Deck the Kjelshus Halls

Free Orchestral Event!!

I am all about free events. Especially free, kid-friendly, events. Even better-free, kid-friendly and arts and crafts events! Recently, the girls and I went to a children's orchestra at Northwestern College. It was so fun. Before hand, the girls were given the opportunity to walk through an instrument "petting zoo." They were able to touch and feel most instruments. They even got to try a few out.

Next on the itinerary: craft time. The girls made masks of characters from Peter and the Wolf.

Lastly, we sat and listened to some beautiful music. The student conductor explained things so well to the kid dominate audience. He even allowed them all to stand up and conduct the orchestra through a song. This was McKenna's favorite part. (Didn't surprise me!)

Christian Community Fair

The Christian Community Fair was in town and we decided to check it out. This is an event that is free and put on by local Christian businesses adn churches. It's very kid friendly. There are vendors there trying to sell things to you. There are activities, etc...

There were eagles from the Raptor Center...

There was a petting zoo...

There was McGruff the crime dog...

...the Salvation Army Bear...

There were Veggies-Bob and Larry...

There were some super silly girls...

There were games...

There were big bouncy things...

There was a lot of fun to be had. And, we had it!

Some of McKenna's Assignments

Not So Wordless Wednesday

Late this past Summer, our family enjoyed a very fun, relaxing and awesome photo shoot with our friend Jeff. We put on our summer best and played in Mammy and Pa pa's backyard.

Jeff was so awesome. He let the girls take a few pictures with his camera. He was patient when the girls needed breaks in between some of the groupings. I am grateful that he posted a few of the shots on Facebook and allowed me to post a few on the blog. Thanks so much Jeff.

When we went to Jeff to view our pictures, it was amazing. There was music playing and he had Dove chocolates and Dasani waiting for us. We viewed the pictures on a very large screen on the wall. He had narrowed it down to 80 images for us (I think that is the right number). We narrowed it down to about 45 images from there. Then it took quite a while for us to finally make our order. It just came in the other day! I am very pleased. Yay!!

Hat Day for Ella

HELP!!

Does anyone know why I cannot copy and paste in Blogger? I also can no longer move photos around in a post. What happened? Fellow bloggers....help!!

Crazy Collar

Max has had a spot/bump on his back paw for a while now. I treated it with over the counter hot spot meds. They didn't help too much. He wasn't limping or favoring the paw in any way. But, we did catch him licking it and biting it quite a bit. So, off to the veterinarian clinic.

They lanced and drained it, gave him a shot of penicillin, wrapped it, gave me meds for a yeast infection in the ear, gave me antibiotics for 10 days to clear up the infection in his paw, tried to convince me to let them do things to his mouth/teeth, put a crazy collar on him so that he wouldn't nip at his paw anymore, and finally told me it probably wasn't a hot spot and the only way to be rid of the growth was surgery.

Ug! Max is 15 years old! We will see what happens after his antibiotics and followup visit.

And yea, we pretty much had to hand over a dollar sign for every character typed in this post.....

Hearts at Home

Each year my girlfriends and I get away from our families. We pack up the min vans and head to Rochester, MN for a Ladies' conference on professionalizing motherhood/wifedom. I am so thankful for my husband. He took care of the girls all weekend. They went to the zoo while I was gone!

Maybe you remember last year's post on Hearts at Home?

This year's keynote speaker was Dr. Kevin Leman.I would love for you to click on his name and learn a bit about who he is. He has some great books! He's been around the media world. Maybe you've heard of him? He was a hilarious speaker (not sure if he meant to be). I would LOVE to be at one of his marriage seminars!

The more I learn about it, study it, pray about, etc...the more I find that I am becoming passionate about being a Godly wife and Godly mother. We all are, right? There's something more....it's a craving and desire for me. The more I learn...often the more I want to learn. I s'pose that God has a reason for that.

Anyhoo, I love going to the conference. Having a great group of friends around me is priceless. We ate at a fabulous Italian restaurant called Victoria's Italian Restaurant. Chicken Parmesan. Mmm, delicious.

As with just about anything, there are things I would change about the conference. For instance, I would love to have a longer time of corporate worship and a minimized time of a band promoting their recent CD. But, hey--that's just me.

