December 22, 1974

New House $34,900

Income $13,900

Gas $.55 per gallon

New Car $3,750

Loaf of bread $.35

President Nixon resigns

Gerald Ford becomes President

People magazine published for the first time

Popular tv shows - All In the Family, M*A*S*H, Fat Albert, Soul Train, Land of the Lost

Popular music - Sweet Home Alabama, Piano Man, Kung Foo Fighting

Christmas Traditions

These Norman Rockwell pictures always give me that warm, fuzzy, Christmas tradition feeling -in other words - they get me in the gooch...

Trent and I started a tradition, about 12 years ago, of watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on Thanksgiving. We watch that movie just about every weekend, even if it's just background noise, all the way through Christmas. "You're little twinkling lights aren't twinkling Clark"...I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!

It has also become tradition to freeze our butts off at the Holidazzle Parade.

On Christmas Eve, we cook a HUGE breakfast for dinner. This became a tradition because just have something small like cinnamon rolls or bagels Christmas morning and who doesn't love breakfast food for dinner?!?!? After our breakfast dinner, we play games, look at old photo albums and tell stories. The girls each get to open one gift, usually pj's or a game. We read the Polar Express and set out cookies and milk before bed.

In the morning we wake up super early and sneak down stairs to see what Santa left under the tree. After Santa gifts and stockings, it time for much needed coffee and rolls. We then take our time opening the packages under the tree.

It has been tradition for many many years to go to my grandma's house Christmas day. It was a hard decision, but we have started a new tradition of staying home in our pj's Christmas day playing with our new toys, watching A Christmas Story and napping!

Gratitude

I am grateful for my loving husband and our two beautiful girls. I give thanks for our health, happiness, family & friends, and for all the blessings we have received through out the year.

Peace & love,

Angie

You knew the question was coming...

Five minutes before we arrive at school this morning, I hear from the back seat "Mom, how do babies really get out of your tummy?".
Um...ah...well honey...the doctor takes it out.
"Yea I know that but there isn't a hole in your tummy, so how does the doctor really take the baby out?".
Oh yea...I have a feeling I'm going to get a talking to by their teachers after school today...

Halloween 2009

A Sister's Love

Growing up, my younger sister, little brother and I used to fight all the time. I'm not just talking the typical "mom she looked at me" or "dad he's sitting in my spot and I was there first". Oh no. It was more like calling my mom at work fifty times after school to report things like "mom she just bit me and a whole chunk of flesh is missing" or "mom she threw a fork at me from the kitchen and it's stuck in my knee". I remember one time when my little brother was about seven and I was thirteen, we were fighting over the Nintendo and I punched him - hard. He turned around and sucker punched me right in the gut - SUPER hard. I think that was the last time my brother and I physically fought because I realized that even though I was older, he was much stronger.
When we grew up a little and the punching, scratching and fork throwing days were behind us, we had screaming and door slamming fights instead. Nothing pissed me off more than the two of them borrowing my stuff and ruining it and then feeding me a line of bull that they didn't know what happened - they didn't even touch it. I'm still bent out of shape about the one time my sister recorded herself singing How Will I Know by Whitney Houston over my mixed tape of songs I recorded from the radio. Do you know how long it took to record all those songs by holding a tape recorder up next to a radio and praying you get the whole song recorded before your tape runs out or before the DJ starts talking?!?!?! Anyway, I have forgiven them and I am happy to say we are very close. They are my very best friends and I love them both very very much!

I tell you all this because having daughters thirteen months apart I thought "oh they're going to be best friends forever and never ever fight". Yea Right!
Oh they started out all sweet, gentle and loving. And then they turned four and five! Now it's "she's touching me" and "I had it first". It's also evolved to tattling, pinching, hair pulling, kicking, screaming and yes - door slamming (I wonder where they get that one from?). It starts from the time they wake up and race to see you can get dressed , get to the living room, get the best seat, and watch Sponge Bob first.

All the while there are melt downs, tears, and shouting "that's not fare". Once I gain control of my self, I calmly explain to the girls that we need to work together to get out of the house on time :-)
The fighting continues in the van because one got in before the other or one is touching the other's seat, on and on and on.

