What a weekend...

We had quite a weekend! It was BEAUTIFUL weather, yesterday was mid 70's and sunny, today was lower 80's and sunny. There was a chance for storms yesterday so we worked at home. John and I mowed the lawn, did some trimming on the bushes and shrubs, weeded the garden, treated the weeds, and caught up on laundry - all while running after 2 kids. :) I must say I'm not as sore as I thought I would be, but still sore. I happened to get a blister from mowing lawn and when I told John that his poor delicate flower of a wife got a blister he told me I'd have to mow more often so that doesn't happen again. :)

Today we made plans to visit Como Zoo in Minneapolis. It's a very nice zoo and conservatory that happens to be free. Katie and Will saw a zebra, giraffes, penguins, sea lions, tigers, lions, gorillas, monkeys, snakes, tarantulas, leopards, and a bunch that I just can't remember right now. They had WAY more animals than I thought they would have for a free zoo.

To get into the zoo part you have to walk through the amusement park area too, so Katie saw that they had all kinds of rides as well. After lunch we let her go on a few rides. She rode on the train, did the tea cups with John, and a fire truck ride with me. Then all 4 of us went on the carousel. It was quite the day. :)

After we left Como we drove down to the 35W bridge to see how that was coming. We walked on the pedestrian bridge that runs near there. I tried to take pictures, but they didn't really turn out very well. It was pretty massive, and they have made a lot of progress on the rebuilding which is set to be done around Christmas time.

John and Katie enjoying the tea cups.

Katie taking in the mighty Mississippi from the pedestrian bridge.

Hand in hand...

After the zoo, Will was not up for ANYTHING else. :) He was pretty excited when he saw most of the animals. The leopard came right up to the window and Will pointed, grunted and yelled. He did that for the monkeys too. It was pretty cute.

I *heart* NYC

My niece Sarah left for New York City yesterday morning. The Waukon High School is taking their traditional trip to NYC again. Every 3-4 years the band and choir load onto a bus and journey 24 hours to the big apple. This year, the kids got to fly. They left Minneapolis at 7 am and touched down at JFK about 9:15 am. Sarah called yesterday to tell Katie that she got her a magnet. Katie's reply was "Ok, now I want a magazine." We agreed a post card would work.

Ahhhh, NYC. For those of you reading this that happened to be lucky enough to go on our school trip in 96 - wow. That was the first year that we went to New York. Things are a bit different now. They still went through all their bags, they still threatened that kids would be sent home if they didn't behave, and they are still taping the hotel doors shut at night. But now when they go off sightseeing in groups of 3 or 4, they have to have a chaperone with them at all times. When we got sent off into the streets of Manhattan at 5 pm, we were told to meet at the Empire State Building at 8 (or 9 I can't remember). The group of 4 I was in didn't have an adult with us, we just took off. Some groups hopped in cabs, some jumped on buses or the subway. Looking back I think, wow - that was a little nuts. :) Everything about the trip was surreal. All of the kids this time have cell phones - when we went I don't even remember calling home, and neither does my mother. There aren't very many moments of high school I'd be keen on reliving, but the New York trip is at the top of the list. I wish we would have had digital cameras then - instead of lugging around film everywhere. I wish I would have taken more pictures of buildings and sites, rather than friends and people. I wish I would have taken more pictures in general.

Denise and Wally have taken it all pretty well. That's pretty good, considering that Sarah is in 9th grade. This is the first year they have taken the 9th graders along. A few months ago Denise said the only thing she was worried about was Sarah losing all of her money. :) I think we'll all breathe easier when Sarah is back in IA, but I'm sure she would want the trip to last a bit longer. I can't wait to see pictures.

Preschool Graduation

Today was Katie's big preschool concert and graduation ceremony. I tell you it was the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Will was a VERY good quiet boy in his stroller while John and I captured the moment on film. John was posted with about 10 other dads in the back with the video camera. I took pictures. Katie's class, along with 2 other classes stood on the risers and sang their little hearts out. :) Katie was right in the front row and did a very good job - John and I could hear her in the back. :)

Then we went to her classroom for 'graduation.' They all wore caps and walked across a bridge, shook the teacher's hand and received a certificate of completion. They even had a gown to take pictures in. And yes, they do a graduation even though she will still be in preschool next year, but it's an older class and 3 days instead of 2.

