Dave, Wendy, Alaina, and Leo

Giveaway

2012-01-09T15:38:00.000-06:00

Check out this giveaway!

http://mixedupfilesofrnb.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-memories-scrapbooking-software.html?showComment=1326145088926#c6801192743745925319

Butterfly kit!

2011-03-17T08:13:00.005-05:00

Alaina got a butterfly kit for her birthday from Grandpa Keith and Grandma Jane.

Here is a picture of the caterpillars right after we got them.

Here they are a couple of days later.

And here they are now.

It should only be a couple more days until they make their chrysalis.

Alaina's Birthday Part 2

2011-03-17T07:54:00.001-05:00

The day before Alaina's birthday she wanted to bring cupcakes to church. We made rainbow cupcakes. They turned out fantastic!!

When we were making the cupcakes, Alaina and I decided that she wouldn't have a cake on her birthday, we would just decorate the cupcakes and put candles in them. On her birthday she remembered she wasn't getting a cake and started balling. So, we made her a chocolate cake. I didn't want cupcakes and a cake sitting around the house so we made cake pops out of the cupcakes. To do this you crumble the cupcakes, mix them with frosting, roll them in balls, stick a sucker stick in them, freeze them and then dip them in chocolate. We then stuck them in her cake.

Here is Alaina crumbling the cupcakes.

Isn't it pretty!

Then we made the best fluffy frosting ever!

Here we were getting ready to dip them. If you look closely, you can see that Alaina is drawing a picture of them.

She got a sock puppet kit from Uncle Josh, Aunt Laura, Kylee and Lexi (Thank you!!) and made a unicorn sock puppet while waiting for the cupcakes to freeze. Although you can tell that she was sneaking food by the food stuck on her face.

Cake time!

After we ate cake and went outside to play for a while, we came back in and put together the puzzle that Grandpa Don and Grandma Jan sent. Alaina is also wearing the shirt that Aunt Kathi and Linda sent.

Happy 5th Birthday Alaina!

Alaina's Chuck-E-Cheese Birthday Party

2011-03-16T21:50:00.008-05:00

When Troy, Julie, Zach, and Kendal (our old neighbors) came to visit we had a birthday party for Alaina at Chuck-E-Cheeses.

Here is Alaina on the phone telling Chuck-E-Cheese that it's her birthday.

Leo hung out with Clifford.

They had a ride where the bench that the kids sit on moves and they watch a movie that corresponds with the chair movement. This one was like riding a roller coaster. The cool part is that they have a camera focused on the kids that shows up on a tv above them so that you can see their face as they "ride" the roller coaster.

Chuck-E-Cheese with the birthday kids.

Alaina and her cake.

Getting her birthday metal.

Having her cake and eating it too.

The ticket blaster!

And Leo with his gun. He wasn't quite sure how to play the game, but he got his token's worth being able to play with the gun.

Overall, Alaina had a great birthday party.

A wedding

2011-03-16T21:42:00.001-05:00

Soon after getting back from Hawaii, Alaina and Leo told me that they were getting married. They got dressed and had a wedding.

I love what the Camo Crocks add to the outfit!

He put the tie on by himself (or maybe Alaina helped)

Alaina even found a ring.

Pictures from the Flight Home

2011-03-16T21:35:00.003-05:00

When we flew into Hawaii it was dark so we weren't able to see the beautiful landscape. Luckily, we flew out when it was light so I got some beautiful pictures.

Mountains.

Diamond Head.

One of the islands that we saw from shore earlier that week.

I love that the picture is wide enough to actually see the horizon curve.

And then we go from that to this...still beautiful, but, man, it made me miss the tropical climate!

Lake Michigan.

Hawaii

2011-03-16T20:48:00.007-05:00

This is what we did the last few days that we were in Hawaii.

We went to Helena's. It is a traditional Hawaiian food restaurant.

And then before we went for dessert, we had to drive by Da Kine Bail Bonds....luckily not to give them business :)

Then we went to the second best ice cream shop I've ever been to (because I have never been to a place that beats Frostie Freeze)

They have all kinds of soft serve ice cream and then tons of toppings. You add in whatever ice cream you want, then any toppings you want and you pay for the weight of the food you picked.

Lexi and my cuddle time.

This is the observation deck where you can view the Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

A Battleship at Pearl Harbor.

After going to Pearl Harbor, we went to the beach. If you look to the left of the big boat, you can see where a whale was jumping and splashing. He would jump up every 15-30 seconds for a good 5 minutes.
Kylee was a water baby at the beach! We spent so much time swimming together.

But it was cold when we got out!

And sadly, I only have pictures of the flight home left to post...

Hawaii Day 4

2011-02-10T20:47:00.034-06:00

On day 4, Josh was able to get off of work. We started out with a hike. There were beautiful flowers and trees along the way. Here are the pictures I took on the hike.

Laura took a picture of Dave and I.

Kylee found a stick.

And because I'm the Aunt I could take pictures of her putting it in her mouth, unlike her Mom who had to stop taking pictures to yell "No!" :)

Kylee got to ride on Uncle Dave's shoulders.

And a piggy back ride.

High five!

Kylee looking down at the stream that ran along most of the hike.

