Madelyn's 5th birthday party!

Happy 5th Birthday to a sweet and wonderful girl, Madelyn! Madelyn celebrated her birthday at Gleason's gymnastics gym in Maple Grove! Nora was super excited (and maybe not properly dressed for gymnastics)! ;) The kids both had a great time!! They played with the parachute, on the rings, jumped on the trampoline, jumped in the foam pit and had free time! It was awesome!

Madelyn, you are growing up so fast and I can't believe you'll be in Kindergarten this fall! 5 is such a fun age full of exciting changes! Nora looks up to you so much and absolutely adores you!! Bishop loves having you to relate to some of the "bigger kid stuff" and the 2 of you share a special bond! I love your smile and how hard you work at whatever you set out to accomplish! You are such a strong swimmer and your hard work is paying off! That is so fun to see! I know you'll be great at whatever you set your mind to, you already are!! We love you so much!!

Cousins getting ready to party!

These 2 have so much fun together!

Sisters! ;)

Love!!

Bishop with the birthday girl!

Soccer, Earth Day and T-Ball!

Spring is here, although not everyday is warm like we'd like! Nora started soccer on Tuesday night and had fun with her friends, Jack and Ashton! 

Friday was Earth Day and the final class party for the year (aside from the end of the year Kindergarten party)! We had lots of fun in Mrs. Delebo's class--I helped the kids plant flowers and they got to make Earth Day t-shirts, which were a huge hit! It was a fun afternoon party!

Saturday morning brought Bishop's first t-ball "game". The first week they worked on drills (hitting and catching mainly) and going forward they will be playing games, so that'll be fun! The best part is his buddies are on his team! :)

Nora and Jack!

Ashton, Nora and Jack!

Bishop's earth day party!

The awesome shirts the kids got to make!

And it was PJ day! And icecream!!

Batting practice!

He loves to hit!

Spring is here--let's Bike!

We had a fun weekend outside since the weather was nice for the weekend!

Bishop was due for a bigger bike--so Luke took him shopping! After a stop at a store with not many choices for a 20" bike he called Erik's and found the perfect bike for Bishop! He is so excited to have gears and a brand new bike!

Saturday evening we celebrated our NCAA bracket winner......in the past we used to go out for dinner, but we've decided with kids it's easier to order in--so the winner gets to pick and the loser gets a free drink! ;) Just for the record--I got to pick where we got dinner from this year (I picked pizza since we hosted and it was the easiest choice)! :) We also celebrated Madelyn's birthday and heard all about their fun family trip to FL (a family wedding and DISNEY)!!!

On Sunday we got a little work done in the yard/garage before some friends came over to play! And then we went on a family bike ride and Nora got to ride the tag along! She was a little apprehensive at first, but her big brother was so encouraging "Nora, it's ok....I was scared at first too, but it's really fun and you'll love it!" After the first few minutes of apprehension she absolutely LOVES biking and has become a little obsessed! We are all so happy to be able to bike together! It should be a fun summer of biking!

Happy birthday to our beautiful niece, Madelyn!! 5 is so fun!

The big cousins!

The girls and their phones....we're in trouble! ;)

These 2 are so close--it melts my heart!

Jack and Bishop--2 peas in a pod for sure! Crazy energy, crazy boys! :)

And Nora adores Annika!

We stopped for a treat at Tilia on our bike ride home!

Nora, the biker!!!

Goldy's Run 2016

We signed the kids up for Goldy's Run again this year.....and I also signed up to run the 10 miler. I couldn't talk anyone else into running it with me (Luke would have loved to--but we had the logistics of getting the kids down for their race and he was nice enough to let me run this race)! The race started at 8am and I left the house at 7am as I knew there wasn't any indoor areas to wait before the race....and it was COLD! It was 19 degrees at the start--about 15 degrees colder than when I skied the Birkie 2 months ago! Crazy!! I ended up late to the start due to being stuck in traffic--so it forced me to pick up my pace to catch up early on! It was a fun race! Luke brought the kids down to see me finish--they were watching for my pink hat (I made a last second decision to wear my headband instead of my hat and they missed my finish, but that's ok--I was happy to have them there)! We warmed up at Bruegger's before their race and then met up with the Heller's for the kids race! Luke ran with Bishop and Nora and I held hands during her race! She smiled the entire way--it's so fun to see them enjoying activities we enjoy so much!

2/3 of my fans!

My finishers!

Max, Liam, Nora and Bishop!

The 3 finishers--ready to warm up!

An update on Bishop and Nora

I get so focused on documenting WHAT we're doing I forget to document on HOW we're doing! So, here's a little update on Bishop and Nora.

Kindergarten has been so good for Bishop. He has made some great friends and continually impresses me with what he's learning in the classroom! It's fun to see him mature and learn and grow! He went to Mpls Kids for 3 days over spring break--and a couple of those days none of his friends were there. It didn't bother him at all---and he came home reporting that he had made a new friend (a 4th grader)! :) Since the school is split (K-3 and 4-8) he had never met this boy and they enjoyed playing basketball together! Instant connection for Bishop as he LOVES basketball. We'll play in the house on the small hoop in the kitchen, the basement and hopefully outside more as it gets nicer out! One of his other favorite things to do is to play catch in the house--with anything.....but mostly the balls we have! It's fun to play sports with him and be active together! I can't believe his Kindergarten year is wrapping up in less than 2 months! Time has just FLOWN by!! I am very proud of how much he's grown, matured and how good of a kid he is! He's so sweet to his sister! His favorites right now are: basketball, playing catch, art (drawing/coloring) and he also has an interest in the trumpet!

Nora is my love bug. I love her hugs and I told her this morning that "I love your hugs....and I could hug you forever" and she replied with "I will never forget you, mom"! She's doing well in Pre-K and wants to keep up with her brother. The soccer games in the backyard can be tough sometimes as she wants to keep up with Bishop and beat him! She has had her moments in the past couple of months--it seems that when she turned 4 we saw a few more tantrums, but they have lessened in the past few weeks, so hopefully those are behind us. Nora is excited to start soccer next week with a couple of her friends. She has really enjoyed playing with Bishop's friends older sisters and she has a lot of great role models to look up to! She's been practicing on a pedal bike (no training wheels) so hopefully she can pick that up for the summer! I am equally as proud of Nora and how much she's learning and growing! Her favorites right now include: Jake and the Neverland Pirates, her baby dolls, watching the neighbor boys play basketball and keeping up with whatever Bishop is doing! :)

We are all excited for some warmer weather--to play at parks and get outside a little more! I am so thankful for these 2 blessings in my life! Time seems to be flying by and I want to soak it all up as much as I can!

Spring Break at Grandview

We made a last minute decision to head to Grandview for a long weekend over spring break! We had thoughts of skiing at Lutsen, but we learned the kids couldn't get in lessons and that seemed like a risk since they have never down hill skiied before--so we played it safe with Grandview and the waterpark! It ended up being a very fun weekend--and we were all thankful for the indoor waterpark, since it was cold outside!

I took Thursday off and the kids and I went up and started swimming in the afternoon. Luke joined us that evening for dinner. Friday brought more swimming and in the afternoon we went to town for a couple errands and checked out a local brewery! The kids got to enjoy some rootbeer and play beanbags--it was a win/win for everyone!

Ready to swim!

Bishop took this picture! :)

Look, we're trees!

We met some new friends while we were there--they have a daughter that's 7 and a son that's 5. Nora loved hanging out with Annika--she even went down the waterslide with her! :)

She's ready!

Bishop and Jack had so much fun shooting baskets and cheering each other on!

It was a fun weekend away--now we're ready for Spring and some warmer temps!