Fun visit and St. Patrick's Day

I just like this picture. It is a huge smile with a little Bonanza Freeze ice cream still on her lip and some Mulan buns in her hair. She's awfully cute!

Aunt Diane and Uncle Art came for an overnight visit with Josh and Luke. Our kids don't see them very often, and they had a blast! We tried to have some fun at C Street Park, but it was soggy and full of goose poop. How's that for appealing? They still had fun though!

This one is out of order, but it kills me. He wanted a ponytail like his sister. This lasted about 15 minutes!

Watch out for the goose poop! Carter brought a sword with him of course.

We had a really fun dinner at Silver Bow with Nancy, Frank, Nicole, Connor, Austin, Terr, Abb, and Jord joining us. As you can see, they crammed together quite nicely in the race car.

Now Josh, Luke, and Carter's turn.

Some carousel pictures. These two always lean out for high fives.

Carousel pictures are tough - too many lights, mirrors, and poles to obstruct faces!

Earlier in the day, they nicely built some Lego stuff. They were funny together.

Now for Luke and Teague. They were making monster faces I believe.

Now for Luke and Avery (who are two weeks apart in age).

This is such a cute picture. Aunt Diane, Teague and his monster face, and Grandma. He loves them.

The next day we went swimming at the Y after Carter and Lando were done with school. I wanted to take some pictures, but it was a bit crazy with me and Diane watching 6 kids in the water! So here is a blue eyed boy getting ready to get dressed.

We had to get one of all 6 together. This was the first and only one I took. It was perfect! They had so much fun together. We'll have to do it again soon!

On Saturday, we went to the mall to see the Edmonton Bagpipers. It was really good. We let the kids sneak up to get a better look. Landon and Avery listenened and clapped politely. Carter attempted to breakdance.

Teague slept through the whole thing. My back started hurting with him after a half an hour so Poppa took over.

There they are. There was quite a crowd in the mall to watch this year!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! It was Mom's 55th birthday! We went uptown, where it was freezing, and sat at the KC for awhile. It was lots of fun!

Dad made green chocolate chip pancakes and green eggs and ham. Yum!

We attempted to watch the parade, but the Arctic chill in the wind got to most of us. Terri, Nancy, Erica, the two Kyles, and I went and secured an awesome table at the KC. We were off to the side of the food, and it was perfect.

The two Kyles trying to look serious. My brother looks like he's going for a Zoolander face.

Erica and I in our St. Patrick's Day finery. Mom has so much stuff to choose from thank goodness.

Nancy and Frank - Nancy's hat was a favorite. She didn't appreciate how tan Frank looked in this picture.

Wearing Grandpa Winks' old hat, Mom's "Elton John" glasses, and Nancy's feather boa. It's quite a look.

The KC is always so packed. It was warm, and we saw lots of friends. A good time was had by all. A special "thank you" goes out to Abb and Jord for watching the kids. You guys are the best!

We came home to have delicious corned beef and get entertained by Teagie. He tells a fine story!

Happy Birthday Mom! Terri found her a very festive and tasty cake!

Lastly, a typical Monday at my house. Lunch time with Teague and Ave at the picnic table. They are so good (usually)!

 

Bonus - videos!

Here is a lovely video of my boy singing his ABCs. What a smart guy! He's getting some extra brain power from the Danimal Smoothie that is all over his face I'm sure.



Ave and Teague love this book. Teague and I usually have to read Brown Bear Brown Bear, Panda Bear Panda Bear, Polar Bear Bear, and then this Eric Carle book. It's all about how animals move. I'm so glad they love books. They just came back from Hastings with 5 new ones!



Lastly, my brother watched the kids one night while I ran to Quiznos. To entertain Teague, he played Thunderstruck by ACDC on YouTube. Now Teague is obsessed with that song. One day, he and Ave were singing songs in my car. They did Tiny Turtle, Peanut Sat on a Railroad Track, Slippery Fish, and then a little voice said "Thunder AAAaaaAAAaaa!" and "No help, no help from you". He also does a cute "Yeah, it's alright. We doin fine" which of course he wouldn't do in this video. He's got some moves though. He's rockin that pink princess guitar!

Finally took some pictures!

I think I have said this before, but this girl has her own sense of style. I kind of enjoyed this change of pace. Usually it's super girly, but this day was a Wild Kratts shirt and a ninja turtle hat. Nice!

These two usually like to cuddle under a blanket after a bath.

Best buds. Carter and Landon are so funny together when they talk about their day at kindergarten. They just make me laugh!

Teague has discovered the joy of simple ice cream and a little chocolate syrup. He would have about 4 helping if we let him.

He likes to jump off that little ledge where Laney's dog toys are. He thinks it's quite an impressive leap!

Ave made this marching band hat at daycare one day. We had just watched a Bubble Guppies episode about marching bands, and she did some fancy footwork with this hat on!

Avers had been up about a half an hour before Teague. When he came into the front room, they had a nice little hug. I actually had my camera out and got this super cute picture. They love eachother - Awwww!

Instead of satisfying their insatiable lust for videogames, I made the boys take a walk with me to feed the ducks. They loved it! They had quite a group of geese and ducks following them about.

Ave has been loving puzzles lately. We busted out the 300 piece Little Mermaid one the other day. We had help, but she really is pretty good!

These two goofballs (one in all leopard print - thanks Callie for the shirt and boots) were being zombies and walked directly into eachother! They are a lot alike!

