When Momma is happy...

Everyone should know the saying that "When Momma is Happy, Everyone is happy"! Today at work, I was surprised with a box of cookies in honor of my birthday and another little bag with some Lady Bug cookies in it that said "for the kids"! This warmed me right up as I was so touched that they not only remembered it was my special day but that they also thought to do something special for my kids too. I guess they know the saying, when momma is happy!
So today is my Birthday. It is hard to believe that yet another year has gone by but it is true and here I am again "getting older". It really does not bother me to have a Birthday but I am just amazed at how fast time is flying by. In reflection of the past year, I feel so blessed for all the wonderful things I have in my life, my best friend and partner in crime, Jon. My three amazing children, parents and parents in law who love and support me through it all and a ton of family and friends who bless my life everyday and remind me how good life is!
So today as I celebrate yet another birthday I thank God for all he has given to me, all the blessings I have, the beautiful earth we live on and most of all my health and so many years of blessings in the past and I pray for so many more to come.

T-Ball and Grandparents

Tonight at T-Ball was the official Grandparent night. So Grandma Mary and Grandpa Al decided to come watch all the fun. The kid loved it and they were so excited to show off for Grandma, Grandpa and the surprise visit by Uncle T.
Daddy is the coach so we had the whole family there tonight at T-Ball. The kids did great and it is fun to watch them hit the ball, field the ball, and run the bases. We always seem to have a few good laughs every week.
The kids love being part of a team and doing the team cheers and shaking hands at the end of the games. It is great for them to learn about playing sports and being on teams.
After the game we all headed out for some dinner. It was a fun night.
Next Up...Grandma Carol and Grandpa Ronnie are going to try and come to the game next week!

Wordless Wednesday ~ First Rootbeer Floats

New Sport - Racecar Slipper Racing

Tonight after dinner, we asked the kids to go up and get their PJ's on. K came down with a t-shirt, his underwear and a pair of his race car slippers on. We all had a good laugh at that one.
Soon after the girls decided to get their PJ's on and A came down with a top and her underwear on. She also had K's other pair of race car slippers.
K being the competitive boy that he is decided that they would play a new game, race care slipper racing. For the next 30 minutes all three of them took turns racing each other through the house trying to beat each other at Race Car Slipper Racing.
They were having a ball and we all laughed and laughed and laughed. It was so much fun to watch them chase around and then Daddy had the idea of being a road block so he got in on all the fun too. I posed on the sofa as the photographer as I knew I was going to have to write about this one! I love this age and tonight was so much fun with daddy finally home again and everyone relaxed and having fun. Belly Laughing is medicine to the soul. So get ready and rev your engines.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Fishing W/Daddy...Nothings Better

Lake House Fun 2009

Summer is sure flying by. This past weekend we headed up north to the Lake House that is owned by Jon's sister and family. It is a beautiful place and always a fun time. The kids love it there. Aimee told me the other day as we walked out to the van to get our life jackets for the boat...

"This sure is a nice place mommy"!

The weather was actually unusually cool for this time of year so we did not get to do all the fun summer stuff like swimming, tubing, and hanging out in the lake but we still had a great time hanging out with family playing games (kids favorite thing to do right now) going to the park, playing the Wii, and just hanging out. The kids love their cousins E and E and always look forward to spending time with them.
Big thanks for L & C for hosting the Erickson's once again at the lovely Lake Home!!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Wedding Memories

Wedding Day Fun

If you remember, last summer I posted this about one of my very best friends asking myself and my three kids to be in her wedding. The date was set for July 10th, 2009! It seemed so far off back then but I am happy to announce that she is now a happy married woman to an awesome man! The Erickson Five is thrilled for both of them and the wedding was a blast! The kids did such an awesome job and they loved it. When I asked all three of them at separate times this question:
"What was your favorite party about the day?"

They all three responded the same with
"Everything"!

In fact, K loved it so much he asked Jon,

"When can you marry mommy because I want to go to another wedding?"

So innocent and cute.

It was fun to watch them through all of the events. I had not idea how they would respond to everything as this was the very first wedding they have ever been too let alone been in. The bride asked me if they were excited about the big day and I told her that they were but that they really had no idea what it meant to be in a wedding. K seemed the most curious about the wedding when he asked the bride,

"Why are you getting married?"

