Sometimes...

A foot just gets stuck in the wrong place...

Don't worry - Daddy saved the day and got it out - no one was harmed or injured in this event!

Friends and Butterfly Wings

Ryan and Mike had a fantasy football draft last night so we invited Amy and Lauren over for dinner and playtime. The girls had a great time as usual...Allison was barefoot outside and Lauren wore Allison's shoes - another usual at our house! :) Lauren loves shoes!

Allison had some butterfly wings that both girls put on and they "flew" around the yard. It was a gorgeous evening and we all enjoyed every minute of it.

Mmm Mmm Good!

We have had an abundance of tomatoes in our garden and Allison of course wanted some...she got mad at us when we said we would cut it - she said "I want to eat it like an apple!" Sure enough she did...

A Walk (or run) through the Garden

My mom and I took Allison to the Munsinger Gardens in St. Cloud and enjoyed a fun day in the sun. Allison enjoyed running through the individual gardens!

As you can tell she also enjoyed the water fountains - I think she could have stood there for a few hours. She did keep asking for her swim suit and silly me kept saying I forgot them :)

We stopped and posed for a picture by my favorite - the hydrangeas - they were so pretty!

Allison kept looking in the Wishing Well and singing Snow White songs - but I don't think the prince was in there :)

Bonnie Beach

Once again we went to Bonnie Beach at good ol' Clitherall Lake for a week of fun and sun! We went with the Witter's again and had a fabulous time! Allison wasn't too sure of the water but totally loved playing in the sand and building many sand castles!

Allison also felt totally relaxed on many boat rides...

She even enjoyed fishing with Daddy and thinking the worms and fish were "soooo cute!"

It was a fabulous vacation and we were all quite tired by the time we got home!

Naked in a tutu!

Allison received a tutu for her birthday from my talented friend Jana. Alli loves wearing it - especially when she wants to dance to music. The other day she was running around naked - which is a regular occurrence in our household - and she wanted to put her "princess tutu" on...well she did and briefly danced before being distracted by my purse...she didn't find much in there of course :) but she had fun!

What a great day...

We went to the MN Zoo today and had a wonderful time. Andrea, my Mom, and Ryan's Mom all came down and we arrived at the zoo about 9:30. Allison had a great time! She enjoyed seeing all of the animals and walking around and leading the way - I think her favorite part was the many tunnels and caves to crawl in :) Ea was a great sport and climbed with her - what a great Auntie! Needless to say she was quite tired when she came home - so I let her be spoiled and nap in our bed today...she is still enjoying that nap! :)

Just thought I would post a few of our favorite pics...enjoy!

Ryan Skydives!

Ryan and his sisters took their dad skydiving for his 60th birthday today! They had a great time and were all ready to go again...My dad was able to ride with in the airplane as an observer so he was able to get pictures right in the action - Dad said that everyone was all smiles and each time someone went out they would scream - he said it was awesome!

Don't worry they all landed safely and Allison was so happy to have her Daddy back on the ground...

Mohawk

After getting home from Tyler and Alisha's birthday party I was changing Allison's diaper to get her ready for bed and noticed that her diaper was quite full of sand from the lovely sandbox at Tyler and Alisha's house. So it was definitely bath time...I also noticed that her hair had quite a bit of sand in it too so it was in desperate need of a good scrub...I decided to make her hair into a mohawk and she loved it! I thought I would share :)

Craziness

It has been a crazy busy week this week! Which provides for a week that goes by too quickly.
Monday I had my last session of a class I was taking...need every credit I can get to make that lane change.
Tuesday night Lauren came over to play with Allison. Her mom and dad went to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert. Lauren and Allison had a great time playing together! They danced - which was the cutest ever, they played in the tub - will post pics later, and they had snack together while they watched Finding Nemo! It was a great time - oh and Lauren read Brown Bear, Brown Bear to us - she is a very good reader!
Wednesday night I hit up the Scholastic book sale and found some great children's books for very little cost!
Thursday we had a family day and just hung out. Ryan made some excellent venison steaks that he marinated for awhile in our tumbler. Overall is was a wonderful week!

This weekend should be busy! Tonight we are hanging out - maybe go out to eat, tomorrow I may be brave and take Allison shopping. Sunday - heading up to Monticello to see the two greatest Mom's in the world - oh and Grandma's :)

Hope everyone is having a great week!
talk to you soon

Wowza...

I can't believe it has been so long since the last post - I apologize.
Not much going on really...
I am really enjoying being 30. Quite comfortable and excited at the same time.

This past weekend was a busy one. Friday night I went out to my Mom and Dad's to spend the night. Saturday morning I went to my lovely neices dance recital. It was quite entertaining and Allison really enjoyed it. She lasted about 2 hours and then looked at my mom and said, "I want go home." It was past her nap time so she knew... Saturday night I went to my longtime friend Molli's house and Allison got to play with her two children Tyler and Alisha. They had a great time and laughed a lot! It is such a treat to see a child laugh so hard and enthusiastically.

