Rapunzel Rapunzel give back your hair

If a picture is worth a thousand words I so wish I would have had mine handy today.

I had gone to the salon to get my hair done and had to bring the girls with me this time. At first they were pretty entertained watching the goings on typical of a salon. As time went on though they started to get a little bored so they started walking around looking at what people were doing.

One of they stylists caught their eye because she had 4-5 wigs that she was working on. As it turns out the stylist was getting wigs ready for the Duluth Playhouse production of My Fair Lady. The girls started talking to her one thing led to another and before you knew it Freja had this Looong curly wig on. It was just the right color although WAY to much hair for such a little girl. She sort of looked like Shakira with microsephany.

Naomi, had a wig too but hers was this long black ratty looking thing more like Amy Winehouse if her beehive fell down. She kept taking it off and swinging it around and dropping it on the floor. Then she'd put it back on her head (backwards) and start spinning in the chair. I finally did have to confiscate the dead animal from Naomi but Freja just sat in her chair admiring her hair until it was time to go and she had to relinquish her coiff.

Watering stations

Watering stations can mean at least two different things. One is our four year tradition of manning the 9 mile marker of Grandma's Marathon to hand out water and cheer on the weary runners. The other is administering water via two teaspoon medicine dropper every three minutes in order to rehydrate a very sick girl. Unfortunately this weekend poor Freja (and Mom) got to experience the latter while Daddy and Naomi enjoyed the former.

We were so excited to go out and cheer on the runners again this year.

Last year was Nomi's first time out but she was still pretty little and got tired of the whole deal about 1/2 hour into it. So this was to be the first year that everyone was really on board and excited, especially Freja who has been doing this "her whole life". Alas, at 2AM Saturday morning Freja came into our room having thrown up all over her own and proceeded to cover our bedroom and both bathrooms by 6am. She was soooo disappointed when I told her that she could not go to Grandma's.

So Dusty and Nomi headed out and had a great time. Lots of people took water from Nomi. Even though I wasn't there, it was fun to look at the pictures and see these tired runners/walkers coming toward the camera. You can see when they catch site of little Nomi holding the water and how their faces just light up.

After the marathon Dusty and Naomi tooled around town running errands and who-knows-what as they were on strict orders to stay free and clear of our germ infested house. I spent the whole day disinfecting everything that Freja could have touched. One bright spot in our weekend was a surprise visit from Grandma and Grandpa Corwin who had been out galavanting around on their motorcycle and showed up at church. Dusty invited them over but they didn't stay long once they saw how sick Freja really was. Finally by late Sunday night she had gained back a couple of pounds that she had lost and was on the road to recovery.

Riding, Revelry, and Revelations

Fridays are normally a big day for us because I drive Freja and her friend Moriah up to Knife River for horseback riding lessons at the Seeds of Hope Youth Ranch. This is Freja's third week and she is OVER THE MOON about horses. It is a great program because we go there for 2 hours and the first hour is chores. So far they have cleaned saddles, shoveled wet hay, planted a garden, and they always have to brush and clean their horse before they can ride. Freja is chores resistant so this is a great way to get her doing some hard labor:)

As for the riding, the girls have already learned to mount, dismount, stop, steer, and back their horse, as well as trot. I have not seen the kind of smile Freja get on her face when she is on that horse in a long time, makes it well worth the drive.

Freja's horse is actually a Pony of America named "Banjo", which is kind of funny because for a couple of years now Freja very randomly breaks into this sort of rock-n-roll chorus that she made up "I play the Ban-jo, I play the Ban-jo!" We have no idea where or why she came up with that but I think that Banjo is a great fit for her.

Naomi usually goes to Moriah's house on Fridays and plays with her little sister, but today she went to VBS. After VBS she went to Mason's house for lunch and some sprinkler time. Those two are best buds. They just love each other so much. It is so sweet.

After we finally got everyone dropped off and picked up we went home to get ready for the big VBS finale. They did a great job learning all their verses and songs. It was very cute and well done.

We came home ate a little snack and got the girls ready for bed. Freja and I had somehow gotten on the topic of fairies. I happened to say fairies weren't real, and she retorted "Well, then how does the money get under my pillow". I just looked at her with a little smirk and said "Well, I don't know" and she figured it out. "YOU DO IT, DON'T YOU! YOU ARE THE TOOTH FAIRY!" I just grinned and closed the door, and said "I knew you'd figure it out, you're so smart" Then she wanted to know all the details, how did I do it?, where did I get the silver dollars?, what did I do with the teeth? It was really cute. She kept looking at me with utter amazement in her eyes as if her Mom were actually a fairy! I asked her if she was disappointed and she said "No Way, Mommy!" Whew, I am so glad to know that I am as great as the tooth fairy.

