Ryan's table

Last night at dinner Ryan said out of the blue, 'I wish that we had a family with 12 people in it. I wish we had a big table with lots of people sitting around it.' We discussed who he wanted in his family and mentioned that it is possible if we had that many a few of them would be girls. 'Nah, just Mace; the rest would be boys.' I'm hoping that a sports team or boy scouts fills that need. I can't nor would I want to satisfy that request! However, with his easy going and fun loving attitude I can see him being a dad to a dozen kids. I hope his future wife is preparing herself now for that task. :)

Spring Break

We are finishing up our second week of Alex's spring break. Yesterday we went bowling with our friends. 7 little kids and 2 adults is quite the dynamic. It was fun, but not something I would want to do more than once a year! My bowling was atrocious. I guess I'll have to stick to Wii bowling.

Alex finished up his passion project this week. I'll post about that when he makes his class presentation. He did a good job. He also had his first baseball game on Wednesday. He has a game every Wed for the next 5 weeks with no practice. He is ready for little league; next season perhaps.

Ryan is living life to the fullest with no regrets. Maybe we discipline him too often, but a lot of the time it goes in one ear and out the other with little recognition that he heard. Or he puts on a 'woe is me' face and runs into his room sobbing. Drama, drama, drama. Acting classes. That is exactly what he needs. An outlet for his showmanship!

Macey is sitting up now. She has found ears. Dan had been showing her his for a couple of days. The other day I had a pony tail in and she discovered that I too have ears. You should see her shake with excitement when she sees ears! She has had a cold this week and lost her voice. Poor baby. She is doing better today.

Disneyland

On Friday afternoon we decided to go away for 4 days with a stopover at Grandma's in San Diego and then off to Disneyland. Due to the generosity of family and the Give a Day/Get a Day program we were able to get in with only having to purchase one ticket. The drawback was that we had to go the same week that Dan has a business trip planned. So while I type this Dan is flying to Dallas.

We headed up to Anaheim Sunday afternoon. We got to the hotel and swam and visited the game room. Then we went and checked out Downtown Disney. We went to the hotel at bedtime and got up at the crack of dawn to go to the Magic Kingdom.
Dan's sister Emily is also on Spring Break from her student teaching so she came along with us. It was nice having an adult for every kid. Two days for Disneyland was perfect. I recommend if you have never been to take the two days with a hotel close by. We enjoyed leaving early on Day 1 for a dip in the pool; also the baby got a long nap in the room before we headed back that night.
Overall we had a fabulous trip. I forgot to pack my tennis shoes, so my legs are tired from wearing flip flops (they were good ones, so my feet don't hurt.) The baby woke up every 2 hours at night so I was exhausted. But the boys were very good and we ignored Alex's anxiety as best we could. We had fun! And we won't need to go back until Macey is four which seems to be the tradition around here.


On the third try, Alex was picked for Jedi training. I'm glad. It is too bad that not every kid can do it.

The day goes to Ryan

Today Ryan was Ryan. The highlights included him getting into the top of the kitchen cabinet and digging out the green food coloring. He went in his bathroom and made green water to drink. He was disappointed that it still tasted like water. His fingers were a nice shade of leprechaun.Also on the list was a personal haircut. I was in the process of giving Alex a trim when Ryan sneaked the scissors and comb out from behind me. Alex was distracting me with his sobs of, 'It hurts, It itches!' Next I know, Ryan comes in showing me what he had accomplished. I told him we would have to cut it very short. He asked, 'Like Grandpa's?' who is a little shy of any hair on top. He laughed but when I was taking the buzzer to the rest of his long locks, he got worried. He said, 'Don't cut me with those. You are cutting very short.' Well what the heck else did he want me to do. Give him a reverse mohawk?
I love this kid, but why oh why, does he do these crazy things? Because he wouldn't be Ryan if he didn't. Can you believe I wanted to name him a gentle and peaceful name like Timothy? Dan did the right thing by not allowing that one on the birth certificate.

March-ing in

March is marching in. Our baby has her first tooth poking through and is rolling around all over the place. Macey wasn't cooperative when Dan tried to document her new tooth.

Ryan's preschool went to a nearby farm yesterday. We got to pet a few animals. Ryan fed some weeds to the goats and horses and helped feed a calf a bottle.

"I'm a tomato!" Why would a kid that doesn't like tomatoes be excited about that?
Ryan pulled this turnip out of the ground. He also harvested swiss chard, curly lettuce, and carrots.

Jack and Ryan rode together in the lady bug train. I included the video because of Liz riding along too.



