Winter Storms

In the last week we have had two major winter storms roll through central Iowa. The first was an ice storm last Saturday. My sister and all the children came up Friday in preparation for a Pampered Chef show on Saturday that was never to take place. Instead, we all spent the whole day in the house watching the windows freeze over. The kids had a great time playing together, but Jack was a little outnumbered and overpowered by the girls.

Our second major storm hit this afternoon. School let out early and Lilah's holiday concert was postponed until next week, but we made the best of our extra time together. Lilah was very excited about the first snowfall so we geared up to try out our new sleds and new hills. This was her first time sledding and she had a great time! Nate even came home early to help with some video.

Here are some pictures from trick or treat night, which was the night before Halloween here. People around here call this even "Beggar's night". I have never heard this term before. Has anyone else? Grandma Barb made Lilah's constume and it looked great. She loves this constume so much that she decided to wear it to bed for three nights after we had picked it up from Grandma's house. She had a wonderful time last night and came home with a large stash of candy. She even scored a good size package of honey roasted peanuts!

Ready for trick or treat!

Silly little leopard!

Fall Fun!

On a beautiful fall weekend morning, we went outside to do some yard work and play with the cats. Lilah decided she would like to climb a tree with her Dad. Notice that Lilah is still in her jammies (I think Nate is too).

CATS!!!!!

One of the many reasons we decided to choose a house outside town was Lilah's love for cats. She LOVES cats!!! We cannot have cats in the house because she is allergic and also because Syndey enjoys a close proximity to the feline species - actually, she is obessed! If there is a cat in range, you can bet Sydney is as close as she can get without getting attacked. This is quite annoying for the cat and the people who also live in the house. Anyway, Lilah wanted cats and we told her we could get some cats once we moved to the country. We started with 2 kittens in late July and now...

This is Lilah with her favorite cat, Angel. He is a very sweet boy. He and his sister, Flower, were the first felines to arrive at the farm. There is no picture of Flower because she likes to run and hide every time we get near.

This is Melvin - he was next to arrive. He came to us via our landlords who knew we wanted cats on the property. He was returned to a vet after a family decided he was not the right cat for them. He does not like to be picked up, but does enjoy a rub down of his soft, fluffy fur.

Midnight came to us about 1 1/2 months ago. He is a stray Nate picked up on the road in Iowa Falls. He must have been a house cat because he continues his daily attempts at breaking into the house. We may bring him in at night to help with the mouse problem. He will have to work for his room and board - nothing is free around here!

Mama is a stray that showed up to the house in search of a comfortable place to raise a family. She came to us about 1 1/2 months ago very pregnant. She is a very nice cat and a good mother. She had her 3 kittens about 1 month ago.

Lilah has LOVED watching these little guys grow. For Easter she received a book about cats and the first few pages are dedicated to the birth and growth of kittens. We have read the book several times and followed the growth of our little ones. I think we have 2 boys and a girl, but I am not yet certail about that - they are a little too small to be sure. We are starting to see their personalities as they begin to play and explore their environment.

Lilah has spent every free minute out in the garage with the cats. As the weather turns cold, I wonder how much time she will be outside. Maybe she will rediscover all the toys she has in her room; they have been severely neglected!

BIG WEEK!

Last week marked a milestone for us: Lilah started kindergarten and she celebrated her fifth birthday. We decided to pack her final week as a "little kid" full of fun activities. Monday she spent the day with her Grandma Jean. Tuesday she and I went to Huxley to play with cousin Ellie. Wednesday we went to Cedar Rapids for my hair appointment and shopping. Of course, we stopped in Belle Plaine to spend some time with Grandma Barb. Thursday Lilah had her first school experience when we stopped by to meet her teacher, tour the school, and drop off her school supplies. That night we went to Des Moines to stay in a hotel and play with our friends, the Viletas. Lilah was able to play with Emma and Will in the hotel pool and fall asleep next to her best friend. The next morning we were up early for breakfast and a 45 minute drive to Roland-Story Elementary School to begin kindergarten. After her first day of school, we headed back to Des Moines for a fun-filled evening at Adventureland with the Viletas. Actually, we had all of this planned before we found out that school started on the 16th. We didn't want to change all of our plans so we made it work. To finish off the week we had a family birthday party for our big girl out at our house. We also took the time to celebrate all the important wedding anniversaries in our family: Skip and Bernice - 60 years, Jean and Neal - 40 years, Barb and Denny -35 years. We have another major milestone weekend coming up - Jon and Abbi will be married on August 25th. We are very thankful to have such great friends and family!! Thanks to everyone for supporting us throughout our life-changing summer.

