National Waffle Day at school

Wednesday was National Waffle Day and parents were invited to join for breakfast at school! The kids got so excited and Nora was especially excited for us to join her for breakfast at school! They were spoiled with some yummy waffles too--strawberries, syrup AND whip cream! Yummy!!

Nora loves reading in her new bed!

Nora and her friend, Liam reading before school one day

Playing before swimming lessons

Nora and Aisling at National Waffle Day!

Excited for some yummy waffles!

Henry Kruger and Bishop

Silly boys!

After school that day the kids asked to go out to eat. I wasn't very motivated to cook so we went to The Chatterbox and played games and ate dinner. It was a nice end to a fun day!

I love how their "school" invites parents to join for special events and the kids enjoy it even more! It's fun to see them interact with their friends and teachers!

Bowling and basketball

Friday night we met the Hennum's for bowling and dinner! The kids love to bowl and we all had a great time! The kids had their own lane and the parents got to bowl too! Siena and Maia are so good to Bishop and Nora and they helped them get the ball down the lane!

On Saturday we joined Grandpa and Grandma for one of Uncle Jake's basketball games. He coaches basketball for the kids he works with (kids with autism). The kids had a blast! They were handing out foam fingers and pom poms and I think we came home with 7 foam fingers and 2 pom poms! It was so fun to see the kids Jake works with get so excited during the game! We went to Potbelly's after the game, which was a big hit as well!

Walking in with Grandpa

Getting ready for the game!

After the game we stopped at a new park to play. We've driven by the park after church and Bishop wanted to try to climb the "web". We weren't all dressed for playing at the park and it was a bit cold and windy, so we didn't stay too long, but it was fun to get out for some fresh air for a little bit!

Nora loves to play "kitchen" at the park!

Bishop LOVES to climb!

St Patrick's Day 2015

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2015!! Since St. Patrick's Day landed on a Tuesday this year we started our celebration on Saturday night with Reuben's, irish cheese and green cupcakes! The kids LOVED the reuben's last year, but weren't so interested in them this year.

The kids were quick to remind me that I'm the only one in the family that isn't Irish! :)

On Tuesday the parents were invited to join the kids for a snack in the afternoon at school. It was a bit hit and a lot of fun! The kids got to decorate their own St. Patrick's day cookies!!

We had swimming that night, so it was a fun filled day!

My Irish Loves!

Bishop decorating his cookie!

Nora had a tough time warming up

Yummy!!

The cookie helped put a smile on her face! :)

Nora got this vest from Madelyn and it's a huge hit! She LOVES it! Thanks so much, Madelyn!

Luke typically takes the kids swimming before and after their lessons. Bishop does pretty well swimming on his own, but it can still get to be a little stressful! However, I'm so happy that they both love to swim!

Ready for her lesson!

Playing after lessons!

Scooters and Monkey Bars

We got out to enjoy the spring weather this weekend! Saturday we were outside most of the day......we started the day with donuts from Bogarts and we ended up at 3 parks throughout the day!!

Excited for donuts at Bogarts!

They love their scooters from Great Marlys!

Bishop tried out the monkey bars. After about 10 minutes he was able to make it all the way around. 

From winter to spring!

We had a relatively mild winter this year. The temps were reasonable (a few REALLY cold days) and we didn't get a TON of snow (we would have appreciated more snow for cc skiing). However, the last days of winter and the first nice days of "spring" came very close together! 

Nora LOVES painting! We've gone through a lot of paint in the past few weeks--but I'll take it! She's quite the little artist...taking after her daddy!

 Bishop has been very interested in reading his Bible lately. He loves all the stories and often talks about God (will god still love me if I get in trouble?, etc).

This past weekend Luke and I spent it at a friends' cabin near Annandale. We dropped the kids off in Cold Spring and the cabin was only about 40 minutes away. There was a wooded park nearby and we were able to ski on Saturday. It was about 40 degrees and felt HOT! The sun felt great and it was nice to get out and get some fresh air. I took a pretty big digger going down a hill, as my ski stuck in the wet snow and I basically did a belly flop! I was ok--but it didn't feel the best! Later that evening Luke skate skied on the lake while I took a little walk. It was a fun weekend with friends...relaxing, playing games and hanging out!

