The Redmans

artwork

2009-11-07T08:20:00.003-06:00

Cassidy felt the need to make a picture for her daddy since he is hunting this weekend. She said she was going to miss him and he needed a picture of a deer and this is what she came up with. I love the little smiley face and the big red heart above him!

Halloween

2009-11-03T09:00:00.004-06:00

We didn't get too excited about Halloween this year. In fact, I only spent $10 on a costume. I wasn't excited about spending a lot when they only wear it a couple hours. I guess you could call me lazy-I didn't feel like "making" something either. Ugh, what's happening to me?
I was pretty lazy with pictures too. It was a little cool and windy so I didn't want them out long and didn't want them to get cranky either. So I took a few and I'm going to try to be happy with the ones I got.

This is the only one where Lydia and Cassie are both looking my direction

Lydia was so dang cute in her kitty. After I put her nose and whiskers on she just stared in the mirror with no emotion. I still don't know if she liked it or hated it.

As usual, Cassie was shy for trick or treating, but once Lydia figured out what the heck was going on, she just went up to people and reached in their bowl of candy. What a go-getter!

It's that time of year again!

2009-10-30T09:39:00.002-05:00

The girls enjoyed carving pumpkins this year!

Lydia would sneak a pumpkin seed or two:
Cassidy carved her own design for Lydia's pumpkin.

I carved this bat for Cassie:
They turned out pretty cute!

If you give a kid a camera.....

2009-10-02T08:06:00.003-05:00

You end up with lots of pictures. Lots of blurry pictures I might add.
I had to send in my camera to get cleaned two weeks ago and had to dust off my little pocket sized camera. Cassie got her hands on it one evening:
Too bad that was blurry, it was a pretty good smile out of Lydia.

We have lots of pictures of our vehicle now.

Apparently Lydia likes to help feed the dogs!

A self portrait:

and again:

And lots of pictures of the dogs. Here is a sampling:
Oops, wrong end!

about 10 minutes ago:

2009-09-21T11:16:00.000-05:00

Me: How was school today?

Cassie: Fun! How was home?

First day of Preschool

2009-09-17T18:12:00.005-05:00

She was so excited, as I was too. She has been a little nervous about it, but did just fine this morning. When I picked her up at daycare, she told me she got mail at school and she played with her best friend, Lindsay. Then as we got out of the vehicle at home, I had my bookbag over my shoulder and she had hers and said, "hey! We both went to school today!" Yes we did, girlie, yes we did.

Interview with Cassidy

2009-09-16T11:40:00.002-05:00

I've been meaning to do this for a long time. Just some simple Q&A's. Love her simple answers.

What is your favorite color? Bright Pink

What is your favorite story? stories about dogs

Who is your best friend? Lindsay

What is your favorite food? Hot dogs

Who do you like to talk to on the phone? Grandma

What do you want to be when you grow up? a firefighter like daddy

What is your favorite song? Twinkle little star

What is your favorite movie/TV Show? Homeward Bound/Playhouse Disney

What is your favorite thing to do with Lydia? Play with dolls & dogs

What makes you happy? When daddy puts a bandaid on and kisses my owie.

I have a 5 year old??

2009-09-08T18:39:00.005-05:00

It doesn't seem real. She. is. five. Five! I look back and wonder how time could have slipped by so fast, but then again, it hasn't. That doesn't make any sense, but it does seem like five years came and went in a blink. And now look at her, all grown up:
This is the dollhouse we gave her for her birthday. Nate started building it from scratch 2 weeks after she was born. We spent every winter working on it and recently furnished it so we could give it to her. She's been playing with it for 2 days straight!
We had her party yesterday. She loves mickey mouse clubhouse and minnie mouse. So, we needed to have a minnie party!

She got lots of great gifts, and she especially loves her Cars movie. She's been asking for it for years. Finally someone got the hint!! LOL!! We've already watched it once today.
I (I mean my mom) made her outfit. We made the skirt slightly large in case we decide to go to disney next year, then it will still fit.

I just sent the birthday girl to bed, she's been a sad and spoiled girl the last two days. Now time to re-program!

Lydia's 1st haircut

2009-09-02T13:33:00.003-05:00

Lydia got her hair cut for the first time today. Trish said that in the 10+ years that she's been cutting hair, Lydia is her best 1st haircut client! Lydia sat so still and patient while Trish cut it and then showed her in the mirror. Lydia looked and said "BABY!"