Lilah's Second Day of School

Lilah's 5th Birthday

Nate and Lilah in the bumper cars at Adventureland

Lilah and Emma in the Tea Cups at Adventureland

4th of July

Lilah has always loved to sing; however she rarely sings songs from the radio or other traditional children's songs. She likes to make up her own tunes and lyrics. This is how we spend most of our road trips. She starts with the version that goes "La la, mmm, mmm, Ahh, ahh," and then we get to hear the version with words after the whole tune was worked out with La's and hmmm's. Recently she was playing outside with Sydney while I cleaned up after dinner. She was singing one of her famous songs (the most common title for these songs is "Joy of Happy"), and I was able to overhear some of the lyrics:

I need to do better
I need to do better

I need to do everything my mom and dad say

She has internalized all the lessons she has learned in her life and has come to this truth. I hope she can adhere to this through her teenage years. Later in the song (I couldn't hear all the words), she was singing about Ellie and came up with this line:

I have to do what everybody wants to do

Lately she has learned that Ellie has a mind of her own and wants to play differently than Lilah. This has caused a few scuffles, but as indicated in the song, she is coping with the changes.

Now, on to the festivities of the holiday week and the fears overcome. We had a wonderful holiday week with our families. We were in Belle Plaine for the 4th. We started the day with a parade and games in the park and then went out to the house for swimming in the pond. Dad put in a diving board last summer. Last summer Lilah was not sure about jumping off the board, but Deanna "helped" her off once and she never tried again. This year she was determined to jump by herself, and she did. For 2 hours Lilah and Ellie jumped off the diving board. It was a perfect afternoon for swimming, and Sydney, Billy, Nate and I all joined in the fun.

Lilah had awakened at 6:30 am for all of the Independence Day excitement so we thought she would surely be asleep before the fireworks show. We were WRONG! She was a giggly, giddy little girl. We went back to the park to watch a jazz band and singers group perform and after the performance we expected a brilliant show of fireworks. During the music, Lilah twirled and danced, and fell to the ground in utter joy. It was so fun to watch her, although I think she was delirious with exhaustion. She made it to the fireworks and oooed and aaaahed at each display of light.

After our fun filled 4th, we went back home for a little rest and then headed off to Northern MN with Nate's family for camping and boating on Prairie Lake. Lilah continued her bravery by catching lightening bugs with her BARE HANDS and tubing with Ashton.

Nate and Alex even got in on the tubing action.

We had a great time with Nate's family (aunts, uncles, and cousins included). We had two water balloon fights, one of which Lilah played a key role in an ambush. She hid behind a tree with the hose to spray unsuspecting people trying to avoid the water balloon launcher. She took her role very seriously and did a great job. While we missed almost everyone with the water balloons, she was successful every time! We also had a Bocce Ball tournament - guess who put that together! Yes, Nate created a 16 team bracket (there were 13 teams, so there were a few "byes") complete with a consilation bracket, challenge matches, and awards down to 13th place. My partner, Nate's uncle Dale, and I narrowly made our way into 11th place. Nate and his partner, cousin Adam, received 7th place. The winners were Nate's uncles Vern and Les beating cousins Melanie and Maria in the final match. His uncle John and aunt Linda received 3rd place. It was John's lake house so we figure he had a home field advantage because he mows the lawn. It was a fun weekend, but we are glad to be home.

