Earth Day

Being a Room Mom is hard work. I am learning this fact this year. We had an Earth Day Celebration on Friday and I had many lofty ideas for this occasion, one of which was planting a tree at the school. I can still remember when my fourth grade class did this on Arbor day when I was in elementary school and I wanted these kids to have a similar memory. The who, what, where and when turned out to be trickier than I expected, but in the end we planted a redbud tree that had been donated to our class. We painted newspaper hats and pots, planted seeds, read The Lorax, ate organic foods, handed out reused crayon "earth's" and the kids each brought a trash to treasure project to school for this 40th anniversary celebration. I was lucky to have lots of help, but still needed a nap when I got home... Happy Earth Day!

And our spring sport choices are:

For Cameron: Baseball

For Gavin: Swimming

Boy am I lucky. How often do you become super close friends with someone whose kids are the exact (like within a month of each other) same ages as yours (With the exception of Mason)? And those kids become just as super close? This is once in a lifetime awesome. Cameron and Austin have been best buddies since Angie moved here from Africa when the kids were almost three. They have been stuck like glue ever since. And Gavin and Ashley had no choice but to be joined at the hip as well. They get along swimmingly as you can see by their swimming lesson pictures. There is no one I would rather be cheering with on the sidelines of a baseball game or clapping with next to the pool than dear, sweet, Angie. Those kids of hers are amazing and I love them like my own. We've got some great BFF's!

Mason's Second Year Montage

No more baby in the house!

Yesterday Mason turned two. Can he really be that big already? He has officially graduated from baby to toddler and I am not ready! We took everyone to IHOP for breakfast to celebrate and Cameron even got to go to school a little late which he loved. Mason opened his presents and his favorite is a race car driver helmet he got that is just the same as the police man one that Gavin has and Mason was always using. Those two sped around the house all morning, so happy.

I remember when I realized we would be having a spring baby I jumped for joy because that meant that we could have outdoor birthday parties, that you just can't do in November and December for Cameron and Gavin. This week we had two days in the nineties and it looked more like summer than spring, but on Thursday night a storm came through and with it, lots of wind and cold. We planned to have a small party at a new park with a playground for the kids and a pavilion with a grill to do hot dogs. It was freezing! Even the jackets I brought for the kids were not enough, that darn wind! The women huddled together and the men stayed over by the grill while we encouraged the kids to run around and as soon as we had eaten we immediately had our ice cream cupcakes, opened gifts and went home. I hope in the years to come we are graced with better weather. The kids did have fun though and Mason was in his glory being the center of attention. The wind was so strong that we couldn't even light the candles for him to blow out at the park so we did that with a leftover cupcake when we got home and all of his practicing and perfecting his blow paid off.

Grown up or not, Mason you will always be our baby! Love yous!

Have you seen the canary?

hippity, hoppity...

This morning Cameron forgot it was Easter. He had come in our room to get his morning snuggles and it took him a few minutes to realize that we had set out the baskets last night. Once he remembered no one was allowed to sleep another minute. The boys all rushed downstairs to find their baskets which proved a bit harder this year, but they were not disappointed with the slew of candy, bubble guns and army guys the bunny left. Once we got all spiffied up, we went to grandma's for an egg hunt and then back home to watch church. It just so happened that Easter landed on the first Sunday in April this year which is always our when our church has their semi annual general conference and we watch the leaders of the church on TV. After that we went to the Wadleys house for a late brunch with the Tolers and the Turners. Then we came home and just relaxed. There is something to be said for relaxing holidays. As nice as it is to host family and friends, just being with those you are most comfortable around is really a treat. Nobody cares if I'm in my PJ's or my house is a mess and my kids can just run wild. In fact, there is a trail of wreckage left from their days activities, but I am more than happy to let it sit until tomorrow. It's a sign to me that we really enjoyed today.

Busch Gardens

This past week was Spring Break for the kids. On Friday, Jeremy took off work and we headed to Williamsburg to Busch Gardens. Jeremy and the kids had never been there and I hadn't been since high school so it was a bit of a new experience for all of us. We arrived at about 11 on Friday and stayed until the park closed at 8. We spent the night at a hotel and were back at the park when it opened the next day and didn't leave to head home until 8:30 on Saturday. Can I just say that our kids were huge troopers? They didn't complain at all, even with all of the walking Cameron had to do. The kids all played HARD. There was so much to do and see, and surprisingly, the lines were not that bad. Considering the weather was perfect (in the 80's) we couldn't believe how lucky we were. Gavin's favorite was the bumper cars and he was able to do those again and again back to back for quite a while. Mason was allowed on more than I thought he would be and really loved all of the kiddie rides, except the carousel, he thinks those big horses are out to get him, oh, and the Sesame Street characters were enough to send him into convulsions from fear. Cameron embarked on a new experience since he has reached the obligatory 48 inches- roller coasters! Much to his mothers, and even more his fathers delight, Cameron caught the thrill ride bug and after being petrified the first two times, he realized he does in fact like these type of rides and I am certain that he would tell you his favorite ride was the Loch Ness Monster. Now that we have season passes I know we will be back often this summer and our kids think we are AWESOME parents!