Dad is 30

Opening his golf supplies from the kids.

Happy Birthday Robb! You actually thought we weren't going to tell them it was your birthday? And miss seeing you wear the sombrero, I don't think so!

 He got to coach the boys last soccer game.

He got to go wake boarding! It may have been only 70 degrees and cloudy but he still got in the water.


Robb turned 30 on Sunday. I'm sure that he is thrilled that he got his own blog post. We had a busy but fun weekend. Saturday, we had the whole tree fiasco in the morning but after that Robb's parents and brother came down for the afternoon. We went out to eat at Matzalan and of course we told them it was his birthday. Robb had to wear the giant sombrero while he ate his free dessert. It was hilarious! After eating a ton of Mexican food he had to go coach the last micro soccer game. We didn't have a team to play against so we just planned 4 on 4. Luckily Robb's dad was there to help coach, otherwise it would have fallen to me and I still don't have any idea what I'm doing!
On Sunday, we went to church in the morning and then headed home in hopes that it would warm up in the next hour or so. John Lund took Robb out on his boat so that he could wake board. All Robb ever wants to do for his birthday is to wake board but since we don't have a boat, that was a hard gift to give this year. Thanks John for the afternoon in the boat! It was cool, but not too cold for Robb and the boys to get in the water. Later that night we grilled out with John and Megan. I had a fun weekend and I hope Robb did too. It's hard to believe that we are turning 30 this year! Oh well, hopefully we have many more birthdays to come.

We finally have trees

 Even with 6 people these trees were incredibly heavy!

Last week we went to a tree farm to get a couple trees. The farm had a lot of really pretty trees and we picked out 2 for our backyard.
On Saturday we went to pick up our trees. When the tree farm guy loaded them in our trailer with a fork lift,that should have been our first clue that we were in over our heads. Luckily, the tree farm was only about 5 blocks from our house because we had to drive home really slow. When we got there we rounded up 2 other neighbor guys to help us get them out of the truck. Little did we know, our 30 foot trees weighed 400-500 lbs a piece and 3 guys lifting it was not going to cut it.
I went and got another neighbor guy (this one runs a landscaping business)and although he thought we were crazy he had some good advice on how to move these crazy things. After Much effort we finally got them to the backyard and into their holes. We were all a little sore, scratched up and sweaty but it was done. We now have instant shade trees.
They look really nice! It will be great to have some bigger trees without having to wait 10+ years.
I know it was kind of a lame gift but Happy 30th birthday Robb. I guess you are getting old, when a tree is an acceptable present.

Professional Pictures

We had our family pictures on Thursday. I have been excited to have pictures done for awhile now so of course I was nervous. I think I have decided I need a sedative before we do pictures. Just kidding, kind of! I get nervous about pictures because they are expensive and it is Really important to me to have great pictures of the kids. Robb doesn't think we probably need as many pictures as we get, so I need them to turn out because I will have to wait a year if they don't.
Luckily we have found a photographer that we love and she does a great job. We have never got bad pictures with her so that makes me feel a little better about things. It also helps that the kids are getting older and we can reason with them I mean bribe them.
We did family pictures, individual pictures, pictures of all the kids together, and some of just the boys together. I am so excited to see how they turned out. I will post them when I get them.

Farewell Picnic

 The boys and their school friends.

 It was sad saying goodbye to their teacher of 3 years. Thanks for being wonderful to our boys, Sueann.

It was so nice to have such a great group of teachers this year. Bryce and Caleb with their teacher Lori.

We had Bryce and Caleb's end of preschool picnic on Wednesday. We had great weather this year! Last year everyone was bundled up and freezing so this weather was wonderful. We had picnic lunches and got to play at the park. It was fun seeing the boys play with all their school friends. The boys seemed to be the target of a lot of girl chasing. I hope we aren't in for it someday. It was sad to think that this is the end of preschool. They had a great preschool experience at Pioneer Park Preschool, now it  is on to Summer and then Kindergarten.

Last Day Of Preschool

Today was the last day of preschool for my boys. It is so hard to believe that they are done with preschool. It has been a good 3 years. It was very cute this morning when Bryce said to Abby "This is the last day that it is our preschool, next year it will be your preschool." How sweet is that?!

After agonizing over whether or not to send the boys to school last year I am so happy about our decision to wait. They seem so much more mature this year than they did last year. They are very excited about going to Kindergarten and they seem ready. On to the next adventure...

