Spring 2012

It has been a busy spring thus far......

-Tom and Joe learned how to ride their bikes WITHOUT training wheels!!

- Brian took an ambulance ride to the hospital after passing out at home. It is a very long story....but he has had multiple doctor's appointments with more to come....but we think it is just his thyroid...yay for synthroid!

-I have increased my number of hours at the hospital and the house chores are suffering:(.

-Peter just finished his 1st year of preschool and is already looking forward to next year!

-The boys have been in swim, basketball, and tennis lessons.

-T, J, and P have been obsessed with Gotye and have been having "band rehearsal" right outside our bedroom door at 7 am!!

-Tom and Joe will be turning 6 in a 2 weeks!

 Tom drawing people on his hands.

 The boys bringing us breakfast in bed!

 Peter hanging out with our godchild Miss Lucy!

 Joe being the perfect patient at the dentist!

 Peter loving his tub time!

 On a hike with Grandpa McClanahan down by the river

 Kids at Easter

 The boys checking out their easter bunny goods.

 Joe hunting for eggs!

 Best FRIENDS! And below is Mr. Stud all dapper in his polo apparel.

-We are looking forward to a FUN summer playing with friends and going on vacation!!

Favorite Song

Tom, Joe and Peter's Song pic of the Week:

Gotye......over and over and over and over!!

Tom also learned how to whistle......watch out ladies!!

Thunderstorms

Quote of the Day:

"Did you know that isolated thunderstorms make ice." -Peter

Christmas and lack of Winter

Okay, so I'm like 4 months behind, but who is really counting? The last time I posted was Peter's party and then I promised to post x-mas pics. So this post is about our wonderful Christmas and lack of winter in Minnesota this year. We will start with NO SNOW at Christmas.....I don't remember the last time that has happened. The month of December was celebrated with 2 different x-mas parties with Santa, 2 x-mas concerts and the remainder filled with family and friends.....just the way we like it. The boys received an early x-mas present from Santa...."The Elf on the Shelf." The boys named him Henry-Jack and at first they were VERY skeptical, but by the time they had to say good-bye until next year, they were quite sad to see him go. We headed to our favorite tree lot "BIG John's" and spotted our favorite tree, but decided to keep browsing, when another family snatched up our perfect tree :(.......don't worry, we found another perfect tree. The boys helped us out with their fine decorating skills and the tree was beautiful. T, J, and P also made some pretty sweet gingerbread houses with Green Grandma one afternoon. The boys and I made some awesome sugar cookies this year thanks to Lisa Cronk's family recipe :) Thanks Lisa.......the cookies were so tasty, the boys gobbled them up as if they were a bunch of ravaging turkeys ;).

We spent Christmas eve at my parents house and Christmas day with Brian's family. I will leave out the part where I sprained my ankle on Christmas day carrying Peter out to the car b/c he was in his jammies:(.

We brought in the New Year playing scrabble......pretty boring, I know, but when you have kids that's the way life is.

The boys have been busy taking Karate, soccer, and swimming this past fall and winter.

Brian's dad and I have taken the boys up to Wild Mountain to take skiing lessons a few times and they LOVED IT. Tom and Joe say Peter only has one speed.......FAST!

So, that's all I have for now......enjoy the pics.

January 5th 2012-boys go skiing for the first time at Wild Mountain in Taylors Falls.

Peter the skiing pro.
Peter drinking milk out if his silly glasses Auntie Renee and Uncle Ric gave them.
How did Santa know I LOVE TIC TACS!
Peter the elf.
An attempt at getting all 7 kids in 1 pic at the same time.
T, P, & J
Joe and Tom as shepards in the Sunday School concert.
Santa came to visit again at our neighbor's house, so they were able to tell him what they wanted for christmas.......can u guess what they wanted????? GARBAGE TRUCKS
Gingerbread houses created and designed by the Vnak boys under the direction of Green Grandma.
Chef Joseph, Chef Peter, and Chef Thomas orchestrating the marvelous makings of sugar cooks.
Henry-Jack eating peanut butter cooks by the fireplace. He also had managed to get a glass of milk to go with his cookies.
Here is the almost perfect tree.....remember the another family spotted ours and swiped it.

Here is Auntie Dee with our boys and Brian's cousin Kate's girls at the Golden Valley Christmas party.

Peter's 4th Birthday!

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR PETER PAN! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

"Green Grandma" painted a tee-pee on his face.

Opening some of his gifts...he was so excited to get legos!
"Dad made homemade mac'n cheese....my favorite!"
Here's a shot of the kiddos eating their dinner.
I had bought a painting tarp and some fabric markers and let the kids color away. It is a nice keep sake and we can wrap it around the tee-pee Brian made in the basement for them.
Here is "Green Grandma" painting faces for another fun activity.
My nephew had a parrot painted on his face:)

4 year old stats for Mr. Peter

-He is in his 1st year of preschool this year at St. John's on Mondays and Wednesdays and is loving it.

-He enjoys playing with his trains, building legos, drawing, playing garbage pick-up with his brothers.

-No matter what time of day it is.....it is always one o'clock!

-No matter what number it is.....everything is always 150!

-words that start with "v" he uses "b" very = berry voice=boice.

-He loves to eat! Favorites include (homemade mac'n cheese, meatballs, mashed potatoes, fruit and veggies. Oh, and "panilla" ice cream. Yes, that's right....not vanilla ice cream, but panilla ice cream!

-He is very curious...wants to know things like "How do we get to Heaven?" Tom and Joe's answer "You take an elevator, of course."

