Vegas Day 1~

We got our bags early in the morning and first thing we did was hit the gym. It felt great to get a quick workout in before we started the day! We walked around the hotel a bit to check it all out. The pool opened at 10, so we spent the majority of the day soaking up the sun!

Later that evening, we cleaned up and met our friend Keith and Anna and headed out for supper and a night out on the strip! What an interesting place Las Vegas is! The things you see while walking the strip. Things I will never forget, but wish I could! The strip lights up at night! It is just amazing to see! We headed up norht and checked out the Bellagio Fountians! It was amazing!

We got an update from Ross's parents who are watching the kids. William and Charlie both had practice and William finally got his jersey. He didn't want to take it off!

Lunch and Vegas!

Ross and I are leaving today for our 5 day trip to Las Vegas! I had been on call Monday and Tuesday and didn't see much of the kids, so I thought I would go and have lunch with Grace and Charlie before we took off!

And we are off! We had two flights tonight, first to Phoenix, then a short trip up to Las Vegas. We landed in Vegas at 10:15, however our bags did not. They ended up getting put on another flight that didn't land till 11:30, so we headed to our hotel and they brought our bags to us! It was really late when our bags got in, and we were so tired from flying that we didn't get them till the morning! I have learned to always pack a toothbrush and extra set of clothes in my carry on!

Softball and Piano

Ross and his slow pitch softball team played in last minute tournament. They ended up taking 1st place! It was fun to watch! After, Grace had her first piano recital! She has really improved her piano skill and loves to play!

Happy 9th Birthday Grace!

Ross and I are in disbelieve that we have a 9 year old! It is crazy how fast time goes by! This beautiful girl has blessed us in our life. She is spunky, energetic, independent, athletic, determined, and bright, just to name a few of her characteristics!

To start the day off, Grace and Charlie has scrimmages. After, I took the birthday girl and her friend out for some pedicures!

Birthday sleepovers!

For Grace's birthday, she decided to have a small sleepover! I let the boys each have a friend over as well with the hope they would leave the girls alone! The neighbor kids also came over, so it was a full house! It was a fun celebration!

Gym, groceries and treat!

I got the day of today (whahooooo!). And since it was a Thursday, and all kids had school, I had some time to myself! I dropped the kids off at school and headed to the gym! It was a great workout! I picked William up from school and we waited for Sawyer to finish class at 12 then met April for lunch! She has a busy couple days ahead of her with planning the 8th grade meal, and Sawyer didn't want to hang out with his dad at work, so I took him with me. I did warn him I also had some shopping to do! William and Sawyer did great! They kept themselves busy by collecting junk at every store! Literally junk!!! They picked up the pieces of cardboard, styrofoam, hangers, ect. The lady at target even gave them a small bag to keep their treasures as she called it! Sawyer quickly informed her that it was just junk! She got a good laugh at that!

Our last stop was Cold Stone Creamery to pick up a birthday cake for Grace! I even treated the boys!

Later that day, we had to make Grace's birthday treats for school!

Matching!

I packed William, Ross packed himself. Apparently they wore the same shirt to the funeral! They look so much alike!

Snow? Really?

Yup! It snowed here today! It was a pretty snow and the best kind because it didn't last! it made for a pretty ride home!

The kids Christmas present was a basketball hoop! It is almost finished! Ross headed back to Sleepy Eye for his uncles funeral tomorrow, so it was just me, Grace and Charlie. I decided to let them both sleep in my bed with me! Ross was a little worried....I wasn't. I had been called in this morning at 0030 for a case at work, and didn't get back to sleep till 3:30, then had to be to work by 6:30, and worked a full day. I was exhausted and fell right to sleep and didn't wake up till my alarm went off!

New friends!

Kids were up early this morning so we were out the door by 8:15! We had groceries and other errands to run! The kids ABSOLUTLY love running errands with me(insert sarcasm here). After we finished we headed to a coworkers house and the kids got to meet her kids and have some time to play!

Birthday party!!

Charlie had a birthday party at the sports center for a friend from school. I dropped him off, then met up for supper with a couple girls from work!

