Summer Tuesdays @ Lake Elmo

All throughout winter, we look forward to Tuesdays in the Summer. That's because most every Tuesday that is warm enough we hit the local beach to swim and play and picnic with about 20-30 other church friends. It is SO fun and we hate it if we have to miss! This is about the only lake that I will swim in. The water is treated and filtered. The lakes only purpose is to provide swimming opportunities for the locals!! Wahoo! A man made swimming lake!

Here, Ella is giving her friend a pedicure!

A mud bath

Just Bein' Me!

This Summer McKenna participated in a Musical Theater Camp at a local church. She and her friend LJ had a blast. It was a such a fun program and so well done! About 2 weeks before the camp, we received a packet of info regarding costumes, etc. Also included in the packet was a CD and lyrics sheet for all of the songs in the play.

McKenna practiced all of the songs by playing them over and over. By the end of the whole thing Ella and I knew them as well. Monday through Thursday of the week of camp, the girls met and practiced lines and scenes from breakfast until lunch. On Thursday evening, the kids performed! The parents and special guests were invited to eat a scrumptious dessert before hand. The church really did a nice job of decorating and providing a classy, yet simple dessert.

The premise of the play was this: Church camp where country kids meet city folk and learn how God uses each and everyone of us. It was so cute. McKenna was a "country kid" with speaking lines and a duet. She did GREAT!! Part of one of her lines, "that's finer than a peach pie on the Fourth of Juuuly!"

Nana the Artist

Some time back, McKenna and Ella drew pictures for their great grandparents. The following two pictures are what they got in response! Hilarious! Again, this was months ago (maybe close to a year ago), but the pics recently resurfaced so I thought I would post.

Seriously, for those of you who know them....how funny and accurate is this drawing!?

On the Banks of Plum Creek

Recently, the girls and I (and extended family) took a short road trip to Walnut Grove, MN. Why, you ask! To see Plum Creek, of course. Plum Creek is the famed creek that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about in her book On the Banks of Plum Creek. We have been reading through all of her books this summer. The girls really like them! Ella and McKenna both were so enthralled in our trip. We saw the dugout house, the creek, the foot bridge, the museum, the Oelson's Mercantile, and a play. It was a really fun day. Seeing all of these things reinforced the books for the girls. They were able to act out different scenes with each other thinking that Laura and Mary really were there a long time ago!

Our miniature road trip was inspired by this (the website just posts a snip it of the full article) article in Family Fun Magazine. I hope to next year do the entire road trip. I just didn't realize how close we were to so many of the Ingalls' homes. I never read the series as a little girl. Truth be told, I probably made a gagging sound every time my mom tried to watch the show, Little House on the Prairie (which was about the characters all named in Plum Creek)

The monument. The sun was really in their eyes...

Again, the sun....but isn't the field beautiful?

Not the original...but the foot bridge that Laura and Mary walked across to get to and from their dugout house by the Plum Creek (I believe that in the book it was described as 1 plank of wood.)

This is the sight of the actual dugout home that Pa Ingalls purchased from the Norwegian family. He later sold it for around $430.00 (after the grasshoppers ate his wheat crops.) It has since collapsed (I think the Ingalls lived in Walnut Grove MN in the 1870's.)

"Never knew how much those muddy waters meant to me..."

The Plum Creek

Wading in the creek was probably the highlight of this trip for them!

They were looking for the old crab that scared Nellie Oelson and made her step in the leeches!

After visiting the creek and dugout site, we went to the museum. The museum was a multi building campus. There was a room dedicated to the real Ingalls family, one to the cast of the show Little House on the Prairie, one to local heroes and one to typical pioneer memorabilia.

I haven't read through the whole series yet (though, McKenna has). McKenna tells me that Laura's husband Almanzo comes from money. We will see about that I guess in a couple more books.

A picture of Ma and Pa Ingalls (amazing that photos hold up so well!). I struggle wondering how this portrait was taken. I cant see Ma allowing the family to spend money to have a picture taken. Maybe it was from their wedding day?

Laura sewed this quilt as a married women.

A covered wagon

There was a building dedicated to the Little House on the Prairie cast members. This particular model of the Ingalls house represents their house on NBC's Little House...Ella was very fascinated with this. I could tell that she wished she could play with it.

Okay, so this book might be interesting. I may see about it at the library. Apparently, she was shunned in real life because of how cruel her character was.

The church replica. If you know the story, the Ingalls were founding members. Pa gave his $3.00 to give the church enough money to buy the bell for the steeple. He went without shoes. Over the course of the time they were in Walnut Grove, it is recorded that Pa gave over $20.00 to the church. We are talking 1870's people. That's a lot of money.