Banana tree!!!

Doesn't this plant look kind of evil?

At the end of the hike was Waimea Falls, a freshwater waterfall that you can swim in.

Waimea Falls
Dave and I.
Josh, Laura, Kylee, and Lexi.

The only picture that we have of everyone.

Dave and Josh swimming out to the waterfall. Josh was in the waterfall for these pictures.

Kylee and I played in the water while the guys were swimming. The water was 68 degrees so she wasn't all that interested in actually touching the water, but she wanted to be carried by someone who was in the water.

Josh and Dave in the falls.

There was a rock behind the waterfall that you could climb up on and sit on. It was really challenging (for me at least to get up there because you had to swim up in the falls and then reach up behind the falls and pull yourself up. The area right in front of the waterfall is 30 feet deep.

Laura and I trying to get used to the water's cold temperature to swim out.

Lexi hanging out.

While Laura and I swam out.

Me in the waterfall.

Kylee actually got into the water at the end.

We then walked back. After that we were going to go to lunch. We drove past the north shore and the waves were huge!

We went to Macky's for lunch and had the best shrimp I have EVER had in my life!

They were voted number one in Hawaii.

Dave and I at Macky's.

We drove by this guy on our way to the beach after lunch.

We then drove back to the north shore to swim. Unfortunately, the waves were so big that there were signs up warning against swimming. There were still a few surfers out. The guy in the picture here was standing on the board and using a big paddle to paddle out and then he would catch a wave and surf in.

We did splash around in the shallow area a little bit. Here is Kylee and Josh.

Such a little girl with the big ocean.

Running back when she saw the wave coming!

The darker area right at the shore were big rocks that were made smooth by the waves.

I played with the settings on my camera while I was at the beach (mostly shutter speed) which made the pictures lighter in color.

And then I found the black and white setting on my camera.

The signs warning against swimming.

Lifting up her feet to try not to get wet!

Josh and Laura said that we needed pictures of Dave and I so they choreographed this kissing picture.

And this.
Dave got hit by a wave :)
And us getting hit by a wave.

Josh saw this one coming and didn't tell us, so we got hammered by a wave that we did not see coming! (thanks a lot Josh!)

Kylee and Lexi playing in the sand.

Lexi.

Lexi and Mommy!

Josh, Laura, Kylee, and Lexi walking down to the other end of the beach were big sea turtles often crawl up on shore.

A turtle that we saw climbing up on shore.

Dave and the turtle.

Me and the turtle.

You could see a bunch of them swimming around the water on this side of beach. Here is one sticking his head above the water.

A view back down the beach from where we were looking at turtles.

For dinner, Laura and Josh took us out for a traditional Hawaiian dinner.

Hawaii Day 3

2011-02-10T11:16:00.017-06:00

Monday morning Josh had to go back to work, so Laura took us around the island. First we went to this great lookout.

Here it is overlooking Honolulu.

And on the other side you can see Diamond Head.

Laura took a picture of us.

And then Kylee wanted to get in the picture. She stuck out her tongue for the picture.

On the trail to the lookout.

Then we went to another lookout along the ocean called the Halona Blowhole. There is a cave/tunnel that goes from the rocks in the ocean up onto shore through the rocks. When the tide is up, water shoots through the hole and looks like a whale's blowhole. Unfortunately, the tide wasn't up, so we didn't see that, but it was still beautiful!

Looking down from the lookout, there was a man fishing.

I guess you can sometimes see humpback whales here. We didn't see any while we were her though.

Looking down at a little lagoon.
Someone sunbathing on the rocks surrounding the lagoon.

A pretty plant that I saw as we were walking down to the lagoon area.

Dave on the beach.

The blowhole.
Dave looking into the blowhole.

You could actually see water swishing around the bottom. A man that we met there told us that when the tide is in, people will jump down the blowhole as water is going out and swim out and around to the lagoon area.

Some of the waves were pretty big, even though the tide was out.

We were down by the beach and Laura, Kylee, and Lexi came out to the lookout to wave at us.

Kylee was getting tired.

Dave, Laura, Kylee, and Lexi.

Can you see the sea turtle swimming by the rocks?

A map of Hawaii on the path to the lookout.

Scenic drive to the beach after we left the lookout.

A lighthouse in the distance. Laura told us that there was a hike up to it, but we didn't get a chance to go on the hike.

Kylee and I in the water.

Laura and Lexi.

Kylee LOVED the water!

Pictures from on the drive back from the beach.

That night Dave took me out to dinner at Wikiki. We went to Jimmy Buffet's Margarita Ville.

We went to a bunch of shops and then we went down to the beach.

Hawaii Day 1 & 2

2011-02-10T09:23:00.011-06:00

We left the kids on Saturday morning and headed to the airport to go to Hawaii! Here we are flying out of Milwaukee to the twin cities.

Then we flew to Seattle. Here we are leaving Seattle for Honolulu.

We got into Hawaii on Saturday night after Kylee and Lexi were in bed. The next morning we got to meet Lexi!

Here is Dave and Lexi.
Kylee, who has grown so much since we last saw her a year and a half ago!

Dave and Laura trying to teach Lexi to walk.

Lexi.
Later that morning we headed to Aloha Stadium for the ProBowl!

