May 4th

I didn't realize it had been a month already... Lets see what I can remember...

I will start with the boys soccer since that seems to be the biggest thing going on the past month. Both of the boys are doing great and have a wonderful time. Kristian is learning more and more each practice and seems to be picking up the rules, plays and positions. Dylan is our natural athelete. He has picked up on everything really quickly! He finally scored his first goal yesterday and ended up scoring 5 goals total in the game. He was so thrilled. I have no regrets signing them up even with the 4 trips to town every week for practice and games. It has been a great experience. We have two more weeks of it and then we are done. I think we are going to sign Dylan up in the fall for soccer so that next spring he can play t-ball. The spring t-ball and soccer seasons overlap each other and it would've been too difficult to do both this year. I will keep Kristian in the spring soccer since he has no desire for baseball.

School gets out in just 3 weeks! I can't believe it. The last day is May 22nd. And then Kristian will be a seventh grader! WOW! On May 24th me and the boys are flying home for my brother's wedding. We are looking forward to getting to visit with everyone and of course see my brother get married! We fly back here on June 1st and then leave June 4th for Hawaii! We are ALL looking forward to it. It will be a great way to celebrate the end of school and summer beginning! We are staying the first four days at Waikiki beach and the rest of the time we will be staying at a house on the north shore. This way we can experience a little of both worlds in Hawaii! We fly back home on June 16th. So we will be there for my "29th" birthday... and for Father's Day!

We haven't had many warm days yet here. Maybe a couple of days it has hit the 70's but other than that it has been in the 40's! Yesterday it was a high of 55 and very windy, which just added to the cold. We were all bundled up on the sidelines watching the boys play soccer. I told Mike this is ridiculous! It is May 3rd!! Hopefully we will get some warmer weather soon!

I took the 3 little ones to Pump it Up one day this month. Don't ask me when because I have no clue. It was a weekday, that's all I remember. When we got there, we were the only ones. They all wanted to go on the slide. So we did. Those who know me, know I am not much for heights, but I thought, this is for kids, so it can't be that bad. I made my way up the long ladder to the top. Mind you this is all inflatable, so you don't feel quite secure on your feet. AND I was holding Jacob too!! Anyway, we made it up to the top and got ready to go down. Rebecca and Dylan went down first and they flew down it. So then it was mine and Jacob's turn. I thought, well I am a bit heavier than they are so it won't be as fast... WRONG! We took off like a flash! I felt like I was on Splash Waterfalls at Six Flags! I know I had a look of horror on my face going down. All I could think was thank goodness no one else was there! So we went and played on the other bounce things, but Jacob's favorite was the slide. And by now there were more people there. So everytime we went down after that I just had to fake a smile, because inside I was screaming!! Rebecca and Dylan's favorite was the slide also. I still can't believe that it is for little kids!!! After that we went to lunch and went to the dollar movies to see Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Kristian's birthday was April 19th, the BIG 12!! Now an adult... not! Anyway, we had 6 kids spend the night on Saturday and then we went skating on Sunday. ROLLER SKATING! That is where he wanted to go. You know how he is with his Heelys. They are his favorite pair of shoes. So it seemed only fitting. We had a couple of more kids that met us there and ended up with 13 people total, including adults. He had a great time. We were there for four hours and we all skated. Mike and I hadn't been on skates probably since jr. high! But luckily we remembered how and managed not to fall. Dylan had a blast too. He skated the entire time. I thought he wouldn't last very long, but he proved me wrong. After the party we had a couple of kids that needed to be dropped off. Since we had two cars in town, Mike asked if I wanted him to take all the kids and I could go ALONE in his car. DUH! Of course I would take him up on that. So I was taking my sweet time, driving with the radio up and just enjoying the quietness. I ran by and picked up some dinner and headed home. As soon as I got home Mike called to tell me that after they left he went by the gas station and one of the kids barfed all in the back of the suburban! I was SO glad that he took them and not me. I don't do well with throw up at all. He cleaned it all out and had Zack sit up front with him the rest of the way. He was lucky enough to be parked by an ambulance getting gas, so they gave him a barf bag and some alchol packets. I guess that it supposed to relief your nausau? Who knew? Mike said Zack made use of the barf bag till he got him home. I felt so bad for both of them. I know Zack had to be embarrassed in front of the other kids. Needless to say when I got off of the phone with Mike I went straight down to the basement with the Lysol and started spraying. I took down the tent, washed all the blankets, pillows, jackets.... Whatever was washable. I didn't want anyone else to get it.

Last Saturday I had my annual March Of Dimes walk. It was only a team of one (me), but that's ok. My friend Joann went and walked with me to keep me going!! We also took Dylan and pushed him in the stroller. Now that was some exercise. It is a 5 mile walk and it is a dirt path. You remember what it is like pushing a stroller on that surface. NOT FUN! But we made it. Dylan did great and didn't complain, except for when we stopped to rest. Afterwards we went and had lunch and then headed to his soccer game where we met up with Mike and Kristian.

Monday night we took Kristian to spend his birthday money at Target. He wanted a Ninetendo DS and a game. He picked it all out and we went to pay for it. Mike told the clerk that Kristian had thought about getting a Wii, but they are never in stock. The guy said, actually we have 14 in the back if you would like one! So we got one of those too. We have been playing it all week. Dylan is very good at the bowling. He beat Mike 220 to 129! He only beat me 184-178! So not as bad. Kristian is good at the tennis. He beat Mike and I pretty good! It is a great game system because you have to get up off of your bum to play it! Which is great!!!

Yesterday we had the boys soccer games and then we went bowling with some friends of ours. (Jen and Geno) They have a little girl, Rylee that is a year younger than Dylan and a little boy Peyton, that is almost 2. After bowling we went back to their house and hung out. We played a game called Sequence that was really neat and Apples to Apples. We left their house around 11 and headed home. We were in Mike's car and came up to a stop sign where there was something in the road. He thought he could straddle it, but... as we drove over it you could feel the car actually raise up off the ground. He got out to look and said it was a big coffee can. He kicked it and said he had something heavy in it, but just left it. We started smelling rubber burning, so we drove to the nearest gas station. It had dented his oil pan and tore off a small part of one of his belts. Luckily... we made it home with no problems. I hope it stays that way.

Kristian also made the A average honor roll last quarter too. Me and Dylan went to his awards breakfast to help him celebrate.

Well that is all I can think of for this past month. I can't promise that the next time I am on here won't be just as long. I will try to make it sooner though. Have a great week!

The pictures are of Kristian and Dylan at the Awards Breakfast. The BIG slide at Pump It Up, if you look closely you can barely make out Dylan sitting at the top. Another bounce thing at Pump it Up. The 3 little ones goofing off. Kristian's birthday party and the decorated B-Day mobile!