Spring break starts today. We have a two week break. Dan will be gone part of the time for work. We may have some travel plans in for us, but I told Alex it is a secret mission, so I can't leave any more details for now. It is very hard to IM Dan now that Alex lurks over my shoulder.

Alex finished another quarter of school. He is a great all-around student. He is working on a Passion Project that he has named 'Adventures to the Moon'. I'm helping him by teaching him how to put a presentation together. He is doing a lot of the work, but it is certainly a Mom and me project this time. I'll post the results when we finish.

Wildlife Zoo

We had Mom and Ryan time (Macey doesn't count I guess) yesterday and went to the zoo. We had a great time. Ryan loved every minute. At the entrance we met up with Declan, a boy from Ryan's preschool. Ryan loves this kid; they played at the playground half way through the day. We rode the boat ride around the Australian exhibits. We were the only ones on board so we got a private tour and Ryan got to dock the boat.

We fed the lorries apples. They are beautiful birds. I had one on my left arm with an apple in that hand. I had Macey in my right arm with the camera in that hand. So this film isn't very good, but I wanted to share our baby enjoying the birds. Besides the fish, this was the only animal she experienced. She was laughing at the bird chirping on my arm.
We had a really great day. The baby was patient and quiet. Ryan was happy and felt special. It was an expensive trek that we won't repeat for a while, but it was worth it.

Macey at 6 months

Our little girl is so fun. People ask a lot if it is different having a girl vs. a boy. Not yet. She has such a sweet and calm disposition. But I'm sure Ryan was peaceful before he could move. I think we'll know for sure when she starts walking.
Macey at 6 months is charming! Sneezing: she does 2 prep sneezes for every real one. It is so cute to listen to her rev up. Toes: she found her toes a couple days before Alex's birthday. She had on some pajamas with bears on the feet. She kept trying to pull on the ears. Now when I change her diaper she automatically rolls up and grabs her toes. Laughing: it is always a surprise what will make her laugh. And you can't always get her to laugh more than the first giggle. Rolling over: she can roll both ways, but she isn't proficient in getting from tummy to back. It is funny how quickly she rolls over and then can't or won't go back. Sitting: she can now sit in my lap with assistance (I hold her legs). She likes seeing the world from this new perspective. 'Talking': she babbles. But usually only during the early hours or right before bed. It is so sweet to lay next to her and listen to her practice her sounds. Dan does not think it is cute to lay next to her and listen to her sounds at 6am.
I guess, mostly I am enjoying every moment with my new baby. I'm not taking her for granted. She is a precious daughter of God and I hope I can help her grow in his love.

Alex is 7

Alexander had his 7th birthday on Sunday. We celebrated on Saturday with a Chargers themed party. We had 13 kids including school and church friends and family. The Tucson Blacks came up and the Barons came down. The weather was menacing in the morning and we thought we would be having all those kids and the adults crammed inside. Luckily it turned out to be a beautiful day. We started with face painting and a little Wii (Madden '09). Then we opened presents. No, that is not the usual way to start a party but we needed Alex to get his presents for the party! Alex got a football from us (and an unexpected flag football set from Stan) so the boys were excited to go outside. Little did they know that Dan and the other men had put a basketball hoop in the backyard. Dan found it on craigslist for an awesome deal. This is Alex's face after he saw the hoop. He was shocked. Of course it had been in Walt's backyard for 2 days; we don't know how he didn't see it or put two and two together!

The backboard is adjustable and it can be done so easily with one hand. I'm excited that I won't be out there with a broom handle whacking at it.

The kids played basketball, football and some party games. One was hot potato with a football; Dan was playing 'San Diego Super Chargers.' If you aren't familiar with it, google it. It is some great disco music. They they did a football toss into laundry baskets. We nearly forgot to do the cake. I just got Alex a piece of carrot cake for the candles and then we served ice cream cones. Cake tends to be such a waste with kids, don't you think? We may as well just give them a scoop of icing since that is all they want anyway. That's why I skipped the cake this year.

Per tradition, on Alex's birthday morning there was a gift on his bed. This year he had three gifts. A choose your own adventure Star Wars book, RushHour, and a bag of pistachios. All three were huge hits. If you come to our house, ask to play rushhour. It is a great thinking game; you are trying to move the cars in a grid so the stuck car can get out. Both boys love it. OK, I got it because I think it is cool too!

I took cupcakes to school yesterday. In there class all the cupcakes get passed out and then they sing happy birthday. Everyone has to wait for the birthday kid to take the first bite and then they can dig in. It was fun to be there with him. His teacher has 32 kids in her class. She has a very hard job, yet she is doing it fantastically. We are lucky that she is so good to Alex.

Happy Birthday, Alex. We love you!