Happy Birthday Parker!

This past weekend we celebrated Parker's 2nd birthday. Somewhere she has picked up a great pose for the camera...as you can see below. When you say cheese, she says how hard! A real ham we have on our hands now :) The past two birthdays for Parker have been a time when I really think back to what all she has been through in her short life. I look back and think that 2 years ago tomorrow we she was being transported to Des Moines and spent the rest of the month in the hospital. I remember how hard it was to see her in her hospital bed, how I was completely helpless. I will also never forget how difficult it was not being able to care for my other children, being completely helpless. I remember how lucky we are to have each day that is given to us. Count each blessing, everyday.

Back to School

As of today, it is official that everyone has started back to school. Cameron has two weeks under her belt as a Kindergartner now and Morgan began preschool today, going three days a week. Since we are just across from the elementary school we begin our morning walking Cameron over to the school and getting her to her classroom. She has already requested that I let her go to school by herself. We still walk her over there, but maybe when there is 3 feet of snow on the ground I'll have a change of heart!

Happy Birthday Morgan!

We celebrated Morgan's 3rd birthday last week. Normally I do not attempt to make cakes for the girls' birthdays. Our 'cake lady' was not able to make one, and therefore Morgan had a cake from Mom's bakery. Let's just say there wasn't as much oohs and ahhs as normal :)

Grandma Beth treated her with a trip to the nail salon. Keeping a 3 year old still long enough to get nails and toes painted is a very big task! (Notice the 2 workers)And then there is dry time!

Parker never passes on ice cream and cake!

Lost Island adventure

Here are a few pictures that were taken during a recent trip to Lost Island with some friends It worked out well because our friends had two high school girls visiting them who where great with the kids! Cameron mastered three of the slides in this little park. She also got enough guts to try the big slide that everyone goes down in one big raft..and liked it!

Parker didn't pass up an opportunity to be taken down a slide. By the end of the day she learned how to walk up the stairs and go down without any help.

We took a little break and Morgan and one of the twins found a shady spot. I realized that I didn't have many pictures of Morgan. This is probably because I could not keep up with her. One little 'playground' where we spent most of the day had three slides. We could keep our eyes on all three slides at once. Which was good because Morgan doesn't stop for a minute! Going from one to the next to the next!

Cooln' off

So far this summer we haven't made it to the swimming pool much, but we improvise in our back yard. Could it be I'm just a chicken when it comes to taking three kids to the pool under 5 years old...pretty much!!! Either way the girls always have fun.

Cameron sliding down the Dora Slip-n-slid. Parker cheering on girls as they slide towards her.

Parker didn't do much slippin' and sliddin', but more watching. She thought it would be better to taste the water???

Morgan taking her turn and catching on pretty quick.

June in Review

Somehow the entire month of June has come and gone! The Bergmans have been busy with vacation, Bible school and a trip to the Lake. Here are just few pictures from the month... We started off the month with the annual Black Dirt Days festivities. We found ourselves watching the girls as they went down the slide many, many times. As always, Morgan had no fear and had fun playing on the slide for most of the afternoon.

Stop the parade!! The bag of candy they were carring broke open during the parade. I'm guessing the big tractor is not too happy. Cameron walked the whole parade route with her Taekwondo group. I wasn't sure if she would be able to walk the mile+ route, but they all walked the whole way.

Parker upset because she is too little to go down the slide.

After the Black Dirt Days festivities were over we packed up the van and headed to the Dells for 4 days. Our resort we stayed in had 3 outdoor water parks, and 3 indoor parks. Even though the weather was not too great we were able to spend lots of water time. This was the only slide that Cameron would attempt. Morgan on the other hand would try out anything.

Morgan posing in the mini lounge chairs just for the kids! Too cute!

Morgan and Parker hamming it up for the camera.Bedtime! This picture was taken on the first night we were there. Kyle's Aunt and Uncle took three of their grand kids to the same place we were. We all went to a restaurant for supper. That experience was a whole other story in itself!!

That's a wrap! I looked in the back to make sure everyone was buckled and had everything they need before we left. This is was I saw, with the car still parked!

Preschool Graduation

It's official we now have a graduate in our house...Preschool graduate, that is. Here are a few pictures of Cameron at the end of the year graduation/concert.

Typically on nights that Cameron has had preschool programs my job is to get everyone dressed, get hair done and get the right tights and shoes for Cameron. Kyle's job is to make sure the video camera is ready. Once we realize the battery is dead we hurry up a little faster, run to the auditorium, and claim our seat in the back beside the plug in to get amble charge for the video camera. This year we found the seats as usual and then realized that the new CD's were still in the closet at home. Whoops! Maybe by her high school graduation we'll get it all figured out!

On or Off

We have joked before that Morgan has two speeds, on or off. Here are a couple pictures that are showing her in 'off' mode.

Too tired to eat supper.

This is were I found her today just after she eat lunch. Apparently not enough sleep last night!

