Our good friends, Spencer and Jeani, invited us to their annual Santa Party this year (the kids of course don't know that it was a Santa party) and our boys had so much fun.
I just can't get enough of seeing the magical moments of what this season brings to us through the eyes of our kids. It's something I hope they will hold in their hearts and memories forever!
Thanks friends for a fun night and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Jan
The Bakke Santa Party
Where does all that snow go from our blizzard?
CCV
Sent on the go from Android
8th Biggest Snowstorm on Record
We had lots of fun playing in all the snow today. I took the dogs (Kota is staying with us this weekend) to the dog park in the morning and they LOVED running through all the fresh snow. Then this afternoon we all went out and cleared driveways and played in the snow! I love Minnesota!
Cayden even got out despite his broken collar bone. He and Dylan loved it. Check out the cone on the bush in the back ground.
This is our FLAT TOP bush that ended up with a big hat today. I didn't add any of it with the snow blower, it all drifted off the roof and piled up just like that!
CCV
Cayden - Broken Collar Bone, Mom - Broken Heart
Man...I don't know if my heart can take raising boys. :(
Cayden broke his collar bone late this afternoon...dangit!! The good news is, it is a "non-displaced fracture" which means that it doesn't have to be re-set, casted, or re-xrayed. It will heal on its own in a sling. Displaced would be if the bone was in a "T" shape not a "V" shape that it is.
How it happened: He, Dylan, and I were playing "monkey in the middle" with Bentley (our dog). We tossed the toy that we were keeping from Bentley to Cayden, and it didn't go right to him, so he quick dove on it to keep it away from Bentley, Bentley slid into him on the wood floor where he doesn't have traction and literally landed right on top of Cayden.
He was instantly in pain...and even after I put him on the couch with an ice pack and a movie, he was still wimpering. The combo of the way he was acting and my gut told me I needed to get him in. So, I made a make-shift sling out of a belt, wrapped on an ice pack, packed up and off to Urgent Care we went!
Sure enough...a fractured clavicle. Poor guy. It just breaks my heart because on the way home he started to realize that it means no swimming lessons, no sports sampler that he's enrolled in right now, no playing in the snowstorm that's going to dump on us this weekend, etc. :( I tried to cheer him up by coming up with things that he could do while he's in a sling for three weeks, but I'm not sure if it helped or not.
I even tried to tell him that he has the same injury as Tony Romo (quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys) thinking that would make it better...I'm thinking the only thing to heal his spirit will be a few days' time.
So. Tomorrow is day one of three weeks of immobility. Keep him in your thoughts...it stinks to be sidelined when you're a little boy who loves to run and play.
Jan
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
I love the holidays and the weather that comes with it. It has been snowy and wonderful here for a couple of weeks now. We've been busy the last couple of weeks.
With holidays comes craft time. Grandad and Mima where helping the boys make some turkeys out of candy to bring to my sister's house for the Thanksgiving meal.
All the cousins got to play for the afternoon in the Stolp's new spacious house. Everyone had a great time. Here is Dylan, Cayden, Dalton, Jamie, Nora, and Justin...Jarid was off hiding from the camera somewhere.
And more crafts - Dylan made some Cheerio garland for his little 3 foot Christmas tree in his room one afternoon while Cayden was in school.
Cayden was citizen of the month so we stopped by the board in school and took his picture in front of his picture. :) He was pretty proud. It said that he "is excited about learning and has a positive attitude each and every day."
There was time to relax in between events.
And we got to see good friends at the Holidazzle parade. The Ropchaks where in town and we met to watch the parade and have a long talk/dinner afterwards.
Did I mention craft time? The boys put the finishing touches on their gingerbread house tonight. All the candy and frosting was used (or eaten) and they had a great time.
CCV
Welcome Winter
Last weekend we officially welcomed winter to Minnesota! It was a heavy wet snow which made it PERFECT for snowmen!
Cayden and I had this one built before we even left for the dog park with Bentley.
Dylan started this one by himself until he had a snowball about as tall as he is! I had to finish it off even though it was still in the neighbor's yard. So we put it on a sled and pulled it to our yard. He was pretty excited.
CCV
Dylan's View of Dad
Dylan: "What if our muscles where big like his?" as he points at Superman.
Dad: "Mine are like his, aren't they?" as gives his best flex.
Dylan: "Mmmmmm nope. You have muscles like Mickey Mouse"
CCV
Dylan's Party
Dylan celebrated his fourth birthday with his friends today! He had a circus themed party and everyone had a lot of fun!
Jan and Granny B's fabulous "cake" creation. The kids thought it was awesome and had a fun time picking out which cupcake they wanted to eat. Everything on all the cupcakes was edible.
Granny B in the wee hours of the morning putting on the finishing touches on one of the clowns.
We had circus music and games and even some clowns to run the show!
After everyone left we finally harvested our pumpkins and gourds and put them out on the front step in an arrangement. The kids liked cutting them all free from the vines.
CCV
Visit from Grandad and Mima
Grandad and Mima came to visit us for a while right before Dylan's Birthday. It was fun having them here. We even got a few extra days because of the crazy weather we had and Grandad couldn't fly his plane out - oh darn. :)
They took Dylan to the bike shop so he could pick out his new bike - he upgraded to the same model as Cayden has in a different color.
Big brother Cayden was excited to give him all the tips and tricks on how to ride.
After just two days on his new bike he went with everyone for a 5 mile bike ride around Rice Lake. He had a blast.
We had a chance to gut out some pumpkins. Mima made some of her famous pumpkin seeds which the boys really enjoyed.
Grandad helps Cayden out.
All done!
Dylan also got to go out to Chuck E. Cheese's for his birthday dinner. They were excited to catch Chuck E. just as we walked in.
