Happy Fall!

What a beautiful day in Minnesota today! Bill and I got up this morning and went for a walk. We came home and ate breakfast before most of the kids were even up. He left to go do some campaigning for our friend ArMand Nelson (running for city council) and I started cleaning. The kids and I got the entire upstairs cleaned. Now I am going to take a shower, paint my nails and go to the Champlin Park Football game this afternoon. I hope to have a bonfire this evening and cap off a perfect Saturday in Minnesota!

Have a great day!

Vicki

Extreme Home Makeover - The Dinner Club Edition

So, it was our turn to host our first dinner club for the Champlin "Not-So-Gourmet" Dinner Club on September 27th. Not wanting to be embarassed by my house, I decided this would be a good time to paint the whole upstairs, put tile in the entry way and pretty much redo the whole house! Well, we didn't get everything on the list done, but we did get some much needed painting done and I was pleased with the results. I got a little carried away with the tablescape and the house though. Dinner was about one hour late! I had lists for everything but I didn't have a timeline for the food preparation! Lesson learned! Everyone said they were fine drinking white sangria, eating appetizers and chatting while Bill and I did the cooking. When we sat down for the main course I was able to take a breath. We had such a wonderful time and I have a much heightened appreciation of the work that goes into hosting Dinner Club! I think I'll start preparing for my next turn now!

Northern Stars Ball

We had such a fun time this weekend at the Northern Stars Ball. It is a benefit for the Anoka-Hennepin school district. Many of the funds go to the talent development programs at our kid's schools, and we have been blessed to have all three of our children participate in those programs.

Once again our group kept the party alive by dancing until the band was done. Everyone was out there on the dance floor shaking their booties! :)

This is my favorite photo of the entire night! Eric and Gina

Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton graced us with their presence! LOL! Yvette and Pam were so funny doing this bit.
Bill and John got in on the action with the band!

The color of the evening obviously was black!
And Pam just got carried away!

Busy, busy, busy!!!

I know I am going to miss this someday! I am talking about the busyness of my life. This fall has been particularly crazy.

My first baby turned 14 yesterday!!! Unbelieveable! Erin never fails to remind me that she will be driving in just one year! YIKES! Karen tells me it's a good thing...
She is doing awesome in school. Straight A's at midterm!!! She's enjoying the social aspect more than she ever has, but is keeping a great balance between listening in class and still keeping the lines of communication open with her friends. We had a low key family dinner last night with seafood and potato soup and cupcakes for dessert to celebrate.

In addition to school starting, Brennan has football four nights a week and some Saturdays. I love it, but it is very time consuming. Plus, this multi-talented kid tried out for the 6th grade musical and got one of the leads! They will be doing "There's a Monster in My Closet" November 21st and 22nd. He has play practice every Monday through Thursday after school until 5pm. I am so proud of him, he has been getting up at 5:30am to do homework so he can stay caught up. All of this and he came home with a straight A midterm report card!

Kendall is keeping up with the mix of mom working more and her siblings being driven all over town and back. She is doing awesome in school, loves her teacher and is enjoying her talent development classes with Mrs. Steffel. Erin and Brennan both were in pullouts with Mrs. Steffel so we were thrilled that Kendall could round out the TD classes for the Harvey family!

Hope your day is going great!!!
Vicki

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I did this layout for the Melissa Frances Blog. Melissa is a breast cancer survivor. The whole DT did layouts using the "Thankful" line. This line supports breast cancer research.

I am incredibly thankful for this group of friends that I have. We've laughed and cried together. They are truly amazing women!!!

Thanks!

Vicki