Look Mom! No Training Wheels!

This weekend, Brenna and Brody met a milestone. They can both ride their bikes without training wheels! I think it was as exciting for Steve and I as it was for them. :) Steve did a great job "coaching" them and within 20 minutes Brody was riding was on his own. We thought Brenna was going to need a little extra practice but after taking a break from her first "session," she hopped on the bike, had Steve get her started, and she took off! The looks on both of their faces were priceless. They still need to work on getting started and turning, but it's a start.

Brody practicing with Daddy on the grass

After a few trial runs with Steve holding onto Brody's shirt, here is with no training wheels! You can tell that he needs to concentrate. :)

Brenna practicing. I didn't get a picture of her going totally independent because she decided to do that right as Steve and I were leaving to out for the evening. Brenna got mad at me when she was practicing and found out I let go of her shirt. Tess, waiting for someone to play with her. I thought she deserved to be part of the blog too.
No exciting updates from last week. Brenna was special helper at preschool on Thursday. She chose to bring animal crackers after she had initially wanted to bring Rice Krispie bars, which we made two batches of. I don't know where she gets her indecisiveness from. :) A clown came to their school on Thursday, which they both thought was fun. Only 4 weeks of preschool left! Where does the time go?

Easter Weekend and a Recuperating Weekend

Easter egg hunt #2

On Thursday the Easter bunny stopped at Carrie's house so Brenna and Brody got to look for eggs there and find a Easter basket. The Easter bunny had left them a note in Carrie's mailbox, which they thought was very exciting!

Easter Egg Hunt #3 in Foster. There were bunnies and sheep to look at and pet.

Brenna with the Easter bunny. Brody would not pose for a picture. He did go stand by him but it was before I was ready to take a picture.

Later that day, Aunt Sheri and Sarah arrived from Joliet. Brody and Brenna were very excited to see them! We played outside and enjoyed the great weather!

Brody woke up with a fever Friday morning. Here he is getting pampared by Nana on the deck.

Brenna and Brody woke up ready to see if the Easter bunny had delivered any baskets. Both had left the Easter bunny a note. :) They ran around like crazy until they found their baskets. Brenna's basket was in the office closet and Brody's was in the bedroom closet.

Lunch at Club 95. Cousin Sara and Brody.

Easter egg hunt #4 at our house Easter Day. We had to check the mailbox when we got home after lunch to see if the Easter bunny left a note. He had left one at Carrie's house on Thursday so Brenna and Brody were sure that a note would also be left at our house. Surprisingly there was a note in the mailbox! Sara also found some eggs.
The lamb cake that Sheri and Sara brought.

Sheri and Sara had to leave on Wednesday but it great seeing them. Brenna woke up with a fever on Wednesday and is fighting the same thing Brody had.

Thursday, Steve and I went to Turtle Lake for a tradeshow for Steve. I made a donation to the Casino while Steve looked at products. Then, we stopped in Chetek and had dinner. It was nice to get out. Brenna and Brody enjoyed spending time with Grandma Merri while we were gone.

This weekend, we all spent trying to get rid of our colds. Friday was Nana's birthday so we did bring an ice cream cake into her house to help her celebrate. Saturday, Steve took the kids to the vaccination clinic at the Osseo Vet Clinic. Brenna and Brody had fun seeing all of the dogs. We also managed to go to the school playground to play with Jaxon for a little bit. Auntie Lisa leaves for Las Vegas soon. We hope she has a safe trip!

Maggie

Baby Day At UWEC

On Wednesday, Brenna and Brody got to visit the HSS building at UWEC, a place where I used to spend a lot of my time. I took a 1/2 of a personal day in the morning so we could attend. Every year, Baby Day is held for undergrad students. The students observe children and have to guess the children's age based on their observations of developmental milestones. Brenna and Brody made it to the last year they will be able to attend. Next year, they will be too old! They had fun playing and did even seem to care that there were many people sitting around watching them. I even got to sneak back onto the observation deck to watch them from afar. It was fun and I got to see a few of my professors.

