Missy & Kyle's Wedding - July 10, 2010

My cousin Missy and Kyle asked the girls to be flower girls in their wedding in July.  What an honor!  They girls were so excited, even though I'm not quite sure they really understood what it was they would be doing.  They were just excited to wear a "pretty dress" like Missy and look like princesses.  It was a wonderful day and the girls did really well.  They got to go have their hair done with all the other girls and get pampered a little.  They loved it!  Taylor got a little gun shy about 30 seconds before she had to walk down the aisle.  They came and got me and she was crying.  We got her all calmed down and away they went!  They were somewhat stoic walking down the aisle, but did really well.  Even threw the rose petals on the way OUT of the church!  Thank you Kyle and Missy for asking them to be a part of your sepcial day.  It's one they will never forget, me either:)

My ladies all dressed up!

The girls "smoochin" on the bride

Girlies "smoochin" on the groom!

Kindergarten Open House!!

Ms. Arntson Mrs. Kohl

Well, we had the girls open house tonight at school which was awesome! Lots to take in and kind of a "whirl wind", but went great. It was hard to take good pictures and be in two places at once. It was kind of a bummer having girls in seperate classes because Chad and I didn't get to hear what both classes were doing and see much in each class. When we got home and compared notes, both were pretty similar so that's good. We had from 6:30-7:00 to check out the rooms and do all the "little projects" they had set up, and then the teachers had us for an hour. The kids went with parent volunteers on the bus, the office, nurse's office, media center, music room, gym, cafeteria and playground. The girls "highlight" was their lockers. Who would have thought?? The year sounds awesome and I LOVE all the educational things they do and how technologically advanced the school is. They are starting this research based program called "Fast Start". It's a reading program parents do w/their kids 15-20 minutes a night and they are finding a definiate advance in the kids reading. It will be interesting to see how it goes. It's also a "green school" so there isn't much that goes home via paper - majority is email or through their website. The teachers have websites through the schools website and I can see everything they do daily. (Here is the school website, which I think is great!!)

http://tles.elkriver.k12.mn.us/twinLakes.cfm

The field trips so far are Deer Lake Apple Orchard, ER Fire Dept, Como Zoo in the spring, watch a play (last year was in St. Cloud) and the Midwest Ranch. I'm hoping to go on all, and "HOPE" Chad will make the majority OR if anyone else would like to come that would be great:)

Fun with Sports

We signed the girls up for an "All About Sports" course. Not really what we had in mind. Unfortunately, it was for ages 3-5. Well, there's a big difference between those ages. The girls were kind of bored and the instructors spent a lot of time chasing after the younger ones. The class was only 45 minutes and they did 3 water breaks! The kids weren't running that hard so it wasted a lot of time. Oh well. They liked it. There wasn't anything else for them to sign up for so we did it. Nice to just be outside and play something!

Sleepover!

A little swimming silliness! Owen the "Super Hero"

Making pizza's!!! Two little princesses

Movie and popcorn time!!

I'm starting this from WAY back in June...been a little behind so I will try and catch up. NEED to get better at this!

Owen and Ashley came to spend the night, and as always we had a great time! The kids swam even though it wasn't super warm. They are troopers! Ashley was not up for the big pool so she sat on the ladder and was fine with it. We made pizza's for supper and they did a little "dress up". Unfortunately for poor Owen, we don't have much for boys. They found a black little jacket for him so he put that on and was a "Super Hero". Great imaginations! The kids, including big kid Chad, played some Wii and then they had popcorn and watched a movie for some downtime. Then off to bed!

Motorcycle!!!

Uncle Phil has a motorcycle, which the girls love to sit on and gawk at when we go over there. Last weekend it was a beautiful day and we were over there having Phil look at our computer. Well, he offered to take the girlies for a ride and they jumped at it! Taylor went first and put Aunt Jodi's helmut on, which fit! Ha! She got on and Phil started it up, and it was kinda loud. Here eyes got huge! But she sat there and away they went. Allie was next and got right on and they took off. Both the girls absolutely LOVED it and wanted to go more!!! Aunt Jodi took pictures so I'll post them on here from her. Too fun!!