However, this morning I busted them! Piper gently woke up Lucille, gave her kisses and rubbed her arm. They helped each other get ready and giggled all the way to school. Beautiful and loving moments like this get me right in the gooch!

L5 Chronicle

Trent had surgery October 21, 2009 on his L5 Disc.

He's had three previous back surgeries and we are keeping our fingers crossed this will be the last one. For the sake of my Alzheimer's that has started to kick in, I have chronicled this experience.

May 2009
Trent starts to experience numbness & tingling in his left leg and right hand. The feeling is similar to previous degenerative discs he's had surgery on in the past , so he goes in to see his doctor.

May 19, 2009
Mr. Stern goes into Methodist tomorrow for a Nerve Root Block Spinal Injection. There's a 50/50 chance that this just may do the job. If not, they will schedule surgery in the very near future for a Spinal Fusion on the disk. I will send another update after tomorrow's procedure and once I talk further with the neurosurgeon..

May 20, 2009
Good morning! Trent's procedure went well. He spent most the afternoon yesterday napping and staying off his feet. He will take it easy today as well, and if the nerve block worked, he will begin to feel some pain relief in the next 24 hours or so. I'll send another update this weekend. Thanks for all of your positive thoughts and prayers.

May 27, 2009
Hello everyone! Well, Trent had the Nerve Block Injection last Wednesday and he still hasn't felt any changes. He has another appointment with the neurosurgeon June 5th and they will discuss a 2nd injection or alternative treatments before resorting to the spinal fusion surgery on the L4 & L5 disks. In the mean time, I've been keeping an eye on a Little Rascal Mobility Scooter on E-bay for on $600 bucks!! I think the kids would love to tool around the neighborhood on the back of dad's pimped-out Rascal!!! Love all of you - I'll send out another update in a few days or so.

June 08, 2009
It's been two weeks since the spinal injection and there haven't been any changes. The neurosurgeon would like to scrub up and get her hands dirty, however it is Trent's busiest time of year at work and can't take 6-8 weeks off...and back surgery is scary. My brother Colin suffered from severe sciatica a few years ago and had great results after treatment at Lordex Spine Institute in Minneapolis. After having three previous back surgeries(1991, 1998, 2002), Trent was willing to look into alternative non-surgical treatment as a possibility. Dr. Strauman is a holistic chiropractor at the Spine Institute, and after a consultation and review of Trent's MRI's, he feels confident that Mr. Stern will be ship shape without having surgery!!!!!!!!! Fingers crossed...
I'll write again in a couple weeks and let you know how Trent is progressing. Thank you everyone for all your positive thoughts and loving prayers! Angie

Summer 2009
Between the nerve block taking effect and visits to Dr. Strauman, Trent was able to continue working, go swimming with the girls at the pool, take a relaxing trip to Crosslake, and work on the yard and garage.

September 2009
Once the busy season at work slowed down, Trent scheduled surgery for a disk fusion and prepared for three months of hibernation and recovery.

October 21, 2009
Hello again! I have a quick update. As some of you already know, Trent's surgery went better than expected! The surgeon scheduled him for a 4-5 hour disk fusion, but said there was a 10% chance that he may be able to do a Discectomy depending on hoe much scar tissue was there from previous surgeries. The surgeon is a Rock Star and was able to preform the Discectomy in about three hours! This is great news because Trent's recovery time will be half the time it would have been with the fusion, and it allows him to play golf next Spring! The surgeon did say that a fusion may still be in his future, but if he takes care of his back and exercises regularly, he could delay the fusion and any other back surgeries for several years. He told me that before going into surgery his pain on a scale of 1-10 was a 13 - he is now at a 4! Trent is home now and getting lots of rest and Piper & Lucille are taking great care of him!
Peace and love,
Angie

Oink Oink...

Nope, not National Lampoons European Vacation's Pig In A Poke game show, and it's not Charlotte's Web, or Babe.

It's the Swine Flu!

After a week of high fevers, coughs, sore throats and body aches, Piper and Lucille have fully recovered from the H1N1 Flu - better known as and more fun to say The Swine Flu!

The high fevers gave the girls those weird "Fever Dreams". One night Piper said in her sleep "Why am I having such a bad hair day!" as she moved her sweaty hair away from her face.

Other nights, the girls and I would sit in the dark living room eating popsicles at 3am trying to comfort sore throats and high temps.

