Springtime at the Park

I love taking pictures of kids at the playground! There's just something about all the bright colors, the interesting lines and shadows, and the smiling faces that is so cute! And, of course, Maddox and Phebe make the pictures that much cuter. Last Saturday, both kids had an overnight at Jenna and Andy's, and we spent some time at the playground at Jenna's school in the afternoon (before I left Jenna on her own with two kids - yikes!).

I'm happy to say, she survived, and so did the kids :-)Maddox's climbing skills have improved greatly since last summer!

Stretch....he's taking a REALLY big step!

This slide was very fast!

Maddox's turn, on a slightly smaller one..

Maddox discovered a fun swing.

Phebe is pretty good at pumping on her own.

She gave Maddox some great pushes.

Higher, Phebe, higher!

Jenna had to get into the act, too.

The swinging bridge was fun!

Phebe could handle this "stepper" by herself.

Maddox needed a little help, though - his little legs are still a bit too short!

Phebe practiced some sign language.

After all that fresh air and exercise, Maddox needed to take a break. Looks comfy to me!

Easter Weekend

We had a GREAT Easter weekend! We started out on Saturday morning with a family outing to the St. Paul Children's Museum. As you will see, it wasn't just the two children who were entertained! The seven adults managed to keep themselves busy, too.

Phebe thought she might like to be a bus driver.


Grocery shopping was fun, too. She filled her cart with everything orange.

Maddox was filling up on carbs.

Water play was a big hit!

Maddox was fascinated by the ping pong balls going through the water tubes.

Off to the races! On your mark, get set....

Go! Which boat will win?

Paper making was interesting, too.

Yeah! More water to play in!

That's a plastic crayfish.

But a REAL snake! Maddox's comment: "Snakes smell with their tongues." He got to see that forked tongue up close!

The Clifford exhibit was a big hit, too. Maddox is almost the same size as Emily Elizabeth.

He would be a mouthful for Clifford!

Phebe thought climbing on Clifford might be fun, but the museum worker didn't agree. Uh oh...

Phebe did a great job of painting her face. Isn't she a cute little kitty?

Now for the "big kid" fun...

Corey got creative with the masking tape (is he really almost 30 years old??).

Heidi followed directions very well to make a bug hat from newspaper!


And Andy remembered how to fold paper. I used to make these when I was a kid!

Kyle had a blast dressing Jenna up to be a rock star.


And Jenna should probably try out for next season's American Idol - I'd vote for her!

Even Chuck got into the act with the puppets.

I, however, just stuck to following everyone around and snapping pictures. After several hours at the musem, we headed to Cosetta's for pizza - yum!
Then, home to dye some Easter eggs.

When I grabbed the box of dye at Target, I didn't notice it said "tie dye" so the process was a bit different this year. No dipping, and no stickers.

Instead, we wrapped each egg in a small square of fabric, put it in a press, and squirted dye through holes in the press. Phebe worked really hard on the eggs.

She still has her kitty whiskers from the morning's activities.

She and Kyle did all 12 eggs.

Very pretty! They taste good, too (Phebe's been eating them all week - she even had one in her lunch one day)!

The Easter bunny visited sometime during the night, and Phebe couldn't believe there were eggs all over the house. This is the only picture, though, because I wasn't around for the hunt (7:00 am service, anyone??)

After I finished playing for the third service of the morning, we headed up to Ted and Pat's house, where we had a great dinner, and the kids had another egg hunt, this time outside.

Maddox had to find all the blue eggs.

Phebe had to find the pink ones.

"I thought I saw one under the step!"

"Here's another one!"

Matthew joined the hunt, too. It was pretty hard to get all three kids to pose for a picture - way too much going on!

There were a few presents, too! Thanks, everyone!

It's hard to get these three together at the same time, too, but they just happened to be sitting on the couch watching the Masters - yeah, photo op for me!

This has turned into a really long post, but I had some catching up to do. It's been a really busy month at school and home! Happy Spring!!

Diabetes Walk

Who could resist that face? Phebe is participating in the annual CF Elementary School Diabetes Walk on April 24th, and she is trying to raise funds for a little boy in her class who has diabetes.

If you would like to contribute, send a check made out to ADA by April 17th and we will add it to her total. Our school has been the #1 fund-raising school for diabetes in Minnesota for the last few years, and one of the top in the nation! Since Phebe is only in kindergarten, I will be walking with her, so I'll up-date later with pictures of the walk. I'm hoping for a beautiful spring day this year!

Jenna's Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Jenna's birthday by going to a Drumline Show in North St. Paul, and then pigging out on lots of great food at Corey and Heidi's house. Jenna, Corey, and Heidi were reliving their high school days as we watched all the schools perform. It was a bit more distracting than in the "olden days" due to the presence of a 2-year old and a 6-year old. Phebe seemed to enjoy most of the show, but Maddox's attention span was pretty short! M&M's helped for awhile, and then Andy took them both out to run around a bit. Thanks, Andy!

I can't believe Jenna is actually 26. It seems like yesterday that she was born!

She decided we should have all her favorite appetizers, and just skip the main course. These plates were pretty empty by the time we finished.

Then, to top off all the munchies, we had DQ cake, her all-time favorite.

Heidi realized she had a 2 and a 6 left over from Maddox's and Phebe's party back in October. Hmmmm.... put them together and what do you get??

Phebe took this one - not too bad, Phebes!

What's the matter, Jenna? Isn't that piece big enough for you, or do you want all the roses?

Jenna got some great clothes for presents, and also an I-pod shuffle from Andy.

The guys actually finished off the rest of that cake, although they saved a skinny piece for Maddox, who slept through the whole event.

Our next birthday is Corey's - he'll be 30 in June! YIKES, again!

Happy Birthday, Jenna!

Yikes! Our baby turns 26 on Sunday!

We're so proud of you! Happy Birthday!

We're celebrating on Saturday by going to a....Drumline Show! It should be fun to see how Maddox and Phebe like all the noise and action! Pictures soon!

Littlest Pet Shop

Phebe's favorite activity these days is playing with her Littlest Pet Shop figures. Her collection has grown to more than 20, and she has big plans to get lots more. We'll see...

She spends lots of time setting them up in the dollhouse, and then making up stories for them. See them peeking through the windows?

There they all are! Actually, 5 are missing from this picture because they somehow wandered into Phebe's pocket and made it to school last week. They ended up spending a lonely weekend on her teacher's desk. Hmmmmm....


Maddox has fun with them, too!


Aren't they the cutest?