Good Friends Are Hard To Find

I decided we needed to go out and have a little fun...for me that almost always means going to a movie. We saw Monsters vs. Aliens. It was very cute. Several grown-up laughs. Gracia is much too sheltered...she gets scared at anything. She spent most of the movie cowering in my shoulder, taking a peek now and then, until she grasped there were a lot of funnies, and that nothing bad was going to happen to the monsters.

The girls survived their first week at Budd school. Faith is reporting she's having trouble making friends and shed some tears over this tonight. Breaks my heart. Yet, she likes her teacher and has announced she has a boyfriend, (whom she saw at the movie tonight. John met him but I was in line for popcorn). Although, Faith said she and he are not allowed to stand in line together anymore "because Trevon doesn't behave then." I asked if Faith has trouble behaving in line, too, and Faith shook her head, "I behave when I'm not by Trevon." But she is troubled that in the classroom kitchen (her favorite freetime activity at her old school), she is never allowed to be the mom or play with the dishes. The kids only let her be the "neighbor or teenager." As cute as it is to hear her describe life as a kindergartener, it breaks my heart and I so empathize with her. I always had a little more trouble making friends and don't want her to feel lonely. At the same time, Faith can be a little dramatic, and I need to keep that in perspective. Her teacher made a point of telling me she had a good week, although acknowledges Faith's trouble with the other kids this week. The good news is the girls have neighborhood friends for the first time across the street and they've played together twice this week. They are a brother and sister living with a single mom and the girl is 5 and the boy is 7. They seem nice and have welcomed F and G it seems.

The buyer closed on our Stewie house today...great relief...we had a few glitches with the bank this week. But it's over. I hope he enjoys the house. It's a nice house. We liked living there.

Please pray for nice children and friends for Faith and Gracia.

Happy Bath!

We have such a wonderful little baby. Norah is such a precious gift. We are both in awe of her. She is smiling now which is such a delight to watch. With the twins, we gave them baths EVERY night, thinking it would calm them and be good bonding. Poor little Norah, at the age of 6 weeks has had, like, FIVE baths. Pathetic. So here she is, enjoying one of her rare baths this morning!

Our New Home

We are settling in to our new home in Fairmont, Minnesota. We arrived Friday night, staying at Holiday Inn so kids could swim. The moving company from Fairmont were fabulous and packed our whole house in a day and a half. The truck arrived Saturday morning by 9 am and were completely done by mid afternoon. Now it is our turn to work hard and unpack all of our stuff...I'm wondering if half of our stuff is even necessary for us to live and prosper. My goal with this move is to become less attached to material possessions. (Although I admit I'm better at not being attached to John's possessions and still a bit too attached to my own!)

Faith and Gracia started at their new school today in separate classes. They were nervous but had a wonderful day and made some friends. They are very excited to go back tomorrow, which gives me great relief. They will adjust to their new routine quickly, I think. Norah, our little blessing, is so cooperative with all of this chaos. She squawks when she needs food and a new diaper, and let's us know if she needs a few cuddles and kisses, but otherwise, sleeps in her swing or papazan (Thank you, Keri! That thing is a Godsend!) Norah is the least of my worries and she is our little buddy. We are so grateful for her!

The pictures are of William Budd Elementary School, Faith (purple) with Mrs. Drever, Gracia (navy) with Mrs. Diegnau, and the girls in front of our house on 313 S. Elm Street, Fairmont, MN 56031. The house is lovely inside, needs some TLC on the outside (needs new roof, new garage, siding and windows). We have our work cut out for us, but love the new house and are working hard to make it home.

Baby Shower and Farewell at Mayo

On Monday, my department gave a Farewell reception for me (and Norah) and in the evening my coworkers gave me a shower (along with another colleague and her baby, Beatrix, born 3 days after Norah). Of course, we received some thoughtful and beautiful gifts, including this darling knit cap for Norah from Dr. Kristi Boldt. Thanks, Everyone! Such a fun day!

Girls' Farewell Party

We decided Faith and Gracia needed a little special going away party with a few friends. So they each invited a couple of girls over last Saturday for a party/playdate. They had such fun, and I think it has made a big difference in the girls' attitude about moving and being excited. On Wednesday, we also made a quick trip to Fairmont, and the girls came along and met Mr. Truman, the principle at William Budd Elementary and we were given a full tour of the school. It was very exciting. Even though Budd School is quite old and reminiscent of schools in the 1950s, Faith and Gracia were still very impressed and didn't seem apprehensive at all. I hope they will adjust this well come Monday, March 30, their first day. Faith said today, "It'll be like SEPTEMBER again!!!"
If only us adults could adjust this quickly and positively to change!

Thanks, Paula!

Gracia (pink) with Paula

Faith (blue) with Paula


The girls had their last violin lesson with Paula. We have some leads for teachers in the Fairmont area. We want to keep our violin lessons going. The girls have made great progress this year in spite of their difficult time focusing. Faith and Gracia pick up on stuff really quick and have amazing memories (didn't get that from their Dad, I'll tell you that!)

Kindergarten Concert & Open House

Faith and her teacher, Mrs. Turi Fryer.

Faith shows us her desk (with dramatic flair, as usual)

Gracia with her beloved teacher, Ms. Emily Torke.
Gracia is so proud of her teacher and will miss her when we move in a few weeks.

Gracia proudly displays a drawing of her family (of special note, Norah has a cute pointy cap on her head, the the writing on Mom's yellow sweatshirt says "St. Olaf")

Faith and Gracia had their Winter Concert and Open Houses with the whole Kindergarten tonight. We bought special dresses with a matching romper for Norah. (The concert was supposed to be in February, hence the Heart theme on the dresses, but was postponed because of a snow day in February.)

Faith Mary

Faith Mary, Norah Kathryn, Gracia Susan

Gracia Susan

Loving twin sisters

Big sisters loving their Baby Norah