A catch up

It has been a long time since I've updated this blog, which I wanted to do weekly. Well, I guess goes to show how busy we've been with just day to day things. Well Reese is now in pre-school. She is so cute in the uniforms, and I have to say as a mother of a 'very' independent little girl, it is nice to remind her that she only has 2 choices in the morning for her clothes!

Grace had her school musical last week and here is a picture of her all dolled up for the program. She really loves her red shoes! She also did a very nice job singing. Her smile was so big throughout!

This is unfortunately just a mini update, but some fun pics of our girls. The goal during the next couple days is to get all ready for Christmas, my favorite time of year. I'm very excited because we are doing a real tree this year! Although with a little kitten, I'm a little nervous, but we'll make it work. The girls are also really wanting lights outside. hmmm, I think we missed the boat on putting up lights in that gorgeous weather.

Early Birthday Present

Grace has been 'begging' us for a little kitten ever since we helped rescue 3 little kittens at my parent's farm at the end of the summer. Their mother was killed on the road, and the 3 were very tiny. We took them to a friend, and she amazingly pulled all 3 through! We went to visit and ever since then, Grace has asked if she could please, please, please have a little kitten! Both girls LOVE animals, no question about it. So Christian and I talked for many days/weeks, and decided we would let them have a little kitten as a birthday present for both! We also were glad to have given in considering when we went to Grace's conferences all she wrote about was either having a kitten or rescuing the kittens!

So far, this kitten has fit right into our home! She is very loveable and also loves to play and be frisky with the kids and the dog. We love our little Chloe! Even Christian this morning revealed to me that he felt this kitten fit into our home =) She loves to crawl on his lap as well to snuggle!


I have a very cute video footage of Grace with Chloe, I just need to figure out how to upload. Most cuddling pictures of Chloe & Grace are in her bed going to sleep for the night. =) Here is one I was able to snatch of Reese. You can see she has her favorite blanket in one hand, and the little kitten snuggled in the other! Welcome home Chloe, welcome home!

Chicken Whisperer

I have stated on countless occassions that our girls "LOVE" the farm life. If they could be outside with the animals all day, they'd be in their glory. Both have become so passionate and care for these animals, even the uncommon 'pets' - the chickens!

We all call Reese the little 'chicken whisperer' because she can get chickens to sit on her lap! They even follow her around like a little mother hen! So adorable.

I also find it very funny how much our girls love chickens, while their 2 aunts (Cassie & Melissa) cannot stand to walk near them! =)

Beautiful day for a picnic & a waterfall

What a spectacular Saturday in Minnesota! I know many were headed to the State Fair, however we're not huge state fair people, so the Gendrons, plus Melissa & Kyle headed down south for the day to New Ulm! We went spent time again at the Brewery there to take pics in the garden & then headed over to the park to swim & have a picnic lunch!

<--- Grace & Reese with their aunt Melissa

The Gendron Family! So Happy to have a nice summer shot!

<---- Can you begin to see the Baby Bump??? =) Love it!!!

Me with my girls! Pretty in pink!

PLAYING RESTING & EATIN!

We decided we still had a little energy left to go check out another state park and see the waterfalls at Minneopa State Park. It was fun to see and then hike down to the bottom where crazy uncle Kyle went into the falls!

Tired of feeding the squirrels

I had to share this little genius idea my hubby had for our bird feeder! We were getting so frustrated because we were no longer feeding the birds, but feeding the squirrels! They would hang on to the feeder upside down and demolish all the food! Stinkers! Christian was getting very frustrated, so the girls and him one night put this together! Little smarties and I thought was too cute so had to share!

Summer Fun on the Farm

Our Girls are some of the most spoiled little girls! They are spoiled, however, I absolutely love that they are growing up with a love of animals by being on the farm as I did growing up (goats are still my favorite). It is very interesting to see their interests when on my parent's farm.

Reese, as you can see LOVES her little red hens! She will follow them and even cuddle with them! She loves to collect their eggs, and will always say, "Thank you chickens" when picking up eggs or eating them at the kitchen table!

And here is our cowgirl Grace! She is riding Minnie, the new little horse Grandpa bought for the girls from the Amish down in Harmony Minnestoa! He had been planning this little (ok big) surprise for months, and he kept it a secret from all of us, including Grandma! She is a sweet horse and Grandpa is getting the saddle all ready for this fall to teach Grace to ride. We're thinking in a year she'll be riding by herself on Minnie after many lessons with Grandpa!

And here is the first time the girls saw Minnie and rode her. Can you see the huge smile on all '3 kid's faces'?!!?? Again, like I said, spoiled (& loved) little girls!

But mom, I don't want to take a nap.....

Yes, this is how she feel asleep yesterday for a little nap! Reese lately has not been wanting to take naps and this is not too bad except when it comes to around dinner time, she can get quite owly! I was making dinner, and she kept wanting to have a snack, after 3 times of telling her no because mommy was making a yummy dinner, I asked her to go to her room for a time out and to calm down. After 10 minutes, I realized she was very quiet and went to check on her. I found her half way between her room and the hallway sound asleep with her 'blankies'! She loves her blankies that Grandma made for her, and she was out cold! She is too funny!

