Dare we say it...Spring is finally here!!!

Wow! It is hard to believe that it is already April. The snow is FINALLY melting, and maybe will be gone by the end of the week (one can only hope). We have been trying to survive the winter from…well, you know! It has been long, cold and full of snow. We are so excited to see a hint of spring finally.

So, how did we pass the last few months, you ask…

Leah – well, she is addicted (yes addicted is correct) to her rainbow loom and is constantly teaching herself new bracelets, headbands, charms, etc with the help of you tube videos. She is trying to learn how to play the guitar. This is a bit of a struggle. I don’t think she really understood how much practice would be involved. And, as always, she is working on her gymnastics!'

Amber- well, she is addicted to “Elsa” (or Frozen to most). She watches it almost every day that I think Leah is starting to avoid watching it when she can! She is also working on her matching skills by playing her favorite Disney Matching game. She loves to color and write as well. Oh, and she loves to play on her Leap Pad too. Yes, the age of technology! Amber is taking swimming lessons as well and she is doing amazing!

Some fun activities over the past month to survive this brutal extended winter:

2/17/14: Mall of America to celebrate the girls’ birthdays – lunch at American Girl, Rides and Sea Life. So much fun!!

2/24/14: Amber went to her first Sleepover birthday party to celebrate her friend, Nataleigh’s 5^th birthday. Leah was also invited. They had such a wonderful time. Amber is so excited to have another sleep over at her house!!

3/5/14: Nonna, the girls and I drove to Eau Claire to meet the newest Duffy – Little Miss Ava! So precious. Apparently, Amber is still very possessive of her mommy. I was really not given much opportunity to hold Ava as Amber would need me as soon as I tried to hold Ava!!

3/23/14: the girls celebrated their cousin Thea’s 8^th birthday.

3/29/14: Family celebration of Thea’s 8^th birthday!

3/30/14: Mommy/daughter shopping day with Leah, Kaylee, Jaci and me at the MOA! So much fun!!

What else did we do?

We also played in the snow when it was not brutally cold outside!  The girls and daddy played legos.Oh, and we watched movie, played games on our nook/leap pad, and we bugged each other!! :) But we did survive!

Amber is 4 today!!

It is so hard to believe my baby girl is 4, but she is! She is a spunky one. She keeps us on our toes, that is for sure. She is an entertainer. She says the funniest things, and I need to be better about writing those things down! She is independent and likes to be able to do her own thing. In general, a good quality, but still working on needing to listen when it is necessary (daycare, gymnastics…). She is loveable, oh, so loveable. She loves to cuddle when she is tired. She tries so very hard to keep up with her big sister, and when she struggles too (not very often), she gets so mad. She loves her sissy and wants to do everything that her sissy does. She wants to be wherever Leah is!  

She is an active one. She doesn’t like to sit still for too long. She still struggles to make it through a movie (which we don’t take her too often because she gets to restless). She is in dance and gymnastics. She will start up swimming again in the spring. She is swimming on her own which she is very proud of (again, she wants to keep up with Leah)!

She is working on writing her name, and she does a pretty good job! She loves to “read” books. She is still into the same 3-4 books every day/night. I guess a creature of habit. She has her lovely still- white blanket, but now that is also joined by a number of Minnie’s since going to Disney World!

Every night she ends her goodnight to me with “I love you and I kiss you and I sing you a song.” Sometimes the song is a real song and sometimes she makes up a song. I just love this little girl even if she can push my buttons!!

