Strommen Campbell Family

2010-06-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Wow! Haven't written here in a while. Is anyone still out there? Thought I'd add a recent picture. Lucy is all about coziness, lying in her crib as long as possible snuggling with her animals and blanket. She is also into bugs- especially bumble bees and catepillars. Theodore is a genius at building things from legos and what-not. Very creative

Ode to Fuzzy the Caterpillar

2009-10-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

Oh, Fuzzy the caterpillar, you were our first pet,
Theodore and Lucy would stare at you in fascination.
You ate you leaf and pooped an amazing amount,
But you could not be confined.

Oh, Fuzzy, named by Lucy, you were meant for bigger things,
when you started to fade and curl up, we grew afraid.
Papa set you free into a flower bed,
and minutes later you were gone.

Good luck, Fuzzy!

Goodbye, Trudy!

2009-09-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

Trudy came for a visit- 8 whole days! It was great. There was feasting, playing, not much working (except for taking care of fiesty Lucy and a needy Theodore). We are now back to regular work schedules and looking forward to a busy fall. But we are excited.

"Happy"

2009-08-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

We are chugging along this summer. It's been great having evenings home with Jon and being with the kids a lot. Jon and I enjoyed "Harry Potter" and have both been reading a lot. We have had some play dates with my sister and her kids, such as going to the Como Zoo.

So, here are the stories: Yesterday, Lucy ran to Jon and snuggled against him, leaning her head on his chest. She was smiling and then said, "happy". So cute!

Theodore and I were sitting on the front steps enjoying the world when he said, "Snakes are bugs". I said, "no, snakes are not bugs". He said, "yes, snakes are bugs". I told him the difference between the two and he thought that over and then said, "some snakes have beards". I told him that snakes didn't have any hair, if that is what he was thinking.

Very fun!

Potty Training and What Siri's Been Up To...

2009-06-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

Theodore is not interested in Potty Training. We bought him a Pooh Bear seat that goes on the regular toilet- which he picked out, we talk about the prizes he can get for potty training successes- to all he says, "Yes! But not yet!"

Siri is officially done with "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". She was directing the Youth Chorus and had no idea how much work it would be. She foolishly thought the kids would outgrow needing her. Not so much. The shows were amazing and all bursting at the seems with audiences. But now, summer begins!!! Wahoo!!

Back in Rochester

2009-06-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back safe and sound. The kids did pretty well on the airplane- thank goodness for "Baby Einstein" and portable DVD players. Here are a few more pictures of the vacation- just cause the kids are so cute!

Leaving On a Jetplane

2009-06-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

Well, after ten days with the Campbell family, we are saying goodbye. We went to Enchanted Forest, the Carousel, the beach, the Oregon Gardens, had a picnic in an old cemetary (yes), and all got a little tan.

The best part was seeing Theodore run around and actually play WITH his cousins. Lucy, well, you know... Here are a few pictures of our time together.

At the Oregon Coast

2009-05-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

The whole family (almost) went to the Coast on Sunday afternoon. Beautiful sunny day with lots of people, kids, and dogs. Theodore spent the entire time playing with shovels and buckets. Lucy was just busy checking everything out.

Memorial day, Theodore and I (Siri) ran to the nearby cemetery to witness bagpipers practicing and a civil war drum and piccolo band assembling. They were preparing for a big service. What sights and sounds!

Lucy's Words and Theodore, too

2009-05-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

Lucy has a good plethora of words like "cheese", "nana", "ball", and even "shoes". She is on a verbal roll, which is so fun to see!

Theodore has so many great thoughts and speaks in paragraphs. His big thing now is to create a nest out of animals and pretend to be a baby bird. He even asked me to find some eggs so he could sit on them. I found two small balls and he was thrilled!

Oxbow Park Day

2009-04-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

We spend a lovely day at Oxbow park, looking at all the indigenous animals of Minnesota. It was a beautiful day and so fun to emerge after months of cave-like dwelling. Here are some pictures of the fam (where is Siri? Always taking the pictures).

Theodore loves the outside. He is finally getting in his little car and driving all up and down the sidewalk, "grocery shopping" and going to the pito store. What's a pito? We can't figure it out, but it is at a particular neighbors front step where dried leaves serve as the necessary element to purchase. ????

