3 years old!

Jenna woke up on Monday morning and announced "I'm three, for real", and also reminded us that since it was her real birthday she wanted to go out for supper, and she got to pick where. She decided to wear her party dress (instead of the Birthday girl t-shirt I picked), and was lucky enough to stay home with Dad and Andrew for the day. After getting dressed, and waking up Andrew, we headed downstairs to open presents.

"supervising" car seat assembly:

Birthday Girl seeing if her new car seat 'fit':

Testing out the chalkboard side of her new easel:

Sharing the dry erase side w/ Andrew:
Every time we asked Jenna where she wanted to go out for supper at she'd give us a different answer. It was everything from McDonald's, Wendy's, Chilli's, Apple Bee's and Perkins. Somehow right as we were leaving she decided on Chipotle. We we're surprised, but happy that we didn't have to eat McDonald's :)

The kids got a little silly in the car on the way to Chipotle:

Here she is waiting for her quesadilla to cool down:

Jenna loves her new big girl car seat, and loves to put her window down:

Next up - pink cupcakes for the birthday girl:

I'm not sure why I waste my time making her cupcakes and/or cake...all she wants is the frosting. One of her favorite treats is putting frosting on a graham cracker.

Here she is picking the frosting off her cupcake:

She did take 1 bite of her cupcake.....

I think she had a great birthday, and liked staying home w/ Daddy for the day. She's turning into such a little girl, and is definitely not a 'baby' any more. She'll talk your ear off, and has her own opinions and ideas of how things are supposed to be, and is not afraid to let you know what they are. She's in her 'why' stage right now, which can be trying at times, but I know she's learning a ton. She also loves to ask people what their name is, which is typically followed up with "are you a boy or girl?" or "why?". She's our fearless kid, and I know her independence will serve her well when she's older. She's so full of energy, and is determined to live life to it's fullest, which is great. We are very blessed to have such a great little girl.

Birthday Party

We had the family party for the kids this past weekend. They had a blast hanging out with everyone and playing with all their cool new toys. Jenna kept asking over and over when her Uncles were coming to see her, since she knew the party would start when they got there. Needless to say she was very excited to see Lynn & Tom drive down the driveway. Here are some picture from Saturday:

Jenna's Cake:

Birthday Girl:

Present time:
Blowing out the candles (it took a few tries, and a little help from Andrew):

Andrew w/ Uncle Tom & Grandpa, figuring out the new soccer set:

How Jenna plays Goalie (also why Andrew won't play soccer w/ her):

Jenna & Grandpa playing with the air rocket:

As a special treat the kids go to stay up extra late (10:30) and hang out at the bonfire.
Both of them loved it, but Miss Jenna was a bit of a handful the next day since she still woke up at 6:30. An early nap helped a bit with the tantrums, but we won't be letting her stay up that late again (at least for a while), it made for a long Father's day for Bruce.

Andrew's 5 year stats

Andrew had his 5 year check up yesterday, and did great at it. He was very excited about this appointment because he knew it was also his kindergarten check-up, and didn't even seem nervous about the shots that he knew were coming.
He answered all of Dr. Dahl's questions, and didn't even cry when they gave him the shots (1 in each leg) just told me it hurt.

Here are his 5 year stats:
weight - 48 lbs (85%)
height - 46 1/4 inches or 3 feet 10 1/4 inches (97%)

Yep, he's going to be a tall kid, and if his eating habits this week are any indication, he's on another growth spurt! Uncle Nick better watch out, because he may have some company at his elevation in the future :)

Strawberries!

Last night when we checked the garden, we saw something Andrew has been waiting for....a ripe Strawberry! He was very excited, and immediately ran up and washed it so he could eat it, and even did the same for the one we found for Jenna.

YUMMY!

After noticing Jenna walking on the lettuce & 'weeding' a green bean we asked her to sit on the side of the garden, instead of inside of it....Andrew joined her to keep her company, and silliness ensued. Shortly after this picture, wrestling starting, and from there it turned into Andrew giving Jenna pony rides :)
Different night, but look at the size of that strawberry! We've gotten a lot of store sized berries, so I'm hoping I can figure out what we did right, so it will happen again next year :)

5 years old

Andrew turned 5 today (6/7), and couldn't be more excited! He had his day all planned out:

1) open presents before school

2) Get a birthday crown from Miss Cheryl, and wear it ALL day

3) Bring baseball cupcakes for treats

4) After school he wanted to go out to eat, and he wanted to choose where we were going

Luckily the day turned out just like he was hoping.

Here's Andrew w/ his b-day cake from his party on Saturday. He had 5 friends over to help him celebrate:Sunday night he wanted to see some fireworks, so Bruce obliged. Here he is paitently waiting:

Here's Jenna new accesorry for watching fireworks:

It didn't work....she still freaked out.

This morning Andrew opened his presents:

A blue light saber:

A flat bed w/ a combine:

and last but not least, a Red Rider BB gun:

We ate at Chilli's, and once we were home he showed off his crown:

Then it was time to try out his new BB gun:

Sadie decided that since there was a gun, she should show off her pointing skills (she did this for a really long time, apparently being around hunting dogs a lot has rubbed off on her).
After that, it was time for a birthday cupake:
He made sure he got all the candles on the 1st try:

He had a great day, and we can't belive that he's 5. It seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital meeting him for the 1st time, and introducing him to everyone. He's an amazing little boy, and we are very blessed that he's ours.

Memorial Day weekend

For Memorial Day weekend we were lucky enough to make it out in the boat 2 out of the 3 days. We went to Demontraville Lake on Saturday, where Andrew tested out his new fishing pole. The lake is full of little sunfish that follow boats around, so he loved that he caught a lot of fish. He was more about quantity of fish, then size, so it was perfect. Jenna wasn't too into fishing, but enjoying watching the fish that we put in an ice cream pail for her to look at. She even dropped a few fruit snacks into the bucket as food.

1st fish with his new pole:Little fisherman:

Jenna 'helping' drive:

On Sunday, we went to Lake Elmo, and had a lot of fun. We got to fish, play in the sand, play catch, and test out the new tube.

Miss Jenna testing out the water:

Playing in the sand:

Who needs a boat when you've got dad!

Miss Jenna:

Playing catch w/ Dad:

Getting Ready to go:

Taking the tube for a spin:

Monday we went to a birthday party for a family friend, but prior to that, Jenna showed off her fashion sense. She got her shorts wet while helping water plants, so she needed to change her shorts, this is how she came down:

A little while later she came in from outside, with her play phone, and dress up shoes added to the outfit. She told me she was riding the lawn mower with Daddy....and NOT playing in the mulch....which based, on her tights, wasn't true: (she did admit to it, after I asked if she was sure she wasn't playing in the mulch - "well, maybe just a little bit" is what she told me)


We helped Isaac celebrate his 3rd birthday on Monday afternoon/evening. Here's the birthday boy with his cake:

Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday:

The water rocket, was a huge hit with the kids and dads, and entertained everyone for a while.

It was a busy, but fun weekend. We all enjoyed being out in the boat, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.