Easter

Amid the anticipation of egg hunting we played a few games...ate some yummy food....and just enjoyed the weekend!!!!! Hope that you all had a Happy Easter-Solveig

Easter

The daffodils are blooming and spring is on it's way. It was 75 degrees so it is fun to be outside. We are looking forward to Sonja, Nikki and Mike coming this Sunday to stay for a week. Then Tammy and Dale come good Friday soo it will be a house full. Jordan is coming the folowing Saturday with 5 of his friends from Gustavas. The just want a good meal and a hot shower before the head back to school on Sunday.

The birds are really busy eating from the feeders. I have seen blue birds, several kinds of wood peckers, BlueJays, cardinals, titmouse, gold and purple finches. It's fun to see them wait their turn at the suet block.

It was a milestone day as I called to sign up for Medicare Do you celebrate that or go into depression. Guess I celebrate.

Harvey's golf league started tonight so he just got home. Time to get something to eat.

News from a far country

As I just read my last blog....I could say ditto. Not much new here. I read all of your blogs....good to hear from you.

Dorothy and I were visiting this morning...We are planning a trip to England/Scotland/maybe Ireland....What ever we can fit in.....who's on board with us.....Terry said he had to get this summer's fishing trip over first. I may contact Ruth Kinley and see if she has any info on where we might locate grandma family's communities. Let me know if you are interested. For us it will be a trip from one Britton to another Britian.

I go in for surgery on April 22. In the hospital for 3 days and then recup for 6 - 8 weeks. What a horrible beginning to summer....if summer ever comes.

I have 3 days off from school this week for spring break. Wednesday my quilting friends will work on the banners for confirmation. two of them are 3 yards long. one is 3 yards wide.

Maybe I should get a cat here at Britton so Signe would come more often and play with it. It was nice to grow up on the farm and have mostly outside cats...

We gotta get a CAT??!!!

Alright, if someone else doesn't write something this is going to turn into a Penn Blog. Eeek... But I've just got to share this story with you all. A couple nights ago, Jeremiah was putting Signe to bed. After he sang her the lullaby "Tell Me Why" she asked to sing it to him "silly". So she makes up her own version, which went like this: "Tell me why--papa and mama get to sleep together. Tell me why the boys get to sleep together. Tell me why--I'm all alone. Tell me why, papa, tell me why." At this point Jeremiah's heart was so broken and the tears had blurred his vision (and apparently his decision) that he told Signe we could get her a CAT this summer. Background: Signe had an imaginary cat as toddler (named Pootie). Signe has asked for a cat (or if not a cat, she'd settle for a kitten) for at least the past 2 Christmases (stuffed cats have NOT pacified her). She says everytime she can make a wish (like when blowing out birthday candles etc.--she asks for a sister or a cat). Recently at a school event she reported to me that she had to stand up and say her name and one thing about herself. She stood up and said, "My name is Signe and my mom won't let me have a cat." Are we terrible parents? Yesterday she brought home an art project. It was a piece of paper with several wide different colored stripes going across it. In each stripe was a different sentence. Here is what it says" Signe likes to read, I love cats, Got two little brothers, Never got a cat, (then there is a picture of a cat), Everybody likes me." So please, all you wise sages of the previous generation, tell me what to do! I do NOT like animals and I don't want any in my house. Jeremiah says if we get a cat, we get a dog! How can I possibly deny my most pitiful cat-loving daughter the one desire of her pure heart! How can I possibly live with a detestable (sorry to you animal loving people) animal? --Siri

Open Invitation

Since it has been over a month since anyone has blogged anything, I figured I needed to set an example and catch everyone up on life at the Penn's. I'm hoping it will encourage others to share!

We had high hopes of an inaugural Penn ski weekend a couple weeks ago. Parents should know better than to plan events like that. Micah broke his arm jumping off the dresser. So we cancelled the trip and worked on taking baths with plastic bags protecting his right arm (thankfully he is left handed). But kids are amazing and he had his cast off in 3 weeks so we headed up to Walhalla, ND this past weekend and taught the kids how to "pizza" (this generation's term for snow-plowing). It was a great time and we look forward to next year's ski season. I do miss Sunnyside and the t-bar up at Bottineau. It'd be fun to go back and see how it has changed. Maybe the Haugen's need to plan a ski retreat for January of '09!

Signe was extremely excited to show me another loose tooth after school today. She informed that her girlfriend had been punching her in the face and knocked it loose! Signe had to call her friend and share the good news. I'm not sure I quite understand this parenting business... Josiah is (surprisingly) all in one piece, for now. He asked me the other day if it would break his bike if he rode it off the roof, so I'm not holding my breath that he'll stay injury free for long. (I am watching the stairway carefully, just in case I see any bikes headed up.)

Besides hopefully inducing others to share some of their daily lives on the blog, I'm wanting to invite any and every one to run the Fargo Half Marathon with us this May 17th. So far Jeremiah, Trent? and I are training for it and we'd love more company. You don't have to "run" it all and if you have questions about training, give me a call! The more the merrier!

Hope to hear from you all! ---Siri