Another month behind us...

March definitely went out like a lamb...it was BEAUTIFUL this last week or so. Some days we could even get outside without a jacket. Although some days it was difficult to figure out which jacket to put on, winter or spring, or if we needed a hat or not, BUT I am not complaining. I love being able to get the kids out and burning their energy. The warm sunny days make the cooler sunny days a little deceiving...the kids see the sun and think it is great outside. But if they want out and are fine with the cold and wind...who am I to say no...lol. Grandma and Lexi stopped by this day to play. Enjoy the pictures!

One of many to come...

Guess what is in the jar??? One of many little creatures that the kids will catch. This time it is a spider. Not exactly one of mommy's favorite creatures but the lid is on real tight! The kids loved looking at him and investigating his behavior. Mommy even caught a fly for him. Here are the kids so very proud of their first creature in a jar. Enjoy!

A new look

On St. Patty's Day I took Alex out for a little one on one time. His special visit was to go pick out glasses.
Yup his small issue that was found at the last doctor visit was an eye issue. We took him back to the eye doctor that we had seen only two months prior to find out he needs glasses to hopefully fix the issue. As a mother you want your children to be perfect, so it was something I had to get use to. Not to mention the only thing I wanted our kids to have was my great eyesight and great teeth...not much! BUT this should be a temporary thing. Luckily Jeremy was able to help me look at it from Alex's side.
So anyways, back to our little outing. We were going to go pick out glasses together, but things did not work well to get us both at the clinic at the same time, so that left it up to me and Alex to figure out. Luckily for his size of head only a few frames to pick from. Alex did great and charmed the 2 ladies working. We headed for lunch then back to grandma's to nap.
We got the call today that the glasses were ready. We quickly planned to go get them as a family and then to treat them all to dinner out. We have been trying to find local places that offer kids eat free nights. We let them order from the menu which was fun. And they all shared what they had pick with the other two. It was a great little impromtu family outing.
Before we got to the clinic...
Getting them fitted...

Letting his siblings see the bed aka case for the glasses...

Doesn't he look just so freakin handsome!!! So grown up...makes this mommy teary eyed.

His cohorts in crime...always up for an adventure!

Spring has sprung

This week's weather has been awesome! Did not need the bulky winter jackets or to make sure that all have hats and mittens on. Were able to get outside within minutes of deciding to go...during the winter months that time increases EASILY to 20 to 25 minutes. Even more reason to love the warmer months (even though I love the change of seasons)...lol. Waiting for the ground to dry enough to rake has been tough but it finally did and someof the yard got done. Here are the kids enjoying the spring like weather.
The kids enjoying the Gator for the 2 minutes prior to the battery dying...
The boys cleaning out the stones and more...

Liz searching for just the right piece of mulch...

Alex working on trying to clean up the front yard...

Liz peeling apart a pine cone...

A trip across the state

We headed across the state this weekend to give Nana and Papa their anniversary gift...new family photo taken. We took off from home Saturday late morning, grabbed lunch on the way and hoped for some napping kids on the way. Well the boys never napped and Liz only got in about 15 minutes. We got to town shortly before pictures were to be taken. At that point I am hoping that the kids just take nice pictures esp with no naps! They did wonderful with the pictures and I can wait to get them order. We then made plans to go out for supper as a whole family...the boys fell asleep on the way to Platteville, which was a big help. The did great at supper and were finally in bed asleep by 10. A long day for them but they were great! Sunday morning Jeremy tried to let me sleep in, although the kids were not so willing, go figure! We headed home even though the kids did not want to leave. It was a quiet ride home...gotta love exhausted kids! Here are some pictures from the visit.
Love, Jen
Papa and the kids
Nana and the kids...

Watching Nana make rolls for breakfast...

More than ready to help...

Playing with Nana...

Going for a walk with Nana...

Papa has waited since the kids were born to be able to send in a picture to the Channel 3 news. They do a special segment of "Look Who's 3"...so here is the kids first TV debut...talk abot one very proud Papa!

A little girls time!

I am working on getting out with the kids one on one. Today as a last minute decision, I decided to get out with Liz while my mom watched the boys. I knew my first alone outing with Liz would be to pierce her ears. I had wanted to wait until Liz was able to at least tell us whether or not she would want them done or not. Now it is still a lot to ask of a three year old to make such a decision, but we felt comfortable with it. Our little outing started with stopping at the bank for grandma. Talk about someone liking to be the center of attention...she just would not stop smiling. No one to compete against for attention. Then it was off to Claire's to get the ears done. Who knew it cost so much to get holes punched in ears (at least I thought it was) but I will say it does depend on the type of earring and when doing something like this I was not about to put some cheap things in and have to deal with issues. Then of course they strategically place things, so only little ones can see them.
Here she is prior to getting them done...
Both ears done and not a tear...not even a flinch...she did GREAT!

Could she get any more cute or pretty???

The next stop was lunch. Nothing special...just Wendy's, but still a treat for her to do that as well as just eating with mom by herself.

Here she is being her goofy self...

We were only out for 2 hours, but had a great time. I love having the kids one on one and they really seem to like it as well. They love their siblings and usually start to ask about them after a short period without them. They all have their own personalities no matter who is around but they can really shine by themselves. So I look forward to each of the boys going out with me...we'll see what I can come up with to do with them!

Love, Jen

PS To my beautiful Liz....you were awesome today...you make mommy so proud! Love you lots!

Winter thaw fun!!!