Here is Katie during the concert - she is in the front row on the right side.

Katie receiving her certificate during graduation.

Of course Katie enjoys any moments where she is having her picture taken. I think this will be a good one to keep around for high school graduation.

This is Ms. Laurie, Katie's lead teacher in the Bumblebee class. Katie REALLY enjoyed having her for a teacher. Next fall, Katie's new teacher is going to have a baby, and luckily Ms. Laurie is the one who is going to step in and help out for a few months.

Will wishes he could go to preschool too. He loves crawling all over that room. John took the whole morning off so we went out to lunch after the program too. It was a very special day, a real tearjerker. I'm going to be a mess if this gets tougher. :)

Katie's Second Field Trip

On Tuesday Katie went on her second field trip for preschool. They took a school bus to a local park and played games and had snacks. Siblings were invited this time so Will and I were able to drive and meet them at the park. Of course it was FREEZING! They said it was supposed to get up to 60 yesterday, but it never quite did and the wind was terrible! When we left for school the wind chill was 38. Let's just say Katie didn't wear shorts. :)

Here is Katie's Bumblebee class.

Even Will got some play time.

Here are the girls in Katie's class - they just all plopped down together before it was time to go. :)

Memorial Weekend

We spent the holiday weekend in IA with family. We drove down Friday afternoon and were pleasantly surprised with the warm weather. The kids and I helped my aunt Carol celebrate her 87th birthday on Saturday. Katie made her a card and we updated her digital photo frame with more pictures of the kids.

Justin and Jordan Mezera (Janet and Jeff's boys) had their gradutaion parties on Saturday afternoon. Justin is graduating high school and Jordan is graduating 8th grade. We had another cousin's grad party on Sunday and now I think we are all done with those.

On Monday we took in the grand Waukon Memorial Day parade. There was a horse and a band this year! Katie got some candy so she was satisfied.

We drove home Monday evening when it was about 75 degrees. By the time we got home it was 51. Brrrr.

Katie kept Wally happy by coloring with him at the graduation parties.

Jim was one of Katie's 'best friends' all weekend.

Will thought he was a big boy when he got to ride on Katie's bike.

Finally...

Warmer weather has finally arrived and we actually made it outside today to enjoy it. This morning before we took Katie to school we hit a couple garage sales in the area and I found a baby swing for Will to use outside on the swing set. I also found a small slide for him (and Katie.)





With Katie's help (not much of it) we planted the garden this afternoon while Will took a nap. We planted green beans, peas, sugar snap peas, carrots, a little corn, some marigolds and assorted wild flowers. Whew. That was enough. I want to get a couple tomato plants yet, but that will come this weekend probably.

Happy Mother's Day

I finally have a chance to post some Happy Mother's Day wishes! So - to all the mother's out there, especially mine and John's - Happy Mother's Day and we love you.

It's been a busy weekend. We had to go to WI for a bridal shower/bachelorette party. John was drug along so that he could help with the kids. I wouldn't be able to travel that far with the kids, and I can't leave Will for that long yet. It was a good time - Katie and Will both had a good time. After the shower we went to a bowling alley/restaurant/arcade/amusement park in Wisconsin Dells for the bachelorette party. There were about 17 girls...and John and Will. :) We bowled a bit, Katie played some arcade games, and went on some rides. The restaurant handed out hats to everyone. Will was especially fond of his because he actually left it on his head for about 20 minutes.


On Friday night before the kids' bath, John suggested that we cut Will's hair. Just a trim around the ears, because it was getting pretty long and boys' hair really shouldn't be tucked behind the ears. :) So we got out the hair scissors and John held his head so that I could snip a few hairs. I started cutting and boy, did Will ever CRY! I tried to reassure him that it was only hair, and would grow back, but he was still upset. Then, in a calm voice John said, "Well, you did cut him." i look closer at the top of Will's ear as it starts to bleed. And bleed. And Bleed. Talk about mother's guilt. :) It finally stopped bleeding after about 10 minutes, and Will had LONG since stopped crying. There on the top of his ear was a tiny little gouge. I guess I'm gonna need some practice. P.S. Will also has another tooth poking through on the top. Hopefully all this tooth business has been the reason his sleep is wacky.