Becoming less and less my babies...:(

Haven't posted in a while due to several factors: camera is now broken along with computer. SOOOO no pictures yet, and these may be out of order a little. Oh well...you get the picture:)

Everyday we lose a little more of the girls being "our little" girls...it goes by sooo fast! I can't stand it. They decided they didn't want the bedrails anymore on their beds. They've asked several times in the last few months and I just couldn't take them down. Didn't want to hear a big "thud" in the middle of the night and find someone on the floor...what an awful awakening that would be for them. Finally, I gave in. We took them down on Monday night and all has been good! Nobody's fallen out and they love it. Another step towards being "big girls" I guess.

Bikes with NO training wheels!!!

We got the girls bigger bikes tonight in the hopes of starting to ride -- without training wheels! Well, Taylor took off! She never fell....got on and away she went. She absolutely loves it!!

There's goes my baby...:)

Allie started and did a really good job. The whole balance thing throws her off, but we made her keep trying and she's getting it! Had a couple "whoopse-daisies", but got up brushed herself off and kept right on going.

Here goes my other baby.....:)

Hula-hoops!!

So, the girls got hula-hoops w/some birthday money they had left. Here's Miss Allie going to town with hers! It cracked me up!!

Here is Taylor's attempts - she's doing pretty good! Got some super swivel hips.....

Valentine's Day!!

Some Valentine's treats for the ladies! A REALLY noisy ticking Princess clock and a box of 200 tattoos!

Sam's Birthday Party!!

Allie zoomin' down on the tube!


Lindsay and Taylor!!



Half the party goers!!




Taylor on the snowboard! (I've got great video I'm trying to load!!)

Yesterday we went to my cousin Joe's house to celebrate his son Sam's birthday. It was an awesome day! We got there about 11 a.m. and it was beautiful outside. Uncle Beau went outside with all the kids and they started sledding immediately - right onto the lake! The rest of the party showed up and all "17" kids were sledding and snowboarding for about an hour! Then they all came in and Miki and I went and picked up McDonald's that Joe had ordered for all the kids and they had lunch. Then Sam opened all his presents and the kids played one game. By then it was 1:30 p.m. and time to go -- or at least everyone else. Lindsay, Lauryn, Allie, Taylor and Sam along with Beau, Joe and some other friends all went back outside sledding for another 2 hours! They were having such a blast. Taylor looked so cold but she was LOVING the snowboarding and just kept going and going!!! Finally everyone came in and we all had hot chocolate and left about 4:45 p.m.! It was a full day, but sure a lot of fun!!

Taylor and Allie's 5th Birthday Party

The "water bottle" bowling pins the girls got for their birthday at the bowling alley

Ally Nicole, Shelby and Taylor

"I win", "I win".....or at least it just made it down the lane

Shelby, Taylor, Ally Nicole, Whitney, Josh, Owen, Ashley, Allie

Jodi and Phil with us at Dave & Busters' for our birthday!!

For Taylor and Allie's birthday we went to Sundance Bowl and did their birthday party. It was so great. Everything was all set up and ready to go - all we had to do was show up! The kids all bowled one game, then we had pizza's for lunch. The girls opened their presents after eating and the kids all had cupcakes. Then it was 1 p.m. and the party was over. Went really fast, but had a really great time.

We went home and Donna and Alex came down for a little visit. They stayed for a couple hours and then we went and met Jodi and Phil at Dave & Buster's for dinner and games. We love that place! We spent almost 2 1/2 hours there and didn't get home until 9:30 p.m. It was a long, full day for the girls but I think they had a pretty good birthday!!!

New Years Eve!!!

FIRST TIME WITH SKATES!!!

We spent New Year's Eve with the Skram's and went to Lifetime Fitness/Crystal Community Center for their New Year's "extravaganza". We had a blast! Allie and Taylor went ice skating for the first time and loved it. Unlce Mike was such a champ and was out on the ice with all three kids all by himself! Mom had fallen down the stairs the week before so not up for ice skating; dad just doesn't skate; and Lori was watching Ashley. I'm not sure how many times the kids went around the rink - they just kept going and going!! Then we went to a craft room and the kids got animal balloons and made some "snowflakes". There as a magic show too, and Allie got called up on stage. Hilarious! (I'm trying to get the video to load - I'll post if I can). After that everyone went swimming (well, except the moms!). Always love swimming. All the festivities ended by 9 p.m. and we were on our way home. It was great and the girls had a fabulous time - and slept great too!