Grandad and Mima snuck a quick kiss and the boys didn't notice.
CCV
Happy Birthday, Dylan!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DYLAN! Today is the day. Our little Dylee is 4, not so little anymore. We are celebrating all week!
Grandad and Mima have been with us since Friday evening. They were supposed to fly home Tuesday, but it appears they will be grounded until tomorrow once this 100 year storm clears out of here. WOW!
Granny B flies in tomorrow to be with us for the weekend. And Dylan's friend party is on Saturday.
So far it has been a fun week. He is very excited to be 4. This morning Dad made him his traditional pancake...his right of passage! :)
Things are a bit crazy in the house right now...we will put more pics from the week up soon.
Love to all,
Jan
Let's give it one more Tri...
At least that's what I thought - Jan wasn't interested this time around. I decided that I wanted another crack at running a triathlon this summer and I found one that was a bit harder than Maple Grove's. Not only was it longer with a 1/2 mile swim, 16.5 mile bike and a 5 mile run but I found out a couple of things about the course after I signed up. First off, after you swim you get to climb 74 steps up to the transition area! I almost passed out putting on my bike shoes. The other thing I learn was that the bike and run course were VERY hilly. Needless to say it was a great challenge.
I did the math on my times from the first Tri and figured I would make it a stretch goal to keep my same pace in each leg even though they were all longer distances. That put my goal at 2 hours. I didn't quite make it this time though - 2 hours and 3 minutes! Almost - maybe next year. :)
Chris: Official Time: 2:03:44
205th out of 425 athletes
swim .5 mi: 17:58
bike 16.5 mi: 54:34
run 5 mi: 47:21
Coming in from my swim.
I had GREAT fans!
Heading out for a bike ride after a rough transition - it was good to see a pretty face behind the camera!
Dylan - patiently waiting for me to finish the run.
CCV
Today was Dylan's turn
Today was Dylan's first day of pre-school. He is in a program this year where he will go two days a week. One day Mom gets to go with him and one day where he goes by himself. He was excited.
And he had to wear a back pack because Cayden did for his first day. Too cute.
These firsts are such bitter sweets for me. Excited that they are growing and becoming such neat little people, but sad because I feel some days that time is slipping too quickly. I am constantly plagued with asking myself have I savored it? Have I taken it for granted? Have I been the best Mom I can be? Do they know I love them? I'm glad I get to have this year with Dylan like I did with Cayden where I get to go with him one day a week. We will have fun.
He's pretty proud to have school now too.
Jan
First Day of Kindergarten
Cayden is officially a kindergartner!! Wow! Yesterday was the official first day but it didn't really count - he only went for half the time and mom and dad got to stay with him. Here he is yesterday.
Here is the first official drop off today! The whole family (including Bentley) walked with the Sarkela's to school. This is Cayden (#95 shirt) and Hadley to his left walking to join the line with their classes (they aren't in the same class).
Cayden was ready to spend the afternoon with his new friends and his teacher, Mrs. Carey.
Mom on the other hand got choked up a few times but managed to keep tears to a minimum. I'm pretty sure seeing this post will get her again though! :)
What Cayden doesn't know is that his brother is home working on a batch of cookies for when he gets off the bus!
And just like that he's down to two wheels...
This weekend Dylan said "okay I'm ready to take them off", so I got out the wrench and off came the training wheels. He never looked back after that! He took off and stopped smoothly the first time and every time after. Within 10 minutes of riding around the cul-de-sac he said, "I think I'm ready to try the jump". Sure enough, he started riding over the little jump I made for them a couple of days before. Here is the daredevil in action.
He always has the tongue hanging out!
First time off - no problems!
Taking on the jump! His foot slips but he told me afterward that was to make it look like a bigger jump! :)
Cayden loved the ramp for his bike and his scooter.
Cayden practicing his tricks.
CCV
Dare to TRI, Results Are In!
Well, Chris and I are now officially triathletes. Yesterday we completed our first Triathlon and I have to say it was a great experience. Hard though. Probably the most intense thing I've done in a really long time.
We had lots of friends come out to support us and yell their cheers. It was a neighborhood event with the Sarkelas, Bakkes, Ashers, and Gendreaus all there!! Way to go support team! Thanks everyone for coming. It meant so much to have you there! My best friend Kristen did the race too. It was fun to be at the finish line with her.
Here are our results and some pictures to see! May it be the first of many. We have the tri bug! :) Now the money saving for road bikes begins! You can send your contributions to us here at home. hahahaha!
Chris: Official Time: 1:22:09
8th in his age group (35-39)
37th out of 159 men
50th out of 301 athletes
swim .3 mi: 9:50
bike 14 mi: 42:57
run 3 mi: 25:04
Jan: Official Time: 1:29:59 (my goal was 1:30:00!! HA!)
4th in my age group (30-34)
30th out of 211 women
102 out of 301 athletes
swim .3 mi: 10:44
bike 14 mi: 47:23
run 3 mi: 26:48
The boys had a good time cheering us on. Keir and Tricia stayed at our house and brought the t-shirts for the boys to decorate. They turned out great - THANK YOU ASHERS!
Me checking my progress. Keir Asher in the background taking pics and cheering us on.
Chris and this guy sprinted across the finish line yelling and cheering the whole way!
Congratulations hug as I came across the finish line.
Dylan, Lukas Bakke, Cayden, Griffen Asher, and Landon Bakke - they were giving the athletes high fives as they were coming up to the finish.
Landon, Griffen, Cayden, Lukas, Dylan and Will all giving fives and cheering everyone on.
Here's us with Kristen who absolutely smoked the swim - doing it the 14th fastest out of 301 athletes! Thanks for all the training help Kristen!
JNV
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