Congrats Christian!

Yesterday we celebrated Christian's graduation. We've been attending graduations for many Memorial Day weekends, but this was the last in the line of siblings. Congrats!

Helena and Magnus surprised everyone by attending the party, so we were able to get pictures of all 9 grandchildren together. With only one crying baby, I think we did pretty well. (I love Adam's pose...reminds me of Austin Powers!)

The kids had a great time playing with their cousins at the party. With 5 kids all within a year of each other, you never know what you'll get, but they kept each other busy!

Congrats Christian!

Med City 5K 2011

Sam, Emily, and Erin ran the Med City 5K today. Despite the warmer weather, all three ran well. I'll post a link to race results when they're online. More importantly, they all had fun. Hopefully there are more races for these competitors in the future. For crowd support, Elizabeth and Adam snacked as they cheered the runners coming into the homestretch, and I was on spot patrol to point out Elizabeth's aunts/mom as they ran by (Adam was paying more attention to a) his crackers, or b) the cars passing by).

Good work people!

Adam is 18 months

Today Adam has reached the 18 month mark. So what is he about at this milestone? Well, he's still a remarkably happy, good-natured little boy. When he is happy, at least. Which is most of the time. But when he's not, watch out. The causes of his unhappiness is a short list, and essentially boils down to either not getting what he wants or (you guessed it) his big sister doing something to bug him.

At 18 months, Adam is:

Saying lots of words...

Trying to put multiple words together...

Still has full conversations with you, most of which is still incoherent... but he doesn't seem to mind...

Loves to be outside...

Loves to play at the park, especially going down the slide...

Eats more than his older sister...

Can climb anything...

Is very friendly, and likes to say "bye" and "hi" to anyone...

Gets excited to see birds in the sky and any truck or motorcycle that makes loud noise on the road...

Happy 18 months Adam!

3.5 Years Old!

On Saturday, Elizabeth celebrated her half birthday. (She was a little ticked about not getting cake for the birthday, but we did let her pick out cookies from the Farmer's market.)

Here's the list of her favorites at 3.5.

Color- blue
Food- chicken patties
Movie- Dumbo
Book- Dumbo book and Beauty & the Beast
Friend- Max
Animal- elephant
Snack- cheddar bunnies
Treat- sucker
Thing to do- "play with my baby brother Adam"
Song- Alex and Leah
Drink- water and milk

**For the most part, she was pretty accurate. She is loving the movie Beauty and the Beast and makes me listen to her stupid Sesame Street CD over and over in the car.

Problem with Colored Bubbles

Here's your advertisement to not purchase colored bubbles! I will admit that my kids can make just about anything messy, but these were pretty bad. (Auntie Courtney, we owe you!)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! We spent the day with the GUS clan. We went to the Big Band Bash on Saturday and the girls had a blast dancing together.

Elizabeth was so excited to hold her baby cousin. I love that they both smiled for the picture.

Birthday presents were a highlight at the princess birthday party.

Uncle Jacob loaned Adam his tractor. Adam was very excited with his new ride and didn't seem to mind that he couldn't make it move. There's something about a guy and his tractor!

Spring Has Sprung

Spring took a long time to get to Minnesota this year. The kids have been eagerly playing outside whenever it is warm enough. Here they are ready for a bike ride. (And yes the safety freak has no helmets on her children.)
This week Josh was in the yard with the kids. Later I came out and realized that a bucket was full of daffodil petals. I love looking out of my back window at the flowers in the morning with a warm cup of coffee, but now this is what I see. How Josh missed the 3 year old picking flowers in our yard is beyond me. Elizabeth's reply was, "I didn't pick all of the petals mom."

17 Months Old

On Thursday, Adam turned 17 months old. This post comes late because April was the worst month of my life. But Adam has kept us hopping this month. This picture really sums him up. He is so darn happy when he is outside doing what he wants to do. (Now trying to get him inside shows the other extreme of his personality.)

We are looking forward to sunny spring weather so we can spend it outside. Happy 17 months little guy!