Late spring/early summer

So, here's our update. I think this time might be the most pictures I've ever posted in one post. Oh well. Caleb finished his first year of preschool. He did pretty well, but I'm sure he won't want to go back. Hopefully it won't be a battle forever...Since school has been out, we've had playdates and spent a lot of time outside enjoying our weather. Caleb has worked on riding his bike. Our neighbor boy is not using training wheels, but Caleb still wants to use his. I told him to let me know when he is ready to try without.


We just came home from a weekend at the cabin. It was a short weekend, but it was so nice up there and I know the kids loved it despite the long drive. They did so well in the car-thank goodness for mommy since daddy stayed at home-his fathers day present! Things got a little hairy when they got tired, but for the most part I'd say it went really well. Caleb enjoyed bonding with his uncles over the fishing pole and some walkie talkies. He told me tonight that he should have taken Uncle Jim's (my uncle) boat and gone off when it was time to leave. I told him that everyone was home now, so that there wouldn't be anyone up there with him and he said he would be okay. He would just eat cereal. I guess it's safe to assume that he wants to go back :0)

Watching for the fish to bite....

Look! We got one...

Here, I can hold it Uncle Jon, I'm not scared...

Okay, you do it, I'll just smile!

Going on "missions" with uncle Ben. Caleb really had a fun time and it was a great way to get him to do us some favors. They went on missions out to the camper to find a blanket and to deliver pillows out there. It was pretty funny. He needs his own walkie talkies.

One of the fish Caleb caught.

digging around in the minnow bucket. Caleb really wasn't afraid to touch much. He dug his hand right in there and said he was going to show Ellie one of the minnows.

With "Uncle Sara" Caleb doesn't call her that anymore, but I still think its funny :)

Our first lightrail ride. I didn't realize how long the ride from the mall to downtown was. At least the kids were entertained.

Goofing off in the stands at the Twins game.

Our first sleepover. My best friend's daughter (and Caleb's best friend) Myla slept over night one night. It was interesting and we tried to have all 3 kids sleep in the same room, but Ellery wouldn't settle down, so she got sent back to her room. It was a fun evening and fun morning for me, but Tim said that after that breakfast, he didn't think he could do 3 kids!

We attended a few graduations. My brother, Jon, graduated from the U of M twin cities. The kids were in attendance for a small ceremony put on by his college and also for the commencement until Jon's name was called. They did so awesome!!! They were really well behaved and I was so happy. I took Ellery to my godson, Ryan's high school graduation and again she did very well. I think they are done with graduation ceremonies for a bit.

It was getting close to time to leave...thankfully Jon's name got announced just after this. We made it through!!!

Fun Outside....

Flying kites. He actually did really well once dad got it up in the air for him. I hadn't ever really flown a kite myself and I did this day and found it to be quite fun!

Spring fun

Gosh, when I started this post, I didn't realize what all had gone on these two months. I have been a slacker. So sorry that it has been so long. I am pretty much a part time blogger. So, this is what we've been up to since Caleb's birthday.We have our first pets. Caleb has been asking for a fish for a long while and this weekend we decided to let him get one. Well, we came home with 2. They are 2 male betta fish. The tank they are in has a divider, so they can't hurt eachother.

The blue one is Millenium Falcon-bet you can't guess who's fish that is:) and the red one is Ariel. We call that one a girl even though it's a boy. Ellery wanted a girl fish, but the boys are prettier.

We went bowling with the kids at preschool. It was their first experience. We thought Ellery would hate bowling forever at first because she basically head butted the ball her first time up there. She still talks about bowling and bumping her mouth, but at least she got back out there and rolled a few more balls down the lane.

EASTER 2009

With my grandma. Caleb really does love her, he just didn't want to be in a picture at this moment. My grandma usually sees them every time my mom watches them. Caleb talks about her all the time. I am so glad that they have had the chance to play with her. It makes for some great memories!

Our family on Easter Sunday.

Caleb, of course, wanted Star Wars egg coloring kit, and Ellery chose Tinkerbell. I don't think that we will have character kits next year, but this year it was fun.

Mixing the dyes after we were finished. I think that might have been his favorite part. He seems to like doing little "experiments".

Here he is with a Star Wars figure from the bunny.

The 1st annual Easter Egg hunt. We had a hunt with the neighbor kids. It was a lot of fun!


POTTY TRAINED!!!!

I spent the last weekend in March potty training Ellery. Thanks to Heidi Sue, we gave the 3 day training method a try and it worked!!! Tim was home and Ellery and I just spent 3 days together while Tim hung out with Caleb. That was when the real fascination with Star Wars occurred. Tim broke down finally and let Caleb play with his toys.Here we are in the bathroom. We spent about 4 hours in the bathroom that day. Tim says that he only saw us "skirts" for meals that weekend. It really only took her about 24 hours to get the concept and by a week, she pretty much had it mastered. It was a bit of a challenge for dad and grandma when I was at work, but now, it's been 3 weeks and she's doing great!

