Good-bye Cribs!!!!

Well, the big moment has arrived! The boys are officially out of their cribs. Since we will be heading to WA in a few weeks, I wanted them to be out of cribs and used to sleeping on the floor. It makes it much easier to travel when they are used to not being in their cribs. Anyway, we dismantled the cribs and for now put their crib mattresses on the floor with a toddler rail. We hope to get regular beds sometime this fall. They were pretty proud of themselves and never even got out of bed! Whew! This morning they were up at 7 and I heard the door open and Joel informed me that he was "all done". Caleb was surprisingly just laying in his bed waiting for the okay from me. So far, we are doing pretty good! It is so crazy to think that they are old enough to be out of their cribs. They are growing up fast and I am looking forward to them leaving the terrible two's!


One crib down, one to go!

All three kids trying out the "new" beds...
Joel all ready for bed
Caleb all ready for bed
And later...two tired little boys fast asleep. Their room looks so empty now!

Children's Museum

Click here to view these pictures larger

Vacation Bible School!!!

Last week we were able to enjoy Pandamania VBS here at our church. I volunteered to do the games, so the boys were able to attend the 2 year old class (the Panda Cub Club). I wasn't sure how it was going to go and since Ryan was gone, I was a little nervous that they wouldn't want to go. Thankfully my mom was here the 1st 2 days, so she was able to sit with them during opening ceremonies and then they felt comfortable enough to attend. Once my mom left I sat with them at the beginning and Joel kept saying "No go bye-bye mommy" and then once his teacher came, he said "you go bye-bye mommy". I'm so relieved that they loved it so much. They knew the actions and the songs and I'm amazed at how much they learned!!! They even knew all about their Bible buddies (little plastic animals they got each day) and had to wear them on their key chain on their belt loop just like Kiera! Kiera, of course, had a blast! She had listened to the cd long before VBS started, so she knew all the songs! It was fun seeing her enjoy it so much!

Panda cub club members!
Waiting for everything to start
The boys hard at work
Kiera at her craft station
Kiera and her friends

Two wild pandas in the jungle...
The boys stood through the whole program! (Joel in grey on left and Caleb in orange facing us)
Kids posing with their panda masks...the boys wouldn't wear them of course
Kiera in the 3rd row singing at the final program and the boys between the two heads in the forefront.

Oma comes to visit

Kiera has lots of influence on the boys. Let's just say they are well-rounded. Here she's having a tea party with them...they were quite waterlogged by the end.
Oma read LOTS of books to the kids!
Aunt Joni's tutu's were well like this day. These pictures will come back to haunt them some day.
Caleb learned all about ballet from Kiera

After our trip to Duluth, my dad flew home and we took Oma back with us to visit for 2 weeks! We had so much fun with her! She spoiled us rotten! We did lots of day trips and had fun spending time with her and showing her our everyday lives here. She was only able to stay for a little bit while Ryan was gone due to weddings, but we appreciated all her help and generosity. We can't wait to see her again in a few weeks!

Duluth Trip

At the end of May my parents flew into Minneapolis and headed up to my sisters house for a visit. We made the trip up there as a family (for the 1st time in quite a while) to spend the week with them. It was so much fun to see my parents and have them see how much our kids had changed. We did lots of fun stuff like the children's museum, train museum, downtown Duluth and saw a ship come in, hiking, sightseeing, eating out, and lots of sitting and visiting. We had a relaxing time and made lots of memories.


Boys and mud...always a good mix. Here they are throwing it on each other.
Kiera and Tori in their matching dresses from Oma
A picnic lunch for the littlest ones.
Lots of cars were played with Opa.
Downtown Duluth where the ship came in. Brrrr was it cold for May!!!
Dad and I
So fun to spend some time with Ryan before he left for Israel.

April Fun

April was quite the month! We had lots of fun and lots of company. We spent the first half of the month celebrating my birthday, preparing for our huge garage sale, and preparing for company to come. My sister Lisa and her family arrived on the 15th and that weekend started a week of the 12 hour stomach flu. It was awful. My sister Tami and her family arrived that Monday and we spent our week together battling the flu. Almost everyday someone else came down with it. It was quite frustrating and disappointing to spend our little time together being sick, but we made the best of it and have quite the story to tell now. Thankfully Lisa was able to stay a week longer and managed to be the only one (along with her 9 mo. old daughter Rylee) not to get sick. We all were able to spend Easter together and had fun hiding eggs for the kids to find. We even made a nice Easter dinner for all 11 of us and it was yummy!
The last week of April I had a garage sale here with 5 other friends. It was quite a job, definitely worth it. I was able to fund over half my trip to WA this summer which was a huge blessing! Enjoy these pictures from our crazy month!

Notice that Caleb & Joel learned how to take their pj's off...
Reading some man material. Doesn't Caleb look thrilled?
Joel coloring Easter eggs
The other kids decorating eggs.
Caleb very intently coloring
The kiddos getting ready to find their eggs.
Joel, are you finding the eggs or stealing them? Always having to compare...
Looking hard...
Two best friends and cousins getting ready to hunt. Don't you love their matching pants?
Even Rylee got to help hunt.
Very serious hunters enjoying their loot.

They had a fun time with cousin Elliana. She is such a hoot!
Checking out all their candy while daddy watches (and waits for his cut)
Caleb didn't like the peanut m&m's (he's in the red)
Swinging and eating candy. Life can't get any better than this!
Our beautiful Easter meal!
Sharing their favorite cars with cousin Rylee.
Kiera wanted to earn a specific toy from Target. I told her to sell lemonade at our garage sale. In about 3 hours she made over $10 selling 25cent cups of juice. As soon as she hit her goal, she was out of there. It was so funny to watch her sell.
She maybe would have sold more if her brothers hadn't drank half her juice!

Double the Fun!

After a trip to the dentist I am almost completely convinced that the boy are identical. The dentist told us that they suck on their pacifiers the exact same way and their front teeth are pushed out exactly the same. He could hardly believe how identical their mouths were! So crazy! We still find ourselves getting them mixed up and if they are dressed the same and not together (which doesn't happen too often if I can help it) I can't tell who I'm talking to until I get them to smile. Their dimples on opposite cheeks are our saving mark. Whew! They still spend all their time together and listening to them talk to each other more and more is just so precious. Here are some pictures of some fun identical twin moments in the past month.

The boys love playing in their cribs at bed time. It always takes them awhile to settle down. In this picture they had jumped so hard in their cribs they had rolled them to the middle of the room so they could pass things. Kind of hard to scold when you are trying not to laugh. I love to hear their giggling but am nervous to open the door and see the mess....
I had put a movie on after naps and did a double take when I walked back in the room. Now tell me they aren't mirror twins.....
So crazy...THIS IS NOT POSED!!!!
I babysit a 4 mo. old twice a week and he is always here before the boys get up. They are so excited to see "Baby Ethan" in the morning and just swamp him with cars!
A rare moment in our home...falling asleep on the couch.