fudgesicle faces :D

What a 2 year old thinks about these clouds

John said,

"LOOK, Mom! The clouds are BROKEN!"

Raincoats & Rain boots

John & Brielle love wearing their raincoats & rain boots. On this night (when Tim was at a track meet), we went outside to play in the rain. The kids had already taken baths & had their jammies on under their raincoats :).

Well it ended up that it didn't rain for very long, and we went for a walk around the neighborhood.

They had fun hiking through a yard where a house was recently built.

And we got a great self portrait before we headed back inside for bedtime :)

Daddy's track girls win state!

We'll take a break from the updates about kids... to share some exciting news about Tim...

He is the head Wahlert girls' track coach and they were STATE CHAMPIONS this past weekend! It is the first time in school history that the girls have won the state track & field championship. They were the runner-up the last 2 years, so of course a state title has been something they have been chasing & working towards the last couple of years.

During the state meet, they won 3 relay titles and set 4 new school records, and beat the 2nd place team by over 30 points. They scored points in almost every event. It was a very exciting weekend. The team is a really special group of girls, and it's fun to watch them compete. I was able to watch the 3rd and final day of the meet, and traveled there with Tim's dad, sister Jolene, & brother-in-law Bob.

Team photo with the championship trophy:

Tim & Chuck have been coaching together for seven years now. Since they started coaching together, they have been re-writing the record book as they have seen 14 school records broken! They complement each other very well. The weekend was also special because Chuck was recognized for coaching high school track in Iowa for 25 years.

I felt so excited to be there as they made school history, but also SO PROUD of Tim. He & Chuck work so hard planning their season, their strategy, and every single workout and meet line-up. They put their hearts & souls into coaching track so that their athletes can perform like the true champions they are! :)

Underwear according to John

There have been a few times lately where John insists on wearing his underwear backwards. The reasoning makes a lot of sense... and I'm surprised kids' underwear companies have not picked up on this :). When you have superhero characters on your underwear and you are 2 1/2 years old... you would want to be able to easily SEE Spiderman and Iron Man for yourself. So John sometimes insists that his underwear must be worn this way...

Funny thing is, I remember probably 5 years ago when I was babysitting my nephew, Wilson, and Becky told me know the following... If Wilson goes to the bathroom, he sometimes pulls his underwear all the way off and he will want it put on backwards so that he can see the pictures on his front side. I thought, "how silly". Now I COMPLETELY understand :).

John put his blanket over his face...

and he said, "Look Dad, I am a dentist."

"Can you still turn the TV on?"

Grandpa Ted had shoulder surgery a couple of weeks ago and has been wearing a sling. He's been relaxing, catching up on some projects and work, & spending time with his grandkids :).

We all thought it was funny that the first time Brielle was over at their house AFTER his surgery, she said, "Grandpa, can you still turn the TV on for us?" He told her yes, he could. It happens to be that Grandpa always knows how to work the TV & DVD player better than Grandma. :)

Grandma Carol knows how Brielle & John love to pour water. It looks like she found almost every bucket she could for them. She is always "over prepared" for these types of things... making her a great mother & grandmother. :)

Checking on the Animals

As I have mentioned before, the kids have a usual routine of checking on the animals at Grandma & Grandpa's farm. One of the stops is to check on the chickens. Grandma & Grandpa made an area for the chickens inside the old, red hay barn. Grandpa said John and Brielle could help feed the chickens on this day.

Here they are heading over... with Amy the dog following behind.

Brielle was carrying some cabbage that Grandpa gave her to feed the chickens. She was making sure Amy wasn't going to eat it, and telling Amy it was for the chickens. :) The cousins also know to keep Amy out of the chicken coop.

John & Brielle spotted 3 new eggs! Grandma Berning has always said the farm is a neat way for the kids to learn about the "Circle of Life", and she's right.

John refilled the chicken feed... while Brielle proceeded to pick up a chicken. She has watched her cousins & grandparents do it before, and she knows how to gently & quietly sneak up from behind the chicken.

After visiting the chickens we went to the end of the farm where Patches the Pony hangs out. Brielle showed me where we had to crawl under (well, she went under while John & I went over) a gate to get to this point. They she climbed up so she could lean over & see Patches. She was saying to these cows, "Move out of the way! I need to talk to Patches." :)

After this was when she asked to go jump in the cotton balls :).

"Can we go play in the cotton balls next?"

On Saturday, Brielle, John & I went out to the farm for a visit. After we walked around checking on the various animals... Brielle asked, "Can we go play in the cotton balls next?" I didn't know exactly what she was talking about until she led me to this stall in the commodity shed. I later learned the following: 1) This cotton seed comes by the SEMI-LOAD from 12 hours away, 2) Cottonseed is a valuable addition to the dairy cows' diet.

I had not ventured to this part of the farm during the winter, so this was the first time I had seen the kids play in the cottonseed.

Brielle was very familiar with the routine though... as she walked over, kicked her boots off, and starting digging her way up the pile of cottonseed. John followed.

It took probably 15 minutes of digging until Brielle made some "stairs" (her words) to climb up to the top.

John followed. He eventually made it... on his own.

This gives some perspective as to how much cottonseed is in here!

Then they ran around the top level jumping, tumbling, & rolling around.

Grandpa & Grandma B said we'd be finding cottonballs for awhile in boots & coats... and they were right :).

Superhero LOVE

John is really into Superheros... Batman, Superman, Spiderman, etc. Good thing the Easter Bunny knew that and got him this Superman shirt with an attached cape :).

What the kids did on Easter afternoon

Brielle & Alexia read a new book together.

Brielle & John blew their new bubbles.

John tried out his new water squirt gun... over & over & over :)

John had fun playing with a couple new toys from Grandma & Grandpa.

Later we headed up for the Rojemann Easter gathering where the kids had fun playing with their cousins.

Easter Day Pics

A fantastic scavenger hunt

Brielle & John enjoyed a scavenger egg hunt on Easter Day. They each had 10 eggs to find using picture clues to lead them to the next location. Brielle's clues had a 'B' on them, while John's had a 'J'. They needed minimal help with the clues since the pictures identified some of their favorites places & things at Grandma & Grandpa's house. To begin the hunt, the first eggs were here in the screened in porch:

Brielle's clue to take her to her 2nd egg:

John's clue to take him to his 2nd egg:

This clue...

took Brielle here:

Although John & Brielle each followed their own set of clues to different places, their last clues told them to go to the same place-- the boat dock.


Since the River was SO high, Grandpa Ted had this "ferry" rigged up for the last few weeks so that the boat dock could be accessed.

So we boarded the ferry...

and Tim pulled us across.

Then the kids found their final eggs! :)

Next they went into the house to open up their eggs to find stickers & little toys. John & Brielle were pretty excited to open each one, and proud of how they followed all the clues.