Name?Ammmmber     

Age? 4

Daycare? Krayola Kids

Favorite thing to do at daycare? Play, read books

What is your favorite color? Pink, red, and I like all the colors

What is your favorite song? The Months Song

What is your favorite thing to do? Play around

What is your favorite food? Chocolate chips

Where is your favorite place to go? Adventure Park (this could be

because we went there today

What is your favorite sport? Swimming

What is your favorite thing to do at home? Watch t.v. on my bouncy chair (bean bag chair she got with her birthday money)

What is your favorite animal? Piggy

Why do you like piggies? cuz

What is your favorite letter? A

What is your favorite number? 1

What is your favorite day of the week? Sunday

Would you rather color a picture or read a book? Color a picture

What is your favorite book? Pete the Cat

Hugs or kisses? Both

What is your favorite movie? Dora

What is your favorite time of the year? Summer

What is your favorite restaurant? Applebees

What is your favorite game? Matching game

Who is your favorite singer? Taylor (Swift)

What is your favorite memory of the last year? Disney World

What do you want to be when you grow up? A snowman at DisneyWorld

Birthday Craziness!

It’s been a birthday crazy couple of weeks!

2/8/14 – It all started when the girls had their joint “friends” party at Zero Gravity (an indoor trampoline park). What a great time, and the girls loved every minute of it. This was Amber’s first year having a “friends” party, so it was a pretty big deal for her. Next year we will celebrate each girl’s birthday on different days, but I thought I could still get away with it for another year!

2/10/14 – Leah’s actual birthday. I took a half day off of work, so I could “surprise” her at lunch. I am not sure it is much of a surprise anymore since I have been doing this since she was in kindergarten, but she still acts surprised for me anyway!! We capped off her birthday evening with dinner at Applebee’s with Nonna, Grandpa, and Grandma Mary joining us. She loved being sung to at the restaurant, but was most excited about her molten lava cake!!

 2/12/14- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD, Grandpa Jim. With the girls’ birthdays surrounding his, it is sometimes not celebrated as it should be and thus needs to be acknowledged more!

 2/16/14 – The girls had a joint “family” birthday party. It was another fun day! I even had a bonus couple of hours spent chatting with my friend, Jaclyn and Amber and Kaysee had extra play time (she had a little mix up on the time). The girls had a blast with their cousins and close family friends. Could not have asked for a better day! Thanks to all who were able to make their day special!

2/17/14 – I took the day off of work, the kids had the day off of school (President’s Day), so we had a play day at the Mall of America. Nonna, Leah, Amber and I checked out Sea Life in the morning. The girls went through the entire place in ½ hour! Really!! Nonna, Aunt Tiffanie, Thea, Delila, Amber, Leah and I all had lunch at the American Girl Doll Café! They just love having lunch there! Their dolls had their hair done while the girls went on rides. Amber went on the Pepsi Roller Coaster (a regular size roller coaster) for the first time, and loved it! Leah is still very timid with rides. She did go on the roller coaster that last time we were there, but, even though it was her idea, she did not go on it this time! 

 2/18/19 - Since we would not be able to do a birthday dinner on her actual birthday because she had dance, we took her to her out to her celebration dinner at Chili's. She most loved her birthday brownie, she was giving me the look when I tried to steal some of it!!

2/19/14 – Amber’s actual birthday. I was so happy to spend the day with my baby girl since I am off on Wednesdays!  She chose to have lunch at Subway! We then went to Adventure Park (an indoor play place) where she played for about 2 ½ hours. She was pretty wiped out tonight when she got home from dance class!

Happy Birthday Leah!

Wow, it really is hard to believe that she is already 9! 

She continues to be very active. She is still in gymnastics. She loves gymnastics the most. She works so hard to learn each trick. She really is the most focused when she is doing gymnastics.  She is also in dance, where jazz is her favorite. I think this is because she gets to be sassy…and she is a sassy girl! She was in swimming in the fall. She has mastered the basics (a mom and dad requirement), so now she is deciding if she wants to continue. She is going to start guitar lessons at the end of February. She is so excited about learning how to play the guitar. She would also like to take skating lessons again, but we have to figure out how to fit that in the schedule!! 

She is the best big sister. She makes sure Amber is taken care of and not left out. She also is there for her little sister whenever she is sad or hurt. I love that even though they are 5 years apart, they both seem to love being together (most of the time). She remains a kind, caring and sensitive girl. She does still struggle at times with excessive whining syndrome (or EWS :)). This does seem to be getting better at the relief of mom and dad!

