Things to smile about...

We have had some things going on in the last few weeks.  Here is a few pictures to tell the stories.

All smiles before biking.

My brother Dan, and his girlfriend Krista, made the long trek up to ND to visit us.  We had a nice visit with them and they got to experience the great tour of our city, bike rides around the neighborhood and a lunch at the bread store.  We are always happy to have visitors.

Enjoying the post race high!

Troy and I joined Dan and Krista in running in the Fargo races.  Dan did the marathon.  Troy and Krista did the half, and I did the 10K.  It was a really fun morning and we all finished well!

To celebrate our 8th anniversary, Troy and I spent a night at a B&B in Stillwater.  The weather was beautiful for exploring the cute river town.  It is refreshing to be able to carry on a conversation with out interruptions.

Teresa and Fiona holding hands while acting out the Barn Dance book.

Our trip to Stillwater meant some time visiting my parents in the cities too.  We celebrated my sister-in-law and niece's birthdays with a family party.  The kids enjoyed some time with their cousins.

And how can one not smile at these sweet feet?!  Fire shoes and frilly shoes.  It took some convincing to get Teresa to try the frilly shoes, she likes her blue sandals best.

Two wheel biking

It happened all of a sudden while I was sweeping the garage.  Timothy was scooting around on his two wheel bike when he announced "Hey Mommy!  Watch me, I pedaled!"  I thought to myself oh maybe he put his foot on the pedal for a moment.  So I watched, and well there he was pedaling away!  Wow--Timothy learned to ride a bike just like that while I swept the garage!  I am definitely a fan of the balance bike idea now!  The rest of the morning he rode up and down the sidewalk.  There were a few shouts of frustration at the bike when he steered off the sidewalk or when he fell upon stopping, but he is really getting the hang of it.  I am so proud of him!  Here is some video so you all can see!

You can hear Teresa crying in the background.  She was much happier when she found the puddle to throw sticks into!

Sitting on the curb examining clumps of grass from the puddle.

Happy Mother's Day

A family bike ride to end a nice day. We celebrate on Friday since Troy is busy much of Sunday. I had a nice breakfast, some beautiful cards (even a hug button from Timothy) and time with my sweet kiddos. I feel blessed to be a mom. And Troy finds many ways to spoil me as a means of thanks for being a mama to our kids. I am so thankful for Timothy, Teresa and my sweet husband.

It's a good thing we took the picture before the bike ride.  Timothy came home in tears because we did not bike to a playground.

Reading

I know that Troy and I are far from the perfect parents, but we must be doing something good when it comes to reading. Both of our kids love books!

Quiet reading time this morning.  Notice that they read their own book and then switched with each other.

Makes this mommy smile!