Birthday Blues

Well, yesterday was my birthday and it went by pretty uneventful.  I turned 39 and nothing feels different.  I spent the day with our daughter Morgan by putting together her new kitchen set she got for Christmas.  Sheesh were there a lot of little parts!!  But, 4-5 hours later...ta da!  She now has her very own kitchen to play with. 

I did have a lot of birthday wishes on Facebook which were very nice to read and several calls from family and the hubby.  After spending the day in my PJ's, I decided to order Pizza for dinner (and with a little push from my monther-in-law to do something nice for myself) so I opted for Angelini's pizza since they were the only ones who would deliver besides Pizza Hut.  Usually Larry and I celebrate our birthdays together since they are only 2 days apart.  Hopefully next year, we will have a lot more options and possibly a baby sitter to give us a chance to make up for this year.  :-)  It may have been a quiet, and fairly uneventful birthday but I am thankful for my family, friends and all of our health this time of year. 

Facts About the Plastic Bag Pandemic - Reuseit.com

Facts About the Plastic Bag Pandemic - Reuseit.com

Happy Birthday Babe!!

Just wanted to sneak a post in really quick to say happy birthday to my hubby!!  Since he's in Alabama, we don't get to celebrate our birthdays together as usual.  We'll just have to make up for it in January!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!

We love and miss you!

Thank goodness December is almost over!!!

I really do like winter and Decemer but this year has been a little more event filled than usual it seems...or maybe it's just since I've been doing most of it solo since Larry is still down in Alabama for Coast Guard.  Whatever the reason, I will be glad to see 2011!!

A few weeks ago, Morgan and I started our vacation heading to Minnesota for a cousin's wedding.  What a  great time that was.  Not only was the ceremony beautiful, the weather cooperated and we danced the night away; my brother and dad were able to make it from South Dakota.  We don't get to see them as much as we'd like so it made the weekend even better.  The day after the wedding, we drove around the area with my grandma, dad, brother and Morgan all in tow.  Grandma helped point out houses our realtives live (or lived) in, found the old church my dad was baptized in and had lots of fun just looking at the scenery.  We spent time at several of our family houses for meals while we were there so we really did a lot of visiting in a short amount of time. 

After the wedding weekend, we headed back to the Twin Cities to rest up a bit, and get a few chores done before Christmas.  We snuck in a visit to our friends Joy & Ken, then on Thursday night, daddy flew in just as it started to snow yet again.  Of course everyone wanted to see him; especially us so we scheduled as much family time as we could, and our calendar was FULL!!

Friday we spent some quality time at Larry's brother Pete's house for Christmas Eve where we ate the traditional Hagen Kruks, then we walked over to their neighbor's house where Santa was scheduled to visit.  That was a lot of fun!  It did get a little late and with a few too many sweets available, after we got home Morgan had an upset stomach and kept us up for a few hours in the middle of the night.  Needless to say, we were all very tired for Christmas morning...but we were still able to help fix breakfast (fried kruks & cinnamon rolls) and enjoyed everyone's company while opening gifts.  I love that we have technology at our fingertips to make the family events even more enjoyable...we had Larry's parents join us via the computer camera so it was just like they were there with us...almost.   

After gifts with the Hagens, we headed back out to Lester Prairie where we ate lunch and opened gifts with Jen's side of the family.  After the kids opened their gifts, the adults played a game to get theirs.  It was a dice game merged with a white elephant type gift...it can get pretty crazy when the adults 'fight' over a gift that's a big hit. We stuffed our faces again with all the good food around, a nap here and there by a few folks and then a good game of cards to round out the evening.  We then headed over to my Uncle Dave and Aunt Kim's house, where we played a game of Catch Phrase (the electronic version) and had a blast with that.  I can say that I want to add that game to our game inventory at home!!  After Morgan went to sleep, Larry and I stayed up watching the end of a Zombie movie with my cousins (and why we stayed up...I'm not sure) but we finally got some very much needed sleep. 

Sunday was a nice and relaxing day, we didn't get up extra early, Aunt Kim had a nice breakfast ready for us and then we all hung out in our PJ's until past lunch.  It was time we desperately needed to recharge our batteries!!  Once we got motivated, dressed and repacked, we headed back to the Twin Cities, did a little shpping at Fleet Farm (of course) and then back to Larry's brother Erik's where we needed to start getting Larry packed for his trip back to Alabama.  Larry flew out Monday (getting delayed because of mechanical and weather issues) but he finally made it back down there around midnight, making it an even longer trip for him...but we are counting down the days until we can see him again in January!!

So, as you can see, we had a very eventful December getting things scheduled for a wedding, Christmas weekend and Larry's visit...and then some.  I hope you had a wonderful time with your family and friends as well.  Looking forward to 2011 and the changes it will bring for our family!!

