a happy mother's day...

includes paper tulips and a trip to visit S's mom with the rest of the B siblings...

includes special time for me the night before with fantastic handmade gifts and cards...

includes a completely thoughtful, extravagant, not expected gift from my wonderful husband...

but mostly, includes the only thing I really wanted for Mother's Day:
time with my husband and the 3 beautiful blessings that I get to be a mom to everyday.

I love you all!

a blessed April...

family photo:
You would think we would have one from our trip to MI this moth, but no! So we snapped this one after a Saturday night "pizza in our pajamas party." The kids and I were filthy after playing outside in the rain while S was at work so I threw them all through the shower with me and we got dressed in our pajamas before S got home. We always have pizza on Saturday night and G was concerned about eating in her pajamas until I made it into a "pizza in our pajamas party." The kids thought this would be fun, but they got REALLY excited when S came home from work and put his pajamas on too. Apparently seeing dadda in his pajamas is a much rarer occurrence than seeing momma in her pajamas...=)

April was a month full of beautiful weather! So nice to have such an early spring after a long cold winter. We played outside a lot, got all the outside toys and bikes out, and started checking clothes and other things to prepare for summer. I do realize that we live in MN and that summer is a ways off, but we had to get the hats, sunglasses and sunblock all ready! We also took a big family trip to MI to celebrate Grandpa A's 90th birthday.

G notes:

• Still loves her nature center classes...
• Still likes growing her bangs out...is putting her own clippies in now...
• Still wants to do crafts on a constant basis...
  
• Is practically reading now - S and I can't spell things to each other anymore because she is figuring the words out!
• Is SUCH a big helper with little C lately. She will play with him while I put W down for a nap, she can distract him if I need to run to another room for something, is always trying to make him smile, and loves to shower him with hugs and kisses.
  

W notes:

• He is starting to play games! He understands and can play some of our favorite simple games and now frequently asks/orders: "Wanna play a game wif me? Yeah, sure you do! How about....ORCHARD GAME!!!!" This really is fun for all of us because he can play with G now too. I actually have found them playing games together with their own made-up rules.
• His 2-yr old personality is raging yet. At the mere suggestion of "no," "wait," or "stop that" he falls apart. But he is definitely a bi-polar toddler because he can be so happy one minute, and then "So So Saaaaaaad" (W's words) the next minute.
  
• Clingy...he is the middle child and therefore almost always with momma or dadda or siblings. I still attend Sunday School classes with him, and while we have gotten over the hurdle of him actually wanting to go to class, he still clings to me during singing, and has major issues if I leave the room even for a minute during class.
  
• He is growing up so much in other areas - talks crazy good now, starting to want to dress himself, can undress himself, takes care of his own shoes, and helps out when asked (most of the time)
• W also makes us smile and laugh a lot - he talks so much, is getting jokes and being silly, and he doesn't have attitude yet (that somehow seems to come automatically when they turn 3).

C notes:

• Loves to copy his brother and sister! He tries to run the same way they do, sit the same way they do, play with the same things in the same way they do...my favorite is him crawling after G & W barking like a puppy.
  
• It has been a month of bonks and falls for C. He is just at an awkward stage with his walking and moving. It seems like he can trip over nothing, bonk into things he was no where near a second ago, and fall for no apparent reason (among tripping and falling and bonking over stuff too!). I am ready to strap him on my back and not let him do anything...
• ...because one of his bonks or falls (and we really can't recall any specific ones!) knocked out one of his beautiful new crowns. He broke off part of the real tooth too, so there is not enough to attach a new tooth to. We don't have to pull it out, he will just have a tiny nubbin. One more gapped-tooth kid, oi!
• His new tricks are showing us his muscles and roaring at us on command. I will have to video these for you because they really are hilarious.
• New words: car, monkey, cow, baby, water (both to drink and bodies of), shoes, socks, train, please, and thank-you. He said his first phrase too: "Bye Da" at S on his way to work!

S & C notes:

• S had a good time at his managers' meeting in Chicago. They learn a lot of things in thier meetings each day, but they also get out and have some fun and relax together too. This time they played something like bumper car lacrosse one evening, and then went to an amazing Brazilian steak house the other evening.
• I have been distracted by being outside with the kids a lot which means inside chores and projects have been getting ignored...=)
  

(we were) on the road again...

