Palm Sunday

It is a little tricky to see, but I am in the far left of this picture (yellow sweater) and Luke is coming down the aisle at church (green sweater) in front of me and waving at Daddy with his palm branch.  Liam is in front of Luke, but pretty hard to see.

Luke and Liam sang in church for Palm Sunday.  You can barely see Luke's head in the top left (green sweater)

Sneak peak at Aiden in his Easter outfit getting donuts after church. 

 

 

Very blurry picture of everyone at the Mall of America

 

Aiden visiting with the Backyardagains at the Mall of America



Despite the lack of spring weather, we all wore our new spring/Easter clothing to church over the weekend to celebrate Palm Sunday.  Luke and Liam were singing in church and Aiden was more than excited to wear his hat, tie, and special pants to church.  He says he is wearing them "to work."  He has been asking to wear the bowtie since we bought it and the searsucker pants and hat totally fit his spirited personality.  We will have more pictures to come next week for Easter! 

 

I know I have mentioned many times before that John and I are not big on shopping or going to the mall.  There are times, however, that we have a lapse of judgement and decide it might be a good idea to take everyone to the mall.  This lapse of judgement could likely occur after being indoors for long periods of time due to never ending winter weather and colder than normal temperatures while trying to entertain and exhaust three small children.  I think that is what happened to us over the weekend when we decided it might be fun to take everyone to the Mall of America on a Saturday.  I never knew a mall could be so crowded on a random Saturday in March.  It looked a bit more like Christmas to me with the wall to wall people.  The boys had fun and that was the point of our excursion.  They got to ride some of the amusement park rides, eat lunch at McD, and play at Legoland.  We got out of the house for awhile and we were very happy to be home afterwards.

Aiden's first tubing, Stripes, and Cars

These tubing pics are a little blurry from my phone, but you get the idea.  Here are the boys with Daddy getting ready to fly down the hill.

I'm not sure who is more excited...Daddy or the boys?

Here they go!!!



Aiden's new stripes in his room (the striped lampshade on left gave me the idea for the stripes)

We have a few more things to finish, but I really like it.

The calendar might say that it is spring, but the weather in MN hasn't changed yet.  At this point, I hope the snow is gone by the first day of summer because spring is not looking good at all.  The tubing and skiing area was open for a week longer than normal so we made one final trip over the weekend.  This was Aiden's first trip to go tubing.  Typically, Aiden doesn't last very long outside due to the bitter cold temperature, crazy strong winds, precipiation, or some other issue.  So, John usually takes Luke and Liam while Aiden and I stay at home and Aiden naps.  This time, however, it was slightly warmer (and very sunny) so opted to get everyone out of the house and try the tubing with Aiden.  It took him one or two times to get the hang of it and then he loved it. 

 

After trying out the yellow walls for a few weeks in Aiden's new room, we decided to change the color. The yellow did not look bad, but we felt like something else would look better. The striped lampshade in the first picture from Aiden's room was the "inspiration" for the stripes. Aiden wanted some green on his walls so we decided on the green and blue stripes. The base of the walls is kind of a neutral gray color although it looks more blueish-gray on the walls. John painted the stripes and they really look so good, he did an amazing job!! We have a few more things to finalize, but I am pleased with how it turned out and AJ loves it.

 

Lastly, I have a few cute pictures of Aiden with his cars.  He still loves to line them up (he has been doing this since he was around a year old).  He makes all kind of noises and has the cars talking to each other.  He will say, "Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for coming to the show." 

 

Getting the cars ready to go

 

Puzzles and Eggs

Luke and Liam working on a puzzle

They did this same puzzle about three days in a row

Finished!!

I think I have mentioned it a few times recently, but we are growing very tired of winter around here.  Now that the time has changed and there is more daylight, it sure seems we should be playing outside.  There are a few issues with this idea: 1) we still have at least a foot of snow on the ground in most areas and 2) the temps still have not consistently made it about a high of 30 degrees.  Bummer.  It was quite a bit warmer by this time last year. 

One of the things we have done to fill our time this winter is puzzles. Luke and Liam, particularly, love to work puzzles and they have really gotten a lot better over the winter. For the first time, they are working an entire 100 piece puzzle without any assistance. It has been a good and challenging way to occupy time when we cannot play outside. It has also been a fun thing to do while Aiden naps in the afternoon since Aiden's attention span still isn't quite long enough for 100 piece puzzles. Luke and Liam pretty much gave up their afternoon nap when they turned five, but we still try to have a "rest time" where we do more quiet things and the puzzles have helped.

We also started doing our Resurrection Eggs for Easter this week.  I purchased these last year (see blog in April 2012) and they were a big hit with the boys.  The story of Easter with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is definitely not an easy one to explain to 5 and 3 year olds.  They seem to focus on the "bad guys" in the story along with the part where Jesus was hung on the cross and he was bleeding.  There were lots of questions about the blood, of course.  We talked about the definition of sin and how Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.  Later in the day, I heard Luke tell Aiden that he sinned because he took a toy away from Luke's hands.  Aiden started screaming and Liam told him he was being a bad guy "like Judas."  So, at least they were listening to the story of Easter.   Each egg contains an important element of the Easter story (praying hands, passover cup, silver coins, crown of thorns, etc...).  The boys get to open the eggs and then we talk about what the object means as we go through the story of Easter. 

Shaking the eggs to try and figure out what is inside

Everyone gets very excited to get their eggs and open them

Aiden is holding a leather whip similar to what was used to beat Jesus before he was hung on the cross.

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Spring?

