Not Again.

We have hit the one month mark at our new home here in Fargo.  It has been an interesting month to say the least.  We are finally getting used to a new routine and a new place.  What I am not getting used to is having sick kids!  We have had the nasty viral cold plague our home (and sweet baby) for almost 3 weeks.  We finally got rid of that bug and then Kenzie started getting teeth.  And now....we have been granted yet another illness.  Landon woke up yesterday with a 102 temp.  He has been very pale-green and lethargic.  I am betting it wont be long before all 3 have it.  I seriously think that we have been sick more here in the past month than the past 2 years in Sioux Falls.  Not fun.  For a glimpse of what this means for me, between Landon and Kenzie, I was up at 12, 2, 4, 5:30, and then we were all up by 6:30. Yikes.  So enough of my complaining.  Here's to good health and nice weather (pretty please).

On Top Of The World.

Or the giant dirt pile in our back yard.  We are (in)patiently waiting for the giant pile of dirt in our back yard to be removed and replaced with soft, green, beautiful, sod.  The ground has dried out a great deal in the past week so I am hoping this event will happen sooner rather than later.  We actually have a pretty good sized yard, much bigger than I had expected.  The kids want to play out there so badly and I have given in.  But as you can imagine, it is a giant mess!  We are fortunate in that we have a giant field next to our townhome.  It is a giant area of grass and our kids have so much room to run around.  Truthfully, we have a park (without the swings) in our back yard-amazing.  There is a good sized grassy hill that we climb every day to check on the birds.  There are a ton of Killdeer birds and we have found 2 of their (dirt) nests with eggs in them.  There are also jackrabbits that keep us entertained.  I have seen as many as 4 at the same time.  They even hop on top of our dirt pile which is quite entertaining to watch.  So, with dirt coated shoes, very dirty hands, and the need to continually sweep my floor we have remained entertained even without our grass!

Best Friends, Worst Enemies

These two are such good buddies.  They share a room now and seem to enjoy it very much.  In fact, Kadence has been going to bed much better with Landon than she was in her own room in Sioux Falls.  When one is not there, the other is very concerned about them wondering what they are doing.  They love to chase each other around and play cars, trains, and barbies together.  They seem to have the same favorite movies, some boy movies and some girly movies.  If I take Landon somewhere with me and he gets a treat, he always makes sure to bring one back for his little sister.  Although Kadence is pretty independent, she always wants to do things, "like Landon."  It melts my heart to see a 3 and 4 year old such good friends and I pray every day that they will share a lifelong bond.

But...

how can 2 best friends also turn into worst enemies at times?  It seems as though the past few days these two have been spending more time as enemies than friends.  They fight, fight, fight.  They know each other so well that one knows exactly what to do to get under the other's skin.  This is a two-way street, but does involve a bit of an instigator (not mentioning any names-Kadence).  Just when I think I can not handle anymore picking and fighting...they flip back to best friends.

It's a good thing that I love these little people more than anything!

Toofers.

I can't believe I am writing this post already.  My sweet baby girl who is just 5 months old has her first tooth.  I was shocked as I looked in her mouth and noticed that her lower left central incisor had poked through!  The other one is visible and will probably be making its appearance soon.  She has started the lovely teething process earlier than the other 2, not surprising curveball Kenzie!

For the most part, the little dear has been herself.  She has been waking a bit more during the night, but she is so inconsistent it is hard to know if it really has anything to do with the new toofers.  Growing up too too fast!

Easter 2011

We spent this Easter in Cloquet with my parents and sister's family.  It was fun to be back "home" for the holiday and to watch all 4 cousins and all their excitement with the festivities.  The kids colored Easter eggs together on Saturday and had a great time!

It is so fun to share in holiday traditions with cousins so close in age.  

We went for a nice Easter brunch at Blackwoods in Proctor.  The food was excellent and we were there at a great time that was not too busy. 

When we returned to the Skowlund's house, the kids searched for their Easter baskets.  They thought this was pretty fun this year.  They got all kinds of goodies and had so much fun.  

After the kids found their baskets inside, they headed outside to see if the Easter bunny had left any eggs.  It turns out he left a ton of eggs and all four kids had an absolute blast finding the eggs.  We were blessed with an awesome day for an Easter egg hunt.

 

 

The kids didn't really care what was inside the eggs, they had more fun finding them!

Ever try to get a picture with 5 kids 4 and under?  It is so hard.  I should have tried to get the picture before we had all the Easter festivities.  I still like the picture of Grandpa and Grandma and their sweet grandbabies.  

I thought this picture was pretty neat.  Annabelle and AJ wanted to hold their baby cousin so bad.  She loved all the attention and stared at Annabelle most of the time.  It was pretty sweet to see how gentle and loving they were with Kenzie. 

My 3 sweet babies on Easter.  Love them so much.  I just hope they cooperate with pictures better someday.  

One of my favorite pictures of sweet baby Kenzie.  I can't believe how big she is getting!  Love her to pieces. 

We had such a great Easter weekend!  It was busy with all the events, but great to catch up with so many  loved ones.  The drive home was a gift as well!  Kenzie slept most of the way (unheard of up to this point), and the older two slept on and off and were quiet.  I even was able to sit in the front seat the whole way!  I am very thankful for a drive "home" that is 2 hours shorter!

Surprise!

We had a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom last Saturday.  Her birthday was actually March 21st, but we had to have it later due to Ryan finishing up school and such.  It actually turned out okay because she had absolutely no idea.  We kept it a secret that we had come to town for the weekend, and had told my mom we were going to the farm for Easter.  We stayed with Jill on Friday night and kept her away Friday and Saturday.  This is a picture of her first walking in the door at the Cozy.  We had the four kids meet her at the door with balloons.  She said she saw Landon first (and before she realized what was going on) thought, "wow, that little boy looks just like Landon!" Then I think it registered once she saw the rest of the kids and we all shouted, "surprise!"  I think it was a good thing Dad was standing behind her or she may have turned around and went right back outside.

We had a great turn out considering it was Easter weekend.  There was even a huge rainbow right outside the cozy confirming the presence of Uncle Dave.  I just know he was so happy watching us all celebrate and even happier knowing how old she is!!

Amy made my mom a beautiful and delicious birthday cake.  Here she is doing what she does best, spoiling the grandkids and letting them each have a frosting flower.

It was great to see so many people I haven't seen in a long time and celebrate my mom's birthday in style.       Gotcha!

Baby Piper

When we were back in Cloquet Easter weekend, I was able to finally meet baby Piper.  Piper was born March 29th, so she was 3 1/2 weeks old already.  Jackie is doing well and looking great of course.  We had a nice little visit Saturday morning without my two older children.

Isn't it amazing how just 4 months can make such a big difference at this age?  In a couple years, 4 months will be nothing!  So fun to have a baby so close to my very best friend.

Let's not forget about one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen, big brother Rocco.  We got some play time in and I think I played 10 different sports with him while I was there :) Too cute.  Congratulations Will, Jackie, and Rocco on your sweet baby girl!