Mall of America

D with her friends--it was Pajama Day at dance class.



Breakfast for dinner! One of my favorite meals. The kids had been begging for waffles and liked making the first letter of their names with blueberries.





Friday night we went to the Little Sweeties Dance at ECFE. Both kids enjoyed getting their faces painted.





Playing in the gym area.



Saturday evening we went to the Mall of America with our friends Ron and Jennifer (poor Steve had to work!). We ate dinner at Famous Dave's. Yum...except for this drink combination!





It was picture day at ECFE and the teachers tried to take a picture of kids only while the moms and dads were out of the room for parenting time.



Someone gave us free unlimited ride wristbands when we were at the mall Saturday, so Steve took a half day off from work Monday and we had a fun family day at the MOA. We had never been on the rides at Nickelodeon World before (it would have cost us $120 to buy all four wristbands--enough said!) and the kids just loved it. We all had a great time.



























We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. While Steve and I think the food there is second rate, the atmosphere for kids is definitely the best you'll find at the mall. The kids loved seeing the animals (not real, but they look real) and we got to sit right beside an aquarium with real fish and a scary looking moray eel. See the gorillas in the background? They move around and make noises when it "rains" in the restaurant.



Fun Day!

Happy 5th Birthday!

D went to her friend's birthday party on Saturday. These three friends, who all just turned 5 within the last month, have known each other since we were counting their ages in months and not years. I can't believe how big they are now!





After the birthday party, Steve took the kids to the Oval to see the Wild practice outdoors. D and M got to meet Nordy.



We celebrated D's birthday with my parents on Sunday. She was sporting all the bling and wearing one of the outfits she got from her shopping trip with Grandma. She had so much fun being a "big girl" and going out to lunch with Grandma.





Tiana is the princess du jour and D has been talking about having a Princess Tiana cake for quite some time now. I finally got smart and bought a cake instead of attempting to make one this time.





5 candles!



M loved the paint set he got from Grandma and Papa. He painted about five pictures after waking up from his nap.



I'm glad M has a "quiet" side to him, even though it usually doesn't last too long. After painting, he found every drum in the house and started "making music." His sister likes to dance to his tunes.



On Monday, we had a birthday party for D's friends at Davanni's.









All the kids got to pin the pepperoni on the pizza.



Pizza cookies. Okay, I did make these.









Gift opening.



More gift opening later in the day from Mom, Dad and Aunt Becky.



Happy 5th Birthday (officially)!

Doing some crafts and playing games.







Opening gifts from Grandma and Papa Stiehl.





Wearing several new birthday gifts all at once.



First Chinese lesson with Yinzhu. D and M learned how to count to five, say little brother, sister, hello, good bye, thank you and Happy Birthday.

Top 5 Things to Do With All This MN Snow

#1 Eat it
We made snow ice cream on Tuesday, February 1st. It wasn't very good. Only M liked it.





#2 Slide on it
The kids and I went to my sister's house Friday and Saturday. The kids had fun playing together and sledding outside.



#3 Escape from it
Saturday evening we went to the rodeo with Steve's co-worker Jessica and her two twin girls who are D's age.







#4 Sculpt it
We went and saw the St. Paul Winter Carnival snow sculptures at the State Fair grounds on Sunday after church. They are so fun to look at.





#5 Get lost in it
They also had a large snow maze.







Because of our new crazed schedules, M is now taking the bus to his speech class. It's a regular school bus with a driver and a helper. They only have 3 to 5 year olds on board and he has to wear a harness over his coat that they use to strap him into a seat so he won't fall off. He just loves it. His big sister is a little jealous.