Easter

Our third Easter in a row without Ryan...I did my best.  I decided to focus less on capturing our activities on "film" and more on enjoying the activities with the boys.  Thus, I used my cheap point and shoot, often with the flash.  Oh, my!  So, I apologize for the blown out photos and odd colors.  I don't feel like fixing them.  :)

The baskets.  I'm proud that I remembered the baskets in advance this year.  Last year it wasn't until the kids were out of school on Spring Break that I remembered I had to play Easter Bunny.  It was the one time I was grateful for my pack rat tendencies as I was able to create baskets with what I had on hand.  This year the baskets rocked!

Despite all the goodies, both boys were most excited by the chocolate items.  I can't blame them.

Next up was our egg hunt in the overgrown backyard.  It makes it last a little longer when the grass is 2 feet high...that's my story and I'm sticking it to it.

The boys are holding up their loot--stretchy robots, silly bands and tattoos.

For lunch, I filled empty egg cartons with halves of their plastic eggs.  I put together a snack lunch that the boys were very excited to eat.  I probably saw this idea on Pinterest.  Thank you, Pinterest, for making me seem far more creative than I really am.

Naturally, we decorated our eggs this year following a space/alien theme.  Target had these adorable $5 kits that once again made me seem far cooler and more creative than I am.  We purchased an extra kit (animals theme) for next year!

Back to March

Oddly, the easiest way to share pictures with Ryan when he is deployed is via this blog.  Forgive me as we jump back to March to share some pictures.  Easter photos are coming soon, I promise.

Ian lost another two teeth in March, bringing his total lost teeth to 4.  I had the pleasure of yanking the fourth tooth out because he left it hanging by a thread for days and it was driving me crazy.  There was blood and screaming, but 10 minutes later he posed for this ridiculous photo.

On March 13 we said good-bye to Ryan for the third time for this deployment.  This turned out to be the "real deal" as he flew to the ship later that evening.  Since we just completed our last deployment 9 months earlier and Ryan was in and out so much during those 9 months, it seemed normal to say good-bye yet again.  As usual, I was the only one who cried, but that only lasted for about 2 minutes.  This time I knew I could keep the kids alive and happy without Ryan for an extended period of time.  :)

I almost forgot to take a St. Patrick's Day picture!  I apologize for the odd expressions and blurry photo.  The boys were on their way up the stairs to get ready for bed and I quickly snapped this crazy shot.  We enjoyed a fun rainbow-themed playdate with a rainbow fruit salad and some cute crafts, but I won't bore you with those photos...this time.

March ended with back-to-back school programs at Nathan's school.  This year was a patriotic theme in honor of the military.  Of course.  Instead of crying, I sat with friends and laughed at the kids the whole time.  That's what we're supposed to do during these programs, right?

The kindergarten class sang the National Anthem.  It really was quite adorable.  Nathan was front and center and sang his heart out.

We have many active-duty families at our preschool/kindergarten.  Here are photos of the deployed fathers of kids from the kindergarten and 4-year-old preschool classes.  The music director read the names of each deployed parent and had the child wave to the crowd.  In the three years we've had children at this school, I think Ryan has been able to attend one program -- the school hosts 3 each year.

Back to April soon!

Birthday Boy

What a different four years make!  Ian enjoying the monster truck at Chuck E. Cheese's on his birthday in 2008:

And still loving the monster truck yesterday:

Pretty soon they're going to be too old for Chuck E. Cheese's!  Well, that's probably the best thing about them getting older.  (Am I right, moms???)

Six & Seven

Last night was the final evening our house was full of six-year-old boys so we snapped a quick photo.  Ian turned SEVEN today!  Can you believe it?  I cannot!  He amazes us each day with his compassion for others, his intelligence and quick wit as well as his ability to pack away more food than the rest of us without putting on any extra weight.

We don't have many photos from today's celebration as we experienced an F/A-18 plane crash a couple miles from our party site shortly after our celebration began.  As my phone began ringing off the hook, I spent quite a bit of time responding to texts, calls, emails, etc., all while shielding the kids from the event, passing out Chuck E. Cheese tokens and taking the party back to the house for cake and ice cream.  We are thankful that no casualties have been reported at this time.

I'll post at least one photo of the birthday boy soon!