Little Ethan Isn't Little Ethan Anymore

Baby Ethan turns 2 this week (March 28).

 Could it really be 2 years already?

Here he is one year ago....

And a couple of weeks ago....

He's no baby any more.

So who is Ethan Gregory Swenson?

He's curious and confident.

He's little "me, too".

He's "I help."

He's "Hug!"

He's hungry.

He is determined.

He goes 90 miles an hour all day.

He loves his dog, Olive.

He loves his mommy...and his daddy...and his "bro-bro", Andrew.

He greets me with ""Gramma!" every morning.

He takes good care of his "babies".

He loves his cousins.

And at the end of the day, he's quickly

alseep.

So glad you're part of our lives "Big Ethan Gregory"!

Changes....

It's (almost) spring here in the Northland and

there are changes coming.  Life is all about

change.  My Grandma Mieska was born in 1900

and died in 1998 and I often think about all

the changes she saw in her lifetime....transporation,

science, communication, civil and women's rights...

Lots of changes.  She died just as the internet was

taking off and I think she would have embraced it.

She would have loved being able to communicate

via email, get a quick answer to a trivia question

and read an e-book.

But change continues.  For me the changes

come in waves.  A good friend is moving out

of the neighborhood to a house across town.

I won't be able to just walk over for a cup of coffee.

Another friend recently moved out of state.  We

can still communicate via email, but it's not

quite as spontaneous.  It takes a little longer

to get my body moving in the morning.

Some clothes don't fit quite the same as they

used to.  I'm now the grandmother of

two teenagers.   Two of the little ones

here in Minnesota are in pre-school.

But here's a change that we can all look forward to...

Baby Boy Ketcher...due in early August

Gpa Greg

Greg and I recently spent a couple of hours with

each of the Minnesota grandkids.  When we were

at Jesse and Ben's, the boys found a paper

airplane game to play with Gpa.

For reasons known only to him, Andrew is dressed

in his puppy costume.

Briggs and Everleigh visited us.  (They brought along

their parents.)

This picture is almost the same as the top one

except the expression on Briggs' face.  Gotta

love his enthusiasm.

Greg doesn't get to spend as much time with these

little people as I do so it was fun for both of us

to just be Grandma and Grandpa for a bit.

Mickey Mouse, hair dos, cousin fest, and PDA

Briggs and Everleigh help stir up special

pancakes.

To encourage tasting, we made them to

look like Mickey Mouse....mmmmm.

What was I thinking?

We'll make a "fire station" from an empty box.

We started by painting the box.   And then

the boys painted themselves.  And then

they took a bath (at 10 am).

Of course, we couldn't make just one fire station

so we ended up making a garage for Ethan's car.

It's the same morning, but a complete change

of clothing from earlier.

Earlier in the week my Cousin Rynda's grandson, Silas,

joined us at my sister Annie's daycare for a 

first/second/third cousin fest.....all boys.

Ethan, Max, Silas, Brody and Maverick

Silas is about the same age as Maverick and Ethan....2

Brody likes to do hair and frankly, I could use

some ideas.

Note Ethan's face.  He loves to "tackle"....usually

his brother, but here it's Everleigh.

Ethan needed a hug.

Andrew provided one.

Although this type of thing happens all the

time, it's quite rare that I captured it on film.

Temps in the 40s coming!

wassup?

February has been a long 28 days.  If it's not snowing,

it brittle sunshine.  Photos below were taken from our

yard after Feb. 20 snow.  Note how deep the snow is

and how the snow has stuck to the trees.

Looks pretty.....in December.

We celebrated Ami and Scott's combined 40th

birthday at Billy's on Grand on Feb. 15.  Ami's

birthday is in Feb. and Scott's will be in April.

Ami arranged to reunited Scott's old band, Crosswalk Hero,

for a one-time concert.  It looked like they were having

fun and they sounded great.

Then...it snowed again.

Trying to find indoor things to do....

Everleigh made some finger puppets.

The boys find individual fun.

And Mieska family members celebrated my grandma's

114th birthday at Southdale.  Grandma died in 1998 at

the age of 98 but we get together every March (around the 6th)

to celebrate her life and our Mieska family.

Here are my sisters, Ann and Sue, my cousin Rynda,

Aunt Phyllis (dad's sister) and cousin Jay.  It's a tradition

so sweet we've decided to also get together in

August to celebrate Grandpa's birthday.  He

was born in 1891 and died in 1990 (?).

now.....bring on spring!