History Lesson

We live about 2 miles from the place where my parents first met. It was a college campus then. The college has since moved (about 5 miles north), due to expansion, and the campus where they met in the 60's is now a job training center.

Earlier this year I was running by the old campus and decided that, although I'd heard stories from the time when my parents met and their early dating days, I wanted to do a walking tour of the start of their life together. See where it all began. Hear the stories while we were physically present in the place where they actually took place.

I told my mom and she thought it was a great idea. Schedules and weather and life made it tricky to pull off for a while, but, finally, this past weekend we took our family history tour. My mom brought her photo album from college and we saw the pictures from 1968 as we stood right where those pictures ware taken. Many of the buildings look the same (at least from the outside), which is fun. They pointed to the windows that had been their dorm rooms nearly 50 years ago. We walked around the buildings where they took classes and ate dinner and lived. I'm glad we had the chance to do it and to hear the stories. Our stories. Our history.

The campus as it looks today ::

The kids enjoying the campus green . . . at least until they got scolded and told not to play there.

Oh well, moving right along ::

All because two people fell in love.

The result of love found here nearly 50 years ago. Grandchildren (8 out of 9, anyway) with their grandparents in front of the dorm my mom lived in the year she met my dad. (I bet you never knew Cousin It was in our family, did ya?) ::

Getting them all to cooperate and look kinda normal-ish can be a challenge ::

The lovebirds. Right where it all began . . . 

The dorm that my dad lived in as it looks today ::

I'm so glad we got our visit in this fall. It was a beautiful day and I'm glad my kids have seen the pictures and heard the stories. It's important to know the stories and hear of the faithfulness of God to our family. What a great heritage we have.

41

the happy couple last February on our family's celebration of the big 40th anniversary

Happy 41st Anniversary to my parents today! I am so thankful for them and their unwavering commitment to the Lord and each other and their family . . . not to mention their generous, giving spirits that have benefited so many people over the years. I'm praying this year ahead will be less eventful than the one they just made it through. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. I love you!

thankful thursday

I am thankful for my parents. They are wonderful and such a blessing to me, to us as a family and, I know, to lots of other people too! Tomorrow morning I head out of town for just under 48 hours with my mom and dad to attend a conference in Illinois with my mom. I'm excited! I'm so thankful for the chance to get to go. I am thankful, too, for Kirbs, who is excited for me to go and willing to hold down the fort while I'm gone. I am thankful for the full night sleep I plan to get {unless one of my parents needs something in the middle of the night, that is!}, for the chance to grow and learn, to hear some fabulous speakers {one, in particular, that I'm especially excited about} and go be filled up. After having the weekend on the calendar for months and months, I'm really looking forward to it and can't believe it's finally here . . . already {I know the finally and the already seem to be opposites, but isn't that how life is?} . . . less than 24 hours now. Whoo Hoo!

multitude monday

Did you miss me? I was pretty sick last week {getting better though, finally!} and, unless I'm mistaken, it was the first time in history that I've ever missed my Thankful/Thrifty Thursday or Flashback Friday posts since I started them {at least a couple years ago}.


Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on a wonderful, amazing blog that I read each day.

"One Thousand Gifts":

1518. sunshine!
1519. friends
1520. 63 years of life for my dad . . . he is wonderful!
1521. superhero capes hanging on the clothesline
1522. a break from the oppressive heat and humidity
1523. a girl clipping clothespins in her curls -- sweet Anna!
1524. a compassionate, sincere doctor who kept saying :: "So, I keep thinking, if you were my daughter, what would I do?" . . . gotta love that!
1525. time with a friend
1526. yummy bread
1527. a room full of people singing "How Great Thou Art" by heart -- anyone who doesn't need words to sing such a wonderful hymn is a pretty good person in my book!
1528. braving the zipline with Jacob
1529. recognition of my dad and all his work {he put in so much time, skill, artistry, muscles, prayers and love to the new dining hall at Trout}::1530. an exceptionally delicious donut before church
1531. our first sunflower bloom

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

multitude monday {the evening edition}

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here. {I'm happy to report that two of my blogging sisters-in-law have joined in the fun of counting all the way to 1000 -- and beyond!}

"One Thousand Gifts":