On Friday night, Auntie Lisa came to visit so we decided to have a get together at our house. Auntie Lisa, Auntie Jessie, Uncle Jimmy, Tyler, Abbi, Grandma De-De, Sarah, Jeremy, Jaxon, and Avery all came to visit. The weather was great so we enjoyed a lot of outside time. I didn't even get a picture of Aunt Lisa with the kids.

A visit to the Easter Bunny

I am a little behind with the Blog!. These pictures are all from the weekend before Easter. Easter weekend pictures will be coming soon! Easter Egg hunt at the Osseo-Fairchild football field.

Jaxon, Brody and Brenna waiting for the Easter egg hunt to begin.
Brody liked sitting on the Easter bunny's lap.

Brenna looking for her seven eggs. It did not take too long to find seven eggs.

Brenna and Brody both had fun at the Easter Egg hunt. Neither one of them won a prize but they didn't seem to care! Aftewards, we went to De-De's apartment and played and ate lunch. Tyler and Abbi spent the rest of the day with us. Brenna and Brody are really into riding a scooter now and spent a lot of time outside at De-De's trying to perfect their scooter riding skills.

Tyler holding Brody while riding his Ripstick. Yes, I was a little nervous!
Brody built this house much more quickly and better than I could have!

The Pepsi hat. I love their creativity. Who needs toys?

Abbi and Tyler spent the night on Saturday. Brenna, Brody, and Abbi each dyed a dozen eggs.
Don't you just love this face!?

4K, Kids Expo, cute conversations

Well, we all survived 4-year old kindergarten orientation last Friday. Yes, I admit my eyes were watering even during orientation, and yes, I will have tears on the first day of school. I had a teary moment earlier in the week when I took the kids to McDonalds playland. I was watching them play and thought about how it seems like yesterday that Steve was teaching them how to climb using the netting to hoist themselves up. I blinked my eyes and two years flew by! Carrie and I were both also in tears on Friday when we brought up the dreaded end of the year. This will be Carrie's last year watching Brenna and Brody full time. I won't write much about that or I will be in tears again! Anyway, the orientation went well. We have decided to keep Brenna and Brody in the same class for this year. Their teacher will be Mrs. Scheffer or Mrs. Lyngen. Both seem really nice. We will not know if they will attend mornings or afternoons until August. :(

After 4k round up, Brenna and Brody stayed with Desi, their first time being baby-sat by a non-family member(with the exception of daycare) while we went to eat at the Black Bear with Desi's parents. Desi is super responsible so I wasn't even worried and both kids did not even care we were leaving. The kids had a blast and were sleeping soundly when we got home. Hopefully she is willing to come back even after probably giving Brenna and Brody a million piggy back rides.

We went to the Eau Claire Sports Center on Sunday for the kids expo. Friends Sarah, Jeremy, Jaxon and Avery joined us. Brenna and Brody had a ton of fun climbing and going down the slides. The lines were very long so there was a lot of waiting! I was pretty impressed how well they climbed up this wall. Mom of the year forgot the camera again so I had to make do with the camera phone. Brenna was too fast for me to even get a picture.

Brenna chose to get a butterfly painted on her face.

Brody chose a dragon.

I love listening to Brody and Brenna talk. Sometimes the conversations are friendly and other times not so friendly. Here are a few highlights from their conversations that have made me smile this week.

Brody: "I'm thirsty"

Brenna: "Tell me something new Brody." (Where has she heard that?)

We drove by Hardees on our way home from work:

Brenna: "We could just go to Hardees for dinner. "

Brody: "Don't even say that because it makes me hungry."

Brenna singing to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: "Hardees, Hardees, Hardees, Hardees, Hardees, Hardees"

At bedtime--

Brody: "Brenn, you want me to rub your back?"

Brenna: "No!" In a loud, mean voice

Brody: "How about your arm?" "You can rub my arm, kay?"

Brenna: "No!" again in a loud, mean voice

Talking about April Fools:

Brody to me: "Mom, I will tell you that you are really tiny and then I will say, ha ha April Fools."

Another ego booster comment from my child. :)