Claire's Birthday Party

Action shot.

Omi spots the kids as they walk across the beam.

Papa & Mav

Ethan & Mav (2 months apart), these boys are ready to tear it up outside this summer!

Maverick practices standing unassisted.

Blue eyes gets up close to my camera lens.

Aunt Sue supervises the uneven bars.

Brody and the birthday girl wait as the bouncy floor gets blown up.

I'm not sure who was the cautious one, Brody or Claire, but the both stood together on the side for a minute before joining in.  Maverick wishes he could join in too.

Uncle Josh helps Maverick practice taking steps, he's getting the hang of it (Mav, not Josh...Josh is a pretty good walker already).

Claire had her 4th birthday party this weekend and the kids had fun running around at the gym.

Brody practicing writing and Maverick "helps"...

I wrote "PARK" on the bottom and Brody tried to copy it on the top.  For his first time trying, I was very impressed that if you look closely, the letters resemble the correct ones, especially since 'A' is the only letter he recognizes of these four.  When writing 'A' he said, "a line, a line, across, and a hat".  He forgot to draw the "hat" in this version, but it was interesting to hear him describe how he sees a letter in pieces.

Maverick decided to help by erasing our work.

I love how a kid size band-aid takes up half of his ankle.  So cute.

Happiness is found in sunshine and a warm breeze!

Brody asked for water in his bucket and a rag.  He washed our big table and chairs, his little table and chairs, and some of his deck toys.  Great job buddy!

Brody has started to take an interest in letters and in the last few days has wanted to practice on his white board and chalk board. Usually it's around nap time and bedtime that he really wants to practice probably for two reasons; he's putting off going to sleep and he's calm enough to practice. Maverick who copies everything likes to get in on it too (and hide the marker on Brody or eat the chalk). Spring has arrived so we were able to visit a park this weekend. To say that Brody is excited that it is spring and he can see green and no snow is an understatement. I think Maverick enjoys the fresh air too.

Trains

Even Brody was impressed with the long train he put together!

"Look mom, I can dump the Kix all over the floor. Aren't I cute?"

Intense concentration, a trait of every good conductor.

Brody loves to play with his trains, but hates that Maverick can't leave it alone long enough to build a good track. Enter Kix, a magical distraction.

New Car

Brody likes the new car, mostly he's just excited about something new and different.

I like that the car that fit the bill happened to be one with an ice blue color that I love!

I traded in my 2008 for a 2008! Good times! I'm going to really miss my Equinox because I loved that the back seat could move forward and back. I hope to significantly cut down on my monthly gas cost with the Mercury Mariner Hybrid. GG tells me that Grandpa liked a Mercury, so I hope he would have approved of my choice.

April 23, 2013 Snow Day

Heavy snow and lots of it at the end of April!

The tree in our yard at 7am on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. I can post this only because I just spent an entire weekend in 70+ degree weather just 4 short days later. Thank goodness spring has arrived!

Brody gets a haircut...

No, he's not in pain, don't worry.

See, he's just fine, sitting still like a champ.  He was pretty thankful that I finally thought of the towel to prevent him from getting itchy hair all over!

I guess it's good that we had boys?  This probably wouldn't be the cutest long term look for a little girl.

Hair cut time for Brody again! Our system involves the 1/2" on the clippers and our small vacuum to suck up the hair. We've been doing this forever and he's very tolerant and good at sitting still for it. I think he likes the clippers because it's just like daddy does it!

Wedding Fun in Duluth

Our Family at Nick & Amanda's wedding in Duluth ~ 4/6/13

A picture of mommy & Mav:)

Handsome and grown up, Brody at 3!

The bride & groom; Nick & Amanda

Grandpa Steve entertains Maverick at the reception.

Maverick finds another shoulder to sleep on as the reception gets late.

My little sleeping champ!

Grandma Cindy & Maverick, poolside at the hotel.

Brody loved swimming in the hotel pool.

We attended Barry's cousin, Nick's wedding in Duluth this past weekend. While it was chilly (snowing) for April, it was still a weekend filled with fun swimming at the hotel, catching up with family, and enjoying the beautiful wedding.

Happy Easter

Brody & Maverick, Easter 2013

Maverick finds a treasure from the Easter bunny.  He loves eating books, score!  Brody loves reading books, especially Eric Carle, so this is a score for him too!

Yes, at 5:58am, you need a headlamp on to look for Easter eggs.

Oh yes, there was an egg in the back of that rocket.

Max, Maverick, Brody, Mara, Claire ~ 5 cousins together on Easter

I had to capture a little bit of the big-kid plates.  These kids eat so well, I'm so proud of them and thankful to Omi for pushing them to grow to like things like salad.

Reading to find some Easter eggs!

Look at that full basket:)

Sue & Papa with the little ones.

The oldest kids stand proudly with their baskets.

Claire, Brody & Ev get an A for posing, Maverick takes the cake for goofiest face, Max, Briggs & Mara...focus kids!

Mara was after Brody's basket and he tried to protect it.

Score, Mara got the treat she was after!

We had a great Easter! It started with Brody (and then soon after Maverick) waking up at 5:58am. He asked if the Easter bunny had been at our house and quickly starting looking for his Easter basket and eggs. Barry headed to work for the day and I headed over to enjoy a meal at Sue's with the boys. We had a great Easter overall!

Messy Eater

Yum, corn on the nose and baby food mush all up in his hair!

Haha, look at those teeth!  7 and counting

Aw, such a sweet little mess he is!

Maverick has taken a liking to this whole eating thing! At supper he can chow down 3 thick, large ice cube blocks of veggies, 3.5 ounces of whole milk yogurt, way too many puffs, and 2 ounces of formula. He still seems like such a light weight so I'm wondering if he's going to start packing on the pounds in the coming weeks!

Brody at 3

This is long past due, but way back on February 12 Brody had his 3 year check-up. I want to get it down so that I can remember. At 3, my Broden is 35.2# (75-90%) and 37.75" tall (50-75%). He's taller now on his fun growth chart hanging on his wall; somewhere in the 38+" range. Since having full blown conversations with Brody is common place, it cracks me up on the rare occasion that he says, "I don't know what that means Mommy." I forget that he's only 3 and there is a lot in this world he has yet to come across! He remains my champion sleeper! He still takes great afternoon naps that typically are 2 hours. He can sleep through anything at night. The other night we tried letting Maverick cry himself back to sleep in the middle of the night when he woke up. An hour and a half later Maverick was still not back to sleep, had taken screaming to a whole new level, and there across the room was Brody, sound asleep. Amazing!