Lawnmower

John and I mowed the lawn for the first time this afternoon. We split it in half and each did a share. First, I must send a BIG thank you out to my dad. In all my years growing up he never made me mow lawn. :) That's what the baby of the family gets away with. I did mow a bit on the riding lawn mower, but it's not the same. I think John almost fell over when I admitted to him a few years back that I had never mowed lawn before. So now I can say I did it today - for the second time in my life. :) It sucks. But that's the price you pay for having warm weather. I think it's a pretty fair trade...for now. We are probably the youngest on our street, so it'd be pretty pathetic for us to use a riding lawn mower. I guess I'll have to suck it up and chalk it up as my exercise for the week. So for now, my green shoes and I say good night.

Monday Monday

Will had a great night sleeping Saturday night. He only woke up 2 times. Could be the fresh air he had while we played at our friend Jamie's house, could be the nice supper of applesauce he had that night, who knows. Anyway - he only woke up 2 times. It's been at least a month since he's only woke up 2 times. We tried to repeat the performance last night, but it didn't work. At 1:00 he woke up with a fever. It wasn't a big one, but enough to make him uncomfortable and require a dose of Tylenol. He squirmed and wiggled for about 2 hours, finally went back to sleep around 3. Then he woke up again and ate at 4:30 - then slept til about 8. He still had the fever this morning. Seems to be making him a bit whiny and irritable. (great) I put him down for a nap and 2 hours later he is still out like a light. This may put a kink in our hopes of spending the afternoon outside...

Prom time...

Tonight was prom in Prairie du Chien, WI. My nephew, Justin attended his senior prom. (Geez he's old!) Anyway, I thought it would be nice to post a picture of him and his girlfriend, Donna. They kicked off the evening by going all out and having dinner at...Gus and Tony's in Waukon. :) I have to agree, it would be a nice, affordable, fun place to go for prom. I should talk...we all went to Pizza Ranch in Decorah when I was in high school. :)

May is here

May has already arrived, but not the warm weather. Last night they said that there was a chance of 1-3 inches of snow for our area. We expected the ground to be covered when we woke up, but instead we were treated to bright sun and no snow. It's cold and windy, but there is sun. Supposed to be warmer tomorrow.
Will is on the move. He is still a slow crawler, but he can get around. It's funny to see him try to go really fast - usually for something of Katie's that she has left on the floor.
We got Katie all registered for preschool. Instead of moving her to the new preschool in Chaska, we are going to keep her in the Eden Prairie preschool. We really like the program and staff, so why change? She will be going 3 mornings a week next year.
Other than that - it's been pretty slow here. Just waiting to get outside....for more than 10 or 15 minutes.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Hanson!

We just wanted to wish Grandpa Hanson a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! Too bad it is rainy and wet - he won't get outside much to celebrate. See you soon!

MN Children's Museum

On Tuesday after school, Katie, Will and I went to the MN Children's Museum to check out their new exhibit about Sesame Street. Katie was VERY excited. I think she expected the actual characters to be there. :) It was a pretty cool exhibit. They also had a fitness exhibit where kids could do all kinds of strength, balance, and endurance exercises. Will didn't really know what to think of everything. He DID like watching the kids run around and climbing with Katie - when I would let him. (In the pictures, Katie's face is a mess because they let the kids do face painting...and well, that's how Katie painted her face. :))

We are heading back to Waukon again this weekend for my nephew Jordan's confirmation on Sunday. I don't think we will get to Waukon until later Friday night because we have to stop by Wade and Donna Hogen's. Orv and Sharon Hogen are going to be around and they haven't met Will yet.

Katie and Will hanging out in Big Bird's nest.

A tale of two Willies...

Katie perfecting her surfing skills.

Katie and Will on the job site.

This was pretty cool - they had an area where the kids could sit and appear on screen as if the Sesame Street characters were talking to them. They also had a VCR where parents could put a tape in and record their child's on screen debut. But honestly - tell me, who in the world carries VCR tapes with them when they go to a museum????!

Before and After

Will has started pulling himself up on things. You can tell he is very strong and will keep pulling and pulling until he gets up on his knees or feet. Once he is up, he is still learing that he needs to hold on or topple over. A few days ago he pulled himself up on our coffee table. He looked like such a big boy I had to take a picture. So I went and got the camera and snapped a picture. I wanted to take another one and just as the camera snapped the photo, he let go and, well...the result is the picture below. Being the tough guy he is he didn't cry, whine or even let it bother him. He just started pulling himself up again.