Back in the olden days....

when they had dark rooms and you had to "burn" light on to your photos, remember those. Well, the 20 year old kid at Best Buy that Dusty was trying to relate to with his knowledge of photography equipment certainly did not! I was trying to eyeball him and tell him to stop talking but he just kept going as the kids eyes glazed over. Finally, I interejected and said "Dusty, he has probably never used film let alone been in a dark room." The kid says reassuringly to Dusty "No, no, I have heard of those things they used to use". As we walked away I just shook my head and said "Man, your old".

I'm a dancing machine, watch me fall down!

It finally reached 80 degrees in Duluth today! Yeah!

After a full morning of VBS we met up at the park with a group of moms from Naomi's preschool class from a couple of years ago. The kids played hard for a couple of hours. Then we came home and they played outside with the neighbor kids for a couple more until they got bored and I broke out the sprinkler. They ran through the sprinkler while I tackled the weeds in my garden.

After dinner Daddy had a meeting so the girls and I watched "So You Think You Can Dance". They both love to dance so we usually let them watch the first half hour and then its off to bed. But, since Daddy was gone, and I really hadn't gotten to spend much time with them I let them stay up and watch the whole thing. It was a real treat because it is a two hour show. About half way through they were getting kind of crazy overly tired and dancing their fool heads off copying all the dances. When they started to try and do lifts and dips with each other I decided that this was getting a little out of hand. However; since I like to dance too, Ithought it would be a good idea to help them do the moves properly rather than just put a stop to it. Well, a long story short we were practicing "faith falls" and of course I dropped Nomi. She bit her tongue, but it was OK. Especially because I convinced her that I didn't drop her, she bent her legs and fell short. It took some more working up to it but after a few more tries she did learn to trust Mommy again which is good because I'd hate to loose one of my favorite dance partners.

Slap Stick Humor and the Mark of Nomi

So, after another exciting day at VBS we headed down to the church office for a meeting. Along the way I actually had to pull over and take away their slap bracelettes because they were slapping each other with them. After they handed them over I looked at them and said "What do these say?" they responded in unison "Oh God, holy are your ways." The irony of it all was totally lost on them so I had to explain that "It is not OK to slap your sister upside the head with scripture! That is NOT holy". I will be sure on the VBS evaluation to put a little note about the scriptural slap bracelettes.

Now, when Nomi was little, say 2ish, she started writing and making little o's around the house. They would turn up in the oddest places, and always in ballpoint pen. We started calling them "the mark of nOmi". We have worked hard at breaking her of this habit over the past 3 years, but alas she persists. They are not always O's anymore as she can now write her own name. She also likes to write crosses, and stars.

So, when my meeting at church was over I went up to find a cross on the middle of the upholstered chair in green marker. I just looked at Nomi and she hung her head. I told her that she was going to have to go tell pastor Jeff what she had done. She just couldn't believe I was going to make her do such a thing. We went back and forth for about 20 minutes with me explaining to her that we were not leaving until she did it. Finally, she said OK but to wait because she had to "get rid of my tears". Once her tears were dried I asked her if she was ready "no, I need to get rid of this face" she said of her sad face. When she looked pretty composed I asked her again if she was ready "no, I need to practice what I am going to say" I tried to coach her but she wasn't having it. She just sat there quietly talking to herself. When I asked her what she was going to say she totally broke down again and begged me to tell him and that she would say she was sorry. I'll admit that Naomi does have me a bit wrapped around her finger and those big brown eyes crying big, giant, alligator tears have done me in more than once before, but we were going on about 35 minutes and it seemed like a fair compromise. So we finally marched down to Jeff's office where I explained what had happened and she said "I'm so sorry". Of course he said "you are forgiven" and she ran away giddy that THAT was over.

On the way out Freja said "good job Nomi, I had to do that once" and went on to tell her about a less traumatic incident that had happened a couple years prior that I had totally forgotten about (she had stolen a couple of doggy bows from the groomer that I made her return) but obviously made a big impression. So maybe, just maybe, this will be the end of the mark of nOmi. I really do thank God for these moments when it is so clear how to make the biggest impression on them, and so happy that they happen when they are so cute nobody REALLY gets mad.