BEFORE:

So shaggy!

AFTER:

Now she looks like a big girl!

Mini Vacation

2009-07-21T11:15:00.009-05:00

Two weeks ago we took a little road trip over to South Dakota. We stayed in Sioux Falls 2 days and then went up to see Jill in Brookings on our last day.
Sioux Falls is a very nice town with lots to do. We arrived around lunchtime and went to the zoo.
Lydia liked all of the animals and even liked this camel. Nate wanted to ride on the camel with Cassidy, but she didn't want to get near it.
This was as close to riding anything as she would get!

This peacock was just roaming around hoping someone would feed him!

and we did!

On our second day we started out at the butterfly house. That was pretty fun to see all of the butterflies up close and sometimes they landed on us.

Here's a big moth that landed on my upper arm. It peed on me!

Later we spent the afternoon at the mall and in the evening we went to Falls Park. So pretty!
My little poser, She wanted me to take this picture! Maybe she's getting out of that stage of not wanting a picture taken? I can only hope.
On our last day, we traveled up to Brookings which is about an hour drive from Sioux Falls. It seems to be a nice place for Jill & Eddie. His store looks great and is a fun place to shop.
We went out for lunch and played at the swimming pool then left for home.
Vacationing is tough on 18 month kids. She did not enjoy the 4 1/2 hour drive and neither did we! But we're glad we went!

cowgirls & cousins

2009-07-16T13:41:00.002-05:00

Two weeks ago we went to visit my sister's farm to ride horse. It's actually her friend's farm, but she keeps her horse there and lets us come to ride every now and then.

Lydia rode first! This was her first time on a horse, doesn't she look like she knows exactly what to do?? It was so cute, she was gripping with her little legs and holding on tight to the horn. She really enjoyed riding the "hoo-hee" (horsie)

This is Dubbs. Not my sister's horse, but a nice old horse that's great for kids.
Cassie loves riding with her cousins.
Lydia loved petting the fluffy kitties. Our clothes were full of cat hair when we left!

Thanks for letting us come and ride!

June Happenings

2009-07-11T10:39:00.011-05:00

WARNING: LONG POST!
I realize it's almost the middle of July, but before I add anything that has happened this month, I thought I should go back to June because it was pretty eventful.

For the third year, we planted our vegetable garden and grew our first radishes, and nobody likes to eat these in our house other than me, so they were all mine. They could have been a little hotter, but I won't complain too much. At least they grew! Other things in the garden: Beans, peas, carrots, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, asparagus, jalapenos and sunflowers. We planted cucumbers, but we think they got overrun by weeds and didn't make it. Currently we're trying to stay on top of the weeds, and trying to be much better about it than previous years. Maybe next year on those cucumbers??!!
The second full week in June was our first time attending VBS (vacation bible school) at our church. Around 65 kids attended and it was so much fun. Cassidy still talks about it. They had a safari theme and I helped with crafts. Every day was something different and the kids kept very busy because they had different activities every 30 minutes. Here is the preschool class during their program on the last night:
Cassidy is in the front with the zebra hat. They made them in their classroom and I think she still has it in her bedroom. I had to staple it a few times because Lydia got her hands on it!

The following 2 weeks we had swimming lessons everyday in town. Again it was our first experience with lessons, so I wasn't sure what to expect because Cassidy has been so scared of water. She would cry & scream in the tub if a tiny drop of water got on her face. So I was sure we were going to go to lessons, because we needed to get over this "fear".
The first day was bad. I wasn't sure if we were even able to make it the next day. The teacher taught them how to do a bob, back floats, and at the end of that first day they were jumping off the side! Cassidy was very proud and excited and was ready for another day! She even called her daddy and told him all about it while he was at work.
The last day was their test day. All of the kids passed easily. Here is Cassie jumping off the diving board:
Even I can't do that!!
And her face is all wet too!! YAY Cassidy! We're so proud of you!

Nate was in a wedding in June. It was Deron (he was our best man) and Erin's wedding. Erin has become a good friend of mine as well as my hairdresser.
We had a wonderful time and the day couldn't have been nicer. 80 degrees and no humidity, lucky for them! You can check out more pictures at the photographer's blog. Congrats Deron & Erin!