Lucy the Fiesty One

2009-03-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was playing blocks with Theodore and Lucy wanted to get at them and knock them over. That is all- a strong, deep desire to knock over the blocks. I prevented her by holding her back, moving her away, and putting up my legs as a barrier. Oh, she was angry and threw herself on the floor to weep and sob. After several attempts to get through my mommy barrier, she resigned herself to walking slowly into the kitchen, arms outstretched in defeat, crying as mournfully as possible as if you say, "is there anyone who loves me?"

Well, of course I picked her up and sure enough, as I went back to the blocks, Theodore instantly knocked them all over himself.

Lucy is WALKING

2009-03-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of Lucy on the go. Her walking switch when on Wednesday, March 4 and she is getting better everyday. She is very proud of herself and shakes when she improves. She also loves all soft things, so we have a picture of her cuddling.
Finally, Jon and the kids are cuddling up on the couch in typical fashion.

Theodore and Lucy Stories

2009-03-03T11:03:00.001-08:00

Theodore: Jon took the kids to feed the geese at the park. After Theodore fed the geese some crackers, they started to walk away in a row. Jon said, "look, they are in a parade". Theodore said very quietly to himself, "but where are their instruments?"

Lucy: She loves her stuffed hippo and penguin and snuggles with them often by crawling up to them at a rapid pace and throwing her head into their tummies. Then she relaxes with them for a while. She is free standing more and more and more and once balanced, she can go up to 4 steps before she falls over. Poor Gooberlicious.

To Arizona and Back

2009-02-16T14:34:00.000-08:00

So, Siri (I) went to Arizona for 4 days. Of course, the first day it rained and was about 48 degrees. I went to a Lutheran retreat center called "Spirit in the Desert" for a clergy spiritual retreat. We learned about our need for spirituality, the roadblocks we often face in our calls to just that. We tried meditation, yoga, contemplation, and walking the Labyrinth.

On top of that, I got some hiking in, went out to dinner with all my other colleagues and enjoyed sleep and AWESOME food! But I missed the kidlets, so I am glad to be back.

Boxes Rock! And more stories

2009-01-24T07:48:00.000-08:00

We got Lucy a new carseat. It came in a giant box. The box is the best toy one could ever buy. Lucy goes insane when she sees it and even knocks it over on its side from inside like a giant hamster in a giant hamster wheel.

The other day when the family was at the breakfast table together, I left to get more coffee and Theodore said, "where did the fatten lady go?". At first we had no idea what he was saying and then Jon said, "Theodore, are you calling mom the fatten lady?" I came back in the room and he said, "There is the fatten lady". Well, we don't know where that came from- he certainly doesn't understand what he's saying, but we laughed and laughed! Maybe not such a good idea, since he may say it all the time now.

Christmas and Lucy's BD

2009-01-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Christmas. We have the Strommen clan over on Christmas Eve and Day. After lots of services and craziness, we managed to fit in Lucy's First Birthday. She got a cupcake which she sampled delicately and, after eating a bit, threw the rest overboard.

The kids got some great gifts from family. Theodore still loves singing "Jingle Bells/Jingle Bell Rock" and "Joy to the World" while he drums.

Little Drummer Boy

2008-12-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

Theodore loves his band/orchestra. The other day he organized all his instruments on the ground and searched to find animals to play them. Our Lego T-Rex got the cymbals. When all was ready, Theodore stood before them and waved his arms furiously to some Christmas music.
Yesterday I caught Theodore sitting beside all his percussion instruments, a music book propped up against his "music stand". He sat reverently before it all and began to sing "the wheels on the bus go round and round", eyebrows raised.
Finally, at the Wednesday night Advent night at church, our future conductor grabbed a real music stand, a hymnal and frantically started conducting and singing "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells". Our organist keenly observed that that song probably wasn't in the hymnal.

Lucy is Growing

2008-12-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

Lucy is growing! More teeth, more hair (mostly just in the back) and more skills. She has started to point to things, which is really cute. She dances, signs "all done" after meals, and is pushing anything she can for a walker. She loves to walk!

Theodore is 3!!

2008-12-11T11:29:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of Theodore, mama, and the cake that mama made. You maybe cannot see that there is our solar system on the cake. We celebrated on Thanksgiving day, which was, of course, the very day of Theodore's birthday. What a coincident!

Halloween and Haircut

2008-11-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

For Halloween, Theodore chose a ladybug costume and Lucy was a pumpkin. Theodore LOVED trick or treating and for the first time understood what was going on.
Theodore got his first haircut today- a non-mom haircut.

