Love you more...

Some of my very favorite people share my birthday month with me. Some I get to see often, others  I miss a ton and wish they were here. This past weekend I got to share a girls' weekend with some of my peeps. We had a blast. The best part? There is always a lot of gut-wrenching laughter that reminds me why I need to keep these folks near and dear. I love you all and adore you. So here's to us - LB, SG, EG, KT, JN, and JH.

LB - You rock and sometimes are my rock. Don't know what I would do without you.

SG - It has been so great to have you near this school year. I always felt at ease knowing you were there to look out for the little brothers. We will miss you dearly next year.

EG - Can we please have some park dates and can the boys come over to see your new house? We want to play with you more!

KT - Wow, what can I say? How are we ever going to top last year's birthday extravaganza? Thanks for making me a priority in your excruciatingly busy life. It is a great joy to call you friend.

JN - Argghh, a tough one to type without feeling heartache. I miss you a ton and think about you all the time. Selfishly, I wish you were here! I love tucking the boys in at night and snuggling them up with their favorite blankies.

JH - You will never see this but if you did I would want you to know that I feel like the luckiest
DIL ever and that you have raised a saint of a son. When I tease you and call you Monster-in-law it couldn't be further from the truth.

Love you more...

Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong...

...WINTER!

 

It's what everyone is talking about. It's wearing on us all. It doesn't help that last year we were spoiled - very little precipitation, mild days, 80 degree weather in March. I would give last year back to have a normal spring. Any spring really.

Last year on April 11th, Easter Sunday, we were hunting for eggs at the ranch. Note the green grass and the leaves and buds on the trees.

 

April 11th, 2013. Arrgg. Look at the grass and the trees. Boo, hiss. We got so disgusted with all the white stuff that we decided not to say the "ess" word until next winter. We renamed it "turkey dinner".  Needless to say, we are bummed to still be talking about turkey dinner. We got slushy turkey dinner this morning. Last week we had to dig out the turkey dinner pants and boots. We had two late starts last week because of turkey dinner. Please God, bring sunshine and warm weather. We don't want any more turkey dinner. At least not until Thanksgiving.

 

 

Deuce

It was fun to try a new sport this winter. All three boys really enjoyed their tennis lessons. In the dead of winter it was great to have a weekly activity where they could get some exercise while learning something new. An unforeseen bonus was the quality time I got to spend with the parents. I enjoyed conversing with Anne, Amy and Oscar.

It was uniform day at school so Kyle and Cam are in baseball pants and shirts. Funny.

Burnin' Down the House

Corey is training to be a volunteer firefighter. Most of the time is spent in a classroom but on this day they burned down a house so they could learn how to put out a fire.

The boys are shielding their faces because of the intense heat.

Connor is on the left. He was hanging out with us and wanted to check out the fire. In the background, Corey is shooting water at the adjacent house so it doesn't start on fire from the heat of the burning house. Very interesting to watch.

When Corey came over to talk to us we felt the back of his jacket. Ouch! It was hot.

A Final Hoorah

During Spring Break (it's 10 days long) Cam was praying the same prayer every night at dinner, "Please God let us go to the zoo and the Lego store so we can have a really good spring break." So sweet and so sad. Well, on Saturday we took off for the MOA. I think Cam's face says it all. He is very happy to finally get to the Lego store and fill his bucket from the ginormous wall of Legos.

Kyle is searching for a head.

Our three sons' new favorite store. Come on, you know what store I'm talking about.

Kyle trying out the "beats" and the iPod.

Looking over the ledge.

Random Snaps of Cuteness

Cam is relaxing with his best bud Boo Boo. Notice the neck warmer on his shoulders. Must have been a tough day.

St. Paddy's Day treats. Coop has never met a sugary treat he didn't like.

Another tough day for son #3. 

Kyle and his neighbor buddy are preparing for serious battle. It cracks me up that they are so close to each other.

Kyle sliding through his snow tunnel.

Spring Broken

Spring break week! Woohoo! On Saturday night the boys packed their bags and off we went on Sunday morning to Janesville, MN to visit Jodi, Jake and Brydon. Kyle was quite content playing the Wii with Uncle Jake. I, on the other hand, tried not to think about how miserable I felt. Come on! Another spring break where one of us is sick?! Crap! We ended up cancelling our plans to go to the cities for two days. Coop and I were sick for 4 days. Super bummer.

Monday morning brought a pile of snow. 

Normally, a beautiful sight. Not so much in the middle of March. Last year on this day in March it was 80 degrees. 

Coop, the super helper, shoveled the driveway with Gramps' homemade snow plow.

Checkmate!

Kyle wrapped up the chess season with a tournament. He tried chess last year and wanted to participate again this year. I couldn't have been more thrilled to have the athlete in the family take on an intellectual activity. After all, you don't hit, run, scream or throw a ball in chess. He must be drawn to all those knights and pawns.

I need to resign myself to the fact that my middle son will not allow me to get an adequate picture of him unless he is sleeping. This was the 4th shot - the best one. Really Kyle? He is holding his participation ribbon. Checkmate!