Friday night fun

Katelynn was here for a sleepover on Friday night, and my awesome husband took over. First, he made this fabulous fort which the kids LOVE, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to be able to take it down tonight (the fort has doubled in size and now takes up most of the playroom)! Then he set up his movie theater complete with popcorn and candy (Katelynn was a little disappointed that they got water instead of pop to drink).

Finally, he converted the fort into a sleeping tent where Eli and Katelynn spent the night.

The best day ever!

As Eli and Joel were driving home from "Donuts with Dad" at preschool, Eli said, "I can't wait until the next March 6th". He also filled up his sticker chart today, and recieved 4 more Magic Tree House books in the mail.

*His last shipment of books was for Valentine's Day, and this next set was supposed to wait for his birthday (next Friday). However, after he finished his last book, Eli informed Joel that they would now have to start over with #1, so Joel called "The Magic Tree House Fairy" aka Grandma Cathy!!! Thanks Cathy; we have one happy boy on our hands!

Dr. Jack & Dr. Noah

Jack and Noah decided to "fix" me today, so they got out this puzzle. After using the measuring tape to see how big I am (1 inch), my head, hands, fingers, and feet were taken off with the saw, my skin was scraped off with the screwdriver, my eyes were taken out with the pliers, and they hammered nails into my stomach. It must be time to invest in a new doctor kit!

A preview...

of the 2012 U.S. gymnastics team.

Joel, Austin, and Noah finished their routines before the camera came out.

STUCK

Yep, that's Craig and Joel trying to get Erin out of our driveway this afternoon! Have I mentioned how much my husband is enjoying his first Minnesota winter?

Brothers

I love these facial expressions!


As for the reason I took the pictures.........
I heard some story involving Grace, Eli and DON writing on foreheads?!?!?!?
Eli asked Joel to put the "X" on his head, and then took it upon himself to decorate his brother with an "O".

Tank Tops in February

Jack was our fashion leader today!

Happy Birthday Brady!

It's hard to believe this little guy will be one next week! We all met at a hotel this afternoon for swimming and a little pizza party.

Mr. No Fear spent a VERY long time on this little slide before he decided that it was time to move to the big slide. From there, we had to go jump on logs with Zach and Eli.

Time to add another one???? Joel informed me tonight that he has a boy named picked out...Sil (he was watching square dancing at the time of the announcement). Craig and Jen, it must be your turn!

Erin, I feel your transformer pain

Eli and Jack LOVE transformers. Jack has been asking me for days to transform Optimus Prime. It took me almost an hour, but for the first time since we got this thing in December, he is finally in car mode. I think I was more excited than the boys were!

My Personal Interior Decorator

SOMEONE has been putting random pieces of "art" on the walls. I did hang the snowman myself, but I was told EXACTLY where to put it.

"Mom, I need a piece of string and two pieces of tape". Maybe I should've asked why!

another superhero

Hooked Together Tummy Man and Belly Button Boy

Superheroes

Introducing..... Underwear Man and Diaper Boy

Daddy is home.

Good thing too! After Eli got mad at me during his bedtime routine on Thursday night, he wouldn't let me read with him and said he was never reading with me again. So far, he has stuck to that.P.S. Grandma Connie and Grandpa Steve,
Eli says his parents are not weird, but mine are.

one track mind

Noah kept asking where his Spiderman costume was today. I told him several times that it was being washed. I thought he finally forgot about it, but this is where I found him about an hour later.

What has Noah been up to??

That's what my Mom asked me last week. Let's see...

Last night we tried to eat at Applebees where he greeted the server with "Hi guy", did not seem interested in sitting or eating, and he burped a million times.

In the car on the way to Applebees, he thought he was a comedian.
N: "Knock, Knock"
Me: "Who's there?
N: "butt"
Me: "but who"
N: "My tooty butt" (makes a mother so proud!) He likes to pretend that he's Spiderman and actually tries to climb the walls.

He sneaks Eli's leapster every chance he gets, but he doesn't listen long enough to know what he's supposed to do. Of course, help is out of the question.

Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, he was a stinker at nap. At one point when I asked him what he was doing he said, "Trying to do handstands??"

Basically, Noah is our winter entertainment. I'm not sure what we'd do without him!

He is still as sweet as can be. He gives tons of hugs and kisses, and he says "I love you" and "I'm sorry" alot.

Around the World with Jack & Annie

Before bed Eli reads a few chapters from a Magic Tree House book to Joel. They are currently on book #14. Joel's mom just told us about the Magic Tree House website where you can print off a passport. Then, after you answer three questions right about each book, you get an "official stamp" for your passport. They started last night with books 1-4, and Eli answered every question right.

Happy Birthday Jack!!!!

We had a lot of fun at your party on Saturday!

Happy Birthday Grace!!

We love you and miss you!

Happy Birthday Dad!

My whole family stayed at my parents' house on Saturday night to celebrate my Dad's birthday which is actually today. He played in a community charity basketball game on Saturday night, and he had the biggest cheering section (although the kids were more excited about climbing bleachers and running down the halls than watching Grandpa). Here he is scoring 2 of his 4 points. He didn't look too bad for being the 2nd oldest guy on the court. After the game, we had to have cake and ice cream (a good bedtime snack).

On a side note
* Joel's Dad spent a day with us over Christmas last year and commented on how much we eat. This time, even I was amazed. We got to my parents around noon. By midnight we had finished off almost 3 bags of chips, a little tub of cheese balls, 3/4 of the chocolate cake (I'm sure there were a few other snacks in there), and had two actual meals.

Sunday morning, the kids had fun on their sleds, and Joel and Grandpa helped them build a tunnel in the snow.

"I want to hang like spiderman"

Noah had his final gymnastics class last night. He was even more distracted than usual with Joel and Eli there watching.

silly clock

Eli has a digital clock in his room. He is done with rest time at 3:00. Today, he came bouncing up the stairs a few minutes before three.


Mom: "Eli, your clock didn't say 3 yet did it?"

Eli: "Well, I just pushed the time button and the button behind that and it said 2:57, 2:58, 2:59 and 3:00 really fast. It's a silly clock."

Their faces say it all!

I love finding new recipes to try out on my family. Unfortunately, they can't all be winners!

melting Kraft blue cheese crumbles in the oven = worst smell ever!!!

Vikings fans

Craig and Jen came over Sunday to watch the football game. Craig even had Vikings pants and socks on, and it still didn't help.

Can you believe...

that I've had my new camera (thanks Santa) for 3 days, and I haven't posted a picture yet??? I've been trying to take pictures of the boys, but they aren't being very cooperative. Plus, we've done nothing but sit around in pj's for the past week. Tomorrow could be a rude awakening!

Would you rather....

If you were having a wedding reception/dance, would you rather..... have 7 little crazy (tired, crabby and loud) 2nd cousins running around or 3 OLD cousins who perhaps have had too much to drink??? Luckily most people were gone by the time we decided to share our musical talents. Brent, Jen, and Joel decided to take kids home on Saturday, so Krista, Craig and I went to our cousin's wedding with our parents. We were trying to remeber the last time just the 5 of us went somewhere. One night must have been enough; Mom and Dad were not ready to take us with today as they were leaving for their trip to Mexico.

HAPPY 35th ANNIVERSARY!!!

Christmas #3

We went to my parents on Friday for our Christmas. The kids were SO EXCITED when they saw Santa out the window. It was a great day for playing in the snow!

snowball fight with Grandpa Steve