Time with Nana and Papa

We met my parents in Kansas over the weekend and we all enjoyed getting a chance to visit and have some fun together.

We had some park time and swim time both days. Though we didn't get any pictures from the pool to show for it! :) It was fun having them be able to see how much the kids have grown and laugh at their various antics. :)

Park time...We enjoyed seeing the lake, playing, and flying kites. Brad even kept flying the kite when the kids got tired and they thought it was a great kite show. Makin especially loved working with Brad to fly his new plane from Nana and Papa.

Braums Ice Cream!!!

Thanks for a fun weekend!

St. Patrick's Day

I learned quite a lot about the story of St. Patrick and the kids did listen to an Adventures In Odyssey story about him over lunch as well, so looking forward to possibly doing more next year more focused on celebrating the person that started the tradition! We did enjoy our four leaf clover cookies and wearing green too! :) (I think the OCD in me really, REALLY likes that everyone matches and is coordinated on this day!!!)

Spring Break, Warmer Weather, and Parties

We have had a week of amazing, gorgeous weather. And the even better news? The weather was amazing the same week as spring break! :) Lorelei had Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off and we loved our extra time together.

We enjoyed a park picnic.

Just love phonetic spelling. :)

We made a trip to Omaha where we took Makin to Krispe Kreme for the first time. Lorelei didn't really remember going when she was 1 1/2 either. ;)  Both of them loved seeing the donuts on the conveyor belt.We did some consignment shopping for spring/summer clothes, and then headed to the zoo.

Lorelei got her wish and a butterfly finally landed on her. :)

Friday afternoon we headed out to the river for some time in water and sand. This is as close as we will get to the beach here, so this will likely become a regular thing for us. Lorelei requested that we go every day. :)

Over the weekend we were booked with birthday parties for friends. Drue had a super hero party and Ellorie had a Frozen party.

We had one more day of sun and warmer temperatures on Monday and we enjoyed

 some water and sand that afternoon. The kids were making "soup pie" in the first picture.

Sunny Smiles

Seuss Week

Lorelei's class celebrated Dr. Seuss the first week of March. They had so much fun having special events each day to celebrate Dr. Seuss.

From Top Left Clockwise: Silly Sock Day (Fox In Sox); Cat In The Hat Class Picture - Anna, Brianna, Lorelei, Mia, Mrs. Wieberdink, Ben, Nina, and Regan; the kids enjoying green eggs and ham; Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes; and there was even a Dr. Seuss house full of Dr. Seuss books. She loved it.

We celebrated Dr. Seuss the second week of March. (A week late.) Last year I was super-organized and had Dr. Seuss week early. This year, I ran late and the library had no Dr. Seuss books left by the time I got around to looking! :) I have a decent stash of my own, so we made it work.

Family Movie Nights book-ending Seuss week were The Lorax and Horton Hears A Who.

Monday - Cat In The Hat - Drue and Makin made hats, and played special rhyming games. We all had Cat In The Hat pancakes for lunch! L and M enjoyed doing a word search and maze while we made supper.

Tuesday - This was sort-of Green Eggs and Ham day, but I couldn't find the book, and the kids didn't want me to dye their eggs green, so all we did was play a green egg flipping game. :) I wrote words on the back of each egg for each child for their level. Makin is getting the hang of reading and he really liked this game. They also had a coloring page.

Wednesday - One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - found lots of simple printables online. This was the first day of Lorelei's spring break, so we could do them all together that morning. We did gold fish graphing and also used water colors to paint a picture that looked like the cover of the book.

Loved having something extra-fun to celebrate this week!

Makin At 4 1/2

Makin is so proud to be 4 1/2. He continues to be my energetic sweetheart. He still runs full force and loves anything athletic. He also loves his mommy cuddles and is a great little side-kick when we have our one-on-one time.

One particularly sweet moment of his would be at bedtime. He gives a regular smooch, followed by Eskimo, butterfly, and then any he makes up after that..monkey, giraffe, pig, etc. as well as a squeezie hug of course.