Big City TV

I can tell we are in the big city since on the television they have a show called The Dr's and on it today they had on Cynthia Rowland, who showed us how to give yourself a facelift w/o surgery.  I bet this is making the plastic surgeons happy....not.  :-)  Here is the link to her website so you can check it out yourself:  http://www.cynthiarowland.com/eye_lift.php

Enjoy!!!!

Minnesota....here we come!!

Well, we are enjoying our time in Minnesota and watching it snow off and on since we got here last week.  There is not doubt that we will have a white Christmas!!  I love the fresh white and sparkly snow...I feel bad for those who have to shovel and plow constantly.  We were smart and hired someone to do our driveway and sidewalks.  Since daddy isn't home, it's a challenge to shovel w/ a 2 year old running around with you. 

We also got lots of baking done the past few weeks.  Just before we took off to Minnesota, I made several batches of cookies (5 varieties) to share with the family as we visit and celebrate the holidays.  At grandmas house, my brother and I learned how to make her famous apple bars and after 2 batches, we may have it figured out!!  Also, while staying at my brother in-laws, I've been trying to pull our weight by having dinner ready for them when they get home after work.   Gotta keep everyone happy and fed. 

Daddy will be flying into to see us on Thursday so we are looking forward to that!  He only gets a few days with us but we enjoy every minute of it. Getting to spend time with both families over the weekend will keep us busy and well fed!  :-)  

We hope everyone will have a very Merry Christmas!  Stay safe and warm!!

Thanksgiving

All in all, it was an awesome Thanksgiving for the Hagen's.  Even though Larry couldn't be with us, Morgan and I had a great trip up to Minneapolis to visit with tons of family and friends.  We not only got lots of family and friends time in, I also got to go house shopping and found a house that I think we may be putting an offer in to.  So, it was a very productive trip too!  I can't believe that Thanksgiving is already gone and Christmas is only weeks away. 

Free giveaways are always my favorite!!

Check out this site and register to try and get a FREE MomsBudget Holiday Planner! I personally would love something like this to try to get this household a little more organized...especially during the holidays!  Enjoy and good luck!!!

http://www.momsbudget.com/blog/win-a-momsbudget-holiday-christmas-planner/

I just wrote a letter to Santa!

I just wrote a letter to Santa!

For every letter received, Macy's will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, up to $1,000,000. Help make wishes come true by writing your own letter to Santa!

Holiday Crafts & Gifts...have you started yours?

Have you got your holiday crafts started or even figured out you're going to make at this point?

I haven't even started!  I can't believe the first week in November is gone and as I look at the calendar I'm realizing just how soon Christmas will be here.  We have a Hagen tradition that in this house, when we spend the holidays with family, we try to make our gifts.  The past few years have been harder on us to do that since Morgan came into our lives and power tools are a little more difficult to keep safe.  We opted the east way out with photos; whether it be a larger one in a frame or a collage or a photo book...we've tried them all. 

Before Morgan, here are some of the gifts that I can remember we made:
 - Rustic wood picture frames
 - Birch log candles
 - Hand painted tiles made into coasters
 - Decorated Cookie/snack basket (with a minimum of 4 different types)

One of the best handmade gifts we've ever recieved were knitted socks from Larry's mom!  They are always welcomed and a blessing in these cold winters!  We've also recieved quilted pot holders, embroidered potato sack towels, an hand sewn apron and for Morgan she's recieved hand made blankets, burp rags, sweaters, socks, hats and mittens.  We are very blessed to have such a creative and thoughtful family!

Sunday, Sunday

After a lot of running around yesterday, today we had a nice breakfast then got to work on fixing our van.  It had some scrape marks on the side that looked like a tiger got to it.  Actually, the repair job that was attempted (before we even bought the van) was falling apart.  It was starting to break up and rust under the bondo making some really icky cracks and runoff down the side of the van.  Thankfully Larry knows a little something about bodywork thanks to Coast Guard and so now it's almost finished.  He should be able to finish up the final process next weekend when he's home.  It's nice to have the mess cleaned up and looking more decent.  At least now it should survive the harsh WI/MN winter coming up!  I wish we would have took some pictures...it would have been neat to show the process.  Maybe next project!

Well, after the hubby left to drive back to MN, Morgan and I went upstairs to have some quiet time (naptime doesn't seem to be working lately) and turned on the football game.  Vikings vs. Cardinals and the Vikings thankfully won on overtime!  It's about time they step up and play the game!  When I turned on the game initially, it was in the 4th quarter and I think the score was 24-10 Cardinals...I thought for sure this would be another game down the tubes for the Vikings but no!!!  they stepped it up, got their game faces on and made 2 touchdowns to tie it up.  The sudden death overtime went first to the Cardinals but once again the Vikes stepped up their game, held them off and then scored first with a field goal.  I am sure glad I didn't change the channel like I was tempted to do when I first looked at the game. 

