Countdown....

Zach is a smart little guy. Way back in February, after Josh celebrated his birthday, Zach wanted to know when it would be his birthday. At the time, I said he had to wait until Ethan's birthday, Josh's Baptism Celebration, Mom's Birthday, and Ethan's Baptism Celebration...then his birthday would be next.

Zach remembered this & shortly after Ethan's Baptism celebration, Zach again asked when his birthday would be. I created a countdown to help mark off the days until his birthday.

I explained to him when I created it that we would mark off one box a day & when all the boxes were marked off that it would be his birthday. Zach looks at me & says, "I have a good idea. How about we mark off all the boxes today & then it can be my birthday today!" That was followed with a big smile & bright eyes. So I explained that we can only mark off 1 box per day. He said , "okay" and we hung up the countdown.

The countdown has worked really well. Zach is no longer asking when his birthday is. We are having daily discussion about what he thinks he is getting for his birthday & for a little guy, he has a pretty BIG list!

Husky Stadium

Today the Huskies played their Spring Football game. We took the boys down to see the stadium, enjoy some festivities & watch a little football.

We started at the UW sports garage sale...they were selling all types of sports equipment and clothing...official gear from the UW teams. Some had been worn in game & some was new. The kids picked up some football pants & footballs. We also got a really nice bat bag, warmup pants for Jim, a t-shirt, trading cards & a bat.

After the dale, we were off to toss footballs, try our hand at tacking & kicking field goals. We were a little late, so we missed the field goal attempts but the boys enjoyed the tackle dummies! Not sure Nate run & jump method was an "official" tackle but he had fun. The kids also got free lunch & a picture with the Husky Helmet hat drives around at games. They all passed on the opportunity for pictures with the UW cheerleaders! :)

We stayed through half the game & the boys enjoyed watching. Nate wants to go back with the Huskies are playing a different team & not against themselves.

It is so true that kids have many different cries, some cause alarm & some can be ignored. Last night, I heard a cry from Zach that I had never heard before! He fell from a play structure, he really did not fall far..maybe 3 feet..slipped on a ladder...but he fall right on his rear & hit hard. I think it knocked the wind out of him & he let out this cry of anguish. His entire face showed the pain. He couldn't breath. I just held him, trying to get him settled down but he just kept crying. Jim was there & picked him up & tried also to comfort Zach with no success. We carried him to the car & put him in his seat. He wouldn't stand but he could move his feet. He kept crying that his back hurt. After a few more minutes, he settled down a bit but still had tears streaming down his face. In all, it had probably only been 10-12 minutes since his fall but it seemed much, much longer! We decided to just take him home & see how he did. One the way home, I stopped at McDonald's for a strawberry shake for him. By the time we got home, he had settled down a little more. He finished his shake & I gave him a long, hot bath. I had him do some stretches with me. He said that his back still hurt some when he moved certain ways but that it was better.

I expected him to be sore today when he woke up but he seemed absolutely fine...which I am grateful for. It was hard to know what to do last night...he was in such pain when he fell but it was not like a cut or broken bone...still moments that were painful for me also as I felt helpless to help him!

GO West!

Last night Nate and the entire 3rd grade class performed the musical "Go West". Nate had his own small part (about 4 lines in a song) that he had to come up to the microphone & sing....here is a picture of him at the microphone. Yes, he actually sang but he did not enjoy it! I think this performance has been it was a HUGE stress for him. He was suppose to be in the front row of the group for the entire song & come up tot he microphone for his lines. He asked the teacher if he could stand in back & just come up for his lines & she agreed. That made him feel better. I am sure that it is a great relief to him to be done. He did a great job & it was fun to watch! Here is a clip of him singing his part...we are outside his school on our way home after the performance.

Josh went with me to see the musical. Jim stayed home with the little guys...we figured Ethan would never make it through the show. Here is a picture of Josh being goofy while we were waiting for the show to start.

He surprised us all!

"He" being Zach today!

After school I told the boys that we could go up to QFC (the grocery store) to get popsicles. The plan was for me to walk pushing the little guys in a stroller & the older two would ride their bikes. Zach has started learning to ride a bike also (with training wheels). When he heard that the big boys were riding their bikes, he was determined to ride his also. The trip was about 2 miles round trip...up until that point, Zach had never gone more that a block. There was no stopping Zach...he was riding! I decided not to fight him & let him try...figuring we would get around the corner when he would get tired!

Instead, he just kept going and going...the farther we got the more nervous I got...what was I going to do when he decided he was done? I had visions of pushing the stroller & carrying the bike, while trying to convince Zach to walk along side me. Zach made it all the way to the store to get the popsciles without ever stopping! We rode about 1/2 way home to a park, stopped again & ate the popsciles & then headed home. Only one time after we started up after the popsciles, I heard him say he was getting tired but he made it! Josh, Nate & I were all very impressed...none of us gave him enough credit!! Way to go Zach!

The sun is shining in Seattle today & the temps are warm. The older boys are excited to be wearing shorts to school again! We are suppose to have these warmer temps for a couple days!!

