Skogen's Fourth Birthday - Pirates

I love that I don't have to hire a marching band, set up house-size inflatables, and buy out a party store just to throw a party for my kids.  They are so happy with so simple.  

This year for Skogen's birthday, he asked for four people to come celebrate with us:  Bumpa, Grandma, Grant, and Hailey.
So simple.

He requested a pirate theme, which was awesome because we had decorations left over from a "Pirate and Fairies" party that we had when Maida turned three!  

So simple.

Our kids hardly ever get pop or candy, so when they see me come home with a two liter and a bag of tootsie rolls, they consider it a wild party.  

So simple.

Our dining room table turned into pirate ship, paper mustaches, balloons, cardboard treasure chests,  red bandannas, pirate coloring sheets, and not only pop, but ice cream in their pop - according to the kids, this was the "BEST PARTY EV-AHHH!"  

So simple.

Skogen's 4th Bday from Kara Scharrer on Vimeo.

Here's how the "BEST PARTY EV-AHHH!!!" went down...
 We got pizzas for dinner to have with our rootbeer floats.  After eating, the kids colored pirate coloring sheets that I printed from here.  They loved coloring so much and were so proud of their work that I decided to display all the pictures under our counter.  They loved seeing their pictures hung up!  Then we played "Pin the X on the Treasure Map."  I bought a few treasure maps from Hobby Lobby in the party section and cut red X's out of construction paper.  The kids loved this game!  After the treasure map game, I had made up a scavenger hunt for the kids and hid some treasures.  They absolutely loved running around the house finding all the clues.  Good thing Maida's older friend, Hailey, was here because she was able to read all the clues for the kids.  They enjoyed their treasure boxes of eye patches, compasses, and gold coins (all purchased at Hobby Lobby).  After this we went downstairs where we played "Cannon Ball Pop."  The kids each had a black balloon (which was supposed to be a cannon ball) tied to their ankle.  They were supposed to run around and try to pop each others balloons.  The last one with their balloon still inflated won.  The game didn't exactly go as planned - the kids couldn't get the balloons to pop!  So, after several minutes of the kids running around crazy, we called it a tie.  The last game of the night was breaking a pinata.  This also didn't go as planned - the kids couldn't get the pinata to break! It went on and on and on.  Finally we had the moms take turns and when we still couldn't get it to break, Erik whacked it a good one a couple times and the kids ran for the long-anticipated candy.  We finished off the night with a few presents and cupcakes.

Happy FOURTH Birthday, Skogen!

Skogen!  It's your birthday!!!!  You are FOUR years old!  This evening I read you a book that I made online of the story of your birth.  You were amazed to see what I looked like with you in my belly and you smiled and beamed when I showed you how happy your Daddy, your sister, and I all were to welcome you into this world.  We are still so happy to have you, Skogen, and feel so privileged to be your family.  Even though we aren't celebrating until Friday with your friends, I decided to go ahead and have a special day for you.  In fact, you have had a special week!  Daddy took you to the cities with him for a one of his eye doctor appointments and because you were so good, he took you to ride some rides at the Mall of America.  You love alone time with Daddy and haven't stopped talking about being with Daddy and riding on the rides since you got home.  

This morning I had some presents on the breakfast table and some pancakes with frosting and sprinkles waiting for you when you woke up.

I also decorated your door with streamers and balloons!

When you woke up, you had no idea what to think of the balloons.  You knew they were for you, but it was almost like you were so happy and excited, it made you shy!  When I told you that we had a special birthday breakfast, though, you jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen.  Then you woke up Maida and Daddy because you just couldn't wait for them to get up and celebrate with us!

(Ignore my long johns.  :)  I went skiing the night before and hadn't changed, yet!)

After pancakes we opened presents.  You let your brother and sister help you open the big present.  You were so excited to get the snowmobile that you have been wanting from Costco!

You were also really excited about some presents your southern family sent up for you!

Before bed Uncle Brandon, Aunt Karlie, Kinley, and Evyn called on the computer to sing you Happy Birthday.  We all had fun seeing them on the webcam.  They made your whole night!

