Busy Busy Busy

I am happy to announce that all the hard work with the Robotics team paid off.  We brought home 1st place.  Evan was just as happy and proud if he had won it himself.  I am glad about that since he had to attend every practice and stay late after school all year.

We are winding down the school year, but there is still lots of excitement going on.  Evan has all sorts of fun next week.  Claire will be very glad to get to stay home as well. 

We are making lots of plans for the summer that include the nearby water park, baseball camp, possible vacation, and Mommy tutoring.  

10 More Days

We are down to our last 10 days of school.  I can't believe that Evan is almost finished with Kindergarten!  We are very busy with year-end activities.  

I have been very busy with the school Robotics team that I sponsor.  We are participating in a competition this weekend, and the team has been working hard.  Ladd and the kids have been very supportive of all of the time it has taken.  Evan has been hanging out with the team every day.  He will probably be sick of it by the time he is old enough to actually join the team.  

Claire is a sweet child with the TERRIBLE TWO's.  Frequently, she grins at us like she is saying, "I know I'm cute, you can't help but give in to me."  When she is sweet, she is oh so sweet.  I am looking forward to being able to have her at home with me most of the summer.

Claire turned 2!

Well, it is hard to beleive it, but our baby girl turned 2 yesterday.  We had a small cake at home, and we gave her a Little Mermaid tricycle.  Claire loved it because it plays music and blows bubbles.  She and Evan also had fun playing on the new slip-n-slide.  Whatever Evan does, Claire has to trys to do too.  She is a cutie, and Daddy says she is a princess, but we might be a little partial.  

Two more firsts

Well, last night Mommy went to get her nails done as a belated Mother's Day present.  While gone, Claire decided that it was time to peepee in the potty for Daddy!  I think that it is all about her deciding that she wants to.

On the way to school this morning, Evan was reading a book to himself.  He was actually able to tell me about it when he was done!  He reads to us all the time, but this is the first time I really observed him voluntarily actually reading a whole book himself!

We went to the school talent show tonight.  Evan is already planning his tryout for next year, but right now I think he has a plan to include almost every type of act that we saw.  We will see what happens next year.

Evan's Birthday and Mother's Day

Sunday was a great day!  Evan was in a fantastic mood all day.  He listened and followed directions pretty much all day without a problem.  

In the morning we got up and went to church.  Evan got a LSU hat from his Aunt Jenny, and we informed him that we would take him shopping for a pair of Heelys for his birthday.  For those that don't know, Heelys are shoes with removable wheel that fits into the heel.  He has been asking for these since he was about 3 1/2.  

We surprised Evan with a trip to the Rainforest Cafe as a combination Mother's Day/Birthday lunch.  At the end, he was surprised with a chocolate Volcano cake that had a sparkler in the top, and he stood on his chair while they sang Happy Birthday to him (the alternative one of course).  

After lunch we went shopping for the Heelys.  Mom and Dad lucked out as we found a pair on sale for half price.  It was a good thing that we didn't try to buy them ahead of time as we ended up with a pair two sizes bigger than what he has been wearing in a shoe.  Evan loved them, and wore them out of the mall.  

We had a video conference call with The Haluskas in New Jersey (Grandma, Grandpa, Great-Grandma, and Isaac),  and got to share all of the weekends events, as well as wish Grandma Amanda a Happy Mother's Day.

Evan went to bed with his Heelys--holding the wheels in his hands, and Mom and Dad were glad he had a happy day, but a bit melancholy about him growing up.  

Saturday game and party

Saturday was a big day for us.  First of all, Aunt Jenny arrived around midnight on Saturday, which was very exciting.  Evan had a baseball game on Saturday.  He got two good hits, and he got somebody out at 3rd base.  There were several other plays where he scrambled and made good calls as well.  He was so excited to have Aunt Jenny there to watch.  We think he was also pumped from the pre-game donut he had.  

That afternoon we had a joint birthday party for Evan and Claire.  Evan had about 9 of his friends from school, and we had a few good friends from the neighborhood.  We had it in our backyard.  The kids had a great time bouncing in our bounce house (its a small one--last year's birthday present to the kids), painting each other's faces, playing on the swingset, and some other games that I came up with.  They also got to do a pinata and have pizza.  I think all the kids were worn out at the end of the party, and Evan was one happy kid.  Claire was pretty pleased with the whole thing as well, and kept going strong all afternoon.  She held her own with those bigger kids.  

It was a great party, and I am glad we did it at home, but I am also glad that I only had to do one of these this year.  

Rough Riders Game

We had a great time at the Rough Riders game on Friday night.  The Rough Riders is the farm team for the Rangers, and are located in Frisco.  They were having Teacher Appreciation night, so I was able to get great tickets that included bullpen seats, a hat, and food, for a great price!  Evan had a blast.  He had his glove at the ready all night waiting for a foul ball to come his way.  Unfortunately, none made it out to us.  He had a sparkle in his eyes and was glued to the game pretty much all night.  He got the foam finger he desperately wanted for earning 14 green days (for behavior) in a row at school.  

Claire had a pretty good time as well.  She completely charmed the grandmotherly ladies that were sitting behind us.  Before the end of the game she was sitting in their laps and reading the program with them.  There were some rough moments when she threw an absolute fit because I wouldn't let her take off all of her clothes in the stands.  I finally figured out that she wanted a dry diaper, and wasn't just trying to strip.  

A good time was had by all, and we look forward to going to another game in the future.

Not Swine Flu

Well, its not swine flue, but the rest of us have had the blech!  Fortunately, Ladd and I didn't seem to have it as bad as Evan.  Regardless, it zapped Ladd and I bad.  We both spent the majority of a day sleeping, and then sitting around being sluggish.  Hopefully, we are all back to normal now.

We are on final countdown to the kids birthday party on Saturday, and we are having a busy week. Besides the party we are having baseball practice, a baseball game, going to watch the Rough Riders play (minor league team from Frisco), and Aunt Jenny is coming to visit!  Fortunately, despite the sickness, I managed to clean the carpet and get a lot of laundry done this weekend.  So, those are two things off my list.  

I have also been very busy with my robotics team.  We are heading to competition on the 23rd, so we are working like crazy to get ready!