Fat Tuesday

We celebrated Fat Tuesday today with a little guitar concert and DQ dessert after dinner. The kids thought it was REALLY neat to eat dessert out and they ate a ton of ice cream....we ran off the dessert when we got home with a little wrestle mania party. What a great day it was!

Jack was so cute today. He set up two chairs for Lauren and himself, got out two guitars and got Lauren in her chair so they could ROCK! I feel so lucky to enjoy these random,spur-of-the- moment times during the day with my kids.At Dairy Queen waiting for their dessert. Jack picked out the dessert for him and Lauren. I think he saw the picture with the most ice cream and picked that one. I can't blame him!

See how big that ice cream sundae is. They ate almost the entire thing. Yummy!!

Lauren left a little on her nose and mouth! She kept yelling, "Bite!!" when she was ready for more. The girl likes her ice cream!

A big bite for Jack.

And here is some video from the kids' concert today. I missed the part when Lauren was singing along with Jack, but at least you get to hear Jack's song.

Birthday and bowling

It was Ethan's 3rd bday so we went to celebrate him by going bowling on Sat. The kids loved rolling the ball down the lane and dancing to the music. Here are some pictures from our fun outing.Best buddies, Jack and Ethan
The three bowlers of the eveing.
Now you get to see the look that I get from Lauren about 20 times a day. "Hold me, Mommy!"


Lauren and Jack watching the ball hit the pins.

This is so classic. Lauren does whatver Jack does these days. Jack sat down and Lauren quickly followed. These guys are such good friends. I enjoy the love they share for each other. Nothing is better!
Jamie, Doug and cute little baby Harrison were there to cheer the kids on.

Fun Friday

Wow, what a beautiful day. We spent a lot of time running around outside having fun. The kids enjoyed throwing balls, playing in the gravel and wearing their sunglasses.

Riding in style..


Wow, she looks like quite a toughy in this one.
I think jason is going to have a lot of "help" mowing the lawn this summer from both kids.

Pigpen

Here are some pictures from our day outside. Lauren loves playing in the dirt. Although, she doesn't like the dirt on her hands very much, apparently, everywhere else on her body is fine by her!!

Still trying to look "cool" even with dirt ALL over.

Can you see it in her ear?? Now how does one get dirt in her ear?

Looking good, Lauren!
The best part of this was Jack's reaction to seeing Lauren ALL dirty. He said, "Oh my goodness! Lauren is SO dirty!" He just couldn't believe that she would let herself get that dirty. I asked him if he would like to have that much dirt on him...I bet you can guess what Mr. Clean's response was! =)

Sick....again~

My little ones get the all-star award this week. They have had to put up with a sick Mommy, who has been a little less patient (well, maybe a lot less patient...=( and not nearly as much fun as usual. They played SO well together this week and were very understanding when I said that I couldn't play another game of hide-and-go seek or tag when they wanted to. Glad I am now feeling better, but now Lauren has a fever/cough and Jack is coughing. This is the WORST season we have ever had for illness. I pray that this is the end of our sickness for a long while.

Boys work...girls play

Here is the quote of the weekend by Mr. Jack. While the whole family was outside on Saturday, Jack says, "Mommy, the boys are going to work while the girls play." That was fine by Lauren and me. We had a great time playing with balls and chase while Jason and Jack dug up a few plants in the yard.

" Mommy, look what I found. An acorn. I am going to hide it in the dirt now."

Throwing the ball with Lauren.

This little bucket was Jack's shovel, as we couldn't find his plastic one. It seems to work well.

Soccer

Every Friday, Jack goes to soccer class. He loves it and is actually getting a lot better. He runs and runs while he is there and always takes a great nap afterwards. Can't complain about that! We got there early today, so Lauren and Jack could warm-up. The kids had the field to themselves for 10 minutes and were busy running and kicking the entire time.

Jack and Lauren running. She tried her best to keep up with her brother.Here is Jack trying to go around the defender...the defensive guy is Jason. He was able to come and watch Jack play this morning. What a treat!

Lauren does a great job kicking the ball.

Lauren also thinks that it is really unfair that Jack gets to stay out on the field and she has to come with me. Today she started crying when practice began and REALLY wanted to go out and play with the big kids. A few more years Lauren and you will be out there. I can't wait to see that!
Isn't this the cutest picture? Jack told me that he needed a break and he sat down. Then little Miss Lauren Lu decided to plop herself down right next to Jack. What a perfect photo opportunity! One that wasn't even planned.
Here is Jack's "team." Can you even find Jack???....you can barely see him. He is still in the goal. They are playing Simon says and Jack dribbles the ball SO slow, so he can stop when they say Simon says, "Stop." What a good little listener he is. It cracks me up, though. He is so cautious and always wants to do exactly what the coach tells him to do. The first little boy you see in the picture is one of Jack's friends from his school. They have fun playing soccer together each week.Here are Jack and Maren (Amie and Brian MacDonald's little girl) She comes to class each week now too. How fun!

See Jack in the green jacket. If you are thinking the class is organized chaos, you are right! The best part is at the end when they let the kids play an actual game of soccer. The kids just run around after the ball, but no one tries to take it away from the person who has the ball. (They have always been taught to share, right?) It makes me laugh each week. The kids are clueless...I think the coaches just do it for the parent's enjoyment!

Making Valentine's Cards

Jack and I had a great time making his valentines this year. He made a heart using his hands and a little paint. I thought they turned out super cute...We had to make 40 cards, so it was a lot, but Jack seemed to like making them. It was so worth it.

I am painting red paint on his hand.Here he is showing me what his hand looks like when he stamps the paper.

Half way done with his Valentines. Nice pose, Jack.

Half way through, we took a break and Jack decorated the outside of the envelopes. He used stamps and stickers to decorate.

Lauren even got to help with the envelopes. She thought she was such a big girl.
Here are the kids finishing the envelopes. They especially like it when I moved them to their table...

At Jack's school, they did a Valentine's exchange. Here are Jack and Lauren after school this morning, opening up his Valentine cards. His favorite valentine was the candy he got from one of his friends.

Saying bye-bye to Daddy

Each morning the past week or so, the kids run to the living room window to wave goodbye to their daddy. When they see his car, Jack always says, "Have a good day, Daddy." and Lauren says "bye-bye" followed by the most enthusiastic scream! They obviously miss Jason while he is away at work.

They like to bang their hands on the window while saying bye-bye. Yea, I need a window cleaner more than ever now!