Here are the sessions I went to:

1. What Not to Wear!

In this class we talked about the common body shapes. I discovered (though, I kinda knew this already) that I tend to gain weight evenly-which is helpful in the fashion world. I am a "soft" when it comes to colors that best suit me.

2. Why You Are the Way You Are

Dr. Leman discussed birth order and how it factors into your life and behavior. VERY INTERESTING. I especially found his list of celebrities and their birth orders fascinating. According to him, this is what I tend to think, "I'm not bossy. My ideas are just better than yours." Um, well, I am embarrassed to say that he pretty much has me pegged- I am a people pleasing first born (add type A to that and you can just put me in a box!). First born's tend to excel at organizing and planning. They are leaders. They are successful and a little too serious. They are movers and shakers and a first born's critical eye can get them into a little trouble now and then. Interestingly enough, first borns are often attracted to a controlling spouse. I could go on.....but you should just read the book.

3. Finding the Hero in Your Husband

This class wasn't totally what I expected. Though, I am not clearly sure WHAT I expected. Does that make sense? The speaker discussed a man's basic needs and a woman's basic needs. She posed the question, "what do you do with your frustration?"

She opened by reading a paper written by a college student. The assignment was something to do with qualities you want in a spouse. She was teaching a group of singles in a Christian college...some association to Dr. James Dobson....Anyways, this paper that she read was hilarious. This particular girl had a VERY clear and idealistic picture of what she wanted...all the way down to eye color, measurements, etc. I think the speaker's point was that women are impossible to please!!!! I guess we've seen a few too many Disney movies.

She described 2 needs for women: 1) Women need to feel valued, top priority to husband, appreciated and heard. 2)Women need to feel protected. This wasn't so much a physical protection. Women need to feel rest in their spouses provisions, hearts and arms. Make sense?

For men: 1)Respect is a priority. She explained that men need to feel successful to their spouses above all else. 2) Help-husbands don't want your help until they have your respect. 3)Sex-enjoyment and initiation for both. She mentioned the release of oxytocin (did I get that right?)

I also picked up a few parenting tips from Dr. Leman's main session talk. A few of which I implemented with Ella right away. He was discussing his new book, Have a New Kid by Friday. He has so many funny voices for kids. His name for his wife was Mrs. Uppington (she's a type A, firstborn). A few random statements he said (and I liked):

1. Don't let your child's immediate happiness dictate your parenting style.

2. No warnings.

3. Disengage in the battle. Walk away.

4. Our children need some vitamin "N" or "no."

5. Respond rather than react.

Again, these are all random statements that represent a topic of our discussion.

In addition to studying ways to improve our roles as mothers and wives, we also honored our friend who fought adn won the battle against breast cancer this year. We all wore these shirts that read, "Fight Like a Girl!" It was fun to honor her in that way and we got a lot of second looks!

Oceans of knowledge

McKenna's awesome teacher sent parents an email with a link to these videos. Turn up the volume.

Mmm...mmm...Monday

Taco Pie

1lb hamburger
1 bag of Fritos
One tube of crescent rolls (but in the fridge section)
1 bag of Mexican cheese mix
1 large container of sour cream
Pie tin

Pre heat oven to 350. Brown hamburger and break into small pieces. (Add onion for flavor if you want.)

While that is cooking unroll crescent rolls and roll out like a pie crust. Put in pie tin and fit like pie crust.

Crush up Fritos in a large plastic bag into crumbs.

After hamburger is done cooking, drain grease and put into a bowl. Add about half cup of sour cream, add ¾ bag of crushed Fritos and mix well. It should be a thick mixture. Add more sour cream if needed.

Put filling into pie tin.

Cover whole thing in cheese and top with crushed Fritos.

Cook until brown on bottom of pie tin. Cut into pie pieces and serve with salsa, or what ever you would like.

The things they say...

...can really crack me up! While in the car driving to preschool, Ella asked, "Mom?"

"Yes, Ella."

"Would you rather be eaten by a tiger or just be dead?"

Harvest Festival

In case you were wondering, Ella is a ladybug princess and McKenna is a leopard.