Warm Ups
It was raining during the pregame and just into the first quarter. Then it was cloudy until after halftime when it finally got sunny out.

Pregame show. Josh and Laura are under the blue sign. Because our tickets were bought on different days, we didn't get to sit next to each other.

Adrien Peterson.

Halftime show.
Dave and I.
A picture we took of Laura and Josh from our seats.

At the end of the game, lots of people were leaving, so Dave and I walked over to sit with Josh and Laura for the last half of the fourth quarter.

The NFC Quarterbacks.

Beautiful mountains we saw driving home from the game. (They only live a few minutes away from Aloha stadium)

The game was a blast!! Thank you again Laura and Lexi for sitting out in line to get them for us!!

Deana Rose Farmstead Visit

2010-10-09T21:35:00.006-05:00

With the local MOPS group, the kids and I went to visit Deana Rose Farmstead which is pretty close to our house. It is a pretty neat place where kids learn about the family farm. But before we get to those pictures, I also have pictures of the kids painting, and Leo playing with his dinosaurs.

Here is Leo playing with his dinosaurs.

When I asked him to pick them up, he got out the broom...

The kids painted last week when Alaina was still running a fever and we had to cancel plans to go the the Kansas City Royals game. They were pretty disappointed so we painted, made kettle corn and watched a movie.

Here are the pictures from the farmstead visit.

Alaina and Leo looking at the chicks and the calfs.

Alaina with the calf in the background.

Alaina and Leo milking the big plastic cow.

And making music with the cowbell fence.

Seeing the goats. They fed these the pellet things and were able to bottle feed the baby goats.

In with the baby goats.

One of them was stepping on Leo. He was getting so mad! He just wanted to sit and pet the goat that was laying down but others kept walking by and bumping him.

And then they wanted to eat his hat...

Posing Pretty just before we left to go home and have a late nap.

The kids had a blast. They are open for about another month before they close for the winter. We definitely have to make it back again before they close and take Daddy with us.

Leo got a big boy bed!

2010-09-26T21:11:00.004-05:00

Tonight we put up a big boy bed for Leo! The kids are still choosing to share a bedroom, so now they each have a double bed in their room. Before we put up this bed, Alaina's bed was against the back wall and Leo's bed was where Alaina's bed was. Because of that, I still need to change the Tinkerbell stuff over to above Alaina's bed, but here are some pictures so that you can get a general idea.

The beds are to the right when you walk in the door.

Here is the view from the doorway.

We kept the kids out while we put it all together, but I had the camera ready when they walked in! (I just wish I would have remembered to close the closet door!! Oops!)

Leo on his new bed.

Alaina laying by Tinkerbell.

Bandit sitting around watching it all :)

The kids between the beds.

Leo enjoying climbing around.

Alaina by her bed.

They are in bed now, but still not asleep. Hopefully tonight will go without any problems! This is the first night that Alaina has been away from the wall and the first night for Leo without side rails.

The Move!

2010-09-09T13:30:00.007-05:00

It's the first Vikings game of the year today and the kids are suited up!

Well, the move is officially over, and we are very close to being all settled in to our new house! Now that we have internet again, I am now able to update the blog, so here are a bunch of pictures from the last month....or two....

Here is a picture of some of the neighbor kids before we left.

Alaina, Veronica, and Macalyn:

The kids running around the empty living room while we loaded the U-Haul

My old neighbor Ashley took the kids to the Children's Museum while I packed. I think they were tired...
Elijah, Max, and Leo
At our new house!!

Happy Birthday Dave!
Alaina picked out the ice cream cake and Leo picked out the Buzz candles.

Here are pictures from the awesome park that is a couple of blocks away from our house. The kids love the park and they have caught a few crappie in the lake behind it.

Here is a look at the lake that I took on the walk home. The playground is on the opposite side of the lake.

Alaina tucking her babies into bed.

Daddy and the kids watching a movie before bed.

I'm sure I will have more pictures as I go through more of the albums I didn't have the time to post :)

Army Family Weekend

2010-07-18T20:45:00.011-05:00

A couple of weeks back, we went to Dave's army family weekend. It was family weekend all over post so there were a bunch of things for the kids to do.

The firemen were there and filled a camper with steam to show how you get out of a burning building. Dave went through it with Alaina.

And they had the talking dog.

And a huge petting zoo.

They both loved the animals.

The highlight of the trip was the train ride.

Dave brought both kids out front while the train was moving.

Alaina driving the train!!

Watching the scenery.

Leo (I think!) honking the horn.

And making the train go faster.

Alaina and Bethie

The kids waiting for the train to start.

And Leo getting on the train right before the ride.

It was a great weekend and the kids had a blast!

New House

2010-07-18T18:05:00.006-05:00

Here are pictures from the house we are moving to. Some of them are blurry because my camera ran out of battery and so Dave took pictures with his phone.

The front of the house.

The side of the house. (on the left if you are looking at the first picture)
The back yard

From the rec room looking up at the kitchen.

The other side of the rec room.

Looking down the stairs from the kitchen into the rec room. The door goes into the garage.

Living room looking at the front door. The stairs go up to the full bath and the bedrooms.

