Piano Recital

Last weekend Kate had her first piano recital. It was very informal adn small. She did a great job, even through in a last minute duet with her teacher. She's got a ways to go before she can reach those pedals!

This is the duet with her teacher, Miss Emily. Kate heard another student play her song as a duet so when she got up front she whispered a request to her teacher to do the same:)

Preschool Concert

Jack recently performed at his final preschool concert. Last year he didn't even get up on stage, so he redeemed himself this year. The concert was very cute and ended even better with rootbeer floats! Big surprise...Bryn loved the floats:)
Jack couldn't tear away from the rootbeer float to get a picture. At least he can smile while sipping!

Here is an action shot, it's kind of blurry, but he has a very serious look of concentration on his face. The night before he told me he was "nervous" for his concert. Such a sweet boy.

Here is Bryn in the bleachers trying to be on her best behavior...which eventually took her on a trip to the sidelines because of her chattiness.

I don't know if everyone knows how much Bryn LOVES her blanket. This night...it ended up in the bathtub with her. I'm not quite sure how it happened. I left the bathroom to grab something in the kitchen and when I return it was completely submerged. She thought she was pretty smart (especially since I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I found her).

Spring has Sprung!!!

Spring has finally arrived! We have been taking full advantage of the nice weather, everyone comes in each night full of dirt and ready for the tub, but it is so worth it! This is a picture of the three trouble makers ...I almost got all of them to look!

Jack's favorite park is Minnetonka Regional Park near our house. It is huge and so much to do. Bryn is starting to get in to it, too. You can see, here, that she spends a lot of time on her knees, exploring the tunnels and slides. Her clothes never resemble the ones she came in by the time we leave. Here she is mastering one of the tunnels, thinking she is pretty smart!

This was a suprise Mother's Day picture they put together while I was gone on Saturday. It was a series that said "love you Mom". It was pretty darn cute! We spent Mother's Day at Como Zoo with the neighbors and had a great time! We fit everything in just before it started to rain. Only had to get wet on the way to the car.

Kate is a great big sister. She will almost always drop what she is doing to help Bryn out. They are riding this car together around the driveway, and Bryn was LOVING it! She had quite the grin!

Bryn is also mastering the rocking horse. We have the baby gate up on the stairs and she enjoys the sun on the deck whenever she can...mostly to check out the neighbors dogs. Needless to say, we are trying to soak in as much sun as we can because it took such a LONG time to show up at our house!

First Communion

Kate's big day was yesterday. First Communion finally arrived. Here she is, all ready to head to church.

Another pose, this one with her crucifix she got as a gift.

She read one of the responses during mass. You can almost see her head over the microphone:)

This is after mass, up on the alter.

Family photo with the big girl after church.

NERD! Silly pose!

Had to get a view of the back of the dress and the veil. Beautiful girl.

Kate with Father Abraham after church. She loves him and he goes to Kate when no one else knows the answers:) She was the one answering most of his questions during the homily.

This is the best family picture we could get. Not doing so good at everyone looking in the same direction at the same time. Bryn was having a hard time focusing because she was ready for brunch after that long mass!

Kate, opening presents after church. Reading her card from Grandma and Grandpa. All in all, it was a great day. She enjoyed all of the festivities.

A little Bit of Everything...

Bryn is becoming quite a fan of "woof woofs" these days. Zoe and Molly visited this weekend and were very good at letting Bryn get in close and clobber them. Here is a quick kiss for Zoe. Bryn routinely stands at our patio door, looking out the window, saying "woof woof" until I take her out on the deck to wave at the neighbor dogs.

Big day for Kate last Thursday...she finally lost her first tooth. We weren't sure her teeth were ever coming out. She came home last week and said she pulled it out in the middle of Music class and everyone cheered for her. She was, by far, the last to lose her first tooth in the 2nd grade.

Jack has been participating in Tae Kwon Do all school year. Here are a couple of action shots.

I think that is a "round kick."

Just a random shot of Bryn sound asleep before I had to wake her to take her to get Jack from school. It's so hard to wake a sleeping baby!

Happy Easter, spring break and so much more!

Just playing a little catch up. We have had some busy weeks these past few weeks. We have enjoyed a couple of spring break vacations (in town and out of town), some fun at home and Easter. Enjoy the pictures. The big Easter egg hunt after church was successful. Jack found many eggs with the help of Kate.

Kate and Jack were really enjoying the nice weather today.

Bryn was loving the outdoors the most. She skipped her nap and played until she dropped. Her spring dress was soon a mud dress. Oh well, that's what spray 'n wash is for.

A little Easter family photo. You may notice the shiner on Bryn's cheek. She met a cabinet with a hard fall at the babysitter's house this week. Ah, the pains of learning to walk.

Cute kids after we had brunch. A little food goes a long way... the next picture will tell you what I mean.

Before going to church and brunch...needless to say church was slightly challenging (we forgot Bryn's snacks).

New dress, big smiles.

Getting ready for Easter!

You can't see the books in this picture, but Bryn is really starting to get into books. She finds all the pictures to be quite funny, which makes me laugh.

Story time with dad.

Ann and I were lucky enough to get to take a little trip to Cancun a few weeks ago. Grandma Mikie and Grandma Maureen braved a big trip to our house to watch the three kids! Thanks again for letting us get away.

Sunrise outside our hotel patio.

Relaxing in the pool overlooking the ocean, ah nice.

A little adventure with Bryn. She has become more interested in the stairs than we would like her to be.

For Kate and Jack's spring break we had a little overnight stay at the Kelly Inn. The kids swam like crazy and went down the slides about a hundred times.

Jack enjoying the pool.

Even Bryn had a great time climbing the little slide and enjoying the water.

We hope everyone had as much fun over Easter and spring break as we did. Happy Spring!

Happy St. Patrick's Day- only a month late

Any excuse to make cookies at our house. Why not St. Pat's day. The kids enjoyed the sugar cookies and green frosting.

The snow has started to melt. Jack is determined to ride his bike with out training wheels, which means my legs are going to be extra sore for the next couple of months until he has it down.

Step by step, oooh baby... Bryn has been finally taking those first steps (not walking) just slowly stepping. Here is a fun night of her walking back and forth to everyone in the family.

Jack got to bring a friend home from preschool for the weekend for some adventures. Thankfully it was nice enough outside to do a little scooting around.

This is what I witnessed the other night. Two small children hugging each other snuggled in a blanket. Very cute when they get along so nicely.

Bryn has been breaking in the four teeth she has in her mouth. She just stole Kate's apple here for herself.