Spring fun just a'muddin'!!

I can't believe this weather we have been blessed with so far this spring in Minnesota. We have been outdoors a lot and my kids have so much fun together. I haven't posted much of what we have been doing, but I took these photos a few weeks ago when the temperature was 70 degree's+.
Nathaniel giving Cole a ride on the trike. Cole hasn't quite got the hang of pedaling yet, but maybe by the end of summer. He sure loves rides, though.

Nathaniel and Caleb. I think they kind of look alike in this photo. Nathaniel is 11 and Caleb is almost 5.

I love this photo! Notice Caleb aiming at the photographer (me). :) I think Madelyn's face is pretty comical in this photo, too.

Ahhh, sweet love. I love the expression on each of their faces.

Nathaniel really is growing into a young man. I can't believe how much he is changing.

Madelyn is riding Caleb's bike. She got a new bike for her birthday from Grandma, but we need to exchange it for a smaller one due to her size. :)
Caleb loves being outside, riding his bike, climbing trees and digging in the dirt. Speaking of dirt...Nathaniel decided to make a few ditches, culverts, and streams (ahem, ...lakes).

Dirt, Check! Bucket, Check! Water, Check! Kids ready for play, Check!

Cole was ready to dig in. I totally enjoyed watching the kids at work, both with each other, and individually. It was a blast snapping photos.
Madelyn's expression is priceless on this photo! I love Caleb's dirty hands, too!
Cole had an idea...

"let's see what dirt tastes like..."

"hmmm...not so much!"
Caleb was really getting into the creation!
Let the waters pour out...and see what happens!



"Look mom, I made a mud ball!"

Friends came over to play and join in the fun! Caleb had a smidgen of dirt on his nose.

Ok, time to really get into the dirt! My kids were so dirty muddy, that I said to just get down to the diaper. It was so nice outside, and they were having such fun!

Yes!! Cool muddy water to trot through!

It was a great afternoon/evening. The kids had such a grand time, and they made memories. The dirt in our back yard has brought so many smiles already this year. It isn't a sand box, but they don't mind. It is handy living on the lake...they have endless water supply (and it is free).

Fun pictures of the kiddos, updates...what is NEW!!

It has been way too long since I have posted a "personal" blog post. I am sorry about that, but really...life has been busy around our house. I have been really enjoying my children, and time on the computer has been less these days. I know that I need to blog about my life, my kids, our experiences we go through, and I am going to really try to do that more. I know that I have friends and family that check my blog for updates, and I have been slacking. My kids change constantly, and I want to journal their lives on my site. So, here are some recent photos of my adorable children.

Caleb sometimes gets creative with his food. This is a picture of a spinach leaf dressed in black olives. Caleb is really growing lately, and I can't seem to feed him enough. He must be going through a growth spurt...or something. I will feed him (lots) and less than a hour later he is asking me about a snack. So, I just assume he is in a growing stage. Caleb has been talking a lot about God, Jesus, and Heaven lately. I love his curiosity and awe. He is so inquisitive and bright. Caleb's conversations are enlightening and he is really fun to converse with. He has some great thoughts and ideas, and he has an impressive memory! If we need to remember something, we tell Caleb because he will remind us.

He always keeps us laughing with the things he says, still. His favorite things to do currently is playdoh, reading books, doing arts, playing his Leapster and watching Shaun the Sheep videos.

Madelyn is almost two, and loves to follow Caleb around. She loves to copy him and keep up with what he is doing. She is a princess, girly-girl and is really enjoying her dolls, make-up (pretend), her purse, kitchen/dishes set and fingernail polish. She is really learning a lot and her vocabulary is daily expanding. She can count to twenty easily, and knows most of her colors and shapes. She amazes me with what she knows. Madelyn loves to be cuddled, held, and really craves to have her love tank filled with closeness. I could never get too many hugs, so I am totally loving that she craves that. Madelyn is a petite little girl. She currently weighs #25 pounds. She will have her 3 year check up next month.

Madelyn currently loves to play with her dolls, reading, coloring, playdoh, doodle pad, and anything Caleb is doing. She is consistently making comments on how she wants to be in gymnastics and be an ice skater. I really think that she would be good at those two sports because she is very flexible, small frame, and loves to dance. We shall see...

