the house up the street

Wow it was a big tree, too

February Storm

Connor triumphs over sticks and broken tree limbs. The tree limb was a near miss to the playhouse.



There was some beauty with the storm, however

February Fun

At least the dress got worn to an Oscar party! Dahling it was a gala event! Beth and I took home the best dressed female trophy!

Kira competes in the U of M Fieldhouse

Running a very strong indoor 5K, Kira competed well this Saturday at the U of Minnesota. Her time of 20.12.72 placed her tenth overall in the race AND won her a spot on the Macalester all-time indoor honor-roll. In this photo, she is overtaking a fellow team-mate and who has a common family name (Emily Dunn!) (Nathan's mother's name was Beverly Dunn). See the link below for the school article. Kira told us that she wasn't sure how to run the race as it was her first indoor 5K. This meant she ran around the track over 20-some times. I am not sure if we will get to see her run a 5K or a 3K indoors, but we hope the outdoor season treats her well! Good job Kiki!
http://www.macalester.edu/athletics/wtrack/news02/07_0217_parents_day.html

Sundown

A week of turmoil
Learning
Realizing
Disappointment
Seeing true colors
Streak through
Brings focus
Crisp, cold air
Burning muscles
Deflect
Ugly reality
Transforming
Rearranging
Perspective

Baby Cakes!

Well if a real cake didn't do the trick, try some of these!

Amelia Awesome's first superbowl, My cousin's twins, Olivia (in the tee-shirt), and Louis with the cheeky grin.

The Cake Walk Contest FOILS the Spencers once again

For the FIFTEENTH year in a row, the Spencer family has entered a cake in the Horn Elementary Cake Decorating/Cake walk contest. And, for the FIFTEENTH year we have been shut out. This year took the cake, however. The original flyers that came out stated that the theme this year was "Into the Future." While we felt this was a familiar theme, we dismissed the critizism. So for the last four weeks, Connor has been planning his cake design, as that flyer hung on the bulletin board. Friday evening we baked the cake with said design in mind. Saturday morning, I am reading the paper and see that the Theme for the Horn Frickin' Fun night is "BEACH PARTY." Seems the original flyer that was distributed, was incorrect and somebody reprinted the paragraph from the LAST YEAR flyer. As subsequent flyers came home, we ignored the packets and recycled them. So to fit the theme, you can see our "alien" guy has a balloon, and quote in the balloon says, "I'm invading your beach party!" As Connor would say,
"Suckers...."

Baby it's COLD outside

Rudy has had a difficult time of it lately with the subzero temps and windchills. He has resigned himself that this is the only way to keep warm...to snuggle into the blankets and laundry.