Happy 'Sweet 16' Makenzie!

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An LPS day.

We woke up to this forecast... "A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING." which led to school being canceled. To top it off, Kippy had gotten sick last night, so she wasn't going to be able to go to school anyway. It ended up being a combination sick day and snow day for the girls. I braced myself for a long and painful work day mixed with two arguing kids. However... I was wrong. It turned out to be a wonderful LPS day!
So, what is an LPS day? It is a day where the girls created a Littlest Pet Shop town in the basement and filled their day with imagination type play.
After a few hours of work I was wondering, where is the arguing and tattling that I normally hear? I peaked out of my office and caught them laughing and giggling together. They were having such a great time I had to investigate further.
When I asked them about what they were doing, they proudly showed me the different areas in their town. I had no idea that they had so many LPS items! There was a veterinary hospital, stores, hotel, spa, an ocean and a mountain villa and so much more.

Abby showed me her two favorite pets. I think they are both dogs, but I can't be sure.

Kippy's two favorite pets are a dachshund dog and a monkey. The LPS animals are kind of funny looking, but hey - if they keep the kids as entertained as they were today... THEN.I.LOVE.THEM!! It sure was a great LPS day!

Faking it.

There is still snow on the ground... winter has been going on for 14 months now... plans continue to be canceled due to blowing snow, subzero weather, icy roads, and other dangerous driving conditions... can i get a big sigh? {{SIGH!}} Typical MN winter and after spending my whole life in the Midwest, one would think that I would be able to cope better. Perhaps it is the lack of sunlight or maybe my extremely inefficient circulation, but I have reached my limit. I.HATE.WINTER!

So, I have to resort to my old stand-by.... good ol' denial. It was denial that caused us to bundle up and drive in very icy, snowy, low-visability conditions to Thumperpond Water Park to spend a few precious hours pretending to live in a summer-like oasis of surf and sand. It was just a few hours, yet it was invigurating! We were joined by the Hubert family, which added another element of fun and excitment for the Lindgren clan.

Here's to faking it!

Kami, Miranda, Madi, Abby, Kippy and Dani

Heart Attack!!

Char and her posse of young women gave me a surprise heart attack on Tuesday night! The heart attack meant that my front door was thoroughly decorated with hearts bearing fun messages and well wishes.
To top it off, they even made some homemade heart goodies! Although, the gang tried to pull off the attack in ninja mode - Steve caught them, but it was still a total surprise to me because I was sleeping at the time.

It was so sweet of them to be thinking of me and of course we all enjoyed the yummy treats.

Thank you very much!!

A day of love.

May your day be sweet and filled with the joy of knowing you are loved!

Happy Valentine's Day!

God’s Gifts in My Life

By Abby Lindgren

How should I begin?

Let’s start with Jesus who saved us from sin.

What about Mary, our queen Mother?

God picked her above any other.

There are the animals that make Earth bright and fun.

I’m grateful for the stars, moon and sun.

Don’t forget friends and family!

These are all God’s gifts to me.

Abby entered this poem in the Catholic Daughter's education contest last week and won first place at her school. Originally, her entry was going to be a Music entry. Unfortunately for Abby, she didn't read all of the rules about submitting a song in the contest. First she had to compose an original song (lyrics, melody, harmony and accompaniment) and then she had to perform the song and burn it on a CD and submit the sheet music and CD. Steve & I were stumped on the burn a CD part.... should we record it on a video then separate the video images from the sound? How the heck is that done? Additionally, Abby had never written a musical score before, but was confident that she could do it. It didn't help that Abby asked for help with her idea two nights before the deadline and had other after-school activities on top of that. In lieu of making the music CD and I suggested a poem entry instead. Abby revised her lyrics to fit the 8 line maximum requirement and turned it in. Next thing we knew, she won. Sometimes my procrastinating daughter ups my anxiety level a notch or two! I'll let you know if she places at the state level.

A surprise for Abby.

A little over a month ago, we added Bella to our family. Bella has claimed Abby's bed as her own since she sleeps with Abby at night. After I posted about Bella tearing a hole in Abby's comforter, Bella added another hole... which led us to begin the search for new bedding (much to Abby's delight).

Abby picked out a bright and fun bed-in-a-bag set from JCPenney's and I ordered it for her when I had gotten a free shipping coupon. (I love a good deal). Now for the surprise! The package came in the mail last week, but with evening activities, I didn't have time to set it up. I decided to enlist Kippy's help and surprise Abby on Saturday. Abby had left early Saturday AM for a girl scouts event in Grand Forks at UND's Aerospace center and was going to be gone all day.
So Kippy and I had a great time replacing all of Abby's bedding and adding the new sheets, bedskirt, comforter and arranging pillows. We were anticipating Abby's excitement and planned out that we wouldn't give Abby any hints when she got home.

We even added some funky wall stickers around the bed that came with the set. We figured since the stickers were repositionable then Abby would be able to change them up herself. I so enjoyed how excited Kippy was to be doing this for her big sister.
As it turned out, I wasn't home when Abby got back from Grand Forks and had the big reveal. Abby told me she loves her new bedding and Steve and Kippy confirmed that the surprise was a big hit! The colors and design seem to fit in with all of her Jonas Brother's and HSM posters!