Alyson's Blog

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Bedtime at the Blakstads

 

Jonah loses a few teeth, makes up a new tune, and suddenly we're referring to him as a Hillbilly Beatbox.  We'd be happy to rent him for parties.

 

Watch for the raised eyebrow at 0:23 in the above video. I love it! 

And with that, it was time for bed.

Wouldn't it be something to be 6 or 10 years old again?

Merry Christmas!

We are enjoying the last few days before Christmas at our house. For me, the best part is the anticipation and preparation for all the special holiday events this time of year.

We introduced the boys to "A Christmas Story" this year. We watched the movie and then I took the boys to a production of the story at The Children's Theater.  They loved it, but now Henry wants a BB gun for Christmas. I should have seen that one coming. 

The following day we went in search of a Christmas tree. The one we ended up with this year looks like a big gumdrop, as wide as it is tall, although hard to tell in the picture at the beginning of this post.

Our annual photo with Santa. Someone asked me how long I'm going to make Henry pose with Santa.  The question is, how long will Henry let me make him pose with Santa? He hasn't made a fuss, yet. It's tradition!

Jonah began his 2nd year of wrestling a couple weeks ago. He's ready, can you tell?

You can see some of our wrapped presents in the picture above. I started wrapping gifts in kraft paper since we lived in Chicago. I love the color and thickness of the paper--you can't see through it and it is difficult to tear. I also love the whole Sound of Music tie-in--brown paper packages tied up in string... I saw the red, white, and kraft gift wrap color scheme on a blog a couple weeks ago and I had fresh inspiration this year!

We made individual gingerbread houses this year with graham crackers, frosting and candy.  Jonah prefers the pre-made kits that we've done in the past. Henry is fine with either, so it looks like we'll go back to the kit next year.

This year marked my 10 year anniversary with Minnesota Eye Consultants! Our holiday party was held at the McNamara Alumni Center at the U of M this year. I am very grateful to work for such an wonderful company with an incredible group of people. I feel very blessed to be able to say that I love my job!  Kelly (far right) and I started working together way back in 1999 with Allina!

The boys were shepherds in our church's Christmas program this year. There was one line for them to say and Jonah jumped at the chance to be the one to deliver it. I was too busy making sure he made it to the microphone on queue so I wasn't able to get him on video. I'm hoping he'll do an encore at home and I'll make sure to post it!

We had Mom, Ron, Kacey, Grandma Judy, Nancy, Jo, and Connie over for brunch after their performance. It was nice that the weather cooperated this year and everyone could make it!

Today was the boy's first day of winter break and I am off work until next Monday. We had a fun, lazy day of baking. I made buckeyes, spiced molasses cookies, and cranberry white chocolate oatmeal cookies. Tomorrow, I'm going to try a couple new recipes--chai gingerbread bars and avacado cranberry salsa (they both sound interesting, don't they?).  Wish me luck!

Good night and thanks for checking in!

Love, Alyson

Halloween 2010

This year the boys were Mario and Luigi of Nintendo video game fame. The costumes turned out great and they were incredibly easy to put together, especially when you start in September! I love Amazon.com.

This is their "Mario Brothers" pose.

This is their "Blakstad Brothers" pose.

Jonah as Mario.

Henry as Luigi.

The boys did a little trick or treating warm-up downtown Watertown Friday afternoon.

Mario and Luigi's favorite stop? Geneo's for a free piece of pizza, although it was a little hard to eat with their newly grown facial hair.

We had a couple of our neighbor's over on Sunday night for a little pot-luck before heading out to Trick or Treat. The boys run from house to house around our entire neighborhood. It makes it a little easier to let them indulge in candy when they burn so many calories earning it. :-)

Happy Halloween!

 

Cute Little Toast Eater 2006

Here are a few more pictures I came across while browsing through my Adobe PSE library.  Henry had just learned how to make a PB&J all by himself and he was more than happy to make his little brother some peanut butter toast for breakfast. As you can see, Jonah thoroughly enjoyed it!

 

 

Cutest little toast eater ever!

Henry 2006

Waving good-bye on his first day of kindergarten.  Such a brave boy to get on the school bus by himself and travel across town. He was nervous but he didn't let that stop him!  I was nervous too but I didn't let that stop him, either. Tonight he goes to his first slumber party. More anxiety for mom....

Henry loves Lily. They've been together since Henry was 17 months old and Lily was about 6 weeks old.

 

Jonah is going to wear the bib overalls Henry has on in this picture as part of his Halloween costume this year.

 

I love this picture.

Henry with his apple crown from school.

Jonah 2006

 

And then, later that morning he got into the diaper cream. :-)

Blast from the past--2005

Only 5 short years ago...

