Happy Easter!

He is Risen!

He is Risen, Indeed!

Alleluia!

We had a wonderful Easter this year. But, we usually have a wonderful Easter. It is my favorite holiday. After a grueling, ok maybe not that bad, 4 days of church services, we were ready for a break. Doug especially!! He was exhausted by 7am Sunday and he still had the most important, to me at least, service of all. He made it through and did a fantastic job. We were able to take a couple family pictures after church. I really need to update the picture on the wall. (It is from Christmas 2007!) The only incident this year was me falling down the garage steps on the way to church Thursday evening. I had to hobble around for the weekend, but am doing fine now. Gabriel wanted to wear his bunny suspenders again this year and Anna had a blast with her new dress. All is well in both of their worlds!!

After church, we headed over to Rochester MN to visit our friends who are on Vicarage. We had a nice visit and headed back home Monday evening. It was nice to get away for a day and try to relax a bit.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

This year we continued the tradition of dyeing the Easter eggs. As usual, it was a semi-mess, but we all had fun. We tried something a bit different this year also. We had little q-tips of paint and decorated them that way also. That worked good, but the kids still enjoy plopping them in the little cups of dye.

Chinese Fortunes

Yesterday we were able to find a decent Chinese restaurant. We were on our way home from our friend's house in Rochester MN. As usual, we all got a fortune cookie. Here are our fortunes, which ones do you think really fit?

Doug -- "You are bold and daring; others admire these qualities in you."
Renee -- "Being kind to others will bring rewards."
Gabriel--"Practice is the best of all instructors."
Anna--"You create your own stage. The audience is waiting."

Doug and I both actually laughed after reading Anna's...

I will be adding pictures later this week from the weekend.

The project of PAINTING!!

A couple weekends ago, I was to meet my sister in Cedar Falls, IA for a nice, relaxing visit. It was just me and the kids, as Doug was busy on Sunday. (Imagine that!) While I had our wonderful and very helpful kids, Doug was going to paint both of their rooms. Gabe had chosen a light green and Anna picked a light purple. So, all goes as planned on Friday. I picked Gabe up early from school and off we went to IA. We met Wendy and Leah, had yummy pizza for supper, and got to swim in the pool. It was so nice to see them. Then, Anna gets sick all night. YUCK! (There is a reason I don't usually travel without my husband!) So, we decide that we should leave early from the hotel just in case the rest of us catch what she has. My kids and I were sad. Especially the kids...Gabe because he couldn't go swimming again and Anna because we wouldn't let her eat anything just yet.

So, we get home in the midst of the painting project. Doug had Anna's room done, but there were spots that needed another coat. He was just starting on Gabe's room, so Gabe was so excited to help. Anna and I rested a while and let the boys work on Gabe's room. As with Anna's room, some spots needed a second coat. Gabe was awesome at helping take off the outlet covers and putting them back on. He really just likes using the screwdriver whenever he can.

Sunday after church we started on the painting again. This time both kids wanted to help. Doug went to the store and got them little rollers and we were on our way. It was then that I realized I should get the camera out and preserve this moment. It went OK, but after about 15 minutes of the helpers, I was done. We shooed them out of the room and told them they could help again in Gabe's room. Not to mention the fact that we were running out of paint for Anna and had lots more to do. (We ended up having to get more paint on Monday to finish her room.)

By the time we got to Gabe's room, my patience was getting kinda thin. Doug's also. I think we just wanted to be done with the project. So, the kids were only allowed to help for about 5 minutes or so. But, they did a great job and had fun. I was just tired and didn't want to deal with the extra mess that goes with letting a 6 and 4 yr old help paint.

I am happy to report that both rooms are finished and look great!! We were able to hang things back on the wall Monday and Tuesday nights. I am still deciding on a few items in Anna's room...not sure where to put them...but it still looks good. Her favorite part of the "new" room are the Princess lights that hang from the ceiling. I do have "after" pictures for you, but I didn't take a picture of the lights. Anna did get a new headboard for her bed to put her a little further away from the outside wall and to give us more space to put things. Gabe's room is a Sports theme and Anna's room is a Princess/Dance/Girly butterfly theme

Going on a TRIP...