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! With weather like that you can't stay in the house. So the winter thaw is a mess esp in the playarea outside, so we just have to find other things to do. We asked Papa to try to get the scooters and bikes put together that the kids got for their birthday while we were gone. I just have not had the time to do it. Thankfully Papa was able to get it done. Yippy!!! The kids got to test them out this weekend. Yesterday after picking the kids up from school I picked up the scooters & bikes and headed out to grandma's. The kids had a blast playing in the sun and really it felt great to be soaking in some rays watching them. Today's weather was cloudy and dreary, but still "warm"...high 30's (and yes that is warm now...lol...gotta love Wisconsin weather). So I planned on getting them burning some off their energy outside. So we got the scooters out again and played until Lexi got here. We did not stop playing once she got here just moved things indoors. And that was not it for the day...we headed back out before supper. These kids will be living outside this summer, I swear! Right now just getting out is nice for us all...cabin fever sucks! Looking at how much the kids have grown since last summer, there will be a lot of toys to get rid of out of the play area. Once our backyard dries up, I see it being a flurry of activity. Here are pictures from the morning...
Liz cruising on her Tinkerbell scooter...
Zach checking the melting snow with his Cars scooter...

Alex cruising with his Buzz Light Year scooter...

Gotta love having a large parking lot as a part of our driveway...now if it was not so close to such a busy road it would be perfect...luckily the snow is still blocking one entrance AND the kids know the road is a no no and are CONSTANTLY reminded! If you look REAL close you can see Liz and Zach way ahead of Alex and me...

So once I had all 4 kids, I put the garage door down and let the scooting continue as well as let the 3 dogs join in the fun...this worked for a little while, but it works!

So we will see how much we are scooting in the next few days as rain is in the forecast for the next 5 days...gotta love spring! I am so ready to wash the winter outerwear and get it put away, but I will resist as I do not want to jinx the thaw that is happening.

Enjoying the thaw, hope you are too!

Jen :)

PS Thanks again to Papa for getting the bikes and scooters together as well as thanks to Elaine and Norma for getting the bikes for the kids and Aunt Jeanne, Uncle Brent and the girls for the scooters. They are all very loved!

The Getaway...

Even though Jeremy's reason to surprise me for a getaway for my birthday changed, it was still much needed after how February ended up going. The plan was for us to use a gift certificate that was given to us that was years old. Well long story short...our choices of where we could go were limited. We decided to go to the closest place which ended up being Manawa, WI. Nana and Papa were going to watch the kids for the first time overnight. They got here Friday morning while the kids were in school, shortly after the kids were back and we were packed, we handed over the reins. We were on our way! After a quick stop in New London, WI we arrived in Manawa. With traveling off season, you have to be patient in finding things to do. We were not about having every minute of the day planned or having something to do...we do that normally...this was all about relaxing & enjoying time with each other without interruptions. We stayed at the Lindsay House Bed & Breakfast....you know it's my dream to own and run a B&B. Judy and Tim are the inn keepers. There was a cat named Tyson and a dog named Abby...talk about feeling at home! The inn was beautiful. The inn keepers superb; went above and beyond. The breakfasts were wonderful!

Since there are no T.V.s in the rooms unless requested we just use the room down the hall. Funny thing is Friday night we just watched TV since it was cable and we no longer have cable. Saturday night we did enjoy one of the many movies the inn had.

Our room was very cozy. It had brillant sunlight during the day. The bed was SOOOO comfy. We slept great! Three out of four of the beds in the rooms were handmade/built by Tim (hubby part of the inn keepers).

We only called home once and that was due to forgetting about Liz's medication...I did not want to skip 2 days of it. Although we missed the kids, we felt completely happy and comfortable having Nana and Papa at the controls. Since my camera was with us I have no pictures as of yet of all the fun that was had while we were away. It sounded like everyone had a great time! Can't ask much more than that!!! Thanks again to Nana and Papa for coming to take care of the not only the 3 monkeys, but the 2 dogs and 2 cats as well.

Love, Jen

Happy Birthday to ME!

The only reason I even considered doing a post about myself is due to this...I am now 33 yrs old and a mother of three 3 yr olds...maybe time to consider changing my lucky number, eh? The thing about birthdays after you have kids (at this age anyways) is that it is just another day to them. They don't give you a break or think about doing things differently. In fact you have expectations of a possible easier day, but then it seems like it is worse due to you thinking it was going to be better...lol...oh the way our minds work! So you will get a kick out of these pictures...yes those 2 dump truck on top of the table are in timeout...that should tell you what type of day we are having. The kids are underneath the table...fixing it...3 play screwdrivers were bent in the "fixing" process...lol. It kept them busy while I made lunch, so let them fix away!

Oh btw, my hubby did come home with 3 red roses and an ice cream cake...my day was made!!!

Love, Jen

It's a mother's job...

...to teach her children the basics to survive in life. I am very thankful to my mom for teaching me the things you should just know how to do laundry, cook, balance a checkbook and how to clean...you know the things you HATED to do as a kid. Well the kids are loving their lessons in life that I give them every so often. They know how to vacuum, dust, mop, clean mirrors, toilets & sinks, load the washer & dryer and are always willing to help cook.
Tonight we had grill cheese and tomato soup for dinner. Liz had no interest in helping make the meal but the boys were more than ready to help. They do a great job of listening while helping around the kitchen area. All I can hope is I do as well as my mom did with preparing my kids for the real world. Don't they look cute cooking? They are growing up so quick!
Love, Jen

PS Happy Birthday Alexis! Hope you bday rocked!!!