Spring is almost here!!!

I'm just going to jump right into blogging and say nothing about how long it's been!! I had Spring Break last week, so enjoyed my time home with the kids, not thinking about work (at all!)! And to make things even better, the weather has been AMAZING!! We played in the sandbox and on the swing set, went for walks and bike rides, and even spent a morning at the Como zoo with Daddy and Danielle and Blake Bjorklund. We also had the Blake's over for an afternoon of playing. And now back to work for two weeks...then two weeks off!! Jenna is growing up so fast! She is doing really well reading simple books and we encourage her to read anything in her environment. When we make trips to the library (like today), she always heads over to the non-fiction section to find books on animals. With the weather this week, she was in heaven playing outside. She and Nolan have nicknamed the playset 'Bucky' like the pirate ship from the show Jake and the Neverland Pirates. So, they play pirates quite a bit! We put a bunch of their gold doubloons and treasure from their birthday party in the sandbox, so there is lots of treasure to find! They have also really been in to hiding their plastic Easter eggs around the house or outside for each other and then finding them. Crazy to think that Jenna is almost done with preschool and will be starting kindergarten this fall! She will have fun! Nolan is such a big boy too! He is fully potty trained, only wearing diapers at night! His vocabulary is quite impressive ans he is always amazing us with what he says. One day, I decided to give him a mohawk and when he looked in the mirror, he said it looked like a 'crest' like the dinosaurs in his books!!! He got a Wild pillow pet for his birthday and then went to a Wild game with daddy. He got to see 'Norde' there, so now his pillow pet has the same name...and goes to bed with him every night! Most of the time, he plays well with Jenna and they love playing doctor, vet, school, restaurant, and anything else creative they think of. I love listening to them play while I'm folding clothes or making dinner! Nolan is all boy and maybe has a bit of second-child syndrome at times. He gets into trouble quite a bit, but he wouldn't be the same then, would he?! Ellie is 8 months old now and her personality continues to emerge. She is very happy most of the time, but can get upset pretty quickly. Just in the past week she has changed! If you take something from her, don't give her something fast enough, or she can't reach something she wants, she lets out a high-pitched screech!! She has also been rolling like a mad baby...all over the place to get into things! Ellie just started to push up on all fours, so we'll see how fast she learns to crawl....she is going to be trouble!! She loves to eat now is trying more and more of the food we are eating. Noodles and rice are yummy! I have signing 'milk' to Ellie since she was about three months and she has been getting excited when you say and sign it. Can't wait for her to start signing herself! Ellie is proving to be just like her brother and sister when it comes to a love of reading and books. She loves to read books at bedtime and seems to know where to look when I ask her if she is ready to read a book! Ahh, such a sweet, mama's girl! If I'm away from her for work or even just a little bit, she has to be in my arms if she sets eyes on me or hears me! Okay, this is my goal now....to write something quick about each kid each night before I go to bed. I have been terrible about scrap booking and baby books, so this will be where I can keep memories for me and them! :)