Mothers

I just got this fun email from a friend that asked 2nd graders questions about their Mothers. It was cute reading their answers and so even though my kids are a bit younger I still thought it would be interesting to hear their answers! I'm not sure how I feel about some of their answers though! :)

WHY DID GOD MAKE MOTHERS?
Eric: Because I need a mom. If I didn't have a mommy, I'd be alone. (Alex argues: You'd have a dad.)
Alex:Because Mommy, Jesus of the Christ make you happy.

HOW DID GOD MAKE MOTHERS?
Eric: Putting blood, bones and a spirit in Mommy's body so she can run, walk and be a mom. And can only die when she's old.
Alex: Happy

WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE MOTHERS MADE OF?
Eric: Babies
Alex: Makeup

WHY DID GOD GIVE YOU YOUR MOTHER AND NOT SOME OTHER MOM?
Eric: Because I was your baby and you did have me.
Alex: And not another daddy? Because Dad love you.

WHAT KIND OF A LITTLE GIRL WAS YOUR MOM?
Eric: Like Lisa. (my sister) You have the same hair as Lisa.
Alex: A little, little girl

WHAT DID MOM NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DAD BEFORE SHE MARRIED HIM?
Eric: I don't think you needed to know anything.
Alex: I don't know dat!

WHY DID YOUR MOM MARRY YOUR DAD?
Eric: You thinked he was handsome and he thinked you were pretty and you thinked you should marry him.
Alex: Because daddy just married you because...I don't know. This really hard.

WHO'S THE BOSS AT YOUR HOUSE?
Eric: My mom and dad. Who's the real boss? Daddy because he's big enough. You're kinda the same height but he's 12 and you're 14.
Alex: Mommy and Daddy.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOMS AND DADS?
Eric: I don't know
Alex: When you are fighting?

WHAT DOES YOUR MOM DO IN HER SPARE TIME?
Eric: Eat
Alex: Exercise

WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO MAKE YOUR MOM PERFECT?
Eric: To be pretty or beautiful. You are beautiful and pretty all the time.
Alex: Exercise

IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR MOMMY, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Eric: Change your hair to be curly like ice cream.
Alex: umm...a dress?

Gotta love children!! :)

Go Go Go...

I don't know how long its been since I last posted but it feels like its been forever. We've been going nonstop lately. This last Saturday was our first Saturday that we've been home it a long time...and that doesn't really even count because Andy had to work half a day. Our weekdays are so full too...maybe its the warm weather?? I know I've thought of things I wanted to post as we did them but it's been so crazy I didn't get a chance and now I don't remember them! Oh-well I guess! The pictures I'm posting are a bit out of order but I was too impatient to get it them all straightened out!
A couple of Saturdays ago I went to Aitkin for my soon to be sister in laws bridal shower. My sister put it on for her and did a fantastic job! Lots of work went into it and it turned out to be loads of fun!! After the shower my brother, Russ, and his wife had the missionaries over for dinner and decided to have a bonfire at my grandparents house. My brother Bryan (the one getting married) and his family came over too. I love bonfires!!

Me and my niece Natalie (she's so cute!!) Russ and Kara's girl
Kara and Russ, Bryan and Kelli, and my Grandpa

Bryan and Kelli and their boy Wyatt and my grandpa

Soon to be Mr. and Mrs Crowther!!

Kelli and Wyatt

The winning veil at the shower! (made of toilet paper)

Beautiful Bride-to-be!!

I found this adorable fruit bouquet recipe...so easy to make!!

A family friend, Abbie, decorated the cake. She used the picture from the bridal shower invites and just went to work. It only took her a couple of hours. AMAZING!! Very artistic girl! No one wanted to carry the cake in (in case of tripping and ruining it) or cut it!!

You can see the card she copied in the upper left hand corner. She did so fantastic!!

We've been spending a lot of time at playgrounds lately. The kids play so hard and sleep even harder! Gotta LOVE fresh air!!

Alex has been doing so awesome with potty training. She has a chart she puts stickers on whenever she goes potty in the toilet and about every third square there is a reward listed. Today she landed on picnic so here she is enjoying it!!

Saturday after Andy got off work he decided to climb the tree in the back yard to trim it. It was so funny watching him try to climb it!! Then even funnier watching him try to get out of it. He broke one of the branches (a nub) he used to get up so it wasn't there to help him get down.

Of course Eric had to get up in the tree! He didn't want to get down. I wish we had trees he could climb but this is the only one we have. Alex was having fits watching her daddy up in the tree. She was scared he was going to fall. I gotta say I was pretty scared watching Eric up there too. He kept wanting to climb higher and higher.

