls were filthy and playing so well that we couldn't end the party yet. So the girls hopped in the tub and we ordered pizza. Here the girls are doing some workbook pages together. A great end to a great day.

Auntie Lisha's Cabin

2009-09-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Jodie has been experiencing some computer difficulties so I hacked into her blog to update it (this is her sister Amanda.) Liesl has been enjoying some time up north and Alicia's cabin. Besides the fun of hanging out with her cousins she has also been able to practice her swimming which she is getting so good at.

Liesl also got to check out a frog. She is a sucker for any creepy, crawly, hoppy type things. I will have to ask Liesl next time we talk if she was trying to turn this one into a prince. :)

3 Years Old!!!

2009-07-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend filled with family and tons of fun. Liesl turned 3 and we celebrated first at Auntie Alicia's cabin then on to Nana and Papa's. We are so lucky for so many things!

Swimming with Dad!

Our little fish is learning how to swim at the YMCA and she can actually move forward kicking now. That may not seem like much but we are so proud.

We are now confident that we can go on a boundary waters trip with Liesl. She is one heck of a paddler!

Feeding the chipmunks and squirrels at the cabin is one of the most exciting activities. At one point the squirrel nibbled Nana's finger and Liesl spent the rest of the weekend yelling at him everytime he came near.

This is the first time Liesl has ever roasted marshmallows and needless to say she loved them!

It is pretty great how we get to do fireworks for Liesl's birthday every year. What a great time for a birthday.

Yes there is a giant spider inside of that necklace!

It is real but this one is dead.

Liesl has a wonderful balance of princess and bug lover.

So, I have mentioned Liesl's love of bugs before, right. Well, for Liesl's birthday present Auntie Alicia found a bug holder necklace, this spider happens to be not living anymore but she had a live one in the bug holder for a couple of hours.

Once again Nana has pulled off a cake made to order. Here is Liesl's robin icecream cake as requested.

Our friends Erin and Esmae came over for popcorn and a movie for Liesl's birthday night. What fun hanging with the girls.

Auntie Karen sent a new raincoat for the birthday girl. As always our Florida family did not disappoint and sent the cutest Disney raincoat ever. Liesl wore it for the rest of the present opening. Thank you to everyone who made Liesl's 3rd birthday so very special.

Grandma's Marathon Weekend Fun!

2009-06-22T05:35:00.000-07:00

I decided to post this photo first even though it is the finishing photo of the marathon. Dave did very well in the marathon this year especially considering the heat (it was miserable even for the spectators). After this photo was taken he showered and headed off to Alpine Valley to see his favorite band, Phish, in concert. Auntie Laurie ran the whole thing this year too but Liesl was napping at Jude's house when she was finishing so I did not get photos of her. You will have to check her blog for thos photos.

Happy mothers of the Whippersnapper racers, Liesl and Jude. Can you believe there is a photo of Laurie and I on a blog? That never happens!

There she goes! She got a ribbon and a bottle of water and some yummy snacks as a prize, it was super fun and Liesl has been asking to run in another race ever since.

Here we are at Jude's house on the morning of the marathon watching the racers from across the bay and cheering. Then we had a hearty breakfast of homemade power bars to get ready for watching the rest of the festivities and races.

Here is the runners' biggest fan. She sat there for over 1/2 an hour just clapping and cheering while we waited for Dave to arrive. Enjoy the following video of Dave at mile 25.5, looking great!

Fairy Girl with a Pill Bug (so perfect)

2009-06-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hanging out in our beautiful fairy-like yard with our little fairy princess Liesl, digging for worms and bugs. Liesl can now tell the difference between millipedes and centipedes (I can't but she can!).

So, here she is once again with a bug in the bucket. This bug was particularly big and scary (in my opinion) Liesl dug this giant beetle up and promptly stuck it in my face saying "Look Mom!"enthusiastically. Now the bug was a little to close to my face and I proceeded to scream (it was really big) I scared Liesl and she started crying! I felt so bad. She loves bugs so much. So I then tried really hard to explain that I was just suprised and that it was indeed a lovely bug. We kept it in the jar all day just admiring it's largeness and creepiness and loveliness.

This photo is in here for Alicia and Heather. I don't know which one of you bought this interesting skirt, but in the bins of beautiful clothing that we have been handed down, this is the one item that she imediately needed to wear. She danced around all afternoon in this ensemble.

Happy Mother's Day to every Mama!

2009-05-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

Beauty Queens!