Messy Girl

These are a couple pictures of Parker that I think are too cute not to post. I have learned my lesson and not set the bowl of whipped cream too close to her. I turned my back to get something and she helped herself!

In this picture she just finished a cupcake and looks very proud of the mess she created!

Before and After

It has been our goal to get some much needed painting done in our house lately. Our latest project was to give the girls room an upgrade from 'nursery' to a little more 'older' look. We traded in the Cameron's and Morgan's beds for bunk beds that actually were mine when I was younger and somehow made it back to my girls. A few coats of paint (well actually several), some new bedspreads and here is what they got...

With old paint above.

And my favorite part of the room is the sign that I made for the girls.

Up in Flames

Sometimes it takes something tragic to make us realize how lucky we really. Today was a great example of how we need be thankful for what we have each day.

Here are few pictures of a fire that happened at my grandpa's house. After spending the morning mowing his lawn he put the mower back in the corn crib. Apparently grass was on the motor and got too hot. Before long the building was a total loss, along with two tractors and other things that were kept in there.


IN this picture you can see a bike frame that was stored in the corn crib.

Here are two tractors that are a just scrap metal now!

We are very thankful that no one was hurt. You never know where your day will take you!

And she's off....

Just dropped off Cameron for her first day of Kindergarten Round-up. She seemed to handle the start of this two-day event just fine! As we walked to school she told me she was not nervous anymore. Good news for me because there is no turning back!

Easter Fun

Here are a few pictures that were taken during this Easter weekend. Several Easter eggs hunts, lots of cracked eggs, way too much candy, and lots of little girl smiles!
The Easter Bunny (AKA Uncle Brett) has some tricky hiding spots.

Parker caught on very quickly to the hunts. Grab your basket, toss it on your shoulder and run.

Easter with the Vauxs. The six of them had to stop for photo ops before heading the search begins. Probably just as painful on them as it was us trying to getting them all to look at the camera at the same time.

Trying to get a good picture is about impossible.

Morgan and Parker trying to get the last of the eggs that were left by the Easter bunny while we were at church.

Cameron's Birthday

We ended the month of March by celebrating Cameron's 5th birthday. This year we told her that she could have a friends party and a family party. For the party with her friends she was able to choose 5 girls to come over. This was a very difficult decision narrowing down the list. Five friends was just not enough. Luckily for me Kyle took that day off and helped me out. (I think when he took this vacation day he was really thinking it would be good to watch a few college basketball tournament games...little did he know the house would soon fill up with 5 girls, plus our 3 and there would be no chance of catching an afternoon game.)

Since Cameron is now 5 she lets us know very often that she is not little anymore and in her eyes should now be considered an adult.

Laundry Helper...could it be??

At our house I have wished many times for a fairy to help me with the laundry...knowing in all reality I must wake up and face the loads! But today I may have gotten one step closer. Cameron heard the drier buzzer go off this morning as we were trying to get everyone fed, dressed, and ready to get out the door. She decided she would go help. She comes upstairs and informs me that she changed the laundry, very proud I might add. My thought...should I be happy or extremely nervous. She took out dry clothes and found an empty basket to fill them with.
Then tonight as she is suppose to be going to sleep she seeks out of bed to find all the laundry in the living room that I have my nightly date with and asks if she can help me do laundry.
Bad mom for letting her stay up OR good mom for teaching her how to fold towels????

Making cookies or something???

Tonight the girls were keeping themselves very busy cooking! They found a real pan and were pretending that they were making cookies. Normally they do this on the play kitchen set. But tonight it was more fun to put it in the real oven. Luckily supper was over and they were not in any danger. Although I told them countless times that they had to use their oven, not mine! Of course what do I find in my oven after about 20 minutes of pre-heating and getting ready to try a new recipe??? None other than a yellow plastic plate with 'cookies' on it. Is now resembles something like Velveeta melting and dripping down through 2 oven racks and into the bottom drawer. And lets not fail to mention the rolling smoke that is coming out of the oven when I opened it to try to pinpoint the funny smell in our house. Lets just say our house doesn't smell like fresh-baked cookies :)

They are very into the cooking thing right now. Here is a picture of a snow day when we got out the Easy Bake over Cameron got for Christmas. I meant to take a picture of the end product, but they are so small the two girls gobbled it up before I could get my camera!

On the go

It is now safe to say that Parker is walking very well now. For the longest time it was just a step or two followed by a plop to the floor for a much faster crawl. Last week while she was testing the waters for her new skill, Morgan and her came around the corner of the couch at the same time resulting in big crash!


You can tell from the picture she is laughing and seemed to be ok. I'm sure this will be the first of many.....

Snow Day

Isn't everyday a snow day? Lately that seems to be the case. Starting off this week with a very early out and then a snow day...again! Yesterday afternoon Uncle Brett stopped by with a snowmobile and took Cameron for a ride. Morgan was offered a ride, but anything louder than her tricycle makes her run in the other direction.