Before:

After:

Happy Birthday John!

Katie helped me make a birthday cake for John yesterday afternoon. She did the sprinkles and some of the frosting. Will didn't get to do anything this year.

I also found out yesterday that I won a drawing at the Byerly's supermarket here in town. We got a $50 gift card and a big basket if Italian pastas, sauce, olive oil, a nice plate, and a dishtowel. So every one's invited for supper I guess. :)

This weekend, Katie's school had a used kids' stuff sale to raise funds for next year. I was able to shop at it last night because I volunteered last weekend to help out. There was an entire gym full of outdoor toys, indoor toys, puzzles, dolls, baby equipment, books, clothes, you name it, they had it. About 25 of us went through everything and had 'first dibs' on whatever we wanted. I ended up coming home with 2 big boxes of clothes, a train set, some Lincoln Logs, books, sticker books, sippy cups, and shoes...all for $50. I was pretty happy. Katie played dress up all morning, trying on her new clothes. She wore a swimsuit, a pretty pink dress, a frilly nightgown, skirts, and tank tops. (I'm sure pictures will follow at some point.) :) Will wasn't very excited so he opted out of the fashion show.

Warm weekend

Yes, it is getting warmer up here...we did have a nice Monday and Tuesday this week. I think it got into the 60's...although there were 40 mile an hour wind gusts so we didn't really make it outside much. Today it's windy again and only in the 40's. This weekend looks to be the best weather we have had in a LONG time, should get into the mid 60's even with a chance of rain. It must be because of John's birthday! Yep, that's right John's birthday is tomorrow! Out of respect (and the fact that I have to live with him) I will not post his age. (Although anyone else is more than welcome to. :))

Waterpark of America

On Thursday after naps we headed to the Radisson Hotel and the Waterpark of America. John was project manager on these buildings when they were built a couple years ago, and we have not been inside them yet. I think we should have gotten a discount because of the work he did on them, but alas - nothing. We got a room for one night, and waterpark tickets for 2 days. Katie really liked our room because it had bunk beds in it! She could climb all the way to the top by herself. Once we got unpacked we headed straight to the waterpark.

They have everything you can think of in this waterpark. They have a lazy river that you can ride around on with intertubes. They have a big wave pool, a pool for swimming and basketball, 2 big hot tubs, and a surfing type area. They also have a HUGE kids area with 6 water slides, 0 entry area, water sprouting from everywhere and every 90 seconds or so a GIANT bucket of water dumps out over everything. For the bigger kids and adults they have 2 tube slides, 3 body slides and 1 giant family raft ride. These are the slides that you can see sticking out of the building. John and I did everything except the raft ride...didn't think Katie could handle that just yet, but for sure next time. She was happy just doing a couple small kids' slides and swimming with her life jacket. Will went down a small slide with me and Katie - not sure if he liked it or not. He liked the water, and he was a big splasher. We always thought with the way his legs kick that he would be great in water - well we were right. We brought him in the pool to swim with Katie and he would just about take off. Didn't mind getting wet at all. And as loud as it was in there...he still managed to fall asleep twice.


Katie also had a good time in their arcade...as did John and I. (Will maybe not so much.) Thursday night we got ready for bed. Katie was so excited about the bunk beds that she didn't fall asleep til sometime after 11. Will fell asleep around 9:30, but woke up by midnight and was in a MOOD. By morning we had deduced that his second upper tooth is coming in and bothering him quite a bit. The last 2 nights have not been fun...constant waking, and nothing seems to make him real happy. Shouldn't last too long...it's just about to pop through. (Yeah, I just keep telling myself that.)


When we left the hotel, we drove hom in snow, sleet, etc. We were supposed to get 3-6 inches on Friday, but ended up not sticking much. Yesterday it finally stopped raining, snowing, whatever. Today seems sunny and dry, but cold. I still say we will never get above 45 again.

