Feels like spring!

We have all been taking advantage of the fantastic weather lately and only go inside if absolutely necessary. The kids are back to tree climbing....

and parades in the driveway among other things. I was inside cleaning up and looked out to find them taking turns pulling each other in their wagon while the rider threw out gardening toys to the kids instead of candy. There were rakes and shovels and bowls flying all over the place. See the plastic chairs precariously sitting atop the container? Turns out they were sitting on them while being pulled by each other. Thank God no one fell off (maybe that's why they were wearing helmets) while I wasn't looking.

The Pickhardt kids had fun in our neighborhood "Rock Canyon" this past weekend. Henry and Eliot were showing their strength and throwing some branches around.

We then had to go check out the duck pond and found some grass snakes, ducks and plenty of rocks to jump on.

Maya found herself trapped on a stone and needed some rescuing from Peter.

And of course the loads of summer toys that were stashed up in the garage were taken out and re-discovered again. That meant rotating through playing baseball, shooting hoops, riding bikes, digging in the dirt and drawing on the sidewalk.

And what is better than a baseball player in a purple leotard and tights?

Green, Gold and Great Grandma Grace

Two weeks ago we headed to Green Bay to celebrate my grandma's 95th birthday. We (or should I say Jay) decided we also needed to squeeze in a trip to the Packer Hall of Fame before the birthday festivities began. Bryn, Henry and Liam loved the uniforms, throwing passes, running obstacle courses and walking out on the field. Before the huge door opened to let us through the Packer tunnel, they streamed crowd noise through the speakers and the three kids held hands and walked on....

It was so great to see my grandma, who looks amazing for 95! She even joined my dad in his truck for a lunch trip. (surprise to the rest of us!) She told stories about her days teaching knitting in Superior and how excited she was to make $1 an hour, which was increased to $1.80 when they thought she was going to quit!

Everyone joining in to help Great Grandma Grace blow out the candles!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

The World's Biggest Snow Woman

Only in our neighborhood.............. We woke up December 9th to find a couple giant snowballs across the street from us in Mr. Sam's front yard. He told us that he wanted to make a huge snowwoman for Bryn and Henry to enjoy and that he did!! He pulled late nighters hosing down the snow balls to turn them into solid ice, bought ice crampons for his boots (since he did most of his work on a sheet of ice), pushed the wheelbarrow around the neighborhood collecting only the whitest snow from surrounding lawns, went through a couple pairs of waterproof gloves and worked on the snow creation for months.

Henry and Bryn had a blast helping him with their tiny fist fulls of snow to add to the bottom ball.

He asked H and B if they would make her ( the snow woman) a flag and scarf. Jay found an old canvas tarp and the kids went to work painting a fire flag and polka dot scarf. Below is Jay tying the scarf around the headless neck.

Sam hanging the fire flag from one of her branch arms!

Last week while Henry was biking in the driveway Bryn was hanging out with Mr. Sam and helping him add some snow to the melting woman.

The coolest thing other than the final product was to see how many people came to our street from all over Madison to get a look at her. It was definitely a study in social science as people slowly drove up smiling, rolling down windows and yelling out encouragement and thanks to Mr. Sam and plenty of strangers getting out of their cars to make videos, take pictures and just chat about nearly anything.

This past week as we sadly watched the snow melt, Mr. Sam told us that he was told that there was a website called snowmen against global warming. Sam was happy with what he had accomplished but once the website was mentioned he wanted to finish a head so he could add his creation to the site.

I almost died when we drove home from work yesterday to find the snow woman DONE!!! It was a 50 plus degree day but he managed to add long hair (grapevines and evergreen boughs) and the biggest red lips I have ever seen. The candle eyes lit up for effect as well.

Someday Henry and Bryn will truly appreciate what an amazing neighbor they have in Mr. Sam who gave up hundred of hours to make them a winter/spring (summer?) memory they will have forever. Thanks Mr. Sam. We LOVE her!!!

Henry's turn

We can finally give Henry his much deserved "star" time now that we finally hooked up the new computer, even if we are a month late. He was not as obsessed with the whole idea of star status as Bryn had been, which was fine with the rest of us! I was the lucky parent to visit their classroom and read the book "Henry Works" as they sat in a circle in front of us. Then I sat back and watched with awe as my little guy grabbed the special pointer and discussed each of his pictures from his board with his entire class. Where did that poise come from? Who was this little man that spoke with such confidence and humor, as if he had been teaching for years? It was a thrill to watch him call on his friends who asked some cute questions about his pictures and then listen to his answers. Bryn was fine with Henry's star power until she realized I was serious about letting Henry sit on my lap instead of her and she had to compose herself from a mini tantrum to a somewhat supportive sister. It was tough but she survived. It's all life lessons, right?

Below he was talking about his plans for the week! Of course Bryn was his little assistant through the whole recording.