Happy St. Patty's Day!

What a great St. Patrick's Day!  The kids and I had a fun time making cupcakes with GREEN frosting!  The sun also finally came out today and we all headed to Falls Park for some fresh air!  Ryan and I even took the kids for a 5k run!  God is good!

Things worth remembering.

We have been keeping ourselves busy this past week.  To say that we are going insane with this weather would be an extreme understatement.  We have managed to stay quite busy but are anxiously awaiting daily trips to the park, pool, zoo, and just being outside!  We went to the Rainbow play set showroom last week to play on all the swing sets.  This was not quite the park but we burned off some energy anyhow.

We had a funny day today.  I just love the things the kids say most days but today's sayings are worth remembering.

Kadence-
"Mommy you have a buttcake (cupcake)."

-I hear this one frequently throughout each day and it is just plain cute, "Mommy, I need take a rest."


Landon-
"Mommy, I sick.  I have the pick-ups, no the hook-ups, ohhhhhh the hiccups!"

-Any time we ask Landon to do something and he doesn't want to do it, he immediately replies with, "no, I can't.  My knee hurts."

Oh how these two little people bring so much joy to my day!

Surprise!

We successfully made a trip to Cloquet and surprised my sister for her 30th birthday.  It was not an easy feat to keep the secret when I was so very excited!  My family of 5 (I'm including Emma, don't get any silly ideas) hit the road about 2 pm on Friday and arrived at my parents house about 8:45.  The kids were the best they have been thus far on this long car ride.  We somehow managed to keep my sister from dropping by my parents house Friday night-thanks Curty!  Then we showed up for the ritual family Saturday morning breakfast and Jill had no idea!  It was so fun to see the look on her face!  The kids each had a balloon to give her and were very excited to wish Aunty Jilly a Happy Birthday!  The usual Saturday morning breakfast goers were all present-mom, dad, the Skowlunds, Peggy, Arletta, Lee, Grandma June, Jenny, Cisco, Emilio.  The only way this breakfast would have been more of a success would have been to have Uncle Dave there.  I miss Uncle Dave.

We had breakfast and birthday cake, then Mom, Jill, and I headed to Duluth for pedicures and some girl time.  I don't think the three of us have done this in years.  It was absolutely wonderful.  I forgot to take pictures of the pedicure extravaganza, but I am sure you all can imagine what it looked like :)

We hung out at mom and dad's for a bit then put the kids to bed and had some fun of our own.  My cousin Arletta came and babysat the kids and my other cousin Lee was up at my sisters house babysitting her kids.  The 6 of us went out for dinner and drinks and had a blast.  There was so much laughing, it was great.  And...the best part, we told the server at Texas Roadhouse that it was Jill's birthday.  It was announced to the entire restaurant and she did indeed ride the bull :)  I have a feeling there will be payback in a few years.

We took some great pictures while we were waiting to be seated.  We were having such a riot that I think we made everyone leave...

If you can believe it the waiting area was packed when we arrived, people were even waiting outside.  This was the site after we had been there for a little while.

After a night out (130 is too late for this old lady), we had a relaxing morning with the kiddos before we had to adventure back home.  These two munchkins are getting so big so fast!  The 4 little ones played well together and had fun.  I can't believe how fast they grow.

What a great weekend!  It was mid 40's and beautiful.  Ryan and I even squeezed in a 6.5 mile run on Saturday morning (6 am-his idea).  The weekend went too fast like usual but it was so much fun.  Much needed.

The worst rider in the car was definitely Emma.  I think she needs a tranquilizer.  She actually thought this spot was very comfortable.  Too bad Landon didn't think the same.  Thanks for the great weekend family of mine, I love you all so very much.

Happy 30th Birthday Big Sister!

Love you Jilly!

March is here!

Feeling pretty cooped up here with this long and snowy winter.  Ryan and I decided to take the kids for a walk through Falls Park yesterday afternoon.  The kids had a blast and it was great to get some fresh air.  I can not wait for warmer weather!

There's simply nothing as fun as walking through puddles.  This big puddle kept the kids occupied for several minutes and resulted in soaking wet pants and feet!  But hey, it was fun!

Happy kids=Happy Mommy and Daddy!

Just us girls...walking away from winter!  Bring on spring!!

last day of february!

It is the last day of February today.  During the month of February last year...

It was warm enough to take the kids for a walk outside and look, NO SNOW!

It was warm enough for Landon to practice riding his bike.

Kadence was working on her walking.  Look how much she has changed in just one short year! 

But this February...we are stuck playing with our outside toys inside because it is too cold and there is just too much snow!

Praying for warmer weather so we can all get outside!

Gymnastics!

I finally had the chance to take some pictures at gymnastics yesterday.  Sue and Arin were in town so they came with.  The kids had a blast like usual as it was the first time out of the house in almost a week.  Let's hope they didn't pick up another bug...

Gymnastics has truly been a godsend this winter.  It is so good to get the kids out of the house and let them run free.  There is so much space and they love all the jumping, sliding, running, swinging, and playing.  It is such a great place to get us through until spring!