Unfortunately, Nora had a tummy ache while we were gone. Rich called Saturday afternoon as she complained off and on of a tummy ache. She was "fine", but would go in spurts of not feeling well. It was hard not knowing what was going on and not being there for her, but she was well taken care of! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for watching the kids so we could enjoy some time with friends!

It turns out Nora did have a little stomach bug. :( We took it easy on Sunday, but it was so nice out that we ventured out for a walk to the park. I stayed home with her on Monday to try to get her back to normal and it seemed to help.

Luke's skate ski tracks on the lake

Cuddling with daddy while Bishop brought her all her babies!

A day home with mom!

Nora playing teacher to her babies!

Sweet sweet girl!

I was able to meet up with a good friend of mine on Tuesday to celebrate the birth of her 3rd baby! It was SO great seeing her and it made me miss her even more! Since the weather was so nice we sat on the patio outside.....and the restaurant took our picture and posted it on Facebook for being the first 2 on the patio for the season! Yay for warmer weather!

We decided to skip swimming on Tuesday since the weather was so nice and go for a bike ride to the park and to celebrate with ice cream at Sebastian Joe's!

Our first family bike ride of the year!

We are all excited that the days are longer and warmer! Spring in MN is the best!

A big girl bed, skiing, basketball game, sledding and skating!!

We had a very fun weekend this past weekend! Friday night was pizza night--we went out for pizza (Fireside Pizza in Richfield) and came home to watch the movie Big Hero 6. The kids really liked the movie-it was cute and a fun night to camp out in the living room in their sleeping bags!

Friday night also marked the last night that Nora slept in her toddler bed! We inherited a family bed from Luke's cousin (the bed is Luke's great aunt's) and his cousin was coming on Sunday to deliver the bed, so we had to make room in her room. I'll be honest, it was a little tough for me to take it down, as it means we no longer have a crib up (even though it was converted to a toddler bed) in our house! These kids are growing up!!

Saturday morning we went cross country skiing at Hyland. It was a bit cold, but we were all able to get out. Bishop's hands were cold, but he was all smiles on his ski downhill! He rocked it and loved it! The downhills are his favorite! He took his skis off at one point to walk up the hill so he could ski down! :)

Movie night with popcorn!

Last night in her toddler bed!

Skiing at Hyland!

All smiles after his first downhill without falling!

 After skiing we got lunch at George and the Dragon and then went to our neighbor, Casey's, basketball game. The kids adore Casey and he is SO good to them! We've been trying to get to a game of his and we were excited it finally worked.....and they won--big time!! Casey did great--it was fun to be there to cheer him on--the kids were getting into it!

Watching Casey

Saturday night our friends, the Retzer's, came over for dinner. The kids have SO much fun together and at the end of the night Bishop was excited to announce that "Jack is my BEST friend.....and Asa too"! :)

Sunday morning we went to church, brunch and then sledding! After sledding we went skating at Linden Hills, as it was the last day the warming house was open! While Bishop and Luke skated Nora and I played restaurant at the park! It was a great time for everyone!

Excited to sled with Daddy!

Getting pulled up the steep hill!

Playing restaurant at the park while Bishop and Daddy skated

On Sunday night Nora's bed arrived. She was very excited--and I am too-it's a really comfortable bed!! It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but it's a higher bed and she needs some help getting up. We currently have her old crib mattress on the floor so she can step on that to get up (and it's there in case she falls out). I'm going to try for a better picture now that the picture has been raised and her rug is in her room (and there are pillows on the bed)! :)

First night in her big girl bed!

 Bishop also got some fun new things from Luke's cousins kids. They brought shoes and clothes that Bishop LOVES and some books and fun things to do for both kids! Thanks so much, Cortright's--you are so generous and we appreciate it very much!

Carlo's outfit! :)