Sweets from my Sweet

We are all super excited that Doug came home tonight!  It has been a couple since he left us all at home for a week.  The kids are easier these days so I can survive pretty well on my own.  I do have to say I need him here to help keep me on a schedule.  I stay up way too late when he's gone.  He brought us home some delicious treats to try from the same bakery he went to last time he visited Anaheim.

He took a special picture for Luke of him hanging out with a lego Hulk at Downtown Disney. 

Doug missed St. Paddy' with Daddy's at school.  Luke said it was okay and that he could eat donuts with dad when he got home.

Luke also made a Book for his dad which was pretty cute.

The kids laughed at the fact that Luke thought Doug was 60.  Luke said in his defense, "Well I didn't know how old Dad was!"

Luke says he's holding a football.

There's more to write, but I'm tired so I'm off to bed.  Check back soon to hear how Max caught a pig at the rodeo!

Fancy Footwork and Seeing green

Soccer season is turning out to be pretty manageable, thankfully.  This little guy played hard on Saturday.  He scored 2 goals and was very proud to be able to earn the family ice cream again.

He is such a sweet little boy.  He is enjoying growing up very much.  When I ask him to do a big kid chore he sometimes says with a smile, "sure I can do that now, I'm big!"

Max didn't have a game this weekend. Instead he scrimmaged on Thursday night.  He is so fun to watch.  He is really good and dribbling the ball around and getting past people.

We made him wear his uniform to the field Saturday for "Picture Day"  He spent the morning doing this.

Jack also played hard, scoring 2 goals as well. 

Mer's game was the same time as Jack's and it was on the field next to Jack's , so we just kept looking back and forth between the two.  Mer played midfield and did a great job.  She also pulled a muscle in her thigh which has had her limping a little today.  She is realizing "soccer is a dangerous sport."

Doug flew to California for a conference yesterday afternoon.  We ate out at Jason's Deli and found our soccer friends the Knoblock family eating there as well.  It was a fun end to a fun day.   The kids came home and set a trap for the leprechaun.  There was much debate about how and where to build it.  Neither Jack nor Luke wanted the leprechaun coming near them, in fact Jack finally said he didn't even want to set a trap for one.  I'm wondering what all they have been told about leprechauns.  They finally decided it would be set out on the front porch.  The put a bunch of coins leading up to it and inside.  We didn't catch any but they did leave us some chocolates....and they took all our money :)

We had  a minimal St. Patricks day celebration today.    Dinner was D'Giorno with an added Shamrock for good luck

We did however get all dressed up in green.  Everyone got something new and green to wear for church.  I sewed 2 skirts and 3 ties last night and this morning.  I felt a little like I was on Project Runway.  I'll post more details on the sewing blog soon.

Now I'm off to bed.  Jack has to put some finishing touches on his Science fair board tomorrow, which means I have to get up early.

Good Night!

Little Sippets of our Weekend

Soccer season is in full swing over here.  Mer, Jack and Luke had games on Saturday.  They all played well. Luke is finally getting his chance to play and is loving it. He scored a goal in his game and was proud to earn his family ice cream.  Doug is coaching Max's team and I am co-coaching Luke's.  I will try to get some action shots soon. Little boys in little uniforms are so cute. 

Mer is playing basketball for Church right now so she had a basketball game this weekend too.  She loves it.  They keep saying that no one on the team is very good but they've won 2 out of 3 games.

Max had his pinewood Derby on Friday night

He was a little bit bummed that his car didn't race too well.  His wheels seemed to slow it down a bit. It looked pretty cool though.

This was his last Derby.  Next year he'll be an 11 year old scout.

Here are a few cute shots from Dr. Seuss day celebrations. 

And we're off to another week of adventures with the joys of waking everyone up an hour early ahead of us in the morning.  Good Night!

Wasabi Max

This little boy tries every bit of my patience right now.  It is a very good thing that he has that cute dimple when he smiles and that he comes up with quite brilliant ideas on how to solve problems and that he has a heart of solid gold.  Otherwise I may be tempted to ship him off to boarding school for a year or two. 

 A few days ago he reached into his mouth and discovered he had a loose tooth.  2 hours later he pulled it out.  It's one of his molars.  He has 2 others that are loose.

We went out to dinner on Saturday and Doug told him if he ate a forkful of wasabi he would pay him $10.  You know Max, he's always money hungry.  He did think it over for a while, but sure enough he swallowed it down.  He proceeded to say...That wasn't even hot, I must have some immunity to it.  It really wasn't that bad. Can I earn some more money?  What else do you want me to try? ....with his dimple showing the whole time.