 You can't wait to bring cupcakes to school tomorrow and you especially can't wait for your party on Friday, although you really don't understand why it was your birthday today and your party is on Friday, but seemed to just go with the flow of things today, anyway.  You love to tell me you are four now and keep promising that now that you are four, you won't do anything naughty.  Ha!  I stole an idea from a friend and decided to interview you today.  You loved being interviewed and kept begging for more questions!  Here's our interview...

1. What is your favorite color? Green and Blue and Brown
2. What is your favorite toy? My firetruck
3. What is your favorite fruit? oranges
4. What is your favorite tv show? Scooby Doo
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? pizza
6. What is your favorite outfit? My white sweatshirt with my blue pants.
7. What is your favorite game? Hi-Ho Cherry-O
8. What is your favorite snack? An orange
9. What is your favorite animal? A lion
10. What is your favorite song? The Alligator one with the monkeys in the trees and the alligator snaps the monkeys right out of the trees!
11. What is your favorite book?  The book about Spider Man’s town.
12. Who is your best friend? Grant
13. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play ball
14. What is your favorite drink? Orange juice
15. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
16. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My dream light
17. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Oatmeal
19. What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor at the Mayo Clinic

20. What is your favorite room in the house? The living room.

21. What is your favorite thing about preschool? Playing cars

22. Where is your favorite place to visit?  Bumpa and Grandma’s house

23. What is the hardest thing you’ve ever done?  Built my new snowmobile.

24. What are you scared of?  Rock climbing

25. What makes you happy?  Mommy

26. What is something you are excited about?  Riding on rides at the Mall of America with Daddy.

27. What is your favorite thing about Daddy?  Doing rides with him at the Mall of America.

28. What is your favorite thing about Mommy? All the things she did for my birthday.

29. What is your favorite thing about Maida?  Playing dress up with her.

30. What is your favorite thing about Klaasen?  Playing cars with him.

31. What is your favorite thing about Torsten?  When he holds my hand.

I love you, Skogie Bear and love watching you grow. Your teacher wrote me an email today and told me that you are "a great kid and a pleasure to have in class."  You ARE a great kid (KID?!!  That sounds so old!) and I know that you will always be a pleasure to anyone, wherever you go.  

So proud of you,

 Mommy

Santa's Lap

Before Christmas gets too far away...

I'll always remember the night.  Skogen refused to wear socks with his Toms, despite the near negative temperatures.  Torsten wore pants that were way too small and shoes that were way too big.  Maida refused to get her hair done or wear anything even remotely cute.  Klaasen had a fever of 104.1, felt crappy, and since we couldn't find his tennis shoes, he wore Skogen's tennis shoes (which were way too big).  It's amazing we even got out the door!  After starting the car to warm up and getting everyone's coats on, we looked for Klaasen's shoes for over an hour.  

Once we finally got to the mall, of course Santa was on break.  However, we made the best of the situation by wasting some time eating dinner in the food court (which, if you have four kids, seems like there is more spilling food on the ground than what actually gets in the mouths).  Luckily after we ate, the line wasn't too long and the kids eagerly anticipated sitting on Santa's lap as we watched other children happily join him on his big red and green chair.

When it was our turn, Maida and Skogen bashfully, but willingly, approached Santa.  Klaasen, on the other hand, talked a big game while standing in line, but when we got up there, he wouldn't get close.  Santa magically pulled a small red stool out from under his chair and Klaasen (with much coaching from Mommy) agreed to sit there.

Skogen knew exactly what he wanted to ask for.  A race track!  Maida, however, had been dreaming about Santa bringing her an American Girl Doll for Christmas, however, being American Girl Dolls are pretty expensive and Daddy didn't think Santa should have to spend that much money on little girls, we encouraged her to think of something else that she wanted just as much.  Being nervous and not really knowing what to say, when it was her turn to talk to Santa, she said, "I really want the same remote control cars that you brought us last year."  HA!  Poor girl felt so out of place and silly.  Klaasen, wanting to be like his brother, asked for a race track, too.

Asking Santa for gifts wasn't the only thing on our agenda.  The main reason we knew we had to pay him a visit at the mall was because we needed to tell him that were weren't going to be home for Christmas. Our plan was to ask him if he could leave the big presents at our house in Minnesota, but bring the stocking stuff down to the house on the beach where we were staying in Florida.  When we asked Santa, he pulled out a big brown leather notebook and wrote down our names and where we were going to be staying.  He told us that Rudolf has a GPS in his nose and Santa would be sure to program this in!

