Future Plans

At dinner tonight we were joking around and naming two universities and then asking Chris which one he wanted to go to. He kept saying "None of them." Just as we were beginning to worry, he said, "I just like the Yankees. I'm just going to play for the Yankees. I'm not going to play for the Red Sox!" Oh thank goodness!

The Kissing Hand

There's a story I used to read to my kindergarteners that I know read to Christopher called The Kissing Hand. It is the story of a little raccoon who is scared to go to school for the first time. His mother reassures him by kissing his hand so that he can carry her love with him all day at school. The little raccoon, in turn, kisses his mother's hand so that she will not be lonely while he is at school. It's a very sweet story and Chris enjoys it as much as I do. So at bedtime, we started the tradition of me kissing his hands and Chris kissing my hands and then we put our hands up to our cheeks. Two nights ago, after I kissed Christopher's hands he put them up by his face and then told me he was pretending to eat them. He then said "This one is chocolate and this one is vanilla." Last night when we did this tradition, he said he was going to give the kisses to God who was then going to make them into chocolate and vanilla soup! Then he kissed my hands and said, "Give it to God and he will make soup Mommy." So when I pretended to throw them up toward the sky, Chris said, "No Mommy, God is love so he is right here (putting his hand on his heart) so you have to put the kisses right here." You can't make this stuff up!

Jumping beans

Today, Luca and Chris spent a rainy morning at an open gym at their gymnastics center. Among other things, the boys spent a good while jumping (and jumping and jumping) on the trampoline. After said jumping (and a hearty lunch) Christopher, who essentially has given up his nap save for one day a week, was thoroughly worn out and slept for nearly two hours while Luca, who has moved to short naps, extended his for the first time in awhile. Oh, and for those of you who are listening to the following video closely, Chris is repeatedly saying his favorite word. As you can imagine, it is driving his mother crazy and I've resorted to giving it as little attention as possible as this is the only method in recent days that works in curbing how many times he says it. Ugh! Boys!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alxk4m_N6Rs

Closing day!!!

We closed on our new house today! And even more exciting was bringing Christopher and Kasey over to see the inside of the house for the first time. Here are some pictures of the "kids" exploring their new digs. Just imagine a 3 year-old boy having free reign of an empty house! The first picture is of Chris in his new room...

Looks like the fireplace will be Christopher's new stage!

Kasey is guarding her new front door already...

Christopher in Mommy's "reading room." Someday those bookshelves will extend the whole length of the wall!

In the living room... It was too wet to go outside today but Christopher is so excited for the big fountain reveal!

Recent Pics

Here are some pictures from the last few days... The first is from the egg hunt we had at Luca's house on Easter evening. Christopher's favorite Westie is pictured and we try to dress Chris in his Yankee hat anytime he is going to see Luca's daddy Paul because Paul is a Red Sox fan!

Here is Chris with his favorite dog hands down, Kasey Moe...

And then today, just being a goof ball!

Egg hunt of the day #1

After church this morning, we came back to our house for brunch with Grammy and the Titus family. The kids had a great time as did the parents! The Easter bunny made a special appearance in the yard to hide eggs and then the kids got busy finding them after "she" left. Here are some pictures from our morning...

After rest time we are on our way to Luca's house for egg hunt of the day #2. Happy Easter everyone!

Elliot turns one!

Today we went to Elliot and Olivia's house to celebrate Elliot's first birthday! It's hard to believe that this little man is already a year and yet here he is with his personal smash cake. The kids all had a great time playing together and Chris has become quite attached to the birthday boy. He made him a little picture with Cheerios glued onto it because he thought Elliot would like that. Chris played a lot with Olivia too and his friend Emily was there as well. Here are some pictures from the party...

Here is Chris about to dig into some yummy birthday cake!

And now, this is what happens when a boy has friends that are girls and like to dress up--they tend to dress the boy up as well and it is usually in whatever is available in the house which is usually pink and frilly with a tiara...

I guess he was just too big for the dragon costume! Happy birthday Elliot!!!