That's about it for June. I'll leave you with this picture, my favorite. She never looks at the camera and when she does it's quick and usually without a smile. I was a lucky to get this one!!

Lydia-18 Months

2009-06-30T14:30:00.006-05:00

Isn't she just the cutest? We love her to death and couldn't imagine our lives without her. She's got such a fun personality and keeps us on our toes.
She's such a smartie pants, for example, this morning Daddy and Cassie were playing Wii baseball and Lydia seemed to want to join in the fun. She ran over to the toy basket in the corner of the room and dug out the little plastic Wii remote that we got from a happy meal long ago and started pointing it at the TV. I understand that it's quite a simple thing that she did, but we don't play the Wii very often, and I think she's pretty smart to make that connection. She understands a whole lot more than we give her credit for. Funny.
About 3 1/2 weeks ago we took away her pacifier, aka nookie. She handled it better than I thought she would. We only had about 2 days of difficulty and after that it was a breeze. We've replaced her nookie with a cd player which has really helped her settle down. I'm so glad we decided to take it away sooner than later since we've heard so many horror stories about other kiddos and their "addiction".

**photos taken at Lake Louise.

Life is tough...

2009-05-20T08:28:00.002-05:00

My poor Lydia. It all started 2 1/2 weeks ago. She got pinkeye and we didn't even think it was pinkeye, so she suffered 2 whole days with it until we took her in. Things were going good, until the 10th day of her medicine...She developed a rash. And not just a little spot on her arm, but an all-over-the-body rash with little red bumps. She was really uncomfortable, so I took her in right away to our regular dr. and he figured it was an allergy to the medicine that has amoxicillin in it. Nice. So she possibly is allergic to penicillin. Nice.
We were told to stop taking the medicine and let it run its course. Fast forward a few days (late last week), and she developed pinkeye yet again! So another trip to the dr, and he was a little shocked that she still had the rash, that it was worse than 2 days before, and also has pinkeye again. This time she got eyedrops. Wow. If you have never given a 16 month old eyedrops, you are lucky. It's just not that fun, I'll leave it at that.
By Saturday this poor child has a nasty rash, pinkeye, and then developed a low grade fever on top of it all.
Things didn't get any better on monday when I was busy yapping on the phone in our bedroom and in the next room, Lydia climbed halfway up her dresser when it fell over ON TOP OF HER! It was so surreal to me when I ran in there, throwing dresser drawers off of her. She cried so hard, but didn't even end up with a bruise. So scary.
Yesterday we went to the dr again so he could see how her rash was, and I explained how she's had a little fever, but otherwise fine. He checked her over and found out she has an ear infection. I'm so glad that there was an explination for all of this. Hopefully this new medicine will work for her and she'll be back to her normal goofy self in a couple days!

film photography

2009-05-18T10:01:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share a couple of pictures that I used for my final project for my photo class. These were from a series of 5 pictures that represented the farm that I grew up at and how it's aged. I chose to just show these pictures because they were chosen by my instructor to be shown at a summer exhibit at the college! I have 17 other images from this class, which is way to many to post in one day, but maybe some other time. There was a lot of great work from our class and also a lot of pride went into making the prints. It was a lot of fun to see the improvement we made in our printing skills as well as the photography itself. I made a few friends and learned a lot from our master instructor. I will definitely miss this class, but I'm glad I have these few "souveniers" to remember.

2009-04-03T12:45:00.002-05:00

So it must be the season to dust off my camera. It's been sitting on the shelf collecting dust for the last, oh, 5 months or so! That's terrible. My girls are growing and I'm not even getting it recorded. But things will change soon. I'm going to get it out and start taking more pictures because I just haven't wanted to during this winter. Sure I've had to take pictures for class, but that is for assignments, not completely for fun, and not for myself.
I just love this one with Lydia and her big cousin reading a book together. It was a very sweet moment.

