Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Rollerblading & More

We had a fun weekend with Grandma.  Parker and I tried out our new rollerblades for the first time:
a little wobbly at first, but got the hang of it pretty fast
why didn't anyone tell me how crooked my helmet was?
trying out the idea of being a camera-man-on-wheels
Linc rode his trike around the driveway with us, but still managed to get in some cuddle time with Gma
Our two lovely spectators and their stuffed friends. "Here, Gma, don't you want to hold my pony... and my moose... and my doggie... and my otter... and my ladybug... (etc., etc., etc.)"
finished off our Sat afternoon fun building racetracks in the garage

Now I'll add a few random pics to help catch up from my non-blogging month and a half.
McDonald's indoor playground still a favorite hangout on blustery days
Linc is always asking me to time him to see how fast he can climb up the stairs, crawl through the tunnel, and come down the slide
Still have the occasional snowy day
Not a great picture, but a great smile :)
from a "camera war" with Mommy
going to play-dates in pj's and making new friends
about to perform his solo in the 5th grade music program
sharing a coloring book without squabbling - yay!

Something funny/cute about Anndra is that she will fall asleep in weird places/positions:
Another thing you faithful blog readers may have noticed about her is that she likes to look at anything BUT the camera when we're trying to take her picture.  For example:
So it is a rare treat to end up with one like this:


Monday, April 22, 2013

New Swings & First Campout

Todd installed two swings and a trapeze under our deck yesterday.

We had a beautiful sunny afternoon to enjoy them!
Note the reflection of Todd taking the picture (above).
Daddy, thanks for the fun new "playground"!


We also took advantage of the warm day to set up our new tent & portable fire pit for the first time.
We roasted marshmallows, had a picnic dinner on the lawn, and the kids even talked us into sleeping in the tent last night.
But guess what we woke up to this morning...
Brrrrrr!  I guess we're learning our lesson about Spring in Montana.





Monday, March 11, 2013

Lincoln is 5

Our little man turned FIVE years old over the weekend! 
His birthday party on Saturday morning was a lot of fun.  He asked for a Ninjago theme and we did our best to oblige.  (Some pics were taken when we finished decorating Friday night).
Spreading out the confetti - such good helpers!


We invited 3 boys and 3 girls, but 2 of the 3 boys couldn't make it... so with Anndra and Lincoln we had 2 boys and 4 girls.  We were also very glad that Grandma came to help!
"Don't Eat Pete!" with Ninjago pictures.

The treasure hunt ended with the discovery of goody-bags in the oven.
Opening presents with best friend, Wynn.
Spinning the blindfolded birthday boy. The beautiful spring sunshine spoiled some of the pics.
Later that night... after his last ski lesson (it was an exhausting day!)... we had our family party.
Love you, Big Guy!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Jammies & Anndra's pics

The kids spend a lot of time in their pajamas these days - since it's too cold to play outside most of the time, there is often no reason for them to get dressed!
Parker and Lincoln are the ones who picked out these matching jammies
Anndra is really hooked on photography right now.  She's always got the camera in her hands.  Most of her pictures are of objects (her stuffed animals, the furniture, etc.).  When she does capture a person, it's usually Lincoln.  For example, the next four pictures:
A little note about Lincoln: he discovered the other day that he can count to one hundred.  Now he spends several minutes of each day running through the house counting.  It's awesome to see him get so excited about being able to do something new.  He's also getting better and better at reading simple words - he looks so proud of himself when he can say a word without sounding it out!
Another favorite for Anndra is taking pictures of her feet:

However, she does sometimes catch the rest of us in a pic or two (usually from an unflattering angle):
Todd (above) and Parker (below) relaxing after a long day of skiing
Another fun new thing that Anndra is doing right now is pretending that she's the mom and I'm her kid.  It's actually a wonderful relief to switch roles for a little while.  I think we learn a lot about each other when we do this and we even involve the boys sometimes - pretending that they are my uncles!
Lincoln took this pic of his sister