Spring Break...

I love, love, loved Spring Break this year. We stayed close to home and just enjoyed all there is to do in Vegas at this time of year. We spent a couple of the days just playing with friends at our house. The kids are good to run around and play out back, inside, or on their bikes and machines in the front yard. We visited our favorite parks and even had a picnic for dinner with dad one night. Blake and I enjoyed a few afternoons playing tennis while Ethan was at a friends house. Keaton is so good to play with balls and run around the court while we hit back-and-forth.

We enjoyed the Springs Preserve with friends and a few cousins.





And one day we visited Bonnie Springs. This is a small little community (if you call it that?!) about 15 minutes from home. It has an old western town, all inclusive with a jail, shooting saloon, shops, petting zoo, and plays. The kids watched one of the melodramas and ran around. I had to include the picture of Ethan shooting a gun even though it is blurry. There's a sign in the saloon that says "No Flash Cameras". I thought that was weird and didn't follow directions because it didn't make sense to me. When I took the picture it set off all the electronics in the room- apparently the guns put out a laser/light that would set off the targets and then they'd react. Uh, so does the flash on the camera. There were things flying everywhere. It scared the kids and everyone else in there. Ooops. I guess it was a good thing though because the kids didn't want to spend any more quarters in there! We finished off the trip to Bonnie with a picnic at a park- the same park that the kids did their triathlon at last summer.











One night we went out to a really cool new mall that has a park in the middle of it and a big piece of grass to picnic on. We took sandwiches and ate dinner and played there and then when it was time we went to Horton Hears A Who. It's so fun to do those sorts of things with the whole family. I'm excited for summer time!

Exceptional...

Ethan gave the primary talk last Sunday. The lady called to remind me on Saturday. Good thing because I had forgotten! (It was funny because in the message she left she said that she figured that I remembered and was sorry to call and remind me...he he he.) Anyways, I got it ready on Sunday morning. Thanks to my mom and her fantastic family home evening Christmas gift (she gave me 70+ different, complete kits on all sorts of topics for FHE. All homemade and fabulous.), Ethan had a talk with lots of visuals to keep the kid's attention. My point to this blog is that Ethan got up there and did a great job. He even included emotion in his words. Several teachers pulled him aside to tell him what a great job he'd done. One teacher told me "That is an exceptional boy." I agree.

I finally followed through with getting the boys some ties. They've been asking for months. I prefer the polo shirt look at this age so I was dragging my feet. They were so excited to wear them. Blake is very picky about tight clothes so he didn't like the shirt that I'd gotten to go with his tie. He chose a plaid shirt to wear with his orange tie. It was great and they both looked spiffy. Ethan was pretty sure that his tie made him answer the questions correctly in his primary class.

Meet Our New Friend Spikey...

So Blake wanted a haircut with spikes and I just wanted to keep it long. Alexis, the girl who cuts their hair, said that she'd compromise and do something that would satisfy both of us. (By the way, Blake has called Alexis using my cell phone. I only become aware of this when I hear him carrying on a conversation in the other room and I go in to investigate.) She cut it a bit shorter than I wished but Blake loves it. The funny thing is it is still a tad too long for spiking- or as Blake calls it "fohawk". I love the smile he gets when it's combed. He told us to call him "Spikey".





Keaton had his hair trimmed and he always does so good. I made a big deal of it and now he wants his hair combed every morning when big brothers are getting ready. Several times a day he runs his fingers on the top of his thin head of hair and says "haircut" and I know that's my cue to make a big deal of his hair. I must have given him enough "wow"s and told him that it looks nice frequently enough because he started saying "haircut....nice". He is so dang cute- and a genius (like his brothers). I'm just glad that Ethan doesn't want to cut his hair. I love it! He's my surf dude.

Overheard...

We were all excited about getting out of the car and starting our next Disneyland adventure. As we took the final exit to our favorite wonderland park we heard Keaton's sweet little voice from the back of the car say:

"Yeah, baby!"

