Spring Break Baby!

Spring break always seems to come at a perfect time. My second graders were tired, my own kids were tired, and I was tired of the constant going. We didn't have anything big planned, but we made sure we did something fun everyday! We slept in everyday, well Sophia did, watched cartoons, and ate breakfast at home with leisure, which is something we don't get to do during the school week. Our spring break was perfect for us. This is what we did...
MONDAY- Grocery Shopping (which was way overdue!) and played at the park by our house in the SUN (yes...SUN)!
TUESDAY- Made a fort in the morning and played at the new play place for kids in town. It was great because parents can play too for free and the admission is good for all day.

Kenton cooked

Drove the truck

And hung out in the ball area. This is where we were the majority of our time.

The bounce house was fun. Sophia loved following her cousin Tyler around. The question of the day was, "Mom where's Tyler?" It's good because he gets her to try new things when she's scared.

Kenton liked the bounce house as long as I was with him. He thought he was pretty cool jumpin like the big kids.

The big slide was my favorite. Kenton seemed to like it too. He was serious until he got to the bottom and then smiled.

Here are the girls going down the slide. The kids got tricky with how they went down as long as they were feet first.

We left to have naps, but then took TJ back when he got off work so he could play with us some more. After that was Blueberry icecream:)

WEDNESDAY- Played outside in the SUN (yes I did say there was sun again:)). We did a practice Easter egg hunt outside and got out many toys to play with. Sophia even thanked me for letting her play outside. Can you tell we have been outside deprived? Later that night Nama babysat and TJ and I went out on a date:)!

THURSDAY- Spagettie Factory for lunch and then the Children's Musuem in Tacoma. Did you know it is run by donations? I haven't been there since they moved locations. Now it's bigger and has a range of activities for the different ages. Peddling this bike made the wings flap above her.

The water was a hit for everyone. Kenton looked so cute in the blue apron, but it was big so I eventually just let him go for it.

Yup, more balls. Are you seeing a trend with this guy?! Balls are seriously his favorite:) I was very grateful "Teen" was with us because she followed Sophia and Tyler around, I followed Kenton around, and Lauren checked in here and there. It was quite the busy place at first, but then died down. It was neat and way better than it was before!

FRIDAY- BBQ at my brother's house with my side of the family. We ate yummy food and dyed easter eggs. Kenton kept trying to eat his, which was cracking me up.

Can you see his excitement that he has a crayon. He was watching all the other kids do it, so he wanted to keep up. Now he's concentrating

Sophia was into it too of course. She had 11 to dye (I cracked 1) and made sure that she did an egg for all of us.

And here are her final products.

SATURDAY- Easter egg hunt at the base. Best part...it's FREE:) It's a great event!!! (Did you notice it was sunny again?)

We checked in and then got the kids baskets. They also got to pick lots of prizes from the tables. The prize tables were organized into age groups so the prizes matched the age interest. And I have to say there were some good toys too. Everything from stuffed animals, bubble wands, sippy cups, activity books, etc.

Kenton's age group went first. He kept trying to go before it was time. He was telling daddy that the eggs were out there and that he was ready to go!

TJ put him down when it was time and he was off. He just started walking really fast through the eggs.

TJ showed him what to do and then he got the hang of it. I was really impressed that he got so in to it:)

Here is Miss Sophia ready for her turn. Check out all those eggs behind her.

The amount of people around her made her a little nervous, so she asked if I could walk with her. I said of course, especially because I wanted to take pictures and there were a lot of people. She was a pro and filled her basket up!

They had to check out their eggs and see what they got inside. They got stickers, tatoos, and candy.

After that we went to their cousins 1st birthday party and ended our day with the true meaning of Easter lesson. Tomorrow is Easter, which means the next day after that is school/work. (Insert whine here). I am trying to spare you the whining from me, but I just love my time with my kids. I truly appreciate it and feel blessed to have had a great week. The count down to summer is definately on!

Kenton's 1st Haircut

Kenton had his 1st haircut: BEFORE / AFTER
When Sophia was a baby, TJ was very protective of her hair and did not want it cut. The past few weeks we have been saying that Kenton needs a haircut, but I found myself being the protective one of his hair this time. I loved my babies curls! I didn't want his haircut and lose those precious curls. BUT when 4 people in 2 days mistaked him as a girl, that motivated me to get his haircut. Our friend and very talented hairdresser cut his hair for the first time! (1st two pictures are from my cell phone....I was bad mom and forgot my camera or so I thought...it ended up being in my bag the whole time, ugh).

He sat still pretty good on my lap. I think the sucker has something to do with it. I am all about bribery in moments like these, hahaha. First haircut and first sucker!

Getting his haircut definately took his baby look away, but he looks good! TJ can't stop saying, "He's so handsome!" He is going to melt some girls hearts:)

We love our big boy's haircut! It still has some wave in it, so we'll see if the curls come back as it gets longer!

