Fun With The Web Cam

Kara's Birthday Lunch at Benihana

Last November when Erik took me on a surprise date to Benihana with our friends Chad and Katie, I was sure that it was my favorite restaurant of all time. So when Erik told me that I could choose any restaurant in the cities to go to for my birthday this year, I was more than excited to go to Benihana again.

Skogen, sitting like a big boy in the highchair

Skogen watching the "volcano" that the chef made for us with our onions

Daddy and Maida enthralled by the chef's performance (they make your food for you right at your table)

Erik had some sort of "sushi lunch boat" and Maida had shrimp

I had filet mignon with mushrooms, fried rice, zucchini, and onions

Erik in Maida's Benihana chef hat

Fixing Maida's hair

The birthday girl and Skogen!

Maida took our picture!

Self portraits

Maida got rainbow ice cream for dessert and shared it with Daddy and Skogen

Maida in Nana's sunglasses (oh yeah, Nana - I forgot to tell you that you left these in our car when we were down in Oklahoma! :) We'll save them for when you come up!)

Maida took a picture of Daddy

We had such a great time!!! I ate more than I should have (and a lot more than I was able to when we were there in November because I was pregnant with Skogen and my stomach didn't have as much room)! Before we left the servers sang me happy birthday and gave me a free Green Tea ice cream dessert. NUMMY!

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

49 minutes ago I was officially closer to 30 years old than 20. Wow.

I got a Roomba for my birthday. Erik surprised me with one a few weeks ago! I had never considered getting one before because I guess I just figured that if I had a robot that did my vacuuming, and I was supposed to be this stay-at-home-supermom, people would realize that maybe I wasn't so "super" and that I was lazy or something. Well, it's turned out to be really nice. "Rosie" (after The Jetson's maid Rosie) vacuums almost every night, sometimes twice, and I never have to worry about laying down a baby on

dog hair for a diaper change. Very awesome birthday present!

I also got a gift card from my thoughtful in-laws, and some money from my sweet parents, so I thought maybe I'd go buy our living room some new curtains! It's so funny that now that we are homeowners, any extra time or extra money - even gift money - goes into the house. Speaking of time, I stepped back today and thought about how much time I'd have on my hands if we hadn't bought a house this year! The hours, alone, that we've just spent in Home Depot dreaming of what we could do to our little place, amazes me. Maida is now even able to recognize the Home Depot sign and will point it out to us while driving down the highway if we pass it. Today I asked her what she wanted to do this afternoon and she said, "Go to Home Depot for a little while."

She also overheard today that it was going to be my birthday and before I tucked her into bed tonight she very seriously and excitedly informed me that tomorrow she is going to make me a cake for my birthday. So thoughtful. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Season of Contentness

About this time of year I get that craving - the craving for snow.

If I wake up on a chilly summer morning and walk outside, I can almost smell the snow that melted just a couple months before, and it reminds me of how much I love it. I like to look out the windows and imagine what this same place looked like all covered in white. I try to remember what it was like to bundle up in layers every time I stepped out of the door or how it felt to trudge through the snow to the mailbox. As much as I love living in a place where we get to experience all four seasons, I have to admit that I really live here for the winters. There's no place else I'd rather be.

It is my season of contentness.

Along with the cold and snow of the winter I crave so badly, I also crave the quiet time that winter holds. It is so priceless to snuggle up in a down-filled blanket, over a cup of hot cocoa, and watch it snow while reading a good book, daydreaming about the future, or (my favorite) talking to God. There is nothing better than watching the snowflakes dance slowly to the ground, shimmering and shining in the sun, and noticing how God's beauty decorates our world. At times like these I feel and see God's presence everywhere around me.

Even without the glimmering, shimmering white kissing our tree tops and rolling hills, and a hot cup of cocoa, I have still found God's presence at work this summer. Even through the seasons and storms of life, I have seen his glory shine through. God earnestly listens to our prayers and God lovingly answers our prayers, which is why I am listing these people and families here and on the blog, so that you all can help pray for them in these storms - that they will find their season of contentness, something we all yearn for.

* Baby Stellan - 8 month old baby stellan is back in the hospital with SVT. The doctors are puzzled with his case and are experimentally trying different routes and ways to make him

comfortable. His family lives here in Minnesota and I got a chance to meet them last week. Precious, God living, God fearing family. Read Stellan's story here.

* Scott - our good friend Scott has sarcoma and has been living in Philadelphia temporarily with his wife and four young kids for treatments. They are now on their way home and as the tumor has shrunk, more tumors have popped up. Please pray for safe travels and for healing. Scott keeps a daily journal of his life with cancer here. (There is a prayer button on the upper right side of my blog for Scott with the code to add it to your blog, too.)

* Kerry - my cousin who has just recently gone through a divorce, just got his first job as a surgeon, and moved to a new city. There are a lot of other things on his plate right now, besides all of these life changing events, and I pray that comfort, peace, understanding, acceptance, and love will fill his soul again.

* Brandon and Karlie - Erik's brother and his wife. Brandon just decided to go back to school and this decision, as well as the process of applying, including prerequisites and taking the GRE (among other things) have been really stressful on Karlie.

Psalm 34:8

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.

********

By the way, I just got my husband to serve me a cup of hot cocoa while writing this post. It was the closest thing to winter that I could put my hands on right now! Mmmmmmm ... rich milk chocolate contentness...

