exhausted

By Sunday night we were all exhausted after a busy weekend! Friday night while I was having my 1st pedicure, and then attending a surprise party for Alice, the last of the CL's to turn 30, Bruce and the kids went over to Timmerman's house to play. The kids loved playing with big Jenna and Issac all evening, and it sounds like they were fairly tuckered out by the time they made it home.

On Saturday we went to a wedding for a family friend up in Elk River. Due to the shortened planning time frame I think that it was smaller than it would have been had she been able to keep her original date, but it was still lots of fun. Her husband will be shipped out to Iraq sometime in the next 6-8 weeks, hence they moved the wedding up. There were a lot of little kids (under 8) at the wedding so it was a blast to see Andrew and Jenna play/hang out with everyone (even tho they had never meet). Jenna made friends in church with a little girl that just turned 3, and kept saying 'Hi' to a cute little boy that is 6 months older then her through out the ceremony, but he was too shy to say "hi' back. Andrew had fun playing with a few of the 'older' kids, and they happily played ball on the dance floor before the dance started. It was an amazing kid friendly wedding. We didn't leave until 10! By that time Jenna had fallen asleep (thanks to dancing with Uncle Nick), and Andrew was definitely showing signs of being tired. Both kids were sleeping by the time we made to the interstate (which was only a few blocks).We wish Jenn & Bryce the best of luck in their new life together!

Andrew:

Jenna trying to pull her barrette out (it stayed in until the end of the night, but we did lose it):
Playing ball:

Some of the kids waiting for the 1st dance to be over so they could get out there & dance!:

On Sunday we went to the Timberwolves game. It was the 1st time I'd been to an NBA game and it was fun to go as a family. I'm not sure that the kids understood any of it, but they both enjoyed all the other things that go on at sporting events. Melissa (daycare) asked Andrew how the game was this morning and he told her that they had good hot dogs, pop & mini doughnuts - at least he remembers the food!

Wow - did you see that! :

Bruce and I were only 1/2 joking this morning when we said we should all stay home today & take naps!

it's not broken.....yet

With the cooler weather back (it didn't even reach 30°F yesterday!), were back to hanging out inside in the evenings. The kids have taken to hanging out in Jenna's room, typically they have been requesting they both be in Jenna's crib, then we hear/see this:

After that we'll hear this:

In case you are wondering about Jenna's outfit...no we did not dress her like that. She went into Andrew's dresser and 'created' this all by herself. She got the pants and 1 superman sock on all by self, but did require a little bit of help with the shirt. At least she didn't put his underwear on over the pants like she usually does!

Here's a better view of her outfit:

We have a busy weekend planned. It's ladies night out with the church ladies for me tonight, a family friend is getting married on Saturday, then on Sunday we're heading to a T-wolves game. We may need a day off after all that!

Camille, Theo & Callie

We went Geneva this past weekend to visit with the Gorick's. Callie turns 1 on the 28th, so we had a mini party for her. The kids did pretty well in the car....yes we took the car down, which was a nice option to have. Jenna had a few fits on the way down, but it was most likely due to her not being able to get comfortable in her seat. Then just when she finally fell asleep, we hit the tolls, which woke her up and made us endure a screaming fit until she fell back asleep (about 15-20 minutes). I think it scared her since she was in such a deep sleep. Andrew did awesome in the car, but he usually does. Although he didn't sleep on the way down, but I think that was because he was so excited.
We went to the Dupage Children's Museum on Saturday, it was really fun. I think that Andrew could have stayed there all day. He really enjoyed all that they had to offer. Jenna and Callie enjoyed it too, but I think they both got a little overwhelmed after a while. Unfortunately I forgot the camera, so we don't have any pictures. The museum had 2 giant lite brite's which the kids enjoyed playing with. They also had a little cat walk type thing (just for kids), that Jenna loved. Andrew really enjoyed the construction house where he was able to build some different things using real tools (he even had to wear safety glasses). They had a cool area that dealt with wind, and then upstairs there was even more for everyone to do. The museum had a giant pin board (the kind that you stick your hand/face on one side and the pins move to show it on the other side) and all three kids seemed to like that.
After the museum we headed back to Camille & Theo's so the kids could take naps, and the adults could sit outside and enjoy the sun. Jenna took a really long nap, which surprised us, but Callie and Andrew had different plans. We had just gotten settled outside when Andrew walked thru the screen door! Apparently he wasn't very tired. We met their neighbors and Andrew played with some of the neighborhood kids. He also started to work Camille's flowers beds for her. For some reason he really wanted to dig, so we handed him a rake and shovel, and let him have at the flower beds. He even found a few worms.

