By the Way

I forgot! While typing about the bear that trapped us into our cabin I forgot to mention the funny part. (See post entitled Week's Events, I'd do a link if I were blog savvy, sorry) While we were watching the bear out our upstairs window and then running back down to see him out our front door we noticed something on the bear's tush. We couldn't figure out what it was.

Keep in mind the bear was digging through our trash and taking out the food he wanted to eat. Our littlest Anna very much enjoys putting on band-aids, for fun. Her band aid of choice is SpiderMan.

After staring at the foreign object on the bear's tush I noticed it was red and blue. Hmmm? Could it be? Yes, in fact the bear had sat on a used SpiderMan band aid. I'd show a photo but the bear was big and the band aid small so it didn't show up on our photos.

Have you seen the movie Great Outdoors with John Candy? I think they mention a troublesome bear with a distinctive haircut due to a rifle blast, or something like that. Well, we have our own distinctive mark on our bear. You'd know our bear anywhere. Just look for the SpiderMan band aid.

HOW Old Are You?

During naptime for our Anna, Isaiah and I munched on some M&M's. They were plain. The originals no peanuts, peanut butter or dark chocolate on these babies. Isaiah took a bite and said, "Mmmm, the old fashion kind."

Wah-Hoo!

We set up for VBS last night and it was amazing! I've been losing sleep all week over the anticipation of "getting it all done". Why???? There were so many people putting it all together last night and on the other "craft days" early this summer. Don't get me started on the decorations. WOW! I hope the children honestly feel God's love as I think it must be just pouring out of all the helpers. I'm so excited for the kids, I sort of wish I was a kid going to VBS this week. I'm so thankful for all the volunteers that put this together. This is only my 2nd year helping at VBS and last year I was in the nursery so I wasn't a witness to all the planning that's involved. Whew! What an eye-opener. Ranie and Lynne have to plan so much behind the scenes that I never even knew had to happen. I'm sure it will all go smoothly and I hope the children have an awesome learning experience. I know I have. Wah-Hoo!

A Lost Art

I've recently figured out how to download songs and burn them to a CD. I know it's not that tricky I just never really wanted to do such a thing. Now I have a list going at walmart.com until I have enough for another CD.

This new trick I've learned saddens me a bit. You see my kiddos will probably never, ever learn how to anticipate a song on the radio and press the record button. Remember KDWB's Top 8 at 8? Maybe they still have it, don't know? I remember patiently waiting and hoping the song I wanted would be coming on next. Then there's the is it really the song I want? problem. Do you press record when you're not sure only to risk the hassle of rewinding and queuing the tape correctly again for next time? Listening to the tape you finally made with either a DJ's voice cut-off at the beginning or end of the song was always fun, too. Not to mention the chopped up commercials on either end of the song as well.

Ahhh, the good ol' days!

True Anna

I was cooking breakfast and both children were sitting at the table with not-so-patient attitudes. I finally separated them and told each to keep their hands on their own side of the table and I assigned them each a window to look out. That worked for two seconds until Anna piped in again and said, "Not Isaiah's ween-dow, dat MY ween-doh!".

Bear pt.2

We ventured to Troy Beach today and I brought along Anna's little-yellow-floaty-chair. This chair has two air chambers one for the chair part and one for the floaty tube part. I blew up the chamber for the chair then I tried to blow up the tube chamber. No success. It didn't stay inflated. This is a brand new purchase and was only used once. Upon further inspection I noticed two tears in this chamber. Guess who stepped on Anna's floaty-chair? Yup. Da Bear! Apparently when the bear was climbing all over our picnic table he stepped on the chair and his claws ripped 'er open. I vaguely remember watching him do this thinking, "You better not ruin our stuff." Well, he did ruin it. Grrr! Thanks a lot Mr. Bear.

Not on Noah's Boat

My little people and I, yesterday, were looking at a picture of Noah, the Ark and a bunch of animals. Isaiah was pointing out and naming different animals for Anna. He pointed to a cheetah and told Anna that it was in fact a cheetah. Anna looked at Isaiah like he was nuts and said, "No, Cheetoh dat's a kitty."

Just Plain Weird

Warning: very long post but it is interestingly weird


Last Friday, while up north, Matthew and I felt like going out to eat for a fish fry. We had no idea where to go. We decided to hop in the truck and drive down the trail to check out a couple of the restaurant/lodges that we pass to get up the trail. My mom and dad didn't come along because they were staying at our lodge to eat supper. This adventure was solely for the four Rollis.