Side of the living room.
The rest of the living room.

Part of the kitchen (and landlord...)

Door goes to the back yard. The fridge isn't in yet, but will be :)

Full bathroom. (There is another half bath that I don't have a picture of.)

2 of the 3 bedrooms.

I am so happy to know where we are moving into and to now start planning. Not so excited to start packing, but I can't complain because Dave did all of the packing when we moved from Texas.

California 2009

2010-05-29T14:48:00.011-05:00

I hijacked Wendy's blog to give you all this little story, Dave.

I had my two weeks of army duty out in California about an hour north of San Fransisco. It was a great time and here are some pictures of my trip. These first pictures are all from Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransisco. The first is a picture of an old sailing boat museum on the dock with Alcatraz Island being in the background.

This is at the same museum, but it is a replica Viking ship I thought looked neat.
Here is the best shot I could get of Alcatraz. Thought about going to the island, but only had one day in San Fransisco, so decided to do more walking instead.
Here is the Golden Gate bridge.
Here is a shot of San Fransisco from Fisherman's Wharf. We actually parked near the top of city and walked a couple miles down to the wharf. Then we walked back instead of taking mass transit.

There were so many different pictures I could have gotten of people dressed up like this or doing funky things. This one worked really well because I had my camera out at the time and when we were walking past he froze like this.
Here at pier 39 they get a ton of Sea Lions. There are normally a couple hundred and at the right time of year there can be thousands.
This was again at pier 39 on the wharf and I thought the crab looked cool. My roommate was the one on the right holding a phone. When Alaina first saw this picture she was terrified until we convinced her it was not real.
We all went out to dinner twice while we were there. The first time, the Lieutenant that was with us brought us to a pizza place, but I don't have any pictures of that. This is the second one, from when we went to Fuddruckers. You might think it was weird that we went there, but it was right across the street from the hotel we were at and we had strict curfews.
I gave train rides to a ton of people while I was out there, because they did not have a whole lot of work for us to do after the first week. This first coin, which is the next two pictures, I got from a Lt. Colonel in the first couple days I was there.

This second coin I received from the Sergeant Major of the Battalion that we were supporting out there. He actually came up for rides twice and did some real work with us.

I gave rides to a handful of higher ups in the army, but gave a ton to the soldiers who were working out there. Most of them didn't even know the army had trains until they saw us. The funnest ride I gave was to a Chief Warrant Office-5, who was thrilled to be on a train.

I had a really great time out there and hope to post some more pictures in the next couple weeks. I need to go to the army website that has a ton of pictures and then I can show you a little of what I was doing out there.

Dave

The last 2 weeks

2010-05-27T11:24:00.007-05:00

So, we spent the last 2 weekends in the Madison area. We got to see almost all of our extended family, which was fantastic, although we are really looking forward to having absolutely no plans this weekend! Two weekends ago, on our way down, we saw a bald eagle in a field right next to Dave's parents' house. It actually stayed long enough for me to get out of the car, get the camera out and take some pictures. Here they are:

How cool is that!?!

On Saturday we went to Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Gary's house where we also got to see Aunt Kathi and Linda as well Eli (their dog) and the other dog they are dog-sitting. Leo loved playing with the dogs and the dogs were great with him.

Grandpa Gary with the kids.

Unfortunately we missed Grandma Jan and Grandpa Don because they were at my cousin Carry's college graduation (Congrats Carry!)

Later on, we went to visit Dave's Grandpa Jack. Here is a picture with Grammy, Grandpa Jack, Dave, and the kids.
While Dave and Grandpa were talking, Alaina asked if I would take pictures of her posing. Here are a couple:

Grandpa giving the kids hugs goodbye:

After we got home from the first trip, I went in to check on Alaina and Leo before Dave and I went to bed. She was looking so comfy spread out, that I took a picture. (And luckily didn't wake her up!!) Bandit does sleep with the kids every night, but goes back and forth as to which kid he sleeps with.

Late last week we found out that Dave's Grandpa is being moved to a nursing home in Ohio where most of the patients are blind and deaf and all of the staff knows sign language. He left for the nursing home this week and seems to be loving it. Because he was leaving, we made another trip down to the Madison area to spend time with him before he left.

Quite a bit of family got together for lunch. Here is a picture of Uncle Rick and Leo.

And here is Dave's cousin Zach taking a picture with Alaina.

The waitress took a picture of all of the family that got together for lunch:
(Back: Bonnie, Rick, Zach, Jackie, Kristen, Dave;
Front: Leo, Wendy, Grandpa, Grandma, and Alaina)

Grandpa and Grandma:

Leo: "What are you doing to me!!"

Grammy put Leo in a dress-up dress. In her defense, he asked to put it on and she was just helping, but the look on his face is priceless!

Also, in new family news, Dave has accepted a transfer to Kansas City, Kansas and we will be moving in August. It is a great opportunity for him and we are all really excited to go on a new adventure! We will be sad though to be moving 8 hours away from family when we have been spoiled by a 2 1/2 hour drive to see everyone.

We hope you all have a fun and safe holiday weekend!

2010-05-13T09:02:00.008-05:00

And here are the pictures that I have been meaning to post for weeks!

