friesenfam.net | Friesen family blog

May 21, 2008
by janette
3 Comments

I can not believe it!

So, I have to post for the second time today…simply because I was so very wrong…and I have to correct my earlier mis-statement about Daughtry being the closest to a rocker winning American Idol that we’d ever see…

I cannot believe that the right David (in my opinion of course) won…now I’m only hoping that his first CD won’t be the standard “American Idol” pop CD that seems to be so common…and yet so absolutely boring.

I probably sat in awe and stared at my tv screen for a good 5 minutes after the announcement with a dumbfounded look on my face…a combination of shock…and awe at how America managed to not screw it up. Loved, loved, loved his performance with ZZ Top.

Here’s your chance American Idol…restore my faith in reality television…help this boy make a good CD…one that Ellie and I can rock out to in the van (something about that sentence doesn’t seem quite right…one rocking out in the VAN…what can I say? I work with what I got…)

May 21, 2008
by janette
3 Comments

mowing the lawn

We bought Ellie her very own “lawnmower” last weekend at a garage sale. Who knew that a plastic toy used to simulate one of summer’s daunting tasks could be so absolutely thrilling?
If only they liked mowing the lawn this much when it is an actual possibility…but something tells me that isn’t likely to happen…

Still…its cute…watching her put gas in the mower and stopping to check it every once in a while…just like daddy does.

What I love so much about this second picture is the fact that her size makes our lawn look so huge!

May 17, 2008
by Nathan
4 Comments

Incredible timing

Our cat has incredible timing. She’s not the most social cat. Actually she’s quite rude to almost everyone. She does let Janette and me pet her, and usually doesn’t bite us too hard. And amazingly she does a pretty good job either puting up with Ellie, or getting up and leaving. She’s not usually very cuddly, though. If we’re sitting and watching TV, or a movie, though she will sometimes hop up on our lap and curl up. She doesn’t do this when you sit down, though. She somehow waits until it’s almost finished, regardless of if it’s a 30 minue show or a 3 hour movie. I don’t know how she knows you’re about ready to get up, but she seems to. Then I have to decide if I’m going to make her move so I can get up or just sit there because she’s actually being nice. Usually she ends up back on the floor, or in the chair by herself, and I feel like a big jerk for a few minutes while she glares at me.

May 15, 2008
by janette
3 Comments

mother’s day gifts (Warning to Sandy…this post contains pictures of a gift you haven’t received yet!!!)

I had intended to post these pictures right after mother’s day…but alas…forgot to take pictures of the gifts before I had given them to my mom…way to go, Janette!

(This is my mom opening the present with Ellie)

This is the project we did this year – in the garage, while it was storming outside one night.

It wasn’t raining when we went out but man, oh man, did it come down in sheets while we were out there. Ellie kept asking “what’s that mommy?” I just kept telling her it was the rain…which appeased her curiosity until it started thundering and lightening too. The best part was after she put her little hands in the cement, though. We had to wash off her hands quickly (they tell you to on the package of cement), and so Nathan took her outside in the rain to the faucet on the side of the house. She thought that was hysterical…and still remembers it – because every time we leave the garage, she tells me she washed her hands…right there…while it was raining and she was getting wet.

She was very proud of the “project” we did…and couldn’t wait to give it to grandma!

May 13, 2008
by janette
4 Comments

I don’t give her enough credit

Mother’s day has caused me to be reflective this year…I have a two year old…one that gives me fits sometimes (okay, a good part of the time), and quite honestly, sometimes I find it easier to just not be around her for awhile…but although she’s a pistol most of the time, it is definitely worth it to me to have her. She makes me laugh. She is so smart sometimes that I stare at her in wonder. There are definite things about being a mom that I like.

Yesterday morning, Ellie and I road tripped to Cedar Falls to purchase tickets for the Gallagher Bluedorn 08-09 season. I had been looking for a place to drop her off so i wouldn’t have to take her to potentially stand in a line full of people who may not find humor in a 2 year old being there.

I hadn’t been able to find someone to watch her, and not being able to justify dropping her at daycare for an hour in waverly and pick her up again, only to do that again when I went to work, I decided to suck it up and take her with me.

She was an angel. She was talking to everyone there…the people next to us ordering tickets, the lady behind the counter…she was charming…and she did beautifully. Sometimes I guess I fear being judged by other parents for not being able to control my always active child that I don’t give her enough credit for the things I know she is capable of doing.

She taught me a lesson today…I should trust her more…I should let her do more things…I shouldn’t hold her back…and I definitely shouldn’t care what those “other moms” think of the job I’m doing. I mean, as long as my child isn’t causing damage or something of that caliber, she’s probably fine. We’re probably harder on ourselves as parents than we need to be most of the time. I guess we just keep telling ourselves thats how we’ll have children that turn out alright.