Tree trimming

We are fortunate to have a family member who likes, no wait, LOVES power tools! Uncle Shane came over this afternoon to help trim a tree that causes a thorn in our side during summer. Like a kid in a candy store, that man is, loving the noise of his chain saw.

Here's the tree, before any work started. See the branches on the far left? They stretch over the pool, causing eager squirrels to sit upon them and grab acorns, dropping shells into the pool below. Ouch.

Once these two woke from nap, they immediately asked to sit outside and watch the boys work. Snackin' on "cocorn".

So long branches. Annoying squirrels will need to sit somewhere else this summer!

Bubbles kept us occupied for quite a long time, not to mention at a safe distance on the opposite side of the pool from the tree.

Ta-da!

And the best part,

no major injuries to report

(nothing a band aide or two couldn't fix).

Thanks again Shane for all of your work today! We really appreciate it.

Donuts!

Thanks to a fellow blogger, I discovered a simple way to create these for breakfast!

Let's just say they were a hit all around!

Thanks Roz, they were delicious!

Flashback Friday

2008 2011

Como Como Como

Ryan played hookie from work to spend the day with the 3 girls. It was blustery and cold this morning, perfect day to head to Como where we knew we may have the place to ourselves! And that we did; or close enough. This post is heavy on pictures...here we go!

There's something about listening to your sister tell you all about the monkeys that makes it all the more interesting.

It was nap time for these cute little guys. We literally watched their heavy eyelids close to a slumber.

Regan was not shy of the camera today, finding cute places to pose and say "hey mom, take my picture!".

Every building, the girls shed their jackets and ran from animal to animal (or amimal to amimal if you are asking Sidney).

And after the animals, we headed into the conservatory to warm up and check out the spring flower show. I love the conservatory. It's beautiful; every display is stunning and the smell of fresh flowers is overwhelming. Not to mention those colors make for a gorgeous back-drop.

AND NOW...ON TO A FEW OUTTAKES FROM THE DAY:

Strong-willed

Our sweet, lovely Sidney can be described as incredibly strong-willed. Don't get me wrong, she is sweet, loving, friendly and down-right nice; but she can change on a dime! That's a 2 year old. This morning, our scenario went something like this:

Me: "Time to get dressed Sidney".

Sidney: {runs away}, screaming "NOOO!", the start of a tantrum. Proceeds to tell me "I don't want to wear that".

Me: "Ok, you pick out your clothes".

Sidney: {doing her best at procrastinating}, dawdling in front of the closet.

Me: "How about this one?, or this one?"

Sidney: "No, I want THIS one".

Me: "Ok, let's get dressed".

Sidney: "NOOOO!" tantrum goes into full blown.

Me: {no time to waste, just dress her}

Sidney: "I don't want to wear this, I want to wear THAT" {pointing at an outfit I had picked out earlier}.

By this time, I was out the door, leaving her to finish her tantrum.

Bad idea.

Sidney proceeded to shut her bedroom door and...get this...locked herself in!

Let's just say I was a good 30 minutes late for work this morning because after she eventually got out, I decided it was a rough enough morning to warrant a trip to Caribou.

Oh my dear strong-willed child. Someday that trait will take you far in life, but for now, it is causing your mommy a huge headache!

No matter what, LOVE you to pieces!!!

Full day Wednesday

Last night we played a wee bit hard with Logan...it was hide n seek for the longest time after some play room time. This little one was tough to rouse this morning:

And then we bailed early on work and school to head up to Bethel to watch Logan's softball team to victory! Thank goodness that Vicky and Lon brought Halle because Regan was entertained for a full two hours.

She handed over Halle's leash long enough to share a delicious chocolate treat with Sidney.

Before it was back to playing with Halle who dug and dug and dug in this pile of sand and the girls giggled like crazy watching her dig. Maybe it was her nose full of sand when she finally came up for air that made them laugh!

Ah, and what's a double header softball game without a trip to the biff! Someday this sweet 5 year old is going to be upset that I posted this picture :) As for the wee one of the group?, let's just say that being potty trained can backfire when biff's are the only option. Poor girl thought she would be left to fall into the pile of *&^# and so I loaded her into the car and drove her to the nearest REAL bathroom with a REAL toilet just down the street.

And then, finally, after nearly 2 hours, Sidney was ready to get off my lap and close to Halle, who by the way is the sweetest dog in the history of dogs!

We love to watch Logan in any sport and can't wait to come back to her games next week!

Welcome back!

Oh dear warm weather, how we've missed you! Spring is such a wonderful season, unfortunately it never lasts long in Minnesota. But we're making the best of these days.

Today it was snacks on the deck (pardon the ugly pool cover in the background; sadly the pool remains closed until even warmer temps)

Moving on to snacks in the play house

before it was time for the dancer/gymnast of the bunch to practice some stretching and climbing abilities. Not to worry, she didn't get far :)

Regan Regan Regan. Love ya to pieces!

