Memorial Day with the McGovern's

We spent our Memorial Day weekend in Appleton, WI with the McGovern's! It was a very fun weekend and we ALL had a great time! The kids did great on the drives and sleeping went well there too!

Bishop quickly fell in love with Carrie, although he calls her Cherry! Saturday morning he woke up and in a very serious tone said "Mom, I just love Cherry SO much"! He listened to her every word and we used that to help us out for one of the temper tantrums he had! :) Thanks, Cherry!

Fintan and Bishop

Saturday we went to a state park and went on a short hike. Fintan was such a good helper with Nora..it was so sweet!

Fintan helping Nora hike!

Taking a break on the hike

 After the state park we went to a neighborhood park to fly kites and play on the playground.

Stella and Fintan on the big swings

Nora climbing up to go down the slide

Whee!! Swinging!

Bishop flying his Buzz Lightyear Kite!

Luke and Margot--she is such a good baby! She didn't cry all weekend!

 Saturday night we grilled steaks and hung out in the McGovern's backyard. They have a sport court in their backyard and Bishop shot baskets ALL weekend long! He was in heaven!

Sunday, Cherry and I went out for a few hours--we did a little shopping and went out for lunch. When we got back Luke and Ryan went to the new Star Trek movie. Sunday night we went to Carrie's parents for a BBQ. It was a great day!

Fintan, Bishop and Cherry! :)

Bishop and his favorite gal of the weekend! :)

We took off on Monday morning to drive home. It was such a fun weekend! Thank you SO much, McGovern's! Your house is awesome and we appreciated you letting us stay with you all weekend! We miss you already and we can't wait to see you again!!! 

T-Ball, Soccer, Yogurt and Rain

We signed Bishop up for T-Ball at "school" this spring...so he gets 4 weeks (one day a week for 4 weeks) of t-ball. I was working from home on the first day of t-ball, so I drove over to check it out for a few minutes. I watched from the car at first...and then walked over to take a few pictures. It was pretty fun and I was amazed at how well he listened to his teachers! :) All the kids got a chance to bat, field and play catch (then I left). 

Henry Kruger (Bishop's best friend at school) and Bishop

WATCH OUT!

Playing catch with Rashad

We've had quite a bit of rain the past couple of weeks (it feels more like April than the end of May), and my mom got Nora a rain jacket off craigslist while we were on the North Shore...so I had to take a picture of her in it. It's a bit big, but it gets the job done! ;)

This is statement/post is entirely for my journal purposes, and not to brag about my son.....but last week at soccer, Bishop had a blast! They got to play the "tail game", where they each put jerseys in the back of their shorts and they had to dribble the ball around to avoid the coaches...then they all ran around chasing each other and trying to get each other's tails! :) At the end of every practice they scrimmage and last week Bishop's team won 3-2 and Bishop scored all 5 goals (he helped the other team out!) ;)

Bishop in green, chasing after Leo in orange

Bishop chasing coach Ricky

Nora has grown up quite a bit in the past couple of weeks. She insists on eating at her table now (and not in her highchair). She also likes to feed herself, which is often interesting! On this morning, she was eating yogurt! ;)

May 17th, 2013

On Friday May 17th, 2013 Luke and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary! We celebrated together on the North Shore and stayed at Bluefin Bay. I'd have to say this weekend away was JUST what we needed. We've traveled a fair amount without the kids, but this was our first time away without the kids, ALONE! It reminded me of our trip to Bluefin exactly 10 years ago (our very first trip away), as we hiked, relaxed, drank wine and thoroughly enjoyed our time alone together!

We drove up Thursday night and stopped at Fitgers on the way for a beer. By the time we got to Bluefin it was a little later, but we unpacked and stopped at the bar for some food.

Friday we went on a few smaller, shorter hikes. We hiked up to Caribou Falls and we also took a hike to Sugarloaf. We took a nap in the afternoon...ahhh....and then went on one more hike later that afternoon to Carlton Peak. We went back, sat in the hot tub and then celebrated our anniversary by enjoying a bottle of wine from our honeymoon, while watching our wedding video and having some good cheese and salami! We ate at Bluefin again that night.

Saturday we hiked up to Eagle Mountain. The highest point in Minnesota. We'd done this hike before and it was a little drizzly/cloudy, but it wasn't too bad. I had a sore ankle, so that slowed me down a bit and the trail was wet in some places (and even snow), but we made it to the top, where we rewarded ourselves with a glass of wine. We always used to hike with a bottle of wine, but we no longer do that with the kids, so that was a fun treat!

We hiked down and treated ourselves to massages....a hot tub, more wine from our honeymoon and another fun night eating out at Bluefin!

Sugarloaf

Hike up to Caribou Falls

Caribou Falls

Caribou Falls

Carlton Peak

Eagle Mountain

Enjoying wine at the top of Eagle Mountain

It's been a fun 5 years....and I won't lie, it hasn't been "easy", but we are blessed and we work everyday to appreciate all we've been given and to not take anything for granted (even the temper tantrums)! :) Happy Anniversary, Luke! I know one thing for sure--you are a good, good man and and we'll always have fun, no matter where life takes us! To the next 5 (and we promised, we wouldn't wait 5 more years to get away just the 2 of us)! ;)

A very special thank you to our parents for watching the kids so we could enjoy some time away! We wouldn't have enjoyed our time away quite as much if it wasn't for you.....so THANK YOU!