Getting into stuff

2008-10-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Lucy is getting into stuff. As the picture on the right demonstrates, we looked over and saw that Lucy had successfully opened a cabinet and was pulling out and exploring paper. She has grown curious and knows there is more to the world that meets the eye. One must OPEN things!
Lucy also likes to put things inside things, as of late. She has the urge to put our farm animals inside the siloh, her crackers inside a bowl, and bath toys over the edge. Why? Don't know. But it's cute.

Butt Boogie and more stories...

2008-10-26T06:35:00.001-07:00

Lucy is dancing. Whenever music comes on, she starts to do the "Butt boogie" as she sits on the floor, and sometimes adds off-beat clapping.
Sunday morning, Theodore and Lucy were having breakfast while I brushed my teeth. We had an Honors Choir CD in the background. I overheard Theodore say, "do you hear that music, Lucy? I do."
We went to a Halloween party yesterday at the gym and Theodore was dressed as a ladybug, Lucy as a pumpkin. Theodore kept trying to strip more and more as the party went on. Finally, as we got into the minivan to go home, Theodore succeeded. He drove home in a diaper and his church shoes.

Updates

2008-10-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

Updates about the kids- Lucy is clapping. For real! She'll clap to music, or when she sees something that makes her very happy. It's about the cutest thing ever, especially because her hands are so small compared to the rest of her. Small target!
The other day Theodore looked at me and said, "Those apple seeds were the best seeds that I ever ate." I had no idea where that came from. Theodore is also into pushing Lucy over when she's just sitting, minding her own business. Then, Theodore runs into timeout and smiles like he got away with something wonderful. Um... what do you do when your kid doesn't mind time-out?

Cousin's Wedding

2008-10-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Siri drove to Milwaukee with Lucy for her cousin, Erika's wedding. Lucy did awesome on the five hour drive, late night, hotel stay, and all around craziness. It was a wonderful weekend with lots of family. The best part was that Erika married a wonderful man!

Trudy Here

2008-09-29T07:21:00.001-07:00

Trudy, Jon's mother, has been our house guest and grammy extraordinaire for the last week. We are so happy to have her here, and Theodore loves all the attention. Pictures of our adventures forthcoming!

Godzilla Lucy

2008-09-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

Lucy is full out army crawling and moves as fast as she can toward whatever Theodore might be playing with . Lately that has been "cities" of soft blocks and his little cars. She wants both. She wants to eat them all and Theodore is still unsure how to process her destruction. She used to be so still!

Lucy finally cut a tooth on the bottom. She enjoys standing up against the couch and yells with all her might because she is so proud of herself.

Jon Composes, Siri Preaches

2008-08-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

Jon went to St. John's Abbey in Collegeville last week with other ELCA composers to work on new music for Holy Week. He had to do nothing but compose! How fun!

Siri went up to the cities to officiate at her friend Beth's wedding. Lucy came along.

Cabin Time

2008-08-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

In mid-august the Strommen family went to a cabin in Wisconsin. Children were ages 3, 2,1, and 7 months. It was interesting, to say the least.

However, at night we adults had plenty of "Hop Ching" chinese checkers time. Siri must let you know she won 2 of the 4 matches.

Lucy is bumping her butt and doing pushups to try to work on crawling. We are still waiting!

Giving us Our Lines

2008-07-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

Lately, Theodore has been giving us a lot of information by giving us our lines. Example: at dinner, he is whiny and eventually starts a lame cry.
Theodore: Why are you crying? Are you tired? Yes.

Well, we certainly learned something there. Again, when driving back from the gym Theodore spontaneously asks me "are you tired? Yes. Want to get the bears. Want to go lie in your bed."

Lucy is a squeeler, a gigantic smiler, and is rolling all over the room. We can tell from the way she moves her knees and scootches her butt up that she might be trying to figure out crawling.

The Wedding Singers

2008-07-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Jon and I sang with the other Honors Choir Directors/Spouses at a wedding. We sounded awesome, and we looked just as good! See?

Thank You!

2008-07-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

Theodore gives us our lines. One day he ran over to the couch and sat next to me and said, "I love you so much". Now, this is not his feeling, this is my line. So I say it. Often when Lucy is minding her own business with a toy, Theodore will round up all the pacifiers he can find and throws them at her feet (nearly missing her head) and says, "Thank you!".

