Welcome Hammy!

Never in my life did I imagine having a hamster living under the same roof as me.  A cat or two, yes.  A hamster, NO!!! (...and a dog, NEVER! - We'll play with the neighbor's dog!) Apparently, my most stubborn youngest child has different ideas than me on what constitutes an appropriate pet!  Needless to say, he has saved his cash and worn me down.

Introducing...Hammy, "the Speedster", Clayberg!

I seriously thought he was going to jump out of his skin the day we went to get Hammy.  He was over-the-top excited which did my hesitant heart good.  He was grinning from ear to ear and being very philosophical about this new pet.  When we left the pet store, he instructed me to drive very carefully and slowly.  I was NOT to hit any potholes or bumps in the road.  I tried my best, but three blocks from the pet store heard this from my two boys in the backseat:

C: (in a very irritated voice) Mom, drive slower! You promised me you'd be careful driving!  You are hitting all the bumps and we have a baby hamster in the van!
A:  (laughing) Mom's driving like usual!  Just wait for the curb shot!
Yes, those are my loving children.

A few blocks later:

C:  I hope it has babies.
A: You can't have babies without having a boy hamster too.
C: Yes you can!  My friend's hamster had babies with only a girl hamster.
A: Carter, you don't know anything.  Just wait until you are in 5th grade and have "the talk"!  (Austin's class just finished with "the talk".)
C: Duh Austin. But you only need the girl hamster. (I told you he was stubborn my youngest!)
A: (gives a polite version of how babies are made and only blushed a little)
C:  Hmmm...I still think we can have babies without the boy.
Aye, aye, aye!  I had no idea we were going to get a good old fashioned reproduction lesson out of this little adventure.

Once we got home, I had a giggling fit watching the boys try to get Hammy from the box the pet store had put him in to the ball Carter purchased for him or her or it.  (I have no idea what Hammy's gender is!)  They thought the safest way to do it so he wouldn't escape and become a kitty treat was the bathtub with the bathroom door shut!  It only took them about 10 minutes and ended up with "the owner" of Hammy standing on the ledge of the bathtub freaked out asking his "big" brother to help.  Austin to the rescue!

All three of us then sat on the kitchen floor watching a little purple ball with a teeny tiny hamster rolling around.  Fascinating life we lead!

While watching Hammy roll around this brilliant conversation took place:
C: I think he's "white blind".
A: Yeah, I don't think he can see white. He just ran into my sock.
C: Just what I said, he's white blind.

The conversation continued like this:
A: Let's pop some popcorn and pretend like we're watching a movie.
C: Yeah, this hamster thing is cool.  He just rolls around in the ball.  I could watch this movie all day long.

Coco Marie

The neighbors have a new fur baby, and her name is Coco Marie.

The humans in our house are a bit smitten with her too :)

Our two fur babies are not so fond of her though :(

Celebration!

Carter and Colton ~ they are the best of friends and call themselves brothers.  Their birthdays are a week apart and they couldn't be more different size-wise. They are a perfect little compliment to each other. This friendship started at kindergarten open house, and they've been as thick as thieves ever since.  I love that Colton just walks right in our home like he lives there and hands me all his stuff to hold when we are out and about just like I was his mom!  Carter does the same thing when they are at Colton's house.  They decided this year to celebrate their birthdays together since they have the same little posse of friends.  Aaron actually nicknamed the four of them "the posse" in first grade and it's how all the parents have referred to them every since.

They started the night at our house with some basketball and pizza.  Needless to say, the decibel level at my house increased greatly with all the excitement of "the big night"!  Both Carter and Colton have been talking all week about how it was going to be "the best night of their lives":)

Can you tell they are ready to party?

We then headed to Perfect Games for bowling, lazer tag, and arcade games.  One of the highlights for them was the fact that Fred Hoiberg was bowling a couple lanes down from them with his kids.  The boys were pretty fired up and ready to have a fun time!

We saw all sorts of bowling techniques!

Can you tell they hit the jackpot at the arcade?

Thankfully Colton's parents offered to host the overnight :)  They headed to Colton's for some movies and a sleepover after we had finished at Perfect Games.  According to Carter, Colton's parents fixed a "feast" for breakfast which was a good thing because they finished off the big party with the track meet on Saturday morning! Needless to say, I had a VERY tired boy on my hands Saturday night!