Hey Batter Batter!

CHECK HER OUT!!!
She picked the number 4 because she is 4...duh! hehe

Sophia is starting her first year of T-ball. We debated on having her play because that would mean 3 years of t-ball, but we decided to have her play after talking with her about it. She wasn't too sure about it at first, but every day got more and more excited. Sophia is quite the perfectionist. She gets embarrassed when she messes up. She gets embarrassed when a lot of people cheer for her (too much attention) and when a lot of people tell her what to do. She is SOOO like me as a kid, which is why she needed to get on a team so she gets used to cheering, making a mistake when people are watching and being okay with it, etc. She got cleats, baseball pants, and her uniform and could not wait for practice to start. She had to put her uniform on for Grandpa Brown and her Uncle Caleb! She showed them how fast she could run:)

TJ and I talked about being okay with her just blending in the outfield just to get the "team" experience this year and prepared ourselves for some melt downs. Today was the day...Her first day of practice!!! She woke up wanting to wear her uniform all day:) When we got to the practice she seemed energized. TJ paired up the kids to play catch and Sophia was paired up with the only other girl on the team. She grabbed my leg immediately and I thought "here we go!" I stood by her to get her going and then she was fine playing catch by herself. Then it was time to run the bases (something she has done a thousand times with us at TJ's softball games). She had me stand by her and I ran halfway to first base with her and she kept going. She turned to go to second, when all of a sudden she fell to her knees and started crying because Coach Mike told her she forgot to touch 1st base. I had a chat with her about being brave and doing things to get better even when we're nervous, yadda yadda and she decided to try again. She still wanted me close, but continued to participate. The rest of the practice went well. She did the hitting stations and outfield drills. I thought maybe because she was the youngest on the team that her skill level would be a little lower but that was not the case! She held her own!

After practice she told me she had a lot of fun. She said, "I was nervous at first, and then I wasn't!" Tomorrow is another practice so we'll see what her comfort level is. She just needs reassurance and practice to get comfortable and then she's golden. The first game might be interesting though, haha! It's fun to see her playing after watching her cousins play for so many years. Crazy to think we are getting in to the busy sport stage....BUT I LOVE IT!!!

Love This

I sometimes contemplate moving Kenton to the other side so it would give Sophia more room and so it would make it easier for her to buckle her seatbelt, BUT then I wouldn't get to be a part of these moments. Sophia is truly so sweet (most of the time) with Kenton. She likes to hold his hand in the car, give him his binkie, play with him, and when she falls asleep it's always on his car seat. PRECIOUS MOMENTS! (P.S.-We are totally working on the sucking her thumb thing...ugh!)

Valentine's Day

(This post is a little late)

We had a Valentine making party the weekend before Valentine's Day. The one's for my second graders said, "You Won Me Over" with a gold medal. Thanks to Pinterest, Sophia chose the glow stick and said, "You make my heart glow." And Kenton's said, "You make my heart spin" with a top. I just absolutely love hand made Valentine's and these were quite easy!

Before we left for school, Sophia and TJ surprised me with 2 charms for my bracelet. 1 was red for Kenton's birthstone (I already have 1 for Sophia) and the other was a baseball to remind me of my hubby:)
First of all, TJ and I said we weren't going to get each other anything because we were going to Oklahoma at the 5th Avenue later in the month. I just did something dorky so it didn't count, but he did not listen. I got him his favorite donuts and said, "I donut know what I'd do without a hubby like you!"

We did the Valentine fairy tradition with the doorbell ditch at my parent's house. Sophia was so excited to see what she got.

Kenton had to check it out too.

All the kids have a pillow pet, so my parents got Kenton one, except they got him the fluffy bear. Mind you that Kenton is not a huge fan of stuffed animals so he was scared of it at first. It was rather entertaining watching him.

I always look forward to my dad's famous heart shaped oatmeal cookies. They are the BEST!

Kenton thought so too...

Lots of love at the Brown house!

All Aboard!

How often does a show off the Disney channel come to little ol' Bremerton? VERY RARE! So I couldn't help buy Sophia a ticket to go to Choo-Choo Soul, so we had a daddy, mommy, and Sophia date.

"All Aboard the Choo, Choo train, all aboard, the Choo-choo train..." "A, B, C, D, E, F, G..." It was so much fun watching all the kids get up to sing and dance. The stage wasn't anything spectacular, but they did a good job keeping the kids going. Lots of interaction with jokes, teaching the kids how to beat-box with letter sounds, etc.

Look who came out the door right by our seats! I have to say, he may be on a cheesy Disney show, but he really is talented.

It took Sophia about a song to feel comfortable to get up and dance and then she went to town. Shake it!

Now we have the CD and the songs get stuck in my head.