"Beauty and the Beast" the Musical

One of my favorite childhood memories involved the first time I saw my first musical.  My mom and I got dressed up and went to the Disney's Broadway's Production of "Beauty and the Beast".  I loved every minute of the night.  Therefore, when our local school put on the exact same production, I knew it was a tradition I just had to make.   So Elyse and I got dressed up just like my mom and I, and then we sat back to enjoy Elyse's first musical too. The musical was fantastic and it was so fun watching her enjoy it with me as much as I did with my mom.  I know there will be many more musicals to come for Elyse and the boys, but Saturday involved creating one of my favorite adult memories.

Our Little Gymnast

Tonight Elyse started gymnastics.  She was so excited and it showed throughout the entire hour.  She had a huge smile on her face the entire time.  I couldn't believe how many flips and trampoline activities they were doing the first night.  I can't wait to see what she is doing on week five.

Caleb's Spring Production

Tonight we attended Caleb's preschool's spring production.  He looked so handsome; and even though being on stage and singing with actions is not his thing, he did great.  We were very proud of him.  My favorite part of the whole production happened right in the beginning.  He stood of stage and instantly looked for us five and began waving hi so happily as we happily waved back.

(Middle row, third from left)

Proud brother, dancing and cheering Caleb along

 Caleb with his two best friends, Noah and Kaila

Without further ado: Caleb singing his favorite song, "Oh, What A Miracle Am I"

Como Zoo

Yesterday we spent our afternoon at Como Zoo, one of our favorite places to go when the weather is nice.  Unfortunately we didn't capture a lot of pictures because we were having too much fun admiring the animals.  Wish we would have got some of Ian's expressions when visiting the monkeys.  It was his first time really seeing the animals and he was in ah for sure.

Bike Helmets

Blaine's Police Department had their annual bike helmet event this week.  For $10 each kid got to pick out a new helmet and have it properly fitted by a police-person.  It is such a great event for the community and fun for the kids.  

Celebrating 10 Years

Today Nate and I joyfully celebrate 10 years of marriage.  I am beyond grateful for having a marriage that is devoted to one another and more importantly, rooted in Christ.  I deeply believe we would never have made it if it wasn't for Him.  

And now 10 years later we have...
*four beautiful children that are nothing more than blessings
*lived in two apartments and owned two homes
*traveled to IA, CA, NE, NM, MI, MO, IL, IN, FL, NV, NY
*been apart of two church families
*changed not only jobs, but careers
*continued to exercise weekly together to be together
*still made it a priority to love and respect one another everyday

To My Dearest Nate:

Thank you for being an amazing provider, leader, husband, father for our children and friend a woman could ask for.  Everyday I go to bed and wake up with a happy heart knowing you are next to me.  I love you more than words can express.  You are my best friend and I can not wait to celebrate more and more decades with you.  Love you always, Happy 10 Year Anniversary!

Mighty Digger Kids

Last summer Nate pulled out all the weeds in this square box behind our swing set.  After pulling them all out, we learned the box was filled with rocks, which became the PERFECT rock pit for the kids.  In fact, I would take rocks over sand any day!  That's because it doesn't become a animals' litter box, doesn't get in the kids' shoes, and a lot easier to pick up when dumped out of the box.  Recently the kids received these awesome diggers as a gift.  Needless to say, they ask daily to go play with them until they are forced to stop.  

Be Well with "Twin Cities LIVE"

If you know me at all, you know I am one, if not the biggest advocate of chiropractic care (especially pediatric chiropractic care).  I absolutely love ours, "Essential Life Chiropractic" in Andover, and so thankful for it!  So when our chiropractic, Dr. Tony asked me if I would be willing to share our family's chiropractic story on our local daytime's live show, "Twin Cities LIVE", I happily said, "Yes."  We drove to Woodbury on Thursday to do the segment and it aired live today.  Both the kids and I had a lot of fun doing it, and even more fun watching ourselves on television.

Pictures of us live on TV today.

To watch the segment, click on this link: Be Well with TCL- Kids Chiro

Gone Fishing

After putting Ian down for his nap, I came downstairs to find this: the boys decided to stack every blanket, pillow and climbing accessory they could find from the family room to make their pond and cliff.  They were fishing using their jump-ropes and our blanket bucket.  They informed me that they had to stay behind the cliff or the alligators were going to get them, and therefore couldn't go take their naps :)  I know I've said it before, but I LOVE their creativity!

Celebrating Easter

Easter this year was just like every other; the day was filled with joy, love and celebrating Jesus rising from the dead for our sins.  Our day consisted of our annual traditions: attending church, opening our baskets, doing resurrection eggs, sharing a meal together and after naps doing our Easter egg hunt.

On Saturday we also did our annual dying of Easter eggs.