If you're gonna go, go BIG!

Sonna's been potty trained for a long time, but only #1. She's struggled with constipation for almost a year and for whatever reason she is hesitant to use the potty. Sonna grabs her own pull-up and does her thing and afterwards she brings us the wipes and asks for help. Jedd told her that when she goes poo in the potty, he will buy her a big shiny balloon. It worked! She sat for 20 minutes and was so pleased with the results! :) The next day, she got to pick out this Tinker Bell balloon that is bigger than she is! Mara was lucky to pick out a big balloon too - supportive big sister that she is.

The Happiest Part

We bought a Story Reader at the second hand shop before we drove back to MN for Christmas. It helped the girls pass many miles on the 1,300+ mile road trip. It came with 10 Disney stories. I don't care for Disney stories (you know - the mom always gets killed or separated from her children - Lovely, Disney) so my kids haven't seen Disney movies or read Disney stories. Until now. Sonna loves listening to the stories read aloud by the Story Reader and she'll sit for an hour at a time putting in a new cartridge and finding the corresponding story. Lately, she'll call whomever is in the house saying, "COME, this is the happiest part!" She knows that the 'And they lived happily ever after' part is happy and compared to the Scary Parts in the stories the Happiest Part is her favorite part.

Playtime

Oh, the culinary delights that come outof this play kitchen - with tap shoes, leotards, and aprons no less! Check out Sonna's muscle tone. That did not come from my side of the family. :)

Valentine's Day 2010

Mara worked diligently to create a special Valentine for each of her classmates and teacher Carol. She enjoys crafts and enjoys practicing writing letters. I think she was quite pleased with her designs.

The Train!

We were blessed to fly home to be with Joan and Lanny (Thanks Paul and Margaret!) and then blessed to take the train back to Montana (Thanks Lanny and Joan!). The train ride was filled with anticipation for the girls. When we got on the train at 10:30PM, the girls were still wide awake and when we got settled in our little sleeper car, Sonna kept saying "I love the train!". The girls were thrilled to sleep on the top bunks! And they slept well; Mommy not so much. Our breakfast and lunch were included and we had a lot of fun eating, playing games, playing House in our sleeper car, and hanging out in the observation car. One of our bags was forgotten on the train and took a ride to Portland but came back safely to Whitefish the next day. It was a good thing because it contained half of the girls' clothes, good shoes, my shoes and boots, AND our computer hard drive. Thank you, Amtrak!

Tender Times

We took an unexpected trip back to Minnesota because it seemed as though Jedd's dad's death was imminent. Grandpa Lanny was brought home for hospice care for the week we were home and here he is surrounded by his girls: Mara, Sonna, Baby Aasta and loving wife Joan. It was special to see the girls make sense of their grandpa's death (and then not death) in their 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 year old ways. Grandpa Lanny rallied a bit and went back to the nursing home in Minneota, MN. We pray for Grandpa Lanny and Grandma Joan each day.

Sonna Shine Fashion Girl

Claire Helen passed on this coat to Mara when we saw them over Thanksgiving. Mara hasn't wanted to wear it so I asked Sonna if she wanted to wear it to church on Sunday. She LOVED wearing it and got some compliments, of course. So today she put it on before she left for daycare and topped it off with her yellow rain boots and yellow duckie hat. I know I'm her mom, but she is so darn adorable!