We had two birthday parties today. My friend Cristin's little boy KR turned 2 and had a party at the jumparoo. Then we went to Bridger's birthday at Silver Bow. He turned 2 also and is the son of a fellow policeman. Teague had a ball at the Jumparoo. They expanded it, and it looks great!

Out of order...oops. Teague and Auntie shared a peanut butter and jelly. Teague wanted to get done fast so he could eat one of Auntie Terri's shamrock cupcakes!

Back to the Jumparoo. Carter and Avery are very protective of Teague, sometimes overly so. They are always grabbing his hand to help him down the slide. It could be worse!

Mmm. Cupcakes. It only took about 4 wipes to clean him off!

It was a beautiful day! Ave did some fabulous sidewalk art in Poppa's front yard. They remind me of those Wubzy cartoons. She's already more artistic than her Mother and Father!

Many stolen pictures

Many people have probably already seen these on Kelsie's blog, but for those who haven't...I had to steal them. Lincoln and his parents, so cute.

This was after he got snipped and swaddled. Doesn't he look so comfy?

This picture reminds me so much of my Carterman. I'm sure most babies have a nice round face, dark hair, and little chin. I don't know, but I swear I have a picture that looks a lot like this. I'm just happy for them and happy to be an Auntie again.

While Ave, Teague, and I went to the girls playoff game (which they won, yay!), Daddy and Carter were bingo-ing it up at Emerson. I'm sure that's a word right?

Erica and Landon were right across the table from them. No one won, but they had fun. Thanks Erica, I stole these pictures from her. They were just cute pictures!

Now for the few pictures I took this week. Auntie Terri bought the kids lots of fun art supplies the other day. Thank goodness for washable paint with this super artistic two year old!

Carterman loves to snuggle with his puppy. He's still pretty cute with her. He really did fall asleep like this. I had to carry him to his room, and he's getting heavy!

Teague insisted that I put this old backpack of Abbey's on him. It was perhaps just a little long...

Doing some naked computer work. I sincerely hope only 2 year olds do this.

We were in the mood for some Rockband the other day, and Kyle found Lady Gaga sounds to download. Ave loves Bad Romance because she saw Abbey and Jordan dance to it many times last year. They had fun singing, and Erica was killing on the drums.

Monday morning hair on the Carterman. I had to spray a lot of water to get this to lay down!

Two "fishies" as they say, swimming opposite ways. They have a good time together in the tub.

I asked for a big Carter smile (like I said, a slow week for pictures). I suppose technically this is a Big Carter Smile!

Daddy and Carterman, his mini-me.

Ave is such a pretty girl.

Lastly, a blurry picture of my wonderful Grandma Vivian with me and baby Carter. She passed away at the age of 94. She was the best. I'll always remember her waiting for us after school with a snack (Ritz crackers and cream cheese or cottage cheese and pineapple were favorites), being a master gardener, teaching me how to make Spritz cookies, and always having coloring books at her house after we went to the movies. She was sweet and nice and the best - I can't put it in to words. I'll miss her terribly.

Random stuff

First of all, let me say a big "Congratulations" to my sister Kelsie and Joe up in Alaska. They welcomed a 9lb 6oz baby boy today - Lincoln Anthony Weber! I'm so happy for them and glad my parents get to meet the little guy while they are there. Can't wait to see more pictures of the handsome man!

We went for a little walk on the trail last weekend when the weather was decent. We saw lots of ducks diving into the water, which they all thought was awesome. The only bad part was trying to hold on to "Mr Independent" aka Teague William Barsness who thought he could lean way out over the bridge. He thinks he's a big boy.

At the Doctor's office. Teague felt fine! Ave had a sinus infection and Carter (ha ha - he was smiling, must had caught him at the wrong time) had pinkeye. Now Teague has croup though. I was hoping the sickness had skipped us this winter!

She wore this to pick up the boys from school. I made her put clothes over it, but when we were done - it was dance time!

I love a good Spaghetti face, especially if it's bath night!

Not sure why he put a McDonalds Halloween bucket on his head right before he fell asleep, but it's quite a cool look.

Is there really anything more fun than a roll of wrapping paper to a child? Maybe bubble wrap, but still, it's always fun.

Ave asked Uncle Kyle to draw her an octopus wearing a Batman mask. Not bad, Uncle Kyle, not bad!

Auntie Terri took Avers, Teague, and I to lunch on Monday at McDonalds. Teague picked of course. They had a great time as you can see!

Nice fedora Teague - he can totally pull it off!

Uncle Kyle is a fun uncle. He watched them while Kyle and I ran to Walmart one night. They had lots of fun being pelted by pillows and watching parts of Spaceballs.

Another sleeping baby picture. He's just so cute!

I told them it's been awhile since I got a nice picture of all 3 of them. Their Daddy did some strange dance moves behind me and voila! A good picture on the very first try!

Carter is getting to be such a big boy. He read this Secret Spy Mater book to Kyle last night. I can't believe how smart he and Lando are.

Walking home from school. Teague really wanted to hold Carter's hand. Carter told him he had a good grip!

Puzzle time. My little sicko children and I have lots of fun doing puzzles and arts and crafts at home. Ave's into cutting out hearts and giving them to me right now. I love when they're so sweet!

Last but not least, a monkey in a tree. She's quite the climber!