S's Grandpa A turned 90 on April 7. He is doing so good and living in his own home yet too! We are blessed to be in his family and decided to make the trek to MI for his 90th birthday party the Saturday following his birthday. After making this decision, S gets an email from work informing him of a manager's meeting in Chicago that he needs to attend Tuesday night through Thursday that same week. At first we thought it would mean we couldn't make the trip to MI, bu then we realized that with Mom and Dad B's help, we could make it work quite well. So S flew to Chicago Tuesday, and Mom and Dad B drove to our place. Then Wednesday Dad and Mom B, the kids and I drove to Chicago. We stayed in the same hotel S was in (us with S obviously =), and during S's meetings on Thursday, the rest of us went to the Brookfield zoo, not far from our hotel. After S's meetings were finished on Thursday, we picked him up and continued on to MI where we met up with S's sister M and her husband C and enjoyed the rest of the weekend altogether. On with the pictures!

It was 40 degrees F, windy, and drizzly for our trip to the zoo, but we had fun anyway!

S and little C crashing at our hotel in MI

Friday we spent most of the day with S's Grandma B. She is 92 and still lives on her own! It is always great to see her and she loves watching the kids. Her apartment was pretty cozy with all of us visiting, so for supper we went down to the community room where C & M made us pasta for supper. S's Uncle S and Aunt B joined as well. The kids did just great - they were happy with room to run around and dance!

You can always count on Grandma B for a bowl of ice cream!

Grandma with our family

Grandma and Grace

Saturday morning we swam in the hotel pool. The kids loved it, of course!

Saturday afternoon was Grandpa A's 90th birthday party (the whole reason for the trip!). It was held at Grandpa's church, open house style. And there was a fabulous spread of appetizers and treats made by S's Aunt Sally and cousin Brett, who is a professional chef.

All his kids (pictured are Aunt J, Uncle D, and Mom B with Grandpa) and spouses were there, and most of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well. Then he had siblings and cousins and some nieces and nephews come too! Grandpa is not used to having people fuss over him, but turning 90 is a good reason for people to fuss and he really enjoyed visiting with everyone. It was nice to see a smile on his face all afternoon.

Great-grands singing Happy Birthday to Grandpa A

Grandpa with our family

It was a lot of fun for us to catch up with S's cousins, too. All our kids are very similar in ages! We had 7 of them under age 6 there that afternoon! Being that there were so many little ones who needed some entertaining, S's cousin K (who has no kids! but is in college now studying to be a pharmacist so S had a lot of fun talking with him and reassuring him he would make it through classes like Organic Chem) and K's girlfriend B put together an Easter egg hunt. The kids all had so much fun searching for the many eggs. Thanks so much you guys!

The littles! Best shot we got... =)

We visited Grandma B and Grandpa A one more time on Sunday and then started the trek home, staying in Rockford that night (bad motel, don't get me started). This picture was from an emergency potty stop at a really dirty gas station - G did her best to spruce the place up!

Splitting up the 11 hour trip between 2 days meant pretty easy travel days. We caravanned with M & C and the adults rotated cars depending on who G wanted sitting in the back of the van with her. Here she was knitting with Auntie M, who was crocheting. G thought that was pretty cool. =)

Dad B's birthday was the following day, so when we stopped for ice cream Monday afternoon, we decided to get an ice cream cake to celebrate! We all sang happy birthday and made quite a rukus. It was a great little birthday party, and the nice people at DQ even cut the cake into slices for us. Happy birthday Papa!

"No honey, this horse is just for sitting on. No, I do not have any money for the horse. No, I do not know if it does anything else. I think it is just for sitting on and taking pictures. How about that?! Say cheese! =)"

For the next week, if you asked W what his favorite part of the trip was, he would tell you "Watching the scooper trucks dig dirt!" This was the scene across the parking lot of DQ. And we had to put W in the van fussing and crying for the last leg home.

And it was so good to be home! But oh, the laundry...
What a great trip full of time spent with family - we are truly blessed.

giveaway at not only mom...

My wonderful and crafty sister-in-law, C, is having a giveaway at her blog, not only mom. She interviewed Stacey Trock, the author of Cuddly Crochet, a very neat crochet book, and she is giving one away! All you have to do is post a comment (you don't have to have an account to post a comment, just post as anonymous and leave your name in the comment), and the chances for winning are pretty good, too. =) Contest ends tomorrow morning, so go check it out! Thanks for the giveaway, C!

a blessed March...

