A Lumberjack Halloween

We went trick-or-treating, shamelessly used our baby boy to get free candy for ourselves, and caused a lot of smiles as other parents saw our adorable little lumberjack.  One person said, "I'm confused: are you lumberjacks or just Northern Minnesotans?"  Touché!

Happy Halloween!

Georgia On My Mind

We arrived home late last night after a whirlwind weekend in Georgia.  We flew to Atlanta for a wedding and had a fabulous time with Eli's extended family, who we rarely get to see since they live all across the country.  People traveled from California, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Connecticut and Delaware to join the Georgia crew for the wedding.  Every single person in the family was there, from Gram (Eli's grandma) down to the 7 great-grandkids.  What a rendezvous!

Caleb was an all-star traveler yet again, and although he was off-schedule and didn't nap very well, we were proud of how well he handled our adventure.  He had a great time meeting everyone and I daresay his cheeks were a highlight of the weekend :)  I'm not sure those cheeks have ever been kissed so much in one day!

loving the warm Georgia air

 Caleb looks up to Uncle Wayne and wonders if he, too, will soar to such great heights!

(At a combined 13 ft. 4 in., Wayne and Laurie are currently in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest married couple in the world - they're our claim to fame!)

Gram with the great-grandkids

Workout Regimen

Hello there!  I'm so excited to show you my workout regimen!  

These exercises are easy to learn and can even be done wearing flannel!

Okay, are you ready?  I don't want you to miss this.

First, get up on your hands and knees.  Then, when you're ready, move from your knees to your toes so you look like this.  Then hold it!

Don't worry if you can't hold it very long.  I like to bounce my bum to keep my energy up.  But I definitely take breaks in between reps.

Oh, and I almost forgot!  There was something I wanted to show you from my workout last night.

I like to tone my arms right before bed... then I dream about being a strong superhero carrying damsels in distress to safety.

Back to the regimen.  Sometimes I work so hard that I need to cool off a bit.  

But I keep at it to build endurance!

Here's my pep talk: You too can be a workout buff like me!  Wear your flannel (or not), bounce your bum, do whatever floats your boat to get inspired and stay strong and fit!

Song of the Vikings

Two things happened recently:

1. I watched Tangled and got a song stuck in my head.  "I've Got A Dream" has been playing over and over again for the past couple weeks.

2. My husband went to the Vikings game on Sunday and watched them defeat the Arizona Cardinals while I hung out with Caleb at our cousins' house.  Since Caleb was sporting his gold and purple gear, and since Eli was having such a good time at the game with his cousin/best friend, I felt inspired and thought the special occasion called for a song.

The following was the result:

This isn't the best performance of my life, but you get the point.  This mama needs a creative outlet.  And apparently, making up songs has become the outlet of choice since having a kiddo!

Go Vikings!

The Zoo

Today was Caleb's first trip to the zoo!  My parents are currently in Duluth, and if there's one thing my family knows how to do, it's finding the nearest zoo and having a good time among the animal kingdom.  (I cannot tell you how many zoos we went to growing up...too many to count!)

The Lake Superior Zoo is a delightful little place with lions and tigers and bears, oh my!  As it turns out, a Monday in the middle of October is a great time to be at the zoo in Duluth because no one else is there.  We practically had the whole place to ourselves, and it was a sunny and beautiful day to walk around and see the animals.

Some fun facts:

* The lions stay out all winter in the Duluth cold!  They can go inside if they want, but they often stay outside and lounge around a heated rock in their enclosure.

* The Angolan colobus monkeys have four chambers in their stomach (like a cow) which allows them to eat food that other monkeys can't eat, which also allows them to produce more gas, and thus belching is socially acceptable in their monkey society :)

* The grizzly bear came from Anchorage, AK, and was flown to MN in a giant crate on a Northwest airline flight in the luggage compartment.  He was sedated, but woke up because there was also a carton of fresh salmon on the flight with him and he was making a ruckus because of it and the pilot had to come on the speaker and tell the passengers not to worry: the plane wasn't malfunctioning.... it was just the grizzly bear making noise in the belly of the plane!  (Can you imagine!!???)

Needless to say, we had fun at the zoo today!

Mama Horn, Caleb, and the snow leapord

with Grandma and Grandpa Clark

at Enger Tower, after our trip to the zoo

Three Decades

"Thirty was so strange for me.  

I've really had to come to terms with the fact 

that I am now a walking and talking adult."

~ C. S. Lewis

How true!  Sometimes Eli and I pause and stand amazed that we are truly in adulthood: we have graduate degrees that cost us intense time, money and brainpower, Eli is a physician who other people trust with their health, and we have a baby who is utterly dependent on us for literally everything in life.  How did we get here?  We've lived through three decades, that's how.  Well, Eli has at least :)  I've got more time in my beautiful 20s while my beloved husband turned 30 today.  And what a beautiful day it was!  Eli, miracle of miracles, had the day off and we relished some family time on a glorious October Friday.  Caleb was joyful as ever to be outside and snuggled with his daddy.

Happy Birthday, Eli!

Five Months

Another month has passed and our beautiful baby boy is as joyful as ever!  And I mean that truly: he is joyful.  Not just happy, but joyful!  The Lord has given this little big man a joyful spirit and we are blessed by it daily.  We get comments regularly about how smiley he is, and how radiant his personality is.  Caleb lights up a room and encourages people all the time, and we are so delighted in him!

Today is also special because my best friend Corrie is here!  She flew in last night to spend a couple days getting to know our moose baby and it's been so refreshing to be in her presence again.  She adores Caleb and we've had such a fun day already.  It's such a treat to have her here!

This is Corrie's first trip to Duluth so of course I started showing off the place by taking her around Canal Park.  We didn't see any ships come in, but it was good to walk to the lighthouse and see the lift bridge anyway.  The weather turned much cooler this past week so our walk was a bit brisk and breezy, but it didn't seem too bad to me since I'm a Duluthian now.  Corrie, on the other hand, (despite being a lifelong Michigander) thought it was quite cold today, hence her winter jacket and hat and gloves compared to my light rain jacket and no hat :)  I was a bit proud of my hardiness.  It already snowed here this past weekend, yet I feel confidant in my ability to conquer the Northland's dropping temps.

Come, O Winter, Come.  I will withstand you in all your snowy attempts to freeze me!

TALL, Dark, and Handsome

At Caleb's doctor appointment this week we learned that he is in the 100th percentile for height!  This was confirmed today when his cousin came to visit - Penelope is 5 months older than Caleb, but he is just as tall as she is!  This kid is truly Eli's boy.