Look at our yard!

Our yard has yet to be put in and as much as I can't wait for grass to be laid, the dirt has provided endless amounts of entertainment for the kids! It's quite a mess to clean after they are done but there is something about kids playing in the dirt that I LOVE!

We have all been fascinated with the trucks in our yard. They get so close to the house the kids think it's going to bust through the glass door.

Jane has not been a fan of these giant trucks in our yard! She gets very nervous every time they are near! Here she is checking one out followed by a face of uncertainty!

Ethan got stuck in the mud! It was funny!

Unpacking the boxes

We arrived!! Lucky for us we live pretty close to family so between Alisa and Camie they were so good to help out with the kids. Moving in has been way more work than I remember it being. Perhaps it's my 2 year old beast who makes it a difficult process, or the fact that the kids are out of school and have no friends. I don't know what it is but it has been tiring getting moved in.

Don't be fooled!! Jane looks nice and cozy in this shot but this is what she was laying in!! I was trying to get a few minutes of calm out of her so put he in front of a movie (yes, I am a good mom!!) and this was the only place to put her!

Wisconsin Dells

We spread our trip to MN over 2 days. We stopped at the Wisconsin Dells and had a fun time at the hotel water park. It wasn't the great wolf lodge but the kids had lots of fun!!We also enjoyed eating for several days on the companies dime! Here we are eating out during our stay at the wisconsin dells

Somewhere along the way our sweet Jane has turned into a BEAST!!

I want the old Jane back!! ha! We have hit the terrible twos I guess. I just don't remember any of my others being like this. She is so difficult and pushes EVERY limit imaginable. Please tell me she will grow out of it or tell me how to get the other Jane back!! Here are a few random pictures of her lately.

She found this mixing bowl and loved getting a laugh from ethan as she would sit in it and then lose balance and fall out!

Hard to believe but yes we let her go out looking like this because we didn't want to deal with anymore tantrums. She got in her mind that she wanted her PJ top with her swimsuit cover up and skirt on. She would have it NO other way. So, we allowed her to go looking like a homeless person!!

Moving Day

The original plan was to have Andy close on our house and arrive back in Bloomington AFTER the movers had packed and loaded the truck, I had done the cleaning for our cleaning inspection, and don't forget I had to be around the house while the movers were here and still take care of my kids and find ways to entertain and feed them. We both thought it was a good plan at the time but then our friends changed their moving date the the same as ours and I realized I couldn't count on them to help at all with the kids so I began to panic - really panic. Luckily Andy was able to make different plans and get here for moving day. I really don't know how I would have done it had he not come!!

Our truck was HUGE!! It had a hard time fitting in the cul-da-sac and the craziest part about this picture is that our friend's truck had to still come!!

We had to tell everyone who lives in the clu-da-sac to move their cars if they were planning to go anywhere that day because obviously these two trucks weren't going anywhere! It was quite a site to see!!

Lucy's Hobby Show

I got to go to Lucy's school for her hobby show. The kids got to select one hobby they have and make a poster and write a report about it. Lucy had so much fun doing it and was of course very self motivated to get it done (how did I luck out?!?!).
Lucy and Mrs. Lee

Who wants to go for a bike ride?!?!?

Andy moved to Minnesota 3 weeks before the rest of us did. (It was the only way we could close on our house - he needed a pay check before we could close) Bryan and Logan were so good to help entertain kids in the afternoon after school. One day Lucas wanted to go for a bike ride so Logan took him and Lucas LOVED it. The next day rolled around and Lucas wanted to go for another bike ride. Before we knew it EVERYONE wanted to go for a bike ride - everyone from teh B family, the P family, my family, and a few extra neighborhood kids. It was very apparent that Logan could not take all of these kids so Mindi recruited Bryan. However, it still seemed like lots of kids for 2 dads so Mindi went also and Jen and I drove in the car with the babies and we all met up at Olcott park. It was quite a site to see all of these kids on bikes. Bryan was super patient to wait for Lucas who on the way insisted on walking his bike down the hill. It was a good idea considering he hadn't figured out how to do hills but he started walking it far too early! Byran rode along his side and patiently waited!

Here is everyone getting ready for the ride

Everyone waiting at the corner for Lucas to come down the hill!

Bryan and Lucas bringing up the rear!

School is out and the house is packed and we are home owners again!

