Guitars

E has a new love for Guitars! When we were in Bismarck there was a Barbie Toy Guitar there that she loved to play with. This guitar would play a few popular songs including one by Britney Spears! We had to put the guitar away a few times just to get a break from it. This past weekend we went to a play date with some friends and they had a play guitar at there house! E carried it around the whole time we were there. I think I need to add a guitar to her birthday wish list! Who knows maybe I have a musician on my hands!
Here are some more pics from our visit to Bismarck a few weeks ago!

Strawberries

So on Sunday when K was at the grocery store with Grandma he pointed out Strawberries and told her that he LOVES them! What? Jon and I are not huge strawberry fans so this really confused me. Where did her learn to LOVE strawberries? I figure it must be daycare. Anyway, this morning at breakfast, he ate most of the BIG bowl of strawberries. I guess I better start buying some strawberries!!!

Snow saves the day!

We are having a major snow day here! I was supposed to go to work today but since we did not have a lot going on in the office I decided to stay home as we have been getting more and more snow all day long. I am not sure how much snow we have but it is a lot and it is so pretty!

The kids were really good today and seemed to enjoy a day at home with no agenda. They played well together and they kept busy all day long!

Tonight while I was getting dinner ready Daddy offered to take the kids outside. K had no interest so he stayed in to watch the Wiggles but the girls could not wait to get outside and play in the snow. They really had a good time with Daddy.


Here is what I accomplished today:
Striped, Washed, and Remade all of the beds
Made enough pancakes to feed the kids for a week
Called Fisher Price about my broken monitor
Washed two more loads of laundry (Washed, Dried, and put away)
Got caught up on email
Made, ate, and cleaned up Lunch for everyone including Daddy
Organized & Priced clothes from last summer for the upcoming Multiples sale
Watched three episodes of Gilmore Girls (Kids were napping)
Cleaned up the basement a little
Made, ate, and cleaned up dinner
Organized Toys
and last but not least...blogged!
It's a good thing they practiced their snow angels inside yesterday!

Snow Angels with out Snow!

Today after I got all of the kids coats on to head out to Open Gym K threw himself on the floor to make a snow angel. As you can see the girls followed too.

The other night after dinner we were all sitting around the table and K said to me "Thank you for the good supper mommy" I looked at Jon and said "what did he just say" and Jon replied "exactly what you thought he did". What a sweet sweet baby boy!

E has really liked to pretend that she is talking on the phone lately. The other night she was walking around the house acting like she was on the phone. Then she goes over to A and K and starts shouting.. "guys, hey guys...guys" once she got their attention here is what she said "I am talking to Sue, she says she is coming over right now from work" What a goof ball.

On Sunday night as the plane was landing here in Minneapolis it was dark outside so I told E to look out the window at all the lights. She peeked out and then turned to me and said "Mommy, I see McDonald's down there"! Everyone around us laughed because we were way to high to pick out any McDonald's.

Will you marry me?????

Seven years ago today Jon asked me, Nicole , if I would marry him. I have never been so surprised in my life...really...it is hard to surprise me but he definitely got me that sunny Sunday morning while we were walking around Lake of the Isles. I was so stunned that I am not sure that I could even speak and it took me a minute or two to get "yes" out. I would love to have it on tape just to see what my facial expression was at that moment.
God has truly blessed my life with such a wonderful best friend and husband! I love you babe!

Capitol of North Dakota..