Run! Run! Run!

Carter and three of his buddies participated in an indoor track meet today and had so much fun.  I'm not sure any of them knew what an actual track meet was, but they were rip roarin' ready to go and jumped in with both feet! 

The first event they did was a softball throw.  I had to chuckle when I saw how much room they had given the kids, knowing the arm Carter has on him.  Needless to say, he hit the back wall a couple of times!  He wasn't the only one either as he ended up taking second place.

Austin was too old to participate, but he sure had fun helping out.  He got to measure for the softball throw, retrieve balls, and hold the string for the end of the running races.

The 40 meter dash earned him a second place finish.  He truly didn't stand a chance against his best little buddy who is a tiny little speedster!

Hurdles were hilarious!  They were a piece of cake for Carter as they were only 12 inches tall.  He barely had to break stride :)  He got third place in the hurdles.

"The Posse" was the team name for him and his friends in the 4x100 relay.  This was the event they were so excited for and had been practicing their hand-offs for the past couple of days.  They ended up taking second place in the relay.

An awards ceremony was held after each of the events which was so fun to watch.  There was such a positive atmosphere to the event and all abilities were celebrated.  The four of them are excited for the other two that will be held this spring.

St. Patty's Day

My two little leprechauns and I took advantage of the terrific spring weather and headed to Des Moines today to watch the St. Patrick's Day parade.  We were able to sit right outside Aaron's office building and enjoy all the interesting people who were decked out for the day!

  

Everywhere you looked, people were decked out in all shades of green lining the streets and celebrating. The boys were quite intrigued by all the green mohawks that were being sported.  I sure hope they don't remember those the next time we decide to enjoy St. Patty's Day!  They had fun catching all the green beads that were tossed out during the parade and were terrific about sharing their "goods" with the sweet little girl who was standing beside them.  It made my mama heart proud to see them share on their own accord.

You know the parade is l....o....n....g when the boys ask if we can go before it was even close to ending. We left about an hour and a half after it started to join Aaron for a late lunch.  They had had enough!  The boys love being able to go to ING to see Aaron and have lunch with him.  It's a special treat for them since we don't make it down there too often.

What a fun day it was for me to hang out with the boys during our spring break!  If only it would last a little longer :)

Beautiful Day

What a gorgeous day...

sunshine

kitchen wallpaper removal progress

an hour and a half massage

kids outside all day with friends

a home cooked meal

a hubby who's almost home (and ready to help remove the wallpaper I can't reach!)

and my kindle just waiting to be picked up and enjoyed

I love spring break!!!

Crazy fun

Ding Dong! Ding Dong!

You just never know who's going to be on the other side when you open the door!  It was our neighbor Bobbie all bundled up and ready to go rollerblading with the boys.  Aaron nearly fell over laughing and told the boys to hurry up and get upstairs for some fun! Now...my thermometer says it's 21 degrees outside.  That surely wouldn't stop this threesome from eeking every moment of fun out of spring break!

Hopefully they'll all come back in one piece!

Spring Break Kick Off!

How do you celebrate the end of conference week, great conferences for the boys, and the start of spring break?  A little bowling at Perfect Games of course!

It's going to be a great week!  

Sunday Funday

I came home from a quick visit to a friend in the hospital on Sunday afternoon to this...

Aaron, Austin and the DINKS (the neighbors) having the first Sunday Funday of 2011. Please notice the snowflakes!!!  They insist that it wasn't snowing when they started the fire, but I think they are crazy!  My conversation with Austin went like this...

L: What are you doing?

A: Being rednecks!

L: Shakes head and laughs.

I headed inside and snuggled up in a warm and toasty bed with a sick Carter instead. 

He's 5!

Do you see that twinkle in his eyes?  It was sparkling yesterday as we celebrated his 5th birthday.  What fun it was to watch him excitedly open his gifts and blow out the candles on his Star Wars cake after we sang happy birthday to him.  It didn't work to freeze time with my boys so they wouldn't grow up any faster, so I'm sure it probably won't work with him either!  

One of these days he'll be as tall as the balloons!

My grandma celebrated her 80th birthday this week too.  That's pretty darn impressive if you ask me!  What a sweet little duo these guys are.  Grandma absolutely adores her great-grandchildren.  I sure hope she has many more years to soak up the joy from them!

Birthday wishes to both Grandma and Braden.  We love you!