Hail and Farewell 2012!

Based on magazines, TV and the internet a lot of people

spend this week contemplating the year just about completed.

For me, 2012 certainly had its share of ups and downs.

But overall, it was a good year....

Briggs Charles was baptized in January.

We met little Ethan Gregory on March 28

We watched him become a child of God in June.

The Ketchers visited in April

and again in June

for a Mieska Family Gathering

Greg and I spent a few days in Galena, IL

and witnessed a hot air balloon race.

And stopped on the way home and picked up 3 wheels.

If he ever says we need to stop for directions again

I will be suspicious.

We shared food, fun and lake time.

Connected with young and old...

We celebrated holidays, birthdays and

casual gatherings for no reason at all.

Of course, we had unexpected car expenses,

a flooded basement, bad weather, billing

problems with Allina Clinic, icy roads,

and other disappointments along the way.

But, for the most part, it was a good year.

Our family is healthy and daycare continues

to go well for me.

We look forward to what's coming next.

Happy New Year!

Catching up

It's been a while since I posted mostly because

it's been a busy few days.  Last week my mom

came with me to Daycare for the whole day so

we started with story time at Andrew's with

Briggs and Everleigh.

Ethan and GG

 Later that same day we were at Everleigh

and Briggs' and more stories

 Dec 21 Greg and I flew to Florida for

Christmas weekend with the Ketcher

boys and Greg's mother...oh, and Chad

and LoriAnn, too.

I stirred up spritz cookies but the spritzer broke with

the first cookie so we improvised with "reverse" spritz:

Rolled out dough which we used the spritz cams to

press imprints and then sprinkle (of course).

They tasted great though!

Christmas Eve Loriann and Chad cooked an incredible

meal of roasted turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy,

corn, green bean casserole, creamed spinach, candied yams

and much more...followed by 3 different pies.

a gift from the ketcher family....a tote bag with

my name on it....love it.

The boys had a gift for Greg as well.

Christmas Eve 2012 with Chad Ketcher Family

Then home Christmas Day for Christmas with the

Swensons, MN Ketchers and my mom.  Here

she is with Briggs.

Sue and Julie stopped by, too.

Ethan's first Christmas so he got his own rocker.

I brought back a Darth Vader costume from the Florida

Ketchers and Andrew spent the rest of the day that way.

Well...we got him to switch to his new jammies for a

couple of group pictures.  And yes, Ethan is crying.

Gotta love it!

Happy New Year!

Twas the Night Before Christmas Celebration

 Everleigh spent Friday night at a sleepover at

Gma Bunny's.  After a trip to the farm to see

Brody, Maverick and Mara and a stop to

see GA Sue at work (complete with cookies), we got to Gma's

and Everleigh went to work dusting.

She was very good at it.

 After all that work,  we watched "Rudolph, the

Red-Nosed Reindeer" on tv.  Greg said he 

didn't remember ever watching the whole

show in his life!

 Then, Sunday the extended Minnesota Mieskas

gathered at our house for a Christmas party.

It's Ethan and Maverick's first Christmas.

 Here the five oldest of the MN Mieska cousins take

over Gma Bunny's toys...classics like the FP farm,

garage and cash register, plus a Holly Hobbie kitchen

and so much more...

Here GA Sue attempts to keep order.

 Jesse and Beth planned a game complete with

prizes for the little ones. And yes, there was a

traditional Mieska Trivia game for the adults.

I think partners Jesse and Whitney got the top score...

more great Dollar Store prizes.

Ami provided a craft for the little ones....fun!

The kids also performed songs including

"Away in a Manger", "Jingle Bells", and

"Little Drummer Boy" with costumes....it was priceless.

Mara's First Christmas, too...here with GG.

Is There a Doctor in the House?

Andrew doesn't have a doctor's kit toy so when he

and Everleigh decided to play "doctor" we improvised

with some other stuff for taking temperature,

giving shots, checking blood pressure (an old

gauge worked) and calling Code Blue..oh no!

Luckily, the patient survived!

Doctor Ethan was on standby.

Then a game of I Spy the Elf...

Andrew was "getting warm".

Our first significant snowfall...looks pretty now

but I know what's coming.

A Day at Daycare

I know Briggs is missing but I was doing pretty

well to get these 3 to sit for a minute for

a quick picture.  They look like they

are plotting something.

Then, Andrew and Everleigh started a Christmas

tree decoration "project".  So far, so good....

Then Andrew discovered that tootie fruities taste pretty

good so not so many went on the string after that.

Ethan just loved sitting on this portable high chair

so he could catch all the action.  Here, Briggs drops

off something that eventually went in Ethan's mouth.

But good sharing!

All of a sudden Briggs is developing quite

a vocab:  dada, puppy, baba, bug, Adoo(Andrew),

kitty, blue (any crayon) and even Cinderella,

much to his dad's dismay.  But he spends

a lot of time with Everleigh :)

 Things they don't have in the "Granny Nanny" books...

like how to use a dog leash to hook a cozy coupe

to a 3-wheeler.  With Andrew, everything eventually

has to be towed.

Finally, time for lunch.  Note the Snowman on Andrew's table.

It lights up and plays Christmas carols.  It's breakable

so, yes, it will probably end up broken at some point

during the Christmas time, but he loves it so.