It's never fun when they are sick, but they sure are cute and snugly when they don't feel well!

Trent and I were swine free and we paid homage Saturday morning with a big platter of bacon, sausage and ham!

Gin Nap Sticks

The little ladies have started Gymnastics classes (or as Lucille calls it "Ginnapsticks").
They absolutely LOVE it and they are actually REALLY good at it.
The other night some of the moms were commenting on the girls and one of them asked "who's their mom?".
I smiled at them.
They said "they are really good at this - really good".
I said "they have lots of practice jumping on the furniture, balancing in the arms of chairs, and doing cartwheels in the living room trying not to crash into the stereo".
Practice makes perfect - right?

Kindergarten ABC's...

Piper's 1st Day of Kindergarten!

K is for Kindergarten---hip, hip, hooray.

I is for imagination we use everyday.

N is for numbers—we know one, two, three.

D is for drawing, the best you can see!

E is for exercise to keep our bodies strong.

R is for reading books all day long.

G is for good friends. We made more each day.

A is for the alphabet we know how to say.

R is for remembering everything we learned.

T is for treats every Friday we earned.

E is for excitement. This year we’ve had some.

N is for next year. First grade here we come!

Piper and her BFF Lauren.

Piper getting off the bus at school.

Ms. Tobias - the best Kindergarten teacher EVER!!!

PGA Chanhassen MN

Lucille and daddy can spend endless hours lounging on the couch watching golf.

Lucy can tell you who's who and if daddy is out of the room she will run around the house shouting out play by plays and stats "Dadda - Tiger made it in the hole!" or "Ah rats - Mickelson missed the putt".

So when the PGA came to Minnesota, Lucy and Trent went on a field trip to Chanhassen.

They parked at the Canterbury Race Track and took the shuttle to Hazeltine Golf Course.

To minimize the noise on the course, cell phones were not allowed. Well Mr. Stern was so giddy that when he left his cell in the truck, he also left his wallet. As Lucy and Trent were walking the loooong walk to Grand stand, Trent was asking Lucy if wanted ice-cream and a bottle of water when he realized that he forgot his wallet! A golf course marshall over heard what happened and saw the sad look on Lucy's face. He walked over and gave her five bucks and said "go get yourself an ice-cream!". So sweet!

She had a fabulous time and told stories of watching Tiger Woods at hole Seven AND Eleven!!!

She proudly displays a PGA Tour 2009 Hazeltine Authentic Grounds Flag on her wall and will tell anyone and everyone about the time daddy took her on field trip to see the golfers!

Summer Vacation

For the last few summers, our dear friends Steve and Aleen, have invited us to their cabin in Crosslake, MN for a family vacation. This year we stayed at the cabin over the Fourth of July holiday for ten days. Ah...complete and total relaxation.

We spent our mornings sipping coffee, listening to the loons, and reading Michael Jackson tabloids on the porch while the girls played on the beach, and spent our endless afternoons on the dock soaking in the sunshine wondering if it was time for another snack or another cocktail or both.

We watched the fireworks from the pontoon on the lake, fished, took several boat rides to sand island, water skied, played Rock Band, shopped, walked, biked and ate and ate and ate.

It was a perfect vacation.

That Kindercare Expense is Paying Off...

Last weekend while sitting in Dairy Queen in Cross Lake, Piper says "I know what that sign says", as she points toward the bathrooms.
I said "oh really, what?".
Piper tells me it that it says 'Rest Room'.
I looked up and sure enough it said Rest Room!
I asked her how she knew that, and she said "I just sounded out the letters".
She then told me that the sign over the door said 'Exit' and the sign over there said 'Food', oh and the one over there says 'Hand'!!!!!!!!!!!
I jumped over table and kissed and hugged her with tears streaming down my cheeks!!!
Piper asked "why are you crying", and I just hugged her and told her that reading is very very exciting and it is just as exciting as when she took her first steps!!!
After DQ, we went grocery shopping. When we got to the store, she said "Stop! I want to read these words". So we stood in the entrance as she sounded out 'Reed's Market'. She slowly sounded it out and and said "what's a market?"!!!!!!!!!!
We had a blast in the store reading labels and signs - I am so proud of her! - I LOVE YOU PIPER SUSANNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bedtime Doodles

The girls enjoy doodling on their Doodlepads at bedtime.
Lately, they have been drawing bedtime pictures for me. They leave their masterpieces outside their bedroom doors for me to see when I go to bed. It makes my heart melt every time.
Here are a few of my favorite doodles:

I love you to the Moon and Back, by Piper









Rainbow, by Lucy









Ducks Quacking, by Piper









Licorice Man, by Piper

Pumpkin, by Lucy

Disco, by Piper









Under the Sea, by Piper

Firsts...