Nathaniel is currently back in the public school as a fifth grader. He LOVES his teacher, and she is amazing. She is a big believer in children learning, not just getting a good grade. If her students get problems wrong, she gives them a chance to correct their work for credit. I think that is a great teacher! She has said to me that Nathaniel is a delight to have in class. She loves how he is so polite and has such great conversational skills. She says that he brightens his day and makes it special. That makes me so proud as a Mom. I think Nathaniel is very thoughtful and has such a big heart. Nathaniel is at the point that his friends are really important to him, and he would love to spend a great portion of his time with his friends. I think Nathaniel is entering the puberty stage, because he is growing lots, has the "growing pains," and goes through spurts of eating/not eating much. He excels in his studies and he is doing super in school.

Currently Nathaniel loves to read (the bigger/challenging book, the better), trading pokemon cards, playing video games, and building with his Bionicles/Legos. Terry and him really enjoy double video gaming on the computers, too...playing Age of Empire.
Cole is a very happy, and very funny 1 year old. I am seeing so much similarities between Cole and Nathaniel, when Nathaniel was little. Cole loves to smile, and if he is crying...it is because he is really hurt (feelings or physically). Cole is practically running and he loves to climb up on EVERYTHING! I haven't had a climber yet until Cole, so he keeps me on my toes. One time I was in the bedroom putting the kid's clothes away and Cole was talking away. Soon I heard Cole yell out something and I look to see where he is. He was at the top of the ladder to the top bunk! It freaked me out! He loves to climb. So, if you come to our house and see all the dining room chairs away from the table, it is our defense to keep Cole off the table. :) Cole loves music and dancing. If there is music, Cole tries to sing, bobs his head and dances around. He finishes our phrases, like when I sing, "Happy Birthday," he says, "to YOU!" It is adorable. He can wave bye-bye, blows and gives kisses (mouth open), points to everything, says quite a few phrases, and loves to greet Dad when he gets home from work. He tries to keep up with Caleb and Madelyn, so I feel like my baby is growing up too quickly. I am wrapping up with nursing, so that is a change for him and I.

Caleb loves to pose and then he says, "Take a picture of me doing this!"

Caleb and Madelyn posing. Are they trying to be spiderman poses? Too bad Cole wasn't turned around for the picture.

Madelyn in her pose to mimic Caleb's. They are two peas in a pod.

Caleb just relaxing...

I really like this picture of Nathaniel. He is really changing lately...growing into manhood. He will be getting braces this year, sometime. At his last Orthodontist appointment he was told to get three teeth out. The Doctor said, "Be one with the wiggle." Nathaniel and I thought that was funny and clever. He achieved the goal, and now he is ready for the work to be done. (we aren't ready for the bill yet, though).
Cole consistently has a smile on his face. He can be a little shy when he meets someone for the first time, and he is more of a mama's boy right now. But with a little warming up, he loves to be with people...especially other kids.

I love this picture of my wonderful children. It is a challenge to get a picture of all the kids looking and smiling. I love that I am their mom, and that God specifically chose me to be their mom. I am so thankful for them!

Updates around our house:
I have been really behind with "milestones" for my sweet little guy. I missed his 9 month check up...it was 10 1/2 months. I missed his 12 month check up, it was 13 months (he is #22) and I didn't have an actual birthday party for him...plus I have yet to post a ONE YEAR blog post for him. It is my priority this week. I tell you...I don't love him less or think he is less important, I just have been so busy with life. We did celebrate his birthday with my mother-in-law and our family up North, but timing around his birthday was crazy busy. We are planning on celebrating Madelyn and Cole's birthday together next month, though.

We have our house on the market and we are planning (hoping) on moving. We don't have concrete plans for when we move, but we would like to implement a camp ground business.

We have been going to a different church and we are totally loving it and growing in our relationship with God. God is totally at work in our lives and he is using this church in HUGE ways! Today, Terry and I renewed our vows, along with 100+ other couples. Our church did a wedding after one of the talks this weekend, and then the renewing of vows took place! It was awesome!! I will have to write more about it soon. I just want to say Thank You God!