Mother's Day

I am very lucky to have 3 amazing kiddos. Being a mom is the hardest job I have ever had. I worry constantly how my influence and decisions will affect them.
That being said they were extra challenging on Mother's Day weekend. I'm not sure why but the last couple years our kids pick this weekend to be handfuls. I'm sure the s'more party with their friends on Friday night until 10 didn't help matters any. We had a fun weekend despite the constant power struggles between the parents and kids. The boys made me really cute pen holders at school and have been really excited to give them to me. Robb and kids also bought me a new computer which I was thrilled about. I am about the only one that uses the computer at our house (Robb uses his Ipod) and ours has been on the verge of dying for the last year. I really enjoy blogging and organizing all my pictures on the computer so it is very nice to have one that Works.
We attempted the Lincoln Zoo but after driving around for blocks and blocks we decided that it was probably too busy to be enjoyable. Instead we went to the Sunken Garden's and went and bought flowers for the pots out front. We did some planting, Abby and I took a nap and later we went for icecream. Thanks Robb and kids for a great day.
Happy Mother's Day

Kindergarten Meeting

Last Thursday, we had the boys Kindergarten meeting. They were excited to go and a little nervous. We all met with the principle, he seemed very nice, and then went over a few things. They talked about start and stop times for school, the drop off process (which I've heard is brutal as far as traffic), they also went over the schedule, lunch info and lots of other stuff. I had thought they would take the kids and do something else while we did the meeting but the kids just stayed with us. Poor Caleb was so nervous about being separated from me that he was sobbing when we walked in. I really hope that wasn't a sneak peek at what drop off will be like next year.
After the meeting we got to meet all the teachers and see the classrooms. All the teachers seemed very nice although their preschool teacher is really pushing for a certain one. I don't know them enough to have a preference, but Sueann from preschool knows them, so I will trust her input.
I can't believe my boys are getting so old! It will be so weird having them gone all day everyday!

Spring Planting

I never was a farm girl but I had grandparents that lived on the farm so I got a taste of farm life every once in awhile. I feel bad that my kids don't get to experience the farm very often. The boys have been planting things at preschool and have really enjoyed it so I thought it would be fun to have them help Grandma Hansen plant her giant garden. We went up to Tekamah Wednesday afternoon to help plant. We had gorgeous weather! It wasn't too hot or too cool. The kids were very excited, they packed all their shovels so they could dig too. They were very impressed with the size of grandma's garden. It is about the size of our backyard afterall. They were pretty good helpers. They planted gourds, pumkins, Indian corn, green beans, peppers, and egg plant. They also enjoyed picking and eating strawberries right out of the garden. Grandma also treated them to all the cookies and lemonade that they could eat. We all had a great time! It was fun seeing the kids enjoy the farm so much. Bryce was facinated with the cows, Caleb loved climbing the trees and playing in the stick pile and Abby loved seeing the cats and being grandma's helper. Too top off the evening we had homemade icecream and got to pet a racoon. Uncle Tom had found a baby racoon and was taking care of it. The boys thought he was really cute and funny but Abby wasn't sure that a "skunk" should be in the house. Thanks Grandma for a fun day!

Happy Graduation!

Congratulations Mitch and Courtney!

Mitch and the kids

This weekend was Mitch and Courtney's graduation from UNL. We had the party at our house, which I was happy to do, but I was super stressed out! I just wanted everything to look nice and I wanted the party to turn out how Mitch and Courtney wanted it. We had nice weather, a little hot for most people to sit outside but at least it didn't rain. The food that they made was delicious and it was fun to see family and meet their friends. I thought the party turned out great and I think they were happy too. Congratulations Mitch and Courtney and good luck with your internships in Minneapolis this summer. We will miss having you in Lincoln!

Swim Lessons

We started swimming lessons last Thursday. We went back to the lady we went to last year. She now has a swim school instead of doing the lessons in her backyard pool. It was really nice! The boys were in the same class and had another set of twins in their class. I was a little dissapointed that they were in a beginner class again and I wish they were challenged more. They haven't been swimming since last summer so I am hoping after the first couple classes she will start to challenge them more. This was Abby's first year doing lessons that weren't Mommy and Me lessons She was so excited! It was nice to not have to pull her off of my leg for a change. She did really well in her lesson. She isn't afraid of water at all and the other 2 kids in her class weren't either so they were a class of 3 year old fish. Jessica, the teacher said they were a fun class to work with. I think all the kids were excited to be back in the pool. I am looking forward to this summer, I think I can maybe manage 3 at the pool this year.

ZOO Time

I am again WAY behind on my blogging but that is probably how most of the summer will be. Sorry! The Lincoln Children's Zoo opened a couple weeks ago. We love the Children's Zoo! I took the kids one morning and we had so much fun! It is a small zoo but for now it is about perfect for us. You can go in the morning and spend a couple hours there, see everything, eat lunch and still be home in time for afternoon nap. They don't have some of the bigger animals that the Omaha Zoo has but the kids get to know the animals and look forward to seeing them over and over again. This year they have made some changes to the zoo and it looks really nice. They also have a couple new animals that the kids had fun seeing. The goats are always a hit and the kids always round up quarters before we go to feed them. They also love the penguins, leopard and the otter. One of the reasons I really love Lincoln is all the cool stuff that they have for kids to do. The zoo is one of our very favorite things and we plan to visit at least once a week this summer.