Annie

Tuesday, May 24th...

I got to chaperone Jared's class trip to the Minneapolis Children's Theatre to see the play Annie.

It was great and everyone had a great time!

There were 4 school buses loaded with K-4th graders.

Brendan and Jared having a great time...

Kelly and Lily...

Some of his class waiting outside the theatre...

Best buds...

Silly faces...

Brendan took our picture (and did a pretty good job!)...

After the play we went to Hyland Lake Park in Bloomington for a picnic lunch.

What a beautiful place! I've never seen such a big outdoor playground.

There was plenty of room for everyone to run around and play!

Lily, Jared, Maggie and Evie having a great time on the tire swing...

I did a series of pics to show how big it was...

ECFE Vehicle Fair

Wednesday, May 18th...

I took Jared and Chloe to the annual ECFE Vehicle Fair.

There was a fire truck, police cars, a combine, big crane, school bus, 2 race cars, and lots more.

We got Morgan a bike helmet so now we are all ready to ride (safely). Chloe tried it on since Moe wasn't there. The guy put it on her and said he should find a smaller one since it was for her little sister but I had to explain that it would be just fine. Her little sister was more like her big brother and has a much bigger noggin. ;)

One of Jared's favorites... the dump truck.

Probably helps that our neighbor, Matt (the driver), lets him blow the air horn. ;)

MaKenna & Chloe checking each other out...

I just have to laugh... she's 8 days older than Chloe but you'd never guess it! ;)

Aww... a hug.

Silly Girls

Friday, May 20th...

Chloe and Morgan were being silly on their new rocking toy from IKEA...

Busy Sunday

Sunday, May 15th...

There's something about very soothing about riding on a lawn mower... for my kids anyway.

They kick back and relax in the car seat with the big ear muffs on and doze off.

This is one of Jared's favorite things to do and now it's Chloe's too.

She'll come running the second she hears it fire up. :)

Out cold...

The next project for the day was planting flowers...

Cheese!!!

She was pretty content scooping dirt with a spoon.

I had to snap a few pics of Morgan crawling around the yard...

She absolutely LOVES being outside!

Her signature stance...

Jared flying his kite...

It's WAY up high! (top, left red spec with a tail)

Stubborn Little Girl

Saturday, May 14th...

Chloe REALLY wanted a "treat" but since it was bedtime mommy said no.

That resulted in a big buck. After a few minutes it was too quiet

so I went to check on her and found this...

She's pretty stubborn... wonder where she gets that from??? ;)

Sunday School Graduation

Sunday, May 15th...

Jared has been going to Sunday School for 2 years.

They had a little ceremony after the Baccalaureate Mass.

Auntie Kelly (leader of the program) handed out little rosaries to the graduates...

They were VERY proud to wear their mortarboards like the graduating seniors...

Aiden, Jared, Father Berger, Lily & Brianna...

Bye-bye Bottle!

May 10th...

Morgan has finally mastered the art of holding her own bottle...

Just in time to have it taken away!

It's been a long 2 years of making bottles and momma is

MORE than ready to say bye-bye to the bottle!

We were down to one in the morning and one before bed but now it's just one

before bed and that's only because we're using up the last of the formula. Yay!!!

Baby Gavin

Friday, May 13th...

It's a BOY!!!

Gavin James Hillesheim was welcomed by James & Kristin and big sister Ashlyn

Chloe couldn't get enough of him...

And Jared is so excited that there's another boy to play with...

So far, there are 7 girls and 4 boys in the Beranek crew

Mother's Day

Sunday, May 8th...

I had a very nice Mother's Day. We went to church, had brunch at the farm, and spent the afternoon relaxing at home. We decided to go for a bike ride on the trail in New Ulm. Keith wanted to try out his new bike. It was a little windy so I made Keith pull Morgan in the trailer and I had Chloe behind me in the seat. I don't trust those 2 sitting next to each other in the trailer. ;)

Chloe's look cracked me up...

And once the camera comes out, Jared has to have his pic taken too...

Poor Morgan is still in the infant carrier in Daddy's truck...

1st & 2nd Birthday Party

Saturday, May 7th...

We had the girls' birthday party on Morgan's 1st birthday and it was an absolutely wonderful day! The weather was perfect... finally. Almost everyone was able to make it so we had lots of family to celebrate with us. I'll let the pictures tell the story...

Balloons!

Molly caught a frog and the girls (and Jared) thougth it was SO cool... and scary!

The birthday girls...

Kaelyn and Stacy...

Daddy grilling brats and hotdogs...

Yum...

Aaron had a blast in the jumper...

Grandma Deb made the yummy birthday cakes...

Morgan tooled around in her walker...

They were in awe of everyone singing to them...

Morgan was lovin' it!

Chloe wasn't so sure about all of the attention...

I never paid attention to the fact that we only had one candle on Chloe's cake... oops! I don't think she minded. ;)

Jared was more than willing to help Morgan blow out her candle...

She dipped her finger all the way to the bottom of the cake and then examined her findings...

They both thought is was delicious!

All done!

Time to open gifts...

Grandma and Grandpa Beranek got them each a personalized chair with umbrellas...

Morgan's godparents (Katie & Jesse) gave her a beautiful headband. Her first reaction is to rip it off her head so I had to restrain her arms to get a picture of it...

Daddy was having lots of fun opening all of the girly goodies. ;)

Mommy & Chloe...

Grandma Patty enjoyed the last bottle she'll ever have to feed Morgan. Sad for her but not for us!!! We are SO ready to be done with bottles and formula!

We got them a "My 1st Trampoline". It was a hit with all of the kids. Too bad Chloe was not in the mood to take turns. She just bounced and bounced and bounced!

The big kids and the little kids played "Spud" in the yard...

Ashlyn L. and Ashlyn H. got a ride in the wagon together...

Morgan had to try out the trampoline too...

My favorite picture of the day.

Gabbie LOVES babies and really wanted to hold Morgan. We all laughed when she commented on how heavy she was! =)

Nick and Chloe being silly...

Grandma Deb and Morgan...

I totally spaced on getting pictures of the girls with certain people. Katie asked me to take a picture of them with Morgan and the light bulb went off. Duh! Chloe's godparents were alrady gone so I don't have one of her with Jeremy and Kelly. There's always next year.

Morgan with her Godparents, Katie & Jesse...

Chloe decided to "play" t-ball while we cleaned up...