Launching The Rocket Ship

 Tonight Case had his piano recital.  He wrote his own piece and titled it, "Launching The Rocket ship." He practiced and practiced until finally he was able to play the piece.  Piano is not something that comes easy to Case.  It is difficult and stressful to sit at the piano and help him each night.  He wants to be out playing baseball, basketball, flag football or rollerblading.  He surprised all of us tonight by singing and playing all his songs.  We were so proud of him!

 Case and his Let's Play Music friends.  Yep...the only boy in the group!

 I loved when Miss Debbie said that Case has been a real trooper and that he is a "Dude." She laughed at the puppet shows about the princesses and prince and how that would make Case cringe!

 Miss Debbie had the Piano students present their Mom's with a picture frame for attending the classes each week with their child. I laughed when Case called me "Lindsey."

Miss Debbie really is the best!  She is so kind and patient with the kids.  I loooove her enthusiasm and energy.  She is amazing!

Lucky for Case, the grandparents were there.

Sassy Gal Of The Bunch

 Yesterday, Berkley's amazing play school teacher had a Mother's Day/Graduation program at her school. It was the dang cutest thing you have ever seen.  The kids sang songs and then Miss Kristen presented each child with a memory book after saying a few nice things about each of them.  Unlike the last performance, Miss B. was ALL personality this time around.  She sang and danced and jumped her little heart out!

 Getting ready to perform.  Not one bit shy this time around!

 "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear say good night."

 "I'm a little tea pot short and stout, here is my handle, here is my spout.  When I get all steamed up hear me shout, tip me over and pour me out!"

 "I looked out the window..."

 "And what did I see...popcorn popping on the apricot tree."

 "One little monkey jumping on the bed..."

(you should have seen this little monkey jumping on the bed....the  E -N -T- I- R -E song!)

 Miss Kristen is the best.  Here is what she said about Miss B.

"Berkley is the little sassy gal of the bunch with her big flower bows and funnest jewelry!  She may be small, but she is mighty and will not be pushed around!  Berkley loves to play with all the kids and whatever they are playing, but she is always sure the babies are down and ready to be played with as well.  Berkley likes snack time. and always makes sure she is first to the table to get "her" spot at the head."

 Sugar and GG and Aunt Lisa were able to come and watch Miss B. sing.

 Jeremy and I laughed the entire 30 minutes of the program.  We seriously couldn't believe how funny this little lady was today.

There she is, "the little sassy gal of the bunch!"

And They're Off!

  After a year of colored rubber bands and tightening appointments, Brody got his braces off. His teeth look so straight and pretty, I really am excited for him.  He has been such a good sport for the past year.  Not once did he take Motrin or Advil for pain.  Not one bracket that popped off for eating the wrong foods.  Very rarely did he complain.  We'll see how well he does when he is a teenager and has to do it all over again, top AND bottom!

 I don't know why this picture makes me laugh! 

Making the mold for the retainer.  Stay tuned for the retainer he chose!

Time For Spring Swim Lessons!

 Today Ledger and Berkley started spring swim lessons at Miss Carolyn's house.  They were both looking forward to this since they loooove to swim.  Both did great and can hardly wait to go back tomorrow!

Ledger has already been swimming at MCC with the Spring Swim Team.  I hope he will want to do the swim meets this year.

1-800

The little lady is obsessed with answering the phone.  Often times she answers it and I have no idea that someone was calling.  Case in point...a month or so ago, my friend Heather called to talk to me about the preschool carpool.  I must have been taking out the trash or throwing a load of laundry in the machine.  She carried on a full conversation with Heather until I walked into the family room to hear her talking to someone.  It was Heather, they had been talking for several minutes. Today, we got ANOTHER solicitor call.  Why is it that we have our names on the, "Do Not Call" list but they keep calling? In my opinion, 

1-800 calls are the perfect chance to let the little lady answer the phone. Here is how it went:

B:  Hello, this is Berk-Uh-ley.

Silence

B:  "I'm doing good."

Silence

Silence

Silence

Silence

B:  "What's your name?"

Silence

B:  "Here's my mom."

I get on the phone and hear:

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP, they hung up.

Apparently solicitors don't want to talk to 2 year olds!

"We've Got a 7 Year Old Celebrating A Birthday."

 Saturday night Jeremy and I took Case out for his 7th Birthday.  He wasn't sure what he wanted for his birthday gift so we headed out to Toys R Us to see if anything would catch his eye.  Well, after many trips up and down the aisles, Case was set on getting this Razor Motorcycle.  He begged and pleaded but Jeremy and I both decided that a motorcycle was not a smart idea for a 7 year old boy.  We left Toys R Us and went to the Apple Store at San Tan.  We walk in and start looking at the awesome phones, IPads, and IPhones.  One of the workers comes up to us and asks if he can help us with anything.  We tell him it is Case's 7th birthday and he is here to pick out a gift.  The nice man hands Case an "Apple" t-shirt and tells him, "Happy Birthday." He tells us that he will give us some time to look around and to let him know if we need anything.  He then turns around and pushes his ear piece button and whispers (for all the other employees to hear), "We've got a 7 year old celebrating his birthday." We continue looking for the perfect gift, which sadly for Case, was not the IPhone.  As we are browsing the store, employee after employee kept coming up to Case and wishing him a, "Happy Birthday." Case was a little confused and Jeremy and I were just laughing.  Case finally decides on the gold IPod Nano with speakers.  We check out, pay the man and as we are heading out the door, the ENTIRE APPLE STORE starts singing Happy Birthday to Case.  I...  THOUGHT...   HE....  WAS...   GOING....   TO....     DIE! As you all know, the Apple Store is busy at anytime of day, especially a Saturday night.  To hear the whole store sing was HILARIOUS! I wish I had some pictures, but Case was literally hiding in my legs. 