He has improved with his school attitude for the most part. I have introduced a little more reading and he is starting to get the hang of it. So far we are working on it only once or twice a week and very low key. I want him to love reading, but also want him to realize his potential and that he is capable of pushing himself to learn new things.

His memory still amazes me. I often ask him to remember something for me because his memory is much better than mine!

He did great for his latest Y Move Jr. class, so I was relieved he was more comfortable on his own going to class. He continues to love storytime.

He is very aware of how people are feeling - at the first sign of unhappiness he will ask, "Are you mad? Are you frustrated?"

He corrects you if you add/miss a word in a book that he knows well.

He is measuring at 44 inches tall, which means he grew 1 3/4 inches in the last 6 months.

Quotable Moments:

Me: Are you saying I wouldn't be a good spy!?
Makin: (whisper) Kind of...

Me: What was the best part of your day?
Makin: Organizing.

(Pushing a squeaky cart in Walmart.)
"They know we're comin'!"

"Is this an upper-case heart?"

"Her (Lorelei) room is a disaster area!"

Makin: I'm gonna live by you someday.
Me: Great, then I can help you if you need it.
Makin: Yes, you can babysit my baby when Drue and I go on a date. We can go to Red Lobster.

Me: Those socks don't match.
Makin: They are orange. That's almost red.

"Mom, when you frown like that you need night cream on your eyebrows and your nose."

(Toy Kitchen)
Me: Oh, its delicious!
Makin: Your welcome. Do you want the recipe?


"Mom. Those cookies were good. You should get the recipe."

"Let's get ready to rumble!"

"Guys, I don't know if they make these, but I'm just checking. Do they make sleds with rocket boosters?"

(Part of prayer.) "Thank you for trucks. So we don't have to walk and make our feet get tired. Or so we don't get hungry or thirsty. For water. Or juice. Or milk. Or lemonade."

"When I grow up, I'm going to drive a monster truck."

"Remember Mom, the nicer something looks, the more expensive it is."

Makin: Henry has a shirt like this.
Me: Who is Henry?
Makin: (sad and serious) He's a troublemaker.


Makin: I don't like gravity.
Me: Why?
Makin: Because I want to float.

Lorelei at 6 1/2

Dots/Squares Game Is A New Favorite

This girl is thrilled to be 6 1/2 and its not hard for me to believe most days. She is seeming so much older in many ways. Just this morning I had to give her five extra minutes while she accessorized getting a necklace and sparkly lip gloss on. She is still definitely still a mix of a little bit dirty and a little bit girly though. ;)

Although she and Makin do argue plenty, they are also very good friends. Lately she has gotten very protective of her brother and will often defend him if he is being punished/reprimanded.

One of my favorite sweet things that she does lately is leaves us little notes or pictures on our pillows.

She loves having time to herself during quiet time and finds plenty to do in her room by herself. After that time is up, however, she is talking a mile a minute asking her usual questions. It has been fun seeing how she is able to do new games and such at her age.

She still loves school and her favorite part is recess. :) What I'm most excited to see in the last month or so is the reading really coming along. She attempts to sound out pretty much every word she can find and is doing great. She seems to keep improving and is excited about it. I cannot believe I will soon have a full fledged little reader in the house!

She is measuring at 49 3/4 inches tall, which means she has grown 1 3/4 inches in the last 6 months.

Brad is thrilled his girl loves Subway sandwiches.

Quotable Moments:

"I love you farther than the moon. I love you to the universe. I love you so much I can't even tell you."

Me: Are you doing better having an inside voice at school?
L: Yes. So I save my outside and grumpy voice for here! (home)
The truth!

"I love our family the most. But we can't tell anybody because that will hurt their feelings."


"I extinctly remember."

Me: Makin helped me pick out a new coffee pot.
L: Is it green?! (The tone like, MOM, I can't believe you would let him pick because I'm sure he would choose a green one.)

Me: Are you painting a heart? (as she was painting my face with face paint)
L: Yes. That way everybody will know you are loved.

Me: Don't scratch off your scab or it could scar. That's what Mommy did with a chicken pock and got this scar.
L: (looks at it closely) It suites you.

Brad and I were explaining why there are lights above gas filling stations and Brad joked, "So you don't put gas in the wrong car."
Lorelei added, "And so you don't get diesel!"

