Spring Break...

We went up to Maryland for Spring Break.  We had such a great time!

Gigi and James in front of her cute new sign. 

Henry selected the baskets for the Easter Bunny to fill.
His is the biggest.  Peter's in the long rectangular one.
James's is the tiny circular one.  Ha ha ha...

In the excitement of the morning, I didn't get any pictures of the boys with their baskets.  Bummer!

A little bit of quiet before all of our aunts and uncles
and cousins came over for Easter.

Easter morning

Suzanne, me, Laura

Grandpa and James on Easter

The youngest cousins participated in a huge Easter egg hunt that afternoon.  Here they are, anxious to start...

Henry's big haul!

On Monday we went to see Uncle Craig and sweet baby Dash...

The boys loved "helping" Uncle Craig feed Dash.  Look at all of those smiles!

Henry found a tree to climb

The boys loved throwing sticks for their dog, Kip.
Their yard is huge-- the perfect playground for boys and pups!

It was such a nice day together...

On Tuesday my mom and I took the boys into D.C. to go to the National Zoo.

 We met up with Aunt Barbara, my cousin Laura, and her three kids-- Margo, Liam and Keegan.

 Although it was great being together, the zoo was PACKED which made it tricky to see a lot.

On Wednesday I met up with all of my best friends for dinner.  I have been friends with each of them for years and years... it felt so good to be together.

Lauren Reed, Alison Kogut, Sherry Shaw
Allison Campion, me, Monique Jones

On Thursday my cousin Laura (and her kids) met us at the indoor Germantown Water Park.  It's exactly like The Great Wolf Lodge except it's about 1/4 as big and 1/10 the cost.  My boys LOVE it and beg to go every time we're home in Maryland.  We went to Grandpa and It's house for pizza after but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures on Thursday until this happened...

Finally!  It had been dangling by a string for way too long.  Mommy may or may not have purposefully wrestled him and "accidentally" bumped into his mouth.  POP!  No more tooth.  All smiles.

The rest of the trip home was spent relaxing, shopping (thank you again, Mom!!!!), eating, drinking, running (there is no place I enjoy running like home and luckily I was able to go out every morning), and hanging out together...

Pete-isms...

Pete has said a few zingers lately.

While home in Maryland for Spring Break, my mom asked Pete where Daddy was.  (For the record, Chris is at JRTC-- which stands for the Joint Readiness Training Center-- in Fort Polk, Louisiana... as I understand it, time spent there basically prepares soldiers for combat missions).

Peter's reply?  "Daddy is building houses.  Big ones.  And small ones. And Gigi-size ones."

Ahh, yes.  To his credit, there is always a ridiculous amount of construction taking place on Fort Bragg so I guess it makes sense to think that Daddy is a part of the construction crew he always sees?!

And last night, when I was getting everyone ready for bed, Peter asked me seriously, "Did it hurt when you came out of Daddy's belly?"

I didn't know how to respond to that one, so I said what anyone else would have...

"Yes."

And today, driving home from preschool, it started to rain.  "Awww, mom." Pete said, "Look at all those rain tears." I started to chuckle.  "Yeah... I guess they do look like rain tears, Pete."

But, even if he's confused about Chris's job, where babies come from, and the weather, at least he seems to have a decent handle on numbers.  Here he is skip-counting last night.  Not bad for a brand new 4-year-old!

Slash in Class...

The first graders at New Century have been studying Reptiles.  Henry asked his teacher if he could bring our Bearded Dragon in to show all of his classmates.  After the principal approved the request, Peter and I brought Slash into school Friday afternoon...

To say Henry loved having Slash in class is a complete understatement.  Just look at that sweet, proud  smile...

Henry told his classmates all about Slash-- that he's an omnivore; he sheds; his body temperature changes to match his environment; he likes to be held; and his favorite foods (kale and mealworms).  We fed Slash mealworms in front of the class (if the kids' squeals were any indication of approval, I think they loved it!) and let him walk around the classroom for a little while.

I think it left a lasting impression on all of the children, especially Henry.

Fire Antz Hockey...

Last Sunday, Chris suggested we take the boys to the Crown Coliseum in town to see the Fire Antz hockey team play.  It turned out to be a lot of fun.  You can't beat $5 admission per person and $1 hot dogs for a few hours of fun on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Blue tongues from the obligatory (dye-filled) ice-ies.

It happened to be "First Responders Night" as well, so there were tons of firemen and police officers in attendance.  They did a half time presentation on the ice which was pretty cool.  Chris and I reminisced about how much James would have loved that several years ago.  It seemed like he would never tire of wearing his fireman costumes, going to fire stations (countless times we took him), talking to firemen, or reading about fire trucks.

Sweet boy... maybe he is just a teeny tiny bit still interested.

...but he'd never say. 

The times they are ahhh...changin'....

This is the second day in a row James's alarm clock went off at 6:30am.  To shower.  Yup.  You read that correctly.  He's waking up thirty minutes early to take a shower and "do his hair."

Have I mentioned he's taken up running?  Almost every day after school for the past few weeks, he goes for a run around our entire neighborhood.  One big lap is just short of one mile.

He has a renewed zest to get straight A's this semester and is working harder than usual.

He asked to wear his football jersey to school today.

He begged and pleaded for an Instagram account so he can start taking pictures and share them with friends.

He received Axe body spray from Grandpa and Ita for Christmas and even though it makes his skin break out, he still wears it.

Why??

You may have guessed....

James told me on Friday that he "has a girlfriend."

This is as preposterous as it sounds but I smiled and asked him who it is.

He couldn't have picked a smarter, cuter, sweeter girl and even though it's completely silly, I have indulged him just a little by asking a few questions but trying not to pry too much.  I want him to know he can trust me and tell me these things.

It doesn't hurt that I still volunteer in his class every Wednesday morning and the young girl's mom is a teacher at the school.

In the meantime, perhaps this extra incentive isn't so bad afterall-- he's clean.  He smells good.  He's exercising.  He's getting all A's.

She can stay.

3 years...

Not a single day goes by where I don't think of something my father said or did.  That last year when he was so very sick is fading out of focus a bit, so the majority of the memories I focus on are good ones.

I miss you, Daddy.  Sure wish you were here to play music, make a big breakfast, and joke around at the kitchen table again...

Broken heart...

Right after the big boys hopped on the bus yesterday, this bulldozer started demolishing the woods directly behind our house...

 According to the owner of our home, it was "never to be touched because it's protected land."  And for the entire time we've lived here, that statement held true (even though all of the other lots were built on).  Until yesterday.

Peter and I watched the bulldozer and truck all day...

For the past 3 1/2 years, our boys and all of their friends have been building a fort in those woods.  And in minutes, it was destroyed.

 Henry was heartbroken.

My sweet little nature enthusiast spent HOURS in that fort-- playing, building, working.  It really was his favorite pasttime.

He and his buddies have plans in the work for another fort... sure hope it works.