Leo (who dressed himself) built a train out of blocks:

Alaina went to a garage sale and picked out a pink frilly dress and a Nerf gun.

Alaina did not want to go up to the front of the church to get her award for finishing the Puggle program...

And I was mean enough to take pictures :)

Alaina asked me to take her picture. Leo jumped in front of her at the last minute...

Here is attempt #2:

While Dave was at his 2 weeks of army, the kids and I went outside just before bedtime and right before a storm hit. Alaina all of the sudden looked up at the sky and said she saw God. To this day she will look at the smaller of the clearings in the clouds and tell me that she sees God there. Both kids spent most of the night staring at the sky instead of playing.

Here is Alaina pointing it out for Leo and I.

Some more pictures of them climbing since I had the camera out.

And then it rained, so of course we had t play in the mud...

Lastly, Leo sleeping in the chair after he woke up from his nap and then fell back asleep.

The kids, Dave, and I are all doing well. We are keeping busy and it looks as though things will just keep getting busier as it gets closer and closer to summer. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Alaina riding her bike

2010-04-19T07:35:00.003-05:00

Blogger finally let me upload this video of Alaina riding her bike!!!

I should add that she has gotten better at steering since this was taken last weekend...

New Toys

2010-04-18T18:27:00.004-05:00

The kids got 2 new toys today, but first here are two pictures that I haven't posted yet from a few days ago.

Alaina hot-dogging it on her bike:

Leo fell asleep after nap time.

And here are the new toys! (right next to the blue police car I was telling you about, Mom)

The kids and Daddy right before the rode for the first time!

Alaina and Daddy:

Leo:

Leo and Alaina with their four-wheelers with the neighbor kids and their jeep:

They had a blast and spent hours playing on them today. Leo cried when we had to go inside. It was so sad, but there will be many more hours of riding tomorrow I'm sure!

Sewing

2010-04-11T12:04:00.002-05:00

Alaina has started sewing. Here is her current cross-stitching project

And once again, the kids looked adorable for church in their matching shirts so I took a picture of them together.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T14:17:00.002-05:00

Here is a picture of the kids in their Easter outfits before church this morning.

Dave only had to pretend to be beating me with a stick to get them to smile....Oh well, whatever it takes, right?

Leo, being difficult, refusing to look at the camera. It was a cut picture though, so I guess he knew what he was doing.

Early morning Easter baskets.

And the after church Easter Egg hunt with the kids. They are sleeping now. I'm guessing that they should sleep well. (Knock on wood!)

Hope you all are having a wonderful Easter!

Rain Day

2010-04-04T13:52:00.007-05:00

A couple of days ago, we had our first warm rainy day. So, we all went outside to splash in puddles! The kids had SO much fun!

They started out on the driveway with an umbrella.

But Leo wouldn't let me help him open it when it was his turn.

Whatever works...

Then came the fun when they ditched the umbrella and Alaina taught Leo how to splash.

He's a quick learner.

Toes.

After all of that, she is testing the water with her big toe.

I love it when they smile together. They really do get along remarkably well.

Leo trying to bring Alaina in for a bath.

Alaina said, "No way!" so they both went back out to play.

After that, they had a nice long soak in a bubble bath, followed by cartoons while cuddling in blankets.

Alaina and I made avacado face masks on Friday night. The boys declined to join us. Go figure.

We had fun though!

Playing Baby

2010-04-04T13:48:00.003-05:00

A week or two ago, the kids asked Dave to take pictures of them. Here is the best one of Alaina:

And here is the best one of Leo:

The kids love it when we get a big blanket out, swaddle them, and pretend they are babies. This time, they wanted to hold each other. Here is Alaina holding Leo:

And Leo holding Alaina:

Skype Rocks!

2010-04-04T13:32:00.006-05:00

Here we are video chatting with Laura, Josh, and Baby Kylee! It is great that the kids still get to see each other even when we live so far away! (By the way, if anyone has skype and would like to video call with us, let me know!)

A month or two ago, Alaina got a computer. Since then, both kids love the computer. Here is Leo playing on mine:

And Alaina on the other side of the room playing with hers:

And here is a picture of Leo drawing while helping me make bagels (yum!)

Alaina's Birthday

2010-04-03T16:39:00.003-05:00

Pictures

2010-03-29T10:17:00.007-05:00

Here are some pictures starting right before Alaina's birthday.

The kids helped Dave bake cookies.

Alaina asked for cupcakes on her birthday.

The next weekend we went to Grammy and Grandpa's house.

Here are 3 pictures that Alaina took with my camera:

She had her big birthday party that weekend.

I have more pictures to post, but this website won't let me add more pictures in this post, so I will try to get them updated later today.

Pictures

2010-02-10T15:08:00.002-06:00

Wow, it has been quite a while since I last posted. Sorry. Time got away from me. A couple of weeks ago the kids worked on a painting project that Grammy Bonnie and Grandpa Mark got for them. Here they are both painting:

Alaina painting her dog.

Leo painting his train.

And showing off his artwork on his canvas and on his hands.

Leo's:

Alaina's:

Here a few pictures of the kids relaxing and sleeping.

Hope you are all healthy and doing well!