New House

The move is successful! We are back in Iowa as a complete family unit! We are renting a farm property in Roland, Iowa and we absolutely LOVE it! There are no neighbors within throwing distance, there are no police sirens, and there are no car passing with the bass booming. There is wind, there are birds singing, and there are crickets chirping. The sounds of nature fill our ears and it is beautiful! Lilah and Sydney are playing outside without borders. We think Syd has lost 5 lbs since we move here (that was only a week ago!).


This is Lilah and Nate enjoying the landscape to the west of the house. There is a grove of various types of trees and then a football field sized grassy area. Beyond that is a field of prairie grass that is home to many striped gophers, snakes and rabbits.



This is the south view of the house. The door from the deck enters the dining room. Deanna and Billy bought us a fire pit for the deck. Nate was feeling sad about leaving his fire pit in Rochester so this will help him get over his sadness.


This is a view of the house from the northeast. We live on a hill so we have a great view of the surrounding fields and we get a nice breeze.


This last picture is from the end of the driveway. It is nice to be away from the gravel dust, but it is quite a walk for the mail. I would have published more inside pictures, but the house is still a little bit of a mess of boxes and stuff that has not quite found its place. However, the kitchen was the first room to be finished and below is a picture. I will publish more pictures once everything is put away. In the mean time, come on by and we can put you to work ;) !

Camping Trip

Ellie, Lilah and Emma in the tent after a good night's sleep


Lilah and Ellie at the playground

Lilah and Ellie roasting marshmallows

Making sand angels

A beautiful day at the beach!

Over memorial day weekend we took our first camping trip of the year. The trip was designed to stay close to home (gas prices, ahhhhh!) and spend time with our friends who recently bought a new home near West Branch, Iowa. Due to the arrival of Miss Amelia Marie Faubus, we decided to take Ellie off Deanna and Billy's hands for a few days and took her with us . The weather was great for the most part (a little rain on Saturday morning) and the kids were great campers. We were able to spend time with friends at their new home and at the camp site in Lake McBride State Park. It was a beautiful four day trip and we hope to do it again sometime this summer.

Many of you know that we are planning to move to Iowa this summer, but that we are having a tough time selling our house. We decided that instead of losing money on the house in this down market, we would rent it out and then find a nice place to rent in the Story City/Roland area. We were successful! We found a small family to rent our house in Rochester and will rent an acreage just outside of Roland. We move sometime in June! We are very excited to put our family back together and be closer to my family. We will now be living equidistant from Nate's family and my family. No more long drives either way! The house and property are perfect for us! Check back later in June for pictures.

NYC

There was an earlier comment (thanks, Mom) on the blog that the title of the site (The Skaar Family) misrepresented the content since all the pictures and stories had Lilah as the lone subject of the posts. I have now remedied that oversight with this post about my recent trip out East. I went to NYC at the end of March for a national school psychology conference. This was my first trip to NYC so even though I was out there to present my research, I spent a great deal of time site seeing with my classmates.

This picture was taken in Central Park. This was the day we spent the morning walking around uptown Manhattan.


After a good lunch, we took the subway (I LOVE the subway!!) to lower Manhattan and Ground Zero. It was very moving to be on the site and in the area I so vividly remember filled with clouds of dust. There is a small memorial with photos of debris, memorial services, people in the aftermath of that day that accompanies the unbelievably large hole in the ground.
We allowed the tears to dry as we walked towards Battery Park. I picked up a Diet Coke and a hot dog from a street vender on the way - delicious!! We rode the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty. We were not able to stop at Ellis Island because we had to get back to the hotel to get ready for our night at the theater. We saw In the Heights, a musical, and it was the most spectacular theater experience I have had.


This is a picture of the girls starting the day in Times Square. It was a great day in NYC! The next day we actually had to attend the conference and present research. The trip was equally filled with fun cultural experiences and important professional education and opportunities. Next year we go to New Orleans, which I'm sure will offer it's own taste of American culture.

