Reagan

She's so cute, I can't keep my camera off her!

This is a hat that my Aunt knit for me when I was a baby.

Maren knit this cute hat with a butterfly worked into the pattern.

Cammie gave me this hat in the hospital. It was too big then and now it is too small. I love Reagan's thighs so much, I wanted some pictures of her perfect, squishy rolls. I couldn't stay away from her happy face though.

Fort Time

RJ had to travel twice this month for work. His second trip was 6 long days. I tried to have fun with the kids to keep spirits high. We built a big fort under the table and made it into a school. We all took turns being the teacher. McKenna did not love Hunter's teaching style.

Leave your shoes at the door

Hunter was disappointed that I took the pictures when it was messy. It was neatly organized before we got started.

One night, we rented Shrek 3, popped popcorn, drank rootbeer, and sprawled out on the living room floor. It was a fun night but it ended up being a long one.

We also made our own pizzas, went on bike rides, played at parks, cheered Hunter at soccer and had special breakfasts while daddy was gone. I have to document these things so that my children know that I made efforts to do fun things.

Missing Oregon

Hunter loves the rain! After some begging, I let them go slosh around. They played out in the marshy grass for almost 2 hours!

They jumped in it, sat in it, layed in it and much to my horror, drank it. I hope they don't die from a disease found in still water!

Sopping!

Dripping!

Super Gymnast!

McKenna took a 12 week gymnatics class. She was a "Twinkler" and had a wonderful coach named Mrs. Barb. I admit that when I first saw Mrs. Barb, I questioned whether or not she could keep up with a bunch of wiggly twinklers being in her late 50's and all but she did! McKenna had a hard time following the circuits. She never could remember what came next and performed best with an audience. On the last day, she got to play in inflatable dragons and castles, jumpp into the pit and play on the rope swing. I'm sure it was her favorite lesson.

She kept getting wedgies so I finally let her wear underwear under her leo to be a little more modest.

There was a performance for the parents on Sunday but we didn't go. McKenna didn't seem to mind one bit since she got her trophy, T-shirt, and lei anyway. Hunter decided that he wanted to do gymnastics when he saw the loot. They take turns holding it. I took them out to McDonald's afterward as a surprise.

Mother's Day

When RJ mentioned making breakfast in bed for the kids on Kid's Day, I said, "wow, you've never made me breakfast in bed." He was surprised assuming at some point he had but he knew better than to argue with my elephant memory. I was determined to have yummy meals on Mother's Day whether I had to prepare them or not so I made homemade whole wheat bread Saturday so I could have French toast in the morning and bought fixin's for cheesecake just incase RJ didn't have anything up his sleeve. To my surprise, he had typed up a cute menu with several options for breakfast (ie. grapefruit, blueberry, banana or strawberry pancakes, French toast, sausage, hashbrowns, juice and milk). I made my order and RJ and the kids brought it to me on a newly purchased tray just for the occasion. So fun!

My special menu.

My two favorite parts were at the top where it read "Daily Specials From Our Heart To Your Stomach" and the bottom "Payment accepted includes hugs, kisses, kind words, sweet looks, happy thoughts and cheerful voices."

The kids gave me several pieces of paper with "art" work and RJ bought me a Keith Urban CD. Before church RJ and I made a lowfat cheesecake together. He created a yummy lemon glaze and added blueberries for flare.

Unfortunately, the day did not end as well as it started. We were ready to pull our hair out at bedtime thanks to our little rascals (I'm sure I wasn't thinking of cutsy phrases like that at the time).

Fun with the Kids!

At last we can get out and play at the park!

McKenna's favorite thing to do at the park is swing. We always head to the swings first and I push her for a few minutes. Then I kick her off and tell her to go burn some energy.

Hunter likes to show off his strength. He needs an audience to perform though.

Following in her sisters' footsteps, Reagan loves to swing!

McKenna put on one of RJ's shirts for bed one night. I thought it was so cute and reminded me of when I was a kid and wore my dad's shirts to bed. I went to get the camera and Hunter decided that he wanted in on the action as well.