John's Vacation

John has been off this whole week, so we have done a little mini vacation. He took Katie to school and picked her up a few times. She thought this was GREAT and has said that she doesn't want me to take her to school anymore - only Dad. :)

On Wednesday night I found a bowling alley that had the bumpers, and had a lane open for us. So I took everyone bowling. John has never been too exciting about bowling, but I got him to go. After 10 years I finally found a sport I can beat him in. :) Basketball, golf, pool, darts, you name it - I lose. We bowled 2 games and I can finally say I won. Don't get me wrong we all scored terribly, but I was just a bit less terrible. :) Katie had a good time, and they even had kids bowling shoes, and she loved her 4 pound pink ball. These pics are from my phone so they may not be great.

Will had his 9 month checkup last Thursday. He weighed 22 pounds, 12 ounces. (Less than what I thought.) His growth is finally starting to slow down a little bit! He was just over 30 inches long.

What a day

Initially we were going to spend the day finishing laundry and possibly picking up some new shoes for Katie. Then I saw the Doodlebops were going to be at the Mall of America. What is a Doodlebop you ask? The Doodlebops are a show on the Disney channel. It's a small kid rock band made up of 3....people, I guess. They are each a different color - one pink, one blue, one orange. Katie hasn't even seen their show, but knows their songs from the computer. I decided that we might as well go and check out their show at 1:30. How crowded could it be?
We got to the mall around 11:30 am, ate lunch and then decided to go get an early seat. They were opening up seating at 12:30 and it was on a first come first serve basis. I thought - heck we'll be really early, but that's ok. As we headed toward the rotunda I saw a LONG line of strollers. Yep, that was the line for seating - there was probably 100 people ahead of us. We had to sit on the floor up by the stage, but that's where Katie wanted to be anyway. The bad news is that we had to sit on the hard, cold floor for an hour before the show started. Will and Katie were VERY good, very patient, just perfect...which is more than I can say for a lot of kids there. The show lasted 20 minutes. :) They are giving a full concert tomorrow night at the Xcel center, but I would rather have a free 20 minute taste.

As long as we were at the mall, Katie wanted to do a ride and since she was so patient and was behaving so well we thought it was only fair. :) Nickelodeon is the new sponsor of the amusement park in the mall. They have changed most of the rides to look like or be named after shows on Nickelodeon. Again, Katie isn't really allowed to watch Nick that much, but she does know the characters. As we were walking through we passed one spot where they were doing a meet and greet with a few characters from a show that Katie has seen - The Backyardigans. It's a cute show about these neighborhood kids (they are really animals) that play in their backyard and imagine themselves in a different world. Got some good pictures.



Katie rode on the train, which is now a Dora train. Then we headed off to look for shoes. Having found NONE that both of us liked we gave up and decided to do one more ride before heading home. Katie wanted to ride the carousel. I figured the three of us could sit on the bench that goes around instead of an animal. Nope, they would only allow 2 people to sit there - I guess Will counts as an entire person. :) She said that I could hold Will and stand by Katie as she rides on an animal. Well that made no sense to me, but we went for it. As she is going around checking seat belts she tells me that her manager said Will actually has to be on an animal too. I ask her if it's really ok for him and she says it's totally fine. Hmmm....ok. As the ride starts, Will is holding on like a pro. I really wish we had gotten a picture of it because he looked so old. Then the horse started going up and down - he started giggling more than I have ever heard (unless Katie is tickling him of course). Every time it went up he would giggle and shriek. It was really the cutest thing. Katie was proud because she held on all by herself and I didn't hold onto her, like I usually do.
We had a good day, but I am beat. It's 10:00...now I'm off to finish that darn laundry.

Correction

Hey everyone - I just wanted to keep you informed of a slight change in plans. Turns out we won't be able to leave town tomorrow (Thursday)...instead we will be taking off Friday morning. Not a big deal, just wanted to let you know.

The new TwisterNeck

Monday night John and Katie entertained Will and I. Katie is quite the little showgirl, as if we didn't know that already. :) Here are some pictures of the new group. I have their first video too, but I'll try and post that later.


On a different note, Will slept very well last night. He went to bed about 10 and woke up at 4. I fed him, rocked him and after about 40 minutes I was able to put him back down and he stayed there til about 7:30! There's a first time for everything, and hopefully it repeats tonight. I can't say I slept great last night because I was still waking up every couple of hours trying to listen for him, sure that he was just about to make a noise. :) So I'm sure those of you that are interested are saying "what did you do differently?" I actually have an answer this time. John moved the little rocking chair out of Will's room and replaced it with our bigger easy chair rocker. This is much more comfortable to sit in at 2, 3, 4 am. Also, instead of covering Will up in a blanket I used the shirt I had been wearing for the last two days. Gross you say? Think again...people have suggested that this makes Will think that I am still sleeping inches away. It could be coincidence, but I would like to think that it had something to do with the success last night.