2009-04-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Liesl loves to dig in my purse to find special lip glosses or lip stick. Liesl is very good at putting make-up on other people. Putting it on herself is a little more challenging.

2009-04-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

The river is rushing now. We love to take walks down to the park.

Here is one crazy skiier who was hiking up the ski hill and then zooming down and gliding across the pond. He made it across every time (that we saw anyhow).

Another snowy day at the park.

Amanda and Cal were visiting and Amanda needed to stop by Amazing Grace to see if the scones were as good as she remembered!

2009-03-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

Liesl got all dressed up for Jude and Rory's Birthday party and had to dance around for the camera. It was a really big deal because Dave had to work and I had my final curling game (we won yessss!) and we couldn't go. So auntie Laurie and family picked up Liesl and took her up to Virginia for the big bash all by herself! We heard all about it but you will have to check the other blogs for photos of the party.

Helping dad with the construction.

Yippy it worked. These forts are soooooo cool and easy to make and it all packs into a bag. I highly recommend this particular toy. We love to bring it outside to make forts in the summer too. (thanks karen and family for the gift you see it is still being used)

Yoga takes loads of concentration.

Fun with Cousin Cal

2009-03-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

Amanda, Cal, Liesl and I took a nice long walk today and it was glorious. I think it may have been 55 degrees and super sloppy and wonderful! We went to Olcott Park to play and swing. We had some fun with the color settings on Manda's camera too.

We found a worm! Alive and huge, Liesl named "him" Cathy. We brought Cathy back to Nana and Papa's house so that they could all meet and then Cathy went to sleep in Papa's garden.

Cal's first time on a swing!!

Cal and Liesl are riding the bus courtesy of bus driver (puller) Nana.

Fairy kisses, Be Mine!

2009-02-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

Valentine Kisses from Liesl.

Today she is a woodland fairy and yesterday she was Minnie Mouse (I always have to be Mickey).

Electrifying!

2009-01-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

Winter in Minnesota. Time to turn up the humidifier a few notches eh!

You can be bob the builder too!

Auntie Amanda brought Liesl a hard hat and goggles to go with her tool set. I think the hat is particularly lovely on Amanda.

Girlfriends are neat!

2009-01-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

Last week was super cold -50 wind chill and school was even cancelled. This was the perfect reason to call Isla and Erin to come over since Erin is a school teacher we were thrilled to call them up on a Friday morning and have them to tea. Erin reads a story to our little Princess Liesl and little Princess Isla.

Liesl and Isla showed us some amazing dance moves and gorgeous dresses.

Tea and fairy cakes time! We so enjoyed having tea together (moms got coffee). The girls are getting so good at pretending and playing that Erin and I actually had some adult conversation instead of refereeing the girls.

So the girls don't only play dress up and drink tea. Another day, this time at the Pep's house, the girls had a great game of hockey in the basement! It is so fun to have girlfriends.

Silent Night - a la Liesl and green monkey

2009-01-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

Liesl loves to sing. She learned Silent Night as well as many other holiday songs. We have tried to capture them on tape and here is a pretty good one but you might have to crank the volume. Enjoy!

Fashion Show!!

2009-01-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

We travelled out to PA for New Year's celebrating and to spend some time with Dave's family. I forgot the camera so I have to get photos from other people. However these hats were a gift from Dave's Mom. She knows I have a love for all things vintage or antique. These hats are hand made by one of Liesl's great great great aunts (I think, maybe great grandmother, I better find out). So she decided she wanted to have a fashion show. Some of these photos I am floored at how much she resembles my childhood photos!

Snow and more snow!

2008-12-24T11:16:00.000-08:00

Liesl is loving her new skiis (they have frosty on them). We "skiied" up and down the block a couple of times the other night.

Dave gave us matching aprons. Don't we look the picture of domesticity!!!

If you turn your back on the mixer with whipped cream in it this is what you find!

2008-12-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

2008-11-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

Halloween is so fun with these little ones all around! We had a little gathering of friends who don't get many trick or treaters. We got around 150 again this year. Liesl was a witch this year. She tried out the broom and the rake and settled on the bike for witchy transportation! We had a great time peeking out the windows, screaming TRICK OR TREATERS!!!!!, and just hanging out. Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Guts!

2008-10-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

Liesl has loved this book from the moment she could see past her nose. She chose our pumpkin faces by picking out of the book.

