Bermuda

Paul and I got to go to Bermuda last week for some work "meetings" and really enjoyed the warm breezes, beautiful beaches, and relaxing days! It is a great island to visit with a lot to do and see and plenty of sunshine! (Now if only I can get Paul to stop singing, "Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama")

Matthew's Birthday Parties

That's right, parties. Matt was a lucky kid this year and had two fun celebrations! He chose to go to Red Robin for his birthday dinner because he wanted to be sung to at a restaurant. He put on his "cool" face and didn't smile while 8 Red Robin servers did a stirring rendition of the birthday song! He even shared his birthday sundae with everyone else!Then it was home to have birthday cake and ice cream with Nana and Courtney. Matt really likes cakes that have toys on top--this one has a purple hot wheels car!
Matt could hardly wait to open the presents and cards that had piled up for a week. Even Afton wanted to get him something and chose Pokemon cards for him!
Yesterday, Matt had a friend party at Raceline Motoworks. He invited 5 friends and they built cars, raced them, had pizza and cupcakes and opened presents. The boys all had a great time!


Happy Birthday Matt! We hope you had a great birthday and know how glad we are that you came to our family seven years ago!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Matthew is 7 today! It is hard to believe he's been with us that long already--he's grown up so quickly and has been a great kid! We love you buddy and hope your day is great!

Because he's 7 and there are 7 letters in his name, here are 7 wonderful things about Matt:
M-Mom's boy--he never fails (yet) in the hugs and kisses department, nor refuses to cuddle!
A-Awesome soccer player-his team nicknamed him the Triple Threat for defense, offense and goalie
T-Talented artist--he loves to draw houses, buildings, trucks, boats, people--anything!
T-Tries his best in everything!
H-helps out a lot with his little sisters, even if he doesn't really want to.
E-Excels in math--already doing 2nd and 3rd grade problems!
W-Worry free (so far) He's an easy-going happy kid that we know will always do great!

Happy Birthday Jordan!

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Jordan! We love you and hope you have a great day today!

Happy Birthday Rylee!

Cousin Rylee turns 2 today! We are sure you had fun at your big bash yesterday and that every day will be an adventure this year!

Nana and Courtney!

YEAH! Nana and Courtney are getting here today to stay for 10 days! The kids are so excited. So are Paul and I as Nana will be doing some babysitting while we get away. (I know it seems like we "get away" a lot lately, but that's unusual! We're going for Paul's work meetings where the spouse is invited) We are so lucky that Nana wanted to come see her grandkiddies and spend some time with them alone! Thanks Nana! Courtney is a great play-mate for Matt and Afton--it's so fun to have an aunt so close in age!

Soccer Starts

The kids had their first practice of the season last night and while they were excited, there was also some disappointment. Paul asked Matt if they had a good team.
Matt: "No. I'm the best one by far."
Paul: "I thought some of the other boys looked pretty good."
Matt. "No. They're not. I'm the best one."
He's also mad that they didn't pick the name he wanted for his team. He wanted to be the blue jets. The boys were democratic and voted on the blue sharks.
Matt: "That's so dumb. Everyone knows sharks are dark blue and our shirts are light blue."
Afton was thrilled as punch with her team name--the green unicorns. That's right--what do you expect from a bunch of preschool girls who get to pick their own name? I'm sure Matt was disappointed with that too--he wanted her team to be the green machine.
I have to say, I like Matt's picks too.

A disturbing thing happened on the way to the forum...

(the dress I was wearing during the "incident")

So Paul and I were in Rome and I needed to use the rest room near the Colosseum. There was a female attendant showing people where to stand and monitoring the cleanliness of the place. As I walked in to find the line, she came up to me and motioned toward my stomach, asking if I was pregnant. What?! So I know that I have never had a flat stomach and I have had three children, but my last is 18 months old! I honestly never thought I would be someone that could be mistaken for a pregnant person when in fact I was not. I told the story to Paul and rationalized the possibility someone would think I was pregnant by saying my camisole had bunched up underneath--he said maybe my posture wasn't very good. But really, how do you get over someone thinking that you're pregnant when you're not? I am now in full blown sit-up mode to dispel that notion, even to some crazy woman in a bathroom in Rome. Although, I think she was trying to help me get to the front of the line, if I really was pregnant. Which, again, I was not.

Our Italy Trip

Here are just a couple pictures from our trip (obviously not all of them--we took almost 300) We had a great time and have already made a list of things we'd do again and more we'd like to see!

Happy Belated Birthdays!

Happy birthday to Andrew and Courtney who share a special day on March 31! We hope you both had a great day and look forward to a fantastic year!