Bismarck...this is where E and I spent our weekend! Yes, that is right E had the ultimate alone time with her mommy. A whole weekend. We headed to Bismarck on Friday to visit my good friend Stacey and her little girls. The kids played great together and we had a lot of fun just hanging out and catching up.
I felt guilty taking E as opposed to A or K but the decision had to be made, so I took it from the potty training view point and told them that whoever would try and go potty on the potty chair could go with mommy. A still refused to sit on the potty chair (topic for another blog), K can't sit still long enough, and E would try so she got to go.
We left Friday morning early so I woke E up. At first she was really tired but once I told her that we had to get her dressed so we could go catch our Airplane she was very excited. I was nervous to fly with her but she was such an angel. On Sunday we had some trouble trying to get out of Bismarck due to flights being canceled due to weather. We were lucky enough to get the last two seats on the last flight out of Bismarck last night. Both E and I were homesick and all we wanted to do was get home to see the rest of the family.
It was refreshing for me to get to spend all my time and attention on one of my "Babies". I know E really liked it to. Both Jon and I have noticed today that whoever the kids stayed with were who they preferred to be with today. For instance, tonight after bath E was getting out of the tub and Daddy was going to take her to get her dressed and she said "no mommy do it". K would not let me get his coat on today because he said "no daddy to it".
It was fun to see how the kids reacted to each other when they woke up this morning. Once A saw me she asked right away where E was. I told her she was still sleeping. Once E got up A ran up to her and was trying to give her hugs and kisses as she missed her so much. E was pushing her away. This really surprised me but E might have still been half asleep as she did not get to bed until 11 PM. K was excited to see E today too. E told all of them about her big trip and all that we did. It was cute. A has it all figured out for next time as she told me today that it is her turn next.
I do not have the pictures from the E and Mommy's trip downloaded yet but here are some pictures of K and A at our friend Sue's house because they got to have a sleep over on Saturday night.

E-isms

I would like to share some of our laughs this past week:

E told her daddy that she LOVES Bob (the builder)and she was very dramatic about it and told him over and over. So Daddy asked Ella if she was going to marry Bob and she exclaimed "YES I AM" (I guess we better get saving now!)

E crawled into bed the other morning with her daddy and let out a fart that lasted more than the average. She then giggled so Daddy asked her if she farted and she said "for a minute" and laughed and laughed!

The other night I was warning E to be careful as she was sitting on a stool. She looked up at me and said "so I don't poke my eye out mommy".

When I got home from work today E told me that she talked to GG DEL on the phone and when I asked her what she said to GG DEL she told me that she told her "to get here now to play" then she told her "be good GG Del".

Winter Fun

When we got back from Fargo on Monday it was almost 50 degrees here! It was beautiful outside so I bundled up the kids to take them out for some play. We went sledding in the backyard and we went for a walk around the block. They insisted on walking their snowballs so as you can see in the photos below they were walking carrying their snowballs. Goofy kids!


Heading out for our walk...


Snowballs...

A walking with her snowball...


Waving to the camera!

Daddy took E to the top of our "hill" to sled down!

E the easy rider...


Wipe out on the sled! She is tough though and got right back on! :O)

To Fargo we will go, To Fargo we will go...high ho the...

Yes, we went to Fargo this weekend to visit Jon's family. We never made it over the holidays due to my appendix so we went this weekend instead. We just got back tonight and I have to tell you I am exhausted from three 2 year olds that did not get much of a nap, all of the laundry, the unpacking, and everything else. However, I am happy to report that we had a delightful weekend with Jon's family. I am not sure any of us stopped though as we managed to fit in swimming, visiting with friends, sledding, and lots of great food.(I need to get back to the gym tomorrow!)
It was great to watch the kids play with their cousins and it was such an easy trip as the kids are getting older and much easier to manage in out of town situations. They slept great in their new "ready beds" and I always sleep great at my in-laws...it must be the bed! :O)
Here are some pictures of the weekend:

In the pool and as you can see K really liked it!

Jon with the "cousins"

Grandma and A

K and his Cars Valentine!

Grandpa and Grandma with the trio!


Grandma with her kids!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day. We had a fun day around here. The kids really enjoyed opening up all of their Valentine's day cards and they carried them around with them all day and night. I think a few even went to bed with them. :O)
Here are some pictures of the kids in their new Swimming Suits that they got for Valentines day!

I Survived!

I am happy to announce that I survived the MRI. I had to take the full dosage of Ativan to get through it but I survived. My friend Jane took me and sat at my feet the whole time rubbing my leg! Thank God for Jane!
It feels good to have that done for another few years!!!! Now I just hope the results are positive. I will know more in a few weeks but since I have been feeling great I am not expecting any big news!

