Spring Cont’d and Summer Begins! ☀️

I just have to say, my last post was like 2 months ago and as I’m looking at pictures from Easter I’m thinking my baby looks so much older now!! What the heck?!  She’s losing her baby-ness!! 😭 She turns 2 in a week, and I’m just not ready. 

Anyhoo, we spent Easter weekend at my parents house in WI. I believe the weather was decent- chilly at the beginning of the weekend but I remember Easter Sunday was just warm and perfect. 🙌🏻

Malone Park in New Berlin has become a favorite of our kids, so we took them there for a bit on Friday.

Nice and sunny, but chilly! (Look at baby Norah! 😢)

Bath time in the pink tub 🛁

Saturday the 20th was my dad’s birthday. We all went out for dinner to celebrate at Cafe Hollander (Jeremiah has since told me that he HATES that restaurant now because they try to sneak vegetables into everything! Even the meatloaf! 🤣)

(The picture of J was taken pre-meatloaf, obviously 😆)

Easter Sunday was lovely- a nice church service, a delicious ham dinner, and an egg hunt for the kids. ✝️

Typical Norah 😑

After the winter we had, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to enjoy a bouquet of these again!

The kids were VERY busy! 😊🌼

A girl and her books ❤️📚

A girl and her coffee 🤗☕️

May 4- J and H played their first soccer games of the spring season (after missing the games Easter weekend and then a rain-out the next week). ⚽️

#1 fan!! 👏🏻

May 4 was also Dutch Days! 🌷

Grandma and Grandpa Wiers joined us for the soccer games and Dutch Days parade. It was a lovely day! J walked in the parade with his school again, then we walked around and Grandma decided to buy the kids cotton candy! 

Norah is most definitely a fan 😆

Just a lovely Sunday, with beautiful weather ☀️

And I wanted to get a pic of the kids with the beatiful country scenery 🌳🌼☀️ at our house in Fulton, because the next weekend we moved back over the river to Clinton. In case you are wondering, I think we’re good now. No more moving for us for awhile. 🤞🏻

May 14- Cadet Pinewood Derby 🏎🏆

No trophy again this year, but he definitely had a better and faster car design than last year! And more ideas for what to do differently next year!

My matching girls 💕🌈

After dropping J off at school, the girls and I enjoyed a few walks on the dike in Fulton (on random days when it happened to NOT be raining 😑🌧)

Big deal over here! Jeremiah got glasses! 🤓

He was SO excited! And he looks so old!! 😭 The next day we were walking into HyVee and he said, “Mom, I bet all these people walking by us are thinking ‘whoa that kid must be a 5th grader.’” 🤣 I assured him that I am positive that everyone was thinking that!

We headed to WI again for Memorial Day weekend. Originally Adam was supposed to be traveling for work already, but then that got pushed back (of course! 🚜). So it was nice that he got to join us!

We had a nice day without rain! 😳 So the kids got to help Grandpa and Grandma plant (and water! And water some more!) their flowers. 🌸🌼🌺

We also went to the Elm Grove Memorial Day parade. 🇺🇸 Our kids love a good parade!

Hope cannot look at the phone for a picture. 🤷🏼‍♀️

We stopped at Brookfield Christian School to play on their new playground, and of course had to stop and sit on Grandpa’s bench!

And we stopped to see Aunt JoAnne- Norah was happy to have another lap to sit on for a story ❤️📚

The week after Memorial Day was Jeremiah’s last week of school. Good-bye 3rd grade! (What?!? 😭)

First day and last day. Stop growing up!

On to summer break! Woohoo! We had nothing much planned for the first week of break, which was nice. I was happy to not have to get all 3 kids up and out the door by 7:45 (oh who am I kidding, 8:00 if we were lucky 🙈).

We try to get out and take walks and play at parks, whenever the weather decides to cooperate!

They love walking on the Mississippi!

Bring on summer! ☀️😎

It’s always fun to meet up with friends at the park, too!

Such a big girl 😭

But she’s still my baby!!!!!

This past week Jeremiah attended Farm Camp from 8-12 each day. He loved it so much! They visited 4 different farms- a hog farm 🐖, a fruit farm 🍎, an alpaca farm 🦙, and a horse ranch 🐴. And on the last day they had the “farm olympics” and played games. Seriously so fun for Jeremiah! The only pics I have are ones I stole off of FB.

FYI there are differences between alpacas and llamas. If you want to know more, just ask J.

And today was good old Felix Adler Day here in Clinton. 🤡 Good times! Face painting, train ride, bouncey houses, games, balloon animals, petting zoo, cozy coup races, learning about musical instruments, free stuff, yippee! And it poured rain and we got soaked. 😩⛈

See? Hey Hope! I’m over here! 👋🏻

And summer has only just begun 🙌🏻  Lots of fun ahead! And Norah turns TWO in 6 days!!! 😭

😭😭😭😭😭 Look at her wrinkley baby skin! How was this almost 2 years ago?!?!

Springtime! 🌳🌼🌷

I figured I better get back to the blog and catch up, and let you all know that we have survived the winter! In case you were worried that we were stuck at home living on snow ice cream, do not worry! The snow is gone, the grass is green, the trees are working on growing leaves.... aaahhhhh! Finally! 