Improving

For the last few weeks at hockey, I have skated with Christopher and the other little guys just to help out a bit. It was okay but I think Chris was spending more time talking to me (and telling it like it is) than concentrating on his skating skills. Today I thought I would sit this one out. After his speedy experience the other day when we had the rink to ourselves, I thought that perhaps his confidence would be boosted and it was. When you watch this video, it still doesn't seem like he is going very fast but take my word for it, this was a major improvement! Here he is in their little "scrimmage" this morning... (Keep your eye on the white helmet).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhB_licByhA

Egg Hunt

This morning, we went to Christopher's new gymnastics place for their annual egg hunt. The basket he has was mine from when I was a child so it's so wonderful to see him using it all these years later! There were a ton of kids at the egg hunt and Chris found a handful of eggs before turning them in for the real prize--a piece of candy for every egg found. As a result, Christopher has now eaten his very first Tootsie Roll! Daddy had off from work today so he joined us which, of course, Chris so super excited about. After some crazy playing and running around, we joined Lindsey and Luca for lunch at Noodles and Company. It was bordering on warm so we decided to eat outside. These boys are the best of friends! Here they are enjoying their respective Mac and Cheeses...

Cheering on the Yankees

Here is Buds' homage to his favorite baseball team...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS5dRoPJ24k

Skating

We were the only people at public session this morning!!! And because Chris plays hockey there, he doesn't have to pay for public session. There is nothing like the rink all to ourselves, for free!

Pictures

I've finally figured out how to get my iPhone pictures to the computer (I know, it's not that hard but...) so here are a few from the past week that I wanted to share. The first one is of Chris and his buddy Luca. They are taking a gymnastics class and here they are after the first one. Side note: I think Chris is in love with his teacher, Miss Ally. We went back for their open gym the next day and he followed her everywhere. I tried to tell him to play it cool, that stalking is not attractive!

Here are a couple pictures of Chris in the outdoor store in Lawrence the other night. Upstairs they had this whole tent set up which CJ found very entertaining. I think we are ready to go camping soon!

He was also trying on different hats, including this funky Japanese style sun hat...

Finally, here is the Buds at the playground after dinner having a blast on the rocking dinosaur...

NCAA Brackets

Recently I informed several of our readers that Christopher made some incredible picks in the early rounds of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. At that point, I was pretty much ready to purchase a ticket and send Chris to Vegas so make us some money. (Background info: Christopher's friend Emily and her mom were running a bracket pool with an adult division and children's division... and yes we were playing for money!). So on the morning after the finals, we must report that, although Christopher did not run away with the $8 purse, he did come in a respectable second. His mother, however, finished 21st in the adult division. Next year I'm having him pick both of our brackets!

Healthy for life

Just wanted to let everyone know that my vegan health blog "Healthy For Life" is back up and running. I know I haven't been consistent in keeping up with that blog but I am going to try to stick with it more in the coming months. There are two new posts on it today. Enjoy!

A new year at Deanna Rose

Ah, April 1st. For some it means practical jokes. For others, the beginning of baseball season. For the children of Johnson County, Kansas it means only one thing... Deanna Rose is open for business!!! We braved the opening day craziness (which really wasn't that crazy) and brought Christopher for his third season at the children's farmstead. Opening day is always so fun because there are a lot of baby animals at the farm. Today we got to actually feed the baby calves! They needed adult volunteers so of course I spoke up. Here we are feeding one of the new adorable calves...

Next it was on to the baby goats! This has always been Christopher's favorite part of Deanna Rose and this year was no exception. Some of the goats were so tiny! He enjoyed giving them a bottle and also just visiting with them. He would get down next to the goats and talk to them. It was so cute!

This was also the first year that Chris was old enough (or interested enough) to ride the tractor bikes. He was a good Kansas boy today and chose the John Deere for his first riding experience...

After a few hours of playing and visiting the animals, it was time for us to leave the farm. Before we did, we made a pit stop to wash our hands on the way out. Of all the things he did today at Deanna Rose, the following video shows perhaps his favorite activity of all...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbxlWsFsMkc