Celebrations

We had a great time of celebrations last weekend - starting off on Friday night getting together with the usual group to celebrate Kent J's 40th birthday and to give the boys their gifts from the friends (we always have a friend gift exchange as we don't have gifts at the actual birthday party).  It was a lovely time to celebrate another year of life!

Chauffeuring Erik around

Addison has a fascination with Elin, but we have to protect poor Elin as Addi gets a little physical at times!

Adam is so good with the kids!

Posing with the birthday boy!

Zachary received a biography on Walt Disney, and he was so engrossed in the book and devoured it...sitting in the van when we got home and then reading as he walked into the house...sitting down in the entryway....until he closed the book emphatically and said "All done, I like that guy!"

We continued the theme the next evening and headed over to the Isidros to celebrate Maddie and Kohlden's 4th birthday - how could the time have gone by this quickly???  It was an Easter egg decorating party - complete with fake eggs that you could dye and decorate - how cool is that?  Zachary and Braelyn had a great time playing soccer in the backyard - it is a sport that they both love.  The boys were especially GIDDY that we took two cars, so Amy took Addison home for bedtime and they got to stay.  "Mommy!!  We weren't the first ones to leave!!"  It is the little pleasures in life I guess (and thank you to Heather C for leaving before Karis did, so that they could have that little moment of joy! :))  With the fact that Amy was only there a short time, photos are sadly lacking as she is usually the one behind the lens :(

Braelyn, Blake and Zachary playing soccer in the yard

We had the crowning jewel of celebrations on Sunday with the Easter party co-hosted by Hilliards and Bergherms.  It is always an amazing event - how could it not be when these two creative geniuses put their combined power behind it!??  It was Addison's first time of being mobile, and she QUICKLY discovered that those eggs had something in them - so after that point she wanted only to sit on the ground and open the eggs, forget about actually looking for anymore!  We had to grab the candy as fast as we could, otherwise she would have been one big sugar-coated bunny by the end!

Showing off his penguin on an iceberg face painting!

Loving the trampoline

Watching the pony rides....

....but definitely not getting on that pony!!

Look at that smirk!!

Collecting her goodies

Elin and Addi

The Z-family

Addison has a particular adoration for Uncle Rob....I wonder why?  She does love to be physical!

Quality time with Devin and  Auntie Lisa, while digging for the treasure inside of that egg!

Phrase of the week:  Shoes "dis" - Addison is starting to explore a few more words, so it is fun to try and get her to speak - although normally she's a non-performer and won't actually say any words when you ask her to.

NHL Time!

This week's post will wrap-up the marathon of Z-boy birthdays!  Kaleb's is the final birthday, and Amy was able to take the day off of work again to spend with him.  He decided that he wanted to go to Monkey Joe's, so we picked up Evan to head on over there - only to discover there had been a small electrical fire (thankfully extinguished almost immediately) but that would delay our "jump time" while the smoke cleared.  The boys were none too happy, but we waited until after lunch and then headed on over there again to enjoy a lot of running around, sliding and jumping!  Oh to have such energy! :)

Birthdays are never complete without an extreme amount of cake, so we celebrated that night with a coconut cake - and Zachary decided that he wanted to blow out candles as well (which is only fair as Kaleb blew out candles on Zachary's birthday as that was the night of our family get-together!)

A whole 6 years old!

Even Kaleb's lips are pursed to help him blow out the candles! 

This year's 'official birthday' party was an NHL hockey party - the boys are all really getting into hockey and sports lately.  With the fact that they are all in ice skating lessons, we decided to hold it at RDV as a skating party.  It was quite fun, and it was the first time that we actually had an "all-boy" party (although two siblings were girls, so they were welcomed of course although we felt a little bad for them to be completely surrounded by so much testosterone!)

The birthday boys!

Another fabulous cake from Jennifer

Love Kaleb's ice hockey rink, complete with players!