South Carolina Pictures

2010-01-14T14:10:00.007-06:00

Here are some pictures from South Carolina. I enhanced the colors of the pictures taken at Old Sheldon Church, but the sky colors in the other photos are not enhanced.

Betsy and I went out at dusk one night.

Old Sheldon Church was built between 1745 and 1755. It was burned by the British Army in 1779. Rebuilt in 1826 and then burned by the Federal Army in 1865. Dave watched the kids one morning so that I could go and take some pictures.

I passed this on my way home. It was too pretty not to photograph.

This last batch of pictures was taken by the fishing pond at my parents house at dawn one morning.

This is on one side of the fishing pond.

And this is on the other side.

2010-01-14T07:39:00.002-06:00

I downloaded more pictures from my camera yesterday. They went all of the way back to right after we got back when Ike and Betsy visited.

This first picture is from when we were all hanging out in the living room. Alaina came out dressed up in her tutu, Dave's hat, and Ike's Boots.

Betsy, Alaina, and Leo lookin' cool.

Daddy reading bible stories to the kids before bed.

Alaina looking adorable in her dress up clothes from Grandpa Keith and Grandma Jane.

Dave bought a helicopter with some of his Christmas money. He is having a blast learning to fly it!

So you can see how big it is:

Alaina found a new hiding spot.

Sorry it has taken me so long to get these up. I have started working again on putting together the books based on the blog that we make instead of printing and putting pictures in albums or scrap booking. I do it through blurb booksmart. It is really a great site. You should check it out if you are ever looking to make your own book.

Christmas Break!

2010-01-05T15:03:00.008-06:00

This year we were able to go to South Carolina for Christmas! Then after we got back, we were able to celebrate Christmas with our family in Wisconsin! And after that, we had my sister, Betsy, and her boyfriend, Ike, come to visit! Betsy and Ike left today after lunch and I had my first opportunity to blog since we left almost 2 weeks ago.

The weekend before we left, Dave took the kids sledding while I went grocery shopping. Leo only lasted a couple of minutes so I wound up bringing him with me shopping, but Alaina and Daddy had fun. I snapped a few pictures when I came to pick them up.

She has such a huge smile in this picture. I love it!

We got to my parents' house on Christmas eve, so Santa came to bring the kids their toys there.

Alaina, Leo and Pearson in their Christmas outfits.

Pearson put the bow on his head.

We took family pictures while we were there. I don't have an electronic copy of the extended family picture to post, but I do have this.

Alaina and Daddy!

Pearson.
Relaxing and winding down from all of the excitement.

Then it was Leo's Birthday!

Even though they were trick candles, he managed to blow them out.

The horses were a HUGE hit this visit!

Leo looks so tiny next to him!

Pictures taken in front of Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Alaina got a Barbie fishing pole from Grandma and Grandpa that sh was able to use at a pond at their house.

Showing Grandpa.

Alaina arranged her dolls and animals and fell asleep in the middle of the king sized bed.

Smores in the fireplace!

More horses.
Daddy took Leo on the four wheeler a lot. This time, Alaina and I took the car to the horses, but Daddy drove Leo on the four wheeler.

The kids did so well with Pearson this trip!

Grandpa and Grandma with Alaina, Leo, and Pearson.

I love this picture of Grandpa and Alaina!

Then when we got back to Wisconsin, we visited more Grandparents. Here is Grandma Jan showing the kids the huge Christmas Village that they set up every year.

Tickle fight with Grandpa Don.

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids.

And Grandma with the kids the following day.

I will have more pictures from Betsy and Ike's visit soon when I find time to take them off of my camera. We hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Tis the Season!

2009-12-13T16:29:00.004-06:00

For the first time, this year we have outdoor decorations. Not that we really have a front yard to put them in, but we have made space. But before we put them up, Alaina did some climbing. Because our driveway gets plowed instead of us using a shovel or snow blower, we have this awesome, high mountain of snow lining our driveway that is perfect for climbing and sledding down. Leo climbed too, but I didn't have my camera handy while he was up there. You can tell how high it is by looking at the playhouse's red roof.

Checking out decoration #1.

Alaina with her new friends.

I think she is growing attached...

The other side of the driveway with Santa and the tree.

Our first decorated house!!

Thank you Grandma Anita for the gift card last Christmas that we used to buy these decorations! We all love them!

Snow Day!

2009-12-12T15:28:00.001-06:00

On Wednesday we had a snow day! The plows didn't make it to our house until 7pm. Needless to say, we had to go around through the garage to shovel.

Since we had a snow day, Alaina and Leo had 5 of our neighbor kids over to make gingerbread houses.

Leo did more eating that decorating, but he enjoyed it and that is all that counts.

Frosting.

Alaina playing with her kitchen stuff today.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Snow Day (or night)!

2009-12-08T20:03:00.005-06:00

First off, I have to say that I love my new camera and it's night picture capabilities!

We are in a blizzard warning right now which, in my opinion, is awesome! So Dave and I took the kids outside to play. Or, I guess, I should say, Dave played with the kids while I took pictures.

Snow Angels!

Daddy pulling Leo on the slide.

Alaina's turn on the sled.

"I have snow in my gloves!"

Leo hanging out in the garage watching Alaina and Daddy in the sled.