Now, for a while when we get Theodore up from a nap or in the morning he will say, "you had a good nap." The problem is, we just took one side of his crib off to make it a BIG BOY transitional bed. He can get in and out. A few times he has crept downstairs unnoticed only to appear in the room saying "you had a good nap". "No, Theodore. You didn't. You didn't nap at all!"

Enchanted Forest

2008-07-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

We are flying back to MN, but here is a picture of our favorite Salem adventure- Enchanted Forest! There is nothing like this anywhere, and Theodore loved it! Even Lucy found some baby entertainment in it.

By the way, Theodore has ceased using "rigret" and uses "music" now. It is sort of sad, actually.

Wedding in Oregon

2008-07-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

Sara, Jon's sister, got married on Saturday. Siri was a bridesmaid! The wedding was beautiful, complete with bagpipers, kilts, string quartet, and Sara's vintage dress (her grandmother's 1944 wedding dress). Theodore wore a tartan vest and Lucy wore Sara's baptismal gown.

Theodore loves being with grammy and boppa, cousins galore, and plenty of aunts and uncles- not to mention Dunder Mifflin, the small fuzzy puppy. We are having a great time!

Bagpipes!

2008-06-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

So, we went to an outdoor concert of the Mayo Carillon bells and Bagpipes. Theodore couldn't believe his luck. He'd heard bagpipes on his favorite rigret song "Marching to Zion" by Amy Grant, but- golly- there they were! A whole bunch of them! As loud as they were, he didn't move an inch the whole concert.

Lucy sat up in the grass, feeling the cool breeze on her fat little legs.

June 2, 2008

2008-06-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Theodore is a musical guy! In the bathtub he takes two pitchers and puts them upside down and says, "Timpani!". He uses our funnel to blow in for a trumpet and plays the low part of the piano to add "drums". He is also our official church commentator. Throughout the service you can hear, "Kathie praying. Peter is talking also. That organ is on. The guitar is off. Papa is doing choir. Another rigret song!"

Open House

2008-05-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

So, for fun, we all went to a few open houses in Saturday morning. Lucky for us, there was no furniture in them, so Theodore could run all over with no chance of breaking anything. He flushed toilets, turned ceiling fans on and off.
Anyway, in one house another woman was also walking through at the same time. Theodore had just flushed a toilet and ran up to her and said, "you flushed the toilet". She looked at him, half smiling and said, "no, I was right here this whole time." I laughed and said, "you means 'me'. He doesn't have that I-you thing figured out." She nodded and smiled.
This is such a cute language leap for Theodore. Whenever we get him up from his nap he says, "you had a good nap". This is, of course, his report to us. If I am getting dressed he may say, " I am getting dressed". That means me, of course. Anyway, we have it figured out.

Thursday, April 24

2008-04-24T11:58:00.001-07:00

We have had some beautiful weather and some great outside time. Theodore loves to water the grass, plants, and his shoes with the watering can. He likes to put my sunglasses on- sometimes upside down. "Sunglasses on." He says.

Theodore plays the recorder and looks inside for the music. "Rigret in there." He says. (Rigret is Music- go figure). When we are at church and have finished singing a hymn he with say, "another rigret song." We assure him that, yes, in a few minutes we will sing another rigret song again.

A crazy week

2008-04-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a crazy weekend! Siri brought Lucy to her first ELCA synod Assembly with hundreds of other pastors and laypeople. Lucy got to hear Bishops and people who fight poverty from all over the country speak. Too bad she slept half the time.

Theodore continues to delight us with his language. When going through donations to the church Garage sale he squeeked "oh, oh!" in his highest voice before he found an old giant helicopter. This morning he picked up my sunglasses and put them on saying, "oh, my gosh! Sunglasses!"

Monday, April 14

2008-04-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

Lucy has rolled over! Three times! She arches her back so hard, trying to push up that she quickly finds herself on her back. And boy is she surprised.

Bonky-bonk

2008-04-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

So, I slipped down the last few stairs in the basement and lay there going "uhhhh". Jon and Theodore ran to see how I was. Theodore said, "What happened? Mama bonky-bonk." Yes, I said. Mama bonky-bonk. My butt is sore, but other than that I was fine.

Theodore's language is so funny and constantly reminds us what we must say all the time. "Oh, I see it. Actually, right there."

Monday, April 7

2008-04-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

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