Jonah presented daily displays of the Thomford temper (funny, temper tantrums and blankie are still a part of  present-day life). Edited to add: I LOVE his fat fingers!

 

Henry displayed more moments of silliness (and I miss them!).

 

Jonah turned 1 year old.

Henry was 4 years old.

Jonah had those wonderful, kissable cheeks! (They're still pretty wonderful and kissable) And, AND--he didn't have freckles!

More silly Henry!

We spent more lazy Saturday mornings cuddling than we're able to do now. (We might have to make an exception this Saturday... :-)

This concludes my trip down memory lane...

Thanks for humoring me.

I love digital!

A New School Year!

Henry is in 4th grade this year.

--He is playing both soccer and football this fall.

--He drafted his fantasy football team this afternoon.

--He asked to bring his sandals to school so he can change out of his tennis shoes in the classroom (just like his teacher does).

--He has been cleaning the house regularly to earn an allowance.

--He read anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours before bed almost every single night this summer.

--This is his last year of wearing Osh Kosh B'gosh (he's in the largest size of OKB--12).

--He has to take Zyrtec every day, otherwise he has chronic rhinitis.

--He declared his first day of school "AWESOME!".

Jonah is in 1st grade this year.

--He was most apprehensive about memorizing his lunch number. He shouldn't have worried.

--He loves Warcraft II (computer game).

--He is the only member of the family who will eat chinese food and salads with me.

--His new thing is to strike a pose when I take his picture.

 

--His mouth is getting a little too fresh lately. In addition to taking away a day of video games for each offense, we're going to eliminate iCarly from his TV schedule to see if this helps lessen his back-talk.

--He finds a spot on the couch for Tubby (his stuffed bear) to wait for him while he's at school.

--He declared his first day of school "AWESOME!".

The boys enjoyed brownies and banana smoothies after their first day of school. They both gave their first day back "two thumbs-up"!

I didn't take pictures before school on their first day back. I was still recovering from a bad cold and the weather was cold and rainy yesterday morning. 

Instead my plan was to take a few good shots this morning, their second day of school. My plan did not go as well as I anticipated.

First, we overslept. We woke up 20 minutes before the bus came so it was a mad scramble to get dressed, fed, brushed, and out the door.

Second, the excitement of the first day wears off more quickly than I anticipated.  They weren't quite awake and they were NOT keen on having their picture taken. I do love this photo, though. :-) Twinkle could roll on that lip, yes?

Henry could fake it through a few pictures for me.

Jonah had a little more difficulty hiding how he felt. This was the best of the bunch.

Most of them looked like he was in physical pain.

 

Thanks for being a sport, Henry!

Poor Jonah.

Here's to another year of school!

Thanks for checking in!

Love, Alyson

Favorite Photos

Here are some recent favorites:

One of our favorite parts of summer vacation, late nights reading in bed.

The next several pictures are from our camping trip to Jordan, MN last weekend.

Henry and Lily.

Jonah and Lily.

 

My boys.

 

The boys love running "pass patterns" with Dan.

 

Relaxing around the campfire.

A couple more of the boys.

 

The next few pictures are from our camping trip to Lanesboro back in July.

Henry perfected his marshmallow toasting skills during this trip.  He is growing up so quickly!

 

Thankfully, he's not getting too old to play "Star Wars". :-)

Bike helmet + life jacket + backpack = awesome rebel costume.

Both boys have shown dramatic improvement in their swimming skills this summer. They both passed their swimming lessons in July--Henry is on to level 3 and Jonah is on to level 2.

Henry is helping Jonah with his back float in the picture below.

A beautiful full moon.

Lanesboro Bike Gang.

I celebrated my 20th high school reunion in July.

Z-M Class of 1990.

One of my favorite photos of the night--my Christ Lutheran confirmation class. L to R: Jerome Miller, me, Brad Stiller, Nancy Bolster, Eric Goodman, Jeff Miller. 

 

I had a great time catching up with everyone--L to R Anne Panzer, Joey Lee, Tonya Thompson, Jeff Finstuen, Erik Hostager, Chad McWaters, Kathy Hart.

Kristie and Kerry Miller, Anita Skog, Brian Madison.

Angela Haugen and me.

 

Me, Kerry Miller, Shelly Archer, and Kristie Miller.

It was a beautiful night!

Summer is passing too quickly. The boys recently received the names of their teachers for the coming year and I'm excited for both of them. Henry will be in 4th grade.  He's juggling both flag football and traveling soccer this fall. Jonah will be in 1st grade. He's busy reading anything he can get his eyes on, road signs and Dr. Suess books are favorites.

Thank you for checking in and have a good night!

Alyson