Alaina wanted to ride her bike, but needed Dave to help push her.

Alaina trying to fill her water gun with snow.

Determined.

Happy.

Not quite sure.

Pure joy.

Alaina building snow castles.

After we got in everyone enjoyed hot chocolate. Good thing we enjoyed it tonight because we are expecting 40 mph winds and below zero wind chills tomorrow, so I think we are staying inside!

Deck the Halls!

2009-12-08T19:52:00.002-06:00

We put up our Christmas tree on Sunday!

My absolute favorite picture of Dave and Alaina:

Kids watching Dave put the tree together.

Bandit checking out my camera:

Dave showing Leo how to put up decorations:

"I can reach! I can reach!"
"But a chair makes this so much easier."
Leo deciding which decorations to hand to Daddy and Alaina.

The star.
The finished product.

Santa Clause is Coming to Town

2009-12-06T11:43:00.003-06:00

Opening Gun Deer Season Weekend

2009-12-04T09:33:00.005-06:00

Grandpa Mark and Grammy Bonnie came up for opening deer hunting. Unfortunately we didn't get a deer, but we are still hopeful that we will get something during the doe hunt in a week.

Leo tried on the blaze orange.

Dave grew out his hair longer than I have seen it in years and grew a beard. (Isn't he cute??)

Leo just hanging out looking cute after he took off the orange vest.

Leo sits and eats flour while I'm baking. Grammy thought it was cute and took these pictures of him.

Grammy and Alaina played Go Fish. Alaina loved it and killed Grammy badly every time that they played.

I think they were having fun....

Grammy bought a watermelon for the kids. After the first slice, they decided that the uncut half looked like more fun to eat....

Of course then they needed a bath. And no, they are not drinking the bubble bath, they are smelling it...

Aunt Kristi's house

2009-12-04T07:35:00.002-06:00

Over Thanksgiving we went down to Grandpa and Grammy's house. While we were there, I took family pictures for Aunt Kristi and her 5 fabulous kids. Grammy helped me out and took a couple of pictures of Leo while we were there.

And this picture if from yesterday. You can't tell, but Alaina is on the phone with Grandma Jane. Leo wanted to talk too, so he picked up the remote and started to use that as a phone.

Rock Band!

2009-12-04T07:09:00.002-06:00

Last weekend we set up the Rock Band game for our Wii. The kids (and Dave and I) LOVED it! Here are pictures from setting it up and playing it.

I don't know what made Alaina make this face...

Alaina rocking it on the mic.

Leo's turn.
The kids waiting and supervising (not too patiently I might add) while Daddy set it all up.

Dad learning the guitar.

Alaina showing me how she drums.

Here is the band. It looks like we need a name. Any suggestions?

Dave was helping Leo play the drums.

Look how happy they both look!

I'll be posting more pictures this weekend! I know, I have a lot of catch-up to do!

Perfect Fall Day

2009-11-07T13:13:00.006-06:00

Today has turned into the perfect fall day. We didn't have many nice days in October because it was chilly and rainy. Today is mid-60s and sunny. Dave and his Dad are out hunting so I took the kids to the park. They both sat still and smiled AT THE SAME TIME for me!!

A few nights ago Dave was playing on his computer while Alaina was playing on mine. That is right before she broke my cord....

The kids made pumpkin projects. Thank you Grammy and Grandpa for sending it! The kids had a blast! (Oh, you can see the house they are building behind our house in this picture.)

Here are the other pictures from the park today.

They loved looking at the river. The park that I brought them to is beautiful. It has a great jungle gym area and lots of room around it to run. The problem with it is that on one side is a river and the other is a busy road. And there are no fences around it. That means I have to watch them like a hawk which is hard when they run in opposite directions.

I love this smile!!

I hope you are all having great weather that you can get out to enjoy!

Halloween and a Hair Cut

2009-11-01T19:56:00.003-06:00

Happy Halloween everyone! The kids had a blast. I have pictures of trick or treating and costumes, but first I have a picture of Alaina working on her "homework".

Alaina started out as a puppy.

And Leo dressed up as a lion.

We had to have a dress rehearsal on the costumes yesterday morning to make sure that they fit over winter jackets. That is Halloween in Wisconsin! They did, but Leo hated the Lion's mane so we wound up switching around the costumes. After all was said and done, Leo was the puppy and Alaina was a bat.

Here we are getting ready to head out trick or treating.

And here is the big haircut! This morning Alaina came up to me and handed me a chunk of hair. So, this is what it looks like now that it is all evened out.

Hope you had a great Halloween!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2009-10-23T16:54:00.002-05:00

We are getting quite a bit of snow right now so I bundled up the kids to go outside to play. They had a blast! When we came in I got the kids hot chocolate. I usually have mini marshmallows that I put in it, but I was running low so I just used the hot chocolate with the marshmallows in it already. I gave it to Alaina who then asked me, "Mommy, why are there marshmallow seeds in my hot chocolate?" Anyway, here are a couple of snow pictures:

(BTW-the bike idea didn't work too well and was abandoned after about 10 feet...)

Pictures of Leo!