We bought a year pass to the community center. In an effort to ease RJ's financial mind, we have been trying to utilize it to the fullest. We have been wanting to take the kids ice skating. I knew that RJ would die before putting on another pair of skates (since he nearly did just that the first and last time he went 7 years ago). He took Reagan while I alternated between taking Hunter and McKenna. There were little kids doing jumps and spins in the middle of the rink giving Hunter and McKenna false confidence. They were ready to peel out and try some spins themselves until they stepped on the ice.

I held under McKenna's arms and took her for a very slow ride around the rink. She kept lifting one leg in front of her trying to be fancy.

Hunter surprised me and wanted to do it by himself. He went around several times despite falling several times. By the end, he was doing a slow jog around the ice.

RJ and Reagan glad to have their feet on solid (unfrozen) ground.

McKenna has been riding around on a trike that Dave and Mila gave us when Hunter was little. We decided it was time for her to have a big girl bike. We found this Strawberry Shortcake one (with a bell) at Once Upon a Child for $25. I tried to teach her how to stop but she wasn't getting it. RJ said, "she'll figure it out eventually."

Ten seconds after I took this picture, she rode off the sidewalk, threw her hands in the air and crashed. That has not stopped her from riding every chance she gets!

After going to the Mall of America with Mila, I knew I wanted to take the kids soon. On Mother's Day, Hunter complained that there was no kid's day. I told him what my mom told me when I made the same complaint, "every day is kid's day." Even though I still beleive that's the case, RJ and I decided to make Saturday, Kid's Day. We made them pancakes, bacon, sausage, scammbled eggs, and orange juilius'. We tried to feed them in bed but McKenna wouldn't stay in her room. Hunter ended up sleeping on the couch that night so he got breakfast on the couch. After Hunter's soccer practice, we took them to the Mall of America but our camera battery ran out. We bought them a wrist band for unlimited rides and spent 6 hours at the mall. They loved the rides and I loved watching them laugh and squeal. One of their favorites was the log ride. It had a 40 ft. drop and RJ got really wet when he took them for a second go 'round. It took pictures during the decent and the kids looked more terrified than amused. We went to dinner at a Jamaican restaraunt and let the kids drink 3 cups of rootbeer. They all fell asleep on the way home for which we were grateful. We were even more grateful the next morning when their beds were dry! Happy Kid's Day Hunter, McKenna and Roo. We love you.

Mila's Visit

Mila was going to come to Time Out for Women with me but had to reschedule her visit. I can't believe she flew all the way out here to see me! She flew in on Friday and joined me for the final parenting class from a course through the church that RJ and I have been taking. I had to be there since the topic was "Setting Limits/Consequences." My parenting techniques have been backfiring as of late. You start to question yourself when you hear your children say, "If you don't let me finish my movie then I'm going to break something of yours." That's a sure sign of overusing threats to keep my kids in line. Now they are threatening me and each other! Yikes! I'm trying to use Moroni 7:45 to guide me in my quest to become a better mother. I specifically think of the words, "not easily provoked" and "suffereth long."

On Saturday (after submitting ourselves to the wrath of P90X thanks to RJ), Mila and I stole away to the Mall of America! Mila treated me to lunch at the Cadillac Ranch which has the best sweet potato fries! We only walked into a couple stores and spent the rest our time at Nickelodeon Universe. They had a couple rides that made our hearts race.

Here we are waiting in line at the "Splat-O-Sphere." It was a straight drop down and happened to be one of my favorites. Our hair had been sufficiently tousled by this point.


I had so much fun with Mila, I'll have to take RJ and see if he is as much fun to scream with.

We were hoping to go to a comedy club in Minneapolis with RJ that night but the tickets sold out. We ended up watching reality TV on line. Mila made her delicious artichoke dip and RJ and I devoured it. I was so proud of Mila for sticking so rigidly to her difficult diet. I tried to eat somewhat like her so as not to tempt her but I failed many times. Hi, my name is Megan and I am a carb addict.

Monday, we put together a picnic but because it was in the 30's, we held it inside at the community center. We took the kids to play at the maze afterward.

Mila loves babies and was a great help with Reagan (as well as Hunter and McKenna).

We picked RJ up from work early and went to Bucca de Beppo for dinner before taking Mila to the airport. It was a weekend that went by way too fast! It was so nice to have a familiar friend around. We will have to wait 8 months to see each other again but it will be a blast! We have officially booked a cruise with the Newcombs to the Carribean for 7 days next January. I'm so excited already!