Jogger, Playdates, Chick Pea Cookies, Boston, Children's Museum

Not many pics on this one...

Harper got to go on her first ride in the jogger last week and lasted for my whole run...which was just about 30 minutes but she seemed fine so I bet she will last longer too, which is great since I hope to do a half marathon the first weekend in June...so I will need to get some longer runs in :) While I was running Linnea spent some time with our neighbors who invited her over to play so daddy got some "me" time and we had dinner with just Harper and each other. It was weird without lil Linnea but good too. I quite enjoyed not having to ask anyone to take a bite or please stay in your chair :) She really is a good girl but sometimes meals can be a challenge.

We once again ended up at my parents house for most of Saturday two weeks ago and I experimented with an interesting recipe I found on pinterest...Chick Pea Chocolate Chip Cookies...I had heard great things about them and they are flourless so Chris doesnt need to worry about eating them. He isnt totally gluten/wheat free but the less he eats of that the better he feels so we try to be mindful of that when we can.

I generally dont post too much about the tragedies in our country but I was very upset about the most recent bombing at the end of the Boston Marathon. I wore one of my marathon shirts in honor of the runners, community and all those affected. Wearing a shirt isn't much but I know plenty of people who were doing that. What a scary and tragic event at something that is supposed to be so joyous. boo.

On a happier note the girls and I met up with Lori Wallin and her girls last Friday at the Children's Museum! It is always fun to catch up with her and see the girls play. They are expecting baby number 3 in late June, early July so this was maybe one of their last trips here.

Snow to Spring within Days!!!

We woke up to this winter wonderland on Tuesday April 23 but 3 days later on Friday April 26th we hit high 60s and in the words of Linnea "got to wear t-shirts with no sweatshirts or jackets!" We went to storytime, walked to a store, went to playground and came home for lunch and rest/naptime only to head right back outside to a different park (the good old choo choo park!) Can't wait for more of these days! The library even had Linnea's new fav book which we will be reciting over and over again since it does have catchy words and a great beat to it :)

 

Sliding time!

such a fun book!

sister swinging time!!

Bye Bye snow! I love you more than most but even I was done with you by mid April! See you next November!

Rapunzel

Some days I think we have Rapunzel living here in place of Linnea...she was given some money of her own at Harper's Baptism. Great Gpa Chester gave some late Christmas money and we got our Easter baskets from Gma Sarah and Papa Dave which included some gift cards to Target. So Daddy took the girls shopping to Target one day after preschool and let Linnea pick out some things. She LOVES what she got and wears it every day. It is a Tangled/Rapunzel dress. She also got a great water color paint book of Tangled which she easily has painted 15 or so pages of. She also chose the Curious George Movie. The first one. We havent watched yet but Im sure we will have a movie night soon and watch it. I am so glad they had a successful shopping trip and Linnea got to pay all by herself. Chris said she was so proud. The girls and I will likely to go to Target again tomorrow to use up Harper's gift card. We used some of her Baptism money on an indestructable book since she loves paper so much. We will also get a baptism frame and some sunglasses and who knows what else :)

Baptized!!!

We had an absolutely lovely day last Sunday for Harper's Baptism. It was a very special day full of many smiles and visiting with family and friends and of course eating. Chris of course had the whole day off so we all got ready together and headed over to my parents church. My parents had spend the evening with us the night before helping to make/decorate the cake and cupcakes and they turned out just how I wanted it! I couldn't have done it without them...papa entertained the girls, mom did dishes and brought decorating supplies and tips. We had a great time preparing for the special day!

God Bless Harper! We made cupcakes with crosses on them too which I hope to post soon.

Harper's Godparents are our good friends Chuck and DeAnna. They are expecting their first child the beginning of June so it was so nice of them to make the hour trip in. DeAnna's back has really been bothering her with the pregnancy so sitting in a car and at church isnt the most comfortable. The service was lead by the youth and perfect for a baptism.  Harper didn't cry and looked proudly as she was carried around the church.

 Back at home/my parents house we had a delicious brunch. I experimented with another Pinterest recipe, this time an oatmeal bake and it was a hit! Will be making again and trying out different fruit/flavor combos. This time I did strawberries, bananas and chocolate chips.  My mom made a great egg, ham and cheese bake and fruit salad and Grandma Sarah baked some yummy yummy muffins!

Harper received many nice gifts and plenty of love from her family, friends and cousins.

I will post more pictures soon. These were just already on the computer on facebook so it was the quickest for me since we got a "new" camera I have to figure out how to transfer again.

The Neverending Winter

The girls and I headed to the Choo Choo park earlier this week since we knew more snow was coming. Yes more snow.

This snowy weekend was filled with game playing and a movie night! We tried Go Fish and Old Maid. We also made snowmen with some friends..hopefully our last snowmen of this winter/spring...

Go Fish princess card style.

Movie night with our sleeping bags! The first thought for a movie was The Polar Express since of course Christmas is coming since it snowed. In the end we watched The Heffalump Movie (one of the Winnie the Pooh movies) but since the snow keeps coming I wouldn't be surprised if the next movie night was Polar Express.

goofy smiles!

pretty smiles!

