Breaking in their soccer gear

Brielle & John are playing in their first soccer league this spring.. for which they both needed shin guards and soccer shoes.  Grandma Carol surprised us and took both John & Brielle to a soccer shop during a day trip to the Quad Cities.  She likes taking them to the children's museum and Happy Joe's there, but they made an extra stop that day.  Then they came home with new soccer gear and were excited to try it out.   Thanks, Grandma Carol!

Here we are in our basement in early March playing soccer :)

Bathtime giggles

I love John's face in this photo sequence. 

Brielle was being silly in the bubbles... causing big-time-belly-laughs from John :)

Happy 5th Birthday, Brielle!

Today is Brielle's 5th birthday!  She is so thrilled about it being 'her' day :)  She has enjoyed the phone calls today from family members calling to wish her 'Happy Birthday."

This morning, we had a pancake breakfast at home, went to church, enjoyed doughnuts after church, and then came home.  John informed us that Brielle was not really 5 years old until we had her cake and sang 'Happy Birthday" (love how a 3 1/2 year old thinks!)

Our doorbell rang, and the neighbors kids invited Brielle & John over to play until lunch time.  

For lunch we enjoyed spaghetti & garlic bread.  Then it was time for cake (homemade by Tim yesterday) with pink frosting (Brielle's request).  Brielle cut pieces of cake for everyone on her own  and later opened a couple of presents from us.  What a great day so far :)

Tomorrow, she's excited about taking birthday treats to school for the first time.  Each of her classmates will get a goody bag with: a bag of animal crackers, 2 Starburst, a sticker & a squishy chick toy.  She put all the bags together this weekend.    

Hockey Game

Friday night we had 6 tickets to the Hockey Game.  Brielle invited Emma & Josie to come along.  After we parked the car, a trolley offered us a ride so we hopped on.  The kids enjoyed their first trolley ride :)

The newspaper the next day said it was a sold-out crowd at the game.  This photo is before the game started, but it did look pretty full later. 

Here are the girls playing with squishy toy chicks at the game.  

John & the popcorn... which stayed on his lap most of the time-- he shared it with Tim & me.  Emma & Brielle also had a popcorn to share... and Josie had nachos. 

These 3 girl cousins have a lot of fun together... love this photo of them!

They jumped two rounds in the Bounce House.  

Amazingly, despite all the noise, John fell asleep during the 2nd period.  He slept for about 20 minutes in the stands, and then 10 minutes here while we waited for the girls to finish jumping in the Bounce House.  When we walked outside, shortly after this, the cold air woke him up.  

A new fish

Brielle had a betta fish for over 2 1/2 years.  She named it "Fishy" and it was a gift from my aunt Nancy.   Brielle was only 2 years old when she first got that fish, and it was cute because she couldn't quite pronounce her "f's" so the name sounded more like "Dishy"... for awhile.

It was a great pet and lived longer than we expected, but for the last month, it was just lying on the rocks at the bottom of the tank, and wouldn't swim around or swim up to eat its food.  Brielle started asking if she could get a new fish.  I asked, "What will we do with Fishy?"  She answered, "We can just take him back to the pet store."  

Brielle picked out a new fish this weekend... it's a lighter blue and smaller than Fishy was.  John & Brielle have suggested a few different names so far, but it doesn't seem like they have made a final decision yet :).   

Getting ready for baby :)

Here are a couple things we've done lately to get ready for Baby #3... due on March 21st :)

We took Brielle & John to a Sibling Class at the hospital.  Kathy, the nurse who put it on, did an excellent job and the kids had fun getting a tour of the rooms, seeing a newborn in the nursery, holding a baby doll, talking about what toys are safe vs. not safe for a new baby, sharing ideas on how to be good big brothers & sisters, and eating cookies at the end of the night.