Our 'Google' Adventures

One thing I love about Christian is his curiousity to try new things. I'm often reluctant because I like 'knowing' what I'm getting into and what to plan/prepare for with the girls. It's a mom thing I guess. However over the past year, we've been doing fun and different things together as a family through searches. Most are hits. Christian has termed these outings as our 'Google adventures' because more often he does random searches to find fun things for us to do together as a family! I would encourage anyone to do this and just take a day to do something brand new!

Our last adventure was a half 'google adventure' & half my hubby randomly finding this place while on the road. We went down to New Ulm for the day and had alot of fun checking out the man made pool at Flandrau State Park. This was a great park, and we decided we'll come back next year to camp and hike. We walked around town and ate at a great restaurant. Then we finished our day at the Schell Brewery. The gardens were beautiful. What a fantastic day and adventure for the family.

Daddy & Grace swimming

Reese pumped to go back into the water

Below are pics from the Gardens at Schell Brewery in New Ulm. We didn't go on the tour, but instead created our own mini tour and walked around. It is free to go and walk around there, however costs I believe $3 to take the tour.

P 90 X - BRING IT!

Well, if you've ever done P 90 X you hear that all the time, 'bring it'! Well I have officially 'brought' it! I have started my 90 day journey with the rigid workout schedule. I've been wanting to work out, and have tried with Christian, but I come from a background of zero knowledge besides getting on an elliptical! So far, this is working because I actually look forward to accomplishing and completing with the insane people on the dvd! I have to admit, the first couple days I wanted to smack that guy in the face with a resistance band, but now I'm so excited when I complete the entire workout with a smile! Yeah!

I'm sharing this for 2 reasons. First, its a big deal in our family's lives because when mommy works out and has her time, daddy and the kids are understanding! It is nice to have something that is mine. I'm really working on this, having things that take me out of being a mom all the time. I get to be wife & Nikki again!

The second reason, I've had so much support on a little post on facebook, that I want to say thanks! Also now that ya'll know I'm doing it, you're more than likely going to keep me accountable!! LOL I thought about that last night that I can't get by with slacking, too many will know I quit! So here I am stating I'm in it, and I'll bring it....

If anyone else is doing this, please let me know, so we can be in pain, er.... share our progress together!

Summer fun in the sun & pool

The girls and I had a wonderful time at the pool today! We go when we can to my aunt & uncle's place in Chaska. Grace is doing great with swimming and swimming under water now. She's like a little fish. Today was also a first for Reese because today was the first day she used waterwings and swam by herself! At first she wasn't sure, and wanted them off. However once she realized how independent she could be, she was jumping in, swimming to the steps and repeating!

My Clothesline

As I was outside taking the laundry off my clothesline I kind of chuckled to myself how doing this simple act I find rewarding and blessed to have fresh linens. When I was growing up, oh how I dreaded coming out of my room in the morning to see my mom have all the laundry in piles lined up ready to march into the washer! Seriously, she'd do a week's laundry in one day, wash, hang dry, and then put away. So many piles, and I would ask every so often, 'can't we please just use the dryer??' The answer was always no, and I thought I'm going to love to be able to use a dryer when I'm older and never take all this 'extra' time of hanging it and then taking it down!

So funny as I am now older (and a little wiser maybe =) that I love when I can hang out my laundry to dry in the wind and sun! It does take a bit longer, and a little extra planning with my busy days coming and going, but at the end of the day when you have that fresh smelling basket of laundry, what an accomplishment to not only have a load done, but also smells great. I guess my mom wasn't just trying to torture my sisters and myself, she was on to something...

Pampers Free

We are officially diaper free in the Gendron Household! Woo-Hoo!! No more late night diaper runs, no more clipping coupons, no more stinky mornings (until the first accident) =)

Reese decided last night she just did not want to wear a diaper anymore at bedtime. I told her that she needed to make sure she used the potty before bed every night now, and if she didn't, then she'd have to wear an icky diaper (I still have 5 left in case of emergencies, but we won't tell the little princess that!) She agreed, so now mommy has set her alarm to 3 in the morning to get up to have her go so I don't have a mess to clean up! The joys of motherhood...

Another milestone, and another reason now I'm glad I started a blog, I can offically remember our diaper free moment as a parent! Ahh, the little joys in life.

Gotta start somewhere....

Well, I have decided I want to try to be more creative and have some 'me' time. And this is 'me' time outside of the cooking, cleaning, washing, list making.... actual 'Nikki' time. I read an article many months back that these are nice to have as they take the place of a journal that you can look back on. I thought to myself that it would be nice to actually be disciplined to start and KEEP a blog. I'm not very creative, however, if I allow myself, who knows....

So here is my first entry to test drive this blog thing. I have a couple items on my 'bucket list' that I'd like to accomplish, and maybe keeping a blog will help to keep me accountable. Time will tell.

For now, no fancy pics, no smarty comments, just a start, and hopefully a launch for me to have an outlet to just sit and type and reflect.

TTFN