 After the Apple Store, we went to dinner at Outback.

 This boys was thrilled to have a night alone with just Jeremy and I.  

This boy is so fun to be around.  He is really funny.  He does this eye thing that makes me laugh so hard.  He has decided that he can spike his own hair and pick out his own clothes. He is thoughtful and always thinking about others feelings.  He is good at everything he tries,  it really isn't fair!   Berkley is his biggest fan.  He likes to help me in the kitchen but HATES putting away his laundry.  He wants to quit piano but loves EVERY sport there is.  He says good prayers.  When he lays down at night to sleep, he is OUT like a light in about 5 minutes.  He gets bloody noses daily.  He wanted to know the difference between "smooching" and "making out" the other night.  He idolizes Brody. Case gets off the bus grouchy everyday.  He runs home, jumps on his bike or puts on his roller blades and takes off for a few minutes.  When he comes back, he is a whole new kid.  He needs down time.  I love this boy and can't imagine life without him.  Happy 7th Birthday Case Man!

Easter Sunday

 Easter Sunday was busy and fun.  We started off the day with church.  Lucky for us, we attend at 9:00.  Unlucky for the kids who want to get up and hunt eggs and see what the Easter Bunny brought. I promised the kids that if they quickly ate breakfast and got ready for church, I would let them see their Easter baskets.  

 Ledger showing off the Cars Lego the Easter Bunny brought.

 Brody and Case comparing the Mario Cart Kinects.

 Miss B. was kinda ready for church (notice the wet hair), and she was thrilled with all the goodies that the Easter Bunny brought.

Who knew that all the Easter Bunny needed to bring was a box of Tic Tac's!

 After church, we came home and hunted eggs in the backyard.  Jeremy and I quickly made a relish tray and headed over to Aunt Missy's for more egg hunting.  The boys loved being with their big cousins and finding eggs in their new backyard. We left Aunt Missy's early and headed back over to Mom's house for the Pomeroy Easter celebration.  

After a delicious dinner, it was time for the Pomeroy egg hunt.  We usually have this egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but because Grandma is not doing very well, my mom offered to have the party at her house.  My grandpa puts money in the eggs for the 40 of us.  This year the money count was VERY LARGE because my grandparents are sure they will be dead by next Easter and we won't have the money egg hunt.  We laugh at this because my grandparents are going to out live the rest of us! We draw numbers and one at a time find THE egg.  We open the egg, tell how much money is inside and we all scream and cheer.

Here is Wayne holding up Paisley to find the perfect egg.

 Cousin John is always up to no good.

 That would be my little sister getting in my face about the egg that John found.  Not to worry, it all turned out ok, but you can see just how obnoxious and crazy we can get!

Brody with GG and G-Pa showing off the money egg he found.

Case's turn with GG and G-Pa.

 Ledger hopped out of the pool just long enough to find the perfect egg.

 Ash, Mom and I could to stop laughing at all the craziness going on.  For example, the egg that Uncle Phil found that had a $100.00 bill inside.  It actually didn't have a $100.00 bill inside but you should have seen the uproar that occurred when everyone thought that HE had found the BIG money egg! Oh and the $2.00 egg that Jeremy snuck in right before it was Aunt Michel's turn.  Since she was the last to hunt, she knew that a $2.00 egg was not that good of a find! You should have seen her face!  What a fun Easter night for us all!

Hope everyone had a great Easter celebration with family and friends.  I know this will be a weekend that we will never forget!  Happy Easter 2012!

Easter At Sugar's

 Saturday afternoon we went to my Mom's house to celebrate Easter with an egg hunt and dinner.  I had been throwing up the night before and was nooooot feeling well.  However, as you may remember from my post last year, we adults go on an egg hunt with money in the eggs and there was nooooo waaaaay I was gonna miss out on that.  Even if I had to barf my way through the backyard, I was gonna make a dollar or two (yep I'm poor and desperate).  

 First up was the egg hunt for the kids.  As you can see from the look on Miss B.'s face, she too thinks there is something super good in those eggs that were hidden in Sugar's front yard.  She was right, candy quarters and toys were just what she wanted. I wonder if my face looks like this when I go on the egg hunt.  Actually, the adult egg hunt is a little more aggressive and crazy.  You may get an elbow in the face if you're not careful (although Miss B. looks like she's throwing one to anyone who may be standing behind her).

 Cute cousins finding eggs.

 Brody and his bucket filled with Easter goodies.

 Ledger's bucket is filled to the rim.

 Case checking out what he got in his bucket. Do I spy a dollar in that pile?

Finding Easter eggs is so fun!

Dyeing Easter Eggs

 Friday afternoon, Sugar invited us over to dye eggs and have lunch.  Not only did she invite us, she invited the rest of the family which included 19 kids under the age of 9 and 20 adults.  She made Mexican food for us all and the yummiest desserts you ever tasted.  My kids had a blast dyeing eggs and of course swimming after they were done.

 Miss B. loved dyeing an egg one color, and then dipping it in another color to see what color it would then turn. It was a basically a science lesson on color mixing.

 These are Ledger's 2 favorite eggs.  See how they are two different colors?  Very pretty Ledger.

 Brody showing his "peace" egg.

 Case did all sorts of mixing and drawing on his eggs.  Very creative!

 Miss.B showing her favorite egg...PINK!

Dyeing Easter eggs as a child was always something I looked forward to.  I loved all the Easter-y colors and seeing what I could do with the eggs.  I loved getting together with my cousins and having lunch when we were done.  And as weird as this is going to sound...I love the smell of vinegar.  Weird right? It smells clean and delicious at the same time.  I have a feeling that my kids are going to love this tradition as much as I did.