What a difference a month makes...

As I was looking at my March pictures, I thought you might enjoy the stark contrast between the beginning of March and the end of March! I was actually surprised to see the snow picture in there when I opened the file! So happy to see green again! So happy that Spring finally arrived! Happy Spring to all of you!

Happy Birthday Chet!!!!

It's been a lot of late nights and go-go-going around here with Mom, Melissa and Andy here!!!! And it's still pretty late now that I write this, but I wanted to get Chet's birthday pics up here before it got too far away from his birthday! (Yesterday, March 30th) The big guy is now 9 years old! Seriously, when did that happen?! It was a super busy day and he had a ton of fun! (Please note all the following events included three kids under age 9 and three slightly sleep deprived adults and all the loading and unloading required for this kind of a crew. You mothers understand.) First off, Aunt Cindi came over with the Shepards for a yummy lunch! (Thanks Mom and Liss! It would never have happened without all your work!) Chet got to start opening presents and Aunt Lala made him a delicious strawberry birthday cake! (Grandma found soccer ball candles for him!) Then it was off to soccer!!!! His team won!!!!! What a great birthday present! Chet even got his head in to the game and used his big noggin to keep the ball out of the goal!! He said it hurt but said he would go for it again because he "doesn't hold back in a game"!!! Immediately after soccer it was on to Chuck E. Cheese to meet our friends the Lukers and the Shepards for pizza, games, more presents and more cake!! It was crazy, but crazy fun and Chet says it ranks right up there with some of his other "best days ever"! He's such a great kid and I was glad to see him so happy! I'll be back soon with Spring pictures and pictures of our adventures during Spring Break with Grandma, Aunt Lala & Andy!!!

Ten on Thursday

Ok, I read on another blog where they had done "Ten on Tuesday" and listed ten random tidbits about whatever came to mind that day. Well, I didn't have 10 things to say on Tuesday, but I do today (or at least I did before I put the kids to bed...). So, here goes Ten on Thursday:

1. We bought a couch for the game room today! Big enough for the boys to sleep on while Mom, Melissa and Andy are here. Big wide cushions for good relaxing and video game playing. They may never come downstairs again.

2. Ethan has decided to change his name to Micheal. Then told me that when he turns six, his name will be Eli. Salesman at the store said he would make a good actor, yea, and he hasn't even seen the drama pour out of this kid!

3. Chet was just showing me how he learned to do an Irish jig from watching TV. That's not the funny part though....he couldn't stop farting while he did it! I asked if they taught him that on TV, too!

4. While waiting for me to finish up something before we went to look for a couch, Ethan said, "Let's go. The couch isn't going to buy itself."

5. Glad to see David Hernandez be the first of the top 12 out of American Idol. I thought he was creepy.

6. Glad to see David Cook (from Tulsa) continue on American Idol. Loved his version of "Eleanor Rigby."

7. David Cook singing "Eleanor Rigby" Tuesday night reminded me of what a crush I had on Paul McCartney when I was in the eighth grade. Alas, it never could have worked - he's a vegetarian and I like meat! (yea, that's the only reason....)

8. The soundtrack to Disney's Chicken Little rocks!!! No seriously, it does! I've never actually seen the movie, but I've HEARD the movie several dozen times in the car now and I keep getting the songs stuck in my head. "Come on and let me see you shake your tailfeather....." Plus, there's lots of 80's music.

9. I saw on the news the other day that 80's music is the NEW oldies music! What the #$#%? I'm allowed to say I FEEL old but no one else allowed to call me (or my music) old! I, of course, am allowed to call my parent's music oldies but goodies. It's a complicated rules system, but it does make sense in my brain!

10. I've dropped the password option on the blog to make it easier for everyone to see (if they choose). The whole google account thing I think was a pain for some of you. Hope you can visit more often now!

Have a great weekend! We are on Spring Break starting tomorrow! Hooray! Now, to try to get a little sleep and a whole lot of cleaning in before Mom, Melissa & Andy come in on Tuesday! (Bet I'll have 10 things to say then!)

Soccer at 34 degrees

Yes, this is what soccer looks like at 44 degrees and a wind chill of 34. Oh, let's not forget about the interminent rain and wind throughout the games! Today was Chet's new team's first two games. We are playing a tournament this weekend and it is COLD! We lost our first game this morning (it was only 33 degrees then!) and won our game this afternoon. (Easier to work the camera when my fingers weren't as frozen!) Chet has been playing defender and I have to say he's pretty good at it. He had a lot of "touches" on the ball today and defended his goal pretty well! Look at all those layers! Chet is number 31 on this team and is the one wearing the grey sweats and black hat. He played his little heart out today and said the rain this afternoon gave his team the advantage because they are the HURRICANES! Two more games tomorrow and hopefully it will be warmer! GO HURRICANES!

I love you!

So, Ethan last night pulls my face real close to his and says,

"Mommy, I love you...............................in my heart."

Awwww! I love you, too, Pumpkin! (Notice his nice dramatic pause for effect!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

What a fun and busy day today! Volunteered in the library this morning and on to Ethan's Valentine's Day party. Coloring, cookie decorating and general organized chaos! He has such a small classroom that most of us moms spend most of the time trying not to get in the way! Ethan did a great job of decorating his cookie, but possibly too good because then he didn't want to eat it! After his party we rushed home to make cookies for Chet's party! With fresh cookies in hand we were back up at school at mere three hours later. Chet's class is so cute, because they actually READ their valentines. They laugh about what each valentine says and what it means. Someone gave out Shrek scratch-n-stink valentines! So everyone was walking around going, "Eww! Here, smell this!" It was quite fun and I thought Chet did a great job decorating his bag and his cookies! Then silly me had poor Chet scheduled for a dentist appointment today! Oh well, he survived! Anyway, it was a pretty happy day here and I hope a happy day for all of you too! Happy Valentine's Day!

Ethan turns 5!!!!!

How cute is this little guy!? Of course, he's not very little anymore, but he sure does keep getting cuter! My baby is five today! Wow! I mean seriously where does the time go? It certainly doesn't seem like 5 years ago when I almost gave birth to him in Monday morning traffic!

Anyway, we are just three quarters of the way through his birthday weekend! It started Friday with cupcakes in his class at school! Note the birthday crown in the first picture! While at school, his teacher put on this cute little birthday song for him to dance to and be the center of attention and my little crazy boy, who just the night before was rocking out with his brother to some cartoon theme, just stood there as shy as could be! And let me tell that class of 20 four year olds was QUIET the whole time I was in there. Even through cupcake eating time. I don't know what she gives those kids, but I need some!

And quickly getting off topic! Today was a "great birthday" according to Ethan. He was pretty excited that he got to pick everything today! (He will not be so excited when his brother gets this privilege in 6 short weeks!) But he got to pick breakfast, lunch and dinner. We made homemade pizza. He put the sauce and the chees all by himself! We put candles in his slice and sang to him! He liked it so much that he asked us to sing again when he ate his last little cupcake! So, it all ended on a good note with much to look forward to tomorrow-Pump It UP!