Look Alikes?

People are always saying that Signe looks just like me, but have never been able to see it. The other night I was going through some old photo albums and low and behold, there was my 2nd grade picture staring back at me. So, here you have it. Mother and daughter, same age, same grade. Do you see it? I'm not sure I do....Maybe if I squint my eyes a little :)

Santa Did It....

Isaac's new thing when he does something he shouldn't is to tell us "somebody did it." i.e. "Isaac, who dumped the applesauce on the floor?" "Somebody did it." The other day, that "somebody" was Santa Claus. Can you imagine? He must be restless after his big holiday season!

"Isaac, who put the address labels all over Dixie?"

"Santa did it!"

Winter Wonderland?

OK, I love snow as much as the next Minnesotan, but this is getting to be a bit much! Alright, so the snow isn't so bad, but let's not forget the recent ice storm as well which adds to the excitement of the season! Since the most recent snowfall wasn't too bad we decided to shovel the driveway instead of plowing it. Little did I realize it was GLARE ICE, which made the task all that more difficult. The kids enjoyed it, though. Who knew you could ever sled on the driveway?

Signe, Isaac and our neighbor Jaden

Alger Pizzeria

Signe thinks her pizza is looking pretty good!

Isaac strategically places the pepperonis


Up here Isaac!

Ho...Ho...Ho....

And how many times did you watch "The Christmas Story" in the 24 hours it was on this year? I think I managed the whole movie one time through, but it took 3 different showing times! One of my favorite parts is the mall scene where they stand in the long line to see Santa Claus. Santa, who is clearly sick of the holidays already, keeps repeating, in a very mechanical tone, "Ho...ho...ho..." I think this is a good way to explain my feelings by the end of the day on Dec. 25th. Not that I don't love watching my children enjoy the innocence of Christmas from their eyes, but let's face it; there is a lot of preparation that goes into these two days. Too much. I'm already trying to figure out how I can make the holidays less hectic next year. Any suggestions? Send them my way.... In the meantime, a few pictures from the joyous season:

This was actually Thanksgiving night, before all the real chaos started. How it's supposed to be!

Eating M&Ms at 7:00 am. Hey, it's Christmas.

Isaac's favorite gift: all of the tissue paper leftover.

The Twelve Days of Sickness

Back in March of 2006, our family went through a little episode of illnesses where all four of us managed to be sick at the same time. It was completely unbelievable how many doctor visits, medications, days away from work/school we experienced, so I wrote a little song about it, to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

Fast forward to December of 2008. Not all of us are sick this time, but we've definitely had a week of illness lurking around, which has included many of the same things as the previous adventure: doctor visits, medications, days off of work/school. I thought it would be appropriate, and since it's the Christmas season and all, to reprise the song I wrote in 2006. Hopefully by the time Christmas rolls around, this will all be a distant memory!

"The Twelve Days of Sickness"

Twelve days of sickness,
Eleven sleepless nights,
Ten medications,
Nine loads of laundry,
Eight combined missed days of work and school,
Seven trips to the clinic,
Six temperatures taken,
Five barfing incidences,
Four crabby Algers,
Three strep throats (one recurring),
Two hacking coughs and, (deep breath....)
A yeast infection on the neck (yes, you read that correctly) turned bacterial spread to the armpit, ears and belly button!

Merry Christmas everyone!:)

My back hurts, Dad!

Steve did something to his back when he was reffing a basketball game on Friday night....Let me back up a bit, his back has been "bothering" him for some time now, to which I would say "why don't you go to Dr. Uhler (the chiropractor) and have it checked out?" "No! It's not that bad!" I guess running up and down the basketball court isn't good for a back that's just bothering you (who knew?) So, after coming home from the game Friday night barely able to walk, he was finally convinced he needed to go see Dr. Uhler, which he has done twice this week. Part of his regiment is applying a heating pad to his back for 15 minutes or so. Isaac has caught onto this whole experience quite quickly. Today, when Steve picked him up from daycare, Isaac informed him that his back hurt and he needed to go home and put the heating pad on it. Complete with the pain-staken look on his face. Too funny....