Elmo in Concert

We went to see Elmo and Sesame Street perform live tonight up in Everett. We had great seats that were very close to the stage. The monsters got so close, that I think they scared Christian a little bit.

Christian has been super excited about going to the show. He is a huge Elmo fan. On the way home he said "Elmo sure is a great singer."

Campbelle, on the other hand, told me this morning that she was "only a little bit excited for the show." You see, she's a big girl and Sesame Street is for toddlers.

I ask you, does this look like the face of someone only a little bit excited to see Elmo??

First, Last, Now Meme

I've missed these Tammy - it gives me something to blog about!

First
First job: Kid job - babysitter; College job – Juvenile Delinquent Counselor; Real job – English Teacher
First screen name: jdais – Not very clever or secretive
First funeral: A family friend Dianne Olsen
First pet: A Dog, we’ve had many… maybe Cinnamon – I always liked her best
First piercing: Ears – when I was about 7
First tattoo: Peace Sign on my ankle.
First credit card: don’t know…maybe in college.
First kiss: Thaddeus Kunz – he kissed all the girls in kindergarten.
First enemy: I remember in 2^nd grade being teased by 6^th grade girls (who shall remain nameless, okay maybe not - Carmen Obenauer and Beth Isaak) about a Jog Suit that I was wearing. It stated clearly on the chest ‘Jog Suit’ and they would laugh and tease me saying “Dog Suit” - wow, how cruel!

Last
Last car ride: Our nightly drive out to the new house to see how construction is going.
Last kiss: Leif – in the car after taking about the new house – the kids were present so it wasn’t anything big!! J
Last movie watched: Déjà vu – Not so great
Last beverage drank: Taking Rain Sparkling water with Berry flavor
Last food consumed: Spinach Salad
Last phone call: Leif on his way home from work
Last time showered: 8:00am
Last CD played: Black Holes and Revelations by Muse
Last website visited: Zune – to get my music started

Now
Single or taken: "Taken" for almost 7 years…wow.
Birthday: January 13, 1973.
Sign: Capricorn
Siblings: Older sister Tammy, younger sister Gina
Hair color: brown
Eye color: Blue
Shoe size: can you believe 11!
Height: 6’
Wearing: sweatpants, a t-shirt and flip-flops.
Drinking: Taking Rain Sparkling water with Berry flavor
Thinking about: Why Campbelle won’t go to bed… I’ve heard Leif tell her to get back to her room 3 times since I’ve been blogging
Listening to: Black Holes and Revelations by Muse

Fun in the Sun

I have been meaning to air out the tent for the past couple weeks - since Relay was over on June 7 - and never got around to it until today. The kids thought it was so much fun. We had been to the library that morning, so they took all the books and blankets (don't ask me why, it was 75degrees) and had themselves a little book party where Campbelle 'read' all the books aloud. Having them play in a tent is a great way to 'spy' on them, they play unaware that an adult is listening. I just love their little imaginations and I really love it when they play so well together.

I Love you Just B'Cousin!

When we were in the Cities visiting Tammy, we decided to go to JCPennys and have the kids photographed together. At first I thought Tammy's idea a bit crazy, she hasn't ever taken family photos with the Brenne kids and between melt-downs and monster smiles, it's not always a pleasant sight! However, I think because Maddie and Will seemed to be enjoying themselves and smiling normally, my kids complied as well.

The results, I must say, are pretty adorable!

Campbelle's Preschool Class

Last week was the last day of preschool for Campbelle. I think she will miss all the excitement and playing with her buddies. But we look forward to a nice long summer and will try to stay busy with activities.

Next year, both Campbelle and Christian will be going to the same school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings 9:15-12:45. Yeah me! Oh, I mean what a great experience for the children! haha

My Guitar Heros!

We've finally become 'gamer cool' in the Brenne household. Leif received the Guitar Hero game for Father's Day today, and we've all (yes, I admit it) we've all been enjoying it. Christian wants to be a rock star when he grows up, right now his song list consists of "Surrender" by Cheap Trick and "Old McDonald". Campbelle wants to be a girl rock star and form a band called "Glamor Girls" , they of course, will only wear pink dresses. And as for Leif, he is slowly working on his own career with the Pink Toads - I think Campbelle had something to do with the naming of his band. We mean serious rock and roll business in this house - and I think this may just have been Leif's dream Father's Day... all of us, playing X-box together. Nearly brought a tear to his eye.