And just as we are making some headway...we go ahead and possibly screw things up again. :) The four of us will be heading to IA probably tomorrow afternoon. We are planning on staying until Monday. Our niece, Sarah, is getting confirmed at St. John's on Sunday. We are all looking forward to seeing her in a dress. I think the last time I saw her in a dress....well, Denise was probably still picking out her clothes.

AHHHH!

Holy cow. It hasn't started yet, but we are due to get between 5-9 inches of snow tomorrow through Tuesday. Back in IA it's basically just going to be rain. What the heck!? Katie was saying this weekend how she wished it would snow again so she could go sledding. Thanks a lot Katie. John was trying to tell her all the things that she could do outside when it warms up, but I guess it was too late. It will never get above 45 again.

New Poll

I have added a new poll question...actually Katie created this one. She came up with the questions and answers. :)

Bittersweet

On Friday I finally sold Katie (and Will's) car seat, bouncy chair, and Baby Bjorn carrier. While I am happy to free up some space in the sun room, happy to have provided a first time mom with some baby essentials, and happy for the $, I have to admit I am REALLY going to miss having those things around. It's like a piece of their lives is suddenly gone and will never be returned. We have turned a corner and can never go back. :( I also sold some more of Katie's clothes last week - don't even get me started on how hard THAT is. I think it would have been easier to sell them if I wasn't doing it 3 years after she wore them. It's a trip down memory lane before I hand them over. But then again...most of her clothes came to me with a story of their own from another family so it's only right that they continue on.

We are saving up for a kids picnic table for the backyard. I have more than enough to get one...now I just play the waiting game on Craigslist and garage sales until I find a used one. I don't want to buy new - it's a matter of principle. :) I am also waiting on a sit and stand stroller because as you know having 3 strollers already isn't enough. :) They all serve their own purpose.

The woman who picked up the baby equipment on Friday was 39 years old and having her first baby. She must have just found out last week she was pregnant because she was only 7 weeks along...and OH SO EXCITED! :) She was having nursery furniture delivered this weekend, and I have gotten 3 emails from her since Friday asking baby related and playgroup related questions. Her and her boyfriend are planning a Florida wedding...on the beach, at sunset. So I felt a bit of a connection with her to say the least. I'm glad I think most of the baby equipment and clothes we have sold so far has gone to good homes. :)

Cheerio

Will has discovered the joyous invention of the Cheerio. I gave him 5-6 on his try yesterday and he is very taken with them. He isn't really excited about eating them, but likes to play with them. He picks them up, drops them, picks them up, drops them. It keeps him VERY busy while I am trying to make Katie lunch.

Katie had school today. She is on spring break all next week. We looked into some summer camps yesterday. Trying to get the all scheduled before too many fill up. Katie says she wants to find a 'singing camp'...the little performer. She may have to settle for a soccer camp, and maybe some miscellaneous camps that sing songs along with other activities. :) I think we are looking to do a half day camp maybe every other week or so through the summer.

Once Will becomes mobile I think we will enroll him in the Gym class that Katie did for a few years. It really helped her get used to being around other kids and learn to trust other adults. With Will, I think it will help him learn to be GENTLE to other kids, and maybe learn some manners. :) He certainly won't have the shyness that Katie did.

Another Tooth

As I was changing Will's diaper today after lunch, I happened to glance in his mouth and noticed a new tooth. His top right tooth is poking through. No signs of the left one, but I'm sure it's soon to follow.

Katie got a haircut yesterday - a little over 2 inches were taken off. She was very excited because they put a braid in it, which she still had in today when she went to school. Katie said she was going to leave it in forever.