Mommy faces the MRI...

About a month ago I blogged about needing go and have an MRI done. I am "not so happy" to report that tomorrow is the big day. I have my drugs to help me relax and I hope all goes well.
Wish me luck!

Monsters and Daddies

Last night we were at my parents house for our weekly Sunday night dinner. We decided after dinner to give the kids their bath at Grandma's so we could stay a little longer. Jon went up and filled up the tub while I chased the kids down to get them undressed and ready for the bath.
Once they were all in the bath Jon and I were hanging out with them in the bathroom getting them all washed up. I am not even sure how we got on the topic of Monsters but Jon started a game with them talking about the monsters in the hallway.
They would all pound on the side of the tub and shout "monsters, monsters, monsters" Jon took it a step further and started to open the door of the bathroom and then quickly close it saying that their were monsters out there. The kids were really into with shouting and laughing. Then Jon checked again and quickly closed the door saying there were monsters. Then 5 seconds later Grandma (not knowing anything about the game we were playing) knocked on the door. The kids all huddled in the corner of the tub clinging to each other because they thought it was a monster. Grandma opened the door and poked her head in and we all laughed about it.
At this point E had decided she wanted to get out of the tub so Grandma took her to dry her off and get her PJ's on. Jon started again with the monster game. A and K were having a lot of fun with it as Jon would open up the door and pretend the monsters were out there. This was all really funny and they were having a lot of fun.
Jon then took it a step further when he started to pretend that the monsters were getting him. He would open the door and act like they were grabbing his arm. At this point, K and A were still laughing and having fun with the monster. Then Jon took it a step further. He partially opened the door and pretended that the monsters had him. He acted like he was struggling with the monster and then all of a sudden he was gone and the door slammed shut. I mean he could not have done it better if he had practiced it 50 times. K and A immediately went into hysterics. They just fell apart. I think they really thought a monster got their daddy.
Being the loving and nurturing mommy that I am I started to laugh and I was literally on the floor laughing. Jon came back in the bathroom to try and calm them all down but there was no point. I think A cried for 20 minutes because she was so afraid. All A wanted after that was her Grandma. So Grandma had to come and get A out of the tub, dry her off, and try to calm her down.
Jon really felt bad about scaring the kids so bad. He did not mean to scare them like that but he just got carried away. We were afraid that they would have nightmares about monsters and Grandma even told A that is she got scared in the night she should just go crawl in bed with her daddy. We fully expected her to be in the bed with us last night but amazingly they all slept through the night!

New Sport...Step Jumping

Last night as I was cleaning up the kitchen from dinner I could hear the kids laughing really hard. Realizing that something was up I came around the corner to fine A & K jumping off of our "higher than a normal step" step that run halfway through our house. E was upset that they were doing this as she thought they would get hurt. I of course ran and grabbed the camera. This situation is odd for a few reasons:
1. A is my scardy cat about everything so the fact that she was brave enough to be doing this is amazing.

2. E is usually the dare devil around here but she was afraid to jump.

3. A and K are usually the two that don't get along that great but they have been best buds lately.

Here are some pictures of the new sport:

Popcorn & a Movie

Last night as a special treat, Jon and I decided to give the kids an early Valentines gift of the Disney Movie "Toy Story". They have really been into Disney movies lately so I thought it would be fun to get them this movie.

We all got in to our PJ's and I popped some popcorn and then it was movie time. They seemed to really enjoy hanging out with Mom and Dad and watching movies. It was so much fun to watch them eat their popcorn and concentrate so hard on the new movie. This is a tradition that I think we will keep going for as long as we possible can (or until they realize it is not cool to hang out with their mom and dad on a Saturday night-I think we have some time!)

Here are some pics...

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Wow! We have had a busy weekend! Friday night I got to go out with a girlfriend for some great conversation and some much deserved Vino! We had a great time and it was fun to kick back and relax.

