Mourning the loss of my dear Aurora

Thanksgiving went pretty well. Made the wonderful trek across the river to WI for my family's Thanksgiving. Our schedule was noon in Wisconsin, 4pm back in MN for hubby's family. Great schedule for a small child, but that is a whole other rant. So we finished up lunch and went to drive back and my car's transmission went out, 20 minutes from my parents house. We turned around and drove back to my parent's house in second gear- the only gear that was working. My mom was nice enough to lend me the Suburban so we could continue on our merry way but it was 6pm by the time we arrived at dinner, oh well. Better late then never. And poor daughter complained about being car sick the whole drive down. On the way back, she kept getting upset that we had Grandma's car and we needed to give it back! Poor dear did not get a nap.

I think Rob is having a harder time letting go of the Aurora then I am. A new transmission will cost more then the car is worth! I finally told hubby, there is NO WAY we are getting it fixed. I think it is finally sinking in. It has been a fantastic car, I've had it for almost ten years and it has 225,000 miles on it. I think about the places it has taken me and it is incredible. It has taken me to Door County twice- girl's weekend and anniversary. It has taken me to more funerals then I really care to have gone too: Nikky's Funeral, Grandma's Funeral, and most recently a 12 hour drive out to Montana for my Uncle's funeral. It has always gotten me home safely. Even this time, it got us back to my parents safely.

We will probably wait to buy another car until Rob has found a job. Fortunately, with both of us home, we can make do with one car for a while. We still have Mom's Suburban and my dad really wants us to consider purchasing it. I really don't do that much driving so a Suburban would be fine if we didn't already have the Explorer. I am excited at the idea of car shopping, but hubby will not be doing the price negotiating!

New Nicole Pictures

Well Nicole's 3rd birthday photos turned out. It is hard to take a bad picture of her. You put a camera in front of her and she turns into the biggest ham. I really wish it was as easy to take pictures of all the daycare kids. Some of them are a little hard to take pictures of. I really don't envy a child photographer's job. They squirm and look everywhere but where you want them too. I think it might be easier to photograph monkeys.

We tried a new photographer for our family photos today- thanks hot mama for the recommendation! We went to Flash digital photography in Minnetonka. They did a great job and I can't wait to pick them up on Tuesday!

Nicole "Reading" her favorite book

Rob decided to record Nicole Reading to him last night. It is pretty darn cute so I thought I'd share it. I had nothing to do with it, I was away at a training class. One thing I am really proud of is Rob puts her to bed every night, they read together and he does an excellent job of it. It is really daddy/daughter time. Plus after being with her all day, it really is nice to have a break.

The training I went to was a giant waste of time. It's two hours of my life I want back. I hate parenting classes that are taught by people who do NOT have children. Classroom experience is completely different then first hand knowledge. It also convinced me that we want to do everything in our power to enroll Nicole in a private christian school. (the training class teacher works in the public school and spreads her agenda there). Yuck, oh well, only 2 more training classes to go for this year!!!

Family photos, no, frustration Yes!

Well, our family photo experience was awful, terrible, frustrating and just plain dumb. We went to JcPenney in Minnetonka because they are reasonably priced (hubby being laid off, we have to be a little price conscious)and they have done a fantastic job in the past. They were running over an hour behind on their appointments, the holiday background was broken and our photographer was awful. She would only snap one photo at a time and only did six of the family. I told her from the beginning that the family photo was the most important thing for us, I want something we can use in our Christmas cards. One of the poses she had us in was just shocking, it was rather inappropriate and would have given Grandma a heart attack when she opened the Christmas card. She had Nicole & I lay on the floor and with Rob over the top. All you see is right down my shirt, bra and everything! I did not have a low cut shirt on either, the pose was just dumb! What about us would make her think we'd enjoy a boob-shot for our family photo. Rob liked it but he is a typical guy. The other family photos were equally as horrible- Cole not looking at the camera, Cole's face obstructed by my boob, do you sense a theme here? Either I need a reduction or a different photographer. I have never taken just one picture at a time, when I am photographing the kids. You always take more pictures to make sure you get a good one. So we left frustrated, not ordering anything, had lunch and came back. They ignored my request for help when we came back so I finally literally grabbed the manager by the arm and said help us we just want to order a couple pictures of our daughter. I told the manager how mad I was at the family photos. She gave use the photos of Nicole for free but still it took the entire day, we were there from 10-12 and 1-2 to get that. I should have ordered a boob shot for my friend hot mama- she would have at least thought it was funny.

We did a family photo last summer for church when I took over leadership of Women's Ministry. All we did was set up a tripod in the backyard and use the timer and I really liked how it turned out (it's also my profile photo). We were thinking we could do that again for our Christmas family photo. I'm going to see if a friend at church could do them. We live on a beautiful park reserve, we could go out in the woods and trails. Anything would be better then the ding-dongs at JCP.
On the positive side, I really have to praise Jared the Galleria of Jewelry in Maple Grove. We have been having problems with our wedding rings (not purchased at Jared). Three different people and the manager all worked with me for over an hour and a half to brainstorm ideas and try and figure out a solution to the problem. The the lab even re sized my rings the same day so I could have them for the family photos. We still are not sure why we are both suddenly allergic to our rings but they did suggest some things we can try. We are starting with the inexpensive suggestions and working our way up from there. The most expensive suggestion being replacing them with platinum. Not really am option right now and we do love our rings. Well, I am praying something will work.