"Oh no. My bow's falling out. Does it look droopy? Does it look like I don't have a mom?"

I helped with cookie baking for the school fund raiser, and was the overseer of the Snickerdoodles. I was told by a person at school something along the lines of, "If anybody is complaining just pray with them." I inwardly chuckled as that is just not really my style and repeated the story to Brad. After a full day of cookie baking I came home and the next morning Lorelei said, "Did you have to pray with anybody, Mom?" :)

Me: If you had the superhuman ability to fly, where would you go?
L: The Omaha Zoo...My Little Pony-land, actually.

At some moment in church they threw out the question, "What does your name mean?" Lorelei leaned over and whispered, "I think your name means bestest Mom ever."

L: We are saving up money for a cat.
Me: What about me being allergic?
L: We will ask them for a non allergic one.
Me: What about when it leaves hair everywhere?
L: Well, we are going to save up money for cleaners and a cat.

(Helping me vacuum out the car)
"I don't want to break it, or one of your Christmas presents will be a vacuum...I can't afford a vacuum."

(Playing the ABC game)
"Q....Quantified."
Seriously.

Auntie Marilyn: You can see that?
L: That's cuz I have carrot eyes.
(Because I tell her carrots are good for your eyes and she eats lots of carrots. )

"Do you think we're still in cages?" (contagious)

"K-R-A-F-T.  Kraft. It's a craft to them but its not a craft to us!" (Parmesan cheese container)

Dance Recital

Lorelei had her second round of six week dance lessons, which we missed two of because of our trip and sickness. She still loved going. Especially considering missing a couple of classes, we were thrilled when Dawn (friend from church) took a video of their routines and gave us a copy in case Lorelei wanted to practice. This helped so much. She didn't get to the point where she had it memorized perfectly, but the more she practiced the more sure of herself she became. She loved her sparkly costume and said that Ms. Rachel picked this outfit because she knew they would all love it because of Frozen. :) She was more nervous than excited for her recital. (No surprise from this mama!)

The card she made for her teacher.

Ellorie (Dawn's daughter) and Lorelei
Sidenote: We recently noticed that Ellorie and Lorelei have the exact same letters in their names.
Pass it along to any women having twin girls. How cool would that be!? ;)

Lorelei is the second from the left in the videos.

Ballet 1/Tap 1 Class: Becca, Lorelei, Elaina, Maggie, Ellorie, and ??? (need to fill in later)

Relieved to be done and have her treat. :)

Having Fun

Go Fish In A Tent
It seems about this time of year the tent always comes out to help with our cabin fever. The kids have utilized it in lots of ways, including a game of Go Fish. We have also been playing LOTS of games.

Gobs of Fun
We have what we call "Warm Fuzzy Jars" that encourage especially good behavior. Both kids have been filling their jars for a very long time, because I don't give them out for just anything. Makin's finally reached the top. When their jar is full, they get to choose any fun activity as a reward. He chose Gobs of Fun. (No surprise there!)

Glow Night
We intended to have this once a month this winter, but somehow it never happened! It is finally starting to stay light longer, so we knew we couldn't put it off. As they were dancing to the Jock Jams blaring and having such a fun time, we were wishing we would have had a few more Glow Nights. Guess we will have to wait till next winter... :) They had a blast.


This is to give you a glimpse of what they spent an hour doing. :) (Sorry for the small size, did the video on my phone because last year the one on my camera didn't turn out in the darkness!)

First Circus
The kids loved their first circus. Favorites were the comedy act, the elephant and the motorcycles.

Celebrating 1/2 Birthdays
To celebrate Lorelei turning 6 1/2 Brad took her on a lunch date and we ate cupcakes after nap. It was Dr. Seuss week at school (will include that later) so we already had a batch of cupcakes for her class, and just used the extra.

We are hoping this will kick off Brad and I taking turns with lunch dates once a month!

For Makin's 4 1/2 birthday he had a lunch date with dad (a few days early since it was on the weekend) and he chose brownies for his special treat.



They both just love being able to say they are 4 1/2 and 6 1/2! :)