a little bonus

ok ... so REALLY this happened a week ago.

BUT ...
you see ...
we used my little camera to take the picture.
and well ...
i am not so good at remembering to take pictures off of it when i take pictures off the other.

SO ...
pretend that i am still writing about our easter weekend back in WI.

AND ...
consider this your bonus post.

out of all of the nail places i've tried by me
i have yet to find one i like as much as the one we go to in WI.
SO ...
i like to go get a pedi when i am there.

add that to the fact that
bekah was home for easter
AND
hannah had some time off
and we had the perfect opportunity to go for a group pedi ;)

now ...
it needs to be said that
up until this point my mom would watch while we got our pedicures
and then only have them paint her toes.
not TOO sure why ;)
something about being too ticklish.
excuses excuses ;)

BUT THEN ...
stacey went and got one
and apparently that was all it took.

not to be outdone by her son-in-law ...



we got our very first REAL 'girls group pedicure'

way to be brave, mom.

and glad that i know that next time i want you to try something -
i just have to enlist stacey to do it first ;)

as seen on our counter

not a good time to be a chocolate easter bunny.

a few SUPER highlights

although his party isn't until next weekend ...

we still made sure that ben had a SUPER fun birthday!

typically i take them lunch at school.
BUT ...
ben has a SUPER fun teacher this year
who does some SUPER fun things.
SO ...
ben and 2 friends got to eat lunch in the classroom
with the teacher.
he also got this SUPER cool pillowcase
decorated by none other than ...
his SUPER cool 1st grade class.


(isn't that a fun idea?!?!)

he came home to a SUPER cool new hockey net ...

and ...
finished the night off with dinner at the same place he chooses
EVERY SINGLE BIRTHDAY.

don pablo's.



that's a SUPER cool sombrero, ben ;)

i'm glad you had a fun birthday
and
i hope that being 7 is as SUPER cool as turning 7 was!

lucky seven

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY BEN!!!



as i look back over the past year
i see that ...
although you have gotten bigger,
you have gotten smarter
and
you have gotten faster -
MUCH faster of course ;)

you are still the same crazy and loveable ben.

you still love baseball.
you still love football.
you still love being outside.
and
you still love playing wii.
actually anything that requires an active little boy
is PERFECT for you.

you love to be goofy
and
you love to make people laugh.

you are loving
and
you are a great brother.

you are patient with alex
and
you look up to drew.

you are charming
and
you are a great friend.

you keep me smiling
and
you keep me on my toes.

it's been so fun to watch you grow over the past 7 years
and
to see the person you are becoming.

happy birthday
and
i love you

today
and
always

blessings

after 18 hours with 6 boys at my house ...

i watched them out my window ...

enjoyed a venti latte from starbucks ...

and thanked God that He only gave me 3

you're hot than you're cold ...

never quite know what kind of mood you'll be in ...

... but always know that you'll let us know.

happy easter!

just a small photo recap of our easter afternoon ...



and our easter group shot.
this is the longest we could get them all still.



AND ...
as you can see
that was about how long i put into coming up with easter outfits this year too.

happy easter!!

he's no fool

this morning we woke up to giggling outside our door.

the boys were wrapping scotch tape around our bedroom door handles

so that we wouldn't be able to get our doors open

a short time later we heard them come back.

drew was pretty much yelling at ben

and trying to convince him not to take the tape off of the doors.

"COME ON ben it's funny.

it's a good april fools joke!!

just leave it!!!!!!"

ben's response showed just how well he knows us -

'drew, they're just going to stay in there all day.'

a little welcome home surprise

coming off a 10 day adventure on maui left us all feeling quite 'blah' about coming home.
it was BEAUTIFUL there
we were having fun
and ...
really ...
how exciting can minnesota be ...

WELL ...
today we found out.

when we arrived home from the airport we were greeted by this ...
(i borrowed this picture from the startrib)



and this ...

the entrance into our neighborhood was completely blocked off.
there was a massive hunt underway for a police chase suspect.
it started down in south minneapolis and made it's way up here -
ending with the guy ditching his car
and entering the woods right across the street from our house.
the police chased him and then sent a K9 in.
apparently it came back out with multiple stab wounds.

for the rest of the day
we watched SWAT members come and go,
we saw massive police barricades on the main road we use,
and
we watched a helicopter flying overhead.

sadly ...
the TEN separate police departments
AND
the U S marshalls
that they had on the chase failed to find him -
yet
(i'm hoping)

on a positive note -
they seem certain that he left the area
but are continuing heavy police coverage.

on the flip side -
that doesn't make me feel much safer.

just another crazy day around here.

oh ... and mom ...
this is all just a story that we made up.
i swear.

perfection

the PERFECT way to kick off a morning ...



and

the ONLY way to follow it up in the afternoon ...

i'm missing it already.