2012 Resolutions

I've been thinking for awhile about what my resolutions for this year should be. I can't say I've come up with anything great but there are a few things I'd like to put on the list.

1. Last year I said I wanted to get back in shape. I'd like to thank Life Time's Zumba classes for getting me hooked (obsessed?) and helping me accomplish this. I feel like my strength training has been lacking lately so this year I'd like to make sure I get that in twice a week.

2. This whole "meatless Monday" idea has had me intrigued for awhile. Unfortunately my husband is a big meat eater and really dislikes beans and most other things that would be a good substitute. I was thinking of trying to do a modified version of this idea and have one day a week where I either eat meatless or eat fish. This seems like a really big one for me to tackle. It shouldn't be that hard should it? Oh and lets be clear. I'm only talking about dinner, not all day long. :) Maybe all day will be part 2 of the resolution.

3. I need to learn to use my camera better. I started working on this last summer and it has helped. I think I mastered some good shots outdoors or with natural light. Now I have to figure out how to do that inside. Might need another class for this. Or maybe a new camera lens. That all counts, right?

That's it. If you have good fish or meatless recipe ideas send them my way! Happy 2012!!

Basement improvments

Ron, Justin and I (but mostly Ron) have been spending the past couple months making bookshelves for our basement. Justin got them installed over Christmas break. They look fabulous and complete the room!! Thanks so much to Ron!

It's been awhile since we've done any big home improvements worth mentioning. Over our break, Justin decided it was time to get some crossed off the to do list. The bookcases prompted a long chain of events in the basement, mostly with organizing. Our furnace room is also where our internet and phone come in. It used to look something like this.

But after some Justinizing it looks like this!

Notice the sink - it was just installed too. It used to be in our laundry room but sometime last summer Justin flipped our washer and dryer around and removed the sink. It's been sitting in our basement ever since. Feels good to finally get that done. Next up is finished the laundry room (it's still sinkless too). 

Sledding

To get out of the house for a few minutes this weekend and enjoy the whole 1 inch of snow we have, we took Sienna sledding for her first time. It was windy out so we bundled her all up until she could hardly move. It was a Ralphie from Christmas Story moment.

And down we went on the little hill next to our house. She was all smiles until the blast of snow got her in the face and the wind picked up.

We tried just pulling in the sled with the wind to her back.

This proved to be much more fun.

That was until we turned around and Ralphie lost her balance in the sled. It was a slow motion face plant into the snow. Luckily she had so many layers on she bounced/rolled onto her back, but the damage was done. Not a happy baby. With a cold and wet face, she screamed and cried all the way back into the house. 

We'll have to try again next snow fall - maybe when it's a little warmer!

Christmas Break 2011

Christmas came and went this year so fast. It's been a super fun couple of weeks with Sienna home from daycare and me playing stay at home mom. After a full weekend of celebrating Christmas, Sienna and I filled the week with play dates and outings. Here's a few of the highlights.

A few pictures before heading to Grammy's Christmas Eve

 At Grammy's house before dinner.

Opening presents quick before the kiddos had to head to bed.

Christmas morning we continued our tradition with the 3 of us at home. Sienna loved tearing into her gifts and wanted to play with them all right away.

Went to Mom's house for Christmas afternoon.

As usual way too many presents were purchased. We have run out of room to put everyone!

Such a cutie!

One of the play dates we had with Cran, Kristen & their girls was at IGM Gymnastics. They had the whole place open including beams, bars, trampolines, foam pits, all different sized and shaped mats to climb on plus many toys to play with. The girls had a blast. Sienna chasing after a ball almost as big as her.

Mallory was the only one to brave the big balance beam.

New Years Eve we did a 3 course fondue with my parents. Sienna joined us for the first cheese course. They even broke out a bottle of Dom Perignon for us to sample. Living the high life!

Back to reality tomorrow. I think I'm ready, or getting close.

Tea for 2...or 4

So many fun events in December. I just love it. Every year we have a 3 generation girls day or night event. Someday I'm sure we will add the little girls too, but for now they are still too young. This year we attended a 4 course Christmas Teat at the Avalon Tea Room in White Bear Lake. The ambiance and meal were very lovely and tasty. Hats were optional...and we opted out on this one.

 Mom & Cari before the tea started.

Grammy & me.

1st course - chicken artichoke in a puff pastry and fruit.

2nd savory course - mini sandwiches and tarts.

I guess I missed the memo that we were supposed to wear red.

I must've gotten too into my food because I forgot to take pictures of the next courses. The 3rd course was scones with devenshire cream, jam, and lemon curd. The 4th course had a mini gingerbread cake topped with caramel (OMG to die for) and a plate of different sweets including a mint brownie, a shortbread nut cookie, and fruit tart. We were all too full at the end to try all the desserts then. Luckily we all got a doggie bag and they were still delicious later in the day.

The Santa Experience

7 day before Christmas, a weekend, Santa, a mall, and a just recovering from being sick, badly teething toddler. Bad combination right? It was, and I knew it would be going in, but we were out of time. It was our only chance for Sienna to meet Santa. We headed to the mall as close to Santa's opening time as we could. The line was long and full of antsy kids with their lists to give to Santa. We stepped in line and I overheard a woman 2 families away from Santa saying she had waited an hour from our spot. Great... Next thing I know I see the high school kids running the operation on the phone and hear something about technical difficulties. Even better... Not willing to give up our chance we waited, and waited, and waited. Despite everything Sienna was a champ waiting. We visited the food court for a bit of a distraction, but otherwise she was content in our arms or in line. I think it helped she wasn't up to full speed yet and still in a cuddly mood. 

1.5 hours later she had enough and was near meltdown stage, plus in need of a nap. Just in time for it to be our turn to see Santa. When she's teething, one of her only comforts is her Nuk. (It also prevents her from biting my shoulder. Yes, I have a biter) I really didn't want a Nuk/Santa pic so right before I set her in his lap I had to pull it out. And the rest you can see in pictures.

She started with screaming, kicking, back arching. Moved to just screaming and crying. And for a few moments stopped crying and just looked pissed. Picture taken! Santa visit done. Success?? Yes, success.

The Jovle's take over Florida

As promised I put together a little slide show from our FL trip. This trip not only did Justin, Sienna, and I go visit Rick, but Amanda, Travis, Izzy, Sami & Janis were all there as well. They went down the week before we did and we overlapped for 2 days. It was a lot of fun to see them and let the kids play together. Sienna already idolizes Izzy. All weekend "Ze Ze" was her favorite word.

I was very nervous about flying with a 15 month old. She doesn't like to be confined and not moving. I was pretty terrified of having THAT screaming kid on the flight. When we got to the airport they offered us a great deal for a first class upgrade so we took it. That eased a lot of my fears. She had tons of room to run around between us. It was my first time in first class too - soooo nice! Never want to go coach again!

We kept our trip cheap and did all the free Disney stuff - walked the boardwalk, toured hotels, looked at the Christmas decorations, and shopped at Downtown Disney. The weather was great and stayed in the 70s. We even got a little pool time in.

Here's the picture highlights.