Happy Easter!

Coloring eggs, a fun favorite tradition for these 3, plus Grandma Bonnie who came to spend the weekend with us!

Saturday afternoon we went to our friend's The Millers Easter party.  The boys participated in the biggest egg hunt, ate yummy food and played with their friends.  We always enjoy this annual tradition with our good friends!

Easter morning the boys found their baskets overflowing with treats.  New beach towels, summer outfits, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, stuffed bunnies,  and of course jelly beans and chocolate bunnies.  Next they hunted for eggs in the house that were full of more candy and money!

 Annie, also being spoiled by Grandma!

Annie is always lurking in the background!

After attending mass, the boys posed for a few pictures before changing into comfier clothes!  We spent the afternoon playing in the yard, launching rockets and helicopters and resting in the hammock.  The weather cooperated with our outdoor plans!   Later we dined on a delicious ham dinner. 

Ben's new smile

With a little help from his friends Ruby and Louise, Ben has lost his 2 front teeth!  

We picked up the pups after being groomed and they were so excited to see us that they jumped up and bopped Ben in the mouth knocking out his 2 front teeth!  Ben excitedly showed me his teeth that he spit into his hands.  

I'm sure we were the talk of Petco that afternoon!

Truly, never a dull moment around here!

Winter basketball session

All 3 boys played the winter basketball session at the Boys and Girls Club.  Nick's team was the Purple People Eaters.  Sam and Ben played on the same team with Eric as their coach!  They were the Cardinals.  The boys all improved as the season progressed.  The Cardinals even won their first game in the playoffs.  Unfortunately their season ended at the next playoff game.

Ben was #9.

Spring is here, I hope!

Tonight we got out the front porch cushions for the season.  Before I could even get them all set up, Ben had flopped onto the couch, asking if we could have breakfast here tomorrow morning.  I love his requests!  They just might be possible as it was 75 degrees here today!  

We all enjoyed being outdoors tonight!  The boys were playing whiffle ball, baseball and climbing trees.  We are so ready for spring!

Happy 7th Birthday Ben!

Ben is 7!  

He began his morning with his favorite breakfast, doughnuts with 7 candles!

We had a fun day planned including a party with friends, but first there were family presents to open!

Ben is really into Plants vs. Zombies, a video game, right now!  The plants fight the zombies by throwing vegetables at them.  Thankfully Ben is more of a fan of the plants than the zombies!  He was thrilled to get a few plant stuffed animals!

We made a Plants vs. Zombies cake for his party.  I baked and frosted the cake and Ben decorated it with puzzle pieces.  He had the best time decorating the cake while recreating the game!

We had lots of games and activities planned for Ben's party, including planting plants, 

a laser maze,

and the biggest hit of all, tennis with flyswatters and a balloon!

And of course, a piñata!

To end the perfect birthday, a trip to Bub's and a Bub dog!

It's hard to believe our youngest is 7.  Ben is very lovable , always sharing kisses and hugs with me.  He  is still all about monster trucks and loves to play games, especially Plants vs. Zombies.  He also is a big fan of his brothers, watching them play all of their sports and video games too.  Ben has played basketball this year and really liked it. He is becoming quite a good reader as well, Bad Kitty are his favorite books.  Hot dogs are his favorite as well as chocolate milk!

Cub Scouts

With all 3 boys in scouts and Eric and I leading Sam's den, we are deep into the Cub Scout scene!  It has it's advantages....

We toured the Dallara car factory in Speedway on a recent Saturday.  

Look at the car we found!  Da' Bears!  

We had a garage tour and learned all about how the race cars are made. There were also simulators for us to test out our driving skills!  Driving the simulator was a lot more difficult that it looks!

The Blue and Gold celebration was in February.  All 3 boys earned their rank badges!

The Blue and Gold had a Star Wars theme and these characters were on hand to help celebrate with the kids!

The kids made lightsabers out of wrapping paper rolls and then fought battles with them!  What fun for lots of little boys!

Next up, the Pinewood Derby.
Preparing for the Pinewood Derby.  Eric helped the boys carve their cars, but they did the designing and painting.

The night before the derby the boys got a chance to try out their race cars on the track.  They must have raced them at least a dozen times each!  That was my favorite part of the derby!  After they were happy with the performance, weight, etc of their cars they turned them in to impound until the next day for the official race!

Ben and a couple of buddies from his Tiger den.

Racing fun!

Sam and his baseball car.

Ben's car had a monster truck look to it, while Nick went for the sleek, all black look.

The boys didn't come home with any trophies but they had fun building their cars and racing them.