In which she responded

"because I love Kyle (Groom) very much".

Awhile later he came back and and asked her,

"How much do you love Kyle"?

Kristin's response to that questions was to out stretch her arms and say I love him this much!

It is very interesting to me how he was trying to figure out the whole wedding sacrament and what it all means. He is such a gentle soul.

The wedding was a blast. We all had so much fun and it was such a beautiful day. So to our dear friends Kristin and Kyle are so good together and I know they will have a long, happy, good marriage. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your special day. May God Bless your life together and know the Erickson Five will always be here for you guys for friendship and love.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Triplet friends forever

Two Wheel Wonders

So last week (or maybe it was the week before last) we were driving home one night and A thought she saw the neighbor girl (same age as the trio) riding her bike on two wheels instead of 4 (training wheels). She was instantly demanding that I teach her how to ride her bike on two wheels. Since it was already past her bed time, I explained that we would work on it the next day.
She awoke the next morning and w/out missing a beat she demanded that we go learn how to ride a bike with two wheels. At this point, I turned that lesson over to daddy as he is much more patient with stuff like this. He took all of them down to the street and with in and hour or maybe more like a half hour, the girls were riding their bikes on two wheels. It was really fun and exciting to watch and they are so PROUD of themselves. I have yet to get it on video but I plan to do that next.
Since they have learned, they have been riding their bikes like crazy. We have even been up to the park a few times. As for K, he likes to stick to his 4 wheels for now. We are proud of the girls for learning how to ride their bikes and for the record, A was wrong, the neighbor girl does still use 4 wheels and for now her mom wants to keep it that way! We have not had a wipe out yet but I am sure the day will come. Just another milestone to check off our list!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Grandpa and His Girls

Dance Recital 2009

A & E did an outstanding job at their dance recital last week. They had both sets of Grand parents along with Jane, K and of course both Jon and I in the audience to cheer them on. It was really sweet and I wanted to share the video of their two dances, one ballet and one tap with all of you. Enjoy.

A Little Explanation

In case you were wondering why the girls had stuffed balls into their shirts, here is the explanation from Sue who took those pictures:

I forgot to tell you about the picking up the balls at the park. E started putting the balls in her shirt, so of course everyone else did too and I had to take pictures.

Then E told me to "hold on", She dumped all her balls and picked out two (matching) and told me she was going to make "boobies" because she really wants to have them like Mommy does. So of course A did too. Thankfully K wasn't interested.
As I am sure you can imagine, both Jon and I had a good laugh about this but we also shake our heads. We are so in trouble some day with those little girls!

Wordless Wednesday ~ You know you're in trouble when....

A Day Late, But Hopeful For That Dollar...

Lately, I feel that I have been burning the candle at both ends or another way to say it would be not coming up for air as often as I should or need too or a Day late and a dollar short. Life is busy right now for The Erickson Five. Our King....AKA Daddy around here is busy finishing up his MBA right now and he is in his last class which means he is very busy with school and when not doing that it seems as though work is next on his list and they seem to need him a lot these days too.
With the absence of our king, the other stuff seems to come my way. WOW...it has been hard to catch my breath lately with all that we have going on. So for Father's day, our king was not here so we could celebrate how awesome he is as a dad but we did get to have dinner with Grandpa Al and tonight (a day late) I got to have a nice long uninterrupted conversation with Grandpa Ronnie to wish him a Happy Father's Day! Tonight our own daddy showed up and we showered him with hugs and kisses and a few gifts for his special day. So I may have been a day late on gifts, calls, or love but I am hopeful that I still have that dollar.
To all the dads and grandpas in our life. We so appreciate you and all you love and support. Thank you for being such great role models for all of us. We love you and keep up the good work!

