Two Weeks of Memories

It has been two weeks since I posted last, and looking through the camera files, lots of memories were made. In just the first three days of April alone, we've taken 166 pictures. So, this post will be the first of many to come in the following days, as I have lots of stories to share about my cute kiddos. But first, a story of weather.

The first week of this two week hiatus was spring break. And unlike the week preceding it, with weather in the 60s and sun all week, spring break started with the windows in the house open and ended with shoveling snow off the driveway. It was such a pretty snow with nice, big flakes. Had I not been an overachiever, I wouldn't have needed to shovel because it was all melted that afternoon.

Last day of break, Friday, March 25

Our Backyard


My flowers were almost saved by the overhang on the house


Love how it piles up on the branches.

Contrast that with a week later. Here's how my flowerbed looked on Friday.



Oh, but the snow wasn't done last Friday. Even though it melted, it continued to snow these huge flakes We called it a rain/snow. It snowed, but absorbed into the ground just like rain. The snow continued on in to Saturday, the day we had family pictures. When I made the appointment, I figured the weather would be perfect for outside pictures. Not so, though luckily we got some great ones at our indoor location. The temperatures was pretty moderate that afternoon, and we convinced Ian to go out and try catching snowflakes on his tongue. He tried for a few minutes, then ran around the yard in his new Spiderman shoes (which, according to him, help him run really, really fast).


And here we are just yesterday, one week after it snowed on family picture day, practically sweating out in the sun.


Hopefully the weather this weekend will continue, and the days of snow are gone until Christmas time...

This Weekend in Pictures

Even though the birthday party and Oliver's baptism were the big events this weekend, there were plenty of other things to do, too.


Form a band with your sibling.


Rock in the rocking chair by yourself...


... or with your cousin.


Have a blast playing with your belated birthday present.


Read your Batman story to Grandma in Owen's tent


Take a bath with your cousin


Celebrate your Godson's dedication


Try to hold on to all your grandkids


Finger paint without ever getting your fingers dirty thanks to Uncle Brian's iPad.


Navigate the way home (with an Illinois map).

The Cakes (yes, plural)

For Annaliese's cake, I knew I wanted polka dots. But after eating Ian's fondant, I knew I did not want fondant on her cake. The fondant was so fun and easy to make, but the taste was nasty. So a search through the web and this cake became my inspiration. It was sprinkles massed together in circles. I could handle doing that.

Fast forward a few days, and one of the blogs I regularly read had a post on homemade sprinkles. After reading up, I realized I needed to try it, and so the process began.





As for the cake, I wavered back and forth between going out and buying a large sheet cake pan, or making two 9x13 cakes that I was going to butt together. I went with the latter, but the cakes came out so high and rounded in the center that when I leveled them, they seemed so short. My solution was to turn it into a two-tiered cake. Having the flu put me behind, and so I ended up having to do box cake mix. After frosting those, I will never make them again; they are soooo crumbly! During a late-night of no sleep, I feared I wouldn't have enough cake, so the morning before we left, I made some yellow cake in a round pan.





Annaliese needed her own little smash cake and it, along with the rest of the cakes, turned out exactly as I envisioned (I love it when that happens).



She was not a happy girl for reasons I don't want to admit here on the blog, so she did not dig in to the cake until later. But once she did, mmmmm, she loved it.










I have now made 5 different frostings between both Ian and Annaliese's birthday: butter cream, fondant, glaze (turned into sprinkles), cream cheese, and store bought. From this smorgasbord of taste-testing, I have learned that I definitely prefer cream cheese frosting. And from now on, only homemade cake for me.

Annaliese's Birthday Bash

We had Annaliese's big 1st birthday party back in Elkader today with lots of family and friends. We had a great time visiting with our family and friends we don't get to see very often. Annaliese was pretty low-key and clingy; she went back on antibiotics on Wednesday and has a cold for two weeks, so she's still not quite herself.

The food was delicious. We had BBQ beef sandwiches, turkey dressing sandwiches, baked beans, potatoes, chips, veggie tray, fruit tray, and applesauce. Oh, and there was dessert of course.

Oh, and my goodness, the presents. She got spoiled. So many cute clothes for the summer, baby dolls to love, books to read, a chair to sit in, a water table to play in, a wagon to ride in, and money to put in the bank. Thanks to all for her gifts.















The kids all went for a ride in the wagon Annaliese got. Ian loved it and Grandpa Dave made many a lap around the room pulling Ian. Ian would sometimes pull Owen or Annaliese in it as well. During one extended trip, Owen fell asleep.

Cookin' Cutie

Can't wait til she can help me in the kitchen for real.

They kinda love each other

They might love each other... just a little bit.

He's not a "little" guy

I often alternate nicknames for Ian, going between Big Guy and Little Man. But one thing I never say is Little Guy. He has never been little, and his 4-year check-up on Wednesday continued to prove that he was big. His weight was 44 pounds (89 percentile) and his height was 42.25 (93 percentile). Not exactly off the charts like he was in the early months of life, but I definitely think he got his daddy's genes and not mine. The nurse was asking us developmental questions in the beginning, and more often than not, Ian answered them even though they were directed towards us. She didn't even need to have us answer the question, "Can he speak sentences of six words or greater?" because he was doing that the whole time. As the doctor was checking him out, she said she had no concerns. That he looked perfect. It was so nice to go to a doctor's appointment and have it be good news instead of those we'd been going to for Annaliese. Ian didn't get away without getting a shot, during which he only said, "Owie!" Annaliese had to get shots, too, as she couldn't have them at her check-up right before her surgery. She cried a bit, but not for an extended period or really loud. To reward them for doing such a great job, we drove across the street to Village Inn, where we took advantage of Free Pie Wednesday.