Liv's Bday Day Fun

Thursday morning was Liv's birthday.  She started the day with presents and then headed off to school.  I brought donuts to her classroom for a birthday treat.  After school I took Liv to her first "spa day".  She got a pedicure, manicure, hairstyle, "age appropriate make-up" (that is what the brochure said), and sparkles.  Liv's was loving every minute of it.

After the salon Liv and I headed to the Cheesecake factory where we met Shawn and the boys for the Birthday dinner.

Friday night Liv had a friend birthday party.  Shawn took the boys out to a movie and dinner during this time because our house was filled with loud screaming girls for 3 hours.  It was loud and crazy.  All Liv wanted to do for her birthday was watch Frozen with her friends.  So we had pizza dinner and watched the movie.  My friend made a cute Frozen cake that the girls loved, and they finished off the night with a fashion show.
I was exhausted by the time it was over.

Lately..

I haven't done good lately documenting life.  It's been busy.

I took Cole out of school today for a dentist last week.  We got to spend an hour together in the middle of the day, which is rare.  He is such a fun kid and can make anyone smile.

The other night Cole and Liv stayed up late writing a song.  Liv wrote the lyrics and Cole played the guitar.  It was great.  I should have recorded it.  Maybe I can convince them to play it for me again.

Cole is currently doing "Run Club" after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Ethan has some of the worst spellings words ever.  Words like.... vexillology and hypsometer.  I didn't even know what they meant and had to look them up.

When Liv was asked by some of her friends at school what she wanted for her birthday party she replied, "high heels and makeup".

The weather has finally turned warm, which has made Ethan a happy boy because he can now be outside playing soccer as much as possible.  He is still pretty obsessed with soccer.

Shawn took his Neonatology Boards this past week.  This is big, really big.  He has been studying and working for this for the past few years.

The house is still progressing.  Our builder told us we are about 2 1/2-3 months until it should be finished.

My little girl!

I took this picture of Liv last night while she was asleep.

It was her last night as a 6 year old.  Today she is seven! 

We started by opening gifts at 6:30am (that is when she woke up and requested to open gifts).  We have a fun filled day of activities and partying.  Pictures will follow in the next few days.

Bucks Game

We had a busy Saturday starting with gymnastics for 3 hours in the morning.  Liv is preparing for her first meeting this fall so she is working really hard.  Next we spent several hours spring cleaning, clearing out everyone's closets, and making a huge Goodwill pile.  We listened to conference and had Sushi for dinner, which is Shawn's conference tradition.

The kids also spent time outside forming their own soccer team, the "Black Valley".

Following dinner we headed to the BMO Harris Bradley Center, home of the Milwaukee Bucks.  The boys Tae Kwon Do Dojang did the half-time show.  The boys have been practicing for a while and were so excited.  They got to be on the jumbotron several times.

Here is a video of part of the halftime show.  

Sunshine

The sunshine came to visit this weekend.  We actually had temps in the 50's and the kids thought it was summer.  It was nice to get to spend some time outside.  

Pinewood Derby

Saturday was the Pinewood Derby.  When we arrived for the weigh-in early that morning our cars were perfect.  They weighed exactly 5 ounces, but the second stage of inspection showed that the weights on the bottom were too low and were dragging on the bottom of the track.  Fortunately, I brought my glue gun and was able to pull the weights off the bottom and glue them on the top.  It wasn't the prettiest, but it worked and both cars passed inspections.  The funny thing is that both boys won award for the most innovative design.  I am sure it was the last minute fix that helped us get this win.  Cole and Ethan's cars both were great and did well in the races.  It was a fun morning!

Hair Cuts

The boys got their first "real" haircut this weekend.  Usually I just cut their hair at home, but lately they have been whining about it so I quit.  We took them to a SportsClips and they got to watch TV while getting their hair cut.  But the best part was after they went into a dark room for a hot towel and head and neck massage.  It was so funny.  The boys had a great time and asked how soon they could come back.  Also, you'll notice both my boys are wearing shorts.  It's only about 30 degrees outside, but according to them it is warm enough for shorts.