The Easter Bunny Took My Brother!

When Libby woke up Easter morning, she didn't care about the eggs or the candy, she was worried about her brother. She says "Mom, when I woke up, my brother was gone. I can't believe the Easter Bunny took him." As you can see from the video she is frantically trying to explain her reasoning to anyone that would listen. Little did she know, Maison was so excited he couldn't sleep so he decided to crash in Grama and Papa's room. When Maison came down the hallway all was well and she could focus on the matter at hand, CANDY, EGGS, and MORE CANDY!

That silly rabbit left a huge mess in Grama's house; carrot crumbs and muddy footprints! He even left eggs in the kid's shoes! Can you believe it? The rabbit brought Maison 101 Dalmations, a notebook, some pens, chapstick, a dollar, a new beach towel, and an outfit. He brought Libby The Bee Movie, a notebook, pens, nail polish, lip gloss, a dollar, a new beach towel, and an outfit as well.

The Rabbit even made a special early stop to Grama Shari and Papa Ed's house for the kids. He brought Maison some cool sidewalk paint and Libby an awesome sidewalk chalk drawer!

Bowl-A-Rama

Auntie Laurie and Uncle Steve rented a couple of lanes at the bowling alley so we could all get together for some fun. Cousins Kyle and Kole also joined us. We had a blast!

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Work Day

We headed up to Rolfe on Wednesday night for Easter weekend. The kids were super excited to see Grama Mary and Papa Dan, not to mention their cousins. We spent most of the day unloading wood from the farm. Maison and Libby road with Papa all the way to the farm and Jason and I joined them later in the truck.

We picked up the wood and headed back into town. Me in the truck; Jason and Libby in the Allen Bro's truck with the wood; Maison and Dan in the tractor. As I looked back in the rear view mirror, I noticed the tractor heading straight for the ditch. Then it took a turn toward the other ditch. Maison must have been driving or Papa fell asleep. I couldn't stand to watch anymore, as I knew we definitely couldn't replace a farm tractor, so I sped up behind Jason and Libby.

Seeing Libby in the truck with Jason brought back a lot of memories! Watching them from behind, I could see her little head tucked right in beside Jason, shoulder to shoulder. Reminded me of all the times I road with my Dad in his truck. Standing right beside him in the front seat!

Daddy, Uncle Rog, and Papa unloaded the wood in the shed, while Maison and Libby climbed all over the truck! I asked where all of the wood came from, wondering if it came from and old barn or something, when Maison snidely says "it came from the farm, you saw Papa pick it up." Duh, but how did it get to the farm?

Too much fresh air! Libby came in, sat on the couch, and fell asleep immediately! Not much of a cow girl!

Pinkerbells

I want to preface this story with a little background information. This past Christmas Great Auntie Jerry bought Maison and Libby a 3 foot Santa and Sydney, Hayley, and Addy a 3 foot Frosty. Jeremy and Erin conveniently forgot their Frosty at Grama Mary and Papa Dan's, so needless to say we ended up both Santa and Frosty. Yes, Christmas has come and gone and I assure you all of our Christmas decorations are put away, however, every time Santa and Frosty make their way to storage, they don't seem to stay there long! They are the center of attention around here!

So there I am elbows deep in the toilet scrubbing away when a tiny squeaky little voice asks, "can I wear my princess suit?" I say sure and away she goes, clothes flying in all directions. A few minutes later that same little squeaky voice asks if she can play with her fairy outfit. I again agree not thinking much about it. A few second later that squeaky little voice needs help with her other pink suit. I am beginning to wonder what's going on. Libby still has her princess suit on but I don't see the fairy outfit and can't figure out why she wants her other pink suit. I head back into the bathroom to finish cleaning. Just as I flush the cleaner down the toilet, I hear, "come on girls...and Santa, we look amazing." I peer around the corner of the bathroom to see Libby in her princess suit, Frosty in the pink suit, and Santa in the fairy outfit.

Frosty, Santa, and Libby were very excited about stopping for some pictures!

Happy Birthday Grama Shari

We had Grama Shari over for dinner on her birthday. Uncle Ryan and Maison had peanutbutter sandwiches while the rest of us had chicken meatballs and potato dumplings. Papa bought Grammy a nice pearl necklace, Uncle bought her flowers and we bought her a new tart burner for spring. After dinner we enjoyed a Dairy Queen cake and spit. It was delicious!

Libby asked Grammy how old she was. Grammy said "53." Libby got so excited and said, "You're 3 like me!"

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Skating Party

Maison's school rented the rollerskating rink in Wellman, south of Iowa City. Skating is like riding a bike, you never forget, so they told me. I don't know if I would agree, but I did alright. I only managed to knock one kid over.

Grama Shari and Papa Ed joined us at the rink. This was Libby's first time skating. She really loved it! Her legs were all over the place! Maison did really well and Daddy even worked up a sweat! I can honestly say I have never seen my Dad skate and was a little nervous when I saw him lacing up his skates! Daddy and Papa even limboed!