Pumpkin guts are truly endless fun. Liesl was pretending that the guts were worms (she pretends everything is a worm). So our pumpkin guts worm would go to work in the pumpkin and go grocery shopping in the other pumpkin etc.... She is developing an amazing imagination and pretend plays all the time.

These are a little spooky. I was monkeying around with the twilight setting. Getting a 2 year old to hold still long enough to let the picture capture is really hard. These were the best ones.

More harvest fun!!!

2008-10-28T11:27:00.001-07:00

These photos are a from a harvest festival held down at the bayfront. The kids had a great time checking out the chickens and the kites. Isla, Jude and Liesl all had a great day. (these are a little late in posting but at least it is still harvest time!)

Here we are in the yard raking round 1. We will have to do this at least 3 more times this fall. We have a beautiful yard with tons of trees, and our neighbors have tons of trees. We also have hedges that happen to trap all of our leaves and our neighbors leaves in our yard. So we have endless amounts of fun jumping in the monsterous piles.

Ooh La la!

2008-10-22T05:13:00.000-07:00

Liesl has a book called Fancy Nancy, those of you with little girls probably have heard of her. So Liesl loves to wear dresses no matter what. Thank goodness the layered look is so "in" right now. She has been quoting Fancy Nancy lately one of her favorite lines is "Ooooh La La my family is posh!" another is "Whats that word again, oh yes, accessories" Now when Dave asked her if I was posh the answer was a big ol noooooo!

More Autumn Bliss!

2008-10-22T04:56:00.000-07:00

Liesl and I went on the vista cruise earlier this fall and I just got to posting those photos. We had a glorious trip around the bay and saw the giant windmill parts that are being shipped all over the world. You would be amazed at how huge these things are up close, and they were not even put together! We really are slowly evolving toward helping our children and grandchildren live healthy and safe lives. Wind baby wind - Sun baby Sun!

Baby Esmae and Liesl are little birds in a nest of pine needles and leaves!

Just hanging in the yard. Some friends came over to play and rake with us this weekend. We had a lovely lunch and hike and of course picked more apples!!

Pop Corn Dance!

2008-10-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Mixed up photos, but still fun!

2008-10-11T11:45:00.001-07:00

We headed up to the northland for the YMCA annual Black Cat and Pumpkin Races. Liesl and Rory after the Pumpkin Run showing off their prizes.
We are ready for the Black cat race now!!
Liesl did the pumpkin run (1 block) Jodie (liesl in the jogger) did the 5 k and Dave did the 10 K.
Free range Kangaroo!!!

Here is the line up for the Pumpkin Run. Liesl Rory and Nana are about to start.
Rory was a bit emotional, races are tough on the psyche.
Liesl left them behind in the dust! (thats our girl)

Yes this apple really is as big as Liesl's head! These apples from our trees are organic I swear!
Dave's parents visited from PA. Here is Pop Pop picking apples from our trees with Liesl.

More Inspiration

2008-09-29T12:19:00.001-07:00

Your blisters will heal long before her cancer will.

2008-09-24T07:06:00.001-07:00

My 3 Day Breast Cancer walk was last weekend and I don't know if I can express what a life changing experience it was. These photos are of some of the 3600 beautiful men and women walking and participating in the 60 mile journey. We raised over 7 million dollars for breast cancer research, prevention, and education. I encourage anyone who has ever thought of doing this to indeed do it! I am signing up for next year already. The power of that many people in one place hoping and praying and doing something to stop this disease from affecting even one more person absolutely takes your breath away. The training and the blisters and the fundraising really were nothing compared to the benefits I have gleaned from this experience. The title of this entry is from one of the many signs posted along our walk by supporters handing out candy and freezy pops and hugs.
I will cherish this past weekend forever. Thank you all who supported my journey with well wishes and donations.
xoxoxoxo
Jodie

p.s. the woman in the picture is named Amy Taylor. My tentmate Heather sent me a link to her caring bridge site. This disease affects far too many people and many of them young women with families. Check out her site if you have a chance.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor

Fun at Auntie's

2008-09-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

I figured I should take advantage of being near a working computer and such great photo opportunities. Here we are hanging out in Virginia enjoying the mine views and riding in Rory's John Deer. Rory is a suprisingly competent driver! Liesl is going to need a few more lessons. We were checking in on our cousin Andy's house building progress and stopped to take in the view and the construction equipment!

Technical Issues "Oh Man!!!!!"

