Children's Choir Sings

Gus did a great job singing with the Children's Choir this morning at church.  Here it is!

i heart faces - week 17: smiles

This week's theme at i heart faces is SMILES!  I took this picture of my son, Gus, who really is a happy guy most of the time.  I'm really happy I have this picture now because his top teeth are getting wiggly!  I tell him daily that he's not allowed to wiggle them, which of course doesn't matter, but I just want him to stay a little boy a little longer.  :)

You can take a look at other smiling faces on www.iheartfaces.com this week.  Check it out! 

Sing it, Alex!

Our teen choir at church is awesome!  They sang this song on Palm Sunday and it was incredible.  The soloist is Alex.  Alex is a great kid and he is so sweet with our children.  As an added note, Anja has watched these videos from church and she loves to say Alex when she sees him singing!  It's very cute.

i heart faces - week 16: collages

I had a great time taking pictures of Anja today.  My friend, Andrea, designs clothing for little girls and she asked if I would take pictures for her Etsy site.  She hasn't put these items on her site yet, but I'm sure she will soon.  Click here, if you want to see her work.  

This week's theme at i heart faces is collages, so I was excited to get home and make a collage to share with all of you.  I made the collage using CS4.  I learned how to make them using a tutorial from Coffeeshop, which is a website with great resources for photographers.

I can't wait to see the other creative collages this week on www.iheartfaces.com.

Twins Stadium: The view from our seats!

The new Twins stadium is incredible!  Kip and I went to the game on Friday night and we had a blast!  We have great seats, section 321, first row.  As you can tell, we have a great view of downtown.  I had fun taking pictures of the stadium.  Twins won 10-3, so it was fun that way as well.  A big thanks to Papa and MorMor for babysitting at the last minute.  We appreciate it!

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

We had a great time at the park on Friday morning with our friends and cousins.  It was a cool and WINDY morning!  Jenny brought a kite, which was a perfect idea for the day.  The boys went crazy chasing it around, so they got some exercise.  Notice: Gus is wearing shorts.  He is a little eager for summer - I have to convince him to wear pants or long sleeved shirts already.  Everyone else was in jackets and hats!

Gus at T-ball

Gus has started playing t-ball again.  He is on a team and Longfellow park with his buddies, Charlie and Will.  He also has several friends from preschool on the team.  He had a great time on the first night! 

A new toy

Well, I'm the person that got the new toy this time!  I found a good deal for a used Canon 50D on craigslist, and I made a purchase.  Here's a few shots from my new camera.  Finally, I got a shot of Johan with his eyes wide open!  Yay!  I'll be posting soon with several shots of Gus...his favorite activity has started again.

3 in 1: Sharing a bedroom

As many of you know, we have 3 kids and they all sleep in the same room.  We don't have much choice since we live in a 2 bedroom home, but it is working really well right now.  Bedtime has been a breeze lately and we are thankful because we are tired at the end of the day.  After books and prayers, the boys climb into their bunk beds and we put Anja in her crib.  Most nights, no one cries or complains, they just go to bed (usually at 7pm).  Napless Johan is the most tired and falls asleep within seconds of his head hitting his pillow.  Anja sometimes cries a bit, but usually not for long and Gus is extra cool about not complaining about the noise.  


The added bonus of sharing a room is that our early risers wake up and play together in their room.  The boys mostly play "superheros" and Anja is probably watching or playing with the toys in her crib.  There has been quite a bit of "kid and dad" lately with Gus as Dad, Johan as kid, and sometimes Anja as sister.  Some mornings this lasts for over an hour and the real dad and mom in this household are very grateful for a few extra z's.  :) 

Kansas City

 


 I traveled to Kansas City with my friend Steph this weekend.  We were visiting our dear friend, Lisa, who moved there about 4 years ago.  She has a darling little guy who I enjoyed getting to know a bit.  He's a cutie and even let me take his picture!  We enjoyed being together and being outside in the warmer weather.  The trees were green and there were many flowers.  It was wonderful!  Kip had fun with the kids at home (in case anyone was wondering!!)

i heart faces: week 15 - i heart desserts

 This week's theme at i heart faces is desserts.  We recently had a party for my husband's father and we had the most AMAZING cake.  It was perfectly themed for my outdoor loving father-in-law.  He loves to hunt, fish and spend time up in northern Minnesota.  Notice the detail on this cake made by Sandy Oh.  The quality of this picture isn't the best, but I thought it would still be fun to post!

Check out other nifty dessert photos this week on www.iheartfaces.com.

Easter

Here is the first of my Easter photos.  I just love this picture of my dad and Anja.  Anja can't get enough of Papa!  Look at all of these kids - impossible to get a photo with everyone looking, but everyone was having fun!  We had a great day celebrating with our extended family!

Johan's new hair (and favorite face)

Many of you have seen Johan's new haircut by now, but here are a few pictures that showcase it.  They also give you a chance to see the response I get from Johan these days when I suggest taking a picture.  Doesn't he look tough?  :)

Laughter

I have never been very good at writing down fun memories with the kids.  I did somewhat in their baby books, but I know that there are many moments that I will forget as time passes.  We have Kip's baby book and his mom did an amazing job writing down the details of daily life and fun memories.  There are pages and pages of her writing, which are such a treasure to have.

You may have seen some blogs that have "Wordless Wednesday" and depict a photo without description.  I'm going to try to do the opposite and write a fun memory of the week each Wednesday (all words, no photo).  It might not be totally entertaining to the rest of you, but my goal is to have documented some details of our lives.  At some point, I plan to purchase a printed "blog book," so that we have our favorite photos, events and memories in print.

The other evening, Gus and I were snuggling on the couch.  We decided that we would be the "fans" as Johan tossed a ball in the air and tried to catch it with his glove.  We cheered "Yay!" when he caught the ball and sighed "Awwww" when he missed.  Once and a while the misses turned into "Booooo," which according to Gus is allowed at stadiums.  Anyway, we really started laughing when Johan lost the ball under the television.  At first, we said, "Booooo."  Then, he told us he could reach the ball and we cheered, "Yay!!"  He changed his mind and told us he was not able to get the ball and we replied, "Boo!"  This went on for a while and we started laughing harder!  Gus told me that he "couldn't breathe."  I thought it was so sweet that his laughter was so genuine and I loved that moment.  

So, there's my thought for the day.  Thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday, Grampa Jeff!

Grampa Jeff is having his 70th birthday tomorrow!  We had a great time celebrating with Kip's family on Saturday.  Mary provided the most incredible cake that she ordered from her friend that makes cakes.  I'm going to post more pictures later, but it is late and I'm back to work tomorrow.  The last few days have been a whirlwind and I have so many pictures I'm hoping to post soon!  Happy Birthday, Grampa!   

Hiking at the cabin

 While we were at the cabin, we decided to do some hiking.  We headed around the lake to the Sugar Hills cross country ski trails.  It was fun to get outside and enjoy some hiking.  It was quite hilly, so Johan got tired, but we had a good time.  We are fortunate to have such a beautiful place to hike so near our cabin.

Sugar hills is protected as a working forest and contains Big Thunder Peak, one of the highest named summits in Minnesota!