Farmer Don

When I was taking care of Marat and Madina I looked outside one afternoon to find this. Farmer Don had Marat, Treyton, and Marat's friend in the tractor as he was mowing the lawn. The older boys got sick of it and left, but my boy stuck with the old man.

Soon the trailer was abandoned and Grandpa Don taught Treyton how to drive.

I wish you could have seen their faces. Total joy....both of them!

Ahhh....the freedom of the road. Or the backyard in this case.

That was the highlight of Treyton's trip!

Fun things in MN

Here are some fun things from MN:

Galina loved playing dress up in Madina's clothes. The kids got to jump on a trampoline. They could spend forever out there!

The tire swing brought loads of laughs.

We had a BBQ at my sister's house. Here's Galina and Aunt Amy.

Treyton enjoyed playing on Carter's horse.

Cuddling with Grandma Kay.

Playing with baby Carter, Aunt Amy, and Grandpa Don.

And Uncle Jake....Treyton adores this man my sister married.

One super cool thing about this BBQ is that my aunt, cousin Jennifer, and her husband with their new baby were able to come too. This is a picture of my grandma with most of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Missing are Lindsey (Jennifer's sis) and my bro Brent.

Here's my favorite cousin. She and I were inseparable growing up. Whenever we got to see each other we dressed alike, played for hours without fighting, and shared a special friendship that I've never shared with anyone else. A kindred spirit at heart. Although life has separated us through the years, she is still as special to me as ever.

My parents live in a circle. And when you grow up in one, you become very close to the neighbors who share the circle. When we were visiting the youngest graduated from high school. (They had moved in while the rest of us were in elementary school.) So she had a grad party and invited all the old neighbors. Three of the group couldn't be there (Brent, Dawn, and Andy). But here's the rest of us. And another thing you share when living in the same circle with kids is teachers. Lo and behold, I ran into my 2nd grade teacher at her party! She was one of my favorite teachers of all time. All of us Thielen kids had her and loved her. She looks exactly the same as she did in 1982.

So fun to go back home!

MN Visit Parent's House

Our trip to MN was a fun one. My mom picked us up at the airport and took us to their house. Treyton saw this big wheel and I told him to go try it around the circle. I wish we lived in a circle as it is one of the best places for kids to play. Memories flooded me as I remember the millions of times I rode something with wheels around this very same circle. Marat was playing Indiana Jones with the neighbor boy.

Then Galina wanted to be part of the action. So my dad found these two riding toys from when my siblings and I were young and Madina offered to help her around the circle.

That tractor is the same tractor my brother rode when he almost killed me. It involved a wagon and a very steep hill. But that's another story for another time.

Here are my parents. I just love them to pieces!

Then Jake and Amy came over with Carter. Galina tried to get Carter to play but since he doesn't walk or crawl, she decided to play the way he does.

Here's Amy with Galina. They have another thing in common other than their looks: they both love shoes.

Carter, Treyton and Galina hanging out.

Then my mom brought out the bubbles. Kept them occupied for a while. The adults all enjoyed the show.

There's our family's camper. It's now a storage shed for riding toys, patio furniture, and the like.

There are all my parent's grandchildren. Minus the dogs. They have 4 granddogs. Oh wait...I think I see one behind the tree.

Galina had to push Marat on the swing. She calls Marat "Mary". Luckily he didn't get too mad about it. Good sport, Marat!

Then we ate pizza and roasted marshmallows in the firepit. A delightful and beautiful evening back home.

Preschool Program

After an extended stay in MN and the discovery of digital scrapbooking, this blog has taken a back burner lately. I hope to remedy that, however. Anyways, this entry is long overdue. Treyton's last day of preschool was full with a program for us parents. Above is his teacher leading them into the near-by church for their big songfest. Below is my boy with the director of the preschool in the background.

And then we had to wait. While we were waiting Galina discovered how to do fish lips.

She took a break for the camera.

I tried to entertain her, and she did pretty good. I just love that girl. Especially when she's happy!

Treyton's class is on the bottom row and another is on the top.

Here he is goofing off with the girls. Hailey is on the left and Gracie is on the right.

Hand over the heart for some patriotic tributes such as the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. I had that song in my head along with the Squishing Bumble Bee song for the rest of the day.

Who knows.

One of the highlights of this day was the bus ride. They had to go about 3 blocks to and from the church so the bus ride was a necessity for the preschool classes. Cute but sort of sad seeing him on a bus. At least he stood up to wave to Mom. That's my boy!

Back at the classroom and the party began. There he is again next to the girls. Remember there are only 3 girls in his class. Two of interest to him, in particular. Again Hailey on the left and Gracie on the right.

We all went to a paint your own pottery place and had the kids make fingerprint pictures on a vase/canister for the teacher. Along with some flowers and a gift card, we thought it was a good gift for Mrs. Weirsma.

Treyton made a flower and a frog.

Galina even got to share in the fun.

"Me want cookies!"

I thought Gracie was his special girlfriend this year, but as time has gone on, I think the Hailey has taken a special place in his heart. She's really affectionate with him. I caught them hugging earlier. Look at Treyton's bashful smile. Sweet as honey.

And the lovely Gracie. I've never seen her in anything but a dress. Sort of reminds me of Galina.

It's been a great, memorable year! Thanks Mrs. Weirsma!!!

Pizza Craft

Here's a little craft idea: just cut out a pizza shape and glue on your favorite paper cut-out toppings. As you can see, Treyton likes pepperoni and cheese.