It's turned colder up here now - the wind is so cold! They said this week last year was in the 60's. We're all going through a bit of cabin fever I think...at least I am. No big plans the rest of the week...
For those of you worried about Will dressing in girl's clothes: Calm Down. :) I have two pairs of warm pj's that fit him - one happens to be Katie's Old Navy pj's. (Plus they are my FAVORITE - they are SO soft and snugly-I'm so happy we got to use them again.) Once the weather decides to warm up he can wear his spring jammies. I'm too scared to buy him new clothes cuz the little guy won't stay little!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

Despite Katie's mood at bedtime last night, the Easter Bunny paid our family a nice little visit. Will got some clothes, Katie got some workbooks, some clothes, UNO, and many eggs hidden around the house. (She found them all on her own!)




We went to an egg hunt yesterday, but because of the snow it was held inside, and wasn't so much an egg hunt...as people just giving out candy. But Katie had a good time. Will had to stay home with Dad.

Will is gaining a lot of strength. He can hold himself up on all fours for a pretty long time. He rocks back and forth, gearing up to go, but doesn't move yet, thank goodness. He has turned out to be good at rotating though. He can do an entire circle on his bottom pretty quickly. :)

Easter Eggs

This past weekend we colored Easter Eggs. Well, Katie colored - Will watched. I have attached some pictures of Katie's 'work.' This is certainly the cleanest year for coloring eggs, and Katie did a great job. She wanted to make an egg for everyone in the family, and bring them back to Waukon with us the next time we came, but we talked her out of that. She did make an egg for Grandpa Hanson, but Grandma Lyla forgot to take it with her. (Ooops!) Luckily she hasn't realized that yet.

Will is getting a lot better at sitting and standing. He does pretty well in Katie's old music chair. Eventually he falls out, but it takes a while. :) The teeth are still coming through, sharp as ever.

Holy cow! This little guy is heavy! (Katie wanted to play "Santa Clause" with Will.)

Happy Birthday Janet and Julie!

Holy birthdays Batman! Happy birthday to my big (older) sister Janet. :) And happy birthday to my college roommate Julie! Oh yeah, and Happy St. Paddy's Day to everyone else.
Ok - we went to Springsteen last night. Wow. It was an awesome show, although John insists it would have been even BETTER if they had played one more encore. We didn't get to hear Born in the USA and a couple other show favorites, but all in all it was an EXCELLENT show. John and I got tickets on the aisle - great access to the bathrooms! We thought we would be inundated all night with people getting up and leaving, but we had a terrific row that only did that to us once. We had some difficulty finding food before the show - but finally found a nice little restaurant tucked away with immediate seating. :) Turns out we didn't need to be in such a hurry to eat because the show started an hour late...not sure why such a long delay.
Everything was amazing - Bruce, Max, Steve, Clarence - it was great. At one point I was watching Steven Van Zandt and thinking "Geez, Silvio - I can't believe you shot Aidriana!!"
We got home about midnight - all kids asleep...for the moment. Mom said everything went very well, and so far I have heard no complaints from Katie. Will was a pistol to get to sleep - this being the first time he hasn't nursed to sleep at night. He made up for the loss because he woke up about 12:30 and every hour after that to nurse. :)

Happy Birthday Jordan!!

Today is Jordan Mezera's 14th birthday! He is Janet and Jeff's youngest son. I talked to Janet today and they were eating out to celebrate the birthdays. (Janet's is on Monday.)

Katie, John and I went to "Horton Hears A Who" this afternoon. It was a very good movie. Katie really enjoyed it, especially because there was a very cute, odd furry thing in it named "Katie." :) I think it's the first movie John and I have been to together since....umm....let's see...I think the last Star Wars movie, like 3 years ago.

We are gearing up for Springsteen tomorrow. I am really getting excited about spending some time with John away from the kids. It'll be the first time we have been out since Will was born.

Change in plans

I just got a phone call this morning from my mom and she has decided to come up and stay for the weekend. Turns out she quit her job at the grocery store and is going to pull a couple shifts in the gas station instead. It just got to be too difficult working with the kids and other things. So I talked her into staying an extra night so she could babysit the kids while we go to the concert. It'll save us money and just makes more sense as long as she's willing to do it. :) Although I'm not sure what Grandmas charge nowadays to babysit...:)

It's warm up here again - mid 40's. The sun is really melting the snow fast. I can see green grass in almost half of our front yard! The sun was so powerful on Tuesday that we had our sun room open for the first time. I may be able to open it today too.

