Snow day!

First snow of the year and it was a doozy!  Kids were up bright and early ready to play in the snow.

Notice anything different?

Haidyn has been waiting until soccer was over before her and a friend could do something.  Guess what she did!

Halloween 2015

We had a great Halloween despite the rain.  Eli dressed as Hulk and Haidyn was a cat.  We went with friends and had  a great time,  even though it rained.  Kids banked on candy.  Anyone need chocolate? And the kids even made a couple of bucks from the guy passing out dollar bills instead of candy.  We hit his house twice.  :)

Birthday!

Whoops,  just realized I didn't post Eli's birthday pictures!

Our little man is 4 now!  How in the world did that happen already?! We had a great time celebrating. He wanted an Avengers party with his friends.  And of course a bouncy house. It was a good time for all!

Fall soccer

Soccer has begun for Eli.  He had his first practice.  He missed the cut off for age, but he was allowed to play up a league. He's the youngest on the team,  but also the biggest. He's a moose. :)

Go Fire!

First day of school

The kids are back at St. John's for another year.  Haidyn is in 2nd grade and Eli in PreK 3. They were both excited for another year!

Swim!

Haidyn just completed a swim builder camp.  4 days a week for 2 weeks. She did awesome!  We went to a swim school instead of just the classes at our park district.  What a difference!  She was so excited about going each day. She moved up two levels  within the 2 weeks. She's turning into quite the swimmer!  We need to get through soccer and we'll do another round of lessons. Next time,  Eli gets a turn.

Family vacation 2015

We had a great time up in Wisconsin Dells! We stayed at Springbrook Resort. It's so much nicer to stay at a house than just a hotel room.  Minus the power going out and having to move to another house,  it's a nice resort.  We enjoyed their pool and the boys got to play a couple rounds of golf on their course. We spent one day downtown mini golfing and riding the Original Wisconsin Ducks, another day at Mount Olympus water and theme park.  Eli loved the roller coaster, Haidyn loved the big wave pool. And then one day to just hang around the house,  go for a walk,   and hit the pool. We had a great time!

VBS 2015

Haidyn had her second year of Vacation Bible School and Eli had his first. St. John's had a week of Camp Discovery! It was a lot of fun,  but a bit tiring since it went from 6-8:30pm. Haidyn was in the Sing-a-Longs group and Eli was in the S'mores. Haidyns project took all week,  they built a stool. Eli has a fun different craft to do each night. And we all learned a bunch of songs! That they still sing.  All. The. Time. Ask them,  they'll sing for you.  :)

Fourth of July

Happy fourth of July! We went to the Osage Iowa parade today and the kids got tons of candy! Besides getting candy, Eli's favorite thing was the karate guys and Haidyns was the marching band and the horses. Last weekend we saw the fireworks at Grandma Weilers in Carpentersville. This year the loud fireworks weren't as scary for the kids.  :)

Extravaganza 2015

Mega gymnastics,  where both kids take classes,  had their annual extravaganza.  It's a chance for the kids to show off what they've learned in their classes. This is Haidyns 3rd time and Eli's 1st. I wasn't sure how Eli would enjoy it,  but he loved having an audience! And getting a medal was pretty cool too! And to top it off,  their best friends were there also.

Smile!

Look at that beautiful smile! You wouldn't know it,  but it didn't look so good yesterday.  There was a little accident at Cougar Camp (St John's after school care). Haidyn was running and fell and smacked her mouth on the back of a chair.  It chipped off her two front teeth.  They looked like fangs. Luckily we were able to get into the dentist the next day and she's all fixed up!

1st grade zoo field trip

The first graders took their end of school year field trip to the Brookfield Zoo. It was a great time! The weather was nice and we all got a great big splash at the dolphin show!

Haircut

Eli wanted to get his hair cut. " Really short, but I don't want to be bald, " he said. It's twice as long as I asked for,  but Eli liked it and he can still spike it.  :)

Wildcats

Spring soccer has begun! New coach and new team. Eli got to practice with Haidyns team tonight.  What a great coach!

Rainy day

The day started off nice and we got to spend some time outside,  but then the clouds came in. We were inside for a short time and the kids didn't want the rain to stop them.  I forgot how fun it is to stomp around in puddles!

Happy Easter!

Today is a beautiful day! We're spending some time outside after church service and egg hunting. Unfortunately,  Paisley got a jump start on the egg hunt while we were at church. Oh well,  still plenty of candy left for everyone.

Bike ride

The kids had their first bike ride of Spring 2015. Little brisk out,  but it was nice to be outside. Figured we better take advantage of clear sidewalks. I'm sure we'll get snow at least once more.

Superhero

Haidyn had her superhero birthday party today! Lots of friends came to help celebrate! It was a good time for all.  But now this party organizer is sick of cleaning up and ready for bed.  :)

7

Happy birthday to our fun, smart, beautiful,  sweet girl! How in the world is she seven already? !

Haidyn got to celebrate with Nana, Papa and Tori last weekend and we went to Rainforest Cafe today for her birthday.  Next weekend is crazy fun with hey friends party. Superhero theme!

Performance by Anna and Rosey

Anna (Haidyn) and Rosey (Eli) put on a dance for us.  I had to record it so I have something to show his girlfriend when he's a teenager.  :)

Video

Daddy daughter dance

St John's had their first ever daddy daughter dance.  Haidyn was a little nervous about it,  she wasn't sure how to dance with daddy.  But she got a new dress and went along with it.  They both had a lot of fun!  According to Mike, it was the most he had ever danced sober and Haidyn says she was so hyper from too much punch!

Ice skating, round two

Haidyn and her friend Jordan have been asking to go skating for the longest time.  We finally found a time they both could go and we decided to bring their little brothers and they could play.  Well,  the boys wanted to skate too and we had a great time!  Eli was a natural out on the ice!

Over a foot

What do you do when it snows and snows and snows?  Play!  Who says sand box toys are just for sand! The kids had a great time digging and building in the snow!