Happy Birthday, John!

Wow, I have not been doing a very good job keeping up with my blogging. In my defense, we have been super busy over here, both on the weekend and weekdays, but I will try to keep up a little better.

So, two weekends ago, the kids and I traveled to Minnesota while John stayed behind to get some stuff done around the house. The kids got a lo of grandma and grandpa time, while I went to the cities with some girlfriends and had a girls night. Samantha had a couple free night at a hotel in the Twin Cities, and we got a bunch of girls together from high school and had a good night of drinking and socializing. We all had a lot of fun, and it was so nice to hang out with them all.

The kids handled the trip really well, and did not want to go back home again. They were officially worn out, and slept most of the way back home. They keep asking me when we can go back to Grandma and Grandpa's house, it's pretty cute.

Our week was pretty steady between work, meetings, and buying a new car. Yep, that's right, we traded in my Regal and we got ourselves a 2012 Chevy Equinox. We really like. We needed the extra room and space, and we are much more comfortable in this vehicle. We hope to spend quite a few years driving this one around. The kids also enjoy not getting their legs squished in our little car.

This past weekend was pretty busy yet again. Yesterday, we ran some errands in the morning, and then we met Marie and Abby at the Midco Aquatic Center and went swimming for 3 hours. The kids absolutely loved it, and did not want to leave. We had some pretty tired kiddos after all that. We finished the evening at the Market Grille, and then went home and put the kids to bed. We were all pretty beat.

Today was John's birthday! We started it off with our typical church routine, and then came home for some naps. After that we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa's house to help in the Greenhouse and celebrate John's birthday.

Jim and Barb recently got new baby chicks, and the kids really enjoyed holding them and petting them. They were a big highlight. Also, Emma planted some carrots last time we were out on the their farm, and they are starting to come up already. Emma was super excited to go and see them. Other than that, the kids pretty much just ran around and played, and had a really good time.

For supper, we headed into Pancheros and enjoyed some supper with the birthday boy. Everyone had a good time, and we finished things up with a birthday cookie. It was a good day.

Happy 31st Birthday to a great husband and an awesome daddy!!!

Ranger rides with Uncle Ryan

Kite Flying 

The Girls Night Crew

Class of 2005 

Daycare Treats

Baby Chicks

Trying on Grandma's glasses

Birthday Supper!!

March Snow Storms

Like always, time keeps flying by and we are almost to the middle of March already. Nothing too exciting has been happening around here, we've pretty much just been dealing with the typical day to day stuff around here, and hoping for nicer weather.

We did enjoy some nice weather last weekend, and ended up taking Emma "fishing" last Sunday. Most of the lakes still had a bunch of ice on them, so we found a stream, and just let her practice her casting with just a bobber on. She thought it was great, and she actually did a really good job with the casting and reeling.

Last week seemed like we were busy just about every night with some grocery trips, a daycare visit, and some other odds and ends. I was so ready for the weekend once it got here.

We had a pretty low-key weekend since the weather was pretty yucky. It was cold and snowy all weekend. On Saturday, we got out of the house for a little while and took the kids to the Kirby Science Center. They had an absolute blast, and we all enjoyed being out of the house.

John's parents watched the kids for a couple hours so we could go out on a date by ourselves, which was amazing. We went to the Pour House and then we had a peaceful Costco trip. It wasn't the most exciting thing ever, but it was nice to have an adults-only outing.

Today was kind of a marathon of a day. John had a wedding he shot all day (yes, on a Sunday!). So, I was cooped up all day with the kids. It wouldn't have been so bad if the weather had been nice, but with the snow, wind, and the cold, we just stayed home all day. We played games, played with Legos, painted, crafted, colored, played with Pom Poms, ran, jumped, danced, and watched Trolls. And I think I cleaned up with living room 59 times. They were pretty well-behaved though, and only had a few screaming fits. But, they wore me out. I am happy to say they are both resting peacefully, and I cannot wait to go to sleep, I am not looking forward to this Monday thing though.

This next week should be a little quieter. On Friday, the kids and I are heading to Minnesota, and both kids are super excited about it. I am going to the cities with some of my friends, and the kids are going to have some Grandma and Grandpa time. And John is staying home to work on pictures. It should be a good weekend for everyone.

Checking out Lake Vermillion 

Emma enjoying some fishing 

My loves

Daycare Yoga

Painting projects

Time "Marches" On.

See what I did there? Haha. March is here! Hard to believe that we are finally nearing toward spring time, and we are all so ready.

We have been pretty spoiled with some nice weather lately. Today, for example, it is supposed to be sunny and get up to around 65 degrees. I will take it.

Life has been pretty good lately. The kids have been staying relatively healthy, and we have just mostly been staying in our typical routine. Last weekend was snowy and chilly again, so Emma and I went to a movie (Trolls, again!) and had a mommy and Emma outing that was pretty fun. We also went to the camper show last weekend, which the kids had a blast at. They had inflatables, face painting, and balloon animals, which the kids really enjoyed. They also really liked running through campers and exploring.

We ended the evening with some supper at Outback Steakhouse, which was interesting with some tired children, but overall it went very well.

Last Sunday, we had just enough snow to let the kids do some sledding in our front yard. They had so much fun being pushed down the hill. It was pretty cute. Otherwise we pretty much just laid low at home, and had a quiet rest of the weekend.

This week moved along pretty quickly. We went to Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday evening, which was sort of a disaster. Our kids are just so restless and start getting cranky at around 7:30pm. But we survived, and it was ok. Don't know it we will go again this Wednesday though.

This weekend has flown by pretty quickly yet again. Friday night we had a movie night and watched the new movie Pete's Dragon, the kids thought it was pretty great.

Yesterday was spent at Jim and Barb's helping with some greenhouse work. The kids actually did really well, and stayed entertained "helping" Grandma and Grandpa in the greenhouse. We were out there pretty much most of the day, and the kids loved it. They didn't want to leave. Emma also made a fairy garden with Grandma, and she planted some carrots for the Easter Bunny. So adorable.

Today has pretty much been just church, and then we headed home and the boys are napping. Emma did some crafting, and now she is driving me crazy as I am trying to blog. Holy cow that girl cannot sit still for more than 2 minutes. Restless kids. We plan to get outside and enjoy the weather today, and we may even do some fishing out at Lake Vermillion. I think Emma would really enjoy that.

Anyway, I will leave you with some photos from the past couple weeks.

Church shennanigans

Donuts!!

Picking eggs at Grandma and Grandpas

Greenhouse workers

Emma's adorable little garden

So cute!