We have also done some rearranging with the bedrooms.  John & Brielle each had their own room on the main floor next to our bedroom, and they were each in queen or full beds.   So we decided to purchase a set of twin beds (that can be bunked in the future if needed).  They moved into Brielle's room, the larger of the two rooms.  I found some cute bedding at Target, and they were both very excited about new beds & new bedding.  People asked if Brielle & John have been chatty at bedtime now that they are sharing.  They weren't for the first week, but after that there have been a few nights with a lot of chatter!  It's fun to listen to their conversations :)

        

Another funny story regarding sharing rooms... one night- in the kitchen- Brielle & John were having a disagreement over something, and John said sternly "Brielle, you CAN'T come into my room anymore."

Brielle answered, "John, we are in the same room."

John said, "No, we are NOT."

Brielle said, "Yes, we are, John."

And then the disagreement was over :)

Birthday Parties

We recognized all the January, February & March birthdays this past weekend.  Since there are so many cousins (latest count is 21 kids under the age of 15), we have been combining birthdays lately and it seems to work great.  Otherwise, we'd have so many birthday parties to attend!  

Here are a few photos of Brielle with her cake before everyone arrived. 

Then she wanted to do a silly one :)

 And one more pose :)

 Our friend Heather did another awesome job with the cakes.  Not only are her cakes cute and perfectly frosted, they are delicious!  Heather gave us a book of cake ideas, and as soon as Brielle saw a ballet slipper cake, she said that's what she wanted.  Dorothy Jo had a theatrical/ mask theme, Wilson and Lincoln had Star Wars cakes, and Karley had a sparkly ring cake.  

Below are some of the kids eating lunch at Grandma Carol's & Grandpa Ted's house.  Natalie said on their way over to the party Willa said, "Can I have my birthday at Grandma Carol's house?"  It's cute how the other cousins refer to her as Grandma Carol too :)

Birthdays recognized: Lincoln (4), Dorothy Jo (15), Bob, Wilson (8), Brielle (5), Jolene, and Karley (4).  

Next year, we may also get to celebrate a couple of other cousins too at this same time... Wesley (February 20, just born!) and Damien (turns 2 on March 26th)... but as Tina was just having her baby this week, it was a busy time for her & her family :).

Blowing out the candles:

 Opening presents... Brielle was excited to receive her first American Girl Doll, McKenna. 

John had fun with the box :)

Brielle also received some books, finger paints, other art supplies, a word game, a new swimsuit, and this baby cradle made by her 85-year old Great Uncle Leo. 

Although there were some weak spots in the ice and the rink wasn't totally smooth, the kids did have fun playing hockey and walking around on the ice.  The boys also did some ice fishing, but the fish weren't biting.  

When your Dad is a chemistry teacher...

you might get to play with "The Flexible Molecular Model Kit."  

And then when your mom comes home, you'll get to tell her...

"Look, Mom, this is benzene!"

"And Mom, this is methane!"

Enjoying Grandpa's Ice Rink

The ice rink is mostly melted now, but the kids loved this day on the ice rink!

John borrowed some ice skates from Osty, a neighbor with a big collection of ice skates since his 4 kids grew up on the lake.  Last year John wore double-runner ice skates, and he could walk all over the rink by himself.  This year was a little more challenging for him, but still fun :)

Brielle practiced ice skating with a chair for a little while...

 and then with the help of Dad.

Then the skates came off, the boots went back on, and they played ice hockey :)

When we had snow...

There wasn't a lot of snow here this winter compared to usual, but we managed to take advantage of a few snowy days over at Grandma Carol's & Grandpa Ted's house.  There are a lot of fun winter activities to do on the frozen, snow covered lake... including playing, hiking, snowshoeing, ATV-ing, sledding and ice-skating.  

Look how you can see the frosty outline of John's mouth :)

Grandpa Ted taking a break from snowblowing the ice rink to watch John sled down the hill:

Grandma Carol helping Brielle build a snow castle.

Baking

Tim really enjoys baking, and of course the kids love to help out any chance they get.  They have made a lot of yummy treats in the last couple of months... banana bread, zucchini bread, blueberry bread, cranberry bread, and different bars or cookies.  Looks like this might have been a chocolate chip cookie bar day :)