The last week

This last week has been very eventful. We started a new soccer season, ate seafood, played new video games, and bought 2 new soccer balls.


Tuesday, spring soccer started. Jayden and Reese are on the same team and they are so happy! Their team is pretty big, but there are only 4 kids from Jayden's school.

He was so mad that I brought my camera to practice. I can't believe he was surprised!

Wednesday, we dropped off something very special at church.

Last week, Jayden asked me if he could buy a soccer ball (with his own money) and give it to the youth group at our church who would be going to Mexico during Spring Break. He wanted them to give the ball to a kid that didn't have one. I was so touched by this, I think we went out right away to buy the ball. He picked out the ball, and there was some serious thought behind his decision. He found a Chivas ball. Now, his best friend, Carlos, loves Chivas. And Carlos is Mexican. So...he figured other Mexican children must love Chivas too!

He also wrote a note of encouragement to the youth group.

Friday was my 31st Birthday. I celebrated with Jayden and my parents. We went to dinner at McGrath's Fish House. I had been craving steak all week and I can never turn down seafood, so I got steak and crab combo.

The Ducks were playing in the first round of March Madness while we were at dinner. The waitress would give us the updated score every time she walked by our table. After a while she stopped. Dad and Jay went to the bar to check the score and came back with the bad news. The Ducks had lost. I mean, didn't they know it was my birthday?

Today is Easter and my last minute attempt to put together an Easter basket was a total success. Instead of a basket, I used an MLS soccer backpack (that Jayden was eyeing at Target last week). I filled it w/ new clothes, sports eggs w/ toys and chocolates inside, video games, and a new soccer ball. Jayden loved his new video games (Monster Jam and Star Wars Legos II). There total classics.

We went to church this morning and Jayden had to take Monster Jam with him. He couldn't wait to get home and play. After church we went to Jake's for lunch with Mom & Dad. Jayden was getting very impatient waiting for them that he told me, "I am so hungry (and mad), it's brought me to tears". He just wanted to get home and play. Finally, Dad cracked under Jayden's power...

...and this is what he looked like the rest of the day!

Yeah Toast!

This is hillarious and you have to watch! This may be my new favorite song.

I love him too

Jayden made this at school and he will never know what kind of impact it had on me. I always felt it was important to give him lots of opportunities to go places and have fun that would later give him great childhood memories. This confirmed just how important I thought it was...

...So, today we went to Hoodoo! I had been promising Jay for a while now and never set a date. Then I decided to just go. I gave Jay the choice between tubing at Mt. Bachelor or Hoodoo, and this is what he picked...

I knew it was going to be sunny today and Jayden only had a pair of little kid's sunglasses. So, before we went out of town, we stopped and picked up these cool, new shades.

I took Jayden's camera with us today because it is small enough to fit in my pocket. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring extra batteries. This is all I got.

Knicks Basketball

Last Saturday was the last basketball game of the season. The boys were so cute. They have improved so much this season, some couldn't even dribble in the first game.


I couldn't wait to try out my new camera at the game. My old camera could not take a decent photo of the action indoors. If I tried to zoom in on the action, the photo was very dark. And even if I had the camera in sports mode, the photos were still very blury. While these photos aren't even close to perfect, I am still very excited about them.

Knicks Party

Jake's Diner sponsered the team and held the end-of-season party. The boys got to help themselves to a special buffet all for them. It included grilled cheese sandwiches, french fries, chicken nuggets, and mini corn dogs. What boy wouldn't LOVE that! It was a hit.

The coaches present each boy with their trophy and certificate.

They said whenever they needed some SPEED during a game, they would call on Jayden.

And the coaches present My parents with a team picture that all the boys signed.

And the boys signed each others jerseys.

Buddies: Reese & Jayden

They are both excited that they are on the same spring soccer team, the Spiders. Soccer starts next week. We get to do this all over again!!!!!

It's a beautiful day

Wow-what a gorgeous day! We set the clocks forward last night and I was bummed about having to get up an hour early-but it was so worth it.

I played with my new camera today and took these portraits of Jayden.

When we got home from church, we decided to take a walk cause it was just so beautiful outside. Jay wanted to ride his bike and it was a big deal cause this was the first time this year that he got his bike out. We live a few blocks from a great park and I followed Jay on his bike w/ my new camera. Have I mentioned that I love my new camera.

We finished up this perfect day with a BBQ. I had been craving grilled Bratwurt lately but didn't want to deal w/ cleaning the BBQ after not being used all winter. Because the sun stayed up an hour longer and the weather was so warm, it was a perfect evening to fire up the grill. Served em up with mashed potatos (we called this "Bangers & Mash" in Australia). It was the best brats I have ever cooked. They were perfect.

This day was perfect.