"Did my guys come today?"

For two weeks this is what I have been hearing just about every day from Cooper.
He spent a good deal of his birthday money, allowance money, even a little babysitting money and ordered Lego minifigures off Ebay. You can buy them a the store for $3 a pack but you don't know what you are going to get inside so he decided to just order complete sets.
Cooper has always had a love affair with Lego but the little mini figures have always been what he covets most.
Finally we got the slip in the mail to say we had a parcel to pick up. We warned him that the parcel may not be his, it may be something Tony ordered for work. (I don't think that Tony actually did order anything) But when we got there and he saw that 4-letter word on the label he was so excited.
Now I am thinking that he is 13, and this thing he's got for Lego won't last forever, but then again, maybe it will. And that would be great.

The joy and time spent building, arranging and generally just hanging out with these little guys just over the last two days, I'm sure Cooper would agree, is well worth the fact that he is now just about broke.

T-Ball

We have had our share of rain-outs for Taggart's t-ball this season but last night we had a beautiful night.
Even though the Canucks were playing our little green team showed up in full force.
Taggart loves it and they have stopped hitting off the tee and our now being pitched to.

I asked for a 'thumbs-up'. This is what I got.

He likes batting better than gloving. Gloving is what he calls being on the field. Appropriate, I guess.

But his favorite - the base run at the very end of the game. He really likes to run. 

He

He loves to sleep in our bed. He ends up there at least 2 or 3 times a week. He says he doesn't sleep at all in his own bed and he can fall asleep easier in our bed.

He still wants to play with Nana every day.

He is loving the sunshine right now. He likes nothing more than being outside.

He hates it when the day is over. There is always so much more that he wants to do. He can't see past it to know that another day is coming right after this one.

He is really into playing hockey right now and when he has no one to play with he has been known to throw the occasional hockey stick.

He is starting to read like a pro and often turns his lamp back on after good nights to read 'one more page'.

He comes out of school every day with at least one shoelace untied and about 1/2 dozen knots in the  other one.

He has the greatest smile right now.


Both photos taken in our bed early this morning.

Changes

A few things that have changed around here in the past couple of weeks:

Before:

After:

The play room/computer room/scrapbooking room underwent a big makeover. I am so loving this new space that I can "play" in and it is making me happy whenever i just walk by it.

Before:

After:

Cooper decided to grow his hair into his shaggy look about 3 years ago so when he decided that he wanted to cut it all off I really hoped he was sure. I think he liked it right away and he still seems to be happy with his decision. I still have to do a double take whenever I see him. Still as handsome as ever though.

Before:

After:

This crazy loose tooth has been driving us all crazy, but it refuses to let go. Makes for a pretty hilarious smile.
Edit: There is now a new "after". The tooth fairy will be making a visit tonight. Will post a shot of the new smile here soon.

Go Fish

Reagan and Taggart have been very busy practicing all their underwater songs for their musical production of "Go Fish"that they finally got to perform for us this week. I really love school productions. The kids are so excited and so proud and sometimes a little embarrassed about what they are about to do.

I spent some time along with other Moms, cutting out and decorating 20 little seahorses for Tag's class of cowboys and cowgirls. And also another day decorating the gym stage to be an underwater wonderland.

Opa, Nana, Cooper and I watched the afternoon performance and Tony and Daniela went to watch the evening.

Taggart and his class performed the song "Round Up Under the Sea" and Reagan's class did "We're Sharks". They were rapping sharks...this is the part that Reagan found a little embarrassing but she did great. They both did.

Taggart, although excited, found the whole thing exhausting. Three performances in two days is a lot, especially because they had to stand on the risers throughout all the performances, not just their own.

When I asked Taggart how the dress rehearsal went the day before, his response was:
"Mom, it was an ocean of pain". Seriously....how very clever and totally appropriate. I told his teacher about that the next day and we both had a good laugh. "How very Taggart" she said.

Easter (x2)

Good Friday here at our place. A beautiful sunny day just perfect for an Easter Egg Hunt with our cousins.



Unfortunately, this day was also day one of our families run with the flu. Hudson was feeling pretty crummy but he managed to get out and find his eggs and sit in the sun for a while. After that, right back to the couch.

Olivia, we missed you!


Because of the flu, our Easter Sunday plans got canceled. So Opa came over this weekend and we all went for a beautiful walk in our trails. Opa brought some Easter treats that we hid and they were off and running.