She works hard in school. Her favorite part of the day…recess! She doesn’t particularly love to do homework (can’t say that I know many kids who do), but she is getting better at realizing if she does her homework right the first time, she doesn’t have to do it again! She still is showing strength in math. 

She loves watching the Olympics. She is trying to decide what sport she will do when she is in the Olympics!! Apparently she thinks that she is going to be a figure skater in the Winter Olympics and be a gymnast in the Summer Olympics! Dream BIG baby girl, Dream BIG!!

Each year I interview Leah, here is the interview we did today: 

Name? Leah Benner

Age? 9

School? East Bethel Community School

Grade?3

Favorite thing to do at school? Learn (wow, just 3 days ago, she said recess)

What is your favorite color? Purple

What is your favorite song? Red

What is your favorite thing to do? Dance at home

What is your favorite food? Waffles

Where is your favorite place to go? Adventure Park

What is your favorite sport? Gymnastics

What is your favorite thing to do at home? Sing

What is your favorite animal? Mommy Lion

Why do you like mommy lions? Cuz they are cute

What is your favorite letter? L

What is your favorite number? 9

What is your favorite day of the week? Wednesday

Would you rather color a picture or read a book? Color a picture

What is your favorite book? Pipi

Hugs or kisses? Both

What is your favorite movie? Despicable Me 2, Frozen

What is your favorite time of the year? Summer and My Birthday

What is your favorite restaurant? McDonalds

What is your favorite game? Monopoly

Who is your favorite singer? Taylor Swift

What is your favorite memory of the last year? Disney World, Monster Truck Show

What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher

Video time!

I thought I would share some videos of the girls and their activities:

Leah Dance. 12/18/13. They watched a brief part of the Nutcracker, then the class was split and each group choreographed a short dance!

Leah gymnastics. 1/17/14. She has such focus at gymnastics. Even when it is tough, she works so hard to get it right. She just loves gymnastics!!



Leah Swimming. 12/7/13. I don't know if swimming is her favorite sport, but she sure does a great job in the pool! So would love to see her continue with swimming (maybe this is because of my fear of gymnastics and her getting hurt as she progresses in flipping).

Amber Dance. 12/18/13. My goofy one!

Amber gymnastics. 1/17/14. She is struggling to listen during class, but she sure does have power!

Amber Swimming. 12/7/13. A natural in the pool!

1/14/14 we were able to make it out sledding. Here is Amber going down the hill for the first time by herself! She really didn't want to go down by herself, but she did it! She preferred to go down the hill with her protector (AKA sissy or Leah).

Making Sugar Cookies

We have made it a tradition to make sugar cookies with the girls during the Christmas Season. They have so much fun making the cookies and decorating them. Amber was the only one this year that had anything to do with making the dough (and that was short lived). The older girls were to busy making bracelets! They are addicted to their bracelet making!

Leah and Thea have become much more precise in their decorating skills! It is so much fun watching the progression from just slapping on the frosting and sprinkles to actually trying to decorate the cookies with accuracy. I was surprised at the care Amber took in decorating her cookies. She must be learning by watching the older girls! All the girls had beautiful cookies and messy faces when the process was complete! Amber, of course, had the messiest face, but she also decided to use the frosting as face paint when she was playing at the end! Oh my crazy girl!

A New Year Resolution!

I am going to try to be more committed to staying on top of writing updates!! This is crazy. No post for 3 months. I just got so behind. If for anything else, I hope to keep this up for the girls. I think it will be fun for them to go back and read about what they were doing when they were younger. It doesn't take long before we forgot some of the little details that made us laugh!!

So, let's take a look back...