Saturday, our friend Sue offered to take K and E for us so we could have a day out with A. We took her to the mall and she got to pick out some rides to go on. It was fun to be out with A and she LOVED all the attention. I remembered the camera this time so here are some pics of A at the MOA with her mommy and daddy...

After the MOA we went to Sam's club to get some stuff we needed. While we were there we found a leather couch that was on sale for $500 and we just could not pass it up. We bought it and Jon went back later to pick it up. It looks really nice in our family room and it is a big improvement from couch we had there.

After Sam's club we stopped at McDonald's and picked up some food for A and Daddy to have for lunch. They ate it in the Van while I ran into the grocery store to get some more food. The reason we had to run all of these errands is that we were making and bringing dinner over to some friends house that have a new baby. When we got home I put the dinner together while A took a nap. When she woke up we packed up the van, picked up K and E and headed out to our friends house for dinner.

It was a busy day but it was so much fun to take A out and give her lots of love and attention.

An Angel for Us!

An Angel for Us

(This was a forward that I received and I liked it so much I wanted to post)

Once upon a time there were three children ready to be born. One day they asked God, "They tell us you are sending us to earth, but how are we going to live there being so small and helpless?" God replied, "Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

But the children weren't sure they really wanted to go. "But here in Heaven, we don't do anything else but sing and smile; that's enough for us to be happy." God smiled. "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day.

And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy." ''And how are we going to be able to understand when people talk to us," the children continued, "if we don't know the language that people talk?" God patted them on their heads and said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.

The children were sad. ''And what are we going to do when we want to talk to you?" God had an answer for that question too. "Your Angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray." The babies then turned to God and asked, “We’ve heard that on earth there are bad people. Who will protect us?" "Your angel will always defend you – even if it means risking her life!"

"But we will be sad because we will not see you anymore," the children continued warily. God smiled on the little ones. "Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you.” At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard. The children knew they had to start on their journey very soon.

They softly asked God one more question. "Oh God, if we are to leave now, please tell us our angel's name.” God touched the children on the shoulders just before they departed and answered, "Your angel's name is of no importance. You will simply call her Mommy

Breakfast Conversation

This morning as I was getting ready for the day I had the girls sitting on my bed eating Cheerios and watching Handy Manny. Here is what I heard from the bathroom...

A "What's in your nose Lela"
E "Boogers, Meme"
A "Oh, you got boogers in your nose Lela"
E"Yup"

Then a little later when I was making our bed guess what I found...a booger...YUCK!

Fun at the MOA

We were lucky enough tonight to get to spend an entire evening with just K at the Mall of America! They have some really fun rides there and he just had a blast. It was amazing to me the different personality that came out when he had both Mommy and Daddy's undivided attention. We all really enjoyed our evening. The girls got to spend some time with Sue and that is always a great for them.

This was a big eye opener for Jon and I that we need to start spending individual time with all of them. It was great to just focus on one kid and it was such a breeze to be out and about. It was definitely a great evening and the best part about it...Kis sound asleep in his bed with no night time hassle tonight. We must have wore him out at the mall! I forgot my camera so there are no fun pictures of Daddy and K riding the Race Car ride but the memory of the look on K's face is forever imprinted in my mind!

The pictures are some of the rides we went on tonight! So much fun!

Fire?!?

Bed time has been getting harder around here lately. We switched the kids to big beds about a month ago and at first they were very good about staying in their beds and going to sleep. Now they are fooling around most nights and the consequence is that they get there binkers taken away.
Tonight, Jon went up for the third time to calm them down. He caught E out of bed and had a big discussion with her about not getting out of bed no matter what unless Mommy and Daddy are there! E replies to Daddy..."not even for fire, daddy"?
These kids are cracking us up more and more every day!

Ba Pa & Dessert

We have Sunday night dinner at my parents house every week. This has been a family tradition for a long time now. I like it because I don't have to worry about dinner and my mom is an awesome cook so we always have good food and usually get left overs too!

The meal always consists of appetizers, main meal, and dessert. The kids have come to learn that at dessert time it is time to climb up in Ba Pa lap and share his dessert.