2008-09-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks we have had some computer issues. My computer is on hyper protective mode and I can't get it off. I guess need to give in and get my computer fixed by a professional (ergh). So this post is coming from Auntie Alicia's computer. Hopefully I will be back on the blog soon.

Family Photos!!

2008-07-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

We had more great photos taken the other week check them out with the magic box photography link on the side bar.

Click on online ordering.

My email address and liesl as the password

Irish Fun in Rosemount with the Thompsons

2008-07-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

Dave, Liesl and I traveled to Auntie Amanda and Uncle Brian and Cal's house for the weekend and we had no idea what fun was in store. We went to a Leprechaun Day celebration parade (apparently there are many Irish descendants in Rosemount) in the morning and then a dance show, a petting zoo and a bouncy room in the afternoon!!! Needless to say Liesl was actually requesting to go to sleep by 6:30 p.m. Rosemount is a surprisingly quaint little town and we have been walking all over enjoying the celebrations.

Good Ones!

2008-07-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

I just found these photos in my mom's computer. They are from May but I had to put them on because they are so cute. Syd and Liesl were helping Nana and Papa dig and plant the new gardens at the new house. This is where Liesl first discovered the joy of worms.

Floatilla Fun!

2008-07-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

Birthday Celebrations!

2008-07-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

We headed up north to enjoy some time at Alicia's cabin this weekend. We celebrated Liesl's birthday with swimming and cake (she preferred the icecream). We then watched the 4th of July boat parade. Dave thought this was one of the strangest things ever. So here are a few photos for those of you who have never seen this sort of thing before. All of the people get dressed up and probably drink lots of "stuff". Then they head off around the lake gathering more and more boats to follow at a steady 5 miles per hour or so! It is a riot. My favorite float boats this year were the Mexican Fiesta boat (for the 4th of July, hmmmm?) And then to top it off there was the boat with a man dressed in complete army fatigues and sitting behind a camoflauge blind shooting his b.b.gun in the air. Amusing? Frightening? I am not sure!

Superior Little Lady Turns 2!!!!!

2008-07-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

Wow. What an amazing 2 years. Liesl is so full of life and laughter, and tears but mostly laughter. We are all enjoying the whirlwind of learning and testing that goes along with growing up. Liesl loves to go to the park and usually asks to go swinging and sliding the moment she wakes up in the morning (usually 5:30 a.m.). She also is in love with bugs and worms, but still really loves dresses and pink and purple. So we have requested that Nana make a worm shaped cake for our little b-day gathering (gluten free of course). I can't imagine what we ever did before Liesl, and I love that!!!!

Girls who Hike!

2008-07-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Fun times at the river! My girlfriends and Liesl's girlfriends, Erin, Isla, Erin and Esmae, Liesl and I all went for a little creek walk and dip in the coooooold water. It was fairly short lived due to the bugs. Then back to the yard for some playtime! We are having a great summer in our new house.

Just some nice pics!

2008-06-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

Smile!

2008-05-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

My two monkeys!

My Little Yogini!

2008-05-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Liesl and I love to stretch and do yoga together. She is much better than I am at many of the poses but I have more focus, I think.

Bootiful!

2008-04-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

Spring is "bootiful". Above you can see a photo of one of our trees, an ornamental crab apple, the robins love it! At one point I counted 18 robins in the tree at one time!!! I have never seen anything like it. We went for a little walk down the street to check out the waterfalls (we can hear them from the yard). They are really rushing and roiling with all the melting. The photo does not do it justice.

Interesting.

2008-04-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Cute eh!

Books Books and more Books!

2008-03-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

Liesl loves reading books (thank goodness). It will be so neat to all relax and read books by the fireplace someday. In the meantime we will continue to read animal books and enjoy the learning process. Here is Liesl's rendition of one of our favorites.

Spring Mud!

2008-03-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here is Liesl doing her favorite thing these days, playing in the mud puddles. We play in the mud pit that is our alley right now every chance we get. Believe it or not this dress did not get a speck on it!

Everybody Deserves a Lifetime!

2008-03-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

I am using this blog space not for photos of Liesl (for the first time) but to send out a note about an amazing fund raising event I am participating in this September. I am walking in the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk. This is a 60 mile walk all over the Twin Cities to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research, education and early detection. I have to raise at least $2,200 to participate so if you feel inclined please visit my web page at www.the3day.org then click on donate now and enter my name as the participant. Every dollar helps. Some of you may have already received emails about this. Please at least check out the site.