In October, we went on an AMAZING vacation to Disneyworld. My mom, dad, Brother Dan, Tiffanie, Thea, Delila, Joe, Leah, Amber and I all went. My mom calls it her "retirement present" to herself! Everyone had a blast. The girls, of course, were blown away. We spent 3 days at Magic Kingdom (and maybe focused on 1/3 of the park). We spent 2 days at Animal Kingdom (and maybe saw 1/2 of the park)! We also spent some time at Downtown Disney. The girls had princess makeovers at Bippity Boppity Boo, had lunch at Cinderella's Castle with the princesses, and we all went to see Nouba (Cirque Du Soliel) which was amazing! We had fantastic weather. We stayed on park property at New Orleans - Riverside. The kid's had fun swimming in the pools, riding rides, meeting their favorite characters, and seeing lots of shows. It truly is a magical place! I can't wait to bring the kids back again. The girls talked for days about going back to Disney World when we got home. Amber even brought down a bag of change she had in her room. She told me she was going to give it to Daddy, so that we have money to go to Disney World again (As a joke, Daddy had told them on the last day of vacation that we had to go home because they spent all of our money). We certainly made memories that will last a lifetime on that vacation! Oh, it was also Amber's first plane ride. She was so excited. She did have difficulty sitting in the seat and staying buckled. As the plane landed in Orlando, she screamed "weeee" as if we were already on a park ride!

The girls are staying busy with dance, gymnastics and swimming. They both passed their swimming levels. Leah will now be on the junior swim team (if she decides to continue), and Amber is working on swimming all by herself - she no longer needs any floatation device! Leah is moving up to intermediate 1 in gymnastics. She is so excited. She works so hard at gymnastics. Leah will likely start guitar lessons this winter sometime as she got a grown up guitar from Mommy and Daddy for Christmas/birthday!

We had a busy December. We went to see the Wizard of Oz and Llama Llama Holiday Drama. We went to the final year of the Holidazzle parade (so sad). Amber had her daycare Christmas program. She was so adorable (of course) up on the stage. Leah and Daddy (with Mike and Michael) went to the Monster Truck Jam. Now we have 2 girls who love monster trucks! Amber is excited to go when it returns in 2016 (when the new stadium is built). We went to a 2nd (wow) birthday party for a handsome young man (Joshua who also happens to be our godson)! Hard to believe how fast they grow!!

The girls had fun with our Elf on the Shelf "Ralph" when he came back the day after Thanksgiving to help Santa keep on eye on them. They loved having Ralph back and looking for him every morning. Leah wrote him a goodbye note, and he wrote back. Love it!

The girls participated in the Christmas spirit by helping get items for the giving tree at church, donating their extra change to the ringers at stores, and helping mommy wrap presents for the adopt a family at work. So glad that they understand the importance of giving back.

We were very blessed at Christmas. We got to spend time with both sides of the family. Christmas eve with my family at my parents' house and Christmas Day with Joe's family at our house. Unfortunately, I had to leave that celebration a little early. My mom ended up taking me to the ER after I fell on the stairs. It turns out I cracked 4 ribs. Yup, I guess I know how to fall!

The girls have been playing steadily with their new toys. The girls both got the American Girl Doll, Saige, from Nonna. This was Amber's first "big girl" doll. She has played with Saige everyday since! The got lots of legos and have so much fun putting their sets together with their Daddy! It's fun to watch them all work together at the table. They got money, clothes, games, leotards, gift cards, shoes, books, photo albums, and more. Oh, and Leah got a loom and has been obsessed with making bracelets! They love all of their gifts. Thank you to all for your generosity! And to think, only 2 months until their birthdays!

I think that about wraps it up. I am sure I left out some fun details, but like I said earlier, that is why it is important to stay up to date!!

As Amber would say "I love you and I kiss you." She also sometimes adds "and I sing you a song" (which is usually followed by You Better Watch Out)!

Addendum: It has been brought to my attention that I missed one event! On 12/22/13 - Nonna, Grandma Mary, Dan, Thea, Delila, Amber, Leah and I went to Duluth. We went on the Christmas Express, explored Bentlyville (in the freeze of Duluth in late December) and we spent the night at the Edgewater hotel and water park. The girls had a blast (as they always do when they are together). Unfortunately, my mom was sick during most of the trip, so was not able to enjoy all the activities. This short trip has become a tradition and one that the girls really look forward to!