Eggs to Dye For!

It was a busy week leading up to Easter, so we weren't able to dye our eggs until the night before - talk about getting down to the wire!  

We got the eggs boiled, dye in the mugs, and white crayon out and as soon as Daddy got home from work we were ready to make our rainbow colored creations!

Mads went to town writing names on the eggs:

 Two good eggs!

 Nate kept a close eye on the dyeing process:

 We tried out the shaving cream method again this year, too:

 Nate doodled on a few eggs:

 and handled all of his own dyeing:

 Mads did a great job making sure everyone had an egg with their name on it:

 I can't remember what Nate was doing with his left hand in this picture, but I do recall it was funny and we were laughing at him  ;)

 Placing the dyed eggs back in the carton to dry:

 The finished products!

 Kidlet eggs:

Ten Months

Saturday, April 19th was Amelia's TEN Month birthday.  I honestly can not believe how quickly time is going by.  I think Mia's upcoming First Birthday in June is weighing even more on me as each of these monthly birthdays come and go and is making them difficult to handle. 

All of the snow has finally melted and the ground has thawed so we have been able to remove Mia's winter decorations and place spring decorations in their place.

Mads and Nate had a special present to place for Mia this month along with her ten pink roses.

 Nate sends a big hug to his little sister:

 and Mads places a delicate smooch for Amelia:

 Happy Birthday sweet baby girl.  We all love you so much!

In case you were curious what the kids gave Mia -  a "Worlds Cutest Little Sister" onesie:

 And Mads made her a pink rainbow loom bracelet as well:

JUMP AROUND!

On Wednesday, April 16th we had a friend field trip to Dubuque to Jumpin' Janes for some bounce around fun!  We hitched a ride with Jen and her kids and Brandi and her kiddos led the way in their car.  It is Spring Break this week, so we had the whole crew with us!

Jumpin' Janes is a local activity center with different inflatables for the kids to play on.  It's a lot like Monkey Joe's that we've been to in Appleton.  Jumpin' Janes has a permanent climbing area/obstacle course.  I liked the set up a little better, too.  It was easy to keep an eye on the kids from one spot, rather than having to run around searching for them.  So, we got to the center and let the kids run amok for 3 hours stopping only for lunch!!

 The kids' favorite inflatable was the giant Titanic slide.  They ran directly to the slide as soon as they had their shoes off.  They spent the majority of their time going up the steps and coming back down.

Look how big this thing is!  Can you see little Mads waving from the top in her yellow shirt? 

 The kids started out tame by sliding down nicely but by the end of the day they were bouncing their way down and laughing all the way!

Here's Mads taking a nice, quick ride down:

 Look at that smile on Nate's face!

 The kids' second favorite place was the climbing area, which was set up like an obstacle course.

Love these two stinkers!

 The big twirly slide from the very top was a fun ride!

 This inflatable was almost like a Ninja Warrior course.  You had to run through and bounce off obstacles before reaching the slide at the end.  Mads and Baileigh were racing to the bottom:

 Nate wasn't too far behind the girls:

 He got smooshed between these pillars.  Doesn't he look like much older than 3 3/4 years old here?

 Mads climbed up to the top of this mountain and claimed it in the name of Queen Mads!

 Back to the Titanic, and by now the kids were getting pretty brave and bouncing their way to the bottom!  Look at Mads catching some air!

 Before we left it was time for the moms to take turn on the Titanic as well.  Photo documentation that I slid down with Mads..   Waving from the top:

 and sliding our way down!

I also took a turn with Nate, but I believe those pictures our on Jen's camera.

After a quick stop at Target in Dubuque (because that's a luxury now that I live in Monroe) we headed home, and all four kids fell asleep in the van.   It was a super fun day!  :)

Rollin' on Four Wheels!

The most fun you'll have on 4 wheels!  Or, a trip in the time machine back to the late 1980s!  :)

Yes, it was time for Northside Elementary's Skate Night!  Originally scheduled for earlier this year, Skate Night was postponed due to inclement weather and it was finally time to go lace up the lovely brown suede skates on April 3rd!  

After getting the kids into the skates that have been around for decades...  it was time to move to the groove in an orderly counter clockwise fashion!  :)

Aunt Kimmy came along since Daddy had to work and miss the fun.  I didn't think I'd be able to handle two kids with unsteady feet by myself and I'm glad that Kimmy came along to help!

(You'll notice that Kimmy and I didn't wear skates.  After asking many time for confirmation that it was OK to walk on the floor, the DJ made an announcement that parents could accompany their kids while wearing shoes.  Now, you know that back when we were kids shoes on the floor was automatic removal from the building!)

After getting her "Skate" legs, Mads was able to take off on her own!

 Look at her whizzing by!

  

 Kimmy and I took turns with Nate for a few more laps:

 and then he was able to roll on his own!

 Cuties!

 Nate skated a few laps with Brynlee, although there was no "Couples Skate"  

Mads spent a good portion of her night skating with two of her friends from school.  I have adorable pictures of the three of them, however, I don't want to post them for privacy reasons.

She was definitely a busy girl - look at those rosy cheeks!

 Nate was ready to take his skates off sooner than Mads was.  We found a bench and watched the action from there!  :)

Solo Skating:

Nate (He was mad I was taping him, so ignore the grumpy face!)

Mads:

The kids had an absolute blast and want to know when we can go again!  I told them we'd have to wait until there was a time that Daddy could join us - he can probably even backwards skate!  :)