On the Charts

Skogen had his six (SIX- can you believe it?!) month doctor appointment yesterday. He's finally on the charts! He's in the 90th percentile for the height (27 3/4") and 95 percentile for his weight (20# 11oz). Perfect little boy. We had several concerns to present to the pediatrician, the main one being his skin problems. According to Dr. P, we are doing everything right. Skogen's eczema turned into impetigo a few weeks ago, which brought us into the doctor for some additional medication, but now that the impetigo is gone, the plan is to just keep doing what we have been doing (Eucerin, Vanicream, Aquafor, Cetephil every two hours, Triamcinolone on the bad-bad spots, and a bath only once a week). Dr. P really thinks this is something that Skogen will grow out of. That was good to hear.

Time Flies...

when you're having fun!

Our summer is just passing us by so quickly that I haven't had the time to sit and blog for a while. There is so much to catch up on and so many memories that I wish I could have documented, but we were without internet for a while and then once we got internet, we started re-doing our kitchen and now my evenings (which used to be free after the kids went to bed) are cram-packed with unpacking and decorating. Anyway, I thought I'd just highlight some of the recent happenings with the Scharrer family....

wedding

On July 11th, my cousin's son, Nathan, got married out on the same lake that Erik and I got married on. I took the kids to be there for the special day and it was fun to see some old family members again and meet some new ones, too. Maida had a blast meeting her two cousins Audrey and Reese! They played and played. There are a ton of picures of Audrey and Maida on Audrey's blog (you should go check them out!). Audrey and Maida seemed to be the best of friends right from the start. The cool thing is that Audrey and her mommy and daddy only live a few miles from our new house, so some play dates in the future would be really fun!

softball

Erik has been playing softball on our church's softball league every Monday night. It has been a great break away from house projects and a time where Erik can get some sports in, I can get some adult time in, and Maida can play with kids her age. We have been so blessed to move back to the cities and be with out church family again. It is almost as if we were never gone.

company

My brother, Tony, and his friend, Mary, and their kids came for a visit. They were our first real company (besides my parents) and it was fun to show off our new house. It was also fun to finally have a place to sleep that many people!

MckMama

Last Saturday, I went with my friend, Hannah, and her two girls to meet MckMama, baby Stellan, and the family. She had a "MckPicnic" for families in our area and it was fun to finally see this family in person and to see the baby that we've all been praying for. I was so nervous to talk to MckMama, but Hannah did most of the talking, and so I didn't feel too uncomfortable. She was so nice and her kids were sooooo cute! It was awesome to meet such a "famous" person in such an intimate setting. It was also nice to see Hannah, who I haven't seen since Maida and Emily were babies. Now Hannah is expecting their third baby and I am so happy for them! (Thank you, Hannah, for the pictures from the picnic!)

**You should be able to click on any of the pictures above to make them bigger, but for some reason my computer isn't doing that for me! I'll see if I can work on it and figure out how to make them expandable. Pictures of the house and updates more often are coming!

Maida Telling About Jesus

We have been blessed with having great Bible school teachers for Maida. She has been going to Bible school since she was three weeks old and has really learned a lot in such a short time. It's amazing to me how much she already understands!

Fourth of July 2009

The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. I can't imagine the Fourth without family, fireworks, and lots of food. I also can't imagine the Fourth without Minnesota. This year we were fortunate to spend the Fourth out on the lake where Erik and I got married! It was just beautiful. We went out on the boats to watch the fireworks, but Maida fell asleep not even two minutes before they launched the first blast, and slept through the whole show even though they were launching them off from the beach right in front of us and right over our heads. She's her daddy's daughter!

Maida will never forget this Fourth of July, though, for different reasons. Friday night, July third, we were just finishing up a bath before bedtime and Maida slipped and fell on grandma's tile floor in the bathroom. She landed right on her chin since her hands were wrapped up in the towel (like a burrito). Her chin split open and Erik and I spent the next three hours in the emergency room with her. The doctor we saw decided to glue it shut. Maida was a tough girl while getting it scrubbed out and fixed up. She didn't cry, however she did ask before the doctor started with the procedure, "Mommy, can I cry just a little bit?" It was so cute and we told her it was okay to cry. Having daddy there to hold her was comforting.

Some of my favorite memories of the weekend were.... our cousin's kickball game, Aunt Carol's homemade ice cream, the big boat Jared rented, being at the cabin, spending time with my nephew Darin, the parade, the pie contest that three family members entered (and my niece Sarena won for her age group), the 5K I didn't get to run because I was in the ER with Maida the whole night before, a random guy with a pet snake around his neck walking down the road, the bat game, the music, and the dancing on the boats before the fireworks started, and the devotional Erik gave around the camp fire.

All Moved

We're finally all moved! We are so excited. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we're happy to finally have our own place. THANK YOU to everyone who came to help load the truck up in Duluth. We got it loaded fairly quickly and enjoyed some pizza in the garage before saying goodbye to everyone. That night after we got the truck loaded, we heard on the 10pm news that there was a midnight 5K run down on the lakewalk, so on the spur of the moment, and since I had been training for a 5K anyway, Erik talked me into it we decided to do it. Luckily my parents were in town and were able to stay with the kids. While running, I thought I was going to die and even had to walk some of the time, but crossing the finish line was so rewarding, especially since I didn't get last place! Anyway, I got tied up in Duluth the next day cleaning, but Erik drove down and unloaded the truck with the help of some friends. THANK YOU to everyone that was there. We have been so blessed with friends who care and who are always there to help. The truck was unloaded in only about an hour!