Earth Day a little late this year for our family.

On Saturday, Ryan and the boys planted our first tree in the front yard. It was fun watching all four boys or should I say five boys dig the hole for the tree. They were all very eager to help with their little shovels. Ryan and his little helper Joshua went to the nursery and picked out a maple tree. Matthew and Christopher stayed home and took their bathes. When Matthew and Christopher realized that Ryan and Joshy were back and outside planting the tree they were quick to join in. I think it will be a lot of fun for the boys to watch their tree they planted grow over the years. Maybe we'll have to take a yearly picture by the tree to see how the tree has grown or how the boys have grown.



When Christopher was 2 years old, we lived in Herndon, Va. Outside of our apartment garage was a tree that Christopher loved to hug. Every time he went outside to ride his big wheel or go for walks, he would go over and hug this tree. It wasn't just a quick hug. He would stand there for several minutes hugging this tree. We soon started calling him a "tree lover". After planting our tree on Saturday, he was quick to remind us of his old nickname and love of his favorite tree. Jokingly he asked, if he could hug this tree. Here is a picture of him hugging his old favorite tree.

Wax Musuem

Matthew's third grade class did a wax museum this past Friday. It was a lot of fun seeing Matthew's class all dressed up as different famous people. Each student had to research a famous American person and then write a timeline paper on their person . Then the students had to transfer their reports to 3x5 cards. The students on Friday dressed up in character and gave there reports to parents and other students in the school. Each student had a dot on their fist and they stood spread out in the halls. Parents and students roamed the halls pushing the buttons and listening to the children give their reports.

Matthew chose to do his report on Jackie Robinson. He did an AWESOME job! The best part about this report was it was all done at school. The only homework Matthew had to do was bring in his baseball clothes. I was very proud of Matthew! There was a ton of people who came and pushed Matthew's dot and heard him give his report. He gave his report over and over again. He did a great job! I am not sure I could of done it at his age.

Happy Birthday, Joshua!

Joshua turned 4 on Sunday. We went to Red Robin for dinner Saturday night. He ordered his favorite thing MAC N CHEESE! Red Robin is the boys favorite place to eat. This is the first year that the boys have wanted the servers to sing to them. It started with Christopher in December. Then Matthew had them sing to him. Joshua wanted to be just like his big brothers, so of course they sang to him. He was beaming as they sang to him grinning from ear to ear. My favorite was watching him eat his big ice cream sunday as his two older brothers begged for a bite. Joshua stood firm, there was no way he was going to share his ice cream.

As a tradition I make the birthday boy's favorite breakfast meal. Joshua insisted that for breakfast he wanted MAC N CHEESE! I tried to persuade him to crepes, waffles, pancakes, muffins, etc but he wouldn't budge. So MAC N CHEESE it was.

For his birthday, he was delighted to get a razor scooter and legos. He is very excited to now be like his big brothers.

Matthew "Lookouts"

Matthew is playing baseball again for his 5th season. He is on the AA Lookouts team. Ryan is helping coach the team again this season. Baseball has become a big part of our lives with 2 or 3 practices / games during the week and a game on Saturday. Matthew loves to play baseball! He is very excited to start pitching this season. Although, he doesn't like hitting as much because he has to be ready to jump out of the way of a wild pitch. He loves playing any position in the infield where all the action is. In his last game, his team scored 4 runs without gettting a single hit. Since this is the 1st time kids start pitching, there are a lot of walks and the games go rather slow.

Ryan has enjoyed working with the boys on his team and spending time with Matthew. Sometimes I'm not sure who is having more fun, Ryan or Matthew. It's a great bonding experience for them.

Thomas the Climber - "I think I can, I think I can"

Thomas has turned into quite a little climber. If you take your eyes off of him for a few seconds you will find him on top of something. He is smart enough to move the kitchen step stool or bathroom step stool around in order to meet his climbing needs. Here are just a few pictures of where I have found him.

Joshua Soccer

Joshua last fall wanted so badly to play a sport and be like his big brothers. Ryan and I were unsure of having three boys in sports at once, so we decided to hold off. With Joshy turning four this week, we decided he couldn't wait any longer. So we signed him up for spring soccer. Ryan and I love the beginning soccer program through LYSA. The professional instructors get the kids use to the ball and the fundamentals of the game through playing various games like bumper balls, race cars, red light, etc. Joshy was so excited for his practice to start on Saturday. Christopher has been playing coach and teaching Joshy how to play soccer in the basement with his two soccer goal nets.

When we got to the field on Saturday, we were running just a tad late. So, after getting his new soccer shirt on he didn't want to leave my side. I ended up running around the muddy field with him as they ran to different colors in the corners of the field. Remember it is 75 plus degrees, so I was in sandals. My toes were covered in mud. The head soccer lady offered her shoes to me, which I declined. (YUCK! I thought!) After running to two corners, I pulled Matthew aside and asked him to go be with his brother until he warmed up. Matthew didn't want to do it so I had to use bribery. It was cute watching Matthew guide his brother around the field. After ten minutes Joshy let his brother go ride his scooter. Joshua's favorite thing of soccer was scoring a couple of goals and getting his drink and teddy grahams at the end of practice.

(You might be asking yourself, where was Ryan? He was home on a ladder getting birds out of our vents. That is right, they were in our powder room vent. The neighbor says, they have been there for years. It took Ryan most of the day to clean the vent out and replace the vent cover. Sunday the birds moved into two other vents. Monday morning Ryan quickly put a stop to their building a nest in those two vents. Tuesday morning we awoke to have the birds building a nest in our dryer vent. So once again, Ryan spent this morning, removing the start of a bird's nest and closing off the vent. Will see what tomorrow brings, although there are no more vents for them to move into. I think there is a war going on between us and the birds! I wonder who will win!)

Christopher's 1st Game of the Season

Saturday was Christopher's 1st soccer game of the season! He was in his glory! He loves to play soccer! He has had a few practices over the past couple of weeks, but all of his games have been rained out. It had rained Friday night, so we were expecting Saturdays game to be canceled. However, we woke up Saturday morning and the sun was shining bright. The forecast for the day was highs in the 70's. Perfect for playing soccer. As the game began, Christopher jumped right in and was very aggressive at getting the ball. As you can see from the pictures above, he dove to block a goal and landed smack in the muddy grass. He was very proud of his arm, side and leg which was covered in a think mud! He had the biggest smile on his face. All of the parents cheered for him. He loved it!