I am very excited about this event and hope that you can find it in your hearts/pocketbooks to support me if you can.

xoxoxoxox
Jodie, Dave and Liesl :)

Happy Spring!!!

2008-03-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

We in the Cope-Schaeffer family really love celebrating the seasonal changes. The spring equinox is upon us. So enjoy the celebration of spring while you eat your lovely eggs and chocolate bunnies and think about the fertile ground springing up with new life!
ps. auntie manda and uncle brian I love my stickers!

Incredible edible eggs!

2008-03-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

I love dying eggs but I don't like eating blue and green eggs the next day (what exactly is in those little pellets and packets). I decided to look into natural dyes and foods for egg coloring and here are my masterpieces (no hot pink or teal blue but they are beautiful anyhow). All I used was different combinations of onion skins, cabbage leaves, tumeric and beets!

Smile!

2008-03-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

Liesl and her many faces. Enjoy!

Scrub-a-dub

2008-02-21T12:06:00.001-08:00

Bath time is the best! Especially with the "california baby" bath bubbles with the bubble wand!!!!

The Gal Pals

2008-02-21T10:38:00.000-08:00

Here are Liesl and her friend Isla. We always snap bunches of photos of these two but never seem to get both of them looking and smiling. What do people with twins do?

Tiny Dancer

2008-02-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

Liesl (okay mom and dad) always love getting the next installment of fashionable hand-me-downs from her cousins. We have not needed to buy a single item of clothing thanks to the many bins saved in Auntie Alicia's closet (it is slowly emptying now).
This little number inspired Liesl to dance and twirl all day.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

2008-02-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

Liesl loves to sing songs and baa baa black sheep is an absolute favorite along with twinkle twinkle little star and the abc's. Notice they all have the same tune. She doesn't sing all of the words but it sure is cute! Here is her rendition along with some action from the little woolen sheep. Enjoy the show!

Drinkin' and lookin' like it!

2008-02-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

Liesl thinks that she is really cool drinking out of the "big girl glass" we were cracking up at the sight of her drinking out of her little root beer glass with her hair a-flyin'(it is not beer it is Kefir, a yogurt drink)

"Poor no man"

2008-01-29T07:27:00.000-08:00

Wow it is actually warm out here!
We will have to fix our snowman and give him a new nose,
because the squirrels ate the last two.

Look Jude my "no man" is so nice, and his nose is really great.
Yippy!

Hey....! Jude....! Oh no "no man"! Don't eat his nose!!!!!

Kinder-Shuttle Blasts Off!

2008-01-10T07:48:00.001-08:00

Here is the newest, coolest piece of gear for outdoor Mamas and Dadas. We found this kindershuttle on craigslist and our friends Mark and Jerri picked it up for us in Minneapolis. We took the shuttle for its maiden voyage on Park Point (Lake Superior in the background). It was a brisk day but Liesl stayed warm and even zonked out fast asleep about halfway through the hike. This thing is comfortable, warm for baby, and bonus Liesl won't run me over on the hills now!!

The Coca-cola Hat

2008-01-09T08:14:00.001-08:00

I think that I have had this hat since 2nd grade or something. Sara Polski you should recognize it! We must have had matching ones at some point. Anyhow Liesl insists that one of us wear this hat on every excursion out of doors.

Does every parent do this?

2008-01-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

Is is cruel to take photos like this? We have so many! Here is Liesl the frog/elephant and Liesl the warrior princess baby.

Singing/Reading What talant!

2008-01-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

As of Jan. 2 Liesl is now officially 1 1/2 years old. Dave and I were in the kitchen last night and we could hear Liesl's rendition of Frosty the Snowman (her favorite song) coming from the living room. Of course she was not quite as boisterous when I got out the camera but this is still pretty cute. The book is not actually Frosty the Snowman, however it is a book all about snowmen and snowwomen and snowdogs etc....
Enjoy storytime!

Christmas at Nana and Papa'a

2007-12-29T08:58:00.000-08:00

What great weather for playing outside. Boy was it nice to have plenty of snow to spend Christmas day outdoors and sledding. The only downfall was that Dana had to work otherwise the whole crew would have been home for the holidays. Liesl now loves the sled and sledding. Once again What a Wonderful Life (I can't say it enough).

