Family Fun

After a long week of getting ready for the bridal shower, it was such a relief when it was over and it had turned out great. Sunday I was ready for a day of resting and family fun! After saying good bye to Mitch and Courtney that morning we had a pretty relaxing afternoon. We all took a nap and when we got up we headed to Larson Lifestyle Center to go swimming. The kids have been taking swimming lessons there for the last month and a half and they have been begging mom and dad to come swimming too.
We all went swimming and had a lot of fun. The boys have learned a lot in their swim lesson class and Abby is a little fish and isn't afraid of water but is still pretty little to do much swimming.
The boys have been going off the diving board in class and they were ready to show us all their tricks. Abby's class had one chance to go off the board but she got too scared and the teacher ended up having to drop her off the end of the board.
Robb finally convinced her to go off the board for us though. He couldn't be in the water to catch her so he just sat on the side and then grabbed her once she jumped. Once she did it once she didn't want to stop jumping off the board. Silly girl.

Caleb is a dare devil about going off the board! He does cannon balls and belly flops. Most of the time his jumps looked painful.

The boys are now able to swim to the edge by themselves after they jump off the board. I'm hoping that I will finally be able to safely take them to the pool by myself this year.

Bryce is quite the jumper. It is so fun to watch them jump off the board. Although he isn't as much of a dare devil as Caleb, he was the one that opted to go off the high board at swimming lessons when they had the chance.

After a fun evening of swimming, everyone was starving! The kids had free buffet coupons to Valentino's that they have been wanting to use and its not usually a place we go but we decided that it sounded kind of good that night. We all enjoyed the buffet but by the time we got home all 3 kids were complaining that they had tummy aches. I guess we can't go to buffets anymore since no one can control how much they eat :)

Bridal Shower

Steph an I hosted a Bridal Shower for our future sister in law on April 13. We didn't realize how much work we had set ourselves up for but I think all in all we managed to throw a pretty great wedding shower.
Mitch and Courtney came down on Wednesday and stayed with us until Sunday. It was great to see them. I miss them now that they live in Little Rock. The kids also were thrilled to get to hang out with Uncle Mitch and soon to be Aunt Courtney.

We had the vintage themed shower at the Rogers House Bed and Breakfast. We provided all the food and decorations. It was a lot of work but Courtney was thrilled with how it turned out.

Abby felt so big since she got to come to the shower. She helped Courtney open the gifts.

All the food was delicious. We had cupcakes, fruit pizzas, mousse, sandwiches, fruit trays and veggie trays and every ones favorite Sangria.

 

Courtney and Mitch got some really nice gifts.

 

 

 

We are thrilled to be welcoming Courtney into the family. Mitch and her have been together so long that it already seems like she is part of the family. My kids have been calling her Aunt Courtney for years now.

They are such a cute couple! I can't wait for their wedding in September.

 

Mr Toothless

Caleb lost his second tooth the other day.

He really wanted to loose it at school so he could get the green treasure chest. Silly kid. It was suprising to pick him up from school and see him missing another tooth.

 

 

The tooth fairy got to make another trip to our house. For loosing tooth #2 she gave Caleb $1.00. He was pretty happy!

Soccer

 Bryce and Caleb had their first soccer game the first weekend in April. They were so excited! They are playing for the Waverly team this year. Robb was brave enough to agree to coach again. They have one other set of twins on their team which is funny.

Bryce and Caleb played really well this year. They finally understand the concept of the game and are pretty aggressive players. We have finally reached the age that all the kids are happy to be there and there are no tears and kids actually want to play and not be benched.

Robb does a really good job coaching! It is fun to watch all my boys out on the field.

(Yes that is my boys IN/ON the net)

Go Eagles!

