7!!!

Once again I've been slacking in my blogging duties and am only now posting about Alex's birthday, which was on the 5th of this month. Hey, I've been busy (for real!). Since Alex didn't have a party this year (yeah, I know, mean mom) I told him he could pick a museum to go to and he chose the Museum of Science and Industry. We had a great time there and on his birthday Ava and I took him lunch at school, and later we all went to Chuck E' Cheeses followed by ice cream cake and presents at home.
It's hard to believe my little guy is 7. He is such a sweet and thoughtful child and is growing up so fast. He loves: his little sister, helping others, the color green, chicken nuggets, swimming, ice cream, Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic Tree House, old school cartoons (i.e. Tom and Jerry), playing outside. He can't wait to: be in the 2nd grade, turn 8 (ha!), be baptized, be a Cub Scout.

At the Museum of Science & Industry.

Tornado!

With Dad in the huge combine.

Climbing the rock wall.

Watching their toys being made.

McDonald's for lunch.

Giving Chuck E' a hug.

Playing air hockey with Dad.

Ava's favorite ride which she rode like 20 times.

Making a wish.

One of his presents: Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards.

We believe...

This year our primary challenged all the kids to learn the 13 Articles of Faith by the end of the year. They've done this challenge before but this is the first year Alex took any interest in it. He was very determined to learn them all and studied them diligently, in the car and often after I put him to bed. He even came up with 2 more Articles of Faith but I told him he didn't have to recite those to the Primary Presidency. : ) Well, Alex's hard work paid off as he reached his goal this past Sunday! Way to go Alex! I am very proud of you!

Easter

Easter arrived and brought with it candy, General Conference, and more candy. We started the day off with Easter baskets filled with goodies. Then, Shane and I were able to watch the Sunday morning session of conference before we headed up to Illinois for Easter dinner with his dad. We had a yummy dinner...ham, steak, potatoes, and two of my favorites, deviled eggs and shrimp cocktail. Alex and Ava ate just enough that would allow them to get dessert. This was followed by more Easter baskets and of course, more candy. We had a lovely holiday spent listening to our Church leaders and being with our family.


Easter morning.


The Easter Bunny makes an appearance at dinner.


Family pictures.

Egg Hunt

A few days before Easter, Ava's preschool had an egg hunt for the kids. She decorated her own egg carton and we filled a dozen plastic eggs with candy and brought it to school. She was very excited for the egg hunt but got a bit upset when she saw that the eggs she brought were no longer in her carton. She was fine after the egg hunt started and she realized that she would be filling up her egg carton again. Needless to say, Ava couldn't wait to go home and see what goodies were inside the eggs she found.


Waiting for the hunt to begin.


How many eggs to do I have now?



Hooray! A carton full of eggs.

Spring Break

Last week was spring break and I was really looking forward to it. Why? Well, for several reasons, 1. No school bus to catch (meaning I can sleep in). 2. No homework. 3. Lots of fun things planned. We had a fun-packed week spent with friends and just ourselves. We started our break with a visit to Liberty Zone and lunch at Pizza Hut with my friend Amy and her boys, Ian, Luke, and Mason. The next day I took Alex and Ava to Bellaboo's, which is an indoor play area-very fun. The kids enjoyed painting, making pizza's, grocery shopping, and making their own "mud pies".

Can you find Ava?



My construction workers.




Eating their mud pies.




Wednesday was a trip to Chicago for a yearly allergy checkup for Alex and lunch at the Rainforest Cafe afterwards.


The next day we went to the Curious Kid's Museum in Michigan with my friend Amy and her 3 boys again. The kids had fun exploring and playing around with the different exhibits.


Ian, Alex, Ava, and Luke-ready to have some fun!




Bubble boy.

Bubble girl.

Getting ready for blast off.

Reporting the news.


Ava getting checked out by Luke.


Alex and Ian-disc jockeys.



On Friday our friends came over for some video gaming and the boys had a good time playing Lego Star Wars, Super Mario, and Mario Kart. We ended the week with an Easter egg hunt on Saturday at our subdivision park. Alex and Ava had fun collecting eggs and now have a nice little stash of candy.

Getting ready for the big hunt.




Lots of eggs=lots of candy!

It was a great week but I am glad to be back to our normal daily routine. :)

Too cute not to post

This is what I found when I peeked in Ava's room tonight...

Typical Ava

Black Eyed Peas

After 2 years of blogging, I think this is the first post that isn't about the kids and is just about me (can you tell I don't get out much?). I love the Black Eyed Peas, they were coming to Chicago, and thanks to my father-in-law, I got tickets to see them. I took my friend, Brandi, and all I can say is that it was an awesome concert!


Posing with the BEP


We had really good seats!


Fergie.


It was a bit crowded...