a north shore fall

Minnesota's North Shore in October is a beautiful place to be. Cool Lake Superior breezes and colorful leaves surrounded by evergreen trees. Nothing beats visiting Grandma and Grandpa Cloutier. We enjoyed every minute of our weekend getaway.

Lake Superior rock forts.

Pretending to be deer with Grandpa. What nice antlers!

Hanging out at the top of the forty acres. We love Grandma and Grandpa's swing. What a special place to make memories!

pumpkins

{happy birthday!}

I had a fabulous birthday thanks to my two little girls and my wonderful husband.

Chocolate cake.

Birthday cards from my daughters.

A sweet rendition of "Happy Birthday" by Kate and Annika.

Many phone calls and birthday messages from friends far and near.

A birthday present of new fashionable boots (to be purchased on a mommy day in the future).

Wine and snuggling by the fireplace with my hubby.

A date night at The Melting Pot fondue restaurant in downtown Minneapolis tomorrow night with friends.

I can tell that year number 33 is going to be great!

love, love, love it!

I just want to mention that I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our new blog design. A huge thank you to The Design Girl. It has definitely inspired me to keep up with the blogging. Thanks again Design Girl!

fall on the farm

Last week we had a special treat. A long weekend.

Jason, the girls and I headed home to southwest Minnesota. Fall on the farm is a special time of year. This year was no exception. Harvest was in full swing.

We had a great visit. I feel so blessed that our girls get the best of both worlds. Northern Minnesota and it's rustic wilderness where I was raised. And Southern Minnesota and it's rolling prairies where Jason grew up.

These are memories that I hope our girls will cherish for years to come.

Playing with the barn cats. Feeding Grandma Great's sheep. Exploring the hay loft. Runs across the bean fields. Tractor and combine rides with our friend Jay. Walking through the groves surrounding the farm.

It is so special for Jason to see Kate and Annika playing on the farm where he already has so many childhood memories. Thanks to Grandma Bakke and Grandma Great for a wonderful long weekend!

it's fall....I think

Who would have thought it was fall these past few days. 80 degrees and hot. Too hot for October if you ask me. I had already packed away the shorts, tank tops, flip flops and capris and exchanged them for my favorite season's wardrobe- fleece and sweaters!

Last year we had already had our first snow. This year we'll be picking out a pumpkin in our shorts and sandals. How weird!

I hate to even admit that I turned the air conditioner on this weekend. It was 84 inside our house. 84 degrees! That's crazy!

It's hard to be in the mood for pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread pudding and pumpkin muffins when you're sweating. I had a whole menu planned for this weekend- it included white chicken chili and crockpot bread pudding. Needless to say, that's not what we ate. It was too hot!

Please, oh, please October will you please, pretty please arrive? It's a little strange to be racking leaves in my flip flops.

At least Kate and Annika are loving it.

Happy Fall or Summer......whatever season it is.

{a makeover}

Little did I know a few years ago when I started blogging, that one day I would realize that I am just too busy for blogging. An entire three months has come and gone and no new posts from Aimee. Sorry. Our family is still here. Still having fun. Still laughing. Still growing, that would be Kate and Annika growing. I'm just trying to stay the same size.

Summer has come and gone. A new season is upon us and many things have changed in our family of four. There is still four of us- oh, don't forget Ginger puppy, that would make five. Sorry Ginger. We're still in Lakeville. Kate and Annika are in their last year of preschool and last year of daycare. How can that be? I'll save that for another blog post. Jason is still at Century Middle doing his thing. But this past August I made a big move. I moved schools. Switched buildings. Packed hundreds of boxes of teacher goodies. Off to Lake Marion Elementary. I'm still in first grade, thank goodness. But I was transferred to a new building- due to declining enrollment at my former building. It's been a good transition. A time to clean-out and start fresh.

I feel like God has been with me every step of my transition, a makeover of sorts. Giving me courage along the way. As I make new friendships and connect with new families. It has been a blessing to meet so many families from our church that attend my new school. You take for granted all of the things you know about how a school runs, or where the copy machine is, or where do I take my kids when there is a fire drill, or how does the coffee machine work, and so on.

I miss my school family from Crystal Lake terribly.

I miss my daily chats with co-workers.

I miss seeing my little first grade friends from years past.

I know that God planned this makeover, of sorts. It's an opportunity for me to shine my light in a new place. I trust Him completely and know that His plan is the right path.

In a few weeks our family blog is going to get a makeover, too. I thought that a fresh look would inspire me to keep up with the blogging and updating. Be on the look out for a new look, thanks to The Design Girl.