Abby's 4 Year Check Up

Abby had her 4 year check up the first week of April. I know we were pretty late getting it done but I always have a hard time taking a healthy child into the doctors office at the peak of influenza season just for a well child visit. In the past when we have done that we then ended up with an ill child.
Abby was a little nervous for her appointment even though I tried to reassure her that this appointment shouldn't involve any lab work or shots.
Her pediatrician Dr David looked her over and was very happy with how she was growing and developing. He was also very impressed that she has been so healthy over the last year. In the past she always battled a runny nose and sinus infection/cold all winter. Since she has had her adenoids out it has went much better. He also had her write her name, sing the alphabet, count to ten, tell him her colors and throw and catch a ball. He was impressed at how well developed her fine motor skills were. She is very good at writing her name and drawing. This is so much different from when the boys were her age! I guess it is very normal for girls to have fine motor skills mastered a lot earlier than boys. The boys also greatly help her learn new things by playing teacher and student with her all the time.
She passed her vision screening and hearing screening so that was a relief. She has grown quite a bit. Last year she was in the 90% for height and the 50% for weight. This year she was 42 lbs which put her in the 90% for weight and 43 inches which put her in the 92% for height. He was very happy with her growth curve. She seems to be filling out a bit more and her weight finally caught up to her huge growth spurt in height.

Caleb Lost a Tooth

We had our second visit from the tooth fairy Wednesday night. Caleb had been desperate to loose a tooth every since Bryce lost his first tooth. Caleb had 2 on the bottom that were a little loose so he has been wiggling them  like crazy. He finally got his wish! Not to mention his $5.00 that the tooth fairy gives for your first lost tooth. We have tried to prepare them for the fact that the amount of money decreases with the next tooth. Otherwise the tooth fairy will go broke.

I found this apple in the bathroom trash after Caleb had lost his tooth. The little turkey was just biting into it to try to get his tooth out. Funny kid!

Easter with the Lutz's

After eating with Grandma Jody we headed over to spend the rest of the afternoon with the Lutz's. We had thought we would miss seeing cousin Brook and AJ but luckily they were still there which made the kids day. We ate dessert there and I think between everyone in our family we almost finished off Grandma Hansen's bunny cookies.

Abby and Brook in their matching dresses that Grandma made.

The kids

All the kids with Grandma Hansen

Abby carrying an Easter Lily at church

Abby and AJ doing their egg hunt

The big kids hunting for eggs

Thanks for the super cute dress Grandma

As always the Eater bunny brought kites. We had the perfect day for kite flying! All the boys big and little had fun with the kites.

And when your kite blows away and ends up in the neighbors field its a good thing your Grandpa has a tractor so you can go retrieve it.

 

Thank you everyone for a  wonderful Easter!

Abby the Animal Lover

These pictures were just too cute to not put on the blog! Abby loves animals and unfortunately our dog Penny is getting kind of old and doesn't especially like the kids messing with her. Penny does however tolerate Abby a lot better than she does the boys. Aunt Steph's dog Vinny LOVES kids and
Abby loves him. It is always cute to see these two together.

Looking out the window together

Hugs

and Yuck Kisses

Easter Lunch

On Easter Sunday we attended church with the Lutz's. The kids went early so that Grandpa and Andy could make them pancakes. They were helping with the youth group breakfast. Robb and I however didn't get up that early and instead enjoyed a relaxing morning while the kids were eating and participating in an egg hunt at church.
After church we went to my moms house to have Easter lunch there. It is always challenging to split time between everyone and making sure we get to see everyone.

Caleb looking handsome!

Family picture

Egg Hunt

Bryce digging for an egg.

Caleb and Robb getting an egg out of a tree.

Grandma Jody and the kids

 

Grandma and Grandpa Walnofer

 

We had a great Easter lunch and a fun filled afternoon.

Easter with the Mattern's

We are fortunate to have a lot of wonderful family so this year we celebrated Easter with all our parents. We had the Mattern Easter on Saturday. Steph was nice enough to have it at her house. It ended up being a pretty nice day and the kids had a great time playing outside. The egg hunt was a hit! Bryce and Draven are off.

Caleb is checking out what is in the eggs. Grandpa had put several Susan B Anthony coins in the eggs and all the kids were SO excited to find out that each of those were worth a dollar.

Abby loving the camera as usual.

Bryce is racing around Abby to nab an egg before she finds it.

Grandma helping Abby find eggs.

Grandpa helping Bryce count up his loot.

Everyone looking at everything that they got.

It is wonderful to have family to spend the holidays with. It isn't quite the same without Mitch and Courtney though. We miss them!