friesenfam.net

Friesen family blog

January 7, 2013
by janette
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A year in review


So this past year has had some triumphs…

Warrior Dashing. Conquered.

Weight loss goal met. (and then un-met…see tribulations)

Read 52 books

Workout goal of 306 days last year met.

And some tribulations…

The broken foot. Damn the foot.

Weight gain. Sadly – with broken foot came some of that weight back. It wasn’t a lot – 10 pounds. It should not define me, right? And I’ve started combating it already!

And I’m not entirely sure I conquered the anxiety – the third and final resolution from last year – but am much better at recognizing it…and much better at dealing with it.

Overall…I guess I can’t exactly count 2012 out. This year taught me a lot. It taught me that letting go of things is okay, that letting people help you is okay (and necessary sometimes), and that what will be will be.

I’m ready to be another year older (although i look at the number 35 and wonder how that happened…) and another year wiser. I’m ready to not make the mistakes of this year over again. This of course starts with me wearing short tight pants every day of my life. Kidding – spandex looks good on some people…most of them being the under 6 sector… but I do plan on taking a little better care of myself this year.

Resolutions…yes, you know I have some

They are different this year than last…different format…different motivation…just different.

I resolve to get more sleep in 2013.

I resolve to date my children…and my husband…in 2013.

I resolve to read more non-fiction.

I resolve to try to like myself in 2013.

Oh…okay…one similar goal. Dare I say 307 days of workout?

October 1, 2012
by janette
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the 4th of July 2012

We spent the 4th of July this year with my parents and older sister and her kids.

We usually spend the holiday there and take in a local parade. This year, due to the extreme heat, we decided to skip the parade and just stay and play at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

What is the 4th of July without a little water fight??

The kids had the best time getting each other all wet…they were even begging for us to throw buckets of water at them…who am I to say no to that??

And afterwards…popsicles.

Now, just about every time we go there, my kids ask if we brought the squirt guns and swimsuits. It’s definitely a memory they’ll have for a long, long time!

September 25, 2012
by janette
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Ahhh…birthdays

We did manage to squeeze in a party for Evan this summer between vacations, trips, and just general insanity.

Superhero themed of course.

September 20, 2012
by janette
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The kid’s vacation

You’ve already seen my pictures from Haiti, and heard all about that trip…but I’ve never really put out there that the kids were on vacation during that week too!

We have some amazing friends, that when they heard I was going to Haiti for a week, asked me to send our kids there for a week to stay with them. What a thing to offer!! They have three kids of their own, and she was offering to take my 2 as well. That is one amazing mom!

Well, after making darn sure that she was serious, I left on Friday and Nathan packed them up and drove them to Wisconsin on Saturday morning.

While they were there, they went to the beach, playland at McDonalds, and the Children’s Museum. They picked peas and strawberries. They had the best time. They are still talking about it!

They also got to celebrate Evan’s birthday, which was on Thursday that week. Nathan drove up Thursday morning, and after lunch they had cake and presents.

When I saw these pictures, I told Evan that the cake looked yummy. He said “yeah mommy, and the pieces were really big too!” Oh…kids.

Thank You to our friends Margo and Jason, who not only fed and clothed my kids for a week, but sent them home with a picture book full of the activities they did while they were there. It’s one of our favorite bedtime “stories.” And I feel like I didn’t miss much when I look through it with them.

After the birthday celebration, Nathan and the kids packed up and headed south…stopping in Decorah for the night to go camping. Camping with two kids by yourself…adventurous I’m sure – probably not something i would have ever done…but the hubs is a trooper.

He had practiced setting up the tent by himself while the kids were in Wisconsin, and said he managed just fine. Except that he hadn’t attempted the rain fly by himself. Apparently, this is the hard part. I still get a good chuckle thinking about the kids sitting there watching him struggle with the rain fly for a half an hour.

What is camping without smores? Or at least the marshmallows? I love this picture!

Camping was a huge hit! Sadly, this is the only time the tent got out this summer. We had planned a few other times, but the weather (usually too hot, since it was so dry this summer) or other plans happened and we just never made it. There’s always next summer!