It's been a pretty exciting week!!!

Piper is in the School Age Summer Program at Kindercare and the kids going into Kindergarten this fall get to go on weekly field trips!

This week it was a pizza party at a bowling alley!

Piper was soooooo excited and could hardly sleep the night before. The next morning she was up and ready to go in 2.2 seconds!

She said it was SUPER FUN and loved riding on the big school bus!!

This same week, Lucille learned how to swing by herself and blow bubbles with bubble gum!

She now tells me that she's ready to be five because she can do everything Piper can do!

Oh Chewy...

While at the pet supply store getting our fat cat his special and expensive diet food, I thought getting the girls a little pet of their own was a brilliant idea. We wandered over to the small animals and the teddy bear hamsters caught our eye. We picked out a cute fluffy white one, but the clerk told us she was pregnant and that we should pick out a different one. So the girls picked another white one, but I was little nervous about pregnant white hamsters, so I talked them into bringing home the beige one. We picked out a super fun cage with tunnels and wheels and all the crucial supplies needed to keep the little guy healthy and happy. By the time we reached the check out counter, the hamster had chewed through the travel carton. The clerk transferred him into another carton and by the time we reached the van he had chewed through that one as well. I transferred him into a plastic exercise ball and away we went. On the ride home we asked the girls what we should name him. They both agreed on Chewy!
We made space for little Chewy up on Lucille's dresser and girls had a great time watching him eat, spin on the wheel and travel through the tunnels. They had slumber parties in Lucy's room and giggled while Chewy ran and ran and ran in his wheel. By the third night, Lucy asked if we could move Chewy because he ran too much and the ruckus made it hard to fall asleep.
On the third day I couldn't handle the stink coming from the cage any longer and decided it was time to clean it out. While cleaning it, I realized that the cage itself wasn't all that stinky, but Chewy was unbearable. That night I told Trent that I had buyers remorse and didn't think I tolerate eau de Chewy and cleaning his cage every three days. We tossed around the idea of Trent developing a strange allergic reaction and having to bring Chewy back, or maybe Chewy could look sick and would have to go the doctor...
The next morning I did a little research on the ol' internet and discovered that I could buy some Wet Wipes for small critters to give them a sort of sponge bath and if I kept the cage clean, the odor should be minimal. The internet did mention that IF it was a girl and she was in heat, the female hamster would be quite stinky during this time and it would pass.
After a lot of thought, I decided to keep the little dude and I would just have to buck up and be a responsible parent and make the best of the situation. I mean, IF she was girl in heat, at least we didn't have another male hamster to knock her up.
That evening when we got home we went straight to Lucy's room as usual to say hi to little Chewy. I noticed that he was still in the top tower where he had been the night before. I also noticed that he dragged all of his bedding up there along with every bit of food that was in the bowl. I said "oh you like it up there don't you Chewy?". The girls couldn't quite see all the way in the tower so I brought the cage down off of the dresser for the girls to see him sleeping in the tower. As we peered into the tower we realized he wasn't sleeping and he was...he was...he wasn't a boy hamster at all...he was having BABIES...OMG CHEWY IS HAVING BABIES!!!!!!
LUCY "mommy look at the pink babies"!
PIPER "there are THREE babies"!
TRENT "what the"?
ME "he's not a boy, he's not a boy, he's not boy"!
LUCY & PIPER "is he ok..is she ok...are the babies ok?"!
We explain to the girls that Chewy is now a mommy and yes she and the babies are ok, but we need to call the doctor to make sure.
I step into the other room and call the pet store, aka The Doctor. I tell the girl on the phone that we just purchased a hamster the other day, and that what we thought was a boy is now a girl delivering babies! I tell her that we can not keep and momma and three babies and she tells me it's no problem just bring them in and I can either make a return or even exchange.
I hang up and return to the other room to hear and see Lucy jumping around screaming "THERE'S A BABY IN CHEWY'S BUTT, THERE'S A BABY IN CHEWY'S BUTT"!!!
Apparently there wasn't enough room for mommy and the babies in the tower and the babies kept sliding down the tunnel. Chewy went down the tunnel to retrieve the little one that slid down and when she bent over to go down the tunnel, Lucy got a clear view of baby number four being delivered!!!!! OGM!!!!!!!!
We tell the girls that Chewy needs to go to the doctor to have her babies and maybe some day we can get another hamster that is for sure a boy. They say good-bye and away I went with a cage full of hamsters.
By the time I arrive at the pet store there are six babies. The poor momma keeps going up and down the tunnel to retrieve the ones that fall every time she gets back up to the tower and I am starting to feel queasy.
The girl at the pet store decides to move Chewy and the babies to a safer cage so she doesn't exhaust herself keeping track of the babies and to keep the babies from being gobbled up by their mommy! The girl then tells me that hamsters can have up to fifteen babies at one time and then she also mentions that when they are in labor they can get VERY stinky - oh really?!?!?!?
Then girl smiles and asks "would like to exchange her for a different one"?
I simply say "no thank you we've had our fun with hamsters".
That evening the girls and I snuggle into bed and talk all about Chewy and the fifteen babies and Piper says "see mom we should of got the other white hamster we picked out, but you picked the beige one with all the babies in it's tummy".