ILC baseball

We headed to the ILC baseball game tonight and met A few friends there. The kids were running around like crazy so I didn't get a picture of them, but I did get a picture of April and I!!! The lights were kinda weird so you can't see the baseball field! The boys won, but I don't know the score! We left before the game ended.

Nap time for William!

Came home from work today to find William taking a nap on the floor! He hasn't taken a nap in forever! The sitter wore him out!!

Last Day!

Last day of the retreat! Getting ready for the last session and church led by Pastor Nolting! Here are my roommates! Such a great weekend!

CLC womens retreat!

This weekend was the annual CLC Womens Retreat in Winona MN. A bunch of girls from church all go together and it is a fun and uplifting weekend! This is my third year going and I have always left the retreat with a renewed faith and feeling inspired. This year the theme was "Uniquely Women" and our roles and responsibilities as christian women. It was a good reminder of the many roles women have and how our words and actions are seen by many. It isn't always easy to be the christian woman Gods wants you to be, but by His grace, we are saved! It is always a great weekend with friends as well! It was beautiful in Winona, and there is a small lake right across the road from the hotel we stayed at with a walking path, so April, Karen and I went for a nice afternoon walk.

That night is the dinner with everyone. They always have us take big group pictures, and this year it was in front of a tree. April and I thought it looked like one of those trees you have your picture taken with at prom...so we had to take a picture!

These are never early nights at the retreat. We always end up in someones room chatting with people from all over. I didn't go to ILC for high school, so I don't know many people there, but it is always fun to meet some new people! This year there were people from Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota...and one other state farther away I can't remember!

B-ball with William and a fire!

Ross went to the gym, and their routine after is to play some hoops. I think it is Williams favorite time!

This weekend was the yearly CLC womens retreat in Winona! So, Ross is on his own with the kids! Of course he would have a fire with the neighbors!

Fixing the bike

William and Ross spent the afternoon in the garage. Apparently William decided that his old bike needed and oil change and the tires needed to be rotated!

And so it begins....

Since it has gotten nice out, Ross has been outside getting the yard ready. Or goal this year is to finish up the landscaping.

Groceries-and the Badgers!

I took the day off since the kids had the day off from school from Easter yet. I don't usually get groceries with the kids because it doesn't go very well. Too chaotic and they end up goofing off in the store and don't listen. But since I was on call all weekend, I don't like to take the chance of being in the store with a full cart, then being called in, I had no choice but to take all three with me. I am also that mean mom who doesn't let her kids sit in the cart with the car because there is always fighting going on about who gets to sit in it, but I felt like being nice today and let the boys sit in the car. It really didn't look like Charlie would fit, but he squeezed himself in there!

Tonight was the NCAA championship game between the Badgers and Duke! We let the kids stay up till about half time to watch. It was a close game and we were sad to see them lose, but they had a great season!

Happy Easter!

This weekend ended up being my weekend on call, and since we have to work one weekend a year, I chose Easter, since I was already committed to the weekend! So, we couldn't make it to the family Easter in Sleepy Eye. Good news is I didn't have one call in on Sunday and was able to celebrate Eater with Ross and the kids. We made it to the Easter brunch in the morning, then service afterwards. Ross asked for a "normal" Easter lunch, (basically, what his mom would be making back in Sleepy Eye) and we had a nice Easter lunch together! Here we are in our Easter best!

It was a beautiful day out, so after lunch we packed up the softball and baseball gear and headed to the fields to get some practice in! Grace practiced her pitching while the boys worked on some in fielding and hitting.

Final 4!

Badgers made it to the Final Four! Ross and I were a little nervous they weren't going to pull off the win, but they did! Go Badgers!

Hair cut for Grace!

I have been bugging Grace for a while no to at least trim her hair. She has flat out refused. Until the day she decided she could cut her own hair! Yup! She cut her hair and gave herself some bangs. She actually did this on Tuesday, I forgot to take a picture of it though. I thought I would let her sit with her bad haircut for a while to teach her a lesson. It didn't work as well as I planned. She didn't really care. Today I took her in to get the bangs fixed! Turned out pretty cute!

Outside finally!

It has been so nice out lately. I kicked the kids outside and they played on the play set for a while! Fresh air does them well!