The first place we came to didn't appear to have anything so we continued on to Windigo Lodge on Poplar Lake. Looked like a nice place and the parking lot was empty despite it being Friday and the advertisement for a Fish Fry on their road sign. Good spot to bring two tired children. We shouldn't bother too many people with our somewhat crabby kiddos if we're the only ones in the place.

Well, we went in and had to walk up a very wide staircase as the restaurant and bar were upstairs overlooking the lake. Pretty view. Then it starts to get a bit unusual. It had to have been at least 90 degrees in there, no kidding. I couldn't believe there wasn't any A/C in the place. Also, it was almost chilly outside and none of the huge, beautiful windows were opened to let in the breeze. Hhhmmm? There were three tables that didn't appear to have been bussed in quite sometime, lunch maybe? Nobody greeted us or told us where to sit and there was a 14" TV in the dining room with a soap opera update show blaring. Normally, Matthew and I would have turned around and left by now but ... we were WAY up north and this was the only choice besides driving another 25min. back to the cabin with two hungry and tired children for PB&Js. We decided to tough it out and see.

We waited a good 5min. before we even knew for sure if anybody was even in the building. They were. A very kind yet frazzled girl appeared, apologized for the delay and took our beverage order. Matthew and I noticed that this girl was the hostess, waitress, bartender, cook and dishwasher. Yikes! Good thing we were her only customers. We got our beverages and looked at the menu. Just as we were about to order, a group of 12 non-locals showed up for a fish fry. Uh-Oh. Matthew and I felt bad for the girl and I said that I didn't think she was going to have any help. Matthew agreed and said maybe he could help her out. I sort of got tears in my eyes and we decided that after we ate I would go home with the kids and Matthew would stay and help out if he could and maybe my mom or dad could drive back down to pick him up. Good idea.

Robin, waitress/bartender/everything, was not having a very easy time with the big crew of 12. The tables in the restaurant only sat four at a time and so tables had to be moved together. The customers were trying to do it themselves while we were ordering. Robin went over to assist just as a glass candle nearly shattered on the glass table top that was being drug to the next table over. Robin did what she could but had to get to the kitchen to give the order to the cook, herself, and then pass out the menus to the new people. Not good!

I told Matthew that I think she needs the help now, not after we eat. It was agreed. So ... Matthew got up went to the kitchen asked Robin if he could help. I was expecting a NO but, I peeked in the kitchen and what did I see? My husband wearing a white apron with a big grin on his face. Yup folks, my Matthew used his previous short-order cook status to help out Robin at Windigo Lodge. Cool!

Robin managed to pass out the 4 available menus to the group of 12 and Matthew nosed through the kitchen to see what they had and where everything was located. Afterwards, I'm glad Matthew did our cooking as some of the stuff he saw back there wasn't so up to par. Our food literally got put on the back burner to get out the group of 12's appetizers. Isaiah received his pizza and Anna her pasta and I can't tell you how yummy Isaiah's pizza was. That boy raved and raved over the best pizza he ever, ever had. Wow, Papa makes the best food ever! Later I found out that the "homemade pizza" was made from refrigerated dough, Ragu spaghetti sauce and shredded mozzarella. I could make that at home. We'll just let Isaiah think Papa's pizzas come straight from Italy.

After we ate we knew it would be awhile so we sort of sat and waited and waited and waited. Well, that was fun now what? I decided to give Isaiah and Anna a crash course in table bussing. Yes folks, we bussed our own table and the other three which were left over from lunch. I cleaned the tables and Isaiah put out napkins, place mats and silverware. Anna watched from the highchair and bussed her tray.

When Matthew had sufficiently fed the 12 we were on our way. Robin was so thankful and gave us all articles of clothing from Windigo. That was really neat and if we ever go back up we'll probably always have a friend on Poplar Lake. Matthew said he might just do that again, for fun.

Zookeeping

As I was making supper I overheard Isaiah ask Anna, "Can you still breathe?". Okay....time for a mom check. Apparently Anna was the caged animal and Isaiah was the zookeeper. He caged her in the middle of two laundry baskets. They both were having a marvelous time and due to the very airy cage Anna could in fact still breathe.
Anna is inside the two baskets, hard to tell, but she's there.

Week's Events

During our vacation we had a pretty quiet week. We got up north on Saturday and just took it easy.

Sunday consisted of mini-birch bark canoe making along with a little race down a creek. Isaiah's boat came in second place. Anna hopped on a kayak with Matthew and tooled around the beach area.

Monday the boys, Gramps, Matthew and Isaiah, went fishing with a local fisherman and caught tons of lake trout. Isaiah caught the first fish, biggest fish and most fish. Grammy, Anna and I went back to Grand Marais (50min drive) for some much needed Benadryl. Mosquitoes really think Isaiah and Gramps are tasty.