(not written until April 19!) Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will stay this momma from the swift completion of her scheduled blog post...but a baby teething, preparation for and recovery from a big trip, mounds of laundry, piles of dishes, and beautiful spring weather will! =) Here's a bit about our March...

Family photo on the train. This pretty much sums up our kids' looks and reactions to taking posed pictures: W looks annoyed or has a painful smile on his face, G smiles very nice, but never looks at the camera, and little C always wants to see what the other two are doing.

March brought thaw to the frozen tundra. We started the month still very cold with a ton of snow on the ground yet, but by the middle of the month, all of the snow was gone and we have seen days with temps in the 60's and 70's - yipee! Commence spending as much time as possible outside...

G notes:

• She has decided to grow out her bangs. S has asked me if we would do this for a while now, but I didn't want to mess with it unless G wanted to. Her bangs were getting long and due for a trim, and after looking in the mirror and pushing them back, she decided she wanted to grow them out and has been good about wearing clippies and keeping them in...most of the time...
• We started G in some nature center classes at 2 centers near us. The classes are once a week for a couple hours, and focus on a different theme each week. These have been a lot of fun for her - she just loves all the activities that they do and it is great for her to be learning about and getting out into nature (in 2 beautiful settings!) as well. We will definitely keep these up!
• Big growth spurt - don't know specific numbers, but as all moms judge size by the fit of clothing, she is out of everything 4T and out of quite a few 5T things too. Had to buy her new jeans and shoes too!
  

W notes:

• It's been a month of growing dexterity! At the beginning of the month, W was just starting to be able to manipulate his hands to put up "2" or sign "i love you" with a lot of thought and determination. At the end of the month, he can do this fairly easily now and can even count "1-2-3-4-5" in a row with his fingers which has been a big deal for him
• Also a month of emotions. W has started vocalizing his emotions and understanding what they mean..."I'm sad" or "That scares me" or "I'm mad" or "That makes me happy" are phrases that he uses frequently. It breaks this momma's heart a little when this adorable boy looks up at me after a particularly frustrating afternoon and asks "Are you mad at us, momma?" But it has been helpful for him to be able to tell us what he is feeling.
• Big growth spurt just like his sister - out of everything 2T now and also needed new shoes! Blessed with a few great families at church that have passed on some 3T clothes from their boys so we should be set for a while.
  

C notes:

• Boy, can this little one move fast now. C can practically run after his siblings now and follows me sometimes faster than I want him too! He is getting surer of his footing too - still stumbles a lot, but picks himself up quicker without fussing and keeps on trucking.
  
• Around 15 months is such a fun age! His personality is shining though so brightly - not always sunshine and roses and big kisses either (especially while teething). S and I have often shook our heads and said "this one is gonna be trouble..." =) C has no fear. We have not had a child like this yet! He climbs on top of everything, will dive off things without thinking, and plows his way into most any corner or nook that he can find inside and outside the house. But he makes us all smile and laugh so much - what a joy!
  
• C is picking up on signs very quickly now. New words: bird, drink, thank you, please, washa-washa, changa-changa, and he is starting to say a form of G's name too.
• Not to be outdone, he has also gone through a growth spurt. While both G and W had both "up" and "out" spurts during the month, C mainly had an "up" one. It is crazy to us that he is fitting into clothes that it seems like we just took off of W...
  

S&C notes:

• A highlight of the month for us was being able to attend our church's Fellowship Dinner evenings without any children. When you have your first child, everyone offers to baby-sit and tries to kick you out of the house as much as possible. When you have your 2nd child, the offers are there for special occasions, but not much else. When you have your 3rd child, the offers are few and far between!!! This does not bother us, as we know the work that it takes to watch 3 small children, and we don't feel comfortable hiring baby-sitters yet because we know that W & C are not ready for that. So we are blessed that we have been able to leave them with family or friends when needed. Anyway, good friends M&A offered to watch and feed all 3 kids while we at dinner at our pastor's house with 2 other couples from church. We had such an enjoyable evening! Great food, great conversation, and we left the dinner party with our spirits refreshed. And the kids had a great time with M&A and their 2 girls - thanks so much, you guys!

And to wrap this up...here are a few more photos from the month. Hopefully next month's post is a little more timely! =)

prayer request for Sarah's parents...

