First of all we got a new front door this spring and love it. Tony let me paint it a brick red color, which I have always wanted. So that is a quick bit of homeowners news. Then we celebrated Tony's 27th birthday. We didn't do too much. After we celebrated Tony's birthday we celebrated Owen's 5th birthday. He has been a little obsessed with Mario Bros. video games lately and wanted a Mario party. So we threw a Mario bash. We played games like Pin the moustache on Mario (drawing courtesy of Tony's mom Holly), a mushroom toss (with real mushrooms), bowling down pins with coins on them, and more. I made a toadstool cake and star shaped cupcakes. I have to say, that I am very impressed with how my cake turned out, I'm not trying to brag!:) Owen got a bunch of gifts which he loves, including two rats (one for him and one for Raymond). They are both girls, and very cute but being pregnant my midwife has advised me to err on the side of caution and avoid them during pregnancy just in case. Owen named his rat Lala and Raymond named his Toekey. I have NO IDEA where they came up with the names, but they had them decided before they even left the pet store. We thought 5 was a good age to have his own responsibility for a pet. He helps Tony feed them and play with them and clean their cage once a week.
Right after Owen's party we were bombarded with a super crazy week of me teaching Vacation Bible school at church, so that was a very busy and long week, but fun and ultimately worth it. I had never taught vbs before and had volunteered to teach the 5 and 6 year olds. But since the 3 and 4 year old class had only 7 kids and I had 25, we combined classes so the other teacher could help me out. It was fine, the activities were comparable for the ages.
After VBS, the boys started playing t-ball, which Tony is coaching this year. They play for the YMCA, so it is very laid back and introductory. Tony is doing a great job as the coach, and I think the parents are overall impressed with his ability. The boys started out timid, but have made noticeable progress in their ability as well. Raymond is obsessed with baseball and plays all day every day at home, and Owen just is there to have fun. They are the red team this year and they are called the Angels. Appropriate name for our new dedication to being more active in church and Tony getting confirmed, I thought! :) We play for an hour and a half every Sat. until Aug. 1. I don't help Tony with the team or the boys much, because I have to wrangle Judd during the game because all he wants to do is run out to the outfield and play with Owen, Raymond and Daddy, so I have to hold him down.
At the end of May my parents and sister Kelly came to visit for Tony's confirmation into the church and to celebrate both his and Owen's birthday. So I have some pictures of that too.
We have found out a couple of weeks ago that Tony was denied for his vacation that we were planning in July to go to Gillette for the high school reunion and hang out with old friends. I am super bummed about that, but I'm not going to attempt that trip without Tony and it just wouldn't be the same. It was supposed to be our family vacation for the summer. So now we are left with maybe one weekend in Aug. to visit my parents, hopefully. I haven't been to their house in Missouri in a year and a half!
Owen is now 5 and will be entering into Kindergarten in Aug. So that is his big update. Raymond will be 4 at the end of Sept. and he is as headstrong as always. He is mister independent and everything has to be a fight with him, but he's still super cute and cuddly and I love him. Judd is my little bug still. He is climbing EVERYTHING! He climbs up on step stools, on the couch, on the bed, stands in his high chair, and today I watched him climb up a big slide and when he got to the top he went down the ladder. (Raymond taught him that one). He climbs up the ladder and slides all by himself. He loves to play and even though he started out being scared at the sprinkler park, he is now the one at the swimming pool that will go under water!!!!! Owen and Raymond won't do that. He is very active and independent, but not in a fighting way like Raymond. He still doesn't talk too much, but says a few words. He babbles non-stop (he must get that from his mommy), but he does say Gabba Gabba, for his favorite t.v. show Yo Gabba Gabba. I have to admit, I used to HATE that show, but Judd is so dang cute when he watches it that I have to let him. He gets so excited and dances and sings and claps his hands. He loves it. He just started saying Choo Choo for train and Woof Woof for dog.
So I guess that is where I will close for now. I have babbled on and on. We are so busy that we are not preoccupied with the pregnancy which is different than the other three, but good too, so I don't dwell on how anxious I am to have the baby. Instead time is just flying by. We will be able to find out at the end of Aug. what we are having. So start placing your bets! :)
Happy 4th of July everyone, I'm sure I will have a post with pictures for that as well. Enjoy the multitude of pictures!