All in all, this was a very good Sunday for the Hagen household.  We're just bummed that daddy had to go back to MN but we enjoyed what little time we had with him.  He'll be back in a week so we can play some more!!!

This week just keeps getting better and better...

Never a dull moment in the Hagen household...within the past 5 days it feels like we've been on a roller coaster that I wouldn't mind stopping for a breather! 
~Monday was a pretty normal day for us girls...we went to the library group we regularly participate in, picked up a few books and then did some quick shopping. 
~Tuesday we spent most of the day at home coloring and playing until it was time to finally get out and VOTE!  I hope you all did the same.  That Tuesday evening, we found out that daddy was getting recalled from Coast Guard.  Not great timing but it could be a lot worse.  So off to New Orleans he'll be heading to for 60 days.  Since our house hasn't had any bites yet, we'll get to hang out in WI a little longer and decide where and who to spend the coming holidays with.
~Wednesday we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more getting the house ready for open house #2.  It was scheduled for 5:00 -7:00 pm to catch the folks coming home from work.  This worked out great for us schedule wise since we had our second TumbleBugs class to go to.  Morgan is having a blast in this class and it was well worth the $22 enrollment fee!! The open house didn't go as well as hoped with only one family visiting that couldn't afford it.  Well, at least we got SOMEBODY in the door! 
~Thursday Morgan and I decided it was a good day to get out of the house again.  I had an Antique Portrait  scheduled for her in the morning that was a fundraiser for the local MOPS (Moms of Preschool Students) group.  After a quick 15 minute photo shoot, we headed to La Crosse for some lunch with one of my old co-workers.  Sounds like nothing has changed there...same folks making work unbearable for everyone else.  I sure don't miss the stress from there!  Well, on our way back home, I spoke to my aunt who heard through the grapevine that Larry wasn't going to be around for the holidays and offered up some of her frequent flyer miles for Morgan and I to fly to South Dakota for Christmas.  This was a great offer and I always love to head home for a visit.
~Friday...well, we were waken up by our regular daddy phone call but found out that there is a little more to his mom's medical condition than she's been leading on to and there is the potential that she'll need to come to MN to get an apointment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.  The only thing holding her back is no-one to take her or be with her.  Of course, Morgan and I are available for that so we'll see what happens.  It may change our holiday plans so thankfully we haven't bought a ticket yet!  To get our minds off the chaotic scheduling to come, we took off to Tomah to go play at the Cranberry Lodge's swimming pool.  Morgan always loves to play and slide and swim there.  Play Shoppe was cancelled today so it was a great alternative to get Morgan out and socialize with kids and practice her swimming.

So, there you have it...our crazy life the past week and I have a feeling it's not even close to being done or settled. Stay tuned for more updates and hopefully get some fun stuff on here soon!!!

Half and Half

Lately with all the move ruckus, I feel that we live half in WI and half in MN.  This past weekend we went from WI to MN, back to WI then MN and will be going home to WI in a matter of hours.  I think we only hit one city twice on this little adventure of ours.  Confused yet?  I think our GPS and our internal 'where are we' clocks were a little mixed up as well.  There were a few times the hubby asked in the car 'What state are we in?'.

Still no action on the house...if someone would be out there to look at it we may have a better chance of selling!  Not a lot of buyers out there this time of year and in this poor market.  We'll just keep our fingers crossed!  The other day I had a Chinese fortune cookie say that good luck will come my way the next full moon.  The next full moon is scheduled on October 22nd so we'll see if we get some news then!  I'm always hopeful and wishing those things work.... so on that note, everyone please send happy thoughts our way for a quick and easy house sale!

House Selling Patience

Well, what a way to start a blog but to prepare for an ending of another chapter in our lives.  We currently have our house on the market in our small town of Sparta.  Preparing to move to the big city (St. Paul/Minneapolis) will be an adjustment for us all but nothing really new to us since we lived there over 10 years ago.  The housing market here has slowed town tremendously but not as much as the larger cities.  Hopefully, we will sell our house within a few months and our family can start to embark on a new adventure. 

Our dog Sitka and the hubby are both temporarily staying with family up in the cities while Morgan and I stay behind to keep the house lived in but clean and ready for any possible showings.  It's surreal to walk around the house that is now how we had dreamed it to be for the past 4 years.  A constant construction zone of projects, painting and remodeling...we finally got most of the house is as we envisioned it with a few exceptions like a kitchen remodel.

Hopefully this will be either entertaining, enlightening or just a good read for anyone who stumbles upon the rantings of this stay-at-home mom.   Happy thoughts to everyone and wish us luck on the house sale.