You've GOT to be kidding me?!?!

So today we officially became renters in our current house. Closing happened today. And if you've talked to me at all in recent days, I've joked about how strange it will be to be renters in our own home for the next 40 days. I've quipped about the dish washer breaking down, spilling a cup of coffee on the carpet, or some other disasterous thing going wrong.

I shouldn't have joked!

After returning from the gym, I was about to jump in the shower this morning, when Campbelle came running into my bathroom and said that water was dropping on her head. Surely, she must be kidding. Surely, she has heard me joke about being renters and her 4 year old self developed a sense of ironic comedy. Surely, Christian was standing on her dresser spitting on her from above. No such luck.

Indeed our roof is leaking. Contractors are coming to inspect this afternoon. Leif sheepishly called our new landlords to break the news to them. I think they handled it well. Let's hope for a quieter 39 remaining days!

Damn all this Seattle rain!

I Love Bubble Tea

We just stopped for a bubble tea tonight while driving out to the new house - there's a place called The Bubble Shack just near our house. And as I'm sipping on this cool, refreshing, and I like to think healthful, drink - I just thought I'd share my love of this drink with all of you. I didn't know that much about the drink, except that it's really good and comes from Asia someplace, so I Googled it (I mean, msn.com'ed) it when I got home. Below is a clip of what I found out. So, if you ever find a bubble tea place, maybe you'll be tempted to give it a try. My favorite is the Taro Root.

Bubble Tea originated in Taiwan in the early 1980's at a small tea stand.

Elementary school children would look forward to buying a cup of refreshing tea after a long, hard day of work and play. Tea stands were set up in front of the schools and would compete for business with the best selling tea. One concession owner became popular with her tea when she started adding different fruit flavoring to her tea. Because of the sweet and cool taste, children loved the taste. Soon, other concessions heard about the "unique" and popular tea, so they started to add flavoring to their teas. When adding flavor, the tea and flavoring needed to be shaken well for a good all around taste. This formed bubbles in the drink, which came to be known as "Bubble Tea."

In 1983 Liu Han-Chieh introduced Taiwan to tapioca pearls. The new fad was to add tapioca pearls into a favorite drink. Most of the time tapioca pearls were served in cold infused tea. After the tea and flavor were shaken well, it topped tapioca pearls that were sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. The tapioca pearls also looked like bubbles, thus also became to known as "Bubble Tea." Bubbles floated on the top your drink and bottom of your drink.

Bubble drinks are usually cool, refreshing, and a sweet drink with tapioca pearls sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. Sometimes the drink is made with fresh fruits, milk, and crushed ice to create a healthy milk shake. You can also find drinks that are made of powdered flavoring, creamer, water, and crushed ice. And if you like it like the Asians do, the cool drink usually includes a healthy tea, infused by a flavoring.

An Afternoon at the Farm

We signed up for the cool farm program this summer where you purchase a share of a local farmers organic crops. Then every Tuesday afternoon we get to go out to the farm and pick up any of the produce that is ready. Today was the first day and we had a blast. After a nice picnic, we loaded our bags and our tummy's full. Some items are 'U-Pick' items, but most are ready, cleaned and waiting for us to load our bags. The 'U-Pick' items were a huge hit - peas and strawberries. The peas we could take home, but the strawberries were labeled 'pick and eat' - meaning eat immediately what you pick. I'm not sure if I see any kid stuff as many strawberries into his mouth as Christian did, and Campbelle was the best one at finding pea pods on the vine.

The farm also has some animals. Today, we visited the chickens, and all was good until Christian got his fingers peeked by one. I'm pretty sure the ordeal has soured him on all things chickeny - maybe even chicken nuggets!

We are looking forward to our Tuesday adventures to the farm throughout the summer.

Tammy's Small Town tribute Post

I've been waiting for this post from Tammy for awhile now, well, since Gina and I drove around town taking pictures with her.