I don't know who had more fun, the adults or the kids! I think all the parents skated! Brought back a lot of great memories! We can't wait until next year. Apparently they have been doing this every year for the past 17 years!

This morning I said to Maison, "Should we call Papa and see if he wants to go skating again?" He responded, "No way, I don't want him to break his back." Enough said.

An Afternoon of Sledding

The kids have definitely sledded more this year than any other year! Papa got the slope ready for the kids again. They really enjoy being outside. Hopefully the snowy weather is about over! We are all definitely ready for spring around here!

One Crazy Friday Night!

This Friday has definitely been the craziest by far. Just a taste of what things will be like when the kids are older. So this evening Maison had a Patriotic program for school and his Blue and Gold banquet for Scouts, in addition to Libby's dance recital in Solon! Needless to say we divided and conquered. We decided to skip the school program all together. I took Libby to Solon, Jason and Grama Shari took Maison to Scouts, and we eventually all met up at the banquet. Whoa!

Libby's class performed their most difficult dance to date. Her teachers worked so hard on getting the girls to follow each other into two rows. Who would have thought that would be such a difficult task. You can tell that they spent more time on that than the other parts. The girls do such a great job! Libby is definitely a dancer!

Maison's Tiger Den was assigned the country of Australia. As you can see from the picture below, we put the country upside down. OOPS! The boys painted the Australia blue on one side and we cut the flag out of paper and pinned it on. On the other side, they boys painted the aborigine flag.

Each den was in charge of a small presentation about their country. The boys made a didgeridoo, which is an aboriginal instrument, that they demonstrated for the pack. Our didgeridoo is made out of PVC pipe and finger painted. Maison earned is Tiger Cub rank and a segment for his participation in the Pinewood Derby. Great Job!

UGH, MORE SNOW Part II

So it pretty much snowed the entire day! It wasn't until this evening that we all headed out for the dig out. Jason not only scooped our drive, but 3 of our neighbors as well! Has anyone seen that groundhog? We'd like to have a few words with him!

The kids had a blast, the dogs had a blast, and Daddy loves his dingo! (The weird red effect is due to our red outdoor lights from Christmas. Hey, it's okay because Valentine's Day is red too!) It's official. The snow is so high in most places in our backyard that Woody has figured out an escape root! Crazy dog!

UGH, MORE SNOW!

Seriously, when will all of the snow end? We are under another storm warning that is supposed to drop another 6 plus inches on top of the 1/2 inch ice we received overnight in addition to the blizzard warning of 30 plus mile and hour winds! We are quickly running out of places to push snow! Our fence along the back is 5 foot hight. As you can see, the snow is more than halfway up the fence! YIKES!

Happy Valentine's Day

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Maison's school had their Valentine's Day party today at school. I volunteered to bring a couple of crafts for the kids to make. To my surprise they went over really well! First, the kids made hearts from pipecleaners and beads. The "boy" that looks too old to be in Kindegarten - 3rd grade is actually the teacher's assistant! He even got into the crafts! Funny. The kids also made bookmarks from the free sample paint swatches from Wal-Mart, stickers, and ribbon. Got to love free things! Maison and Libby ate lunch at school and we then spent the rest of the afternoon delivering Valentines.

Snow Day

Whoa! 12 plus inches of snow in one day! When will it ever end?! Maison and Libby stayed busy most of the day playing with Woody's kennel. We eventually made our way to Grama Shari and Papa Ed's house to help them dig out in hopes of being able to borrow their snowblower. It took darn near two hours to dig them out. As we drove home, I was not looking forward to another 2 plus hours in our driveway. To our greatest surprise, Daddy's co-worker Curt beat us to it! He brought the Dingo over and dug us out! The Dingo now has a special parking spot right in our garage! Who needs a stinking snowblower, we got a Dingo baby!

Tiny Tu-Tu Tot

I want to preface tonight's performance with Thursday night's rehearsal. So we are getting ready for class on Thursday and Libby decides she needs to wear her cowgirl hat (a just because gift from Grama Shari and Papa Ed) and her cowgirl boots. What might be the matter with that? Well, it's 30 something below zero and cowgirl hats aren't the best for keeping the ears warm; and the boots...well, they are at least 2 sizes to small! She wore them with absolutely no complaints! The idea of stuffing your foot into a shoe 2 sizes too small just because they are cute must be an inherent tool girls are just born with! Definitely not learned from me as I can't seem to find shoes small enough to even fit my foot!

On to tonight. Grammy Shari came to our house for a gourmet dinner of Mac & Cheese and green beans. After dinner we got Libby all dressed and ready to go on time! I even had enough time to explain to Maison that he had to pretend to be 5yrs old tonight. We were expected to pay $5.00 a person to watch a 2 minute half-time show. Needless to say, 5 and under were free. (At those prices, it was worse than going to a movie!) We were making great time until we got behind a driver who was driving 25 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone! Of course the road was winding and two lanes, so passing wasn't an option until a mile from our destination! We made it on time, got Libby where she needed to be and got great seats. Leave it to my brother to get himself and his friend in for free, just because they waited until the last possible second to enter! He obviously got those inherent skills from our father.

