Dada and Ice Cream

For the last few days, Elyse has been asking Nate to go on a date. Therefore, today, Nate called my phone asking to speak to Elyse. He then proceeded to ask to take her out on a date. She was so excited; she even shared it with the gym's childcare employee.

As you can tell from the pictures, she had a blast, Dada, McDonald's fries, chocolate milk and ice cream, a perfect date for a little girl.

Proud and Happy Mama

I was so proud and happy when I walked into the room today and saw my two beautiful children playing nice together and saw Elyse sharing her princess toys with Caleb. Love days like today.

Pool Party

Last week, Elyse's friend, Willow turned three. Today was her party and boy did Elyse have a fun and great time. The party was a pool and picnic party. Minneapolis has a ton of these little kid/low entry pools. Therefore, the kiddos got to play in the water while us moms observed from the side, talk about perfect.

Thank you for inviting us to your party Willow! Happy Birthday Willow!

The Kids: Mari, Aiden, Elyse and Mason, no Willow :( The Moms: Jenny, Nicole, Kelly, Natalie and Sarah Not the best picture of Caleb, but you can see all 6 teeth The kiddos could not get enough of the little fountains, they kept trying to sit on them.

Melissa & Doug

If you know me then you know my favorite toys for kids are educational and non-noisy. Therefore, anything made by Melissa & Doug I am bound to love. In fact, the kiddos have many toys and puzzle made by them.

When Caleb's birth family came last month they gave Elyse the Melissa & Doug's Queen and King magnetic dress up set. She plays with it a ton. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of it. They then gave Caleb the truck, car and airplane set. It is by far his favorite toys. A true boy I suppose. If you have a young son, I highly would recommend these for him. They involve no little parts, are movable and very colorful.
A special thank you to Mariah and her family for buying the kiddos these perfect toys. Not only do the kiddos love them, so do I.

Now it's your turn, do you have any favorite Melissa & Doug toy?

Grandpa and Grandma Weekend

This past weekend, Nate's parents came up to spend time with us all. Every time they leave Nate and I say how fast and great our time was. Hope they felt the same. We spent our time shopping, celebrating Elyse's birthday, hanging out at the house, going out to eat and heading over to Como Zoo and Como Park.

A special thank you to you, Mike and Kathy for making the trip up, it was great seeing you and thank you for everything.

Sprinkler Fun

Yesterday, Jenny and Aiden stopped over to hang out for awhile. While here, I suggested that the kids could run through the sprinkler. The video is them right in the beginning. I wish I would have done a video of them after they ate lunch; because, that is when they weren't running from the sprinkler, but running in it. Perfect day for it and super fun activity. Thank you Jenny and Aiden for some sprinkler fun today.

Caleb is 8 Months Old

Happy 8 Month Birthday, Caleb! We love you so much and can't believe how much you have changed in the last month. You have become our active, loving, chatty, and raspberry blowing little boy. Can't wait to see the changes you will bring this month.

Love you and Happy 8 Month Birthday!

Love Those Kisses

I can't decide what makes me smile more, the kisses or noise? You decide.

First Fall

Today, the kiddos and I joined some friends at the park. Overall, we had a wonderful time. However, the day ended up being one for the books (or blog), because Elyse had her first fall where she bled. Crazy thing is she had to do it while running, but never cried or mentioned it till way later while sitting down for lunch. She has and probably will forever be my tough girl! However, no matter how tough she is, she still said she could not nap unless there was a band-aid on it. Too afraid it would start bleeding again. :)

Dada's Attacks & Kisses

Nate and Caleb right before Caleb's bath. Priceless laughs and love.

Big Helper

Elyse has spent much of her time yesterday and today outside helping her Dada fix the yard. She really does do a great job and I don't think Nate minds the help.
For those curious what Nate is doing, he is putting underground pipes in the yard so the water doesn't keep settling by the sidewalk and house. He is one amazing man who does some crazy and great things to make our house so perfect. I am forever grateful.

Praise Him

Elyse has a children's Christian CD that she often wants to hear if she is tired of Christian radio. One song she loves is titled, "Praise Him." Almost every time it comes on I catch her praising God. Today, I quickly grabbed my phone and took a picture. Watching her praise God brings not only joy and smiles to my face, but I know His' as well.

Picnic and Park = Much Better Day

After spending the last few days inside due to colds and weather; we ran into the van with smiles on our faces as we headed out to enjoy a day outside. Since the weather was perfect and the kiddos are doing much better I suggested a day playing at the park. Elyse jumped in with, "Can we have a picnic there too?" I couldn't resist and so glad we did because it was such a great way to spend our lunch hour! Love Mama moments like today.
To all our PT friends, Elyse switched the position of her legs in the first photo right after the picture was taken.

Sick in August?!?

It all started Sunday morning when Nate and Caleb both woke up with runny noses and sore throats. Needless to say the two just progressed to get worse and yesterday, both Elyse and I joined in on the fun. It was the first time ever that all four of us were sick at the exact same time. Thankfully, Elyse and I are doing much better than Nate and Caleb. Hopefully we will all be better within the next few days. Just crazy to think that we got sick in August! Hope it's not a glimpse at what this winter will be like.

Even though we are under the weather and spending our days inside, we are still smiling and having fun. Plus besides Caleb being sick, the poor boy has two more teeth breaking through, that would make two on bottom and four on top.