It's been kind of crazy around here, I had 2 wedding showers and a bachelorette party last weekend! I know, all in one weekend! But now it is all over until the weddings, which will be a complete blast, I cannot wait.
Nate has been busy with yard work, me with school work, and we're trying to finish up our bedroom. We tore it all apart and we're going to paint this weekend, then soon carpeting and then move back in. (Cassidy has moved in with Lydia and we moved in her room, so I'm anxious to get back to normal.) I'll show before/after pictures when we're all done. It will be great.
In the last month or so I've decided to quit being a Stampin up Demonstrator. It's been a great 5 1/2 years and I will certainly miss it (I think mom will miss it more than me!). I've decided I need to concentrate on classes/artwork and my family, because time has been tight around here, and this is quite an adjustment. I'm hoping to get some time after this semester is finished (5 1/2 weeks!!) to work on our scrapbooks. I'm falling so far behind :(
Maybe I'll post more pictures in a couple weeks, otherwise, I'll be back next month...

Hapy Valentimes!

2009-02-16T11:10:00.002-06:00

like the title? Cassie called valentine's: ValentiMes. funny.
Here's Lydia with her valentine sunglasses. She is quite a ham.
We had a good valentine's. Nate took us (me & the girls) shopping all afternoon & out to dinner and some more shopping in the evening! I cannot remember the last time I have been to rochester for no reason. It was quite relaxing and we ended up spending a wad because everything was on sale. almost bought a new computer too, but decided to wait for something bigger & better.

School is going good, in case you are wondering. Fall Semester I received a 4.0-the first in my life I can proudly say. And Yes, I am bragging. My brother in law calls me a nerd now. HA! I'm currently taking a math course (the first of 4) and I'm getting a 105%, and yes, bragging again :) But it really has everything to do with the teacher. She is wonderful and I hope I can get her again next semester.

Nate's job is great. They have been busy. I was concerned for awhile, but he reassured me that the only way he would probably lose his job is if the place burned down. Even then, the president would probably have something for him to do. So he's doing fine.

The girls are doing good too. We have been doing ECFE activities and they seem to enjoy daycare.

I think we're all anxious for spring. I received my Gurney's catalog the other day and have flipped through it about 4 times, dreaming of summer. It will be a great summer this year!

roller skating

2009-02-09T08:41:00.002-06:00

Last weekend we took the girls roller skating! We weren't really sure how Cassidy would handle herself, and if she fell, we didn't know if she would give up (like she usually does), but she didn't care! She fell, she got up, and skated some more.

This was a proud mommy moment. Towards the end she was able to skate on her own! She was proud as well.

And of course, Lydia had to get in on the action. I had a hard time containing her while everyone was skating. She kept darting off, so we walked around and around several times. Then daddy took her around with him a few times. We thought that if they had skates small enough for Lydia, she would have skated too!

it's been...

2009-01-28T10:51:00.003-06:00

It's been different around here. Quite different. I wouldn't say a complete 180, but maybe 90. You can probably tell I've been too busy to update this blog since the last post was on the 1st of the month. I have added an extra class to my schedule, so I'm now working on 9 credits this semester which includes Algebra (yuk), an online class (which takes a LOT of self motivation), and a photography class (we only work in black & white FILM) (and I think I'm going to LOVE it). So needless to say, there has been a ton of homework. (by ton, I mean about 95% more homework than last semester). So that is a huge adjustment for me. There is also the adjustment for my family. The girls are in daycare for nearly 2 whole days now since I'm taking classes during the day instead of evening classes. (and Cassie has finally decided to eat and drink at daycare now, thank goodness.) But it's been great to be home in the evenings too.
In addition to all of the school stuff, the girls were sick for awhile earlier this month, and me-I've been sick the whole month and have had a cough since early December. I'm so dang sick of being sick. (that has become my new motto)
So if you've emailed me a while ago and haven't gotten a reply yet, now you know why. And I'm so sorry that I've been terrible at emailing.
And since I hate posting without a picture, here is a sunset that has been sitting on my camera from 2 weeks ago.

Lydia's First Birthday

2009-01-01T10:07:00.004-06:00

Last weekend my baby turned 1 year old. We had a party for her with all of the family and cousins here to celebrate. Her birthday was on Saturday but the party was Sunday, but I felt she needed to dig into a cake on her actual birthday, so we bought a twinkie at the gas station: It was devoured in seconds.

Classic Lydia.
She loved ripping off the paper. It helped that she had some practice from all of the Christmas presents days before.
She wasn't sure if she should touch her special cake.
But it didn't take her long to figure it out and make a mess!