Rob had a great idea for the parents to dress up in hockey jerseys as well - sadly Amy did not have one, so she had to borrow Adam's (it was a fashionable 3/4 sleeve on her but at least it fit! :))

Kaleb and Evan skating

It's a free ride!

First time on the ice (although the safety referees made him pass her back - no carrying children!)

Zachary and Cole

The whole crew - Cole, Zachary, Jordan, Blake, Maddie and Loghann (Cole's sisters), Esi, Luke, Evan, Obed, Adam, Justin, Kieran and Kaleb 

Another fun activity that was quickly squelched by the safety officers! :)

The birthday boys!

In other news, we finally bit the bullet and had our roof replaced.  We knew it was in bad shape when we bought the house, and before Christmas noticed a small wet spot in Kaleb's ceiling - so decided that we shouldn't wait any longer before having it done.  Having a roof replaced is 1) LOUD, 2) FAST and 3) EXPENSIVE.  Groan - it is NOT fun to spend that much money and not have anything fun to show for it!

Started in earnest on Thursday, mostly done by the next day on Friday before sundown

 Addison continues to be up to her usual tricks.  Namely she has a fascination with writing all over herself with any sort of writing utensil - sharpie, pen, markers - you name it!  We have a Sabbath dress that has leggings, which is a good thing because her legs are entirely covered in markings! She also lately has a love affair with socks - she always wants to put them on her hands like they are gloves!

Wearing her frilly church socks as gloves!

  We had a last minute get-together last Saturday night for a quick supper, and the green roadster continued to be a hit - even with the little kids that can't reach the pedals to drive it - they were content just to sit in it and pretend to drive! Notice of course Addison is in the driver's seat - maybe she'll be a future Nascar driver! :)

Phrase of the week:  Karis was mentioning to Kaleb that he was taking Amy out for a date night next Saturday night.  Kaleb was exasperated that HE was not going.  Karis replied "Why - you guys get to go out on date night with Mommy all the time, I'm jealous!"  Kaleb replied "You're married, you don't need to go out on dates after you get married!"  Ha ha - hopefully we correct this impression before Kaleb himself gets married!

Addison is slowly deciding to venture into the world of words.  She said "apple" and what sounded very much like "thank-you" this week.  Maybe just maybe she'll talk fully by the time she's 2 - although with the third child, you do realize that they'll all eventually end up at the same place so it's not really a huge rush.

Remote Control Heaven

The boy's birthday season has begun, and last week was Zachary's birthday.  Just in a coincidence of how the calendar worked, we had the family birthday party on Zachary's actual birthday.  It's been a while since we've seen Amy's cousins, so it was fun to have everyone over.  The boys got remote control trucks, and Zachary got a remote control helicopter - and they have had a blast this week playing with these toys!  The trucks have been fun to race outside on the driveway (even Addison wants to claim these trucks as her own!) and the helicopter has to be flown inside - the boys (including Daddy!) have had a blast flying it around and have gotten pretty good!


Grandma made a fantastic soccer cake for this year's birthday extravaganza

Racing to the garage door

The helicopter is up in the air on the top right hand side'ish of the picture by the ceiling as we all watch to see what will happen!

Amy took Zachary's birthday off this year, and we had a very memorable day by hitting the bowling alley.  We took Blake and Evan, as well as Papa-Z, and it was a really fun time (no-one cried that they weren't doing very well....even the kids! :)).


Ready to start the fun!

Enjoying some time on Mom's lap

The bowling boys!

All the Z men

Gram-Z and Papa-Z ended their visit on Tuesday this week, much to our disappointment.  The time always goes by too quickly!  But we had a blast with them, and the boys kept Papa-Z a-runnin' for sure!  Gram-Z was particularly good at getting Kaleb out playing sports with the rest of them, which is awesome to see him starting to play baseball etc (so good for his hand-eye practice for his eyesight!)  Kaleb in the past has been a little more hesitant to play with Papa-Z, but this time he had no such reluctance!