I look back to see a great big smile and his big blue eyes looking at all of us. Could our 18-month-old be a Disney Addict already? He sensed our excitement and just had to be part of it.

Jazz Fest 2008

Ethan and I played a duet in his debut piano performance. It was for the Jazz Festival and we played two songs- My Laptop and Little Boogie. He did awesome and was excited to be there even though he missed a basketball game. His team lost and he was pretty sure that it was because he wasn't there. I love the confidence! He is doing great in piano...I wonder how long he will be happy about practicing. I remember giving my mom a hard time about practicing. Let's hope that what goes around doesn't come around!

We Love Messes

Today I changed Keaton's clothes three different times. It has inspired this messy post. It has also made me realize that this kid likes to finish what he starts- like adventuring into any and all water that he sees, licking an ice cream until it's gone, gnawing on corn on the cob, painting with longer stamina than his older brothers, sucking on a sucker (attached lint and dirt included)... and so on...






Keaton is such a delight. He amazes me with the words and phrases that he says. We used to work on sign language but we got lazy about it because he is able to communicate most everything that he wants and needs. He pointed to a dog out of the window the other day and said "Gog (dog), see it?" That's a big G-enius if you ask me. He is a social boy who loves to greet everyone with a hearty "hello" and hand out courtesy laughs. If he sees people laughing he will throw his head back and cackle with a wide open mouth. It is hilarious and if you weren't already laughing then you are now! He likes to tease the boys and to wrestle anyone who is on the ground. It's a good think we are opting to avoid nursery for a while. He loves "rides" at Disneyland and says "weeeee" from start to finish. He loves balls, snakes, Bakers and E-E, swimming, parks, cars, anything outside, candy, and a good book. If you ask him what the C says he will click his tongue in attempt to tell you. Again, G-enius. I love this boy with every inch of my body.

Hoopin' It Up

Ethan played basketball this year and he is totally loving it! He looks so little out there on that court with his silky orange jersey that is drowning him and pretty much all the players on the team. While he isn't the most aggressive player, he does his part and we are proud of him for trying and enjoying this sport. This year his coach is a good friend- Coach Mike. He has a son on the team that Ethan really looks up to. I'm glad that he is choosing good role models. This year the team went undefeated until the final game. Ethan comes home from each game and tells everyone what the score was and how many points they won by, etc. He's a numbers guy, I guess. He loves going to UNLV games with Darren. A few weeks ago he went to the UNLV vs BYU game and it happened to be the night before piano lessons. It must have been fresh on his mind because he would start talking about the game in the middle of a song that he was playing. He'd just play without stopping but talk at the same time! The teacher was cracking up. I love this stage of life that Ethan is in. He gets very excited about simple things and it shows in his story-telling. It's hard to keep a straight face when he talks for an extended period of time on how to be the master of the computer game or about how he plans to torture the neighborhood girls.
Ethan is doing great with his reading. He has advanced to chapter books and he reads with fluency and comprehension. He likes math and does well with numbers. He got a great report card and he is making lots of new friends. Friends are a big deal to him right now. I asked Ethan a few questions about life right now and this is what he had to say:
Fav Show: Sponge Bob (as much as I tried to shield them from this I have to admit that it can be pretty funny!)
Fav Color: Red
Fav Sport: basketball
Fav Friend: Dylan
Fav thing to do outside: ride bike and green machine
Fav thing to do inside: play the computer and Wii
Fav thing to read: Siemese Cats (his most recent library selection- pretty interesting, actually)
Fav food: pizza
Fav snack: ice cream
Fav thing to learn at school: math
These are a few things about Ethan right now. If I ask these same questions in 6 months they may have changed but at least we know what his 6 year-old mind is thinking right now.
ps- I guess I overestimated how big Ethan is when I bought those basketball shorts (top picture). There's always next year!