Having fun..

 Before the end of the school year I take the boys to Kings Dominion.  We always go before school gets out (on a school day) so its not so busy.  My boys have no idea the agony of waiting in line for over 45 minutes to get on a ride.  They only know the pleasure of walking right on up, waiting for the coaster to return and getting on.  Then they usually can keep sitting and go again.  

This picture is the only one I was able to take before my battery died.  But that's o.k. because it's in front of the best ride at the whole park....The Grizzly!  It truly makes me happy that the boys love roller coasters and that they love this one.  We rode it 4 times in a row!!!  

Anthony is missing because he is still 2 inches short of being able to ride most rides.  He got to go to school and then go swimming with our neighbor at the pool.  He was ok with that. We are hoping for a growth spurt this year and really hope and pray he will love roller coasters like the rest of us.

 Kindergarten Graduation

 Last week I was able to go to kindergarten graduation for Anthony.  This kid makes me laugh with his little strut and smile.  He kept looking over with a "I'm too cool for this" look.  He came a long way with his reading and writing this year.  He is ready and excited to go to 1st grade.

 Thank you!

During the school year I volunteered in Anthony's class.  As a thanks his teacher gave all the volunteers this.  It is super cute.  Inside the cake holder is a cake mix, frosting and cupcake holders.  The card read "Our volunteers Take the Cake!  Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication to our classroom!"  Way cute.

Blood Bank?

 A couple weeks ago I scored a bunch of strawberries.  Having strawberry freezer jam at my brothers house one time I fell in love.  It was sooo good and I've always wanted to make it.  Finding time to go strawberry picking has never really worked out.  I managed to "pick" my strawberries from a bag and that was good for me.  There were 3 tubs of berries but I didn't think to document this occasion until I had already started.  It was super easy to make (so easy I had to call my sis-in-law to make sure I wasn't forgetting something!)  I have yet to try it but several bags have been taken and sampled and the outcome was a success.

When the boys saw what I was doing they asked "Is that blood?"  Boys.  Though it was fun to play along for a moment. 

Polynesian Dancing

 On Saturday the boys and I went to see some Polynesian dancing. The boys loved it!  They of course loved the guy dances and their eyes were glued to the stage the whole time.  Sitting in front of us were a group of guys and one was from Samoa and he kept screaming their "Samoan yell" and every time my boys would laugh and a huge smile came on their face. It was a fun evening (minus the 20 minute wait at the drive thru for milkshakes that I promised the boys if they were good!  Poor Anthony fell asleep waiting and never got one.)  I figure this will be the closest that I'll ever get to actually going to the islands to see dancing.

This was the Haka dance--a fan favorite.

 I love the face of the guy on the right. 

 He was great.

This dance was cool.

They turned off the lights and their batons glowed.  

It reminded the boys of a light show that someone at church did that was spectacular.

This one was the best.  

The Slap dance.  

Spring Break 2012

I took the boys on a little vacation for spring break. We had a good time and look forward to doing it again next year.

We visited a reptile/animal zoo.

Played at the arcade.

Played in the pool everyday (all day if Anthony had his way!)

Played basketball

The boys immediately thought of Grandpa!

Went hiking

Boys were in heaven at this little place in the woods

Good-bye Dear Friend

There was a tragedy over our Christmas break and that was the loss of Diego's iguana Yoda. A couple days after Christmas I awoke to the screaming of Diego and the crying of Christian and Anthony. Diego ran into my room holding a limp Yoda and was sobbing. Christian kept saying, "It was an accident!" Anthony I don't think really knew why he was crying but since the other two were he was going to. The boys had been in the basement playing the Wii and Yoda had been on a blanket that was wrapped around Diego. Unknown to Diego, Yoda jumped onto the carpet and during the playing of the Wii, Christian knelt down right on top of Yoda. I'm pretty sure it was quick. Diego was devastated but he understood it was an accident and wasn't blaming/yelling at Christian. He tried to give Yoda water and even pump his little stomach but he was already gone. We wrapped him in tissue paper and out to the trash he went. Diego had a few rough nights after that and a hard day at school when they had to write about their break and then share with the class (which he wouldn't have written about if he had known he was gonna have to share in front of everyone!) That was hard for him. But I'm proud of the way he has handled the whole situation. He adored Yoda. Every morning he'd wake up and go get him out of the cage and play with him before school and as soon as Diego got home he'd get him out again. Yoda is surely missed!

Fall Through The Years

Looking back through old Fall pics from when we've visited the pumpkin patch made me smile and laugh. It was fun to see how the boys have grown and just how different they look.

2004

2005

2006

2007

2010

2011

Trick or Treat!

Anthony--The Referee

Christian--the girl (aka Christina)

Diego--the phone