Last Day of April

I am loving all of my tulips! They have popped up all over the yard and I can't get enough. It has been really fun to watch all the flowers appear after winter. Audrey loves to pick them and make bouquets. She took a handful to Alexis' teacher this morning.

On Saturday the girls were playing so nicely together. After awhile I got suspicious and started to investigate. They were at the bottom of the driveway holding up a sign that said, "Be Happy Not Sad" and a mug with a sign that read, "One Penny Please." Those two are so funny together. Although I imagine it was all Alexis' idea and she had a very willing participant.
Ben brought home a work calculator. The girls love it and have been playing store ever since. Alexis made a sign that says open and closed and she also made a list of what her store sells. Everything from cats, dogs, cake, hot dogs, cups, rats, screwdriver, saw, apple, oranges. Very cute. Alexis really likes to make lists. I remember doing that as a child.
Did I mention how much I love tulips? :) I am leaving for the BYU Women's Conference in Provo, UT on Wednesday morning. I am really excited to see my wonderful friend Kathy and be her roomie for four days. I am a little nervous about the girls and Ben though. I know they will be fine but I still can't help worrying. It should be very uplifting and fulfilling. Hopefully I will write again on Sunday!

The Deer Run

Saturday I ran in my first 5K race/run since high school. I had three friends that convinced to run it with me. Cynthia, Brittany, and Josie. It was a gorgeous morning and I loved it. I ran it in 30 minutes. We ran through a nice part of Brown Deer. The houses are all nice and one section was brand new houses that I'm sure are really expensive. Funny enough it is the same neighborhood I go running in on Tuesdays and Thursdays while Audrey is in preschool. I wasn't really tired at the end so I realized that I could have run faster but I wasn't sure since it has been eleven years. Before the run I was really rethinking running a 10K with my sister-in-law, Janet. I thought I just don't think I can do it. But now that I was fine after three miles I think I could train pretty easily for a 10K. Although I think Janet's pace is far faster than mine. She'll probably leave me in the dust! The winning time for our run (the women's best time) was 18 minutes and seconds.
Aren't the girls so excited to meet me at the finish line? I think they were basically confused and wondering what the heck was going on. I told Audrey in the morning that I was going to run in a race and she said, "Why?" I said because I wanted to and she looked at me funny and said, "Why?!" Ha. Audrey was super grumpy the whole time afterward too. There's no telling what mood kids will be in at any given time!
We went to a new park on Friday afternoon with some friends. It had this big rope area that looks like a spiderweb that you climb up. Audrey was too nervous to try it at first but after twenty minutes she just decided she would do it and spent the rest of the time climbing up and down it. The picture below is the first time she got to the top. She was so proud of herself.

Fun in the Sun!

It was such a gorgeous day today. It was around 50 degrees and sunny. I took a wonderful run this morning while Audrey was in preschool. It was so nice outside! It's supposed to be 65 by Saturday and in the 70's next week. I can tell we are going to outside all Spring and Summer! We had our friends Jordan and Carter over while their parents went shopping together. We ventured out to the playground by our house and had a lovely time. One of Audrey's preschool friends and mom showed up and that was really nice to have adult conversation. Then we picked up Alexis at school and all walked home. All the kids went outside again to the backyard when we got home. Needless to say they really enjoyed the sun today!

I don't know if you can tell by this small picture but Audrey and Jordan are talking to each other through the blue speakers on the playground. I think they heard each other because they were yelling into them. I don't think those things actually work.
The girls were so cute while I was making dinner tonight. Alexis made an office again and then was Audrey's teacher. Audrey loves this game which is kind of surprising because Alexis usually asks her questions that she doesn't know. I think she just really likes interacting with Alexis. She is always so excited to pick Alexis up from school.

Easter Pictures

This has nothing to do with our Easter but I thought this was such a good card that Alexis drew that I had to take a picture of it. We were making birthday cards for three of her uncles and one cousin and Alexis certainly put her best effort into it. The inside of the card was wonderful too. She has such creativity.
Audrey started her ballet class yesterday. She absolutely loves it and the ballet outfit. She wears it all day at home and only puts on regular clothes if we are going out.
The next two pictures are of our Easter Egg Hunt at our house. It was a gorgeous day on Sunday and the girls had a lovely time finding the eggs.

None of these pictures are in order but oh well. We had lots of fun with cousins Lily and Abigail. Alexis loved holding Abby. She and Lily entertained her so well on the six hour car ride home that she barely fussed at all.
We went to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum with Lori, Lily, and Abigail. It was a little crowded because of Spring Break but we had a good time.
Do you see anything wrong with this picture? We came home from MN and found snow all over! I think there is something wrong when the girls have to wear ALL their winter clothes in mid-April!!! Oh well, they seemed to enjoy it and it all melted within one day. Crazy weather! It keeps us guessing I suppose.
This is the Easter Egg Hunt at Grandpa and Grandma's house. As you can see, there were lots of little girls running around enjoying it. In fact, there is only one baby boy out of all nine grandchildren!

The kids decorated cookies at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Don't they look tasty? :)
We had two Easter Egg Hunts. One in MN and one at our house. This picture is at our house.
I got such good pictures of the girls. They look so precious. The one below is my favorite one.

It was cold out when we visited Ellen's house but there were simply too many kids to stay inside! :) They got bundled up and played outside for awhile. I thought this was such a sweet shot of sisterly affection. We don't get these very often.

Catching Up!!

I know it has been a really long time since I have posted. I had a really fun and long Easter/Spring Break. The girls and I went to MN for Easter. We stayed up there for three days then went to my sister-in-law, Ellen's, house (Ben's sister). We stayed with her for two days. Then we drove back to WI with my other sister-in-law, Lori, and her two girls. They stayed with us for four days and five nights with Ben's brother joining us for the weekend. It was so much fun to see family and I had a great time with Ellen and Lori.

I am still trying to catch up on life though. It seems no matter how many loads of wash I do there is always three more. We used every towel in the house when Lori was here. I actually had to wash two loads of towels.

I will upload some pictures tomorrow of our Easter, Spring Break, visit with Ellen, visit with Lori, and Audrey in her new ballet outfit. She started a ballet class today. She was so excited to wear her outfit and go to class that she wouldn't eat any lunch. She was pretty good too.

Alexis is so happy to be back at school. Yesterday she told her favorite part of school was the whole day and then with more prodding, math. She is still adjusting to getting back on schedule though. Both girls had to be woken up this morning at 7:45am so Daddy could get to work! (I went to a friends house at 5am to watch her four girls while she went for a procedure at the hospital so Ben had to bring the girls to me once they woke up.) At any rate, I am tired tonight. I almost left the rice all over the floor from dinner but I just couldn't do it. :)

Pictures will be forthcoming tomorrow and then everybody can see how much fun we had the last week and a half.

I have my 5K race this Saturday. I'm excited. It should be fun. It certainly keeps me focused on exercising when I know I have to keep up with my friends for 3.1 miles! I'll try to get some pictures of that too. Ben's other sister, Janet, and I are going to try and run a 10K in May. That should be grueling considering Janet is a serious runner and runs six days a week! If I don't look amazing after training for that there is something seriously wrong with my body!

Bed is calling. More tomorrow.