A first time for everything

As some of you know, our kids have been very sheltered from babysitters. Because we are always able to find family or close friends to watch them, we haven't had to branch out and use a traditional babysitter...until now. This Sunday will be the very first time we use a babysitter. John and I are going to go see Bruce Springsteen in concert, and we have found a wonderful (I think) woman to watch the kids. She actually babysits for our friends Jamie and Joe's nieces. She has family in IA, is 30 and just took the bar exam to become a lawyer. (So she has had background checks. :)) Am I nervous?? Yes. But I am also excited that we will make a new connection with someone the kids will really love.
I am already getting Katie ready by talking about fun things they can do, and how bedtime should go. Will really won't care one way or another, as long as Katie is with him. I think it will be good. So please, no scary babysitter stories...only calm, reassuring pleasant thoughts. :)

New rug

We went and got our new area rug today. I found one that I liked at Lowe's so we all went to pick it up and of course when we got there, I didn't like the feel of it. It was nylon and I just didn't think it was very soft. So John and I decided on another one (rather quickly too!) I have attached pictures for you to see. The room will start to come together when we get a new computer desk. The current one really doesn't fit the room to well. :)



Here is the entry way from the front door and garage door.


Here is the kitchen - as of yet. Still tweaking the look of this room, although I think it's coming along well.

Here is the downstairs - the main hangout in the evening, although now that we have the rug we may be upstairs more too.

Happy Birthday!

We must post a Happy Birthday to our friend Gina today. :) I won't say how old she is turning, but it is nice round number. Have a wonderful day!

Easter Bunny

I know it's a little early, but we went to see the Easter Bunny today. I was at the mall anyway and I thought we would see him while we were there cuz we may not make it back before the holiday. Will really didn't seem to care either way, although he WAS interested in him, but certainly not afraid. I'm sure he thought, "Heck, I could take this guy." Katie of course was VERY excited.


We had to go to the mall so that I could get to the eye dr. Last night my contact was giving me fits and had somehow managed to get itself off to the side in my eye so far so that I couldn't see it anymore. Finally after fidgeting for about 20 minutes I was able to pull it back out. I figured then that my 2 week disposable contact that I made last 9 months...was probably due to be changed. So I went and had an eye exam and got some new ones. And these are meant to be slept in as well!

We also had Katie's school conference this afternoon with her teacher, Ms. Laurie. This conference was to cover the 'academic' sides of preschool. As we had anticipated, it went very well. She said that Katie could recognize all of the capital letters in the alphabet and all the lower case letters that she asked. Then she went on to ask her a few sounds that the letters made and she said she knew those as well. (About 10 letters) Her teacher was VERY impressed and said that she was pretty fluent in many skills that most kids don't learn until Kindergarten. Her social skills have also bloomed in the last 3-4 months and she is becoming more vocal with other kids and her teachers. Ms. Laurie says that at circle time if she asks any of the kids if they have questions or anything to say, lately Katie ALWAYS has something to add. :) Hmm....maybe that should scare me a little now that I think about it....

Eruption at Mt. Will

We were feeding Will supper last night - a tasty little mix of bananas and apples. I noticed he was eating a little strange - moving his mouth differently. He was really making a mess between the mouth movements and blowing his food all out while performing raspberries. I bravely stuck my finger in his mouth and much to my surprise I felt a VERY tiny tooth just beginning to stick out. Actually we think that the 2 bottom ones are both poking out. We should be able to see more in a week or so, but at least we know he won't be toothless.

Katie is off from school for the week. They have conferences and teacher workshops instead. It will still be cold today although the high is supposed to be 30...I don't think it will get that high.

It was bath night last night and I finally got a decent picture of the kids in the new bathtub. It's very deep and very long - so Katie likes it because she has room to herself. It's pretty hard on the back to wash the kids up, but we don't do it very often. When I can't remember the last time I gave them a bath...it must be time to give them another one. This summer I'm hoping to just hose them off in the yard. :)

We're back

We are back from our travels down to IA. It was rainy yesterday while we were driving back, but warm so it never turned to ice or snow. It's cold today - 9 degrees about...although I'm not planning on venturing out. We have laundry to keep us busy all day, and get the kids back to their routine.
I think it's snack time right now as I can hear Will waking up from his morning nap (yes he took a morning nap!) and Katie is getting restless as it's been 15 minutes since we've played a game. :)