Because I don't want to forget....

Tonight at dinner, I was telling Ryan that I have a massage scheduled for later this week and the phone call I just picked up was my "friendly reminder call". Regan said "you're getting a massage? You better remember to brush your teeth".

My mom and I busted out laughing until we were crying. Not quite sure what kind of massage I'm going to be getting that I need to brush my teeth!

Kite flying...

...is not easy! But with the winds as gusty as they were today, we decided to give it a try.

It didn't go as well as we'd like, but we did manage to learn a little about kite flying...

and best of all, we got it airborne (for a short while at least!).

Practice makes perfect, we'll be sure to try it again.

One proud dad

Ryan was hyped up all day long as his alma mater was playing for a championship at the Frozen Four and he proudly got the girls decked out in their gear too :) I believe they make the cutest cheerleaders. Ryan wasn't able to attend the game in person, and unfortunately, the bummer part of watching the game at home is getting up to get your own beer. And then missing a goal. And then missing the second goal! (Maybe he shouldn't drink so much beer?!). Good thing he had a buddy giving him the play by play while he stood in the kitchen. Yea, not quite the same effect. He did manage to sneak out late this evening and watch the end of the game at a pub with Uncle Lon, and what a game it was! A WIN!!!

Park!

Not far down the street, is yet another super fun park. All night the girls talked about going to this park in the morning, and let's just say it was a great motivator to get them to behave through the grocery store this morning! They were fantastic just walking along side the cart, pointing out various items. Heavenly!

Once we made it to the park, Sidney couldn't move fast enough into the playground area. Yea for spring!

Regan, on the other hand, noticed that her younger sister wasn't wearing the traditional spring jacket but rather a windbreaker. She pouted and proclaimed "IT'S NOT FAIR!". Oh boy, she was not happy. Thankfully we had the park to ourselves so I let her pout.

Sid was oblivious to her sister's pouting, she was in her glory and quickly pointed out the benches and said "sit here mommy!". Oh what a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, I was anxiously chasing her up those steep stairs. Now I get to watch from below.

Regan continued pouting, finding a spot under a slide to be upset.

Crocs and wood chips don't go well together. Lesson learned, or at least I hope.

After a bit, she started to move away from the slide, although the pouting continued.

But then Regan found the tire swing and forgot all about the issues with the jackets and "IT'S NOT FAIR!".

Grandma Jan will not like this one. But our little Sidney is a climber, and a brave one at that. She asked for assistance the first time, and then was off on her own, yelling just to be sure I was watching her!

Not to be left behind, Regan found a place to climb too. And Grandma Jan REALLY won't like this one! She's off the ground about 4-5 feet, hanging on for dear life!

And after about 40 minutes running around, they shed those (unfair) jackets, because it is spring and it is warm after all :)

Chores

So it might not be Sidney's chore to take out the garbage, but that doesn't mean she didn't do it! Yesterday, I heard the bathroom garbage can clanking on the tile floor and heard Sidney call for me "I taking out garbage mommy!". Of course, I immediately thought of all the icky garbage I was about to find on the floor, but instead, she came walking out with the bag, still in tact, and surprisingly upright! That's my big helper.

Today marked Sidney's very last day in the toddler room at her school. On Tuesday she will officially start in preschool. As we said our goodbyes this afternoon, her teacher commented that "Sidney is such a teacher" (yes you read that correctly). I think it was her way of nicely letting me know how Sidney is good at asserting herself, telling her friends how to play, and showing them who is boss. I guess you can say there may be a bit of an adjustment as she moves from the oldest of the class to the youngest.

Love you Sidney!! Please stop growing up so fast

Hula hula

Ever since Regan discovered the hula hoops (meant to be Easter gifts left in plain sight by none other than me), she has challenged anyone to a hula contest. She's definitely improving her hula abilities and impressed us with how long she can keep going. Tonight, on our favorite night of the week, it was Logan's turn to take on the challenge. We all look forward to Logan's weekly visits, in fact, Sidney wakes up Wednesday mornings and announces "Logie coming today?"!

Happy hula!

Easter weekend

It was a weekend gearing up for Easter in this house. We started off Friday afternoon by pulling out all the decorations and spreading them around the house. This is a new experience as this will be the first Easter in our new home. It's been fun with each holiday, finding places for all the seasonal frames, candles, knick-knacks, etc. The girls simply love it! Plus they found their Easter baskets with the empty eggs and now tote them throughout the house and add them to every make-believe scenario.

This morning, we headed to the movie Hop which really speaks "Easter Bunny"! Regan was in the mood to decorate eggs so tonight we pulled out the coloring and had a great time...enjoy the photos!