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Gracie & Woody

As many of you know, Woody was added to our family right after Thanksgiving. He was adopted through the American Brittany Rescue League. We had an extremely hard time separating him from his brother and were seriously considering adopting him as well.

Needless to say I am glad we didn't! We had forgotten how difficult a puppy can be! The pooping, the chewing, the crying, the eating of anything that isn't nailed down...the list goes on. Sadly Libby discovered her toy necklace outside on the deck intertwined with dog number 2! Yikes! There was no way I was rescuing a 25cent necklace from poop! I have my limits. I was hoping the butterflies from our Elefun game would fly the poop away, but they didn't. That dog must have a gut of steal. On the positive side, the kids don't leave their stuff laying around for fear Woody will eat it.

I think people have forgotten how difficult Gracie was when she was a puppy. I brought her home to Jason's house when she was just 4 weeks old from the animal shelter in Des Moines, The Animal Rescue League. She ate countless pairs of shoes, tore up the garbage every chance she had, and pooped up the house! During our wedding ceremony, Gracie was busy at my folk's house eating my brother's sandals and shredding every tissue in the house! With some time and a little bit of love, Gracie learned the ropes and has been the best dog ever!

I am really grateful we have Gracie. She has been a terrific influence on Woody. It truly helps having a dog that is already trained around when trying to train a new dog. Woody has learned all of Gracie's tricks, good and bad! Now, if we could only keep the two of them off of the couch!

Woody has also been great for Gracie. Gracie is about 9 years old and her age has really been showing. She like to sleep most of the day! Now that Woody has joined us, she is back to her playful puppy self. Woody and her run and play in the back yard, chew bones together, wrestle, and occasionally snuggle together. (I think Gracie likes to pretend to be the Alpha Dog, but when she thinks no one is looking, she likes to snuggle up to Woody)

Woody continues to sleep in his kennel in Maison's room until around 4:30am, when he goes outside to potty. He then joins Jason, myself, and Gracie in bed! Good thing we have a king-size bed! The kids love him, we love him, and Gracie loves him. He has been a great addition.

Snuggle Puppy

Dough University

Maison and Libby attended Dough University with their friends Aydin and Naomi at Nick and Willie's Pizza this afternoon. They had a great time. Each Chef received a hat, a personalized apron, a sack of cooking supplies, a large pizza (which they made), and a diploma. They have now earned credits towards the next class.

After their class, Aydin and Naomi came to our house to sample their pizza. It was very delicious!

On Your Marks, Get Set, Go!

Papa Dan and Maison worked on his derby car over Christmas break and Daddy put the final touches on it this week.Everyone told us the Pinewood Derby was a serious event. We thought we understood what serious meant. Judging by some of the cars, we grossly misunderstood "serious"! This was a professional track that had an automatic start and a timer, which was all hooked to a computer! Maison's car was 33 out of 50 something.

Apparently the boys at the office had their own little Pinewood Derby! Must be a guy thing. Here I thought Jason was going off to the office to put a hard days work in, but I was sorely mistaken. They were busy weighing and racing!

It was amazing to hear the kids chanting for their favorite cars! The Oscar Meyer car was a crowd favorite. One heat included the Oscar Meyer car, the Ketchup Bottle car, and a Mustard car.

There has already been talk about next year. Now that we know this race is more about the parent's ability and creativity, Papa Dan and Daddy will have their work cut out for them!

On Your Marks, Get Set, Double Click Play!

Surprise Party

To my surprise, it actually worked. We actually pulled off a surprise party! Jeremy, Erin, the girls, and us all made the trip to Rolfe Friday night for Mary's birthday. Papa Dan must have called a half dozen times during the day through the evening. Despite all of the phone calls, Grama Mary had know idea we were coming.

The kids waited patiently under the counter waiting Grammy's arrival. Cousin Hayley thought she would be invisible if she took her clothes off. (So the floating pair of underwear is Hayley) I don't know who was more excited about the surprise, the kids or Papa!

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A Day of Sledding Fun

Ever since our first ice storm, seems like we are getting weekly snow storms. I don't mind the snow, but the ice is horrible. Jason and the kids built a fort out front in hopes of avoiding piles of dog "you know what".

We spent an afternoon sledding at Grama Shari and Papa Ed's house. Papa had to plow a path for the sleds because the drifts were too high! Papa almost buried Maison in the snow! Yikes. The first run down, I rode with Jason. When we reached the bottom, the sled stopped, and I kept going right over the top of Jason. He ended up with a face full of snow! Whoops.

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Happy Birthday Papa Ed

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We celebrated Papa Ed's birthday at the Wasserbaun Holiday Inn at the Amana Colonies. Everyone had a great time swimming! Papa's favorite card is always the one his Uncle Vic and Aunt Peggy send. It's always loaded with random things from rubber bands to expired coupons. He looks forward to that card every year.