Toys!

Daniel had his fourth and final birthday party of the year yesterday, Saturday the 9th. This one was for all of his friends. There were 16 of his friends from school and around the neighborhood that joined us at "Pump it Up", which is a big place full of GIANT bounce houses. After an hour of running around in the bounce house arena, we all headed to the party room for pizza and cupcakes. After that's done, Daniel got to sit in the giant throne while everyone watched him open his presents.

The Kids are all lined up behind Daniel the line leader, ready to head into the arena

The Giant slide

Trying to get a bunch of 4 year old's all together and sitting
still for a picture was not all that easy to do

Pizza in the party room

Daniel in the big King's chair opening all of his presents

After all the birthday party fun was done, Nate had an appointment to go pick up his new toy... (well, ok, it's the family toy)

2011 Lund 1775 Impact Sport

It was a bit of a squeeze, but she fit..

Jen getting the feel for the co-pilot seat

Later that evening, Andrea grabbed a Cabela's catalog, walked outside, sat down, and started flipping through it. She spent quite a bit of time doing research on trolling motors... I suppose she wanted to make sure I put the right on on the boat.. This picture was NOT staged, in fact she didn't even know I was behind her taking the picture.

Daniel is 4

Daniel had his 4th birthday on April 1st. What a year it's been. The "three's" were manageable, but they definitely had their moments. Daniel had four birthday parties in total this year, (if you count the party at school), and we have a house full of new toys to play with.

He got a whole bunch of new twins gear, and T-ball equipment. Here he
is showing off his new Twins hat and jersey, and his new T-ball bat

And the full outfit.. The pants are really for T-ball
but he REALLY wanted to wear them. He love them so much,
he wore this whole outfit down to Grammy Q's the next day.

Of course with all the new baseball gear, he needed to go try it out,
so out we went.

Visiting Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grammy and Grandpa Q for dinner
(wearing the full baseball uniform)

Awaiting family for the big party

Ready for the party


Blue Steel

Cake #2 , this one was Toy Story themed.
Jen did a great job decorating

All the Grandma / Grandpa Q side cousins

Catch Up

Falling behind a bit... A few weeks ago we packed the car and headed to Milwaukee for two special occasions, Brooklyn's 2nd birthday, and Emmett's Baptism. We had a wonderful time, and the kids did great in the car. The Hoffe house was buzzing with people all weekend, but it sure was great to spend some time with everyone.

The Al and Lynette Grandkid crew

Daniel looking at the camera upside down

Andrea borrowed Brooklyn's big fluffy skirt

What a cutie

Daniel and Grahm playing tea party? I guess there
weren't too many boy toys yet

The adults got a little time to rock out with Guitar Hero during nap time!

We even got a chance to hit the slopes for a bit. This was Andrea's first time
sledding, and she loved it!

All bundled up and staying warm

Daniel taking care of Emmett

Random picture of Andie after one of their
"crazy hair days" at school

More Pictures

On New Year's Eve, Jen and Daniel made a delicious batch of sugar cookies. On New Year's Day we frosted and decorated them. They were delicious!

While Nate went on his annual Ice Fishing Trip, Jen's parents came up and they all went to Chuckie Cheese's! It was Daniel's first trip, and he was overwhelmed after about 1/2 hr. With the tickets he won (and Tim and Liz's tix too), he got tootsie rolls! What a good kid! He left the spiders and snakes behind the counter. I sure have a keeper :)

Jen's friend Sara came over to watch the kids so Jen and Nate could get out. Here's Daniel and Chase playing together. Thanks again Sara!

Andie and her new kitchen from Santa! She already loves the phone.

Nate's shirt from Jen. (We do funny T-shirt exchanges...I'll get my picture up here soon). His says, "What? I can't hear you over the sound of my awesomeness"

Andie and her adorable Wisconsin Cheerleading outfit...Thanks Rena!

Daniel sporting a pair of glasses. (This is at Jen's friend

Heather's parent's house on one of our Christmas stops)

Daniel's Batcave

And...The First Annual Matching Christmas PJs

Wow...that was a lot :)

Mudroom!

The mudroom is finished! Jen has been thinking of how to make the mudroom functional since we moved in, but has been a lot more now that Daniel is more independent. With the brilliant design ideas from Jen and the construction capabilities of Nate, we have a fully functional mudroom! Of course, we had to work with the lack of space we were given, but this works great. As you can see, Jen and Andie are home today :)

Nate's New Job

I just realized that we may have forgotten to talk about Nate's new job... (well, Nate's new old job!)
He went back to Target on the 17th. He's on the same team as when he left, doing the same thing. He's very happy to be back and to be challenged again.

The kids are amazing us every day

Andie

She'll be 16 months on the 5th. That's a very big milestone because that will make her a 'toddler!' I can't believe it myself. We officially won't have any more babies in our house! (I hope that means more consistent sleep for Nate and I :) ) But, that means she transitions to the toddler room at day care next week. She gets outside play time two times each day, eats with utensils and a plate. Her vocabulary has just exploded. Since the last post she started saying: Sit, Stand, Thank You, Yum Yum, Tickle, Juice, Truck, Tractor, Banana (or Nana), duck. She can moo and neigh too. She tries very hard to sing Twinkle Twinkle and Happy Birthday. She will also give everyone really nice kisses except Nate. She laughs soo hard when she turns her head away. It's so darn cute. She is still a mommy's girl and loves to dance, but usually will come running for Jen when music starts to dance together.

Daniel

He is getting incredibly smart and he annunciates his words very well. He's learning Spanish at school and does very well with it. He wants to learn more so he can surprise his teacher when he goes into school. We just found out he can sign the alphabet and can individually tell us what sign is what letter-no idea he was taught that :) His memory is amazing. He can recall things and specific events and names of people Nate and I have no idea. Just last night he referenced a line from a movie we haven't seen in months. He has also started learning how to 'really' manipulate us. Fri morning he said he didn't feel well, so Jen stayed home from work thinking he was getting sick. (but he was fine) Then on Sun night, he said his ear hurt...Monday at school, he told the teachers many times that different things hurt and they should call Mommy to come get him. Here are some of his pictures from his camera from Santa. I didn't want to rotate this first round because I wanted to demonstrate how much of an artist he is:

Grandma Fedie

Monkey (Not just a description, that's his name...)

The Newlyweds 1st Christmas as a married couple

The Hoffes

Little B

Ahh...