Princess Stories V

Hey - who loves Cheez-Its?
Piper: I do!
Lucy: I do!
Dad: I do!
Mom: I do! When I was a very little girl I remember eating Cheez-Its with my grandpa Christianson. My grandpa always had Cheez-Its at his house.
Piper & Lucy: Who's grandpa Christianson?
Mom: He is grandma Deb's dad and he is in Heaven.
Lucy: With grandma Bea, grandpa Claude, grandpa Stern, and grandpa Rick?
Mom: Yep. And grandma Evelyn and grandma Jeanne.
Lucy: What does Heaven look like?
Piper: Heaven is a big big big big big big big field, and it has mountains and some shrubs, and there is a HUGE chair in the middle of the field for God to sit in, and he lays sleeping bags all over the field for the dead people, and he planted trees next to the sleeping bags to give them shade.

What!?! Preschool Graduation Already?

Little Miss Piper has graduated Preschool!!!

Piper and her graduating classmates wore construction paper caps and received Preschool Diplomas! They had a cute processional and very sweet ceremony. Afterward, we took photos and had refreshments. Piper has a thing about her hair (I wonder where she gets this from?) and will only wear a headband. No barrettes, no pony tails and certainly not a construction paper cap with a yarn tassel! As you will see in the pics, she is the only one not wearing the hat and when I made her wear it just once - she was not thrilled.

It almost seems that she has become a Little Girl overnight. At five years old, getting ready for kindergarten, she is no longer our baby, our toddler, our preschooler.
She is our little girl.
Our sweet, beautiful, strong-willed, intelligent, sensitive, witty little girl.

I remember when she was just a few days old and I didn't want to think about her going to kindergarten because it was too far away. In just three short months my baby is going to kindergarten and I wish I was still rocking her to sleep in her nursery.

Puppy Clouds

Yes, I am guilty of using the dvd player in the van as a babysitter. Yea, yea, yea - before having kids I would see soccer moms tooling around in their minivans with their rug rats zoned out watching Toy Story and think "That's Crap! When I was kid ~ my brother, sister and I were crammed into the back seat of dad's piece of shit car with no air conditioning, crank down windows, fighting over who had to sit on the hump, while listening to WCCO. And we survived just fine".
Now that I have children and the luxury of the dvd play - hell yea I'm using it - because as a parent all we want is five minutes of peace and quiet!
Yesterday however I was 'Mean Mommy' and turned the movie off and made everyone listen to a little Acoustic Sunrise on Cities 97. There's nothing better than cruising along on a bright Sunday morning with a hot cup of coffee and Neil Young Long May You Run on radio.
While cruising along, Lucy hollers out "A puppy! There's a puppy out my window"! Then Piper says "It's a poodle"! I quickly look around to see if I'm going to hit the poor little thing and say "I don't see it girls". Lucille then say's "mom he's in the clouds by the hamburgers". I looked up and sure enough the clouds did look like puppies and hamburgers. For the rest of our trip we looked for cloud animals and played the alphabet game and say songs ~ kinda like when I was I kid in my dad's piece of shit car.
I'm sure when the girls grow up they'll remember how they had to sit a spacious minivan with their own seats, and their own temperature controls and automatic doors and windows with a dvd player and headphones and complain about how sometimes I would make them listen to Folk music!

Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat, What are They Feeding You...

Lucille and Grandma Deb

K~not exactly the Smelly Cat Song at Central Perk, but sitting in our local coffee shop listening to my mom sing and play guitar does remind me of Phoebe from Friends.

My mom has been doing The Sunday Jam for years and is now in spot light at our local coffee shop, The Coffee Bean. I love going to the Sunday Jam but it makes for long Mondays, so the little ladies and I have been hanging out at the coffee shop lately. The girls love it! We sit at the special "reserved" table, and the owner of the shop always has juice boxes and hot from the oven cookies ready for the girls. Piper and Lucy bring coloring books & markers from home and sit just right so they watch grandma and color at the same time.

Last weekend at the coffee shop, Piper said to me"your mom is a really good singer and her voice is so pretty, how did she learn how to sing like that?" while giving me the look like what the hell happened to you and why didn't you get any of that talent?

Hey - I've got talent! I can tie a cherry stem into a knot without using my hands - so there!

Kindergarten Round-Up

Last night was Kindergarten Round-Up at Sweeney Elementary!
We met the principal, Mr. Orlowsky, and the kindergarten teachers. We visited the kindergarten classrooms and also had a tour of the entire school, rode on the school bus and had cookies and milk in the cafeteria! Piper kept saying "Orrrlowwwwskeeeee" over and over again. During the tour, Mr. Orrrlowwwwskeeeee asked Piper and Lucy if they had any special talents. Lucy held her hand up and snapped her finger. Mr. O said "Oooh" and asked Piper if she could do that. She also held up her hand and snapped her finger. Mr. O asked how they learned how to do that. Lucy said "our mommy and daddy teached us, but they can snap A LOT louder"! Mr. Orrrlowwwwskeeeee smiled!!
If you like, check out Piper's new school at http://www.rschooltoday.com/se3bin/clientschool.cgi?schoolname=school429

Princess Stories V

The girls had their yearly check ups, and here are their stats...

Piper
44" tall = 97% for her age group
39lbs = 45% for her age group

Lucy
39" tall = 55% for her age group
32lbs = 24% for her age group

The little ladies also had shots at this visit - ouch!
They were SO brave.
Piper insisted on sitting with the nurse by herself. When the shots were done and the nurse left the room, she looked up at me with tearful eyes and said "Boy, I sure didn't think those shots were going to hurt that much!".

We went to Dairy Queen for ice cream cones and all was well again!

St. Paddy's Day in Crosslake

Once a year Trent and I let our hair down and go away on an Adults Only weekend!
It has become tradition to go up nort der to Crosslake for the grand St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Our first parade experience happened by accident. In the Spring of 2003 Trent and I spent a weekend in Crosslake with our dear friends Steve and Aleen. It was an unusually warm March morning and Steve had read in the local paper that Crosslake was having their Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in the afternoon.
We thought - why not - it's warm - we'll get a bite to eat - couple pints of Guinness - Let's go! We found some green Mardi Gras shirts from back in the day, loaded up a few lawn chairs and headed into town. We settled on a nice "island" on the curb across from Zorbaz. I say "island" because it was a patch of grass surrounded by snow and was just big enough to set up four lawn chairs.
Ah - it was almost 70 degrees in the middle of March and there we sat with a Guinness in our hands and sunshine on our faces! It was fabulous!
Over the years the gathering has expanded from the four of us, to a fun group of about twenty five crazy friends! We love to get dressed up and see who can catch the most goodies tossed from the floats, aka Street Candy. To increase our quantity of Street Candy, Trent and Steve have invented the Candy Catcher. It is made from a 10 foot rod with a fishing net attached at the end. The Catcher is a crowd pleaser and we have been in local paper a few times!