2009-10-21T15:12:00.007-05:00

I finally got a picture of Leo yesterday that I could publish to go with the pictures that I put up of Alaina. I think it turned out well. And not a day too soon....At lunch today Leo fell off of his chair and gave himself a black eye.

And the black and white version.

The kids fingerpainted a couple of days ago. They did fantastic, as always!

Alaina dressed up like her life-sized barbie.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the children's museum here in Eau Claire. The kids had a blast! They have so many cool exhibits. Here are some pictures of the kids in a few of them.

They have a little store where they took turns buying people and play cashier.

The cool red car at the bank teller window was probably Leo's favorite. He kept going back to it. The boy loves cars!

Leo answering the phone at the diner. Alaina was preparing some food

Leo and 2 of the neighbor boys playing teller at the bank. The red car is on the other side of the window.

Leo and the neighbor boy, Tyler, in the car. (Do you see a theme with the car yet?)

The begining of the digestive system jungle gym.

The end of the digestive system jungle gym.

Alaina being eaten!

Down slide towards the stomach she goes!

Then the kids put on a play. Here is Alaina directing.

Alaina then bought some tickets.

And anchored the news.

Leo got his turn directing.

Then we made it down to the basement for crafts and the water exhibit. I don't have pictures of the craft areas. This water exhibit was as big as my whole downstairs and then some. It was awesome! It wasn't here the last time that we were here.

They all had a blast!

Leo wasn't too fond of the apron he had to wear, but quickly learned to tolerate it when he understood that he had to wear it to play in the water.

At the end we chilled for a while in the 3 and under area. Here is Alaina dancing on a log.

So there is what we have been up to the last few weeks in pictures. Once again, sorry it took so long to get them posted!

One more picture to add

2009-09-23T21:12:00.001-05:00

I blocked out her last name for privacy reasons on the internet. If anyone wants this picture in it's original form, ask, and I will e-mail it to you. Goodnight!

Pictures of Alaina

2009-09-23T20:27:00.004-05:00

Alaina cooperated and let me take some pictures of her today. Here is what we did.

I love this effect!
And a couple of pictures of Leo playing. He took off his shoes so that he had something to haul in his truck.

Hopefully I will have some pictures of Leo soon!

Football and Cupcake Pictures

2009-09-20T16:38:00.008-05:00

Our neighbor, Ashley, had leftover cupcakes from her son's birthday and sent them over to our house for the kids to eat. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the cupcakes got on the kids rather than in the kids...

(aren't Alaina's eyes stunning in this picture!)

Last night we brought the kids outside to play, but Alaina wanted to paint instead. (Go Bagers!)

Today Alaina picked out her own outfit. I have to say, I love the jersey, but I'm not sure how well it goes with the Vikings pants and ballet slippers...

The kids ran around during the game....

I think Leo won.

Alaina started making faces for the camera.

Leo found the cookies.

The kids watching TV, and Bandit watching their food.

Goofballs!

**Oh, and even though the kids are wearing Packer Jerseys, I don't think Dave can complain because Leo is wearing a Favre jersey and he plays for the Vikings, and Alaina is wearing a Donald Driver jersey and he plays on Dave's fantasy football team. So this is as good as Vikings jerseys, right??

I have pictures again!

2009-09-17T20:23:00.000-05:00

So, I know it has been a while since I last posted. My big reason was that I lost my camera battery charger. I found it today so I started snapping pictures again. Here is a picture of Zach and Alaina:

And here is a great one of cousin Kylee! (gotta love the outfit!)

Leo:

Alaina:

Hopefully I'll have more pictures over the next couple of days!

Happy Birthday Dave!

2009-08-27T20:34:00.010-05:00

It's Dave's birthday today, and it was quite a day...We had to take Leo to urgent care because he fell and got a huge gash on the back of his head and has a minor concussion. He is doing well now though, so that is good. I have been making bread from scratch for quite a while now. Here are pictures of the kids helping:

There is no egg in my recipe, so I let them eat some of it when they cook with me.

We ran through the sprinkler a few days ago. Alaina loved it. Leo wasn't too fond of it.

And she was cold after...

Dave has been practicing shooting his bow lately.

Not too bad!
Alaina found a frog and wanted to play with it for a while before we let him go. It was raining outside, so I was a cool Mom and let the kids play with the frog in the house for a while.

Here are the kids watching him hop away when we let him go.

After Leo's nap, he came in by the computer while I was checking e-mail and fell asleep next to me :)

Today I tried to get the kids to pose for pictures for me. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it was cute none-the-less.

Then Alaina found a grasshopper.

Alaina and Zack hiding out in the woods.

Zach tried to teach Alaina how to ride his 2-wheeler.

while Leo fixed Alaina's bike.

Leo borrowed the neighbor's 4-wheeler and did awesome!

Here is a video of him riding:

More family pictures

2009-08-25T10:12:00.002-05:00

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from when we saw family:

The newest cousins picture:

Grandpa Mark and Kylee:

Alaina and Kylee at the hotel:

Evelynn:

Chris and Evelynn:

Mike and Kylee:

Family PIctures

2009-08-24T22:03:00.001-05:00

These are the collages I made from when we all got together a couple of weekends ago. We had so much fun! I'll be posting more pictures from that day when I get a little bit more time to spend on the computer...