Throw it back....

Throw back Thursday!  I am going to try this, hopefully I am somewhat consistent (as in monthly).  I was thinking it would be fun to recap some of my childhood memories (I might just throw in some stuff from when my kids were itty bitty too).  It is very self serving but I thought it would be good to have these memories written down somewhere and why not entertain the masses (as in all 3 of you) while I am at it.

I'll start with this picture I just shared on Facebook this last week (because my kids told me I look like Will Ferrell from Elf...)

This is me in second grade.  My mom would take us to some lady from our church to get our perms, it was that or the taped hair and scissors hair cut.... clearly a perm was the way to go.  Plus Annie the movie was just released and I was going to look just like her, sans the red hair.  My sister Lisa (a red head) was also getting a perm at the same time....how lucky was she, red hair + perm = Annie look alike!  Although she wasn't in second grade, she was in 6th grade and WASN'T going for that look.   Results:  me sitting model style laying across our couch to show off my hair and my sister, madly combing out her hair over and over after washing it a bunch of times.  To this day I don't understand why she didn't want to look like Annie : )  I don't have any pictures of Lisa with her hair...my guess they were never taken or all destroyed.

I was so proud and nervous to go to school the next day- afraid the kids would make fun of my hair that I LOVED.  I remember having a response in my back pocket if anyone said anything to me about it-  like if Steve York said anything I'd remind him his mom had curly hair too ...BABAM, take that!  That was all I had....   I actually don't remember if anyone said anything, I guess if they did it didn't bother me enough to make it a memory... or it traumatized me so I have blocked it out...either way I LOVED my perm!

Spring! yay......booo

There are so many fabulous things to love about Spring.  I love the colors.  Here in Minnesota we have a long winter of whites and browns and not much else (excepet the Christmas lights that can't be taken down until spring because they are frozen to the house/trees etc).   It is great to see the grass so green and vibrant, the flowers that have been hibernating start to poke their way up through the ground into some lovely tulips and daffodils.  I love it!

Pictures from our neighbor- see how beautiful!

 I love that it is WARM (it's all relative, so we are happy to take anything above 30), especially on those days where you can feel the warmth from the sun and there isn't any wind!  Imagine that!  I love hearing all the birds sing and rushing around building their nests.  Last year we had a robin's nest in the tree right outside Janie's bedroom window, with blue robin eggs in them!  We also have a few bald eagles that come and make their summer home somewhere in our neighborhood, so it's really cool to see these giants flying around.

Bald Eagle- this is literally right behind our house, so cool!

I love to see all the kids emerging from their homes and playing outside until it is dark.  Willis is loving it, he goes crazy now that everything has thawed out and he can smell life!

Love all the chalk activity going on... oh and Willis is just like my kids, as soon as he sees the camera he looks away!

 Spring is magical, a renewing of life.........

AND a renewing of allergies that have lay dormant during the frozen tundra days.  Everyone in my family has seasonal allergies, but it effects my son the most.  The poor kid is on on 3 medicines, eye drops, saline spray yet his allergies are still just bad.  We have tried different remedies, local honey, daily showers, cleaning out the nose, even a "salt room" membership.

Our storage of Kleenex which should last about a month..

Aaron's allergy regime

I hate to even go there, but I think allergy shots could be in his future.  Still despite my itchy, watery eyes I love the feeling of SPRING and (almost) all it brings.  In the meantime I'll just walk around like this for the next few weeks until they calm down.

Happy Birthday Janie

How can it really be 12 years since we had this Janie.  I really can't believe it.  I remember when those toddler years seemed like they would never end (and now I seriously do miss them...).  
Janie has always been such a good girl.  She is sweet and sassy and keeps me on my toes.  She keeps me learning how to be a better person/ parent all the time.  I love her to death and I'm so grateful for the girl who made me a mom 12 years ago!