Get your peanuts here

We went to the circus last week friday for the first time in many, many years. My parents wanted to take us, well, mostly Maddy. She could not contain herself! We told her about it 3 weeks prior, and she would ask every day. So the day finally arrived. We went out for fish fry (yes, Lent time) and hamburger for Maddy at Mjr Goolsby's, great place for a family dinner...ha ha. But seriously, there were lots of kids there, either for the circus or the Admirals game. But the fish was great! Then off to the circus. Little did we know that the circus is 3 HOURS LONG......
We had a great time, Maddy loved it. Whenever I looked at her, she was clapping or giggling at the clowns. It really was a fun time. They even shot someone out of the cannon, I was sure that the Shriner's circus would not have a cannon, but sure enough. I was seriously impressed by the elephants, I can't believe they can do some of those tricks???? There was this totally 80's guy in the cage with the tigers, running around to some hideous 80's rock/metal music...I didn't get a picture of that, but you can picture in your mind, black spandex, gold shoes, no shirt, hairy, typical 80's hair band guy...maybe you don't want to picture it!

Fingerpaint and Smoothies

Today was a day of smoothies and finger paint! No...not finger painting with smoothies as someone did suggest. I had an idea to make homemade finger paint. It was a big mess, but lots of fun. Maddy liked getting messy, as did Winn. They had lots of fun digging into the paint, and SOMETIMES getting it onto the paper!
For snack today, Maddy helped me make smoothies. Someone from work told me about this recipe for spinach banana smoothies. Now, I was not very sure of this. I like spinach, but in a smoothie, yeah right. So. I tried them last week and the kids LOVED them, and myself too.

Here is the recipe:

~1 cup vanilla yogurt
~1 cup fresh spinach
~5-6 cubes of ice
~1/2 cup apple/grape juice
~1 banana
~a few times I have put tofu in, if that creeps you out, then just skip it! Tastes the same, but just more protein in it.

Mix all together in a blender and enjoy! It IS GREEN, but the kids apparently think that is great and they keep asking for the green smoothies! If I can get anything green into Winston I am a happy person.













We occasionally visit Cranky Al's. for pizza on Friday nights. We noticed that last week they had a sign for story time on Tuesday's at 10:00am. This is my off day, so that worked out great! Today we drove there since I had a few errands to run before that, but it is so close (7 blocks) that we can walk when it gets warmer out.
The story time was great, I felt bad for the people that we just there for coffee and conversation. With 20+ kids and 20+ moms (a few dads and grandmas, you could hear nothing but kids. But that is why we went. They are a very kid friendly place! We usually order out, but sometimes its nice to get out of the house!

Is it really 60 degrees?

I am so happy that today is my off day. I know that the next 2 months are going to suck royally in regards to weather, as Feb and March usually do, but I am thankful for a day like today! We spent the morning at the zoo (big surprise for the Ehrhardt's), but it has been since October that we've been there. The kids loved running around, Winn especially! We ended up seeing some of the kids from our playgroup, so Maddy had fun with Audrey and Ava. Those 3 were holding hands running around the zoo, too cute!



Saturday was the first walk we took outside in what seems like forever. Maddy wanted to ride her bike, which was alright, except for the tons of puddles on the sidewalks. She made it halfway around the block before falling off into one of the puddles. I should have put her boots on! Can't remember everything! The kids finally got some fresh air, and slept good...hooray...mission accomplished!

what a feeling...

Not sure if Jeff is going to like this or not (too bad sweetie), but...



 

Like father like son, need I say more...
you just can't see Winstons leg warmers, but they are there...yeah

Maddy's 3rd Birthday!

 

Miss Maddy finally had her 3rd birthday party! Poor thing, her birthday is Dec 28th, and it seems to always get pushed to sometime in January. On her actual birthday, we bought her a cake and balloons and had a little celebration. For a month after, she was telling us that for her next birthday (meaning her party in Jan) she will be 4. It took some convincing, but she finally got the idea that she will be 4 NEXT year. No need to add a year on one month later. We had her party on Jan 25th, with mostly family and a few friends. It was a fun time, Maddy enjoyed her Cinderella cake immensely. She is such a girl...I wonder where that comes from???? She is insistant on picking out everything that is pink. We were out shopping for new shoes yesterday, and the lady brought out these hideous pink Mary Jane shoes. Of course, that is the pair she wanted. Thank goodness that they didn't fit quite right, and she was convinced (by the sales lady...not me of course) that the brown pair looked sooo cute.

am i still here

Yes, I am still here! I feel like it has been forever since I made an entry. This time of year is particularly busy. With bowling, MU games, and many other random things probably not important to mention. Maddy and Winn are doing well. I do have to get some pictures of Maddy's 3rd birthday up. She is now 3...going on 6. I am convinced she has the mind of a 6 year old, but she is definitely 3. Winn has FINALLY gotten over his colds, ear infections, and crazy virus rashes, that we can now focus on using Jedi mind tricks to melt all the snow outside. I used to be a fan of winter, really...but this year I am sick of it. I think that when I did not have kids, and I could just go out and ski or run, I enjoyed winter. But I think now I am putting that temporarily on hold. We have been keeping busy over the past month. Doing any and everything to get out and run around somewhere. We have been frequenting the Big Backyard in New Berlin. It's pretty fun for the kids, they get to run around for a few hours, and I get to hope they sleep well when they get home. Look for more pics to come.

Dance Dance Dance

The kids have now been letting me take their pictures together. This is an amazing feat. Most of my pictures of the kids are a big blur...Winston tries to eat the camera, Maddy is insisting on taking the picture, amongst other things. Winn has figured out how to climb into Maddy's bed, and I figured out that I can just remove the stool and that solves the problem (smarty pants). They love to hang out and play in the bed. I am not sure what the fascination is about, but it's pretty funny. I have to have my eyes on them at all times...monkey see monkey do.





For the past 3 months or so, Maddy has wanted to take a dance class (like cousin Liesl). I had to wait until she turned 3, and was potty trained. Check the second one, but waiting was all we could do. I found a ballet and tap class through the New Berlin park and rec dept. It is for 45 minutes on saturday mornings. Maddy was most excited I have even seen her. For the entire week, she had to wear her leotard, tights and skirt all around the house. So last saturday was the big day. We got there, put her ballet shoes on and ready to go. Or so I thought! Mads took a little while to "get used to" being in a class. She didn't appear nervous, just not sure what she should be doing! Dancing I told her!! She finally warmed up, and was soon twirling away, doing something that resembled an arabesque? It was too cute. She loved it and can't wait for next saturday. I recently found out that Liesl, who dances up in WI Rapids, just got a part in a show put on by the Minnesota Ballet. We are so proud of her! I think Maddy is taking after her aunt Mimi and Liesl.