Miscellaneous March

Well, the end of March is here, and I have some great pics that I thought I'd try to post before the turn of the calendar.

This one is just the kids hanging out on the sofa, somewhat calm for Kate. Maybe that's why I like it so much. She always seems to want to be where her brother is, pretty sure it won't always be that way, but I'll take the moments I get.

Here are a few more for fun...

Darth Katie

Swimming Class

A Bridge in Gymnastics & Wheel-Barrow Races (they won!)

Happy Birthday Michael, Nathan & Grandma Wilde

Kate with her Look and Find Book

A Bus Just For Us

Without meaning to sound totally predictable, you can find us sitting on Joe's bed looking out his window almost every weekday morning between 6:12 and 6:22 am. Now if that sounds a little exact, it is, but then all buses run on a schedule. It seems that the driver of the middle school bus for our neighborhood likes to start his route early. Each day he waits in front of our house for his route to begin, and each day the kids hear him pull up and jump up on the bed to look out. They'll stay there looking out the whole time it's there. When it pulls away, Kate blows kisses, and they both wave and say "bye bus." I know that it's just a convenient place for him to stop each day, but to them it's a little piece of Christmas morning.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Louie

My grandpa turned 82 this past week. I almost feel as though I could stop there and that would be enough said, it alone really says so much. But it isn't enough for this grandpa. More like a father to my siblings and I really. The strong grandpa we knew growing up, the butcher man, the poker player, the one that walked us down the aisle. Although time has certainly taken it's toll on him physically, he remains the same wonderful grandpa to me.

We celebrated at my mom's house, it's always such fun for the kids to get together. All of the cousins were there, ages ranging from one to twelve...all laughing and running around playing more than a few rounds of 500 before dinner.

A good time had by all. Happy Birthday Grandpa, we love you.

Dan and the kids playing 500

Grandma and Auntie Florence

Silly Kate

Going Green

These are our two cuties on St. Patty's Day. You may notice a little something extra on Kate's nose. She took a spill on Sunday afternoon on concrete, the first of many spills I'm sure with the weather getting warmer and them playing outside. Even though it's getting better, it's looked a little worse each day since then. Poor little girl.
St. Patty's morning was an exciting time at our house, Joe thinks that leprechauns were able to sneak in during the night to play some tricks on us. They woke up tripping over green balloons scattered all over their floors, Kate's highchair was at Joe's spot at the kitchen table, there was a giant bowl of rice on the table for Joe to dig through (he did find eight golden chocolate coins in it), and yes...all of the milk and juice had been turned green. Joe swears that he saw something green run under the front door too. I suppose you never know...

Everywhere you look...green

Gold Coins and Green Balloons

With 70 degrees outside, they ended the day on the swingset

An Afternoon at the Art Museum

The art lovers

I hadn't been to the art museum in years, and this was Jason, Joe and Kate's first time. We went to see the wonderful exhibit of Burleigh Elementary artists (especially that of our nephew Nathan, and our niece Lauren). They had a huge display of artwork from all grades, projects in the middle of the first floor for the kids to do, and the school band and orchestra was playing. Joe considers himself part of the Burleigh group...even though kindergarten doesn't start for another six months. The artwork and all of the activities had a pirate theme, even better. We're so proud of them!



Welcome Students! - The Masterpieces

Pirate Caps and Treasure Maps

Spring Fever

Ah, the fresh Spring air

Well, it's officially mid-March tomorrow and we can hardly wait for the warmer days ahead. The temp was about 50 today, and it was a literal breath of fresh air. The soccer nets and ball came out, the rakes, and a little basketball in between. I don't know that Kate even remembers what it's like to play outside. I also couldn't help opening the bedroom windows for a while this afternoon too. Oh, how we've missed fresh air. Even growing up in Wisconsin, you never quite get used to just how long the cold weather lasts. Those first teaser days of mild weather are always so hopeful. We'll take them. I'm hoping for a walk after dinner tonight.

A little one on one...

A Terrific Tuesday

Since Joe doesn't have school on Tuesdays, and I'm off of work on Tuesdays...we're always on the lookout for fun stuff to do. Sometimes we go to the library, sometimes we visit grandparents, but this Tuesday was different...I had signed Joe up for a class at the zoo back in November. It was for 4 and 5 years olds, without parents. That was the part that I wasn't sure about, but I think that was more my issue. Leave your child at the zoo alone? Something about that didn't sit well with me. But once I picked him up, and learned all about what they did...I was amazed about what a great thing they have going there. They taught the kids all about otters, turtles and bears (oh my!)...what they eat, how they sleep, how long they live. They made really cute projects-one even in 3-D. When I asked him whether or not they had a snack, he told me that they made dams with pretzels and frosting and then got to eat them! If all of that wasn't enough, they also walked over from the education building to see the animals in their habitats. The 1/2 day ended with reading books about the animals. Pretty cool. He's got another one in May on ants, insects, and worms-he's so excited about that one...and one in July where he gets to be a junior zookeeper. When we got home, Kate just wanted her brother to play with. So the cabinets it was. A favorite of theirs. What a great day.

The awesome projects!

Playing in the kitchen cabinets, hi mom!

Little Mommy

Kate got several babies for Christmas, but was unable to properly take care of them until recently when she got a play bottle and sippy cup set. Now she brings out all the pillows she can find, lays her baby dolls on them, feeds them, and covers their faces with blankies. She'll even sing and sway back and forth. She'll also try to sing Joe to sleep if she catches him laying on the sofa

Even the horsey gets fed