Easter Weekend

Easter was a great holiday this year, as you can see from the pictures. The weekend before Easter, Palm Sunday, we were able to spend time with Nate's family in Hayward, MN. We spent the beginning of Easter weekend looking at houses in Iowa. We found a couple we really like in Roland (down the street from my cousin's family). We just need to sell in Rochester - Anyone looking???? We are looking in Story City and Roland, which are both about 10 minutes north of Ames for those of you who do not know the area well. After looking at 11 houses, Lilah was pooped and ready to spend time with her cousin, Ellie. My sister lives about 10 minutes south of Ames so that puts us very close to them once we move. VERY exciting!!! We spent the weekend with Deanna and family coloring eggs and going on Easter egg hunts. We went to church with them Easter morning and then over to Belle Plaine for the big family gathering. The BIG news this year is that my brother, Jon, got engaged to Abbi just before Easter and they announced a wedding date of August 25th, 2007 (that's right, 2007). We are extremely blessed to have such a wonderful family!!

New haircut!

Yesterday was the final straw! At 3:30pm central time Lilah Pearl went to the salon for a haircut. She was not too happy about getting a haircut, but it absolutely had to be done! It is a very cute cut that is layered in the back and angled slightly to the front. Hopefully this will minimize morning fights about hair combing.

The truth according to Lilah

First of all, here is a picture of Sydney after Lilah has dressed her up as Princess Sydney. This is one of Lilah's favorite pass times. Sydney complies, but I don't think she really loves this game. Also, below is a picture of Nate and Lilah playing outside in our recent 13.5 inches of snow. We are currently getting more snow - YEE HAW!! I am angainst snow blowers because I feel it is stupid to spend $500 (which is a lot for us) on something that I can do myself with a little effort. I might change my mind if we get another foot in the next 24 hours.

Now for the real reason I needed to blog this week - Lilah's truth. This last weekend was the national wrestling tournament and the final wrestling tournament of the year. Unfortunately, the guys did not have a good tournament and Nate was thinking about how they could have performed better and looking toward next year. Lilah asked Nate was he was thinking about and he answered, "Wrestling." She asked him if his guys did not win and if the other guy on the mat had won. He answered and unenthusiastic, "Yes." Her response was, "Well, Dad you will get 'em next time. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose." It was difficult not to laugh at her and we told her she was correct about that. Nate then followed with, "I don't like to lose," and Lilah quickly replied, "It's just a game, Dad." I'm sure Nate is still feeling disappointed with the season, but I think Lilah helped to put it into perspective.

We added a new member to the family over the Christmas holiday season. Deanna was married to Billy Faubus (I think that is how his last name is spelled - I guess that is something I should know) on December 22nd. We are happy to have him as part of the family! He did a great job getting through the craziness that is Christmas at our parents house. Our clan will grow again next year too with a new baby for Deanna and Billy and maybe one for us too (keep your fingers crossed and prayers going out).


The wedding was a lot of fun. The reception was held in Huxley at a local bar and grill. Many of us love to sing so karaoke was available at the reception. Ellie, Deanna's oldest, had her karaoke debut as she sang Jingle Bells. She was a crowd favorite. It was a great party and fun to see all the family for an extra celebration this year! Welcome Billy!

Now that the space underneath the tree is finally empty and the bundle of new toys and clothes are properly stored, I can take a moment to share our Christmas joy with you. We all had a spectacular Christmas this year! We had 5 occasions of present opening this year! There was a lot of traveling between MN and IA, but now we are done and very thankful to have had so much time with everyone! Everyone was very thoughtful and generous with their gift giving. We are very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. Lilah, being 4 years old, really got into the whole Santa thing this year. She wrote several letters and even sat on Santa's lap to tell him what she wanted for herself and for Sydney, our dog. Santa brought her all the things she wanted and she was very pleased. However, she was puzzled that Santa was so good to her even though she had been naughty a few times. I tried to explain that Santa had forgiven her for her naughtiness because she had learned not to do those naughty things again. She seemed to understand that, but questioned if Santa had given gifts to a daycare boy who is particularly naughty each day. I'm sure she will ask him and his mother, and then I will have more explaining to do.