Nora's 15 months

Nora turned 15 months on Saturday. I can't believe she's 15 months old already! I believe Nora will always be my "sweet Nora" and that comes with her temper tantrum side too! ;) Her smile and giggle make up for it all though...... Here are some updates on Nora.

Weight: 25 lb 4 oz (83%)
Height: 31 1/4in (75%)
Head: 47.5cm (89%)

• She's wearing size 18 month clothing
• She's wearing size 4 diapers
• She's wearing size 5 1/2 shoes
• She's becoming more attached to her blankies, she likes to snuggle up and be comfy with them...even during the day
• We took her paci away around 14 months, so she no longer uses it at all (even at nighttime)-it was a relatively easy transition. The first night she was missing it and after that she was fine!
• She likes to drink milk (whole milk)...it took awhile for her to adjust to cow's milk, but she's fine with it now
• She is a very good eater--she's not the biggest fan of meats, but she'll eat most anything else
• She's a tough girl-she can stick up for herself and lately she's starting taking Bishop's toys from him....so we've had a little sibling fighting lately--I think it's payback time for all the times he took her toys and she couldn't do anything about it
• She LOVES balls--especially basketballs
• She's an active girl
• She has a lot of "words".....mama, dada, wawa (water), nana, papa, ball, HI!, buh-bye, nigh, nigh, uh-oh, no, moo, baa, neigh, Bishop (but it sounds nothing like Bishop, it's more like Ba ba), up, wow, yeah....I'm sure I've forgotten some, but that's the majority of them
• she loves dogs and will spot them from a mile away--she makes this really funny sound when she sees them (like she's barking at them)
• She's a little ham. No matter what she's doing if she sees me get out the camera she looks, smiles and says "cheeeeese"
• She does not want to miss out on anything....she wants to be wherever Bishop is
• She LOVES to go outside--she'll bring us her shoes, hat, coat and multiple pairs of shoes for us to put on too

Nora is still battling ear infections. She woke up on Monday morning and both her ears were draining (a considerable amount). Thankfully she had her 15 month appt that day, so I addressed it with her ped. He took a sample of the drainage to culture and we're waiting on the results of that. Her ENT offered to put in bigger tubes and to remove her adenoids, as that is something I asked about. Both her ENT and ped agree she should not be continuing to have this many ear infections. Her tubes should have dried up her ears by now. The positives are--we are able to tell when she has an infection because of the drainage and it's not as painful for her.....the treatment is ear drops, which is easier and better for her than antibiotics. I realize things could be much worse--I'm so thankful she's a very happy and healthy girl, we just hope to rid her of ear infections for good!

To our happy girl! You are an absolute true joy! Thanks for all the smiles, hugs, kisses and love--we love you bigger than the sky!

Walking with Worms

Luke was out of town, fishing, this past weekend, so on Friday Nora went to my parents and Bishop and I had a little date night. He chose to play basketball at our neighbors and eat "green icecream" at home (I was secretly hoping to go to Sebastian Joe's)! ;)

Saturday morning he had swimming lessons and he got to ride in a boat in the pool! He had no problem getting in and he thought it was pretty fun!

Bishop's in the front of the boat!

After swimming lessons we drove down to Owatonna to spend the rest of our weekend there. We visited Great Grandpa Arnie.....

The kids helped Papa pick up sticks in the yard......

The kids helped Papa dig a hole to look for worms............

Bishop became pretty excited about the worms he found.......

We went for a walk to the park, to visit the ducks and Bishop had to bring his worms along (and he dressed himself).......

And we celebrated Mother's Day on Sunday ( updated in another post). It was a really fun weekend in Owatonna--thanks mom and dad for all the help! :)

Mother's Day 2013

Mother's Day 2013 was a great day! I got to celebrate my Mother's day last weekend, as Luke was fishing this past weekend. We went to church, went out for brunch and had a great day at home with the kids! After naps we went to Minnehaha Falls and ate at SeSalt--it was a beautiful night to be out and I loved my time with my family!

I feel so fortunate that Bishop and Nora call me "mama/mom". It is the best job in the world and it makes me appreciate my mother even more! ;)

I had to post two pictures-as I couldn't get a decent one of both of them at the same time! ;)

Happy Nora at SeSalt

What a grown up little man he's becoming! Looking handsome in dad's hat!

We celebrated Mother's Day in Owatonna with my mom and grandma Marlys. It was a beautiful day (although a little cold, as you'll see from the winter coat and hat)! My dad treated my mom and I to coffee in the morning, grilled hamburgers for lunch and made us feel special all day long! ;)

Happy  Mother's Day Mom!