In the replica school house, Ella enjoyed being the teacher!

These are the rules that teachers has to follow. I find it interesting....the differences between the rules for males v. females.

This is a model of the typical pioneer dugout house. My father in law tells me that his ancestors (Norwegian) lived in a dugout for a time after arriving to the USA.

After touring the museum, we took a break at a nearby park shortly before dinner. Here's Ella at the top of the slide.

McKenna

After dinner we went to the town pageant....basically it was a play. I still don't understand why they call it a pageant. It's the story of Plum Creek and the Ingalls' time there. At the entrance there was another covered wagon. Of course, that meant another picture.

This was part of the set. The dugout house that the Ingalls bought.

Ella and Papa. She's holding her souvenir tin cup. If you know the stories, Laura and Mary had to share a tin cup until finally, one Christmas, Laura got her own.

Family who came...

This is the little girl who played Laura.

And this is Mrs. Oelson and Nellie. Most kids were pretty fascinated with her character. She was quite nice, actually.

Overall, the play was good. Not great. I think the director portrayed the women to be a bit more bold than they really would have been in that time. But, that's his artistic license, right?

The trip was so much fun. Doing it after reading through half of the series was fabulous. I think that so much of it was brought to life for the girls. What a great way to teach them a small part of pioneer life.

That's all of the pictures, but I do have more to post on a few of the talking points that have come from reading the series....so....stay tuned....

A True Update

Most of you know the news, but in case you didn't know...

Back in April I picked up a First Response pregnancy test. Yep, I thought it might come out positive. It didn't. It was negative. Two days later, I still had my doubts about the test; I was late after all. So, I took another First Response test. Negative.

Hmm. I went to the store and picked up an EPT and tried it the same day. Negative. Waited 2 days and took a generic brand. Five days late and still a negative test. So, I called the Dr.

It was a Monday morning and I went in. I explained that I keep a decent calendar and was over 5 days late but had 4 negative tests. They were as intrigued as I was. So, for fun I took their urine test; for accuracy they drew blood.

Both the blood test and urine test came out POSITIVE!!

Yep, Kjelshus Baby # 3 was well on his/her way and wanted to make a fuss, I guess.

The next morning I woke up with obvious UTI symptoms and went in, again, to see the Dr. That test was also positive. And, there's the explanation to the 4 false negatives.

So, with a due date of December 16th plans were set in motion.

The girls have been enjoying seeing pictures of fetal development on various websites and discussing how I feel or observing the changes in my belly. Here's a little snip it of some fun we had with my growing belly.

McKenna decided to write all sorts of mean words to describe my belly, "tubby, giant, etc."

The stinker....

Ella on the other hand, showed much more compassion!

Today was our first opportunity to see our active baby on the big screen. That's right-ultra sound day. This is one of the most fun tests a pregnant gal can take. So exciting. And yes, I couldn't wait to find out if Kjelshus Baby #3 is a boy or a girl!

Before I go on, I should tell you the important things. Baby looks good. Measurements are good, weight is good. They checked all sorts of stuff, brain (no water, proper size), kidneys (not enlarged, functioning properly), spine/ribs (all accounted for and properly positioned), stomach (there and working), heart (all 4 chambers and working), femur (there and proper size), no cleft lip, definite movement,etc.. I am sure that I am missing something but everything came out just fine. Placenta was slightly low so they want to check that again via ultra sound.

Keep in mind that this is a picture of a picture, taken with a cell phone. But, look at the little face.

So, is Kjelshus Baby #3 a boy or a girl??

Well, the sonographer seemed QUITE confident. She explained that baby's mild activity (Thanks Kendra for telling me to drink a Coke before hand for some sugar induced energy!) meant that baby's legs were wide open.





Are you tired of me putting it off?






Scroll down a bit more....

Okay, okay.... Ella picked out this outfit for the baby!

That's right. We are having a baby boy!

Please leave a comment with your tips/advice for mothering a boy!

Mmm...Mmm...Monday

Haven't done it in a while, but here's a fun snack recipe!

2 lbs pretzels


1 bottle Orville Redenbacher butter popcorn oil ( I don't use the whole bottle - I leave a bit in the bottom otherwise it seems too oily - you decide)

1/2 pkg dry ranch dressing

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder or onion salt

2 tsp dill

Mix together and put in a container that you can turn upside down so all the "stuff" mixes well. Best to make ahead (i.e. the night before).