Lovey is the Birthday Boy

Today is Lovey's 6th birthday! I can't believe he is 6! Wow! Where did the time go? He is a bright, loving, stubborn, energetic little boy. Right now he loves baseball, soccer, basketball and dinosaurs. He loves the Mariners. He loves going to school and to swim lessons. He loves to build things and is often begging his daddy to go to the garage to build something. (We are the proud owners of 5 birdhouses and one wooden sled.) He can't wait for summer so he can go hiking and camping. In the past year he has learned to read, to add and subtract, started kindergarten, started to watch sports on tv with his daddy, and ride his bike without training wheels, and can cross the monkey bars without any help.

Happy Birthday Lovey!!!

Lovey's 1st Christmas

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday (on a treasure hunt)

5th Birthday

6 years old

Lovey's birthday weekend

What a fabulous birthday weekend for Lovey! On Saturday morning he had a soccer game, in the rain. Littlebit and I went home, but Grandpa, Grandma and Daddy stayed to watch and the sky did clear up for awhile. Then Nana and Scott arrived with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma. It was so nice to see them and they brought us treats too (grapefruit - I'm never sure how to spell that word, rhubarb, and rhubarb plants).

We had a great lunch of Mariner dogs, hamburgers, parsnip and potato fries, and asparagus. When I said we were having hot dogs, a few people said they wanted hamburgers instead, but I think everyone ended up sampling the Mariner dogs. Our meal was finished off with a Dinosaur Train Cake and Trader Joe's French Vanilla ice cream. (I almost forgot the ice cream, but thankfully TJ's was sampling ice cream and blueberry pie the day I went shopping!)

Lovey was excited to open all of his presents. Dinosaur books, Frog and Toad books, a baseball mitt and nerf-like baseballs (which we promptly lost 2 of  the next day over the fence into the neighbor's yard and she won't answer her door, even though I know she was home because I saw her), a wooden airplane to build, Mariner t-shirt, pjs and other clothes, a poster that he spied at Nana's work (this makes poster #5 in the last month!), a caribiner mug for hiking/camping, and an emergency blanket. Littlebit had the job of bringing him the presents and I think she only opened one. He also cleaned up the paper after opening each gift. He was concerned that he opened all of his gifts and wouldn't have any for his birthday, but I assured him we saved some.

Working on building a wooden airplane with Daddy.

*Edited: Yesterday we found the missing baseballs back over the fence and in our yard. I left a note when they didn't answer the door and they found them and threw them over the fence. Hooray!

Surprise!

Whenever we need to run errands or go somewhere, the kids throw a fit. Rarely is there an exception to this rule. I don't know why they do this, but it often makes us late for things. I should clarify, usually it is Lovey who is throwing the fit. Running errands is boring, but it is something that has to be done.

I also find it absolutely hilarious to fool my kids too. I find delight in telling them that we are doing something so absolutely boring, like clean the garage, when in reality we are going out to ride bikes. They are pretty good about knowing when I am joking.

Big Daddy has finally convinced Lovey that baseball is fun to watch and when Lovey finds something he likes, he can be a little obsessive about it. So for weeks, all I have heard about are the Mariners and Ken Griffey, Jr. When they are playing, what the score is, etc. Since the games come on after bedtime, he listens to them on the radio. He wants you to throw the ball to him everyday and with the weather being nice, he told us that Sunday would be a great day to go to the game.

All of this led to our plan for Sunday. We told the kids that we needed to go to a flooring store in Seattle to look at more flooring. (We have looked at a lot of flooring lately.) We expected complaining, but instead Lovey just asked which one and could we listen to the game in the car. Okay, not was I was expecting. Both Littlebit and Lovey put on their shoes without grumbling and quickly got into the car. Seriously?! I can't get them to do that when we are going anywhere.

On the way up we had to listen to the pregame show. I told Lovey that we probably couldn't listen to the game because we needed to go to a lot of stores. He said okay. Who's kids are these? As we neared Seattle, Lovey pointed out where the Mariners played, but when we turned in that direction he didn't get excited or say anything. When we passed by Safeco field, Littlebit got excited and said, "Hey, that's the Mariners' home!" Still no clue that we were going to the game. It wasn't until we turned to go into the parking garage that they figured out we were going to the game. They were so excited!