1st Hockey Game.

Tim won tickets at work and we decided that he should take Caleb. They actually saw 2 of the 3 goals that were scored while they were at the game. Caleb wanted to spend a bit of time out in the hall, but at least he was present for some goals to see the craziness. They left near the end of the 2nd period, but he didn't take a nap that day, so he was tired!

Sibling Love!

We also had our first stay in a hotel in March. We took a trip up to Elk River to stay at the Holiday Inn there. It has a great indoor water park. There is a lot of space that is just perfect for preschoolers. Caleb only complaint was that he wanted his friends to come:)

Dad was the ONLY one asleep at 10:00 that night. We had split the kids up because they just wouldn't go to sleep, but Tim fell asleep and the rest of us were wide awake!



Finally they fell asleep and I made dad wake up and switch beds. How sweet they are.

STAR WARS

Caleb and Dad watched Star Wars in early march and ever since, there has been a serious obsession! Dad was happy at first, but then he realized that he created a monster. Thankfully, dad has decided to not be as protective of his old toys and Caleb has been able to enjoy a decent amount of Tim's old toys. They are currently reading one of the stories that Tim had as a kid. Caleb only wants to read Star Wars at night for stories now. He got Clone Wars sheets from my mom and dad and he has several shirts and he will only wear those until they are all dirty and then he will choose other shirts from his dresser. Tim's mom visited a few days ago and there were Star Wars toys all over the living room and she said that it sure brought back memories! It's nice for Tim and Caleb to have a common interest although Caleb has told dad several times that he just loves him for his Star Wars stuff ;P

Caleb's 4!!!!

I know I am a little past Caleb's birthday, but it's as good as I could manage. Hope you enjoy!





Our family on Caleb's 4th birthday



2008-Caleb's 3

2007-Caleb's 2...actually this was about a week later all dressed up in "heels" gear. Can't say I'm a true fan, but I guess I should support Tim's favorite team.

Caleb at his preschool on his birthday. It was really cute, they have a birthday box and he put "candles" on a cake and sang "Happy Birthday". He got to pick out a book and a pencil and most importantly, he got to be the helper for the day. I think he LOVED that I came to school that day. He would rather I was there everyday!
Here he is with his shirt from school. They all drew self portraits and the director had them put on a shirt. I think it is just the cutest shirt!

Here he is with some of his gift from the Miners. He really got a kick out of these videos. They also gave him a Curious George book-that has 8 stories in it. We have read that quite a lot lately. Thank you, Uncle Scott, Auntie Lynn, Katy and Andrew.

Here's this year's creation. I made the cake from scratch-it was a "crazy cake" and I thought it turned out pretty good. My mom "free handed" the face and I filled in the stars. It was really fun. The theme was Curious George-not just any monkey. Caleb LOVES George.

Here's Caleb blowing out his candles after we sang. He did ask me when we were taking his picture with the cake if we could NOT sing "happy birthday" but I said that was what we did. He just stood there looking a little uncomfortable. I guess he doesn't like being the center of attention. We're not looking at a movie star here, folks...he sure is cute though!

With his new bike. He has gotten out a few times since we got it. He told us today that he just didn't want to do the work to ride it! Oh well, I guess we'll have better luck when it is warmer out and mommy can go on hers.
At the party, Caleb wouldn't "ride" the bike for his guests, but Elle sure would. I might have to check out some garage sales for a mini bike for her. I don't know if she will want to ride her Dora trike when she could be on a big girl bike!

Here's Caleb with one of his gifts. He really has played a lot with most of his gifts this year. I think he liked everything he got! He got this digger from the Johnson clan and he will occasionally use this to scare his sister. She doesn't like the noise it makes! Ah, what fun to have a little sister!

They do have fun together quite a lot. Here they were sharing the couch-fort.

Ellery after her first "real" haircut. I actually took her in and they cut off a bit. It was just getting unruly and I had to shape it. It turned out cute!

Caleb and Ellery in dad's old baseball caps. Tim went to his dad's house and found these in the basement. I should have found Tim's picture of him in the hat and scanned that in. Maybe I will try to do that-for everyone who says Caleb is a Tim clone!!!

I took Ellery to a dance class in February. It was just a trial class and I just got the biggest kick out of seeing her do something that was such a big part of my life. I am excited for her to start an actual class this fall! I hope she enjoys it as much as I did!

Well, that's it for now. I just thought I would take this time to say thank you to all of you who prayed for my dad. His surgery went 100 times better than last time and he came home on Caleb's birthday. Such a blessing! So Thank you!!!

Now, we just need to keep thinking SPRING!!! I am SO ready!