My cousin Sarah's parents were in a terrible car accident Friday, March 19. Heavy snow in southern IA caused them to lose control of their car and it was struck by another car on the passenger side. Sarah has just posted an update about this all on their blog.

Her dad, who was driving, will be having reconstructive surgery for broken face bones this week. Please pray for a successful surgery and correction for his vision, as well as for peace and wisdom as he cares for his wife. Sarah's mom, who was in the passenger seat, absorbed most of the blow and is in ICU with numerous injuries. Small steps of progress keep being made, but pray that healing will continue. Marshall, Sarah and Norah live in NH, but were able to fly back to IA last week to be with her parents. They have returned back to NH now, so also keep them in your prayers as it is crushing not to be able to be there by her parents' sides all the time through this.

Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with you all, Sarah.

Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 28 -
Q: What does it profit us to know that God created, and by His providence, upholds all things?
A: That we may be patient in adversity; thankful in prosperity; and that in all things, which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father, that nothing shall separate us from His love; since all creatures are so in His hand, that without His will they cannot so much as move.

picture post 5...signs of spring

picture post 4...the train

The Northstar Commuter Rail, which was completed last November, has a station 3 blocks from our house, and runs to the new Target Field downtown, with only one other stop in-between. This will be FABULOUS to take to Twins games this summer, and also just to get downtown, where you can connect to the lightrail to go many other places in the cities. While Mom and Dad were up we took the train down to Target Field and back, just to take a look around the beautiful new stadium and have the fun of riding the train. The kids loved this so much! I think the adults had fun too...

So, all of you Twins fans out there, feel free to come stay with us and ride the train to a game!

picture post 3...guests

The week after we returned from the farm, our guestroom was very busy. We had 3 sets of guests come to stay with us in one week! Of course that meant a lot of washing sheets, but very worth it as we love to have guests come and stay with us. (hint hint to all of you out there! =)

Our first guest on Sunday night was my friend, D. I worked with her at the bank when we lived in Brookings. She had just returned from a week long cruise, and didn't want to drive the 4 hrs back to Brookings in the dark. So we had a wonderful time catching up and staying up way too late, and she left the next morning.

Our second guest on Tuesday night was S's dad, T. He had a turkey convention in town and chose to stay by us vs. a hotel so he could get some good quality Papa-time with the kids in the morning.

Our third guests on Thursday night were my folks (Mom, I didn't get any pictures of you while you were here!). My hometown highschool girls' basketball team had made it to state finals and my parents up to cheer them on. They lost the first game on Thursday, but Mom and Dad stayed with us until Saturday - once again, to play with the grandkids, of course.

And thank you to all our guests for watching the kids in the morning so I could take a shower - more morning showers in one week than I have had in a long time! I am sure you appreciated me smelling better too...

picture post 2...the farm

The kids and I went to the farm a couple weeks ago to spend some time with Mom and Dad. Despite the intense fog, gray skies and rain, we had a warm and wonderful visit!

Little C was Boppa's boy while we were there! No tractor rides this trip, but everyone sat on the tractor with Boppa, including little C.

Aahma had colors and paper and folders all ready for the big kids being that we couldn't play outside much.


The next best thing to playing outside on the farm? Riding bikes and playing soccer in Boppa's big new machine shed, of course!


Playing on Boppa's new iTouch is pretty fun too.


One of the great things about going to visit family is all the food and goodies that are prepared for you (I didn't have to cook once while we were there! =). G loved the cake Uncle L made, and we all enjoyed great Aahma meals and brownies and treats from the Edgerton bakery too!


Boppa and his boys


G helped Aahma make homemade bread while we were there...yummy!

Little C got in on the action in the kitchen too.

One of the kids' favorite parts of the visit was the plethora of people to read books to them. And I do believe the plethora of people, including "Auntie" A here, didn't mind at all.

The real reason of the visit was not for the atmosphere or food, although those are great bonuses, but see the people we love. Boppa, Aahma, Uncle L, J, and Auntie A, it was great to see you all and we love you!

The best part of the trip was coming home to dadda! And while we were away, my wonderful husband painted our bedroom a beautiful shade of tan (want the color #? sorry! this shade was a custom blend...of all the old tans and browns in the basement!). It looks beautiful, and I do have to say I think I sleep better with tan walls vs the old sea foam green...