If any of you have any interest in knowing a little bit about where I grew up. Check out her post about small towns. Some of my friends who've grown up here in the Northwest or in Norway, may have a hard time trying to image such a world. But it does exist, and is truly very special. Enjoy!

Very good Broccoli Recipe

Ok, so this may seem like a lame post, you may be saying "Broccoli, really Jill!!" But trust me, it is very good.

Pan Roasted Broccoli
3 tbs water
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
(Combine and let salt dissolve)

1 tbs peanut butter
1 tbs hoisin sauce (I didn't have any, but had the Trader Joe's Chinese 5 Spice stuff - pretty much the same)
2 tsp lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp Asian chili sauce
2 tbs veg oil
1 3/4 lbs broccoli (Florets cut into 1 1/2 in pieces, stems trimmed and cut in half)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 tbs chopped peanuts

Heat oil in skillet until smoking. Add broccoli stems and cook until browned (2 min). Add florets and toss, cook until brwon (2 min). Add water/salt mix and cover skillet for 2-3 min. Add basil and the peanut butter mix and toss until coated and heated through. Garnish with chopped peanuts.

Truly a great side dish with Asian flare!

This one's for you Will!

Tammy had heard from a co-worker about a method to get children to stop sucking their thumb: Have them drink applesauce through a straw every night before bedtime for two weeks. I'm not sure how it could possibly work, but I'm willing to give it a try. I'll keep you all posted on the results.

DAY #24

We are at the 1/2 way point in construction, and all looks good.

Our summer visit

We made it! We were greeted with huge smiles in the airport - everyone really excited to see one another. I can't believe it had been a whole year since we were last 'home.' We had a full schedule the first week - first off to Eureka, SD to visit Grandpa Jerry and Marva, then to Bismarck, ND to see my cousin Jordan graduate from high school. Then back to St. Michael to celebrate the twins 9th birthday. It was so much fun. We got to see all my family and spend loads of hours just talking and laughing. As much as we love our live in Seattle, we really do miss so much about the midwest - family #1.

On our way to South Dakota, we stopped at my Aunt Nancy's school for a quick visit and bathroom break. Luckily, it was their last day of school, because we were a pretty big disruption. Nancy got Leif to talk to her class of 1st and 2nd graders about Norway. He read a book in English and then in Norwegian to them. He translated tons of words for them and was even asked for his autograph!! What a super star!

Campbelle in Aunt Nancy's house of boxes. Her kids had been collecting cereal boxes all year to constuct this project. Very cool!

Campbelle learned to swing (and pump her legs) all by herself during our vacation. And believe me, she was swinging every chance she got. She said "Look at me, I'm a swinger girl"

I guess he's just a Swinger Guy

We got to hang out with our good friends the Strangs one day. It was so much fun to see Nolan and Aidyn. The kids got along great. Nolan even let Campbelle 'dude-up' his hair. See Kristi's blog for photos!

Campbelle and Madison read everynight before bedtime. Madison was so good and sweet to Campbelle - Campbelle thinks the world of her. At home today, as Campbelle was playing Polly Pockets, she announced 'It's just not the same without Maddie"

Christian and Maddi doing some spin art!

There was always lots of hugs to go around. Uncle Bill got some loving from Christian

Will and Christian have the same t-shirts. It says "I do all my own stunts" and after the accident prone week Christian had - including black eye from falling into the chair, blackened cheeck from being thrown across the yard when hit by a swing, blackened goose-egg head from a fall at the playground - I would venture to say that Christian's not so great at doing his own stunts!

Camouflage power!! I think Madison was a good influence on Campbelle's quest to become more 'well rounded (as she says). It seems her need to wear dresses every day has diminished slightly. Girls can be cute and adorable - and tough - while wearing camouflage.

Christian could have been glued to Will for the two weeks if he had his way. Will is definately his best buddy! I was surprised to not have more tears from Christian when we said goodbye to everyone at the airport on Thursday - but it took Christian until we sat down on the plane and then he looked around and asked "Where's Will?" When I broke the sad news that Will had to stay in Minnesota, Christian said "Wwwwwhaaaat?? (like it was unbelievalbe) and was very, very sad.

We love you Gallaghers. Thanks for a great, great time. They've promised to come visit in August (now the world knows you've committed!). See you then!