Easter

Wow, it's been over a month since I've had anything to write about.  I've been slacking.  I'm behind from Easter so here goes.

I'll start out by saying I can't stand hard boiled eggs.  They smell like a fart.  They make your whole refrigerator smell like a fart.  The slimy texture of the egg white.  The gritty texture of the yolk.  I'm shuddering right now just writing about them.

Anyway, like any kid would, Meredith wanted to dye eggs.  I decided six eggs was plenty and we would give them to her grandma.  So we went off to Target to get some eggs and she picked out this glitter dye.

It worked really well.  Besides the near meltdown when she cracked the green egg.  We proceeded to tape it up because, you know, tape fixes everything.

Here is the Easter Bunny loot.  

We spent the day down at my Aunt Phyllis/Uncle Peter's house.  Keeping with tradition from when I was a little girl, Phyllis put together a super fun egg hunt.  Too bad the weather didn't cooperate so we could have done it outside.  We had so much fun seeing everyone.  Here are just a few pictures of the girls from later in the day.

Checking out what they scored in their Easter Eggs.  

Jamboree in Woodbury

Last week was Super Hero week at preschool and each kid was send home with a cape to decorate.  They were to use their imagination to come up with a super hero they wanted to be.  I had to give Meredith a few suggestions but she decided she wanted to be a hockey hero.  Her power was that she could make anyone score a goal.  Daddy helped her decorate it with hockey tape.  He did the laces and cut the tape, but I think Meredith did the rest. 

She's called Puck Magic.  Those are two hockey sticks in the center, her #15 on the bottom left, a skate on the bottom middle, and a net with a goal light on the bottom right.  

Daddy gave it a finishing touch with a Mike Modano hockey card.  

Friday night was our night to skate at the Jamboree in Woodbury.  This was the cute little sign welcoming us.  Her name is in the upper left.  

 She was very excited.  She scored 2 goals in the wrong net.  She was so excited after the first one that she threw her arms up in the air.  We were laughing.  She said that she "almost scored 3 goals in the right net".   She's still at an age where she is excited about us.  She kept waving to us.  She even waved so much that as she was skating onto the ice, her gloves fell off.  I'm glad she really seems to like playing hockey.  

Poor Anna has been sick all week but we dragged her with us.  I finally took her to the doctor on Thursday because she wasn't getting better and it turns out both of her ears are infected.  "Raging" according to the doctor.  Poor girl.    She is on the mend though.  

Future hockey player?

Bathroom Re-do

My Christmas present this year was a very expensive shower curtain.  Expensive to the point that I could not justify getting it unless it was a present.  But boy, do I ever love it!  It's beautiful.  Now that I have a beautiful shower curtain, I decided it was time to give my bathroom a new look.  I spent 6 weeks deliberating over what color to paint the walls.  I got new towels and accessories and a fancy new shower curtain rod.

I will say that I was a tad disappointed with how the color came out on the walls but it is growing on me.  It is a lot more grey than I was going for.  I wanted a greyish brown and it turned out to be more grey than I intended.

With the new curtain and towels, it looks really nice.  This picture doesn't even come close to what the color actually looks like.  My bathroom is too small to get a decent picture and with the flash going off the color is off.

Greg's brother Scott came to visit last weekend from Omaha.  Meredith had lots of fun playing with her Uncle Reebok as she calls him.  We went to the mall and went on rides and they went skating together. Anna did her usual and hid from him.  She's kind of scared of all people male except her daddy and other kids.  She ended up warming up a bit by the end of the weekend.

That's Anna purposely hiding behind that book.  Like I said, she's a tad shy around any male except Daddy.  

This was shortly before Scott left.  She warmed up a little.  

 And just for fun, this is how I found Anna napping a couple days ago.  I love her!  

Blah Part of Winter

Meredith is loving playing hockey.  We are signing her up for a 3-on-3 team with some of her Mini-Mite buddies that will start once the season is over next month and goes through May.  Today after practice, she stayed and watched the big girls (next level up) scrimmage.  We haven't had too many outdoor practices as of late because the weather keeps messing things up.  Either it's too cold and windy, or it's too warm and rainy.  I"m thinking Tuesday will be a great day for outdoor practice.