It was Kid's Day, so Littlebit and Lovey got Felix Hernandez jerseys. Lovey wore his the whole time and dind't want to leave his seat because he might miss something. Littlebit was less enthused, but she had fun playing in the play area and asking for every treat that went by. Unfortunately the Mariners couldn't pull out a win, but it was a beautiful day to be watching a Mariners game.

We all had a great time and the best was when they said thank you for buying the tickets! It was a great surprise for all of us. For the kids that they went to the game and for us that they didn't throw a fit when we said we were going to a flooring store.

Spring Weather

We have had a bit of spring weather the last two days and the kids have been loving being outside. Yesterday started out rainy, but by the afternoon we were playing baseball in the backyard. Lovey is suddenly a huge baseball fan and listens to the games on his radio at night. It is a pleasant change from the weather station that he listens to. Next year he wants to play baseball instead of soccer. He does a lot better hitting the ball when it is pitched to him than hitting it off a tee. Crazy.

Today we were blessed with a bit more sunny weather. We went down to the neighborhood basketball court so Lovey could shoot baskets and Littlebit could ride her scooter. He is getting quite good at shooting baskets too. He was very excited about March Madness this year and watched quite a few games with Big Daddy. He now reenacts the games in the backyard. I finally had to stop him from shooting the ball on the top of my yard waste container and instead into a large plastic pot. Now when it hits the yard waste container, he tells me he can't help it, it was the other team.

Littlebit is content to ride her scooter and play with her My Little Ponies. Yesterday they were picking the grass and feeding it to Scoot-a-loo. She was outside by 7:30 this morning feeding her ponies grass again. She stayed out there by herself until Lovey woke up at 8. (He never sleeps in that late.)

Littlebit was so excited about the sun today that she put on a sundress and then wore her winter coat outside.

Tried It

I have a soup recipe that is one of Big Daddy's favorites and one of the ingredients is kale. Now I like kale in the soup, but I haven't found another recipe I like it in. Last week I came across Elana's Pantry and she had a recipe for lemon kale chips. It sounded strange, but I did have a bunch of kale in my refrigerator that I didn't want to go to waste, so I thought I would try them. I think I need to try them again. They weren't bad, but I know they weren't right. At first they were green, but not crispy so I put them back in the oven. That is where I forgot them for a while because I had homemade fries in there too. Then some were too crispy and yellowish and some were still soft. I think I did add to much lemon juice though, so maybe that was the problem. Lovey tried one, but thought it was too lemony. I didn't love them, but I didn't hate them. I think I will have to try it again.

One recipe we did love was Individual Scallop Potatoes with Ham. This one was a definite winner. Big Daddy only had one bite, when he said I could make them again. I thought that would be the case because it is similar to the twice baked potatoes that we have at Easter and Christmas. I had never microwaved a potato before, so I think I left it in there too long because my potato was soft. I was also thinking that they might hold together like a muffin, but mine didn't. I think I would use less butter next time too. I still have three bags of ham left in the freezer, so I am sure that we will be making these again. Yum!

Spring Break

I love that Littlebit and Lovey were able to see all of their grandparents this week, some even twice!

Nana and Grandpa and Grandma were here for Easter. What fun! The kids love when they come because it is someone new to play and read with. But usually there are no naps when they come for the holidays, so the kids were soooo tired that evening.

On Wednesday we made the trip to see Nana. We were also able to see Grandpa too. The kids loved playing at Nana's work and spent time at the park too with Grandpa. Again no nap and by three, Littlebit was exhausted. We didn't get home until 10:30 that night and boy did I pay for it the next day. It was still worth it though for them to see Grandpa and Nana. Plus Grandpa sent us home with halibut and blackberry pie and we had a delicious dinner with Nana and Scott.

Grandpa and Grandma came to pick up the kids on Saturday to stay at there house for the night. They love to go there too. We met them yesterday to pick up the kids and again they were sooo tired from staying up late. Hopefully I don't pay for that today! Littlebit and Lovey always have fun at their grandparents and we were able to get quite a few errands crossed off our list while they were gone.

What a blessing to be able to see family so many times this week!