LEGO mania

Airplane by Emily and Police Headquarters by Caitlin and Emily

The "Beach House"

Rachel built this all by herself!

This is the house that Mandy built

Caitlin's Log Cabin

There is something about Legos that everyone loves. I am an addict! Kind of like doing puzzles-Once I start I can't stop until its completely done. Natalie can be crying, the girls fighting, dinner burning, but I don't realize all of this going on when I'm building LEGO's. Sad, I know. I have such awe for the engineers/designers that come up with these amazing building sets. Such detail. They must LOVE going to work everyday! Here are some of our creations, enjoy!

January Fun

Way back on the 8th of January, we took Emily and two of her friends to the Ice Skating rink in New Ulm for some skating fun. We had a good time and the girls really enjoyed zipping around the rink. Even Brian who hasn't skated since childhood showed off some moves (not falling down) Natalie liked being in the sled for about a half hour and then decided that was enough. While Natalie flirted with a little boy out in the waiting area, the other girls were jumping and trying to skate as fast as they could. Well after a while and a few calories burned the girls were getting hungry so instead of just going and ordering a pizza we went for burgers at Burger King (yuk). We looked like quite the circus-Brian with 7 females. :) Have you ever tried ordering for 8 people? I don't think we have to do that again for a very long time! All in all the girls had a good time so that was what was important.

The next weekend (15th) we went to my niece Mya's 3rd birthday party. Can't believe she's 3 already. She's 3 with personality and spunk! Annie and Owen were able to come from Fargo and we ended up having our own little christmas too. There were TONS of presents! The kids didn't seem to mind! :) It was nice to visit and see family. Another fun day.

Brian and I enjoyed a couple hours of playing Bingo too. It was a fundraiser for the highschool wrestling team. It was a fun time but no winnings this time around.

This past Friday, when it was -26 degrees outside I hesitantly bundled the girls up for a trip to the cities to shop. I know....what was I thinking. Maybe it was the cold temperatures freezing my brain! First we went to IKEA, for me to shop and the girls to play at the play center. But the playcenter was full, so we checked back later only to find they filled the last two spots and we'd have to wait another 20 minutes. I was able to talk the girls into just shopping with me rather than waste time running back and forth. They did pretty well for the most part but alot of times they'd run off in different directions and lets face it my eyes can't do tricks, so it was hard keeping track of them. Our next stop was Toys R Us-nice and quick because we were all hungry. Our last stop was Eden Prairie Center for them to try on some clothes and play in the soft play area to run off some energy. On the way home, Natalie fell asleep and we stopped at DQ for a blizzard. A nice end to the trip! I was exhausted! Luckily I had a lady's night out planned in the evening so I had a nice delicious meal to look forward to! 10 of us moms from our church's MOMS group dined at Olives in Mankato. Its so yummy. If you haven't checked it out you should. Well worth it!

Saturday we played at the school gym and hung out in the afternoon and ended the day with a movie "Ramona & Beezus", which is a very cute movie! Sunday we vegged at home and relaxed.

Emily with a little more sparkle

One thing Emily wanted to do for her birthday was to get her ears pierced. So yesterday I surprised her after school with the news we were heading to Mankato to do it! She was smiling from ear to ear! I think it was a nervous smile! The ladies at Exclusively Diamonds were so nice, making it a special event for Emily. They pierced her ears so quickly that Emily didn't have much time to even think what was happening. Very fun, very cool, very pretty!

Our car smells like Tokyo!

As part of the girl's b-day celebrations we let them pick a restaurant they'd like to have their b-day dinner at. This year Emily picked Tokyo Grill in Mankato. Every year in the past she's chosen Whiskey River so this was quite the shocker for us. Brian and I were excited to go and we thought the girls would get a kick out of the Hibachi Grill. I think Rachel's reaction was priceless. All she knew going into this was that there would be fire and a volcano. (em and ella were telling her) So the moment we get in there, she's asking where the fire is and scoots her chair to the wall in anticipation! It was so funny! The volcano was when the chef cut an onion and stacked the slices and lit it on fire somehow. It was pretty cool! Everything but the salad was delicious!!!!!! I was proud of the girls for trying food they don't normally eat or see. The girls all left in awe and had a great time. When we brought Ella home and picked up Natalie, Emily comes in the house and says-"Our car smells like Tokyo!" It was funny!! I didn't know she had been overseas!

On a side note, we did celebrate Emily's b-day with her grandparents and godparents on the 31st. We had a pizza party with a pathetic looking frog cake. Emily didn't even have a piece! Ken & Gladys & Mom played Xbox bowling and had a great time. It was great to see them out of their comfort zone and having a blast! Em, Caitlin, Rachel, Mya and Brian played in the snow and Natalie, Ally, Laura and Bob napped. I think Emily had a good celebration.

Happy Birthday Dear Emily!

Emily is 8 years old today! Yipee!!!! I can't hardly believe it was 8 short years ago that this dark haired beauty came into our lives. Brian and I were just discussing how Caitlin was Natalie's age now (19 mo)when we brought Emily home to meet her. She was just a babe herself! Emily is the most kind, compassionate young lady that I know. She is the one that everyone in our house wants to play with. Emily loves Legos, writing stories, creating art work, playing with her sisters and friends and helping around the house-most of the time without complaining. She hardly ever finds herself in "time-out" unlike her other sisters. Wishing you Emily, God's blessings on you this year and all the years to come. We LOVE you Em!!!

Happy New Year! 2011

We were able to get back to St. Peter without any problems to host our 3rd Annual New Year's Eve party. Lundquists, Gilbertsons, Gracks, Crowley's and Yosts were all able to make it this year. The kids had fun catching up and playing with each other while the adults grazed on the food and played a couple games. It was great ringing in the new year with such great company!