Eleven

Ethan turned 11 years old today.  He is almost a "tween"  It's crazy how grown up and wonderful he is.  Ethan has a fun sense of style, humor and is crazy smart.  He has a wicked vocabulary, a story for everything, and an amazing imagination.  He is very sensitive and concerned about others.  He is active, crazy, rambunctious and silly most of the time.  He loves hard and dreams big.  We love you Ethan!!

We opened birthday present early this morning before school.  Ethan is heading off with his 5th grade class to spend the rest of the week camping.  We get to pick him back up Friday afternoon.  We have been packing and getting ready for this big camping trip for the past couple of days.  Ethan is really excited.  It's like a big slumber party just for his birthday.  I am a little nervous how much I am going to miss him over the next few days.  We will do his birthday cake and traditional piñata after he gets home Friday night.  For now, here are a few pictures from this morning.  He was dressed nice as part of a presentation he was giving today.
Doesn't he look good :)

Weekly Updates

The weather has been kind of warming up.  We are still wearing jackets, but we can at least get outside and play.  Which is what we have been doing as much as possible.

We had pack meeting on Wednesday night.  Cole got several arrows points and a belt loop.  This was Ethan's last pack meeting as a cub scout.  Ethan got his Webelos Badge, three activity badges and his Arrow of Light.  Next week he is done with Cub Scouts and will join the 11 year old Scouts.  He is excited.

 Liv recently got her first locker and she loves it.  I watch as she hangs out there in the mornings with her friends.  They laugh and tell jokes and act like they are so grown up.

She also got this beautiful new Frozen dress -Thanks Mom!

Cole got hit in the head the other night at soccer practice.  When Cole got home he didn't want to do much and just laid down on the coach.  He had a ball imprint on his face so I could tell he got hit hard.  His coach called later that night and suggested we watch him for concussion.  Fortunately, Cole is tough and has a hard head :) so he is just fine.

Soccer Season

This weekend was the opening season for soccer games.  We spent saturday running from game to game.  It was chilly and we bundled up in coats and blankets.  The boys teams both lost, but Ethan and Cole and both played great.

Wacky Wednesday

Yesterday was a crazy over scheduled day.  It started at 6am with exercise followed by the 7-8am rush to get the kids ready for school.  As soon as the kids were dropped off I ran errands (library, mall, groceries) and then headed out to the new house for a tile meeting at 10:30.  By the way, the hardwood floors are finished with the install and we started the tile yesterday.

After the meeting I ran to Costco (my new house is right by a new Costco!!) and then headed home.   I spent time cleaning up the house, washing some towels and headed to school to pick-up the kids at 2:15-it was early release day.  They played after school for about 30 minutes and then rushed home to finished homework and head back out the door for Tae Kwon Do at 3:30 (the boys will be testing for their Red belts next week).  After dropping the boys off at TKD, I rushed Liv to gymnastics at 4pm.  She spent the next couple hours there while Shawn cruised home from work and picked up the boys from TKD at 5pm.  He grabbed some dinner with the boys and took Ethan to his soccer practice at 6pm.  

After Liv's gymnastics class was over we ran home and I picked up Shawn and Cole to go back to Ethan's soccer practice.  We picked Ethan up and headed to Scouts that started at 7pm (we were a little late) and then finished up Scouts at 8pm.  The boys had fun after Scouts playing a little basketball in the gym.  Finally at 8:30 we headed home, took showers and made it to bed by 9:30pm.  

Unfortunately, now that it is soccer season, this will be happening every Wednesday for the next two months.  I hope we can survive our Wacky Wednesday's.

On a fun side note.  Cole is really into doing his hair lately.  He spends several minutes, and several gallons of hair product, getting it to look just right in the mornings.

And the boys had a fun time the other night at the school fundraiser for Ethan's 5th grade overnight camping trip at Yo Yo Mama's.  It's a frozen yogurt place that is wonderful.  Here is a picture of the boys with two of their friends.

Liv also came home with this drawing from school yesterday.  I thought it was a cute drawing of our family.

(sorry it's sideways)

I know these are all cheap iPhone pictures.  I've been lazy and haven't taken out my big camera in a while.  But at least I am documenting our life, right!!

Spring Break and Easter

This past week was Spring Break.
We didn't go anywhere special and the weather was horrible.  We actually had snow on Monday.


Shawn and I let the kids sleep in and relax most of the week.  We did take them out to a new breakfast place with oreo pancakes that were a hit.

We also saw the new Captain America movie and had a few play dates.  We spent lots of time at the park (when it wasn't freezing or snowing).
We played baseball, kickball, basketball, soccer and played on the bars.

I got to attend a fun cooking demonstration/class with a friend.  Poor Shawn had to stay home with the kids and eat meatballs while I dined on a 7 course meal with scallops, beef tenderloin and many other amazing foods.

We also tried a new pizza place, called Blaze Pizza.  It is like Subway, but with pizza and you pick your topping and they cook it in a few minutes in a pizza oven.

We stopped by the library because Ethan and Liv had displays in the local art exhibit.

Shawn has been working at the Children's Hospital, where he did his fellowship, this past week.  He said it was like a homecoming when he walked in the doors.  He was even greeted with this banner at the nurses station.

We made a fun easter cake, dyed easter eggs with our neighbors, and had a nice Easter Sunday.

Liv's Birthday Video and floating lantern

Here is Liv's 7 year-old birthday video.  I'm hoping as soon as it warms up I can get her birthday pictures done also.



We also finally did Liv' birthday tradition the other night, the floating lantern.  The weather has been horrible so we had to wait for a nice night.

Sewing

Liv got a little sewing machine for her birthday.  She has been obsessed the past few days and is loving it.