Field trip to the zoo

Now that I have more time on my hands, I volunteered to accompany Mira's first grade class to the Minnesota Zoo this past Thursday! It was a lovely day to visit the zoo: calm, cloudy, 70 degrees. Really nice!

Mira with her classmates Mariah and Damaria (and the monkeys!):
Damaria, Alexa, and Mira with the fish:
Mariah, Mira, Claire, and Damaria in a cave!
In front of the Lorax. They had a bunch of bronz statues of Dr. Suess characters at the zoo to find:
Sea otter!
Mira in a dinosaur head!
Mira trying to touch sting ray and shark in a tank. This was her favorite part of the trip!
Flying with the Grinch:
It was a fun, but very quick afternoon. We arrived at the zoo at 10:45 and needed to be back on the bus by 2:15. Unfortunately, because of the zoo remodel, many exhibits were closed, like the bat cave, snake area, brown bear exhibit, and the dolphins chose not to swim where we could see them. So we didn't get to see a lot of the zoo. We'll have to head back when the penguin exhibit is open and check them out!

Happy Mother's Day!

A very happy Mother's Day wish to all you moms out there! We've had a wonderful day so far. I woke up to cards from Chris and the girls, received not one, but TWO hanging baskets to brighten my front porch, got an iTunes gift card (yay!), and was taken out for brunch. Later the girls and I are going to see Pinkalicious at the Stages Theater in Hopkins, then will meet Chris out for ice cream. What a lovely day!

Amelia blows out her candles!

And some final photos of Amelia blowing out her candles. We bought some cupcakes and had a birthday dinner on our porch. It was a lovely night outside!

The birthday girl!

Happy 4th birthday, Amelia!

Today is our baby Amelia's 4th birthday! It's been such a great 4 years with our youngest. She's so bright, engaging, funny, and sassy! We're hoping the sassy leaves now that she's 4, but the rest can stay!

She woke up today eager to open her presents, so we had the gift opening in our bedroom. She was very happy with her gifts!

A Littlest Pet Shop set:
Her very own Legos so she isn't taking apart the things that Mira has built:
And a horse for her doll!
Next is a party at day care, followed by cupcakes tonight for dessert.

Happy birthday to our sweet baby! We love you so much!

Happy 10th Anniversary!

Yesterday was my and Chris's 10th wedding anniversary! It's been a great 10 years! 2 kids and 2 houses later . . . we are looking forward to the next 10 years . . . and the 10 years after that! Only no more kids, and maybe only 1 more house!

We went out to dinner at PF Changs with Mira and Amelia to celebrate. It was a nice evening. Mira made us this card at school. It is so special to us!
Chris and I are super blessed. Thanks to everyone who called or emailed with happy anniversary wishes. It really means a lot to us!

Happy May Day!

How can you resist these sweet beauties?

Happy May Day, everyone!

Happy Easter!

We are hoping everyone had a wonderful Easter and were able to spend it with family! We drove to Mom and Dad's for the weekend and were able to see all my siblings, my godparents, and two cousins and their families. We had such a lovely time!

Mira and Amelia had a visit from the Easter bunny at Mom and Dad's house. They scored a little candy, a new pair of summer pajamas, and some sunglasses. The Easter bunny is practical!

The kids loved the Easter egg hunt. We were so grateful the weather was nice! Having 10 kids look for 95 Easter eggs inside the house would have been a great challenge!

On your mark, get set, Go!
Amelia found a few!
The girls had to look far and wide to find them all:
Anna enjoying the hunt for colorful eggs:
Don't forget to look up!
Group photo of the grandkids (and Sophie!):

Here comes the Easter bunny!

Mira and Amelia were playing in the playroom and Mira decided to dress up as the Easter bunny! She found an all-white outfit, some bunny ears, and (for extra added effect) stuffed a fur-lined purse in her rear. Voila! Instant Easter bunny! I love her cleverness.
And as a special weekend treat, Mira helped me make Muddy Buddies! It is so delicious! How can you not like peanut butter, chocolate, and powdered sugar mixed with cereal?
Amelia was feeling helpful and wanted to dust my furniture! Anytime they ask to help clean, I give a resounding "Yes!"
It's been so long since I've posted! Really nothing much happening around here. Just got through a cold and snowy/rainy March, and it seems that April is much of the same! We are really looking forward to Easter with my family this year! I'll post photos of that event for sure.

As sung by Amelia

Ring around the rosies,
pocketful of hosies,
Rashes, rashes,
We all jungle down!

Date Night Cooking Class

Chris and I decided to try something new for date night, so we enrolled in a one-time cooking class through our community education catalog. We had so much fun! And there was a nice surprise that our former neighbors were also in the class, so we were able to cook together.
The menu was super delicious, and contained quite a few things that I wanted to learn to make. Here is what we made:
:: Baked mushroom risotto
:: Chicken florentine
:: Roasted brocolli with garlic
The other team we joined up with made bananas foster, a cheese souffle, and a different version of chicken florentine. We made enough food for 8 people and shared it with our two partner couples. Everything was so delicious and it was great fun to just get out and learn to cook. I plan to make the risotto again soon!

Highly recommended for a different kind of date night. I've also taken cooking classes on my own and have loved the results. I took a thai class and a chicken en crote class. Both were so fun to learn new cuisines!

Sweet Amelia

This morning, Amelia was being particularly sweet, after days of particularly sassy behavior.

I hugged her and said, "Oh, I love this sweet Amelia! I think the sassy Amelia went away. Where do you think she went?"

Amelia said, "To jail."

Ha!

School Carnival

Last night was Mira's school carnival. It was a lot of fun, with games for the kids, a raffle, and a gift basket silent auction. We're sure they are going to deliver the new grill we tried to win in the raffle any minute now!

Mira broke a board with her hand!
And so did Amelia!
Amelia threw a hula hoop over a stuffed dog!
Here is Mira trying to win an iCarly poster by throwing a football through a hole. She almost got it, but not quite. (Birthday gift idea!)
They had a hair painting station that Mira and Amelia just had to try! Voi-la! The results: Mira picked pink and blue pigtails with glitter:
Amelia picked pigtail buns and a combination of pink, purple, and blue for her hair. And glitter, of course!
Of course, the carnival was right before bedtime, so both girls insisted on sleeping in their new hair style!

And no carnival at a school wouldn't be complete without a visit to the "nurse"! All the kids came out looking worse for the wear than when they went in. They all loved the new bloody bandage!
It was a really fun family evening. Tonight: date night for me and Chris!