Stormy Weekend...

Because it stormed all weekend in Mankato (and everywhere else in the midwest), all 3 of us stayed in the house and just hung out. It was actually really nice to have an excuse to stay home and be together cause that doesn't happen very often. Peter was actually quite hyper this weekend...we're not sure if it's because he just loved spending time at home since he's at daycare so much or if it was because we were all together at the same time!...but he was having a lot of fun and he was very mischevious (sp?) ! We survived the storm...I believe the storm total for the weekend was 17 inches. A lot of people were pissing and moaning and all's I could think about was the winter of 1997 and in the back of my mind I thought 'These people have no idea...' :)
Hope all is well with you and that your families are safe and warm. :)

Toothbrush

Nothing really all that exciting to share except that in the last couple of weeks we have been having Peter brushing his teeth. Boy does he LOVE it! (We're not sure if it's because we do it along with him, or because the toothpaste tastes good.) He is still working on getting some teeth. His lower canine teeth are showing up now and he has fits of chewing on stuff and crabbiness so we think that is the cause. Anyways...Not much else...We are supposed to get a foot or more of snow this weekend with freezing rain, so we may not get to Cannon Falls this weekend as he had planned to work the 8th grade retreat. I'm a major worry wart when it comes to bad weather that if travel is not advised, we are STAYING PUT! And why have a toddler in a vehicle in a blizzard? Not responsible parenting, I believe. Bye for now!

Ashes

Peter received his first ashes last night at mass. Last year, because of scheduling conflicts, Ben and I went separately and Peter didn't go. So this year was his first year! Mass was in Mapleton (half hour away) and it was at 6:30pm so we brought him in his jammies. I sang in the choir during mass and I was able to watch as Peter kept trying to wipe Ben's off. It was pretty cute. He fell asleep on the way home. :)

Hi From The Strangers

A friend of ours borrowed our camera and used it in Rome when he was there a couple of weeks ago and we haven't gotten it back yet, so no fun pictures for you. Our world has been chaotic like always. Peter had a cold and double ear infection...It was interesting to see the stuff come out of his ears that didn't come out before the tubes were placed inside of him! He must have been in pure pain for months. I'm glad the tubes are doing their job of helping the drainage. (I'm sorry if this is too graphic for some of you.) Ben has been enjoying his student teaching assignment. Last week we had dinner at his cooperating teacher's house. We got to meet his wife and 3 children. It was a lot of fun! The kids had a blast playing with Peter. Their youngest is a little boy who is 6 months old and Peter was fascinated by him and couldn't quite figure out why someone was smaller than him...treated him kind of like our cat. :) Ben surprised me with a baby-sitter on my birthday and took me to eat at the new Olive Garden. It was a nice evening together, although it was tough giving up a night with Peter since our busy schedules make it hard to have "family" time. This past weekend, though, we spent all weekend together! It was a lot of fun. We didn't get much accomplished, but it was fun and relaxing overall. Work has been extra busy for me lately and I've been going to bed early at night to prepare myself for the day to come...I've been pretty anti-social! But, next weekend we are going to be working at a retreat for 8th graders at Ben's home parish in Cannon Falls and the weekend after that I will be attending the Beautiful Beauchamp Babe Reunion (BBB's) in Fargo, ND. I can't wait to get away and have FEMALE time! It's hard being the only girl in the house sometimes. And, what happens in Fargo, STAYS in Fargo. :) Well, I must get back to the piles of work I need to do. We'll come back soon!

Nothing New, Really

This past weekend Grandpa Punky and Grandma Berta came to visit us. We didn't really take any exciting pictures. It was a much-needed, relaxed weekend for us. Peter got to play with Grandma and Grandpa a lot, Grandma and I did a bunch of shopping...Ben spent Saturday and part of Sunday in Randolph to play in his high-school's Alumni Basketball Tournament. His team didn't do very well, but they had fun like always! (That's all that counts, right?) He come home pretty early on Sunday afternoon to hang out with us and watch the Super Bowl. Not much else to report...We'll post some pictures when we have some good ones! Bye for now!