The rest of the week pretty much consisted of swimming, canoeing, kayaking, blueberry picking, raspberry picking, hiking (near death experience but, all survived), relaxing and laughing.

Friday was THE day of the vacation. It started out all very normal until about 4pm when we were trapped in the cabin by a boar bear who became a regular nuisance at the lodge all week. He raided our garbage can, which accidentally did not get emptied by housekeeping in the morning. He drug the garbage behind the cabin and preceded to eat Anna's scrambled eggs and the leftovers from taco night on Thursday. Very exciting. He refused to leave until Matthew actually opened the door and yelled and hit rocks with our hiking stick. There's a warrant out for the arrest of the bear which means he will be dispatched shortly as soon as all the appropriate paper work is filed. He's actually becoming a bit aggressive and that is dangerous for people. Bears usually high tail it away from people this bear seeks the "company" of people and their garbage cans. There actually is more exciting information regarding the rest of the Rolli family's Friday afternoon/evening but, I'll save that for next time.

We're Ba-ack

We had a great time on our vacation and nobody wanted to come home. I have a feeling God may have wanted us to stay up there too. It may have something to do with the right front tire that blew out on the suburban on the way home. Not cool! Matthew and my dad got the spare on the truck and after LOTS of conflicting possible-tire-repair-guy locations we ended up back down in Two Harbors at a bona fide service station. No kidding! We had a "nice" walk around Two Harbors while we waited for our new tire and then we were actually on our way home. Just a little dose of reality before getting back to city-life.

Tons of fun memories that I'll post about later and may even get some photos posted. But for now, I've caught up on all the blogs I usually read and now must make a grocery list as we have nothing but cold cereal and frozen lake trout in the house.

Vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow we leave on our vacation, Yippee! We've been planning this trip since last fall and it's finally here. We're going up to the BWCA on the Gunflint Trail NW of Grand Marais, MN. Matthew and I went there on our honeymoon and we went for a couple days with Isaiah when he was two. We really wanted to have a fun family vacation and make some memories with grandparents, too. My mom and dad are coming along too for our little adventure. The kids are so excited as am I.

Yesterday was "clean the house up day" (as clean as our house gets anyway), I've been attacking laundry ALL week so the only dirty laundry is what we're all wearing today and now ....... it's packing day! The four Rollis and the two grandparents are all going in the Rolli Family's Green Beast so we are under strict packing guidelines from my dearest husband. I do believe he has stricter rules than NorthWest Airlines but, who cares it's a VACATION! I just have to get a week's worth of clothing for four people into one suitcase, I have confidence I can accomplish that goal. We are running over to my mom and dad's tonight to pack their stuff into the truck.

Then, tomorrow we get to leave for the north woods hiking, fishing, s'mores, swimming, berry picking, pontoon riding, etc. The lodge has a gourmet restaurant with locally grown/seasonal food that's amazing so if we don't feel like burgers we don't have to cook 'em we can walk on over to the lodge and just eat their food and they'll even wash the dishes for you :). We've never, ever gone on a week long family fun vacation EVER. I can't wait to experience the family memories and take lots of pictures so the kiddos can have fun vacation memories with Gramps and Grammy.

I'm off to pack and try to foresee everything my little family could possibly need for a week away from home. If I get smart enough I can try to post a few photos when we get back.



ps we still haven't heard the test results for my sister's kitty but, I'll let you know how that all turns out too. thanks again for the suggestions.

Any Suggestions?

I'm afraid we will have a difficult situation to deal with in the very near future, possibly within the next couple days. We may have to say a planned goodbye to family pet.

Fred the Cat is 16yrs. old and is not doing so good. He's at the vet as of right now and we're awaiting the test results.

My sister and Isaiah will have a hard time if we have to put Fred down, Fred belongs to my sister. I'm wondering if anyone out there has a suggestion to help Isaiah through this. For some reason explaining a person's death is a bit simpler when they're a Christian and you know they're going Home. I'm positive Fred the Cat is not a Christian and therefore don't really know what to say to Isaiah about death. I don't want to feed him a line about "kitty heaven" because that's just not the truth.

Isaiah is a very sensitive boy and this will just really hurt his little heart. So....if anyone has a good idea about what to say let me know. Thank you

Redneck Swimming Pool

Matthew's birthday was on Monday. We celebrated on Sunday because during the work week that guy is just too darn busy. The kids and I gave him a free-standing hammock. We were all pretty excited to imagine our Papa relaxing in his hammock in the shade and enjoying the Sunday paper.

