Pride and Joy @ 3

If Tanner did not get this chainsaw for his third birthday he would have been devastated! He was pretty excited about the whole birthday thing in the first place. Since November all we have heard is, "I tun free in Febwu-awy! I wanna chainsaw!" Well, we delivered and he was pleased. Posing appropriately with the big win. Not as excited as Mommy had hoped, but then again he just expected, believed, we would pull through. Nothing to get to worked up about.

Although he did put on the goggles and try it out right away. Since then he has enjoyed his other gifts, but that night he was pretty focused.

He really liked his grizzly bear cake and ate the chocolate chip eyes right off. He only ate the frosting and none of his piece of cake in regular Nelson child fashion.

And then by 10 am the next morning we were outside using the chainsaw. Tanner marched right down to one of our biggest trees and went to work. He was slightly disappointed that it didn't actually cut. But he says that he can wait until he is a grown up for a real one if he has to.

One more morsel about this little charmer. He is a reader. Voracious. He has several of his favorites memorized. So it is not completely odd that Tanner likes to use his time wisely in the bathroom. And nor is it strange that he has figured out how to manipulate the situation so that he can force Mommy to read to him in the bathroom, even if he doesn't have to go and just wants a book.

I love you little guy!

Sweet, sweet sleep

Playing hard results in sleeping hard.Sometimes in your ravioli.

Sometimes squeezed into a twin size bed by morning.

Mr. Mom for the Morning

No school and no jobs had us all home for the morning yesterday. True to their crazy nature, the kids were up and rolling by 7:15 (compared dragging them out of bed for school at 7:45). But Daddy had promised beignets, or as they lovingly refer to them as daddy doughnuts. They are quite delicious. Jeff found the recipe on cooks.com and they are creamy on the inside, crunchy on the out and the kids douse these rich little morsels in sweet powdered whiteness. Most of Jeff's favorite recipes revolve around his fryer. :) This pic is actually not fake staged excitement.

MMMMMMMM. Who will eat the most today?

I love that I caught this look. I totally get this one all the time if I question his authority on something. Which I wasn't at this point, I give him all the credit for these delicacies. So I don't know why I got the look.

Let the dances of joy begin...

With the snow gone, and the temperatures semi nice, Annika coerced Jeff and Tanner outside for catch and batting practice.

She hit one over the house. Tanner picked up the bat and wanted to go lefty yesterday which pleased Jeff immensely. And excited Daddy even more when he got a hold of it.

Snow 2011

They have had a great time digging tunnels, throwing snowballs at cars (Phoebe's idea), and digging.
Yeah, I had something much more creative originally, but it seems to have disappeared from my brain.

Grizzly Jack's

We had a fabulous weekend trip. What made it even better is that the lodging, waterpark, and a few amusement rides were all FREE. Many many thanks to our friend, Sanette Sumiec, who set it all up, whose boss owns the cabin, and let us all go. We all had such a good time. It was the perfect size for our family ages. Not too big so that it was overwhelming for kids, or mommy, and just big enough to keep them busy for five hours and super excited the whole time. They loved going down the slide! Over and over and over.

The wave pool was definitely their favorite though. The girls loved when the waves went from side to side and got really high. I was impressed with how well they retained their swimming skills from last summer. I told the girls they proved themselves ready for a trip to St. Maarten, now we just have to get Tanner a little more sea trustworthy and save up for that airfare! Two more years, just plan on it Mom and Dad. :)

Annika on Fire

Annika woke up this morning with pink eye and will spend two days at home. I am remembering why I don't want to home school. I do think this piece of homework, she did all by herself, will make her teacher smile though. It reads, "This morning my mom found out that I had pink eye." I especially liked the illustration. Earlier this month Annika received a certificate of recognition for her good character in kindergarten. She was quite pleased that she is keeping up with her big sister.

And this is one of her new favorite talents and ways to make us laugh. In fact, Phoebe's giggle is almost as funny as her "booty shake" as Annika calls it. Even though her tush is almost nonexistent she is so skinny. She puts her arms up because she is imitating Kick Buttowski, a new cartoon fave on Disney (this little boy that is a skateboard daredevil--I was leery, but it is quite funny).You will want to turn off the playlist so you can hear all of the giggles.

ticked off Tanner

He was really really mad that the bank teller forgot to give a sucker again. REALLY mad. But I just don't feel right asking for one. Good thing I had one at home!