Swiper No Swiping

Audrey was loving the theme song from Dora!

Shawano Visit

Our visit to Shawano was tons of fun!

Opa took the girls on four-wheeler rides and brought back some pussy willows for Oma.

Mark, Ellen, Greg, Lucy, and Ella went to the maple syrup farm and explored the woods, saw the sap dripping out, and learned how syrup is made.  They also had a maple sucker, which of course was the highlight.

We celebrated Greg's cousin Emily's birthday with some yummy cake and ice cream.

Ellen had lots of fun Easter projects planned...the girls made chocolate bird nests and fruit skewers on pinwheel sticks.  For our morning bagels, they colored cream cheese the colors of Easter eggs, and we had Bunny Salad, where the bunnies made of pears, raisins, almonds, and cottage cheese sat on a bed of lettuce.

Sunday morning Lucy and Ella went on an egg hunt all over the yard...they had a BLAST.  My favorite part was when Lucy found the first set of eggs and wanted to call Ella over--without whistling, she made the sound of a very loud whistle and said "I found eggs!"

After finding all the eggs, the girls got to open them up and see what treasures were inside...here's Ella checking out her new ring.  Lucy's favorites were the chocolate chips and bunny marshmallows.

Next came the hunt for Easter baskets...each girl had to follow a piece of yarn that was strung through the whole house.  Opa assisted Ella, and Daddy helped Lucy gather her yarn.

Lucy got a Lambie Loofah that was named...LUCY!

We ended the weekend playing with their new bubble guns and doing lots of running around before the drive home.

Thanks for a great weekend, Oma and Opa!

First Tooth!

Audrey has her first tooth!  She was very tight lipped and wouldn't let us get a picture of it...we'll post one when we get one!

Clothes

This has been my life for weeks...clothes, clothes, and more clothes.  There's so much to be done--Audrey moved into her 9 month clothes, which was the last batch I had washed and stored in her room right after she was born.  So now I am putting the 9 month stuff into her dresser, and getting out the 12 month, 12-18 month, and 18 month sizes from the attic, then washing and sorting everything.  This move also means that we are done with all clothes up to the 6 month size, so those clothes all need to be sorted and we have to figure out what we are going to do with them.  With the change of seasons right around the corner, I have to have Lucy and Ella try on a million things from last year to see what (if anything) still fits, and then take inventory of what we have so that I can fill in the blanks.  It would be so much easier if sizes were standard, but it seems like every piece of clothing fits the girls differently.  Unfortunately, the girls' dressers are too small to hold clothes for different seasons, so we end up with piles and laundry baskets and lots of clutter until the weather commits to changing and I can officially put away the winter clothes.  AHHHH!!! 

Sweetest Strawberry

I want to eat her up!

Badgers & Basketball

Lucy, Ella, and Audrey wore their Wisconsin gear to cheer on the Badgers in the tournament.  This happened to be the same day that we went to watch Greg play basketball in his league, and it was all very confusing for the girls.  Ella kept saying, "I'm so excited to go see Daddy play basketball.  I've never been to a Badger game before."  They brought their pom-pons and were the best little cheerleaders!  We heard lots of  "Go, Daddy, go!" and "D, D, D...De-fense!"  All the cheering wasn't enough, though...both the Badgers and Daddy's team lost their games--grrrrrr!

Jump Around

Audrey LOVES her Johnny Jump Up.  She goes crazy every time we put her in it...except when we have her wear her "Jump Around" onesie,  play the song "Jump Around" and take a video of her.

We have 8 more videos just like this one.  She just wouldn't move!

Until finally...

All together now!

Sleepy Lucy

My little girl is getting so big...

Ella's Language

Ella made up her own language and it. is. hilarious.

Crazy Babble

St. Patrick's Day

The leprechans showed up at our house again this year!  They made a HUGE mess in our playroom...

...they left footprints on our table, turned our milk green, and gave us Lucky Charms for breakfast!  They also left us some Lucky Charms lip balm, green M&Ms, some crazy headbands,

and some hilarious hats!

Oma was sleeping in our living room, and those silly leprechauns walked all over her!  We can't believe she slept though it!

We think Audrey makes an adorable leprechaun...

Last year, Uncle Bill came over on St. Patrick's Day wearing a red shirt.  When the girls asked him why he wasn't wearing green, he told us the leprechauns stole all of his green shirts!  This year, while Uncle Bill was sleeping, the leprechauns dressed him up like one of them!  He had to come over to show us what happened...

We had a rainbow lunch that ended with a Pot of Gold (lemon pudding) and corned beef and cabbage for dinner--it was such a fun day!

Zoo Classes with Oma

Oma spent a few days with us and took Lucy and Ella to zoo classes!  Lucy's was called "Junior Vet" and was all about taking care of the animals at the zoo.  They heard a story about some penguins who swallowed coins that people had thrown into the habitat and needed surgery to have the coins removed.  Oma set up an OR in the playroom and Lucy and Ella did surgery on some stuffed penguins who had also swallowed some coins!  The girls felt very official, wearing their surgeons' caps and saying things like "stat!" and "we need to order a CT!"  I'm happy to say that after an afternoon of recovery, both penguins are doing just fine.

Ella's class was called "Chameleons and Snakes."  Here she is in her chameleon costume, complete with a super long tongue for catching bugs.

Thanks for all the fun, Oma!

Grandma's 80th Birthday

My Grandma Werner--the girls call her "GG" for Great Grandma--turned 80 this year!  She is a very special lady who has taught us all the importance of family.  She is very talented behind the sewing machine and is very generous with her time...we all have worn many things and have decorated our rooms/houses/offices/stores/restaurants with many things handmade by Grandma.  Grandma's talents extend into the kitchen...her food is instant comfort for the family, and her desserts are legendary.  We can all say with absolute certainty that she is always thinking of us and is in tune with all of our crazy lives.  Her dedication to family is inspiring! 

We celebrated Grandma's 80 years with a party at my parents' clubhouse.  The day started with the family gathering for lunch and cake.  The great-grandchildren colored in coloring books filled with pages dedicated to Grandma, and she received an amazing gift from her 7 kids--they had her wedding ring re-done so that she could wear it again.  The rest of the day was filled with surprise guests that Grandma would have never expected to see--extended family, old friends and former coworkers.  It was so sweet to see her emotion and disbelief each time another guest walked in!

Grandma, we love you and thank you for all the ways you have touched our lives!

Lucy and Ella with GG

Opening her ring

Grandma's wedding ring

Happy Birthday dear Grandma...

Lainy, Ella, and Lucy helping with the candles

Four generations of Werner women

Me, Audrey, Simon, and Christy

Kaylee, Ella, Lucy, Lainy, and Ava

Audrey and Grandpa

Uncle Tom and Bill

yum...

Auntie Donna and Ava

Ken and Daniel

Joey, Grace, Ava, Lucy, Ella, Kaylee, Lainy, Max, Daniel, Simon, Sam, Marc, and Audrey

Grandma with the youngest of her 16 grandchildren (Joey) and 12 of her 21 great-grandchildren

The kids singing to Grandma

Grandma with her kids: Tom, Chris, Gail, Annie, Bob, Donna, and Mary

Grandma and her dear friend Myrtle

Lindsey, Ella, and Bill

Bob, Gail, Dave, and Tracy

The birthday girl!