Is Spring Here to Stay?

Our week started off with snow and rain. It didn't stop the boys. They found their suits in the laundry and ran around the house pretending it was summer.

Spencer took a turn with my camera and snapped this picture of Easton and I.

Next was Easton's turn to take one with a little help from Ryan.

Spring finally came this week. The sun was out and the temps were getting warmer. We headed straight outside. In fact we have spent a lot of time outside this week. The boys are so excited to be back outside. Nolan loves going out and running around. Spencer likes riding his bike and roller blading. Easton likes the jeep still and he's the first one that is actually ready to come in. A few times he picked playing inside with me while the other two stayed out with Ryan.

Grandma and Grandpa got Nolan a mini cooper that for Christmas that I finally put together.

He can't drive it so he just sits in it.

Easton was taking it for a spin.

Friday was beautiful outside. I told Spencer we could go to the Y for a bit because the bounce house was up. Afterwards we met friends at a park. Then the 4 moms took on the challenge of bringing 9 kids the oldest being 5 to lunch at Culver's. Lets just say it's a good thing we were eating outside.

We visited a few parks over the weekend.

You gotta love Spencer's outfit!

They spent time at our tennis courts...

I was the lucky one to take these two goof balls shopping!

The swings are up! Have I mentioned how much I love being able to go outside with the boys. I feel like I can finally say we survived the winter.

With all of the playing outside the boys have been DIRTY at night! Why are they so attracted to dirt?

Spencer got a late birthday present in the mail from Aunt Roz. She told him she was going to Texas and would bring him something back. She sent Texas cookie cutters. He confirmed he will not be sharing these with his brothers.

We went to Mike and Suzie's annual Cancun party. Their youngest Simon is great about keeping our littles entertained. They had fun eating Tacos and playing soccer and golf outside.

Nolan has given up the high chair. Poor Spencer has been standing on a little chair for meals because they all insist on eating by each other.

So we bought new bar stools. Don't mind the messy kitchen in the background. The 3rd one has yet to be put together but now they will all have matching seats.

Bath time fun..

Spencer thinks by putting his animals up there they will watch over him and protect him from any monsters.

Grandma kept the boys so Ryan and I could go with friends to the Twins game. Its was the perfect day. The sun was shining and the Twins won. 

The Twins manager got thrown out of the game for arguing a close call at third base.

 Ryan was taking a lot of pictures during the argument, here the ump is throwing him out of the game!

While the boys were at Grandma's they painted bird houses for Grandma Peg's tree.

They also had fun playing outside with Finley. Even though no one looks happy in this picture Grandma insists they were having a good time.

It's moments like these that melt a mom's heart.....

Wish me luck! Next weekend I take on 13.1 miles. I'm not going for time but more for distance. I'm not sure why I thought this would be fun or something I should challenge myself to do, but I guess there is no turning back now. Hopefully when I post next weekend I will be able to say I finished my first 1/2 marathon.

Kindergarten And A Break From The Weekend Routine!

Spencer and I spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house last Sunday. On our way to their house Spencer informed me that Grandma told him the next time he was by himself he could play with the doll house. I think I was more excited about setting up the house then Spencer was. It brought back a lot of memories.

He enjoyed taking up the whole tub by himself. We had to stay at Grandma's because the next morning we had an early appointment with ENT. Spencer had failed his hearing test at his 5 yr check up. Thankfully he passed the real test with the audiologist. The ENT doctor said his hears didn't look perfect but they were fine/normal. However he did take a look in his throat and said "WOW! Those are some big cherry sized tonsils." I had talk to his pediatrician about his tonsils, his sleeping, how he's still have accidents during the night and the fact that he seemed to have a lot of strep last year. The ENT said it could also cause some of the fluid in his ears. All that can be linked to the fact that those big tonsils need to come out. So we left with an appointment to have them removed. Surgery is set for the end of May.

The highlight of our week was kindergarten round up! Spencer got to go to his school, look in the classrooms and meet the teachers. They took his picture, did their hearing test and took the kids into one classroom for some activities. While the kids worked with the teachers the parents met in the library with the school nurse and principal to go over things for registration and next year. It made the fact that Spencer is 5 and will be going to school this fall a little to real for me!

Ryan thought it would be fun to take Spencer somewhere after for a special treat. He was thinking somethingn like Applebee's, Green Mill or even ice cream. What did Spencer really want? A pretzel and cheese from Target!

The boys playing with magna tiles and shells.

Nolan showed his older brother where he likes to hide.

I had projects lined up for one of our stay home days this week. We still can't get outside much and we are going crazy!

I told the boys they could decorate old boxes and make them into their cars.

I made a race track around the house for them to drive along. We even had red pit stops. 

We also had a car wash that they had to go through....

After the cars we blew up balloons doing a science experiment... 

Since we can't go to parks for the beach we got out our towel that I've been waiting since last fall to use for picnics and we had a picnic lunch on the living room floor.

Zoey even enjoyed laying on the towel in front of the fire place.

I gave in and got Nolan's hair cut. Still not sure I made the right decision. I liked it long and wanted to grow it out a bit but either way he's still cute.

They also cut off just about all of Easton's hair. Thankfully his hair grows fast.

I'm SO ready for spring. I'm even craving summer treats. Root beer floats!

They play hard till they crash...

What a cute little butt... 

He's working on drinking from a straw. Or I should say not spilling the cup while drinking from a straw. I took the boys out for dinner after work while Ryan was stuck driving home in a 3 hour commute. Snow started falling in Minneapolis in time to affect the commute and I-94 was a parking lot. Ryan's work is only 33 miles away, typically takes him 45 minutes. I'm thankful we both made it home ok. Part of the reason for the long commute was a 16 year old Hudson boy was killed in an accident a few miles from the Wisconsin border.

The boys and I were going to run in our first race of the season this weekend. Grandma suggested we stay in a hotel closer to where the race was and let the boys swim the night before. They were excited and loved the kids pool. The boys do really well sleeping in hotels. I put Nolan down awake in the crib, Easton cuddled Grandma and I cuddle Spencer. All 3 boys were asleep in less then 5 minutes. We had a joined room with Grandma so Ryan and I both slept in our own beds in our room. Everyone actually got a full night of sleep!

 Spencer just bumped his head on one of the pool toys.

Spencer has been trying to master doing handstands in the pool.

Easton was being "that" child in the booth at dinner. He kept elbowing the booth and at one point the guy turned around and looked at Ryan. The guy eventually moved to the other side so they were both facing Ryan while they ate dinner. After the boys were done eating, Ryan kept them entertained coloring just to outlast the other couple! I'm sorry my kids can't be perfect 100% of the time in public. How do you teach them though if you don't get them out and about to do things in public?

We decided to keep the boys at the hotel with Grandma so they could swim more. I braved the cold and went to the race. It's for colon cancer so it's encouraged to race through work. Here we are before the starting line. It's me, Dr. Rettig, co-worker Rachel and Andrea. Rachel, Andrea and I will be traveling to TX together in May for our national work conference.

It was a cold 35 degrees. I did decent but felt I could do better. My official time isn't in yet but the clock said exactly 29:00 when I crossed the line. There is still snow on the ground and there's talk we're going to get more slushy snow tonight.

Grandma sent these of the boys...

I'm not sure what is worse. The snow that we got this week and the fact that we are expected to get more or.....

That I was caught up on all of the boys laundry at one point this week and now I have to work on this all day?