Yesterday we went to my friend Jana's daughter Meghan's birthday party. Again Allison had a great time playing with the kids. She especially enjoyed rough housing with Meghan's older brother Jack. They would fall on the floor on purpose and laugh and laugh. Last night when we got home Allison was extremely tired and through a few tantrums - she finally fell asleep and then we struggled to wake her up this morning even. Oh well - the life of a two year old.

This coming weekend is fishing opener and Mother's Day. So that should be a fun weekend!

I will try and get some pictures on here soon.
Happy Monday!

They say it's my birthday!

It has been a fabulous day today! It is my 30th birthday! WOOT! WOOT! I do have to say I was quite excited to turn 30 and it has been great so far!
My day started with a birthday wish from my wonderful hubby. Then my Dad called me to tell me to have a great day! Once I got to work I was wished "Happy Birthday" by many co-workers. I was watching a film with my 3rd block class when one of my students said, "Oh it's someones birthday." I looked out in the hall and saw my dad with a LARGE bunch of balloons. I went and opened the door and there was my Mom, Dad, Aunt Susan, and Allison with 30 balloons and 30 roses! It was such a treat! It made my whole day! I smiled the entire day - and of course God had the sun shining for me :) I was able to go to dinner with my two dear friends Amy and Angela - it was fabulous!
Thanks so much for all of the well wishes and happy thoughts! Love you all - I feel so extremely blessed!

Easter

We went to Ryan's parents house for Easter this year. We went up the night before and enjoyed dinner. Ryan was not feeling 100% so he rested a lot but still enjoyed his time there. Sunday morning Grandma Nana had to get up really early to sing at church and we didn't join her until the 11:30 service. I decided it would be best to take pictures before the church service and A was all about it! She loves the camera - well mostly she wants to take the pictures but she did pretty good Sunday morning. It was a gorgeous day so she enjoyed being outside and running around.

Earlier in the week she saw me putting her Easter dress away and she stopped me. She said, "That's MY princess dress, I wanna wear it!" So we had to put it on. I was happy that she loved it so - it meant she would be willing to wear it all day on Easter. I think she really did feel like a princess :)

After church Andrea was having fun helping Allison tickle Grandma Nana and laughs.

We then enjoyed a delicious meal at Ryan's cousin's house. She did a great job and we are so thankful we were able to enjoy the resurrection celebration with her and her family!

"Ewwww"

Every morning R wakes up A. He is such a great help in the morning. I think he relates best to A in the morning because they are both definitely NOT morning people! She usually says "Nooooo" and covers herself with her blankie - great - what is adolescence going to be like??? Anyway...he gets her dressed and all ready so that I can just grab A and rush out the door. Every morning he ususally has to persuade her out of bed by watching the Muppets. It is the best movie on the planet! So this morning was not any different...Muppets in Mommy's room while Daddy gets her dressed. What a life? It does make it a lot easier to do her hair and stuff.
Anyway...I swooped her up and we headed out the door. As soon as I opened the door to the garage where my truck was already running (don't worry the garage door was open) A covered her nose and said, "Ewwwwww stinks...Mommy's truck icky" It was the funniest thing ever! I had never heard her say these things before - what a delight it is to hear the new things my daughter says every day! Now I know this will just help her in the future when she becomes some famous smell sniffer :)
Have a great Friday!

HeeHaw

Sorry I have not posted in awhile. I was on a much needed Spring Break last week and was busy organizing parts of my home. I am having a garage sale in May and wanted to go through some of A's clothes that do not fit anymore. So I was able to clean and downsize. It was a great feeling! Now I am back to the daily routine - which is kind of nice. Allison is back to going to MB's regularly, R is not jealous of me sleeping in anymore, and I am back to enjoying my students.
A continues to grow and amaze us every day! We are so blessed to have such an amazing little person in our lives. She definitely has a mind of her own and knows what she whats and doesn't want...she usually tells us "I no like it" with a shake of the head. A's Auntie S left for France on Sunday and A didn't get to say goodbye due to a nap. When she woke up she asked for S and I told her we could call her. Well we tried that and of course when A heard the voicemail she was talking to S like crazy. But when it was time to leave a message she said she didn't like it and no. Oh well...we tried. When Grandma J called on Sunday she asked to speak with A and of course A responded with, "I no like it." Tonight, Grandpa B called and she yelled "nooooo" and then from afar said, "I love you Grandpa...much" So even though she doesn't like to speak on the phone...she adds that beautiful "much" to the end of her "I Love You's" and it is the greatest word in the world!
A loves to be a cowgirl. She especially loves to be a cowgirl "nakie" and she especially especially loves to be a "nakie" cowgirl "up high" on Daddy's shoulders. It can be quite a workout when R has to have A on his shoulders. I mean she weighs almost 30 pounds. You may scoff and think, Wow! 30 pounds is pretty light R, you must be weak! Well it is a lot of work when A insists on yelling "Heehaw" in his ear and he has to run through the house so that it is actually a thrilling ride! I snuck a couple of pictures tonight so you could see how happy A is "up high"!

It was a bit tricky to get A down from "up high" and settled down for bed...but R is smart enough to mention the words "Muppets" and "snack" and we get this...