She has Pajama Night on Friday at preschool.  She is SOOOOO excited.  It's all she talks about.  It's so much fun to see them get so excited about things:-)

Anna continues to do new things on a daily basis.  Yesterday she finally started to use a fork.  She had her 18 month doctor appointment on Thursday and she weighed in at a whopping (note my sarcasm) 22 lbs., 5 oz. (10-25%) and was 31.5"(75%).  Tall and skinny I guess.  That's exactly how Meredith is too.
She probably has about 20-25 words she uses which the doctor says is great.  She was only expecting 5-8 words.  Meredith had maybe 1 word at this age.

Oh, and I almost forgot...she started giving kisses this week!!!!!  Finally.  Meredith was giving kisses when she was 9 months.  It's funny how kids are so different.

There isn't much else going on right now in the dead of winter.  I really don't have much to talk about.  I have hardly taken any pictures but here are a couple from this weekend.

She's still teething those molars.  They are taking forever to completely come through.  

Look at her cheeks.  

Her mullet is going strong.  She sported some ponies this weekend.  

And here's Mer getting ready to go to hockey practice.  

Hockey Jamboree

Seeming absolutely appropriate for Hockey Day in MN, Meredith played in her first jamboree with Woodbury.  I can't even begin to tell you how excited she was.  Now a jamboree with a bunch of 5-year-olds isn't really a game but more of a scrimmage.  They send out 5 players at a time with 1 goalie and they each skate for 90 seconds before they send the next 5 players out.  They rotate goalies and at this age, there isn't a real goalie; not one that wears special pads, etc. 

Meredith skated really well!  No goals were scored by her, but I don't think her team even scored a goal?  Maybe they did.  They don't keep score:)

Here are a bunch of pictures from the Jamboree.  Meredith wears #15. 

She is in the middle of the picture here.  

She is second from the right on the bench in this picture.  

Here she is playing goalie.  

Some puck action around the net.  She made a really good block when she was goalie.  

Grandma and Grandpa Schwake came.  Here's Anna wearing her cute, new outfit she got for Christmas.  

Christmas

Well, we made it through the holidays.  I have a love-hate relationship with that time of year.  I do love the holidays.  I love the food, cookies, gifts, time of giving, Christmas lights, etc.  But I hate the crowds at Super Target when all I want to do is get some groceries.  I hate waiting 10 minutes just to park my car.  I actually did most of my shopping online this year and it was most pleasant!  

Anyhow, Christmas was good.  Meredith is back in school and she is having a great time having playdates with some other kids in the neighborhood.  We are in the process of registering her for kindergarten!  She loves playing hockey and we have seen so much improvement since she started back in October.  

Anna is talking up a storm.  She must have 15-20 words.  She even has a 2-word phrase - mo cwacka (more cracker).  Everything that is food is a cracker to her.  She giggles when she burps and farts.  It's fun to see her little personality develop.  She's stubborn.  She screeches all day long - basically whenever Meredith touches her.  She is teething all four of her 1st molars.  The two upper ones have cut through and the two bottom ones are hugely swollen and will probably pop through any day.  I just signed her up for a 2's program starting in the fall where Meredith goes to preschool.  How is she going to be old enough for that already???

Here are a few photos from Christmas.  Most are dark, out of focus,  and do not feature faces.  

Meredith, Anna, and cousin Bowen with Grandma.  

Opening a gift.  

Every year, Meredith passes out all the presents and Grandpa helps her read the tags.  

The three littles.  

The Hello Kitty umbrella was a huge hit.  

This was funny although you can't tell from the picture.  My cousin Mary Jo got a Coach purse and wallet as a gift and Anna came over and just started looking at it and crying.  

Christmas Day's loot from Santa.  After that, we Skyped with Grandma & Grandpa Carlson and Uncle Scott and opened more gifts.  Then Lois stopped in for a visit as well before we headed back to the farm.  

Again, trying to get a nice picture of the girls but this is the best I can get.