Family Updates

So We have been busy these past few months. Time is going by way to fast and each day starts and finishes in a blink of an eye. I am still watching kiddos and have a really great group of kids at the house. I have really great friends who have helped me out coming over to help with the kids, or to just sit and hold Ella. Mom V. makes her weekly visit to the house on Friday's and we even sometimes dare to take a trip with all of the kids I watch, somewhere fun. Chris is a wonderful husband and helps out with our three tons. He takes them for bike rides, plays with them in the backyard, and just takes them anywhere to give me a break when I need it. It is so great having him work so close and right in town here. He is home early at nights and is home to make dinner some nights. Oooo I love him! I have "retired" from being a girl scout leader as well as being the coordinator for the Family Events with the Oregon PTO. Lots of work and I enjoyed it but looking forward to a limited amount of volunteering next year. Lily-- She is just finishing up her 1st grade year. I still can't believe I will have a 2nd grader in the Fall. She had a pretty good year-- we have had some disappointments with her teacher this year but oh well.... next year will hopefully be better. Lily is still dancing and just had her recital--This was the first recital that she actually told me she was nervous and had butterflies in her stomach--I love that is becoming more aware of herself. She also loves hanging out with her friends and is looking forward to a great summer. We signed her up for some fun classes this summer--a cooking one and a crafts one, so she is excited for that. She also wants to give Karate another try and Gymnastics. So busy.. so we will see. Nolan-- Just graduated from Preschool. Where does the time go? He is in soccer this Spring and will be again this Fall. This summer he is doing baseball and taking some fun summer classes too as well as a sports class and swimming. He is also going Karate. Busy busy busy! He is a good little athlete and catches on quickly so we think he can handle it... question is... can we handle all of the running around this summer :) At the end of this summer, we will be getting his birthmark off so it will take him out of commission for a few months so this summer is going to make up for the down time this Fall. Ella-- She just turned 4 months. We can't believe how big she is getting. She is now rolling over both ways.... front to back and back to front. Yay for Ella! She is so alert and loves her brother and sister. She smiles and coo's and "talks" all the time. We even swear she says "Hi". She only wakes up a couple times at night so we are thankful--there was a spout that she would walk up all night long every 2 hours and it was driving us crazy!

Family Picture

I just had to post this picture that Dad took of our family on Mother's Day. As you can tell, we weren't dressed for a family portrait that just---we were just dressed in casual non-matching clothes but it turned out good :)

The Northwoods

Chris's Aunt and Cousins have a wonderful and gorgeous cabin by Eagle River Wisconsin up in the Northwoods. We were lucky and were able to head up there for Memorial Day weekend. We had a wonderful weekend of relaxing and hanging out. Mom and Dad were even able to make it up a couple days so it was great to spend time with them as well. Of course--Papa worked his magic again and took some amazing photos of us hanging out. And.... we even got to see a truck in the lake!

Our Little Preschool Graduate!

Can you believe it?!?!?! I can't believe I have a almost 4K'er. Nolan is done with Preschool and next year will be starting 4K at the school. 4K is something newer in Wisconsin. It is Kindergarten for 4year olds. Makes me really sad that they start the kids in school so early---what happened to letting kids be kids?!?! We know he will have a wonderful time next year and will even ride a school bus, but he is growing up way to fast. The graduation ceremony was so cute! The kids did a great job singing songs. Thanks to Mom, Dad, Mom Erfurth, and Chris's grandmas for coming to watch him. He appreciated that so much! And a huge thank you to Grandma Jane who picked up Nolan from School and took him home starting this past February. It was very hard for me to go pick him up with daycare kids and Ella and she really stepped in and helped out.

Lily's Little Red Hen Program

Lily's 1st grade class did the performance of the Little Red Hen for their end of the year program. It was a very cute show and Kudos to her music teacher for doing such a wonderful job with all of the kids. Lily was the Farmers Wife and she made a wonderful Farmers wife!

Ice Cream Truck!

It's that time of the year again where the Ice Cream truck makes his annual appearance! How can you resist buying the kids ice cream when it comes around ( I think that the ice cream man knows it is hard for parents to resist and that is why he makes his weekly ride around the neighborhood!)

Eloise Rose's 3 month Pictures

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful and talented Dad who loves photography and has used his passion for photography, taking pictures of us and our kids. Dad took Ella's 3 month pictures last month and they turned out Spectacular! We couldn't have asked for more! ( PS. Can you believe that she is already 4 months now! )

It's Dance recital time!

This past weekend Lily had her end of the year Dance Recital. She did a great job and gave a great performance! We are so proud of her. She worked so very hard over this past year in dance class. Papa took some great pictures of the kids during the performance.

Girl Scout Ceremony

I think that many of you know this already about me but I am a girl scout leader for Lily's girl scout troop along with another women who has become a good friend to me over this journey and the past two years. This coming year, I am "retiring" from volunteering to spend more time with the kids ( I am also relinquishing my role as the Family Events coordinator for the PTO as well----I need a break to focus on the kids since they are growing up too fast!) and two other mom's are taking over. When I was asked to be a leader, I did not realize how much time would be invested into this whole experience. Earlier last month, the girls bridged to Brownies and will no longer be Daisy scouts. They had a cute little ceremony where they walked over a bridge, sang a cute song, and were given their new sashes.

Paoli Wisconsin

We love to spend time in Paoli Wisconsin. It is right down the street from our house. It is a cute little town that offers little shops, a cheese shop, two cafe's, a schoolhouse for lunch, a ice cream shop, and even a little stream. On warm days we like to spend some time in the afternoons having a picnic. These are pictures from a couple months ago... one of the first warmer weekends of the spring.

Easter 2012

As you can probably tell....I am way far behind. I am okay with computers and figuring out things, but for some reason, the program that I posted pictures to my blog with, changed and won't allow me to post directly from their site anymore. Ugghhh.. So I finally figured out a way to post things. This Easter, as mentioned in a previous post, we went to the Chicago area to spend time with family. Uncle Dan and Aunt Diane were gracious and invited us all over to their house this year. The kids had a blast hunting for Easter Eggs!

More Chicago Museums.....

The Erfurth Family