We visited my Grandma in the nursing home and getting a picture was a little tough. This was the best I got on my camera. I'm glad we could be together and that my grandparents could see the kids. Although my Grandma's health is failing, she has always been an amazing source of love and support for our entire family. I don't think she ever missed a basketball game, recital or performance of mine and I'll always remember her telling stories and reading to me in the rocker at her house when I was little. She made it clear that her family was her everything! It makes me happy to know that she's gotten to know our kids and I hope to pass her love on to my kids and our family! She is a truly caring and compassionate woman!

Happy Mother's Day Great Grandma Marlys!

Happy Mother's day, Eileen! Thanks for being such a wonderful mother, mother-in-law and grandma! We love you very much!

Happy Mother's Day Grandma!

Happy Mother's Day, Great Grandma Darlene! You are SO SO SO good to our kids and we appreciate all the love you share with us! We love you very much!

Happy Mother's Day Great Grandma Darlene!

Mom, happiest of Mother's Day to you! You have always been an amazing source of support, unconditional love and guidance for me and I could never thank you enough! Your smile and laugh is contagious and as I think back over the years I think of your open arms ALWAYS there to console and celebrate with me. There is nothing like a Mother's love--THANK YOU for yours, it is the best! I love you more than you'll ever know!

Soccer week 2

During Bishop's second week of soccer they learned a few new skills and got to play some fun, new games. The new skills they learned included kicking the ball with the inside of their foot and also kicking the ball with the top of their foot. The parents played the role of big, swaying trees, while the soccer players tried to kick their ball through the moving roots (legs). I am very impressed with the coach and the structure!

The scrimmage this week was extra exciting, as Bishop, Danny and Johnny all got to be on the same team!: ) The boys were pretty excited about that! These kids are tough--I'm surprised and impressed with the amount of physical play for 3 year olds! :)

Johnny, Danny and Bishop

Go Team Orange!!

It's a good thing they're still too young to understand keeping score, as the team they played was pretty good! ;) That didn't diminish their smiles at all! :)

I LOVE MY PAPA and I LOVE MY NANA

On Saturday we (finally) celebrated our NCAA winners with dinner--it's been years since we celebrated the winners, so we had some catching up to do! :)  Our past tradition was that the winner chose where we went to eat and it became tradition that we celebrated at The Hubbell House in Southern Minnesota. With 4 kids 3 and under we figured The Hubbell House might not be the best choice....so we chose to order in and celebrate at our house. It worked out great!

My good friend, Michelle, gave Bishop a shirt that said I LOVE MY PAPA. It was a size too small, so I found a size bigger for him and one for Nora that says I LOVE MY NANA. We gave Madelyn the other I LOVE MY PAPA shirt. The 3 "big" kids stood at the front glass door when my parents got to our house....they were banging on the door, yelling NANA...PAPA....NANA...PAPA! I wish I had gotten a picture of that. Regardless, here is a picture of the 3 "big" grandkids with their nana and papa......baby Jack was sleeping when we took the picture (sorry Jack)!

We haven't gotten a Bishop family picture taken since Jack's been born. We tried at his baptism, but the big kids were a mess, so the pictures didn't turn out that great......so here we are!

Happy Baby Jack! I LOVE his smile! He was so happy all night! :)

It was a fun night...it's always fun to be together and this time was especially enjoyable, as no one had to cook, prepare or do anything!

On Thursday morning my Grandpa called my mom at 6am to tell her he had to get to ER because he was having problems breathing. Due to all the snow (13+ inches) they got, my parents couldn't get out to him, so he took an ambulance to the ER to be checked out. It was determined that he needed to be admitted. The Owatonna hospital was full so he was admitted to the Fairbault hospital (15 minutes from Owatonna). He was discharged on Saturday, so my mom was able to get him back to Countryside before coming up. He continues to improve and we hope he stays out of the ER now for awhile. I feel so bad for him, as it must be the most frustrating thing to not be able to breathe!

Bishop and Soccer

We signed Bishop up for soccer for the first time this spring. The 1st two weeks were postponed due to snow, so when they were finally able to get out and play they were pretty excited.

Bishop, Johnny, Danny and Leo are all in this league together and the first night was a blast! I laughed and smiled the entire 45 minutes and I know Bishop did too!

They started out doing some drills and learning about the game of soccer. It takes some time and practice (and reminders) to not use your hands, which is why they teach the kids to tie their hands behind their back! :)

No hands!

At the end of the session they got to scrimmage--2 on 2. Bishop ran around with a smile on his face the entire scrimmage.

This is a parent/child involvement sport, which is why I'm trying to get the ball back in the vicinity of their playing field--these kids could run for hours.....in the wrong direction...they didn't care, as long as they were running!

After soccer, we played at the park for awhile and then came home. Unwinding and heading to bed was a little tough after so much excitement!

I left for Kansas City on Wednesday morning for a regional meeting. It's always hard for me to leave the kids and Luke..but coming home is the best thing ever! I face timed them both nights and Bishop asked me "Mom, can you come home and put me to bed tonight"......I really wish I could have! Thankfully it was just 2 nights. While I was gone, Nora learned to crawl into this chair and it has become one of her favorite things to do. She is still "sweet Nora".   She is constantly smiling and she can't stand to be away from her brother!