We were dying laughing.  Doug gave him his 10 dollar bill and Max thought it was all great fun until he got a stomach ache later, and he changed his tune declaring, that wasn't worth it.  

Fun times!

Mer's Science Fair Extravaganza

I would be so sad if I didn't record the excitement of Mer's science fair experience.  It was a whole new world for us.  Her project:  The Effects of Infrared Radiation on the Growth and Mortality of Paramecium

 She spent weeks researching, testing, and getting her board ready for presentation.  All her work was done in class.  Finally they held an in school Science fair in which she took 5th place in her division.  The following week she set up her board in the local mall for the Regional Science Fair.  She sat by her board for 2 days (on a Friday and Saturday) while a variety of judges came and asked her questions. (this was the weekend before Luke's birthday)

One talent that Mer has is that she rarely gets nervous in pressure situations like these.   Her biggest worry those two days was over what to wear.  She even borrowed some coveted high heels to for the occasion and felt like a million bucks while wearing them.

Finally the judging was over and we met a local high school for the awards ceremony.  She won 4th place in her division this time and was ecstatic.  She walked across the stage in her fancy heels to accept her award.  Then she almost fell walking down the stairs in those tall heels. 

She is an intensive science research program and students from her school swept first place in all categories except one.  There were lots of cash awards and up to $25,000 scholarships handed out as well that night.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited Mer was that night.  She was on the fence about signing up for this class again next year but after that night she totally wants in!

After the awards ceremony we had to go back to the mall and help clean up the exhibits.  It was an exhausting, exciting day which we needed to finish off with a stop to Wendy's for a large frosty.  She even made a point to wear her ribbon in.

Funny girl! She also wore her ribbon to church the next day.  Mer is so fun right now.  I am enjoying every minute and am so proud of her.  Here's to hoping for smooth teenage years.  Ha Ha!

Luke's Birthday Week.

Life has been wicked busy here lately.  Busy with lots of good fun and not much time for reflection.  So I find myself yet again catching up.  Much to my dismay and sadness Luke turned FIVE last week.  I just keep thinking how old FIVE is.  Luke however was super excited to turn FIVE.  His Birthday was on Wednesday, our busiest day of the week.   We squeezed in his celebrations as best we could and spoiled him with a fun filled party on Friday.  Here's how it all went down.  Before Luke headed to preschool that morning he opened his Birthday shirt present and breakfasted on Birthday Waffles.

And he opened his special birthday cards. Thank you!!!

He headed to preschool with Chocolate chip cookies to share.

We had a lovely lunch together after school and he helped me put the finishing touches on his Oreo ice cream cake.  Then he went on a present hunt and found all his presents that were hidden around the house.  He also opened a couple of presents. Then it came time to get the kids from school and go to piano lessons.  We played at the park while we waited for piano to be done.

 
We came home and ate his favorite food for dinner, Pizza!  Now that Dad was home he could open the rest of his presents. He was very patient!

There were a few "oh yeah"s and "awe.some"s thrown around.

And hugs for thank you's of course.

And then it was time for singing and cake.

Luke got another not so fun present for his birthday.  Swollen eyes. We think Luke has allergies to Oak tree pollen which hit in full force last week.  He has had itchy puffy eyes and a runny nose for a week. Poor kid.  He says, Mom I have swollen eyes like your swollen legs. :)

He sure enjoyed his birthday cake though even with his swollen eyes.

Friday we threw him a Superhero Birthday party at his request.  We had 14 kids from school and church here. It was a bit crazy but everyone was so good and they had fun.  We did our usual Training Academy activities with Doug as the Superhero Coach.  We thought for sure Luke would want to be the Hulk but he changed his mind at the last minute and chose Batman. Luckily the costume wasn't too hard to throw together.

A little weight training

Deflecting bullets with their bodies of steel

Pow wow at the Hall of Justice

Picking up Kryptonite

Fighting off bad guys with water balloons

And a victory yell!

I love this cute little boy

He loves to run, play games, make up silly songs, have stories read to him, do big kid home work, play jokes, go to the zoo, play video games, eat pizza, dress up, play with superheroes and cars.  He wakes up happy, and is easy to please. We are so thankful to have this sweet kid in our family. I just wish we could freeze time.