1376. celebrations in triplicate {Rebekah's long-overdue birthday party, my mom's retirement and Mother's Day}
1377. sunshine
1378. love spanning generations {and relationships that start with the word "great"}::
1379. sleeping under sheets fresh from the line and smelling of outdoors
1380. sweet, humbling words written in a card
1381. mothers
1382. a slab for our new basketball hoop {thanks Dad!} and all the shots taken in the driveway already
1383. witnessing baptism :: a father and his 2 sons
1384. when my friend, Shawna {yes, in fact, we do get teased for being "Shana & Shawna"} preaches. always a blessing!
1385. kids singing "Jesus Loves Me" in church on Mother's Day -- and all the better having them accompanied by my grandma!
1386. 7 months of Sara
1387. the sound of thunder and sleeping to the steady pounding of a good spring rain
1388. giving gifts
1389. the ache after a good workout
1390. my wonderful, adorable, generous, encouraging, helpful, kind parents::1391. mother's day love from my favorite half-dozen little people and their wonderful dad
1392. a long nap for a normally non-napping 3-year-old who needed it

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

flashback friday

5 years ago, right about now, my mom was in the Phillipines working with a team at the Children's Shelter of Cebu {love, Love, LOVE that place!}
When she came home she was greeted by this {obviously excited} bunch::

Lydia {3}, Jacob {6}, Bop Bop {50-something}, Rebekah {4}
February 2006

joy

in my parents bedroom::

How great is that? I love it! {and hope to inherit it someday . . . Lord, may it be true of us as well.}

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here.

"One Thousand Gifts":

898. my grandma's laughter
899. fall colors
900. a family hike on Barn Bluff


901. no more cord for Sara {it fell off on day 12 -- after a few days of tremendous stink!}
902. introducing Sara to more friends
903. an extra-long weekend
904. Saturday afternoon nap . . . cuddled up with an adorable 2-week-old
905. unexpected generosity and blessings galore
906. successfully finding "shoes" that stay on Sara's feet and keep them toasty warm {thanks to Peapods!}
907. 4 generations of {Fletcher/Carlson/Stoll} women

908. fresh, clean {flannel} sheets
909. dinner at my parents910. this guy {and his new shirt}911. my new bracelet {with names and birthstones of all 6 kiddos}
912. middle-of-the-night thunderstorm {I love a good thunderstorm, and we really needed the rain}
913. non-maternity pants that button {under "normal" circumstances they're a bit big . . . but let's not think about that, ok?}

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

thankful thursday

I'm so thankful this week for my parents!

My dad spent much of Monday at my house doing some projects that have been on the back burner for months and months and really needed to get done before winter. One of our kids {who will remain nameless} broke our 1920's basement window with a ball last spring. We just nailed some sheetrock and wood over it and that's how it's been ever since. On Monday my dad put in a glass block window in it's place. It looks better, it's not broken and, I expect, will not let in rushes of freezing air all winter long {the old one was FAR from energy efficient!} He also made a little fix on our garage door so that our van can actually get in there this winter . . . which will be extra helpful since I can't even reach the windshield to scrape it off without and ladder! It'll be great to be able to put it in the garage. We've got about an inch of clearance on each side and front to back, but the problem was the mechanics of the garage door hung down a little too far and would not allow the height of our van to fit inside. But now, although still really tight, we can squeeze the van into the garage. Finally, you might remember {if you read this post} nearly a year ago when I complained about our toilet paper holder. Well, since that time basically ALL brands of toilet paper have narrowed the width of their rolls rendering our {ugly} toilet paper holder completely useless. But since it was built in to the tile on our wall, taking it out left a gaping hole in the wall. Well, my dad fixed that too by heading to the Reuse store and buying an old toilet paper holder someone wanted to be rid of and installed it in our bathroom. We now have a working toilet paper holder again. It's a little thing, I know, but what a blessing it is!

My mom spent much of Saturday over here with me {while Kirb, all 5 kids and my dad were gone for the afternoon} helping me "nest". We sorted through bins and bins and bins of clothes. We washed, folded and put away baby clothes {it's SO fun to get those little tiny things out again and freshen them up!}. We cleaned. We organized and we got the baby's room {which he or she will share with big brother Joe} pretty much in order and ready to go. It was fun to have that time together just the 2 of us, plus I was THRILLED with all the stuff that we got done.

I couldn't imagine having better, kinder, more generous parents. They are always so willing to help and to give. They love us so much and show it in so many wonderful ways. They are the best and we are so thankful for them. In all honesty, I have no idea what we would do without them. We are thankful to have them so close. What an wonderful blessing they are to all 8 of us!

Note::I have pictures of all the projects that I was going to include, but I lack the proper cords to get the pictures off of my fabulous new camera and on to my computer . . . I guess that will go on the weekend list::get cords and learn how to use them!

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here.