Today the kids finished school. It has been a fun week of field trips, parties, hobby shows, and field days! They have had lots of fun. Lucy told me she gave Mrs. Lee a big hug and when she walked out of the classroom she began to cry because she was so sad. Ahhh that sweet girl. She loves her teachers every year. It's so cute. They came home to a house filled with boxes! The movers came today and in a fairly short time had this house packed. Its kind of a strange feeling. And to top off our busy day Andy closed on our house! yay! We are homeowners once again! He nearly missed his flight back and will arrive late tonight!! Hooray!! It has been way too long since I saw him!

Our Last Sunday Race!

So for well over a year now it seems we are always trying to beat the "P"family to and from church. I'm not exactly sure how this happened other than our kids ALWAYS know the comings and goings of all our friends in the culdesac. They start stressing out if one family is leaving for something and we aren't yet. We all know we will NEVER beat the "B" family to church. Mindi's late is most people's early. So, we always gauge if we are late if the "P"family is getting in the car before us. Apparently they have the same gauge. If we are getting in the car they know they better get moving! So it has become quite the event between our two families each week. This sunday was the last sunday to race. We picked up this soda and the kids were super excited to beat them home from church and leave it on their doorstep "We totally crushed you!" (or so we like to think!! We will miss our races each Sunday with them!!

Look who turned 2!!!

Jane has grown up so much! I remember thinking when we moved here that she would be about 6 months shy of how old Lucas was when we moved here. Jane is so grown up and has quite the personality. She has to do everything by herself. She loves to make us all laugh. She is starting to talk up a storm. And she loves a good wrestle with her brothers!! We love having Jane in our family. For her birthday she got a baby doll and a stroller. She also got a cloth baby doll from her Grandma S. I didn't know if she'd car that much for another doll given Lucy has several already. However, ever since opening the presents she can't put any of them down. She pushes her dolls in the stroller ALL the time. As soon as she wakes up from naps or bedtime she immediately takes her doll (who has been sleeping with her) and puts her in the stroller and begins pushing the stroller. It is darling. Happy Birthday Jane!!

Here she is giving her new baby loves.

Here she is showing off her new carrier that the cloth doll came in. She loves this!

This is how we find her now nearly every waking minute. Too cute!

Memorial Day

We had a great Memorial Day. Given Andy was going to be gone and all the kids were home it had the potential to be a very long day. However, we (my friends and I) managed to fill the day with non stop activities. Let's just say the kids slept very well that night! We started with a hike in the morning and came home long enough to feed the kids lunch. Then everyone took off to the park where everyone put garbage bags on and slid down this cement slab into water. I wasn't there for that so I don't have pictures. Lucy and Ethan went with everyone else and I stayed home with Jane and Lucas who took naps or had a quiet time. They all arrived home in time for a bar-b-q for dinner. It was the last culdesac bar-b-q and we were sad a couple of families weren't here to join us. This was a great way to spend our last holiday with friends!!

Bryan

Here is some of the crew. Notice Jane is on Joe's shoulders. Everyone was so nice to help out when needed given Andy wasn't around. I think Jane was more than happy to be on Joe's shoulders

Lucy, Libby, Kamryn

We hiked to some waterfalls and then we hiked to this fire tower. Most everyone climbed up this old scary tower!

Kamryn, Libby, Eliza, Lucy, Jenna

Goodbye Bloomington

Who knew that in such a short time you could become so attached to a place! In one week our time here will come to an end. It is so hard to believe. We have said way too many goodbyes in the last week and there are more to come. It's awful! We have loved living by GREAT people, in a great town, on near a BEAUTIFUL campus. IU will always hold a special place in our hearts! Here are some pictures I took up on campus.

Our weather girl!!

Tonight during dinner it began to rain really hard and then came the lightening followed by some very loud thunder. The really loud thunder happened only once and then there were rumblings for a while after. However, after the first loud clap of thunder Lucy wasn't willing to take the chance of another one coming so she ate like this....trying to keep both ears covered while eating. She was NOT trying to be funny but I thought it was quite funny. She is our weather watcher. She reports each morning the weather. That is after researching it for quite a while on the computer. She will report the speed of the wind....you name it she knows it. Tonight she was very disappointed with the thunder given there had only been a 40% chance of thunderstorms. She also reported this afternoon with a bit of disgust after reading how fast the wind was "There is NO WAY it is only 10 miles and hour. It has to be at least 18mph" She looked at me to confirm that what she is saying is true but honestly I have NO clue how fast the wind is traveling!! She is darling and may one day be found on a tv station reporting your weather!!