Christmas 08

2008-12-29T10:35:00.005-06:00

Our Christmas was relaxing, exciting, peaceful, loud, enjoyable, and memorable. It's hard to imagine it described that way, but in fact it was all of those things. On Christmas Eve we went to my parents house to celebrate. We always, always have lots of food, treats, and this year: drinks :) (I mention this only because last Christmas I was nearly a week overdue with Lydia).

Here, Cassidy is trying to decide which cookie she should try first. Later on she was found under the table eating more treats with a cousin.

Grandpa always reads the Christmas story to the kids, hoping they listen while they have ants in their pants and watching those wrapped presents calling their name. They usually do listen well. One cousin is missing from this picture. I wonder where he went??

One of Lydia's gifts was twin babies! She was so happy. She was carrying one or the other all night long.

Nate said I look drunk in this picture. I really did not get drunk at my parent's Christmas. Just enjoyed the rum very much. There is a difference.
Christmas morning was very exciting too. Santa came and left stuff in our stockings and gifts for the girls.

Cassie would have been happy if this was all she received for Christmas. A mickey mouse clubhouse. from Santa. And that is exactly what she told him she wanted.

Christmas Day afternoon we traveled to Nate's Grandparent's to visit. And again, more great food!
My little punk's first Christmas.
Our family:

Lydia with all of her Christmas babies. There are 5 total, all different except the twins:It was a great Christmas and I'm thankful to have a healthy, happy family. That is all that matters. Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T11:50:00.001-06:00

One of my new favorite Christmas songs.

1st teeth

2008-12-22T09:47:00.003-06:00

Besides being ill and in the ER, Lydia managed to cut her first tooth last Thursday. Two days later the second one broke through. We might as well have bought stock in Motrin & Tylenol last week as I'm sure they went up after she got sick. She is much better now and ready for Christmas and her first birthday and party next weekend.
We've been snuggling under blankets over the weekend with all of these storms! Finally a break today, but sounds like more snow tomorrow. Cassie & I were able to make a bunch of Christmas treats and need to do a few more today. It was nice to have a weekend snowed in, although we did have to reschedule a Christmas visit with Nate's grandparents. (we missed you guys!!)

I hope you have a very merry Christmas and I'll be back next week to post our Christmas and birthday parties!

What have we been up to?

2008-12-16T08:52:00.004-06:00

Visiting Santa: 1st attempt

notice Cassidy here...look where the arrow is pointing: she's burying her head into my arm as santa is trying to give her a sucker. There was no way she would lay her eyes on him...even though he was being so nice to her. We tried peer pressure, but that had no effect.

Here's Lydia on Santa's lap...She sat there for approximately 1 minute just looking up at him. I think she has a crush on any man with facial hair. This is not the only time we've experienced this.

2nd attempt:

Oh how different this visit was! Lydia was screaming (Although I wish there was a better picture with all of them in it so you could see her face) and Cassidy did tell santa what she wanted even though we dragged her up there and made her tell him.

Oh well....Maybe next year!

We've been enjoying our basement lots lately: it helps now that we have a new sofa down there so mom & dad have somewhere to sit :)

Funny thing with Lydia...She LOVES this princess tent. She crawls in & out & in & out. the only other things she plays with in the basement are babies. It's so cute to watch her carry them all over!

This week is my final week of the semester. I'm ready for a little break for Christmas. My house also needs to be cleaned so bad. We finally put away all of the Christmas tubs that have been sitting around. You don't even want to see my dining room right now...Final projects all over, laundry, crayon drawings, bathroom light fixtures, unwrapped Christmas presents, etc...It's a mess. I don't even know why I'm using my time to post this.

Tomorrow we're going to try to finish up our Christmas shopping. Nate has the day off and sounds like the weather will be good. We'll make a stop at the hospital too as my aunt had quadruple bypass surgery yesterday. I hope she's feeling okay.

And with hope this weekend I'll have some time to do some baking! I haven't even started and usually I have many things in the freezer by now.

Lydia-11 Months

2008-12-01T09:02:00.002-06:00

Wow. She's almost a year old. I'm really going to cherish this last month before her birthday. She's such a fun baby to be around.
11 months:
She can walk everywhere now! And she is so proud of herself when she does. When she falls, she gets right back up and keeps truckin'!
She is still toothless. I wonder if we'll see any in the next month at all. They do look like they'll come any day though.