We're In Trouble

So, we have some nerves going to VBS this morning. Not from brave Nomi. First of all, she's brave, but second we picked up her BFF Mason to go with her so she knows she won't be alone. Freja on the other hand was pretty nervous. I assured her there would be lots of girls she knows and I started naming them off. She said "well, what if they don't come?" to which I replied "then you will have a great opportunity to make some NEW friends!". She sat quietly for a bit then she said "I guess it will be OK, I have to admit I do like boys!"

Happy Father's Day

I wasn't really on my game this year for Father's Day. We had a busy week with the first meeting of the Home School Girls Club, and horseback riding lessons, and the Sorvik's open house. So, we didn't have any cards ready or special plans made for Daddy. But, we got up went to church and had Bubbles with in the car so we could scoot up to Gooseberry park right after. With all the rain we've been having we were excited to see the falls in their full glory in contrast to the slow trickle they have been the last few years. We made our usual pit stop at the smoke house for salmon and saltines and were on our way.

The girls had a hey day jumping from rock to rock at the base of the falls. I think it was much more exhilarating than in in the past with all the rushing water and spray from the falls. Last year while watching their rock jumping we decided that we needed to invest in some Keens for the girls so that we wouldn't have to be on pins and needles the whole time thinking they were going to crack their heads open. We had bought the Keens and it at least gave us some comfort knowing that our little mountain goats were well shod. We didn't do the full loop down to the lake and kept it to the falls area. Freja has been a bit under the weather this weekend so we didn't want to wipe her out. Regardless, we spent about 3 hours at the park before we headed back.

On the way home we stopped at Betty's Pies. It was actually the first time we've ever eaten there because the line is usually to long for our hungry bellies to wait. It was good and the girls cleaned their plates. It is amazing how much food those girls can put down now that they are out running around and getting so much fresh air. I let them each order their own piece of pie and I abstained thinking that there would be plenty of left over pie. Nope, they both ate these HUGE pieces of pie. I did manage to get one good bite of each. Now Dusty, being the adventurous eater that he is ordered the Pie Shake, which is exactly like it sounds. They take a big piece of the pie of your choice (strawberry rhubarb) throw it in the blender with some ice cream and milk and blend it all up. It was good but the thought of it all is kind of disgusting to me. I think it was actually the highlight of his day though:)

We finally made it home and got the girls bathed, tick checked and we sat down for a family game of Mancala. Then got the girls to bed. Overall a good day despite my lack of planning and preparation and we WILL be making cards for Dusty and the Grandpa's tomorrow after VBS.

A Nice Boy

Today we spent the day helping our friends Jeff and Michele with their son's grad party. It was a beautiful day and a great party with lots of friends around. What was really great was that this is the first year that we can really let the girls run around freely and feel like they really have enough base life skills and common sense to keep from falling of a cliff or running into the campfire with out having to remind them not to do these things. So, from the time that we got there at about 10:30 until we left at about six we kept tabs on them from a distance and let them run around the Sorvik compound doing their own thing. They had a blast and we had some nice uninterrupted conversations with adults, a rare treat!

Naomi did come and check in with me a few times and make sure that I was still around and new what she was doing. On the other hand I don't think Freja came within 100 feet of the house all day. It was on the way home that I figured out why...."A nice boy". As we were driving away Freja says "Mommy, who is C.J.?" and I said "well he is that boy in the red shirt, Kay and Reed's son". To which she responded "No, no, no. I know that, but who IS he? How come he was there, and where is he from?" So I told her all I knew about C.J. She just got a big smile.
"He is a NICE BOY."

What am I doing?

I am not sure why I am doing this except that I have tried to journal a thousand times and can't seem to last more than a day or two. There are so many funny, inspiring, and even naughty things that my girls do every day that I just have to write down. I thought I'd try this and see where it goes.

So why the name? Well, Brave Nomi and Detective Freja are the names that the girls dubbed themselves on one of our adventures. Freja likes to investigate things that she sees, ask lots of questions and learn all she can about whatever has interested her. "What is that plant? Is it poisonous? What will happen if I touch it? Can you eat it? How do you know? Has anyone ever eaten one before?" Nomi on the other hand will generally just dive into whatever she thinks is a good idea and just see what happens. It is just one of the delightful ways that these two beautiful sisters are very unique. God teaches me so much everyday as I attempt to teach them. It is my hope that this will be a way that I can share just a few of the pearls I gather each day.