And now the summer is nearly over...

I really don't keep up with this blog like I used to. But let me summarize our summer so far...

Both boys were busy with lots of camps -- zoo, sports, Camp Invention, chess, swimming lessons, etc. They also played a lot with the neighbor kids.

In July we had a surprise as one of the two French teenagers that I had arranged to come to the States for 2+ weeks didn't work out with the family I had placed her in. Therefore within 2 days of the stay, she moved in with us instead. It created a lot of stress for the boys as they had to be quiet until she got up at 9 am (which meant 3 hours of tiptoeing around) and they couldn't play in the basement with their computer and toys since she was housed down there. I had a great time practicing my French with her (as her English was very limited and she would instantly turn to French around me).

You can see some photos above -- They are with my folks the day we went to Owatonna. Then there is our family with the iconic Minneapolis sculpture. And then there is one of the four of us playing some mini-golf (I won). The boy is the French boy, (Robin) and the taller girl hosted him. Finally, there is a photo of Justine and Connell playing Monopoly.

Summer is here!

Although the weather isn't feeling very "summery" quite yet, summer is indeed here. We have several camps planned for the boys, swimming lessons, playing with the neighbors, etc. Connell has a camping trip with the Boy Scouts and I'm sure there will be some other fun things.

All I want for my birthday is my two front teeth...

Connell finally lost the other top tooth last week. So now he is pretty toothless! The tooth fairy has been bringing him $2.00 for the last couple of teeth. He was a little depressed as the first tooth only earned him $1.00.

So sorry!

Well, you can tell that the school year got busy, the French contest took up LOTS of my time in the spring and now I have been busy with end-of-the-year things at school. I promise that once school is out that I will add a few photos of the boys and try to update all of you on life with the Hagens. So sorry.

Happy 2011!

Unfortunately I haven't had a lot to blog about in the last 1-2 months. We have been having a ton of snow this winter which poses its share of problems. Work, school and daycare has been going well for everyone and besides the minor colds that linger, no one has been very sick yet this winter -- well, at least no one has missed a day of school/work yet (knock on wood). The school year will be halfway done as of next week. Mid year conferences are coming up and then we all start looking towards the end of the school year and start to plan our summer! With the temps in the negative single digits most of this coming week, it's hard to think that spring and summer may be just around the corner.