How does your garden grow?

Hallie and Reese got flower gardens for Easter from Nana & Papa.... they love them!! Hallie is having a great time taking care of them, and Reese just likes being like Hallie! I was afraid Hallie might get sick of waiting for them to come up... but this is only day 3 and they are growing like "weeds"!! We'll post again when they bloom!

Our BIG Announcement....

Just wanted to let everyone know...


Yep.... we are having a baby!! :) It wasn't really in the plans.... but we are all very excited. I am only about 2 months along, making me due in the beginning of November. I will keep everyone updated for the next 32 weeks!!

Love, The Ladwigs

The ZOO is open!!!!

Today was the first of MANY zoo trips for the 2008 season! We had a great time! We love our zoo!! The animals are so up close and personal! We even ran into some friends there! (Kim and her kids-- Ella is in the monkey sign with Hallie) Some of the animals weren't out yet, since it is still cold... but hopefully shortly. The train and carousel were up and running, so that was a little treat. Here are some pictures from the day....

Easter Weekend Trip...

It is quite a trip up to our parents' houses, but worth the drive! We all had a GREAT time! (here come the pictures....)


The Easter Bunny knew we were going to be gone for Easter, so he stopped by while we were packing and left the girls some fun stuff on the front steps. (Hallie got Hannah Montana guitar and Reese got a Backyardigans guitar) That's a lot of noise for a car ride... what was the bunny thinking?? :)



We made a stop off at Ron and Tricia's for a little egg hunt and visit.


Next stop, Papa and Nana's house (my dad)... For supper we went to Pizza Ranch. The kids had fun playing in "jail".

After supper we celebrated all of the "missed" birthdays. This cake was very yummy!!

Here's the group:

Hallie and Levi got Easels! Here is the future Bob Ross at work...

Since Dad lives up at the North Pole (practically) the cords for all the Christmas decorations throughout the whole town are frozen down... so it is still up. I talked Dad into lighting up the house for the weekend :) (you all know I love Christmas!!)

On Saturday we started off the morning with an Easter Egg hunt. They have a great idea... the eggs are empty, so the kids go out and have fun and get lots of eggs. (you don't have crazy parents out there out of control) After the eggs are gone you turn in the eggs and get a goodie bag of candy. (so all the kids were excited)

The rest of the weekend we had fun playing WII-- video game (I was so sore the next day!!!), Ned's Head, and other board games and just had fun being together!! We miss you, Papa and Nana!!!!

Hide & Seek

Hallie asked Reese to play hide and seek. When Hallie went over to start counting, so did Reese... I just had to take a picture!

Coloring Eggs

We had lots of fun "coloring eggs"!! I made 18... by the time I got the cups ready Hallie & Reese had already eatten 6!! A day later... we had 3 left! They love eggs, but not the "cheese" in the middle (as Hallie says)

Easter Walk

This Saturday morning the Easter Bunny was supposed to be at Hy-Vee, so we headed on up :) All of the Easter Egg hunts are next weekend in the QC, so we are going to miss them. I was afraid this was our only chance to see him.

We got there and the girls were handed a bag with some Easter eggs in it... then told to go to the next "station". Basically they had people with goodies set up all around the store! They got cookies, chips, juice, twinkies, ho-hos, candy, all kinds of yummy stuff! Then the end of the walk was the Easter Bunny in the video department. Are you guys laughing at their "set-up"??? I still have to crack up when I look at the sheet hanging there!

The girls both had a great time!! As we were leaving Hallie said, "Thank you so much for bringing me there mommy!"



Reese wasn't so sure about the bunny! ...but she didn't cry!! (and mom, I am sure you have a comment about Reese's bow!!)--- it looks really cute in person!! Gotta do what 'cha gotta do with no hair!! :)

Breath of fresh air...

It was so nice to get outside!! The weather is finally getting nice!!...

Good thing... we've been getting a little Cr@Zy!!

"A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song"

Hurry and reserve your Dream Street book kit! They are for sale at Scrapaganza, you can stop in or call (563)391-0099 to get yours. (There are only 9 avail. and they are $22 each) The colors are GREAT!! They are fun for spring & summer... boys & girls. I added a lot of popdots for dimension... but kept things simple. You can assemble this book in just a couple of hours. Those of you out of town, we can mail the kit, just call the store. Take a peek -->

Dancin' in the Rain

My layout "Dancin' in the Rain" (I posted it on my blog a while ago) was chosen to be in Scrapstreet Magazine! I can't post a picture of it until the first of April... but just thought I would share :)

March 8, 9, 10... Time Flies!!!

We packed as much fun and excitement into this weekend as we could :) Can't believe how fast time goes when you are staying busy!!

March 8-- Saturday

I took the girls to the mall to see Clifford, the big red dog! Hallie was THRILLED (must be like seeing Oprah for a four year old???)

We also made a stop by the Easter Bunny's Garden. Hallie sat on his lap, but because picture packages START at $25 I just had her stand by the scenery for a photo :) Cheap, I know... but nothing bugs me more than over priced crappy pictures! What happened to the day of the free poloroid??? Don't get me started...

Miss Reese slept through all the chaos!!

Then we were off to get Grandma Carmel. For supper we went to Outback...

Sunday, March 9th

We had a day of errands, then sushi and seaweed salad for supper, followed by Oprah's Big Give!

(we got my mom's new vinyl, from Jodi up... so cute!!)

Monday, March 10th

We woke up at 1am to begin our day... we left at 2:30am to head to Chicago!! When we

got there we were 6,7, & 8 in line. We were so excited when we got seated... in the third row!!! Up close and personal! The show was about the Big Give. Charlize Theron was the main guest... but we also go to see Malaak Rock and NATE!!! We had a fabulous time!! Then we were off to shop in the Oprah Store!! They had so much I could hardly narrow it down! Can't wait for next year!!!!!!