Ryleigh got a pretty bad sunburn...on half of her face...

Yep, that's our girl! A bottle in each hand! Someday it will be a cookie in each hand!! One had milk and the other had water...gotta have options!!

She loves her sweet potato puffs!!

Our FUN Weekend!!

This last weekend we went to Crosby to Andy's sisters house. Her husband is working in Iraq and won't be home until July(ish) so we went to hang out with them and help with yard work. Danny, Andrea and Mya came too and so we all just had a blast!! Here are a ton of pictures of our fun weekend!
We all got there Friday night and brought pizza's. It was a fun night of American Idol Wii and hanging out. Danny and Andy singing and dancing is a sight to see!! So funny!

Saturday morning Andy and Danny woke up early and went to St. Cloud to look at a car for Andy. I didn't really think they'd get it (Andy had been so back and forth on cars) but they traded his car in and came home with this.
2007 Mitsubishi Galant. VERY nice car! We really like it!!


Then we all got busy and started doing wood. Andy and Danny chopped it and us girls loaded, unloaded and stacked it. Then we built a brush pile to be burned but it was too dry to start fires. The following pictures are from Sunday. We got up and started the yard work again. More chopping and stacking wood. Then we built another brush pile. This one was more out in the open and it had drizzled a bit that morning so it was kinda wet. So Danny and Kim got the brush pile roaring (took a bit and Danny almost started on fire ;) but it got going!!).

One really strong, brave, amazing woman!

Jared is seriously the nicest kid! Worked hard with us!

We had such a good time together. The kids all played so nicely together and had so much fun. Eric and Alex didn't want to leave and talk about going to Kim's everyday! They play so hard and just have so much fun there.

Look at those two! So beautiful!

Katelynn! She is so beautiful!!

Saturday night we got all cleaned up and had a girls night. Andy and Danny were kind enough to watch all the kids so the girls (big girls) could go to a movie. We went to Brainerd and saw 17 Again. We all now have crushes on Zac Efron. So cute! It was a really good movie!! Then we went shopping for Sunday dinner stuff. It was just a really fun night giggling with the girls! Thanks Andy and Danny!! :)

Sorry Katelynn and Kim!! I'm not good at taking pics. in the car!

Sunday after we finished outside we had a so so yummy ham dinner. Ham, funeral potatoes, pink salad, green bean casserole, watermelon, and rolls. YUM!!

I cannot wait for Becki, Ryan, Klous and Aysha to come!! We are all going to have SO much fun! Can you imagine Becki, Andy and Danny all together?!?!? Always so much fun and lots of giggles! Wish we could ALL be together. Maybe at Christmas?!?!?




Just a couple pictures of Ryleigh. She has a new interest...getting into everything on the bottom of the bookshelf! She entertains herself for long periods of time and thinks she is so big!! She isn't happy until she pulls the diapers off. So cute!

Venting!!

So I just turned off my workout video... AGAIN. I start it, get 2-3 minutes into it, and shut it off. I used to LOVE to workout...mostly I loved not being soft...but I loved the workout. I decided today is the day to get started on getting skinny! I started warming up but Andy was here and I cannot work out with him watching so I decided to wait until he left. He left and I started again. But then Ryleigh had to have a nap. So I put her down and started the video. Then I remembered I had to put a load of laundry in the dryer and start another one. I ran down and did that but then the load I pulled out of the dryer to put the other one in had to be folded. I HATE wrinkles so it couldn't wait. I folded them and started again with the video. But then I had ZERO desire to workout with Denise Austin. I can't breathe, it hurts, and I can hear the kids upstairs destroying their rooms. I cannot concentrate and therefore...the video has been shut off again. Maybe I'll try the treadmill...I wish I had a workout partner. Maybe that would make it easier?!?!? Or maybe I just need to get up really early before the kids are up and my mind can be only on working out. Why does losing weight have to be so hard?!?!??! Why did I even let myself get to this point?!?!?!?
SO FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eric's Birthday!

