Weekend Fun

Picture day was last Friday--so I took a couple pictures before the pros!

Happy Girl!

Silly boy!

Saturday was Bishop's last day of basketball. He has been playing out back with our neighbor Casey, so he showed a lot more interest during this practice/game.  He made a bunch of shots during practice and even wanted the ball during the game (and could be heard yelling...PASS to his teammates)! It was fun to see him excited and interested!

All the kids got medals for playing, which was fun! It was a great experience/introduction to basketball and he's played at home as much as possible since then!

Go Terrapins!

We were supposed to be celebrating Madelyn's birthday on Saturday after basketball, but due to Jack's stomach bug, that was cancelled/postponed. 

Luke had a fundraising event in Cold Spring on Saturday afternoon and Nora went to spend the night at Grandpa and Grandma's, so Bishop and I had a date day! We went to the movie, Rio, went to Target, played basketball with Casey, went for a bike ride to play at the park, get icecream and come home to watch a movie! Whew-it was a busy day, but so much fun! I don't get one on one time with the kids very often, so it was very fun. I'll have to plan a day with Nora sometime soon too!

Excited to play at the park!

ICECREAM treat!

Nora had a great time at Grandpa and Grandma's and Luke had fun with his friends so it was a win-win for everyone!  Sunday the weather turned COLD and windy.....and Spring left us for a few days. We're looking forward to sunshine and warmer weather next week!

Happy 3rd Birthday Madelyn!!

Happy 3rd birthday to my sweet niece, Madelyn!

Jack woke up on Saturday with the stomach flu, so they had to postpone her party for another day! Poor girl-she was so excited...but it all worked out in the end, as she got to celebrate on Saturday and Sunday!

We had an absolute blast at her party! The kids had so much fun playing together and although it was COLD on Sunday they insisted on playing outside the majority of the time!

Reading Elmo with Great Grandpa Ray

The Beautiful Birthday Girl!

Such a SWEET girl! Love HER!

Madelyn, you are such a beautiful girl, inside and out and you are so mature for your age! You seem older than 3 to me! Thanks for being so good to your cousins-they absolutely adore you and LOVE you so much! Nora loves having an older cousin to look up to and your smile and laugh just melts us all! We love you so much!!

Last Weekend

Last weekend was a time to get outside....to enjoy the 8" of snow we got....and then to enjoy the nicest, warmest day we've had all year, just 2 days later! Crazy! It appears Spring has arrived and we are all so thankful for that!

The kids love to "play wrestle" with daddy! Here they are trying to tackle him!

 And they both love the flying trapeze!

 Bishop has changed so much in the past year! He still has an unbelievable amount of energy, but he's growing up and he is definitely helping off-set the 2 year old in our house! :)  He's doing really well in school, especially behaviorly. He's excited to learn and yesterday he requested to practice his writing, instead of playing. It's fun to watch him grow and learn.....but still be a boy! :)

A Smile for Auntie before bedtime

I think he's also accepted the fact that I'm going to ask him to smile for a lot of pictures.....so the sooner he does it the sooner he can move on to what he wants to do! :)

Friday morning we woke up to a bunch of snow! I'm not sure how much, but I'd say at least 6". The kids couldn't wait to get outside to play in it! It was warm enough to enjoy it and we knew it wasn't going to stay!

Watching a movie with Danny

 Saturday morning brought basketball and Bishop's first made basket of the season (during practice). I think that gave him a lot of confidence and got him even more excited to get involved in the game! He still had his moments where he would walk around the 3 point line--but there were also moments when he really wanted the ball and he took a couple shots!

Point Guard! 

Treats with Colin

The Farm Babies were at the Zoo so we went to check them out. It was a bit cool, but definitely nice enough to be out and enjoy the sunshine!

 Saturday night we went to the Bormann's to watch the NCAA Final Four! The kids had an absolute blast together! They played SO well together, it was so fun to watch them interact and be on their own!

 It was a very fun day and we were all exhausted when we got home!

Sunday brought the nicest day of the year...it was warm, sunny with no wind-a perfect day to bike/walk/run to the lake and meet the Hennum's at the park!

We stopped at Sebastian Joe's on the way home and then got home to see Nana. She came to spend the night. I had to leave Monday morning for a meeting in KC and Luke left the house by 6 on Monday, so my mom took the kids in to school, which worked out great! Thanks, mom!

It's always hard to see such fun weekends come to an end. The exciting part is--our outdoor time is just starting again so we have a lot of fun times to look forward to this Spring/Summer!

Basketball/ Siena's 8th Birthday

I think Bishop may have had the "play of the game" on Saturday at basketball. Bishop's team had the ball and a boy was guarding him. He was quite a bit taller than Bishop and he had his arms up to guard him.....so Bishop kept jumping up to give him high fives! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it--or get it on tape--I was laughing too hard!