Well, that is all for now...A is in bed now. She goes to bed so well - what an Angel!

Friday

Well I am glad it is finally Friday. It is the last day of the quarter at school so many students are scrambling to get their work done so that they can pass my class. You would think that students would work ahead of time so that they didn't have ths pressure on them...but kids don't always think that way.

Last night we went to the WCHA Gopher Hockey Game. R and his guy friends have been going to all of the games for years but this year I was able to attend one game. It was fun - but the Gophers lost. They played quite akwardly... like their first time or something...so that was frustrating. But it is always great to look at the strange hockey fans around us :)

A stayed at her friend L's house and played. I guess they had an exceptional time. Lots of giggling and playing. Also a lot of the copycat game. If L would take her sweatshirt off A would take hers off. If L put it back on A would put hers back on. I guess they also would run and fall on purpose and just laugh...ahhh to be a child again! :)

This weekend I plan on hanging out with L and her Mom - relaxing and organizing! Next week is my spring break so I am looking forward to quality me time and A time!

Hope everyone has a fabulous day!

Firsts

So today was full of firsts...

1. My first attempt at a revamped lesson plan/project...it went well - hopefully it continues this momentum through Thursday.

2. A got her fingernails painted at daycare - can you guess the color? Yep - GREEN! I tried to get a picture but she was having more fun hiding her nails in the bubbles...which brings me to the next one...

3. A had a bubble bath. A reputable company finally came out with a baby safe bubble bath that is safe to use everyday. At first she thought she would be seeing the bubbles you blow from a wand...but was totally amazed when she saw bubbles in the tub.

Since 3 is the magic number...I am stopping there for today! Enjoy!

The Beach

A likes to run around in just her diaper at night before putting her pajamas on. She likes to dance and rub her belly and say "I naked - I naked." It always makes R and I laugh on a regular basis. Last night was a little more unique...she was running around in her diaper and went and grabbed her winter coat. She put her coat on and I asked, "Where are you going?" A looked at me quite seriously and said, "The beach - see ya!" WOW! I guess she was sick of the cold weather we have been having. It was quite entertaining! I will try and post a picture later today.

Happy Thursday!

Uh-oh

So I haven't been as good at blogging as I hoped to be. I still haven't uploaded pictures yet - I hope to do so soon!
A lot has been going on this week...
Sunday night Grandma Nana (Lea) and Grandpa Papa (Bill) brought down the toddler bed that they made for A. She loves it but doesn't want to sleep in it :) HA! Go figure! She likes it because I can lay down next to her and read and she thinks it is so great to have Mommy right next to her. It is hard to resist when she tells me to lay down and once I do she wants to give me hugs - which means she squeezes my neck with all of her might!
A has two new favorite books. Berenstein Bears Messy Room and Big Dog Little Dog - the adventures of the bears and Ted and Fred are quite entertaining! I am just glad she enjoys reading.
This week has been difficult with the time change - who knew only an hour could mess someone up so much!
I had class last night - we talked about homework - oh joy! It was an interesting evening though and it was fun to see other people get so into the conversation. :)

Well - sorry for the boring post hope to post at least some fun pics in the future :)

Day Two

Wow - can you believe I have done two consecutive days of this. I am such a good procrastinator...here I should be working hard getting caught up on work for school and I think, "Nah...just would rather be under pressure..." Is anyone else singing the song now? Under Pressure (in a high pitched voice)...and then the Vanilla Ice tune kicks in - when in reality it isn't the Vanilla Ice song it is really the tune of Under Pressure - Thank You Queen! I wonder if Vanilla ever thought to thank them for his one hit wonder? Anyone know? I am sure it could be googled - do you think google will technically become a verb in our dictionary some day?

Anyway...

I wish I had something cool to say - but I really don't.
Auntie S is watching A tonight...she is so sweet to do so. She enjoys having the time with her anyway since she will be leaving the country soon (ha) and I know A loves her so.

Well - I think I will sign off for now...hope all of you added this life altering phenomenal read to your favorites list in your web browser....

out

Conferences

Spring has sprung...and the reason I know is because I am sitting at spring conferences. Oh yes - I am blogging while working...hmmm??
Anyway...I started this blog in December of 2006 - yes you read that correctly - 2006! 2 years ago - am I terrible or what? Then I posted another blog - my 2nd - in 2008.

Wow - this is so like that diary that I said I was going to write every New Year's Day and never wrote one page. I am going to do better on this...I promised my co-worker (you know who you are glitter).

So - the data - the happenings in the Sloneker life. Not much...I have a pretty boring life - don't get me wrong - it is a great life - but event less!

This week I have been studying a website that recruits teachers for Alaska. I have always wanted to go there and I think it would be an exciting adventure. There is a possibility that I could take a leave of absence for 3-5 years so I would still have a position in my district upon my return. But we shall see - it is the research stage at this point. R is not convinced that we could leave our family and friends just yet but they could deal with it.

I also have been eating my girl scout cookies like it is my job...don't worry I have shared very little with A and R.

Ummm....hopefully you will receive a post sooner than the fall of 2011...don't hold your breath.