Well, since it is after midnight I should get to bed. I am trying to get to bed on a decent time because I know it is healthier to get my rest.

Monster Jam at the Metrodome 2010!

Our family had the opportunity to go see the Monster trucks for the Monster Jam at the Metrodome 2010! It was a super show, and we greatly enjoyed the show! I had never been to a Monster Truck show, but I have wanted to go see them since I was a young child. The trucks are HUGE and it is impressive the things they can do.
My husband and I brought our oldest, Nathaniel and his best friend, and our second oldest, Caleb to the show.

Dad and Caleb giving thumbs up! Caleb was so excited to see the Monster trucks, "AT THE METRODOME!"
Nathaniel and his friend had a blast! They really enjoyed the show. Nathaniel's friend said he went to a show a few years ago, but this show was the best!

We missed the Pit Party. We had tickets to go to the Pit Party, and I wish we could have made it, but unfortunately we couldn't get down there for the 2-5 PM show. We got to the Dome at 6:15. Our seats were really close. The stadium had the first 8 rows taped off all around the arena (for safety measures) and we were in row 10! So, we were really close to the action! I was highly impressed with the seats! At first, there were people racing their RC cars and many people can enter to be apart of the Monster Jam just by signing up (for their cars to race). It was fun to see how high the RC cars could fly. Next came the car roll overs. These cars drove fast to hit a jump to see how many times they could roll. It was fun to watch this!

Some of the cars rolled a few times, and on two occasions, the cars drove off. That was impressive! Those cars really took a beating! If they wanted to, and were able to, the cars could try again with the roll over to get a better/higher score.
The Driver of this car was a girl. She rolled over 4 times, and impressively drove away unhurt! Needless to say, she won the contest!
The Monter trucks were huge! I thought the names and designs were neat! My favorite designs was The Felon, El Toro Loco, and Arachnaphobia.
We all had a great time! The Metrodome was packed! I recommend the ear plugs, because it was loud! I am glad we brought some along.
The main show started. All the cars came out, and each one was introduced with lights. This truck, Martial Law, is a driver from Minnesota, and he was in our corner of the stadium!

The first event the trucks had to individually compete for the best overall time for speed. Then, the trucks raced against the other ones to see who crossed the finish line first with best time. Both these events were fun and exciting to watch.
One of the well known Monster Trucks, The Grave Digger, was there, as well. He had a rough night, his truck didn't want to cooperate, and he missed a lot of the events. I felt bad for him. I am sure many of his fans were disappointed.

The first winner of the Monster Truck events was Maximum Destruction. He was a fun driver to watch. He had a lot of speed.
Those trophies were huge, and you could tell that the driver was honored to receive it.
During the intermission the gals in the truck came around to shoot t-shirts into the crowd. Caleb wanted a t-shirt so bad, but we just weren't in the right aim.

Another fun event was the trailer bashing. During this event cars were pulling trailers (of many kinds) and other cars tried to knock off other car's trailers. This was comical. One of the trailers was a jet ski, one was a couch, another was a camper, and more. It was fun to see them all on a mission to get each other.
The camper didn't fair too well, and it was pretty much in shreds by the end of the race.


Here is El Toro Loco getting some great air! It was impressive how high the trucks soared into the air!
Mechanical Mischief was one of the newer trucks to the Monster Jam.
Here is a close up of The Felon. What a cool looking truck!
Here is the Avenger! He was the winner of the end driving event ~ freestyle. This was the best to watch, in my opinion. All the trucks got to drive around, do tricks and make the best of their show! The Avenger rolled his vehicle two times, did a spin out, and lived to talk about it. I was so impressed with his show. Maximum Destruction had an amazing show, too, and he even did so much that his truck was stripped of the outside frame. Here is the winner of the freestyle event~ The Avenger! I have a video clip of the last half of his performance for you to see!

It was a very impressive show, and great to see! I was happy to get the tickets to bring our family to see it. This is a fun family event, and I highly recommend going. The show in MN was this weekend, but there are shows all over the United States! You can go see Monster Jam in your state. Go to TicketMaster.com to find out when they are coming in your area.

The tickets for Monster Jam were provided to me from Feld Entertainment for purposes for review. I was not paid for my review and the review is based on my own opinions.