80's in April!

If you live in Wisconsin you know that you rarely get a day like today in April! All three of the kids were very excited to be outside...these pictures are taken before school!

The three amigos.

Action shot.

The pig-tailed one was VERY excited to be hangin' with the boys.

Can you feel the joy?

I can SEE her joy!

April Snow Showers Brings May Flowers?

This is what we woke up to on Thursday morning, April 8th, 2010 (Dad's Bday) and the 4th day of spring break!

It was still snowing flurries when we woke up this morning.

Time to break out the winter coats!

Zoo time fun!

On the first day of official Easter/Spring Break the kids and I went to the zoo! Jacob is wearing black, Haley, cousin Izzy, and Tyler in blue. We took in some sun and sights on Monday morning. If you look closely in the background there is a black bear taking a bath.

One of our favorite animals to see is the tigers. The momma had her baby cubs months ago and now they are playful children.

If you blow up this picture the momma tiger does not even look real! I loved this picture with the background and her eyes staring right through you.

All the kids were right up against the glass and this is Tyler giving some high-fives to the cubs.

We visited the lady lion. I believe she thought that Haley would be a good appetizer.

While Tyler could be her main meal.

Haley then gave lots of hugs and kisses to the lady lion.

Uh oh. Now we are in trouble. Big daddy lion came over to check out where his lady had been and what she had been doing! So she put on her growly face and tried to scare Tyler.

After a picnic lunch we headed for a train ride. Haley and Tyler rode on one side.

Jacob, Izzy, and I rode on the other.

Isabella had a really good time hangin' out with the Benes crew!

Having 2 out of 4 kids looking at the camera is good enough odds for me! It was a really fun and beautiful day. What a great way to kick-off our break!

Easter 2010

Easter was a wonderful, sunny day filled with family and lots of eggs!

Isabella and Haley posing as only they can for the camera. The age difference is about 15 months and when I am out with just the two girls people just assume they are sisters. Then they give me the "poor you sad eyes" and tell me how much they look alike and like me. By this time, I just don't have the heart to tell them that Izzy is my niece and they are cousins. :)

Back to Easter...Izzy just couldn't get over that there was candy in all the eggs! This is her "oh, my!" face.

Seriously, when did my babies grow into these young boys? Tyler is in yellow and Jacob in blue.
This picture is my favorite of the day because they just look so big and handsome.

We hunted eggs 3x on Sunday. Once at our house, outside at Elizabeth's and inside at Elizabeth's house.

Everyone loaded up on hidden baskets and eggs filled with lottery tickets!

Jacob's basket took a tumble down the hill....reminds me of the "Jack-n-Jill" poem as his eggs came rolling down the hill.

Here are the boys racing around the house to find the eggs!

These two look a little mischievous! Tyler is attaching his new walkie talkie to his pants as they were secret spies for the day.

They really got into hunting for eggs!!

Thank you family for a great day and thank you Jesus for giving your life so we can have an eternal life with you.

St. Patrick's Day at the Zoo!

Happy St. Patrick's Day and what a B-E-A-Utiful day it was!!!
I took Haley and my niece, Izzy, to the zoo this morning for some girl time.

Izzy spied a bunch of peacocks and could hardly contain herself. She showed Haley just where to look.

Izzy poses just right for pictures.

Haley on the other hand, has older brothers who taught her this smile. Thanks boys.

Yep, there it is again. I had lots of good laughs at me today by passing by moms as I begged for the perfect picture from these two.

Haley really wanted to see the cows. This is a progression of what happened when Izzy saw the cows.
Izzy: "Oh, this is kinda interesting. They sure are big."

Izzy: "Oh no, Oh no! Make this nightmare stop! Why are they still looking at me!"
Haley: "Mommy, mommy! Did you see all the cows!!!"

Izzy: "Auntie Erin, why are you still taking my picture....PICK ME UP!!"
(Notice the mom in the background thinking that I am the worst mom alive.)

Haley just loved the cows. I think she will be really excited to see the cows back in Nebraska on our next visit.

This seems to be the smile of the day.

Crazy Amazing Concerts!

A friend and I went to Elmbrook Church and enjoyed an awesome concert! We saw Point of Grace, Mark Schultz, and Jeremy Camp live! And even better we had 2nd and front row seats!!!! Because of all the completely inspiring music I changed up my music player to showcase the artists we heard. I hope you enjoy the music!

Star-Studded Kids

We had a very normal week with a couple of colds, croup, and lots and lots of Rescue Hero's!

This was the scene Saturday morning. All three got in on the fun!

The boys were feeling left out of my last couple of blog posts so they wanted to spice things up with a couple of "silly faces" pictures. Here is Jacob or a.k.a. Gene Simmons.

Here is B-Boy Bad himself...Tyler!

Of course not to be out-done...Haley or a.k.a. Audrey Hepburn made an appearance as well.

February Fun

We had a great, big, busy week! It was filled with 12 more inches of snow, a snow day for the kids, and a late start the next day. So needless to say, we spent lots of time being stuck indoors and coming up with some creative ways to pass the time!

For Christmas Haley received a music box from Grandma Gail and Grandpa Andy. Inside the music box is a ballerina who spins around in circles to the music. So Haley dresses up just like the ballerina (hence the no-pants) and spins around in circles to the music.

She keeps the music box on the kitchen island so we can ALL enjoy the music and her dancing!

This is her "behind" look...no pun intended :)

One of Haley's dancing moves. But, more interesting in this picture would be the scooter that races through my kitchen all day long and her "gummy worm" that wiggles it's way through the house ridden in a parade of vehicles.

Snow pictures...we haven't had too much snow this winter so the kids were very, very excited for their snow day and a day to play in the snow.

OR as Haley likes to do...eat as much snow as possible.

The boys got some serious giggles out of laying down for the snow blower. They would position themselves to get buried by Brian and the snow blower.

I know we did this at a waterpark once, but it was water that dumped on them. They could have done this over and over and over!

Is it ice cold snow or nice warm sand? I'll take the later and palm trees, sun, and a beach. :)