We cannot believe it!! We have a 5 year old!!! How crazy is that?? Eric turned 5 yesterday! He keeps saying that he's not 5 because he isn't bigger. I really think he thought he was going to be all grown up when he turned 5!! He is so funny. We started the day by having his birthday breakfast request...french toast. (Andrea, I've been so hungry for that since church on Sunday! Smelled so yummy!) Then we just kinda hung out at home. Had his birthday lunch request...Mac and Cheese and baked beans! Then we got ready and went to buy balloons. He HAD to have balloons! He really wanted to have a party with friends and family but didn't tell me that until the day of so...maybe next year! He wanted to go to the playground and play and then out to eat so that's how we celebrated. We came back and had cake and opened presents. I think we all had fun and he was so excited with his Lincoln Logs he got and water balloons! He also loves his Frisbee but that needs to be a park thing I think! I had to run all the way down the block to retrieve it today. He threw it and then it rolled and rolled and rolled and kept on rolling down the street! WHEW! Gave mommy a good workout!
Castle Playground

Ryleigh watching everyone else play

Lovin it up for the camera!

Such a fun playground. I didn't know about this one!

Taco Johns. Yes, Ryleigh is eating the napkin!

Ryleigh was so fascinated with the table edge!

So excited to get his Lincoln Logs!

SO handsome!!

Happy Birthday to the BEST 5 year old in the world!!

I'm a little behind on my blogging but here are a few pictures of our FUN Easter weekend! We went to Danny and Andrea's for a nice long weekend! I'm bummed I didn't take more pictures of our weekend. The kids had so much fun roaming Danny and Andrea's LARGE house, their LARGE backyard and playing at the playground right across the street from their house! We spent a lot of time at Andrea's parents house and had a blast there!! They also have LARGE everything!! So the kids had so much fun!! Andrea's parents were so kind and good to us and our kids! Made us feel right at home. Alex just fell in love with her Dad, Doug. He was so super to her! She is usually so so so shy but made best friends with him instantly. These pictures are mostly of Easter morning. The whole weekend was amazing and it was so good to spend time with Danny, Andrea, Mya and Jax!!
Easter or Christmas?? They love their toys though!

Look at how long she looks reaching for her book!

Loving her Easter presents! (She got some sun the day before.)

CANDY + TOYS = ONE HAPPY ALEX!

Found his Easter basket!

Easter Egg hunt!!

Danny with his son and daughter! So cute!!

Sweet little family! Danny, Andrea and Mya

So funny story: We went to Andrea's church on Sunday. In our church they pass around bread and water in what we call Sacrament, each of us partaking of it. So we are sitting in her church and they have a collection plate type of thing going around. It passes across Eric to me and I pass it off...Eric calls out (not super loudly but loud enough that me and anyone close by could hear) "Hey! I didn't get some of that!!" What was the plan Eric?? Help ourselves to money?!? Wouldn't that be nice?!?!?! :)

One CLASSY Family!!

I'm sure our neighbors think we are rednecks as my children feel the need to escape outside without my knowledge every once in a while now that its getting nicer outside. Nicer, not WARM...just a bit nicer than it has been. Alex can be found outside coatless, pantless and shoeless all at the same time and I just caught Eric yesterday taking his shirt off as if it were 90 degrees outside! We still have snow on the ground!!
So here are some pictures to show how truly classy we are!!

What on earth happened?? Was he burping Ryleigh and she got him good??
Haha no, that's not what happened at all! I was being very immature...getting lots of laughs from the kids... copying everything he said one night while I was feeding Ryleigh her cereal. I was sitting on our exercise ball (the only action that thing sees!!) feeding her and Andy was sitting on the floor. He thought a good retaliation would be to kick the ball out from under me. I went flying to the floor, landed on my butt and HE ENDED UP WEARING THE CEREAL!! haha Joke is on HIM!! I got a tiny little bit on me but as you can see it mostly landed on him! Funniest thing ever!!
Poor ball! That's about how much landed on me too!!

Maybe it's time to take 'em to dat der dentist??

THIS NEXT ONE IS FOR MY SISTER LISA!! She knows Alex so well and will appreciate this and love Alex even more!!

We were coloring Easter eggs...what on earth is on her chin??? Is that a...piece of a... shell??

That's right! NOTHING can stop her!!

So gross! It was pretty nasty hearing her chomp that shell. I tried to get it all out of her mouth but I think there were MANY tiny little pieces!!

Ryleigh wanting in on the fun!

There would have been more but mammoth mommy enjoyed a couple of them!! See the scared look on the pink ones face? I was eyeing him next!! Eric even tried eating one!! He feels pretty left out that he never gets to eat eggs so I let him try some. His eyes didn't swell shut!! He didn't have a reaction at all!! (He didn't have the yolks though. So...hard to tell...maybe they were just cooked long enough??)

Watch out little pink one...breakfast is coming soon!