The boy in blue is the one that was guarding Bishop

Bishop working on his dribbling

Bishop working on giving high fives to the boy who was guarding him! :)

 Bishop has become good buddies with a teammate, Colin, on his team. The coaches are on to them now and will try to separate them during practice and the games. They have more fun running around.....walking around the 3 point line and "playing" together than they do the game!

Bishop and Colin eating their treats after their game

Silly Boys!

After basketball we went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, as Luke really wanted to see the Matisee exhibit. Nora fell asleep in the car on the way there, so I stayed in the car to let her nap, while Bishop and Luke went in to see the exhibit.

Saturday night we had Siena's 8th birthday party! I still can't believe she's 8 years old!! It only makes sense though--as Luke and I will be married 6 years this May and she was 2 when she was our flower girl! She is such a sweet and caring young girl! She is so good to Bishop and Nora and she is always taking care of them!

She had plenty of help opening her presents and blowing out her birthday candles! Like I said--she is a sweet, sweet girl--she told Bishop he could blow out a candle and lick the frosting off of it!

Bishop, Siena and Maia

Wow-it was a busy Saturday, but lots of fun!

It was 60 on Sunday so we got outside to go for a walk, ride bikes and play! It felt so good to feel the warm sun on our faces and to see some of the snow melt! We still have plenty of snow to melt in our yard, but we're getting closer! There's snow in the forecast for this week, so we're hoping it misses us!

Family Portrait

Bishop came home from school with this picture last week....can you guess which one Luke is?? Looks like he's following his father's footsteps of being an artist! :)

Mom, Nora, Dad and Bishop

There was a cute story from my Grandpa's funeral. Bishop started getting a little antsy during the service and walked to my dad and then back to me during the service. I told him he couldn't keep going back and forth--that he either had to stay with my dad or sit with me (so he went back to my dad and sat with him during the sermon). The service was JUST about over and he made his way back to sit by Luke and I and he sat on my lap facing me and said "MOM, are you happy?" The timing was impeccable! He followed it up with "Mom, are you happy with me for not going back and forth and sitting with Papa?" At first I was a little taken a back--I wasn't exactly "happy" to be at my Grandpa's funeral......but I was happy that he listened.  :)

Basketball

This is another catch up post from the past couple of weekends. We've had a lot of family time since my Grandpa passed away, which has been great!

We got home from Punta Cana on Friday night and on Saturday morning Bishop had basketball--we went to that and then my parents and the Bormann's came over. We all went out to lunch (Convention Grill), which went pretty well. Just watch out--I learned you don't want to mess with my daughter and my mother while I'm there--I'm pretty protective of those 2! ;)

We then came back to our house and the kids played and we talked about the arrangements for my Grandpa.

Madelyn and Nora with their babies! 

After the funeral Bishop really wanted to go to the park--so Luke, Ryan and I took the kids to the park for a little bit. There was a ton of snow and we weren't all really that prepared, but it was fun to get some fresh air and burn a little energy outside! :)

Nora and Madelyn swinging

 The kids and I spent the night in Owatonna the night of his funeral. On Friday I took the kids to visit my Grandma. She has Alzheimer's, but always loves seeing the kids!! The only good thing about Alzheimer's is she doesn't have to mourn the loss of her husband of 68 years!

Nora modeling Papa's shoes!

Nora reading her book to Great Grandma Marlys!

Hugs for Great Grandma

She LOVES holding her "babies"!!

Such a sweet lady-I love her so much!

Nora wasn't as interested in sitting on her lap--but she did manage to give her a hug!

 My parents came up on Friday to watch the NRHEG girls play in the state tournament.  My mom is an alum of NRHEG.  They played Friday night.....won and played again in the championship game on Saturday afternoon. My parents came and spent the night at our house Friday night.

So--they came to watch Bishop's basketball game on Saturday morning.....along with Shelly and her kids. Ryan had to work, so he wasn't able to make it for Bishop's game.

Jack's absolute favorite person....NANA!

Nora and Madelyn playing together while Bishop played basketball

 After basketball we had lunch at our house and then got ready to go to the NRHEG championship game at 2pm!

 Luke wasn't feeling well, so he stayed home. The kids had a blast at the game....and playing together for part of it. NR girls one and it was fun to watch Carlie Wagner. She'll be going to the UofM next year, so it'll be fun to continue to watch her play.

Bishop watching the game with Papa

Their favorite part of the game--POPCORN!

Madelyn and Shelly=beautiful!

Ha! I had to add this picture--she really was having a good time....

 Uncle Ryan is so good with the kids! He was entertaining all 3 of the big kids for awhile!

My favorite boy and I!

 The NRHEG mascot is a Panther and the older 3 kids were obsessed with him! It was fun!