Today (Sunday) was spent with my parents again. We went to church where we saw a friends sweet lil baby get baptized. It is Harpers special day next Sunday so now Linnea knows kind of what to expect! I got to go on a run, bake some chick pea chocolate chip cookies (despite the weirdness sounding of that they are quite tasty and involve no flour so Chris can eat them! And they are actually pretty good for you! Chick Peas, PB, honey, vanilla and baking powder is all thats in them) and we visited GG and had some spaghetti for supper back at my parents house. 

Back to work and preschool again tomorrow...

flower show and moms birthday

We celebrated my mom's birthday last Sunday afternoon/evening with Jimmy John's and Poppyseed Cake and plenty of playing and mom opened her presents. Jake kept blowing out her candle until Dylan took things into his own hands. 

Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma! We love you!

But before celebrating her birthday, the girls and I ventured to downtown Minneapolis all by ourselves. I was a little nervous but REALLY wanted to go the free Macy's Flower Show and Sunday was the last day. So we packed up some snacks, the diaper bag and the stroller and headed out. I knew we would park at Target since I needed stuff in there anyways. From Target we managed to find Macy's by way of the skyways which Linnea LOVED running through! And Harper was facing out in the stroller again so she loved looking all around and watching that big sis run! We made it to the 8th floor (the same place they do their Christmas display) and I was at first very intimidated by the line. I asked a staff member if she had any idea how long it would take...I didn't really want to turn around and leave but knew with the girls waiting in line for too long just wasn't going to work. She said 20 minutes and I knew that was doable. Linnea hadn't had any snacks yet and I had my phone which she could play some games on if needed. But we didn't even need to...the line moved really quickly and before we knew it we were within these beautiful flowers:

Breakfast before we left


I am soooo glad we went to this and plan to do it every year! This year was especially perfect because it is certainly not looking like spring or flowery outside this mid April. This is the winter that never ends and I am even tired of it. I LOVE winter and snow but really April?? Spring come anytime now.

Visiting with the Millers

My mom's cousin's son and his family were here visiting the first week of April and they were nice enough to bring us some wonderful hand me down clothes for Linnea and eventually Harper. The last time I saw Jeff and Ivy ( Georgia and Bruce's son and daughter in law) and their girls Linnea was likely Harper's age. So it was great to catch up in person. I say in person because we do an awful lot of keeping up on facebook...well with pictures and statuses that is :) 

The girls and I went to a free sing, play and learn music event before heading out to Richfield to visit. The event is put on by MacPhail Music Center at a variety of the public libraries throughout the year. This was one of at least three we will go to this year. We love them! 

It was so fun to see the girls play together, have a dance party and play on their ipads/ipods. We had a nice lunch from Georgia and Bruce and m &m cookies from us. 

The girls and I headed to goodwill afterwards and found some new scarves, jewelry and a purse for me. Linnea found a few books, a dress, jammies, a doll stroller and a puppet! I LOVE finding good deals! I am so sad we didn't take a single picture of Jeff and Ivy and their sweet girls. But here is one of Linnea in a Tink (jammie) shirt from them. She lived in that and the 2 sizes too big rain boots the rest of the day and most of the weekend. She has worn plenty of the other clothes already too :)

Easter Fun!

Isabelle and Linnea with their goods.

The girls and I spent most of Saturday and all of Easter Sunday with my parents. Saturday morning started with an egg hunt and another visit with the bunny at my friend Katie's church. 

no crying on the bunny! yay!

We then had lunch with my parents and then I took Harper with me back to the house to finish packing our stuff up, since we were spending Saturday night over at my parents since Easter breakfast was at 8. There's no way I'd get there alone with the girls on time and I just couldn't get the packing done before we needed to leave for the egg hunt. I will never understand how/why it can take me so long to get out the door! 

Anyways...I went back to my parents and we had fun decorating Easter cookies, dying eggs, watching some of HOP and making muffins for the Easter morning. 

Linnea and Harper looked so pretty in their dresses and I even wore a new dress :) 

We ate, then the bunny came and hid about 100 eggs so the kids had fun finding those. Then the gals and I went to church with my parents while Brian and his fam headed on to Megan's sides celebration. 

                After church we watched some more of HOP, had some rest/reading time and 
                                            then went on a walk before heading to GG's. 
We brought a very cute homemade "bread bunny" with veggies and dip. 
                                                            Im sure GG enjoyed seeing us. 

               The girls and I headed back to my parents to pack up and head home to see daddy. 
It was a fun last day and night of spring break. I wish it didnt go so fast but we sure did have a blast!

Visiting with Friends

The Friday of my break we went to one of my closest high school friend's house to meet her baby Mateo. It had been a while since I saw her so it was great to catch up with Lorissa. Katie and her girls also came so Linnea had fun doing puzzles and coloring with them. We stopped at Aldi on our way home and spent the evening making tortilla pizzas, playing with play dough and Easter cookie cutters, dancing and preparing for Easter! Harper also rolled from her back to tummy! I missed it though. I was in the kitchen getting something and then heard her crying and went to find her on her tummy. I had left her on the floor on her back. She hasn't done it again since but I'm sure she will :)

jello jelly beans!

Easter M & M blonde brownies

making ducks and bunnies!

I can't believe we didnt take a picture with Mateo...but we didnt :( Next time. He sure is a cutie!
Only 7 weeks old!