🌳🌸🌺🌷🌼🌻🍃🦋

I’m not sure I remember all the snow days or illnesses we went through since February but I’m sure there were plenty. I know there were. 😑 But, we managed to squeeze in fun and happiness and health, too!

February 14- Valentines Day! ❤️

Me and my happy valentines! What was wrong with Norah? I think she just didn’t want to sit still for a picture 🤷🏼‍♀️

Jeremiah got to make a valentines box for school, and surprisingly in my own school years AND through 12 years of teaching I NEVER made or helped make a valentines box! So this was a new experience and I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. 🤗

🦈❤️🦈❤️🦈

On February 16, we had a fun little early birthday celebration for our birthday boy 💙 We took him and 2 of his friends out for lunch and games at the Sterling Pizza Ranch. Needless to say, they all had a blast! And so did J’s little sisters!

Crazy boys! 

February 18 was the big day- Jeremiah turned 9!!!

I can’t believe my baby is 9 😭😭😭

He actually had school on his birthday, which was President’s Day. It was a snow make-up day! So he got to bring his birthday treat to school on his actual birthday (I’m not sure that’s every happened before?!? 🤔)

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting 👍🏻

We really didn’t do much on his actual birthday, since it was a school day and there was homework. We did make time for his requested birthday meal- meatloaf and mashed potatoes. And presents and leftover cake, too. He even got outside for a few minutes to try out one of his gifts!

On February 23, we had a quick meet-up with Grandpa and Grandma Wiers. We met half-way for lunch while they were home in between their FL and CA trips! So of course the birthday celebrating continued!

The end of February all the kids started a 6 week course of swimming lessons at the Y. The pool was COLD (because one of their boilers is broken) and I’m not sure it was the best experience for any of the kids, but by the last week Norah was NOT yelling “NOOOOOO!” the entire time, so that was progress.

The first weekend in March was yet another birthday celebration for J! This one was a surprise and it was so, so wonderful! Back when we lived in Ankeny and I was teaching, J went to an in-home daycare, he started there at 6 months old and we left when he was almost 4 1/2 I think. It truly was his second home, and he loved going to “Shell’s House.” And he became best buddies with Shell’s little guy Grady, who is exactly 1 week older than J. They were truly the best of friends and had such a sweet relationship. Leaving their family was one of THE hardest things about moving away from Ankeny! Anyhoo, long story short- we are still great friends with Shell and her family. They now live in MN, we now live in IL and so the perfect half-way meeting spot for 2 tractor loving boys—- Waterloo, IA and the John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum! 🚜

I think initially the boys were shocked to see each other, but soon were having a great time like no time had passed since the last time they saw each other. I love that so much! ❤️ We did the museum, hung out and swam at the hotel, ate yummy food, had cake and did more presents for the birthday boys, and really just had a great time with great friends! Our kids want to go back and live at the hotel in Waterloo 🤣

When we got back from Waterloo, we went through another round of illnesses. All 3 kids got sick over the course of the next 2 weeks. Same virus? Not strep, not influenza, who knows what it was. But antibiotics all around! Whatever Hope had was definitely the worst. She had a fever for I think 5-6 days!?! Finally got a second antibiotic that she would actually swallow, and that seemed to get her feelung better within a couple days. Poor girl, she fell asleep in the car when we picked J up from school like 3 days in a row! That is SO not normal.

J had his spring choir concert at school- grades 3-5 did a super cute musical about Jonah! 🐳 His required attire for being in the chorus was a bright t-shirt 🙂

The 16th was the fundraising auction at Jeremiah’s school. Somehow we ended up with a fish tank 🤦🏼‍♀️

🐠🐟🐠🐟🐠🐟

(FYI I hate this thing)

We started with 4 small goldfish, and quickly went down to just 2 who seem to be amazingly strong goldfish who will live forever. What happened to the other 2? I DON’T KNOW!!! They literally have vanished. Gone. Did they die and get sucked up the filter? Can that happen? Maybe that scary alligator head ate them? Seriously, they disappeared. I have no idea. Now we’re just waiting for the other 2 to “disappear” and then we’ll get a few of the glow tetra fish that the tank is for. Yippppeeee.

March 17- St Patrick’s Day! We don’t celebrate, but this Iowish girl sure is cute!

Darn kids always do something cute when I’m just getting good and crabby with them!

I think this was one of our first NICE days that was above 50 degrees and finally all traces of snow were gone. So we met friends at the park after school! Norah (and I) ran/walked across that park a billion times. She was tired out! And finally she sat down.

I don’t remember why, but I had gotten angry with J for something (probably involving terrorizing his sister? I don’t know) and sent him to his room. When he came out, I saw what he had been doing in there. 💙

Jeremiah’s spring break was the last week in March. They had to go to school Monday and Tuesday for snow make-up days, but had the rest of the week off. We really did nothing special I guess, since I have no pictures! The weather cooperated for a little outside play time.

We also met Grandpa and Grandma for lunch one of those days. They stopped on their way back to WI from CA.

It’s recorder time!!!!!

Norah LOVES when he plays! 🤗

April 6- carnival at Jeremiah’s school (hence the face paint) and a beautiful day to play on the playground! ☀️

Pigtails for Norah! 💗

She never sits still. Ever.

And she loves her some I-kweem! 🍨

Looks like the next weeks and months will be busy. We are looking forward to Easter with my family in WI and lots of soccer and spring activities in the next 2 months! 🌼