It's a Wonderful Life

2007-12-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

Here are Dave and Liesl playing in the snow yesterday evening. We have some lovely lights in our trees to light an area for night fun outside. We feel so grateful to all of our family and friends for making this holiday season so wonderful. We truly feel like we lead a charmed life.
Happy Holidays
Namaste from Dave and Jodie and Mamatee from Liesl

Baf, Baf (translation-bath)

2007-12-20T09:38:00.000-08:00

Liesl loves baths so much that if you say the word "bath" she imediately runs upstairs to the bath.Thus we have begun calling the "bath" the aquatic experience in her presence. Here is an example of her love of the white thing that holds water, used to clean dirt and food off of one's body. Oh Dave forgot to turn the light on as they head up the stairs, this is not some fancy fade out technique.

Yum Yum!

2007-12-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

Hey, feeding myself is not as hard as everyone says!!

Playing in the Snow

2007-12-19T08:37:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to have snow (and lots of it) already this winter, it is a nice change from the past few years. Liesl really loves snowmen (particularly Frosty). However she has taken a couple of face plants in the snow and does not think that is very neat. So now she likes looking at the snow but really dislikes the sled and standing in the snow. I think the love will come back as soon as we have some sticky snow to make a snowman in our yard.

On the Catwalk! (hee hee)

2007-11-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

Sorry sidways again. We took this picture and thought it was soooooo cute/funny. Liesl is acting the perfect little baby model with the pose and everything. I am glad we caught this on camera at least one time, it will not happen often I have a feeling.

Little Girl

2007-11-15T12:43:00.000-08:00

Liesl is truly turning into a little girl. She is growing up fast, she can express most of here wishes (demands) with her words now, which is liberating and much more convenient for us. Oh and by the way Liesl saw a picture of Gwyneth Paltrow on the cover of a magazine and pointed and said "Jodie Mama". Yup I look just like Gwyneth, and yes Liesl has begun calling me Jodie.

Let it no, Let it no, Let it no

2007-11-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

The first snowfall of the year! Liesl and I had to run to every window in the house and yell "wow snow" or in Lieslese "wow nooooo"

Our yard is an absolute winter wonderland dream when it snows!

Halloween fun

2007-11-15T11:34:00.001-08:00

Our first Halloween in our new home. Liesl loved giving out candy. We had about 70 kids come. We were warned by the neighbors to expect about 250 so Dave and I have been eating lots of candy! There is an allyway separating us from the trick or treating super highway. We stood looking forlornly out the porch window as gaggles of kids headed down the street with nary a look in our direction. (70 is not that bad)

Autumn Bliss!

2007-10-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

Fun in the beautiful fall leaves. Have you ever seen such joy!

Check out our Family Photos!

2007-10-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

Check out our family photos, link on sidebar Magic Box / online proofing / cope proofs / password Liesl

It was pouring rain that day so we did some indoors by our fireplace until it let up.

Hi Manda!

2007-10-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Liesl has learned so many words and catches on to new ones quickly. Her recent favorite on Thursday was hitting something saying "ouch," then saying "gentle," or in Liesl talk it was more like "Ouch! Dendah" In this video we have her saying "Hi Manda" to her Auntie Manda who came to visit.

Bibliophile Babe

2007-09-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

We couldn't be happier that Liesl has inherited our love of books.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket!

2007-09-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Our little cave baby!

2007-09-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

Liesl loves the dirt and mud is even more enticing. Sticks and Mud, really what could be better?

2007-08-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here is our new living room. The stairs provide endless entertainment (liesl) and fear (us). Liesl refuses to go down the stairs backwards. We have painted and put in some new carpet and we are in and loving our new digs!

2007-08-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

Here we are in our new yard! Liesl loves the new house and the yard. She cannot resist the hose! We go through many outfits when watering the plants.

2007-08-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

Buns! So cute!

2007-08-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to Nana and Papa's cabin and Liesl loved feeding the chipmunks. She caught on quickly and was looking for peanuts the whole weekend.

Check Liesl's One Year Photos!

2007-07-14T06:27:00.000-07:00

Liesl is now 1 year old. We have been having so much fun. Last week we had her one year photos done and the proofs are on line at magicboxphotography.com

If you go on online proofing under Cope photos the password is Liesl.
These are once again some of the most beautiful photos I have ever seen. Chelsea Morgan (magic box photography) does such an incredible job, particularly with children. We had so much fun!

2007-07-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

Liesl loves jewels and scarves and anything "pretty". Don't worry mom only lets her wear things around her neck while supervised.
If you look closely you can see little piggy tails in one of these. (yup she is into the toilet paper again, but she holds still for photos so well when distracted)