State Basketball...

For those of you that haven't heard - our boys basketball team put Sebeka on the map this year. They made it to state and ended up winning 2nd place bragging rights, the best that any Sebeka team has ever done! They had a great run this year and it was fun to be a part of it. We (Josh was gone, so we is my friend Rachel, my and the kids) went down to watch the state tourney games... Thank God for Rachel and all the help that she gave me with the kids this trip - even though they were awesome the majority of the time, it is still nice to have an extra pair of hands around... We watched a lot of basketball, swam in an icy pool and hung out with friends and family. It was a wonderful weekend!

Playing...

Trevin and Bella were having the best time playing the other day. All the other kids were napping and I got to just sit and enjoy them interacting with each other... It was so fun to watch - I think that they played "together" for about a half an hour!!

And she's gone...

Even though I said in my Christmas letter that she would be walking by Christmas, that didn't quite happen. I keep telling my family that I meant Christmas in July, but they aren't buying that! :) Bella took a few steps on her own last Sunday, with us standing behind her urging her... Now she is gaining confidence and taking off on her own. It is so fun to see her spreading her wings and taking those steps, but hard to believe that our baby is becoming so independent!

Birthdays came early!

Brody and Beau got their birthday presents from my parents early this year... Brody has been whining every day that his bike is "too slow" and "too little" and hates riding it. Since the snow is already gone here and the weather has been beautiful, they got to get their bikes early so they can start riding them. Brody's bike is a little tall for him and it is amusing to watch him try to get on, but it's great that he has room to grow into it, just what we wanted!! Beau didn't get the hang of riding his quite as quick as Brody did when he got his for his 3rd birthday, but after only about a half hour of me pushing his knees up and down, he also took off on his own. Not bad considering that he won't turn 3 until the end of May! The spent the rest of the day today riding around the yard... SO MUCH FUN!!

Go Trojans, Go!

We headed to Crosby Ironton last night for one last basketball games (ours boys won their section championship game, so now we head to state) and my boys were decked out in their purple and gold! At our homecoming this year they sold our old school jerseys for $1, so of course I had to buy a couple! Deb, doesn't Beau look great in his? :)

Playland!

Bella's first experience with BK playland was on Tuesday night before the boys basketball game... We had barely gotten our jackets off and she was down one of the tubes! I had to get my niece Tori to go in and get her so that we could eat before they started playing. As soon as she was done it was back into the tunnels!!

Mommy's little helper!

Bella is into everything right now! As soon as the dishwasher or fridge opens, she books it over to climb in, on and everything in between... So helpful!

Are you ready for some basketball??

Our boys and girls basketball teams have been doing really well this year and we have jumped into tournaments with a vengence. The kids love to go out with their purple and gold outfits, faces and purple hair... The looks when we go out to dinner beforehand are definitely entertaining!

Play time

I have those pull out your hair moments (like any normal mom) where I think, "will these kids ever learn to play together without fighting or being mean to each other?" Well, one came along this morning and I had to get some pictures of it. Brody had just left for school and Beau wanted Bella to come downstairs to play with him. I brought her down and then went into the laundry room to fold some clothes and make sure that she wouldn't start crying immediately. When I checked on them I just had to get the camera and snap a few pics... It was so wonderful!! He was telling her to be careful cause it was hot and that he had to cut the hamburger in half for her... Such a wonderful scene to walk into!

At home time...

We have been stuck at home for the last couple of days with Bella having a fever once again... So, I have been trying to come up with a few activities to pass the time with the boys, since they haven't had a lot of play time with their cousins like they usually do (heaven forbid! :)

Making Jello Jigglers - I got the best ABC mold from Brody's teacher when she was cleaning out her classroom and thought, I could totally put jello in this. Worked great and he was naming off the letters as he was eating them!


Fingerpainting - Since St. Patty's day is coming up, I decided to bust out some shamrocks and work on yellow and blue makes green with the fingerpainting... Unfortunately this turned into hand or maybe whole arm painting, so we might not be doing this again in the near future... :)

Riding a zebra!

For Christmas from my brothers and sisters, Bella got a zebra that you can bounce up and down on. She is now getting to the point where she loves to sit on it and crawls over to it frequently to get on it by herself... She is such a joy to have in our lives with her big smiles that she gives us all the time!

Bowling!

We had a busy Saturday this weekend! The boys basketball team had a game on Saturday afternoon, so we started our afternoon with that. Then at half time we leftand headed to Wadena to grab some "Old MacDonald's" with all the kids (Me and the kids, Rox and her kids, Ron and Chris and their kids and mom). Then we were off to New York Mills for some bowling... After that, we were back to Wadena for the girls basketball playoff game. Considering all the running that we did, the kids were pretty well behaved and had a great time! They love bowling so much...

Oobleck...

So, we had an adventurous day today... The Ness' were gone from daycare, so I thought that I would try some oobleck with the few kids that I had. They had a blast!! Made a huge mess that took me forever to clean up, but they had fun playing with the crazy goop!

Cousin time at daycare...

I am so lucky that I get to have my sister's kids with me every day during daycare. My kids have a great time with them, although there are the fights that go along with the fun and I get to see them change daily! I love my family so much and it makes me love my job even more when I see my nieces and nephews every day!
Beau and Ellie

Bella picking on Emma

Playing Uno Moo Teagen, Ellie and Beau

Pack-mule Josh

So, we have a snowmobile trail that runs through our front yard and the boys discovered the hardness of it the other day... It was at the same time that they decided that they wanted to go for a "walk" with daddy! So, Parker, Bella and Beau hopped into the sled - poor Brody had to walk and lucky Josh got to haul them all down the trail. It was a beautiful day and they had a lot of fun... and Josh wasn't TOO sore afterwards! :)