March 2018 Legoland!

Nels took the day off and we went to Legoland!! 

Isak and Kira are just the right age for this adventure and they loved it.  

It's just amazing what you can build with legos!!  Here's the city of Chicago.

There were lots of little places to build and be creative on your own.  Even the babies got to join in on the fun.

There was a 4D movie that was about twenty minutes long.  Perfect for our crew.

There was a Star Wars exhibit.

Pretty cool.  :)

Nels built a car with the kids and raced it on the track.

Nels is a lego builder like this guy.

Batman!

There were two rides.  A shooting ride-you had a laser gun to shoot at targets.  We rode on that one three times.  And then a pedal circle ride.  The faster you pedal the higher you go up.  I rode once with Isak and Nels rode once with Kira.  There was a pirate ship playground and a little slide for the babies to play on.  It was just fun to spend time as a family.

On our way out of Legoland of course there is a store filled with lego sets to buy.  Oh boy.  Isak really wanted one.  But they were so expensive and it was pricey just to go to this place.  So we said no.  Even when the tears came.  But we did introduce him to earning a lego set by doing chores.

So for the past two months Isak worked hard doing chores...mostly cleaning up toys after the babies made a mess.  He finally earned enough money for a lego set he had his eye on.  He paid tithing and has just enough for a set we found in Costco.  (We offered the same chores and opportunity to Kira, but she was not interested.)  I'm so proud of him.  I think we all learned a lot too.  Isak learned about chores, saving and giving for tithing.  I learned again that each child is different and is motivated differently.  I'm glad we said no, even though it was hard at the time.

All righty, so that was Legoland.  We ate at Red Robin afterwards.  Yum!

February 2018 Wrap Up

February Odd Pictures...

One Sunday...

Isn't Sofie a cutie pie.  

Noah with his long hair and crying.

And smiling.

The three kids...I think Noah was in his car seat by now.

I like this picture. 

Sweet Kira.

All the kids decided to play with legos...

Sofie just loves to do whatever the big kids are doing.

Isak created this on his own.

Just a normal breakfast with the babies.  I feed them first and then I try to eat.  They usually end up joining me...

Isak loves these pancake egg sandwiches just like his dad.

We decided it was time to cut Noah's hair.  :(

Before pics.

At sports clips, we got Noah's first haircut!  Then I didn't get a good after pic.  :(

I made Sofie this hat.  I just love the pom poms.

Ready to go outside.

Tried to let the babies play in the snow.  Noah was not happy and refused to take one step.

Sofie was okay.

She gave me this cute smile.

Snowy house.

I love the trees with snow on them.

I bought fox slippers for the babies.  :)

And Sofie is ready to eat with her jacket and gloves on and Kira's shoes on.

All wrapped up.

Playing while I make dinner.

We went to REI to buy boots for me and Nels.  We both found some we liked.  Yay!  Then we ate deep dish pizza at Giordano's.  That pizza took 49 minutes!  Thankfully all the kids were good and Nels and I actually had a meaningful conversation!

Here's the pizza...mmmmmm.

Bath time.

Noah sleeping with his long hair.

I made these cupcakes for a baby shower.  I love chocolate and raspberries.

I went into the baby shower with the sun shining and drove home in this weather!  Ducks crossing.

We bought Isak and Kira new boots too.  Here's Isak already to go play!

Here's Sofie with her boots and gloves on.

Isak surprised me and put this 100 piece puzzle together without any help!  He loves puzzles.

Kira surprised me and made this color by number picture.  Then she asked me to color it.  :)

A few notes from my journal...
Kids racing ---"super speeeeed!" they yell as they run in a circle through the kitchen, living room and foyer.  Isak says, "I'm faster than you Kira, because my hair is shorter.  If you have short hair then you run faster." :) haha.
I overheard this conversation about what they want to be when they grow up.  Kira says, "I want to be a mom."  Isak says, "I want to be a dad."  Kira asks, "with whiskers?" haha.
Isak asked, "Hey Mom, how can humans get invisible?"
Sofie runs with a little hop in her step.
Our kitchen sink got super clogged.  Nels tried to fix it, but we had to have a plumber come and fix it.
It snowed about 11 inches over three days!
I finished reading Smart Money, Smart Kids
I put new strings on my violin!
I finished reading Winnie the Pooh to the kids.  Isak and Kira kept saying, "O Bother! that's what Pooh always says." and then we picked out characters  for our family to be.  Isak is Pooh (asking questions), Kira is rabbit (getting things done), Sofie is Roo (full of energy), Noah is Piglet (always worrying) I was Kanga and Dad was either Eyeore or owl...It was a fun/funny conversation.
I started working on the taxes.
I started crocheting Kira a hat to match Sofie's hat.
I started reading the book Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin...so I started a few projects in February.  It was a pretty good month.

2018 Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  

We tried to make the day special.  It's so fun with the kids.  Isak and Kira are more excited about it so it makes it worth the effort.

Here's the little Valentine's we made.  I blew up these balloons and put a couple of pieces of candy inside.  So the kids popped them and got the candy out.  

Nels made pink heart shaped pancakes for breakfast.

Before Valentine's day, I was invited to a Valentine exchange party.  I made these little bags and put some chocolates inside.

For lunch, I made a pink smoothie and heart shaped peanut butter sandwich.

We didn't have time to make these on Valentine's day, but on the 15th instead.  Chocolate covered pretzels, rice crispy treats and strawberries.  Mmmmm.

I made lasagna for dinner.  Nels gave me roses and raspberries.  

I bought the kids coordinating Valentine shirts.  I thought they looked so cute.  I took a few pics...

Sofie and Noah brought their snacks to the photo shoot...whatever makes them happy.

Cheese!

The kids spent a few days making valentine's and we mailed a few out to family.  It was a lot of fun.