Zach, Ethan and I took advantage of the weather played outside today. You can't really tell from the picture but Ethan is coming down with a cold & not feeling real great. Shortly after the picture, he went inside for a very long nap!

Zach is busy playing on our play structure with his new Star Wars Destroyer Druid from Target. I have been trying to teach him some sense of money value. He helps me do chores around the house & I give him misc. change. Once he fills up a little container that he has, he is allowed to go to the store and get a new Star Wars figure. Today was the day that he got to pick one out & he was so excited!

When Nate and Josh came home, Zach couldn't wait to tell them that he got the Destroyer Druid. He explained that it is very, very, very special & that Nate and Josh could not play with it. (That comes from our sharing rule...the boys know that most toys need to be shared but that each boy can pick some "special" toys that do not have to be shared). Anyway, Nate asks to see this "very, very, very special" new guy. It is SO special, that Zach can not find it & really does not even seem that concerned with the fact that he can't find it...that is right, in a matter of hours Zach has lost his "very, very, very special" new Star Wars Destroyer Druid!

Not always happy at our house...

This morning was one of those mornings when the boys were all mad at me & I was just as annoyed with them. After spending several hours playing, I let told them that it was time to help clean up a little. I gave them the choice of picking up the downstairs or cleaning their rooms.

Nate's first response was how unfair it was that he has to clean and how rotten his life is. I take a deep breath to keep from yelling & then proceeded to recount the last two days of activities. After school on Friday Josh had football practice while Jim played baseball with Nate. Friday night has turned into movie and popcorn night, so the boys watched Star Wars Clone Wars & ate popcorn. Saturday the boys woke up to a special breakfast that I cooked, they played baseball games & then we went on a short hike in the afternoon to the bottom of Snoqualmie Falls. Sunday morning the kids woke up & played outside for about 3 hours before they came in to side...that is when I asked them to help. Upon finishing, Nate could really do nothing besides smile sheepishly & say "I guess my life is not that bad, I guess I will pick up the living room for you"

Josh decides that he is going to clean his room. I fully realize that he picks this choice because he figures I will not see him playing instead of cleaning. He was a bit disappointed when I walked upstairs with him & gave him actual tasks to complete in his room...meaning that he had to make measurable progress and could not just play.

Now onto Zach....Zach decides that he is just not going to do anything because he is too tired. I give him a few very simple tasks to complete but he says it is just too much. Instead he picks to sit in a chair until Nate finishes picking up the living room. It would have taken all of 10 minutes to pick up the trains and blocks that I asked him to pickup. Instead he sits in the chair for almost an hour while Nate slowly cleans. During this hour, I gave him MANY opportunities to change his mind but he just wanted to sit. It is not quite as bad as it sounds...Zach was in the room that Nate was cleaning and they were talking & goofing around together a bit but Zach did stay in the chair. Stubburn child when he makes up his mind....

Snoqualmie Falls

After the boys played, I really wanted to go for a hike. The little guys needed a nap so we decided to drive to a place called Denny Park. There is a camp ground & natural water slide with a 3 mile hike that has two waterfalls. It is about 40 minutes away from the house. We made it to within about 1.5 miles of the campground and had to turn around....turns out that the road is still covered by 2-3 feet of snow...oops! Will have to go back late May and try it again.


Our back up plan was to hike to the bottom of Snoqualmie Falls. We has taken the boys to see the falls one weekend shortly after we moved but didn't hike the trail to the bottom. Here are a few photos from our hike.

Our day was packed with baseball.

Josh had his first official game & did great. He played outfield, short stop, catcher & second base. Josh went 2 for 3 with two runs scored. Here are a few shots from Josh's first game.

Nate pitched in his first game and did AWESOME! Check this out.

This was Jim's Friday off & we decided to take the little guys tothe zoo. It was very strange only having 2 of the boys but it was also nice to spend time with just Zach and Ethan. Much of our activities are driven by Nate and Josh's school and sports acitivites...so it was nice for the younger two to have time devoted to them.

While walking at the zoo, we did come upon an animal that makes more noise than Nate, Josh, Zach & Ethan combined. We actually heard them long before we found them. Check it out:

Happy Baptism Day for Ethan

We celebrated Ethan's Baptism today with a homemade ice cream cake (my first) and a stunning song...check it out...

Check out Zach.......

Unlike his older brothers, Zach seems to enjoy music. He has started to sing a songs & is now a big dancer...check out his moves. Sorry the video is sideways....showed fine on my computer...not sure how to rotate

The not so helpful helper

This is our last van key.

This is the little helper who put away our other set of van keys. He took them out of Elayne's purse and placed them in a safer spot. Unfortunately, none of us know where that spot is. We know it's not in the trash because Elayne went through it from top to bottom just to be sure. For now (hopefully not for long) we are back to the old fashion way of opening the sliding van doors. We actually have to pull them open again instead of just pushing some buttons on the way out to the van.