-Likes going to swim lessons.

-Likes the leapster explorer.

-He enjoys sitting/lying on top of his brothers.

-As of late, he has been inquiring about babies. He has made comments to us and other relatives about having a baby. One day before nap time, he said to me "I just don't understand.....if I want a baby in your tummy, but there isn't one." So, he has moved onto other ways to get a baby in our house.....He wants us to BUY a baby. Tom and Joe's replies "You don't buy a baby, you grow a baby!"

More to come on the Vnak Christmas!

Minnesota

I was driving to work and noticed my neighbor was mowing his lawn......It is December 18th people!!!!.....in MINNESOTA!!!!

It is also 44 degrees and we still have NO SNOW.

Peter Pan and Captain Hook

HAPPY BELATED HALLOWEEN NOW THAT THANKSGIVING HAS PASSED AND IT IS ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!

We had a great Halloween this year! The weather was warm the costumes were spectacular! So without further adieu......

Casting:

Peter Pan- Peter Vnak
Captain Hook - Joseph Vnak
Mr. Smee - Thomas Vnak
Tinker Bell - Mom Vnak
The "Tic Tock Croc" Dad Vnak

Here are 6 out of the 7 kiddos prior to letting them loose for trick-or-treating.

Mr. Smee, Captian Hood and Peter Pan


The Crocodile properly equipped for taking 7 kids trick-or-treating.
Our 2 nephews and niece.



Peter Pan and Tinker Bell.

Mr. Smee and Captain Hook....ARRRRRRR

At Auntie Dee's and Uncle Tom's house before going to the Halloween Party.



Dancing it up!

At stop at G & G Vnak's on the way back home.

Fall

The other day, I was alone with myself in the van and actually had some time to reflect on fall. I came to the conclusion that I love fall. I love it because after the first freeze most the bugs are dead and the allergens have lifted.....which means no more bug bites and no more sneezing!! I also love fall because of PUMPKIN FRAPP'S, PUMPKIN LATTE'S, PUMPKIN BREAD, AND OF COURSE PUMPKIN PIE!!

Fall also means taking a trip the the apple orchard and going on hayrides. It means drinking yummy hot apple cider and honeycrisp apples to eat:)

It also means Halloween is fastly approaching and the Vnak's are gearing up for another spooky and scary year.

Shiver MEEE Timbers!

Captain's Tom and Joe are turning 5!

Ye be invited to join the crew for

Some Swash-Buckling fun!

Hunt for ye Golden Treasures on

Friday May 27th, 2011 at 5:30pm!

Vnak Island

Address

Arrrrrrrr ye Coming?

or arrrrrrrr ye walkin the plank?

Tom and Joe are 5 YEARS OLD! Okay it is September now, and they are now almost 5 1/2! What?? I know, what is more scary is that Brian and I have been parents for the last 5 years! Time flies when you are having fun!! (I'm going to sound like "our parents" for a second.) but seems like yesterday that these guys were waking us up every 2 hours to eat at night. I wish I could bring back all the special moments that have occurred since their birth's, but life keeps moving and it seems faster and faster everyday.

So as you can see by the invites, we celebrated with the pirate theme. The boys are really into being pirates and watching "Jake and the Neverland Pirates." The boys decided they were going to wear their pirate pajama's and then I bought bandana's for all the kids, along with eye patches, and face paint to draw on mustaches'. After they all became pirates, Brian created a treasure map and gave the kids clues to finding the golden treasure. Once the treasure was found, they took turns trying to break it open to claim their gold de blums.

The games were then followed up by dinner, cake and then presents.

Their personalities are really starting to blossom more and more each day.

Tom is the oldest by 20 minutes, and claims the title of being the eldest. He is responsible, reliable in helping us out, naturally watches over others, and willing to give something up for the sake of others. He is sweet, funny, has an extraordinary laugh when he thinks something is really funny, and is a joy to be with. He is my cuddle bug during shoo shoo byes prior to nap and bedtime. Tom is a thinker and loves to take things a part and put them back together again. We knew this when we found Brian's business card, a knife, and a nightlight taken apart next to an outlet in our bedroom....I think he was around 2 at the time. He loves playing with legos and playing with his trucks. He still enjoys Tuesday's....Garbage Day!

Joe is the middle child. He is an instigator at times and can negotiate any type of situation. When he was younger, I would ask him to do something and the his response would be "Tom can do it." He loves to finish 1st and be first for everything, except for when going to the doctor, dentist or to get his haircut. He loves to arrange and sort the recycling over and over as well as taking the trash and rubbish out on Monday's. He loves to be a fashion starter....getting his hair spray painted with purple and green dots at Mardi Gras in February and his latest wearing his construction rain boots in the middle of summer on a warm sunny day. (He did get a lot of compliments that day). He is gifted with his ability to solve math problems. This past summer, we were on vacation and the he had asked how many tickets were left from the rides they had been on??

Dad: Joe there were 40 tickets total

Joe: and there are 4 tickets left

Mom: Joe, how many tickets did we use?

Joe: Mumbling to himself for about a minute......then shouts out 36 tickets!

Mom and Dad: Wow! That's right!

We love you guys so much and can't to see how you will grow and learn this year:)

Pirates Joe and Tom after finding the golden treasure.
Here are some more rowdy pirates

Cousin Braden making an attempt at breaking free the treasures


cousin Hailey even getting in on the pirate action.

Quick, Captain Hook is coming to get us!


Birthday Boys blowing out their candles.