out with the old, in with the new(er)

We decided it was time to replace our metal swing set, a.k.a. Old Rusty. He was a good swing set, but my fear of a child getting cut on the rust jagged edges of the slide were increasing so I started to frequent Craigslist to see if we could score a newer, better swing set - and we did! Our "new" swing set is almost 10 years old, but in great condition. It needed a little TLC and still needs work (we are saving that for when Papa comes to town! :), but it is working great! We even found someone who was looking for a metal swing set on Craigslist - they came, took it apart, and took it away.

The only thing it is missing is a nickname. . . I am thinking Big Red.

Tear down

Lars getting his instructions on what to fix
before putting the swing set back together

Old Rusty

The kids' last swing on Rusty

SO SAD! The kids didn't really know what was going on
and why there were strange people in our yard
taking away their swing set. They just sat and watched.

Our yard looked very empty without a swing set

The start of the rebuild

Bergen's first slide!

Our best helper

Smile. . . almost done!

The first swing!

Happy Dads to be done with the project!!

All done!

smiles

Ugh. I am so far behind in posts. It is always on the to-do list, but sleep (or relaxation) seems to always score higher on the priority list. So in case my two fans of the blog are mad it has been so long since my last post, here are some smiles that will hopefully make the peace (I mean, how can you be mad when you see this beautiful face!)






This video is pretty funny at the end. . . with the older Leaflets running after each other. But I was able to catch some good smiles from Ingrid on video!

the start of soccer season

Bergen is in a "soccer league" this summer which means he will be playing two nights a week - one for practice and the other a game. I am feeling a bit like "what on earth were we thinking signing him up for something so time intensive?!" (especially since soccer doesn't start until 7pm which is normally his bedtime. . . AND we have a newborn!) but he LOVES soccer so I am am trying to let go some of my schedule protectiveness for the summer.

Lars took him to his first practice this past week and Bergen, of course, had a blast. I am looking forward to watching a soccer game with 5 and 6 year olds. . . I am guessing there will be a lot of confusion on the field!

potd

potd

Annika has hit the "do it myself" stage and here she is after putting her pants on by herself. . . upside down.

potd

Whenever Little Miss is at GPs house she always plays with Gracie's cage. Whether she is stuffing toys (or herself!) in the cage, she just LOVES it!

potd

potd

potd

Since I am finding it difficult these days to have time to update the blog, I thought I would start doing a Picture Of The Day (what I will call potd). So to start, a couple of favorite sibling shots:

the biggest boy

Bergen had a loose tooth for well over a month and it finally popped out last week while he was at the park with GP (aka Grandma Peg). Bergen was pretty scared about the whole idea of losing teeth - ever since he discovered his tooth was loose he wouldn't let me come near his mouth. . . he wouldn't even let me see how wiggly it was. We got him a few books at the library to help ease his fears, but he just couldn't get over the fact his teeth were coming loose.

He lost his tooth when he fell on the slide and bonked his head - it was THE PERFECT way for him to lose it - it was fast and he had no clue it was happening. In fact, he had no clue it even happened until GP saw a little blood in his mouth and asked him if his tooth came out. They weren't able to find the actual tooth (not sure if he swallowed it or if they just couldn't find it) but they found a tiny rock that looked just like a tooth - perfect his tooth fairy pillow! That night the tooth fairy brought him a dollar (we were going to do fifty cents until one of the books we got for him said it was a dollar!) which he now has safely tucked into his bank.

Such a big thing for our little boy!

she's here!

Ingrid Elise
April 20 2009
7lb 9oz
21" long

These pics are loooong overdue, but adjusting to life with three has been quite busy! Since pictures are worth a thousand words I thought I would spare you from reading a few thousand and just post a bunch of my favorites from the hospital. . .

She is a beauty, isn't she?