To a far, far better place...

Without going into the details, we have decided to move to another house in Hibbing. Let's just say that Dibley Manor was not a good fit for the family. As of September 28, we will be in residence at the new house, which we have dubbed "Roses Cottage."

Some background: when Chuck came to Hibbing in January, he had no permanent place for the family, so, while he looked for one, he was allowed to stay in a house owned by a member of the library board. This place was really the home of that lady's mother, who had been moved to an assisted living facility. It is a fantastic little house, well kept and in great structural shape. But it was sitting empty and Cole thought that was a shame, so she convinced the owners to let us rent it. The lady who used to live there is named Rose, so in her honor, we dubbed the house "Roses Cottage." (We love how the British name their homes!)

Once we are there, we'll give you some updates. Till then:

A conversation with Miriam

As Miri gets older, she is becoming more articulate...and hilarious. Here is a conversation she had with Cole yesterday:

Miri: I want another banana.
Me: Eat the one in your bowl (not only do we not have anymore, but she has had this partially eaten banana in her breakfast bowl two days in a row).
Miri: No! It's yucky.
Me: It's fine, see (I take a bite).
Miri: Yuck! I want some cake.
Me: No cake, eat your banana.
Miri: No! Cake!
Me: No. You're not getting anything else until you eat that banana.
Miri: I want juice!
Me: Eat your banana first.
Miri: Grrr! *sticks out tongue*
Me: Well I guess your not that hungry.
Miri: I want butter bread.
Me: No, you let Frippen eat the piece I gave you before. Eat your banana.

A few moments pass....

Miri: I'll be right back. (she picks up banana) Momma, I'll be _right_ back_.
Me: Okay, where are you going?

Miri walks into kitchen and opens the silverware drawer.

Me: Miri, what are you doing? You aren't supposed to be in there.

She gets a small paring knife, I move swiftly toward her.

Me: Miri, you aren't supposed to have knives, put that down.
Miri: I do it. I cut the banana.
Me: Why are you cutting the banana? Let me help. (I cut a little bit off the top)
Miri: Thank you Momma. (She then happily proceeds to eat the "yucky" banana.)

What on Earth was all that about?!? The offensive banana suddenly becomes desirable with a sliver cut off the top? I'm not entirely sure who won that arguement.

Go Miri! Get busy!

Though we have no idea what she is singing...

A Sponge-tastic Party

According to reliable sources, July 14 is Spongebob's birthday. So we decided to throw him a birthday party at the Hibbing Public Library. There was cake, punch and prizes for everyone who sang "Happy Birthday" to everyone's favorite sponge.

As you can see in the group picture, Miriam made sure the guest of honor showed up!

Sleepy Frip

Our buddy Jenn has always had the ability to get Frippen to be still. Here is photographic proof. Thanks, Jenn for both the photo and the calm dog!

All sliding, all the time

The great thing about living in a small town is that it is easy to get to the playground. And, as always, play "Spot Frippen" in this video.

Another reason to love northern Minnesota

On the evening of June 25, we turned on the air conditioner in our bedroom for the first time. It had been cool enough to sleep till then!