Girls just want to have fun!

These girls have quite an imagination and are always thinking of fun things to do. If I were their age I would definitely want to be friends with them!! They can be found crafting, playing spa, painting nails, riding bikes, playing "pioneer", putting together fashion shows, creating a restaurant.....the list is endless!

One day they wanted to create a restaurant and serve our family lunch. They put together menus and made the food. I had to assist them just a little but for the most part they did it!
On one of our many snow days they threw together a fashion show. I didn't help with any of it. They hung of a sheet for their curtain, put on music, and had several costume changes - not to mention they did their make up too. Don't you love these girls?!?!

Our newest piano player

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When I went upstairs the other day I left Jane in the family room playing with toys. When I came back down this is how I found her. A chair had been left by the piano from lessons the night before and she pushed it close enough to the paino and climbed up and started playing. It took me off guard. I wasn't expecting to find Jane at the piano when I came down. She is growing up too fast!

It's warming up......can't you tell?!??!

This picture cracks me up! Last week it "warmed up". We were all happy to see the sun and feel some of it's warmth. The kids were playing outside a lot last week. I looked out my window and couldn't help but smile and couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap this shot. This is how desperat we are to be outside. They are sitting on a pile of snow!! I can't imagine what MN will be like!!

Happy Shopping!

Last week I decided to let Jane have a try in this shopping cart. Even though Lucas always sits in it I have not let Jane do it for fear of her never wanting to return to a normal cart at other stores that don't have carts like this. I guess I had a moment of weakness and my heart was softened as I thought of how much she'd LOVE to ride in this cart! And she did indeed love it and was ALL smiles and didn't want to get out when we got to our car!! It was pretty cute and she thinks she is such a BIG girl. The buckle will have to go on next time because while in the check out lane she thought she should be allowed to get in and out which she is not very good at!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Ethan reminded me how exciting a birthday can be for a young child. The days leading up to his birthday were filled with lots of birthday chatter from him. "Are you still planning to hang the balloons up in the family room like you always do?" "Are you remembering I want chocolate cake?" "Have any cards come in the mail for me?" "Can I please go check the mailbox one more time?" "What do you think Grandma is going to send me?" (referring to both grandmas) "Have you bought my birthday present yet?" (he didn't really like when I told him I had and knew he'd have lots of fun playing with his new barbie house!)
The night before his birthday he hardly slept. He woke up several times in the night wanting to know if he could open his presents. Later he came in to tell me his stomach hurt. I told him to go potty and go back to bed because I think he was more excited than sick. About 10 minutes later he woke me again to tell me that indeed i was right and he was just excited - not sick. By the time morning rolled around I was worried with all the excitement he might be let down. However, he seemed to have a great birthday. Isn't it nice to be a kid?
We did a family birthday this year and took the kids out to eat for E's bday. But, before dinner we took Ethan to spend some money he got from Grandma S. and then we headed to Build-A-Bear which was our gift to him. He knew exactly what he wanted and had fun picking out an outfit for his wolf and stuffing it. The other kids were so so good to wait for Ethan to make all of his decisions in both stores!

After shopping we went out to eat.....his choice. And of course we found ourselves in McDonalds which is a big treat for our kids. You don't need to look too hard to see that I really have 5 kids....not 4! (oh and you also might notice a couple of chic-a-filet bags on the McDonalds table! Andy and I had no desire to eat McDonalds so smuggled in our own goodness! I must say that was a good call Andy!)

Here is Ethan with "wolfie"

Apparently "wolfie"is part of the family now and had to be present for birthday cake!!
It's hard to believe Ethan is 7 years old!! Our kids are growing up way too fast!!

Happy Birthday......to me!

Seems like my birthday was spread out and celebrated over several days. I won't complain. I loved hearing from so many friends and family and appreciated some unexpected gifts from friends and family. Thanks to everyone who made it a great birthday!!

Andy took me to the Blue Man Group which happened to be several days before my birthday. I didn't know what to expect. I had heard of them but that's about it. I enjoyed the show and was entertained throughout! Luckily we were able to go given an ice storm hit the day of the show. Our babysitter couldn't make it to our house due to ice so Sara S. pulled through and was kind enough to babysit for us while we braved the roads (which turned out to be fine) and enjoyed the show. We also enjoyed going out to dinner on Friday night. 2 dates in one week.....not bad!
I got some great gifts this year but this was a GREAT surprise and meant a lot to me. My grandma and grandpa T. send some money each year. This year it came in this card which was better than the money. It is a copy of a picture my Grandpa painted several years ago and my grandparents made it into a birthday card. It was a nice surprise and meant a lot. This is a painting of a reunion spot we went to one year when I was young. I have fond memories of this reunion and love that it has my grandpa fishing and the car they use to have. Love it!
And life in B-town would just not be the same without these great ladies (and some are missing in this picture). Mindi, Jen, Amber, and Joy brought lunch over on my birthday. It was fun and meant a lot to me.