Playing trains with Papa-Z on their huge track (the entire toy alcove!

Kaleb just hit a home run!

Sadly, this is the only picture with all three grandkids - Addison is the MOST UNCOOPERATIVE group picture-taker!

Addison refused to participate in this picture, but the rest look lovely!

Hanging out with Papa - Addison's favorite spot - right on top of the table!

Phrase of the week:  "Ach" - we think that this is Addison's attempt to say Zach!  She has also been heard saying "Help" this week, AND she brought a diaper to Jennifer and announced "Poop" - sure enough, she was poopy!  Finally, some words coming out of this child, and could we hope for early potty training!? :)

Busytown

Busytown - that has a double meaning this week, we've had a busy schedule AND we went to the play titled "Busytown!"  The kids have a field trip typically on Fridays for school, and Amy had a lighter week so was able to join them in the morning for the play, which was really fun.  Addison did pretty well -sitting for probably 45 minutes before getting antsy.  She then passed between Amy and Miss Jennifer to keep herself entertained!

The group of kids that were at the play

We have been enjoying the Z-grandparents this week, and the boys have been in 7th heaven playing with Papa-Z and snuggling up with Grandma in bed in the mornings!  One of the outings was actually another play last Sunday - "The Three Little Pigs" and it was so, so cute - highly recommend it!  We joined the Cochrans for that play, and all of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

 

Enjoying some quality time with his friend Kieran!

 

As Amy ran out the door to jump into the van for the play, she threw on a pair of shoes that she hasn't worn in a few years and as she walked into the theater, she realized that her shoes were literally falling apart!  She "babied" them throughout the evening, crossing her fingers that she would make it through supper (no shirt, no SHOES, no service!!) until she could get back home and it was not a moment too soon as she lost the entire sole of the right shoe on the way in from the garage!  These weren't cheap shoes, so go figure!



Sad state of affairs

Last Saturday was a busy day - starting off with a baby dedication for Kelli and Kent Johnsons for baby Elin (Kelli is the lady in the green dress holding Elin) and in a funny twist of coincidence, one of Amy's employees Laura also dedicated her baby Nadia.  The funny thing was that Kelli and Laura also were in the same dedication on the first go around with their baby boys - Erik and Sebastian!  Laura is standing on the right hand side in this picture below.



Last Saturday evening, we had the Isidros, Grodacks and Bergherms over to our house - and it was so cute, Addison decided that she just loved Colby and had to give him hugs and this picture is almost an exact replica of Brady (Colby's older brother) loving on Addison (and Jennifer being the one holding the baby in both pictures!).  Check out the original below.

Addison and Colby

Brady and Addison

 

 

Zachary is in a soccer league at FLEC, and is playing twice a week.  He is loving the experience so far, and has scored a fair number of goals!  He can't decide whether he likes to be on the field though or in the goal - because when you're in the goal, you actually get to touch the ball! :)  He is quite a good little player and his coach asked whether he played year-round (which he does not) because he has such good instincts!

Racing for the ball - in the green shirt and red shorts.

Addison could really care less about how her brother plays soccer - more interested in playing in the dirt!  Where is this child's parents - she is a bedraggled mess! :)

Speaking of Addison - she is FINALLY starting to settle down enough that she'll actually sit and listen to you read a story to her - before she would sit for about 2 seconds before getting down to run around, but now she'll actually make it through a few stories before having to dash away.

With having the grandparents here, we are all spoiled rotten - and the boys especially have loved it as they have been able to get a lot of dedicated play time in - here are some moments throughout the week with Papa-Z as they enjoy their time together.  Gram-Z has spoiled us all with her delicious meals, and has been encouraging Kaleb to play baseball and enjoy the outdoors - she has a great way of motivating Kaleb to participate!

Playing catch with Papa-Z - Zachary has a really good arm and catching ability so far

Listening to a story - Zachary's favorite bedtime habit.

Counting money with Papa-Z - good for Kaleb's math skills!