I got a friendly "reminder" that I haven't posted in a while again. Sorry Gramme! As usual, I've taken some notes over the last week so I can sort of remember some things to capture here. Last weekend was my cousin Angie's wedding. Annika was, of course, excited to go and wear her polka dot dress. She was a little impatient with all the formalities and just wanted to get to the cake and dancing part. First there was church though and then some downtime before the social hour started and then dinner and finally, finally dancing. She did get to do some dancing during the social hour but really got her groove on when the dance tunes rang out. She would spin and spin and spin in her own world. It amazes me how that girl never gets dizzy. James had a good time too. He would dance or be lavished with attention from his aunts, uncles and cousins. That boy has it good! Eventually James fell asleep in my arms and we convinced Annika it was time to go (by telling her that everyone else was leaving in just a little bit too - she was so tired and still didn't want to go).

The next morning Gramme joined Krystle and Pierce and us for church and then brunch to celebrate her birthday. Annika was being a pill in church (late night = not enough sleep) so she landed herself in the nursery. And James was melting down (late night + late for nap = crabby!) so I ended up in the library with him for part of the service. Then I had quite the time convincing Annika to leave the nursery (and toys) to come have brunch. Ugh. Eventually we made it though and brunch was super yummy. Even better was when Gramme stayed to play with Annika for a while (James finally took that nap) before going home. They were having a grand time coloring in Annika's giant Backyardigans coloring book. Annika even practiced writing Gramme's name. Knowing Gramme was going to leave soon and fearing a meltdown by Annika over it, I was relieved to get a phone call from our neighbor Maria inviting Annika and I on a walk with her and Ryan. A playdate with Ryan can tear Annika away from just about anything. We said our good-byes to Gramme and headed across the backyard. We took a great three mile walk, ending at a nearby school park where the kids had a great time playing.

In the past week Jamesy had two more molars break through. We're still waiting for the fourth one to come on down. He's working hard on these molars and they are taking their own sweet time!

Since the very first class, Annika has been asking me if she can jump off the "jumping board" at swimming class. I kept telling her she needed to ask her teacher. We all know that's not going to happen anytime soon so last week before class I asked her teacher if she had time would it be okay if Annika jumped off the diving board. Towards the end of class the teachers took all the little kids to the to the diving board and one by one some jumped, others were lowered into the water. I was so proud when Annika walked to the end and jumped off into her teacher's arms. She's talked about it all the time since then too. Too bad tonights class was canceled (swim diaper accident shutting down the pool for the night) because Annika was so looking forward to it.

This past week at preschool Annika was "star of the week". We had an interview form to fill out (what are your favorite foods, who are your friends, what do you like to do, etc) and the teacher read it to the class. I hope to get the form back and then I can tell you all her answers.

Saturday night we had dinner with our friends Jon & Michelle. I haven't seen them in ages! And Kris hasn't seen them since Christmas time. That's way too long. It was nice to catch up and have a nice dinner together. The kids are getting so big!

Sunday was a busy, busy day around here. We started landscaping under/around the deck and started building a sandbox for the kids! The sandbox is going under the deck. It's going to be great. The deck is about 4.5 feet off the ground, plenty of room for kids to play plus it will be shaded. Nana and Papa came over and took the kids to the park. While they were gone Kris and I biked to the store to check out sandbox supplies. Then we went home and I started working in back while Kris played with his motorcycle, making sure the battery was charged and taking it for a spin around the block. I had to lovingly, teasingly tell him to get his butt in the backyard! Anyway, there we started digging a trench around the deck to put landscape edging. By this time Nana, Papa and the were back. While the kids played with Papa watching, Nana helped us with the edging. Then Kris made plans and lists for the sandbox supplies and he and Papa headed to the store. Nana and I played in the dirt some more, raking it smooth and leveling it for the sandbox while also letting the kids play in the dirt and color with chalk on the patio. By the end of the day Kris had all the boards cut. Tomorrow he'll finish up screwing them together and then Nana and Papa are coming with the sand! Eventually (meaning yet this spring) we'll finish under there with some paver stones leading to the sandbox and then landscape rock surrounding it. The kids are just going to love this. James was having so much fun digging in the dirt. Of course every once in a while he'd take a big bite of it, only to spit it back out grinning. They were both so dirty by the end of the day. We had to practically drag James inside even though he was tired, dirty and hungry. I think it was a great day for the little boy.

The kids had a great time at the park too. Annika enjoyed the tire swing the most. Papa had her spinning as fast as he could over and over again and Annika only asked for more. The girl just does not get dizzy! And Jamesy had fun climging all over and going down the slides. He even conquered his fear of the swings and was loving those too by the end of the day. That's my boy! He just needed his Nana to show him he didn't have to be afraid.

Annika has turned into a clothes monster. She changes her clothes minimum 4 times a day now. Her room is a disaster with discarded clothes. It might be shorts and a t-shirt, or a dress, or pajamas, whatever mood strikes her. Sometimes it's no clothes at all. This is going to be a fun phase.

We've also created a computer monster with her. Annika was telling me how she wasn't very good at the computer in school. I wasn't very surprised because we hadn't introduced her to it yet at home. Sure, she's seen Kris and I on the computer and she's tapped away playing with letters in Word once in a while but it wasn't a regular thing. Well, I didn't want her to fall behind so one night last week I sat down with her, went to sproutonline and found her some games. It took her one night, less than 30 minutes, and she had that thing figured out. She is now a clicking, game playing machine. And I now have to fight for computer time with both her and Kris. Actually it was pretty cute because Kris called me the next day to tell me about the new computer monster, pouting that now he had to share. Just like with everything we now have to limit Annika's computer time. She could spend hours at Sprout, Disney and Nickelodeon playing the little online kids games.

It's official. Uncle Mathias is moving away. He's going to be in New Mexico for six months and then stationed in El Paso with the Border Patrol. He's super excited and we're super proud but man, I'm already a crying fool missing him and he doesn't even leave until May 2nd. I don't want him so far away! We love you Uncle Mathias and promise to come visit!