"One Thousand Gifts":

774. how quickly kids heal
775. a REALLY clean garage {thanks babe!}
776. fallish weather {my favorite, by far!}
777. the state fair
778. dry diapers in the morning
779. dry Elmo undies all day long
780. cough syrup with codeine
781. the return of wearing skirts and boots {and even some long sleeves!}
782. thoughtful friends who bring extra folders and take a couple kiddos for most of the day
783. my mom!
784. a perfectly-timed puke bucket brought bedside
785. a day off with only 2 things on the "to do" list {ok, maybe 3}
786. sibling love
787. my dad's safe arrival home {he's been gone again}
788. tom thumb mini donuts . . . the perfect way to end a day!

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

like {grand}father, like {grand}daughters

Each spring the Roseville school district holds their annual Art Show at Har Mar mall. Art teachers from each school select great pieces of work their students have done throughout the year and display them in the show. This year both girls had pieces selected to be in the show {it's Rebekah's 3rd year having one of her pieces chosen}.

We went to the opening of the art show on Friday night. It's always a fun time -- all the district art teachers are there, lots of families come out and there are plenty of proud kiddos around. This year they even had treats to make it even more art-show-opening-ish. It was quite a nice reception and I was amazed by some of the pieces and the talent that they kids have . . . especially the middle schoolers. To think that works of such great quality came of out 13- and 14-year-old bodies was pretty impressive, I thought!

The show will be up until the end of the month if you get a chance to check it out.

Here is Rebekah and her "Mix it Up" book. She cut a bunch of pictures she had illustrated into thirds so you could swap them out and have a ladies head on the body of a robot, for example, and so on . . . I'm sure you get the idea. In the picture with Rebekah is Mrs. Eiswald, Falcon's fabulous art teacher.
Here is Lydia next to her artwork. It is a spring-time piece with a poem about spring written in between sections of her accompanying picture, which had been ripped in thirds.
Great job girls!

In case you weren't aware, my dad is an artist {thus the title of the post} and we're thankful that each of the kids seems to have inherited some of his talent as well. If you want to see some of his work you can check out his online gallery right here. Most of his work is based on his travels {mostly to Ethiopia, but also Israel, the East Coast and Italy -- as well as some local stuff}. He is having an art show of his work at Trotter's Cafe in St. Paul {on Cleveland Ave. just south of Marshall} during the month of June. Stop in a check it out and enjoy a yummy treat as well.

flashback friday

an intense game of Simpson's chess in 1997 at "2118"

Flashback Friday

Just a few more days and this guy will be home::

This girl, in particular, will be thrilled to have her BopBop back home again. Welcome Home, Dad! We love you!

Flashback Friday

snowfort building::
january 2006

it's always nice to have an expert on your crew::

the walls are going up::

all done!

you could even stand up inside,
how cool is that?

Sunday afternoon family fun!

My aunt & uncle were in town, from Cape Cod, over the weekend and on Sunday afternoon we took a beautiful boat ride around Lake Minnetonka. It was a little rainy and chilly, but we all had a wonderful time anyway::

Waiting for the boat::

Here it comes::

Ama & Anna::

Looking up the stairs at Jacob & BopBop on the upper deck::

There she goes::

Each of the kids {well, not Anna} got a chance to have a turn actually driving the boat. Cool big ship wheel and all! {Joe was sure we were on a pirate ship} The captain was such a great guy: friendly and patient as can be. He probably answered 65 questions from Jacob alone!

Captain Joe::

Rebekah takes the wheel::

Lydia's turn::

What kept us movin' along::

Handsome boy::

Catching a little homework time. Very little, I might add. Who would want to waste their fun boat ride doing their homework?::

Anna & Denise watching for passing boats::

Back ashore. Ringpops for everyone. Thanks, Pete::

The whole big bunch of us::

On our walk around downtown Excelsior we saw some really cool little shops and I noticed this sign and LOVED it so I took a picture {plus, Grace is Anna's middle name}. Within about 2 minutes of noticing this one we saw signs with {pretty much} all of our kids middle names on them, except for Joe {no "Carl" stores in Excelsior, I guess!}. This place was called Grace. There was a "Joy" shop too {Lydia's middle name}. We walked by a Masonic Center {I counted that one, since Jacob's middle name is Mason}. And . . .
Check this out::

First and middle for Rebekah. The sign above was commemorating something {honestly, my dad noticed it and I didn't even read the whole thing} and was on the side of the building that housed "Cynthia Rae" {Rae being Rebekah's middle name}. How cool is that? Is it just me or do you find all that really cool too? Grace, Joe, Mason{ic} and Rae all on the same block! Too fun!

It was a wonderful day spent with some wonderful people. What a great weekend!