...with Anna's preschool class.

The letter of the week was T and they went on a TRIP. It was a surprise trip and the kids had no idea where we were taking them until we got out at the bowling alley. Needless to say, all the kids were so excited to be going bowling.

We had 3 groups of 5 kids bowling. It was a hoot to watch them. Some were pretty good at getting the ball down the lane. Others were not so powerful. It takes a LOOONG time for the ball to get to the end if you just drop in on the lane. But, it will eventually get down there. It did mess up the system a few times, but that is what the reset button is for, right?? All the kids did a good job of waiting patiently for their turn. Then, they were excited to know they got to roll the ball 2 times!! It sounded logical to them since they had to wait so long. =)

Enjoy the silly pictures of Anna and Zoey and the rest of the class....

The other girl in the picture with Anna is Riley. She is also in dance class with Anna. Anna talks about Riley a lot also.

Gabriel's Music Informance

Ok, so I know it has been a while and this post is a month past due. What's the excuse you ask?? I have none...that's the best I can come up with.

Gabe didn't have a Christmas Program this year. Instead, they waited and did a Music Informance in February. It was a chance for the parents and grandparents to hear what they have been working on in music class each day. Gabe was so excited to be up on the stage. (After Anna's dance recital in Nov, Gabriel really wanted to go on stage, but I wouldn't let him.)

They have both the Kindergarten classes and the 1st grade classes. It was fun to hear the songs and the different instruments he will get to use next year. He was choosen to hold a number for one of the songs. It was a song just to demonstrating a technique on teaching the kids between high, middle, and low notes.

I apologize in advance that the pictures aren't that good. They are a little too dark because I was sitting so far back. The flash didn't do so good from that distance. But, you will be able to get the picture. =)

Happy Birthday Anna!!

This year for Anna's bday we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese. We had started a new ticket system at our house and one of the 'rewards' is a trip to CEC. The kids needed to earned 300 tickets to get to go. I ended up being a bit of a pushover though -- Gabe had 225 and Anna had 115 so we just added them together. The extra tickets were how many tokens they got once we were there. So, yes, even though it was the weekend of her bday, we did make them "work" fot it. We ended up taking them on a Saturday at noon, and that will NEVER happen again! We learned our lesson. It was so busy they had to seat us. But, they did have a wonderful time and we all learned a lesson in patience and waiting our turn.

Since we were over there, we did a little shopping, but nothing major. It was more about having fun than running from store to store. I did manage to talk them into going to the mall though. =) I found some awesome clearance deals on clothes for Gabe for next year though. And, of course, the kids got to play at the play area so all was wonderful again!

On her actual bday, the 26th, we had cupcakes and presents. She was able to take cupcakes to school on Tuesday to celebrate. Apparently she was so excited that they sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

In case you were wondering, my birthday was great also. Doug was able to take me out on a date again this year. We went out to eat (ALONE) and saw a movie. It was a good night, but very, very cold. We saw "Gran Tourino" with Clint Eastwood. The movie was good and had a good story line, but the language was horrible. I know that they had to have some bad language to fit into the movie, but I thought it was a little over the top. Now, keep in mind, we don't generally use bad language in our house, so I may be overly sensitive. We took the Saturn that night because it was just the two of us. I have had that poor little car for over 11 yrs now and it has seen better days. (But it still runs great!!) Well, after the movie I wanted ice cream -- crazy because it was -6 out. When we got in the car my seat belt wouldn't work. So, we went to Culvers and let the car run a bit to warm up, but it still wouldn't come loose. We had to move the one car seat to the front seat so I could sit in the back and properly use the seat belt. So, I had my own little chauffeur for my bday....my friend said I was the "birthday princess." hahah