Minnesota Children's Museum

A few weeks ago we met up with some friends at the Children's Museum. Our plan was to only stay for 2 hours, but that quickly turned in to 4! The kids had a blast together and Johnell and I had a great time catching up, discussing parenting/marriage, and laughing together. We've known each other for many years but only recently have been able to spend more time together and I just love processing life with her. We have similar views on kids, discipline, parenting, marriage, and faith and I so enjoyed being able to discuss all these things with her. We have decided that despite living on opposite sides of the city, we should get together at least once a month to let our kids play and hang out. Our kids all get along SO well and I am so thankful for her friendship. She is such a great mom to her kids and we were able to share ideas with each other--I love getting new ideas and a fresh perspective on the things I am dealing with in my life......ok, now on to the pictures from our day!!

Micah and Wyatt (they are only about 6 weeks apart in age)

My little archaeologist, digging for fossils

Johnell and Sadie

Enjoying a little snack before we went to the next room

Sadie lOvEs puppets....which always amazes me since she knows it's my voice talking, yet she looks right at the puppet and talks to it....so cute!

Giving hugs

The 'anthill'.....the kids got to wear little ant costumes and climb through a life-size anthill. They entered on their own, but quickly got a bit freaked out and became paralyzed inside.....so I got to climb through it with them. I wasn't too thrilled at first but ended up getting some great shots of the kids inside....and good thing I wasn't pregnant anymore, because there wasn't much room for my 5'9" body as it was!

The kids loved looking at each other through the aquarium

One of their favorite parts of the museum was being able to do their own face painting while we were eating lunch....and this was Sadie's creation. My perfectionist son Wyatt, however, wanted me to draw on his face so that it would look 'right'. So he requested hockey sticks on one cheek and a puck on the other

He then decided to venture out and draw a few lines on his own!

This room was so cool.....the kids stood in front of a blue wall and could watch themselves on a monitor, which transposed them in to a music video. And my kids love music, so this was perfect!

This was what Blake did most of the time....such a great baby!

However, he did get a little involved......

I had to take this picture because I thought it was so funny. Johnell was telling Wyatt and Micah that they needed to pretend they were 4 yr olds so that we could go into the toddler room for Noah and Sadie.

Johnell, Micah,and Noah---thanks for a great day and we can't wait until next month to see you guys again for our next 'fieldtrip'!

Party Time

We had a little birthday party for Sadie last Saturday with our friends The Kuchs and my parents. I am not a big fan of huge birthday parties (especially when kids are this young--I mean, where do you go from here if they get a huge party for turning 3 or 5?!) It was perfect. I always let the kids pick what kind of cake they want me to make and what they want to eat. So Sadie chose a Dora cake and Papa John's Pizza. It was very low-key and we all had a great time! Sadie especially enjoyed the extra attention!

Erik and the birthday girl

Pops and Blake

Anticipating the excitement of opening her presents...

the classic move--shaking the package and trying to guess what's inside

Her 1st piece of 'real' jewelry....I got her a cute little flower necklace just from me

Closing her eyes as Daddy brought in her final gift.....

...seeing it...

...riding it!

She loved the new Hello KItty jammies from Nani and Pops and played with her gifts the rest of the night. Wyatt and Blake went to bed fairly early, so Sadie really soaked up all the extra attention and being able to 'stay up late' on her birthday. It was a fun night for everyone and Sadie has been enjoying her bike with this warm weather we are having....bring on Spring!

Motor Mouth

I have been telling many of you about how 'animated' Blake is.....here is a bit of proof of this kid's ability to make his presence known....not sure what this will look like when he's 5yrs old! It's actually quite hilarious but Sadie and Wyatt have, on more than one occasion, said, "Mommy, tell him to be quiet!"

What do you say to that?

A few days ago I asked the kids to put away their piles of folded laundry. Wyatt looked and me and told me he didn't want to. Of course, I told him he didn't have to want to do it, but he needed to do it. Then the following conversation ensued.

Wyatt: "Well I don't like putting it away."

Me: "If you don't want to put away your folded laundry, then I'll just let you fold your own AND put it away."

Wyatt: "No, I don't fold the laundry. That's what you do."

Me: "Well maybe it's time you learned how to. It might be a good time to add that to your list of chores."

Wyatt: "No, I want you to do it."

Me:"Well someday you'll need to learn how to fold laundry"

Wyatt: "No I won't"

Me: "Oh really?! Who do you think will do it for you when you are older"

Wyatt: "My wife will. I'll just get married and then she can do it"

I was half mad and half laughing inside! From all observations of our family, laundry is my job and Matt doesn't do any. So Wyatt had part of it right. However, Matt has to go to work everyday so that I can stay home--but I didn't have the composure at that point in time to discuss that with him. I just let the conversation end there, laughing about it the rest of the day. (And yes, he did put his laundry away!)

Happy Birthday Sadie!!

I'm a bit behind on posting, but Sadie's 3rd birthday was on sunday. It's hard to believe she's already 3 yet it seems like she's much older than 3 all at the same time. For this post, I gathered pictures from this past year that display Sadie's personality best......

...A little mommy...

..loves pretending to 'go for a run' like Mommy...

...a non-discriminating shoe fan......loves them all...

...beautiful smile...

....gets into things she shouldn't....

..miss independent, determined to do what she wants...

...precious...

...hilarious...

...beautiful...

...a Daddy's girl...

...with a great imagination....

..an amazing blessing..

Sadie Joan, we are so blessed to have you in our family. You have a zest for life and we can't wait to see what the next year holds for you. You are an amazing big sister to Blake and are so smart, beautiful, strong--you can do anything you put your mind to! We love you Sades.