Wasn't it just last week that I mentioned we were ready for spring??  I knew better than to get my hopes up too much in March in Minnesota.  We got a few inches of snow on Monday morning and then another several inches on Monday evening into Tuesday to give us a grand total of around 10 inches.  That wasn't exactly what I had in mind for "spring."  I am hoping for some fast melting or we may be wearing snow boots on Easter and hunting for eggs in the house!

Checking out all the snow!!

Thankfully, the boys never really seem to get tired of the snow and they have no idea that you can actually see the grass in some parts of the country right now. 

Luke is probably the best helper when it comes to shoveling.  Liam helps for awhile and he is a hard worker, but then he gets a bit sidetracked. 

Aiden with his favorite neighbor friend, Maddie.  The snow was enough to close schools for a day which I think I have only seen one other time in the 5 years we have lived here. 

The neighborhood crew

Sledding down our small hill on the side of the house.  The snow was a little icy from the melting over the weekend when the temps were warmer.  Then, it re-froze and had a thin layer of snow on top so it was really fast for the sledding until we got the extra 6-8 inches on Tuesday.

And the aftermath from playing out in the snow.  At least it is all dropped in the laundry room.

 

Ready for Spring

Aiden and Daddy working on the ipad before Daddy leaves for work in the morning.  Aiden is still an early riser so he usually gets to see Dad for a little while before he heads out.

So excited to use our outdoor toys again!  We got a chance to try out our new riding toys we received for Christmas.   

 

Aiden always says, "Hey mom, want to see my fast runner?"  I never thought I would be a proponent of running in the house, but sometimes you have to do what works.  This is a daily occurance for us as the boys race around this wall that divides the kitchen/den from the front door.  Its basically a small track after meals while they burn their excess energy.  Can't wait until spring when they can run outdoors! 

 

ROAR!!!

Throwing snowballs on the big mound of snow

The boys were playing some type of game where they were king of the mountain on top of the snow.  They were so loud that it sounded a bit more like 10 kids rather than 3. 



We are finally having some warmer temperatures, but I am trying not to get my hopes up too much since we inevitably get some end of the season huge snowstorm.  We are at least missing the second storm to hit most of the midwest in the last week.  By "warmer" temperatures, I mean temps in the low 30's which feels a bit like a heat wave when it hasn't gotten above 20 degrees in several weeks.  It has been sunny, warmer, and the snow is melting a little at a time.  We are more than ready for spring to be here.  Despite the fun we have had on the backyard ice rink this winter, I think we are all ready for some outdoor activities.  Luke asked the other day when we could go swimming outside again.  And Liam pointed out today that he really doesn't want snow anymore because its so cold.  I couldn't agree more.  Hurry Spring!

Although maybe not that news worthy, our washing machine broke down this week.  Ironically, the last time it broke down was February of last year.  Around 13 years ago, I received our washer and dryer set as a gift from my grandmother when I moved into my first house in Little Rock.  This washer and dryer set has been with us a long time.  I keep thinking it is on its last leg and somehow John manages to repair it.  The problem ended up being the gearcase assembly which means nothing to me, but we found a little shop in Minneapolis that carries various parts for appliances.  The boys and I went out and picked up the part and John installed it this evening.  Looks like I will have to wait on that new stackable washer and dryer to make our laundry room twice as big.  The washing machine is up and running again. 

As John was turning the washer over on its side, Luke looked at me and said, "Mom, is he sure about this?  This does not look like a good idea."

 

John joked midway through the repair that he wanted a beer when he was finished.  When I turned around, Luke had the stool out and he was reaching up in the cabinet to get a cup for Daddy's beer. 

Movie Date

We had our second annual trip to see a movie at the "big theater" as the boys call it.  Since our birthdays are so close to our twin friends (Jack and Charlie) and since all of us have birthdays pretty close to the holidays, we have opted to do something fun each year rather than exchange gifts.  It has been a hit with the boys so far and they really look forward to a special trip to the movies without any younger siblings.  This year we went to see a movie that just came out very recently called "Escape from Planet Earth."  It turned out to be really cute and very applicable to us.  In short, it was about two (alien) brothers who are very different, one is big, strong and athletic while the other is super smart, but small and a bit nerdy.  They learn to appreciate their differences and work together rather than fighting and arguing.  It was a cute movie with a decent message and lots of rockets, lasers, monsters, and space stuff that the boys loved.  The first question from the boys when the movie was over was, "When can we do this again?"  Good times!

Very cold day and great time to watch a movie!

We have our snacks and we are ready for the show!  Kirsten is at the far end, followed by Luke, Charlie, Jack, and Liam

 

Very entertained by the movie

 

Under the Weather

We have all been a little under the weather for the last week.  Unfortunately, when one person becomes sick, it frequently means we have a week of illness as it passes from one to the next.  We started with Liam last Tuesday, then quickly moved to Luke on Wednesday, Aiden and John on Friday, and myself on Sunday!  We primarily battled with a lot of sneezing, coughing, and fever.  Overall, the virus just made us all very tired (and cranky).  Our activities were limited over the last week, but I think we are finally getting better.  So what did we do while everyone was sick?  Well, I can honestly say that I am very thankful for the i-pad.  Not sure what we (especially me) would have done without it. 

What to do on a sick day...play on the i-pad

Luke and Liam are feeling better and now Aiden is sick.  We took advantage of a snow day to stay home and rest.

Feeling better, but still a little lethargic



 

Feeling better today!  We made sock puppets sent to us from our cousin Calvin.

Since we are lacking in some pictures this week....I am including a funny picture from February 14th, 2011.  Look at how much we have grown!  Luke is wearing the shirt that Aiden has on in the picture above.