Here's Callie enjoying finding dirt in the driveway crack:

Three Little Monkey's in Callie's Crib:

Teaching Callie how to bounce in her crib:

We opened presents after supper (Christmas presents were 1st)....yes I know it's a few months after Christmas, but neither Camille or I got to the post office so we hadn't exchanged our Christmas gifts yet. Andrew & Jenna helped Callie open her gifts. Then it was cupcake time! As you can see from the picture, Callie really enjoyed her cupcake.

Checking out Andrew's cool new fire truck (it hooks up to a hose & spray's water!):

Jenna loved following Carlos the cat around and growling at him....he's a very tolerant cat. She also enjoyed petting Lizzie, who is amazingly fluffy and very mellow, although she isn't nearly as quick as Sadie when it comes to food that's been dropped on the floor. The girls (Callie & Jenna) were very funny together. Each of them needed to eat if the other one was in their chair, and they seemed to follow each other around the house. Anytime Callie cried Jenna seemed worried about her and would go looking for her.

Jenna saying Bye-Bye to Carlos:

On the way home Jenna entertained herself for part of the way by playing peek-a-boo.

Where's Jenna?

BOO!:

Once we were home the kids played outside for a bit (even tho it was a little chilly). I think they both needed to stretch their legs a bit, and burn off some energy from being in the car for so long. They both did great on the return trip. Andrew took a nap in the morning while Jenna played Peek-a-Boo and read books to herself. Then after we ate lunch Jenna took a nap (about 2 hours), and Andrew played with his action figures (Batman & Spiderman) while watching Bolt. All in all - a great trip!

Busy Weekend

Last week we were reorganizing a few things in the mudroom when Jenna got into the hats & mittens.......She LOVES hats & mittens lately (along with boots/shoes) so she insisted on wearing the hat and mittens she found. She managed to get the hat and one mitten on by herself, but need a little help with her second mitten. (she even ate supper with the hat on because she refused to take it off!).

Here she is right after I put her 2nd mitten on for her:

Doing a puzzle (with mittens....just a wee bit stubborn, I wonder where she gets that from!):

Andrew being silly:

This past weekend was a busy one for me, well at least Saturday was. Saturday was Beth's (my sister) shower day....we had 2 showers & her bachelorette party all in one day, plus I had my dress fitting. I always laugh at how long bridesmaid dresses are, and wonder if there is anyone that doesn't need them hemmed! The 1st shower of the day was the Bongers side Aunt shower. Beth received a lot of nice gifts, and it was nice to see everyone. People kept asking where Jenna was, so I felt bad for not bringing her, but I didn't know what to do with her during the bachelorette shower/party. After the 1st shower we headed back my parents place to get ready for her bachelorette shower/party. It was an 80's theme.....wow did we all look good. Here's a picture of the sisters:

(me, Larissa & Beth):

Here's a pic of the bridal party (missing 1 bridesmaid):

I wish that I would have gotten a picture of her personal attendant Katie - she looked awesome in her 80's gear!

The kids spent the day with Grandma Fullerton at our house. It sounded like the 3 of them had a blast, while Bruce and his dad went to the Sport show. Both kids took good naps for her, so she must have worn them out. Then all 5 of them headed to McDonald's to eat supper, which seems to have become a tradition when Grandma & Grandpa Fullerton watch the kids.

Yesterday we played outside, and just had a nice day at home, which was much needed. Andrew spent a few hours outside with Will digging a moat in our sandbox, which worked pretty well with all the water that was in it. Amazingly, with all the melting snow, and puddles that are around Jenna did not end up in a puddle this weekend!

The end of an era....

Well, we did our part to help stimulate the economy last night.....we bought a new car. We no longer have the Eclipse. We were sad to see it go, but with over 181,000 miles on it, and knowing that we were going to need to do a little work on it within the next year it was time. We had it for a little over 9 years, and you'd never have know it:

Here's the new purchase, a 2009 Nissan Altima 2.5SL:

It's a little hard to see in the dark, but is dark gray (slate). It has a moon roof (yea!), and is definitely easier to get the kids in and out of. The kids like that it has an arm rest in the back with cup holders that they can both reach.

At home in the garage (above) and the the kids with their giant balloons (bellow):

They gave the kids balloons to entertain them and it worked great to keep track of them in the show room. We tied Jenna's to her jeans, and decided it was a great way to know where she was at....you'd just see the red balloon bobbing all over the place. She thought it was awesome that the balloon was following her everywhere.

A little bit of spring fun

A little bit of splashing the puddles means spring should be right around the corner, right? At the moment we have winter storm warning in effect, but I think it's supposed to be 40° by this weekend, so that should mean more splashing!

And of course the 4 wheelers had to some out!

The kids had fun, and it was nice to be able to let them play outside. Jenna did end up in a puddle, but it may have been a combination of hand-me-down rain boots that were too big, and of course her 'gracefulness'. Andrew even broke out the remote control car he received for Christmas.....all we can say is watch out Sadie - he's a crazy driver!