Kids playing nicely in the car on our long California trip

Some of Samantha's art

He was so happy to have free swim and get a trophy!

Alex's swimming award ceremony

Aaaannnnddd.....

....not surprisingly, all 3 goldfish are dead.

Fishes

Alex used his dollar yesterday at Walmart to buy 3 goldfish.  Their names are:

Maxwell

Blue Monkey

Trigger Happy

I have a wonderful and strange son!!

Conversation between Alex and his buddy Jonah in the car this morning on the way to swim:

Jonah: Ew look, that guy is smoking.

Alex: I know why people smoke; because of dirty ol' Satan.

Jonah: Yeah, I wanna punch Satan.

Alex: You can't because he doesn't have a body.

Who knew that Sunday School doctrine was making it's way into the little guys head?!?  I was shocked and pleased! 

Alex's first swimming meet

 Warm up at 7.30am

 Waiting in the bull pen for his first race (freestyle)

 Grandpa was kind enough to come and watch

 Waiting for his turn

 Rachel and Rebecca pointing out where I was standing so he knew where I would be cheering

 Here I am buddy!

 Grandma in the shade

 Good starting form

 Big breath!

 Half way there

 Cooling down after the race with his best buddy Jonah

 Proud mommy

 Hungry boys after 1 race!

 Waiting for another race to start

 Thumbs up!

Gorgeous sister waiting and watching and cheering!

Nummy

Homemade fettuccini with fresh sauce. It was heavenly!! And oh so pretty!

Personal trainer

Alex was in the theatre room with me while I was exercising and he was encouraging me to touch the ceiling and work a little harder and was basically my own little personal trainer. Until I started doing squats. He was watching from behind and exclaimed, "mom, it looks like your butt is eating your pants!" After I laughed for a good minute, I explained that, yes, wedgies are a common side effect of squats.

Sent from my iPhone

I love my Samantha!!

Samantha helped me pack my backpack for school this morning.  She grabbed me some snacks and hid this sweet little note in my bag.  During Exercise Science class I pulled out my string cheese and found it.  Seriously?  What a stellar kid!  It just made my day. 

Very random, some unflattering, pictures of Easter

Easter 2013

Alex made a leprechaun trap!

Not totally sure how it works, but there is a bell attached so I know it will work! Love that kid!

RIP Chewy

My sweet little Chewbacca birdie died this week.  I was home with him for a few hours on Tuesday and he was out of his cage, walking around, climbing on me, just happy as can be!  He likes to wander downstairs and just walk around!  I couldn't find him for a while and then saw him sitting next to the dryer all cuddled up and happy (the dryer was on and obviously warm).  I didn't think it was the safest place for him with all of the lint around, so I brought him back upstairs to his cage.  The night was normal with him and I didn't notice anything at all wrong with him.  Wednesday morning I was getting the kids all ready for school and hadn't uncovered Chewy yet.  He usually lets me know by squawking a lot and making himself known!  I didn't hear anything from him.  I think deep down I knew something was wrong but I was afraid to look so I kept on doing morning chores for a little while longer.  I finally got up the nerve to check and found him at the bottom of the cage.  I didn't want to tell the kids before school so I covered him back up and tried to keep my composure.  I sent Andy a text and, being the sweet boy that he is, rushed home.  Once the kids were out the door I let the tears flow!!  Andy helped me find a box and put Chewy in it until the kids got home for a funeral.  The worst part though was telling the kids.  They were heartbroken (only for about a minute), but that was a long minute!  We had the funeral and buried him in the backyard.  

I loved my little birdie.