Mimi's Big Birthday

My mom's 60th birthday was a few weeks ago, so I'm very late on posting these. I obviously didn't get very many pics b/c I was chasing Ethan around most of the time....but we had a great weekend celebrating her big birthday. My brother Chris flew in from LA, and Courtney, Erika, & Reagan all came down from HarBer so we could spend the weekend together. Ethan loves his cousin Reagan....on Friday night and Sunday morning we ate at the country club and I spent most of my time running around the building with these 2, I love watching them play together. I'm sad I have no photo evidence of later Saturday night. After dinner and presents, Chris turned on mom's favorite, Neil Diamond, and we had a big dance party in the back year. Ethan and Reagan were both showing out and entertaining everyone. I think Mimi had a GREAT birthday celebration!

Swimmin'

Please pardon seeing me in a swimsuit....but here are the pics of us from mommy and me swimming, as promised. Brandon went with us Tuesday night so he could see his little man swimming. It was kinda cool in the water, and Ethan wanted to see what daddy was up to, so we weren't as productive, but he went under water a lot and was proud of himself and showing out for his daddy.

Ellen's Birthday Party

favorite spot at the wonderplace....the water table

daddy tried hard with the party hat, but ethan wasn't having it!

daddy helping ethan get started

he's proud of himself! that's our neighbor sitting beside him, she's helping her little man luke who is making a huge mess!

masterpiece indeed!

he was very excited to get his hands cleaned AND a juice box

We went to another birthday party at the Wonderplace this weekend. I think Ethan has gotten pretty comfortable running around in there, and this was Brandon's first birthday party...so we had a blast. This is the first time we've gone to the masterpiece party where the kids fingerpaint. Ethan is getting pretty good at it with all the practice he gets at school. He had a big time playing, painting, and the eating cake. We now know he likes white cake, not chocolate...or at least Mickey's white cake (he's got good taste).

Lil' Swimmer

This is what we've been up to this month....mommy and me swim lessons at the athletic club. Since my parents have a pool, I want him to be comfortable in the water so we can go over there an play a lot. Since it's right after his nap, he wants his blanket and snack, so this is the best picture I could get. When Brandon goes with us, I will try to get a better picture. He's doing really good with it and having fun, so we're getting excited for summer!

Beautiful Saturday

treasure hunter indeed!

i love chips!

yummy! daddy makes a good hot dog!

kinda scared, but kinda excited

clapping for himself when he made the engine noise

big boy on daddy's 4 wheeler

this "treasure hunter"'s fave treasure was various rocks!

It's like springtime today! We are really enjoying a truly beautiful Saturday around the house. When Ethan got up from his nap, we grilled hot dogs and enjoyed eating out on the screened porch. Ethan wants to be a big boy, so he sat in his own chair eating his own chips, then he looked at me with his mouth wide open, meaning he wanted a bite of my food. So I gave him my hot dog of which he ate several bites. He decided the bun was the best part, but we were proud of him for trying something new. Then we played all afternoon on the play set, on the 4 wheeler, in the front and back yards, dancing on the porch and all of it over and again. We had a big time just being outside and running around with Mr. Ethan...he had fun too and wore himself out!

Sweet Dub

With it becoming spring outside, I just noticed today how beautiful our Japanese Maple looks. When I first bought this house over 6 years ago, it was mostly all older retired people living in this neighborhood. I had 2 such couples living across the street from me. Since it was 3 girl living here, they kind of kept an eye on the place and checked in on us regularly. One couple, Dub and Berta became pretty close to us, Dub always brought fresh vegetables from his garden and we enjoyed going over to visit with him at their home. He of course fell in love with Brandon when he met him and really formed a bond with him as well. It's been 5 years ago now since we planted a little twig from a japanese maple he was growing and it's appropriate that now it blooms beautifully! He passed away over a year ago and Brandon and I just paused a minute today when we were admiring that and thought ol' Dub and what a neat man he was to know.

Snowfall

All Arkansans know weather here is crazy...the winter might really kick in around March. But yesterday when the weather channel predicted snow I thought yeah right. Low and behold....it snowed, then it started to stick....and then the flakes go huge! Right after Ethan's nap, he was not interested in the snow at all...but after dinner he wanted to go out and see it for himself with his daddy.