I'm happy to report that Santa, Rudolf, and the rest of the gang did just what we asked!  They blessed our children with socking stuffers in Florida and had one big gift each waiting for us when we got home.  Skogen and Klaasen both got their own race tracks for their cars, Maida got a Cinderella carriage and Cinderella doll, and Torsten got a wooden train.

There is nothing sweeter.

(If you're looking for our Christmas letter, click here.)

Life is full of bitter and sweets.  Lately I've happily indulged in the sweets...

 There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping boy. 

 I love to sneak into the kids' rooms at night and kiss their sleeping cheeks!

 There is nothing sweeter than some good Daddy time! 

I love to watch my boys grin and giggle when they are with their Daddy.  I love having a husband who values time with his kids.

 There is nothing sweeter than a good-bye kiss from princess before Erik's first day back to work!

We are so thankful for all the healing Erik's body has done over the last year and super excited that he is back to work again!  God is so good.

 There is nothing sweeter than waking up next to Daddy.

All of our babies have loved to snuggle and sleep next to Erik (and does Mommy!).  Morning time together is so magical.

 There is nothing sweeter than some alone time with my boys when Maida is at school.  

I love listening to their conversations and enjoy playing all things boy.  I can't wait to watch them grow up together!

 There is nothing sweeter than a sister who loves her brothers so much (most of the time!).

She is such a little mommy and I have no idea what I would do without her.

 There is nothing sweeter than a precious little girl in a sparkly dress and heels!  

I love that Maida likes to dress up for school and hope she always wants to look nice.

 There's nothing sweeter than baby smiles.

I love how his whole body smiles when he's happy!  His arms and legs go crazy!

 There is nothing sweeter than a baby in jeans and shoes.

What's even sweeter is when baby discovers he has shoes on and loves to kick them, try to grab at them, and drool on them.

 There's nothing sweeter than a finger-sucking boy.  

He doesn't suck a pacifier like his brother Skogen.  He doesn't suck his thumb like his brother Klaasen.  He sucks his first two fingers!

There is nothing sweeter than a little boy in a sweater!

I love to dress my babies up and take their pictures!  Torsten cooperates well, which is why I have a lot of pictures of him!  However, I'm sure once he's on the move, we won't be so lucky to get a still picture!

 There is nothing sweeter than a baby and his toys!

I love watching him reach and discover everything around him.  He is so interested in the sounds and colors.  It is interesting watching a baby learn about his environment.

 The is nothing sweeter than my little girl's curls.

She doesn't like them or want them, but I love to see her bounce out of the bath!  Her curls bring me back to when she was a baby, full of happy bouncy curls.

There is nothing sweeter than photo texts from Daddy of Skogen on a lunch date!

 I love to give this boy extra special attention and I love to see him smile when we do.

I feel so blessed to be a mom of these four and nothing makes me happier than spending each day with them.  I hope I always remember what sweetness they bring to life.

Four Months

Today Torsten had his four month doctor appointment.  He was 22 pounds and 26 inches.  Maida and Skogen weren't 22 pounds until they were 12 months old!  Here are our four month stats...

Erik         18 1/4 pounds               28 inches

Kara        14 pounds  2 ounces      23 1/2 inches

Maida      18 pounds                     26 inches

Skogen    19 pounds                     27 inches

Klaasen    23 pounds                    27 3/4 inches

Torsten    22 pounds                    26 inches

My babies at four months....

Maida Raine

Skogen Roux

Klaasen Burke

Torsten S

Happy Holidays!!!

“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” Proverbs 16:9

We’re done!!!  No more babies, that is. Since last Christmas, the last and final Scharrer baby was welcomed into our family.  Torsten S Scharrer was born on August 28^th (our 8^th wedding anniversary) at 10:01 pm, weighing 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 inches long.  Although a scheduled C-section was planned, God had different ideas.  When scheduling the C-section, Kara told her doctor that the only day she didn’t want to have a baby was on August 28^th.  Well, Kara went into labor on August 28^th!  With knowing that a VBAC after three previous C-sections was nearly impossible, Kara prayed that she would be fulfilled with whatever happened with Torsten's birth.  Never did we expect her to go into labor naturally, allowing Kara to not only experience labor one more time, but also experience the surprise of baby coming on his own.  Laboring at home, being able to do skin-to-skin contact immediately after T's birth, being the first mom to nurse while being sewn up in the operating room at Mayo, and having that fourth happy, healthy baby that she had been begging Erik for were the highlights of her year.

This wasn't our first lesson in the truth of God’s planning this year.  In January, Erik had a life-changing skiing accident, paralyzing his left shoulder (while also breaking his scapula and taking a chunk out of his clavicle).  Despite his all-in, go-get-'em attitude, he has unfortunately been out of residency training for the past year.  God has taught us patience and lessons of peace, too.  Allowing his body the appropriate amount of time to heal was one of the key factors in getting him back to emergency medicine, which was his ultimate goal, and not having to switch to a less physically demanding specialty. A couple of the nerves have come back on their own, but Erik also had a nerve graft in September where he had 30cm of a nerve from his left leg transplanted to the damaged nerve (axillary) in his shoulder.  We are still waiting on the results of the surgery – nerves heal very slowly!

  

The c-section and nerve graft weren't the only surgeries our family went through this year.  Skogen got his tonsils out, Summit got neutered, Kara had a minor skin surgery, and Erik had PRK on his eyes.  Luckily Kara’s mom and dad pitched in a whole lot to help hold the fort down when we were in and out of the hospital.  The kids love their Grandma and Bumpa and now think it is totally normal to have them visit at least once a month!

Maida turned five on May 3^rd and started kindergarten this year.  She continues to impress us with her ever-growing intelligence and her very vivid imagination!  She got her ears pierced in October and is excited to switch out her earrings for the first time from the sparkly pink flower studs to the blue sparkly dolphins when we visit Winter, the dolphin from the movie, “Dolphin Tale,” when we are vacationing in Florida over Christmas*.

Skogen has really grown over the past year.  He turned three on January 14^th and is in his second year of preschool and has a wonderful teacher.  He started soccer with Maida this year and they both continue to be two of the highest scorers on their team.  Skogen has his Daddy’s passion for most things, like skiing, and also enjoyed a weekend at Flaming Pine Youth Camp being a manly man with Erik during the Father/Son Retreat.

Perhaps one of the biggest changes for Klaasen this year was becoming a big brother!  He turned two on July 27^th and has always been the baby, so we were unsure of how he’d handle this.  To our surprise, Klaasen has accepted his new role very well and continues to try to keep up with his older brother and sister in every aspect of life.  He can’t wait to start preschool and soccer and recently potty trained in a day, thanks to the encouragement from his siblings.  In fact, cheering for each other in public restrooms still occurs regularly.

We hope this letter finds you and your loved ones doing well and looking forward to 2013 as much as we are.  Erik will be starting residency again in January, Kara will be taking over Erik’s role in our ski racing league, Maida and Skogen are going to take off their training wheels, Klaasen is going to start preschool, and Torsten will be on skis 12 months from now.  We love hearing from our friends, so keep in touch.  Always check back to the blog to see what the Scharrers have been up to!  We are excited to see what God has in store for our family.

Erik's blog posts about his injury:

1. Week one update

2. Waiting for good news

3.  Six week update

4.  Four month update

5.  A neat little story

6.  Good news!

7.  Surgery day

8.  Erik's surgery

Other notable happenings in 2012:

- Our trip to Oklahoma for the birth of our new niece, Evyn Ruth

- Hot air balloon ride for Kara’s birthday

- Maida was the flower girl in Kara's niece Sadie's wedding

- Easter party with our residency family

- Moustache March

- Our discovery of the drive-in movie theater

-  Our HUUUUGE summer garden

 - Wizard of Oz Halloween

*  UPDATE:  I apologize for the delay in getting this out since most of our cards were sent before Christmas.  We made it to Florida, our first trip south for Christmas ever!  We exchanged the white ski slopes for the white sand of Fort Myers Beach and enjoyed the sun burns, in place of the wind burns.  :)  We made lots of memories there and plan to post pictures and stories soon!

Christmas Letter 2012

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Happy Holidays,
The Scharrer Family