Encounters From Above

Tonight as I was reading through my favorite blogs, I came across this post at Amazing Trips. This made me smile and what a really cool encounter these children had with their late Grandmother. I truly believe that children are so much closer to heaven than we are as adults. In the past year, I have had a few things happen in my own life and the life of my children that I truly believe our beloved late GG Del is working her magic from heaven. Just the other day, one of my bestest friends was talking to me about a situation that I had been in. I told her "God was really looking out for me on that one" and she replied "no I am pretty sure GG Del marched into God's office and told him that he needed to take care of that for you"! This made me laugh and smile. As much as I miss GG Del I take great comfort knowing that she is up above keeping all of us down here in good hands. Enjoy the beluga whale story. I think it is truly amazing!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Scooter Kids

Sneak Preview-Butterfly Dancers

The girls had their dress rehearsal last night for the dance recital that will be on Thursday night. Since it was a full dress rehearsal, I needed to do their hair and make up for it. I have to say that they looked pretty darn cute. I have special make up for them and their dance and I have to say that they think they are the cats meow with the make up on.
The dance show should be fun. A is very shy up on stage and E seems to really like the spot light. We will see how the show goes on Thursday. They will have lots of fans in the audience.

Graduation Celebration

This past weekend I had the pleasure of road tripping with my mom and the kids. The guys all left to go fishing on one of their annual trips so my mom and I decided it would be fun to head up north to visit my cousin and help her son celebrate his high school graduation.
We had a great time! The kids did awesome and they are really becoming such good travelers. I had to laugh to myself when we were pulling out of the drive way and one of the kids piped up from the back "hey mom, what time is our flight"! This was funny to me because it shows what little travelers we have and the preferred method of travel. They were disappointed to know that we were DRIVING not flying. A few things I learned very quickly on this trip....Grandmas plus gas stations plus grand kids are not a good mix!!! Grandma would take the kids in for a treat and I am surprised there was anything left at the station by the time we pulled out! The kids LOVED it. Grandma Mary was sure having fun too. However, buying the kids "Bug Juice" at the start of the trip was not a great idea because it resulted in 5 bathrooms stops in 3.5 hours! Oh well, live and learn.
It was a lot of fun to see my cousin and help them celebrate her oldest High School Graduation. There were a lot of people at the open house on Saturday and every time a new boy showed up, K was best friends with them within 5 minutes. Then when his new "friend" would leave, he would have to walk them out and ask if they were planning to come back. This happened at least 3-4 times in about 4 hours. I think I have a social butterfly on my hands. The biggest hit of the trip was the bug catcher that my cousin Colleen bought for the kids. They loved going around the yard collecting bugs. K has been at bug catching now for 2 days straight. Watch out bug world here comes K. A tried to get into bug catching but that was short lived as she would run and cry every time a bug got close to her.
We met everyone for breakfast the day after the graduation on our way out of town. At breakfast we got talking about the history of the city and my cousin said it would be fun to drive up to the Mining tourist spot after breakfast. I am so glad she suggested it because for one I had no idea of the history in that town and for two the kids LOVED it. They had huge trucks, wheels, and scoops the kids could climb on and I could not believe my eyes at how wide and deep the land was. They call it the Grand Canyon of the north. It was beautiful and amazing. We were at the Hull Rust Mahoning Mine. There is so much history there and I was so clueless. I guess I need to brush up on my history.
They had a mining truck there you could climb on and it was as big as a house. I guess this truck is now considered a "baby" truck compared to what they are using now. It was HUGE. It was pretty amazing to see what the iron range was all about. We snapped this picture in case anyone was interested in reading about the Iron Range and the mining. The kids had fun running around and getting some energy out before we had to load them back up in the van and head out. It was a fun weekend and the sun was out for us the whole time. the guys all returned shortly after we did and it is always a relief when you get back home safe and sound and we finished our weekend over at Grandma Mary's house with some hamburgers, cocktails, and trip talk! Summer is finally here and we could not be happier!

Machinery Petting Zoo

Our library hosted a machinery petting zoo. We met our triplet friends J, E, and M at the library so we could go see, touch, climb on, and learn about trucks, and other machines. This was a hit with the kids. they loved to climb up, pretend to drive and learn about all sorts of different trucks that the city and county use to take care of our community.
K was especially fond of the street cleaner and when the truck driver started to spray the crowed, he laughed and laughed and got all wet. He loved it. E loved it too until she got wet but since it was such a nice day, she dried quickly. After our visit with the machines, we headed into the library for some reading fun and we ended our visit with checking out some library books which is one of our favorite things to do!