Matthew wasn't able to use his birthday gift yet because it was just too hot on Sunday to enjoy much of anything outside. He did mention he could set it up and put the sprinkler on and read the paper while cooling off in the hammock but then realized the paper would get wet. Oh well! That did remind me of the Plugger comic strip. I could send the idea in to the writer and label it Plugger's Swimming Pool. If that doesn't work I could send in the idea to Jeff Foxworthy. I can hear him now, "Ya know yur a redneck if yur idea of jumping in the pool involves a sprinkler and a hammock."

Confessions ...... sigh



I am unable to "let" my children cry themselves to sleep. I get so stressed out that I literally feel my blood pressure rising.

When Isaiah was an infant I couldn't do it. I also was so anxious about SIDS that I couldn't let him sleep without either holding him or having him be right next to me. I also nursed Isaiah and could never get the hang of pumping, therefore, feeding my boy was entirely up to me. This was a huge struggle for me. The result: Isaiah slept in our bed until he was about 2.5 years old. He'd then fall asleep in his bed and when he'd awake Isaiah would crawl back in our bed for the rest of the night. Grrr! He finally would fall asleep without my help and stay in bed around age three.

Then came Anna....I promised myself I wasn't going to let the same thing happen. I was doing okay with middle of the night feedings and being able to put her in the bassinet or bouncy seat to sleep. Around 5 mos. old Anna got a nasty cold/ear infection and I was worried about her stuffiness and all that work went out the window as she ended up in our bed. The difference was that Anna never took to a thumb or pacifier like Isaiah did. As a result, I became her "security blanket" and she can't fall asleep without me rocking her or holding her, etc.

I realize this is entirely my fault and both kiddos would have been fine had I let them learn to soothe themselves. I also know of ALL the different techniques available to try in order to teach babies this important lesson. I just can't let them cry themselves to sleep.

Isaiah does just fine now falling asleep and staying asleep. It all worked out okay. Isaiah is such a good sleeper that he has slept through Anna's cries, screams, tantrums and nuclear meltdowns that have been happening since Saturday afternoon when we put up the toddler bed. Isaiah and Anna share a room and this was the weekend we started to wean Anna from her Mama's assistance in the sleep department. For some reason it's easier for me to hold down a toddler in a toddler bed for 2 hours then it is to hear a tiny infant cry for a mere 10-15minutes.

I know, I know, I know. This is all so silly and completely unnecessary. I also know I am horrible about infants sleeping and it completely rules my life for the first two years of their little lives. There now is a light at the end of the tunnel and within a couple months everyone at this house will happily be sleeping in their own beds and sleeping through the night. At that point we'll start the potty training as Anna has shown an interest. I, however, have not shown any interest in potty training and therefore we will be waiting until this current battle is won.......by me.

Thank you for listening/reading as I feel better confessing my sins. :)

Simple Tastes

The kiddos and I just got back from a Fleet Farm trip and Isaiah just saw THE COOLEST CAR EVER! The car was parked next to us and as we were pulling away he announced the discovery and told me to look. I didn't see it at first because I wasn't sure if he was looking at the decked out truck or the pretty purple car that I happened to see. I asked him to explain which one and he said that it was the one without a trunk. Huh? Then I saw it, I hadn't seen one in years it was none other than a Chrysler Horizon Hatchback. How could I have not noticed it myself?

I will not be one of those moms that worry about her boy's want for a motorcycle as my son will be driving a 1970s hatchback. YES!!!!!

Getting to Know Your Neighbors

We live on a busy highway and we do not live close to our neighbors. We can see our neighbor's homes but, due to the busyness of the highway, we'd have to get in the car to get to their homes. Our address is just not conducive to chit-chatting over the picket fence. As a result, we don't know many of the neighbors.

Today I did get to know one of our neighbors, however. You see we received some of their mail by mistake. Tomorrow or the next day they will receive a magazine about African Violets, a letter from friends in Chisago City, MN and another magazine with lots of western ware and cowboy boots to purchase. I'll assume our neighbors enjoy horses, gardening and people from Minnesota. We should have them over for a cook-out as we have lots in common, except for liking Minnesotans .......... just kidding.

Deductive Reasoning

We were visiting my Grandma this weekend. Lots of fun, she's super spunky and fun to hang out with.

The driving to and from is soooo not fun with our littlest kiddo. Isaiah usually is a great traveler, however, when his sister gets going he likes to join in on the difficulties. Right around the Dells Isaiah starts complaining he's hungry, he wasn't. Matthew decided to prove to Isaiah how hungry he wasn't by asking all he ate for breakfast. Isaiah listed all his breakfast items and mentioned he had cereal as well. Matthew asked what kind and Isaiah said, "I don't remember...it's the kind you make Rice Krispie bars with."