Danish Festival 2012

The Danish Festival this year was August 17-19, 2012.  The theme was "The Snow Queen".  I entered the poster contest again, but this year the competition was almost 3 or 4 times as much as last year!  I made a paper cut for two reasons (1) Hans Christian Anderson did a lot of paper cutting -as well as story writing.  (2) I figured a paper cut/snow flake was fitting for the Snow Queen theme.

The Grand Dansk Parade was on Saturday the 18th.

Last year, I bought an aebleskiver pan but never got around to seasoning it and trying my hand at making ableskivers (pronounced Ay-blah-skee-wah).  This year, I decided to give it a try.  They were pretty good!  So, I think they'll become an annual tradition for our family.  It was fun, trying something from our town's AND my own Danish heritage.

Annual Woodard Family Reunion

My parents, siblings & spouses and children and my family & I all get together at least once a year for a re-union.  This is special because my oldest sister and her family live in Arizona (with exception now of their oldest son who has moved back to the UP of Michigan).  This year, they came right around the fourth of July.  We always have a family picture taken, and each family dresses in one color.  My parents are wearing grey shirts, my sister Amy and her family are wearing brown shirts, my brother Dean and his family are wearing white and pink shirts/dresses, my sister Becky and her family are wearing red shirts, and my family and I are wearing orange shirts (of course!)

The kids with their bikes.

We had gotten Benjamin and Anna bikes with training wheels in 2011, and they enjoyed them all that summer.  When spring of 2012 came, we decided it was time for Peter to have one of his own, so we got him a little "Cars" bike.  Here he is riding it for the first time:

We decided that it had been long enough for Benjamin using the training wheels, so we worked on teaching him how to ride without them.  The first day without training wheels for Benjamin was May 6th, 2012.  He wasn't very brave, so gave up riding his bike for quite a while after that, but with prompting he went back to it and soon his bravery paid off and he was riding like a pro.

Anna decided on her own that she wanted to go without training wheels, so we helped her once or twice.  She was very tenacious about it and didn't give up until she had taught herself how to ride without training wheels.  Anna's first day without training wheels was September 9th, 2012.

Peter the Imp

I usually try not to take pictures of "Peter aftermaths", because I don't want him to think that I think it is cute...but this one was so surprising to me at the time, I had to document it.  He went through a phase during the summer (2012) where he liked to turn on my kitchen sink and use the sprayer...all over the kitchen...and apparently also outside the kitchen window.  This wet spot on the deck is the result of Peter's use of my kitchen sink's sprayer. 

He does have his cute moments, like this one where he fell asleep on the living room floor and Muffy curled up next to him!

Of course, there have been plenty of occasions where I thought I had put "such and such" up high enough he couldn't get to it, but he always seems to find a way to get to it!  Like, my camera.  These were taken, without my permission, by Peter:

He knows as soon as I go down to the basement to change laundry or to use the bathroom...I can't leave him unattended for a second or these sorts of things happen.  I keep waiting for him to outgrow the impish behavior, because it is wearing me thin...but he still persists!  He is a sweetie, but a corker, that's for sure!

Anna's 6th Birthday

Anna's 6th birthday was June 25, 2012.  We had her big family party with Peter's on his birthday and then a smaller "just us" party on her actual birthday.  This year, I decided to do another "doll" cake.  I think I'm going to give up on them, unless I get the special "skirt" pan, because it's too hard to make it look good without the special pan!

Anna on her actual birthday:

Since Anna's birthday is during the summer, she would miss out on giving birthday treats to her class.  I got permission from her teacher to bring in birthday treats before school ended.  So, I made "princess" cupcakes.