Happy Joe's

Tonight we went to Happy Joe's and brought along Emma, Josie, and Karley. Since we don't have a vehicle with a 3rd row, Tim & I each had to drive! :)

The 5 kids stood here for about 10 minutes watching the pizza be made.

We wanted to do something fun for dinner since it was Brielle's birthday, but Tim & I were undecided for awhile if we would recognize her birthday "Happy-Joe's-Style" where they sing & honk their horn. Brielle has SEEN other birthdays celebrated there, and she didn't want to have it done for her. She said the horn would be too loud. Emma tried to encourage her... and so did we... and we even tried the part about getting ice cream. Emma said nice things like, "But they won't know it's your birthday..." Emma also told her that she & Josie have had their birthdays here before. But Brielle still was not interested.

Well, we decided to go for it anyways. And we recognized Karley's birthday too. Karley was fine with the attention... while Brielle played "shy girl" and crawled up onto my lap.

Everything turned out fine... the song was over quickly... and they all enjoyed their ice cream.

Karley liked the whipped cream on top the best, and barely got to her ice cream. (Josie helped finish it off later.)

John picked out mint chocolate chip because it was GREEN ice cream.

As you'll see below, Karley was showing John her ice cream. Here's a funny thing that occurred... see how he has whipped cream on his finger? Well he was probably planning to taste it, but one nano-second after this photo, Karley reached over and used her hand to wipe off the whipped cream so John couldn't lick it. (It was funny, and I definitely laughed a little. And don't worry, no one cried.)

Like Karley, Brielle's favorite part was the whipped cream... and the sprinkles.

Emma and Josie both chose rainbow sherbet.

Now the kids are all in pajamas, teeth-brushed, and watching Brielle's new movie she picked out today... The Care Bear Movie.

Birthday Girl :)

Today is Brielle's 4th birthday!

So far, this is how she has spent her special day... she had warm blueberry muffins for breakfast. We went to Target for Dr. Seuss storytime & snacks. At Target, she picked out a new movie that she is excited to watch tonight... when 3 girl cousins come over for a sleepover :). She received a birthday card in the mail from Abby K. We went sledding outside. She was able to iChat with Jenny & Alexia, who gave her birthday greetings.

And the fun will continue... Even though Emma, Josie, & Karley won't be here for a couple more hours, she has asked if she can go wait by the door :).

Jan/Feb/Mar birthdays

Yesterday we celebrated 6 birthdays in the family: those that fall in January, February, & March. Here are our winter-themed cakes for: Dorothy (hot cocoa & marshmallows), Karley (mittens), Lincoln (snowman), Wilson (snowball fight & snow fort), Jolene (snowflake) & Brielle (ice rink & skater). Thanks to our friend Heather, who did a super job on the cakes, once again!

All day, John was asking "Which one is my cake?" "Is this one mine?" "Where is my present?" "Which present is for me?" "What can I open?" "Which book did I get?" "It's my birthday too?" As much as we tried to tell him that his birthday is not for awhile, he didn't stop asking.

...what do you say to a face like this?

The weather was pretty nice out, and both kids & adults had fun walking out on the ice. People went ice fishing and played hockey. That smoother part on the left along the trees was actually solid ice too, even though it looks like water.

Time to sing "Happy Birthday" to... Lincoln, Dorothy, Karley, Jolene, Brielle & Wilson.

Thanks, Alexia, for the cute dishes, pots, pans, utensils & tea set!

And a good photo to end on... Miss Karley & her new "look." These are some of her presents that once opened, stayed on her for hours! We're anxious for the update from Jolene... to find out if Karley really wanted to sleep with some of this on too!

3 year-olds for one week together

Yesterday, Karley celebrated her 3rd birthday. Next Saturday, Brielle will no longer be 3 years old.

So for one week, Brielle & Karley are both 3. :)

Girl Cousins

Brielle really enjoys spending time with her girl cousins, Emma (age 7) & Josie (age 5). She often asks if they can come over to play or if she can go to their house to play. She has learned a lot of great things from Emma & Josie by playing with them... especially how to play Princess, Polly Pockets, Barbies... and how these girl dolls talk to each other :). We get a kick out of hearing their conversations, but honestly I'm very impressed sometimes! They also love playing dress-up, house, school, etc. Brielle is so lucky to have such nice playmates and cousins.

A Medley of John

Valentine's gifts

On Valentine's Day morning, the kids each found a present to unwrap from us. Brielle & John each received a pair of Smartwool socks, modeling clay, an animal-shaped tape measure, and a straw with a heart-shaped twist.

When I asked them to try out their new heart straws to see if they worked... instead of DRINKING the milk (hey, that would be too easy), they blew bubbles into their milk. I guess that's the more important straw function to check :).

Valentine's Day

This was Brielle's cute Valentine's outfit this year. Jenny gave Brielle the headband for being in her wedding, and the shirts & tights came from Grandma Carol.

John wanted his photo taken too :)

Reminds me of...

a senior photo... hahaha :)

Tim took this photo, and I'm not sure if there is any story behind it.

Naptime

John still takes naps on MOST days. He can skip a nap once in awhile if we have something fun going on, like a birthday party or day in the Wisconsin Dells, which is nice because we don't have to plan our days totally around a nap time anymore :).

Brielle naps once... maybe twice... per week. Today she fell asleep on her bedroom floor. :)

13 inches of snow

Here are a few photos taken a couple of weeks ago after the snowstorm that dumped 13 inches!

In the photo on the left, Brielle was standing near our mailbox. She thought it was funny that she was taller than the mailbox :)

More Cousin Pics from the Dells :)

Within a short time of getting into our hotel room on Friday night, the kids all had their suits on ready to hit the water parks. And Tim took them for a ride on the luggage cart.

Our hotel accommodations were top-notch! Thanks to Jolene for making all the arrangements and reservations!

After a couple hours in the water park... the kids enjoyed a movie late on Friday night.

Waiting for the elevator...

John did have underwear on for the walk back from the pool, but we forgot pants! Our kids got into a habit of changing out of their wet suits.

The cousins had fun sharing the whirlpool tub to clean up... and took many baths together during the weekend:).

Weekend getaway

We had a fun filled weekend in the Wisconsin Dells with the Belken crew. We stayed at the Glacier Canyon Lodge, which is connected to the Wilderness Resort.

Here are some wave pool pics, starting with Karley & Josie in their matching suits :)

John loved playing in & out of his tube. When the waves started, we even went to the deeper area. He stayed in the tube and I stayed alongside to guide him through the waves & prevent any tip-overs. He laughed every time he was splashed in the face and every time the waves pushed him into someone else in a tube.

Here's Tessa keeping an eye on the action.

Brielle loved the wave pool too, as Tim took her around & into the deeper waves. The wave pool was definitely one of their favorite parts of the waterpark.

Here are John & Karley relaxing on the Lazy River. All of the kids had fun on the many water slides. We did some double tube water slides with the kids. John & Brielle both went down some short kids slides, but John was the brave one of our 2 when he was willing to go down some of the medium sized slides on his own.... several times!

The kids spent at least an hour exploring the Timberland Playhouse, a 4-story climbing area filled with steps, tunnels, & slides. Everytime John found a slide, he hopped right in & rode it down. Sometimes I'd crawl back down to the bottom to see where he came out... but he'd already be 2 levels above me, climbing his way back up. Here are Connor & John:

Brielle took this picture of the 2 of us :)

It was a perfect weekend getaway... everyone had fun-- kids & adults... and it felt like a little escape from winter!