Lost Tooth = Big Boy

 My baby lost his first tooth. It seems like the minute they lose their first tooth, they become big kids for real. I don't like pulling their teeth, but apparently that didn't matter to Gavin. He pulled out his first tooth all by himself and earned himself $5 from the tooth fairy. Two days later, he pulled out the one next door and raked in another $4. What a big brave boy!

Our Special Day

On President's Day, Ethan and I went skiing. We had such a great time together. Cameron still hasn't been cleared for skiing on his knee, so Ethan and I got to share a special day with just the two of us on the slopes. I am so proud of what a great skier Ethan has become. You can certainly tell his Daddy has been his ski instructor because he loves to go fast! We spent most of the day on jumps at the terrain park or taking on the black diamond slopes. Crazy Boy! Here are some pics and a video that does Ethan no justice . . . his first try on the jump where he didn't get enough speed. My phone died so I couldn't get any other videos of him getting some air after a few practice runs! 

Ethan and Sloane on the ski lift

Ethan ready to get going

Recess Entrepreneur

Today I got a call from the Principal's office. Nice. Every parent loves to see the school's number on their caller id. She starts off with "I have Ethan here in my office", and I start imagining all sorts of awful things Ethan must have done to land himself in the office. Here was the culprit:

Bey Blades! Ethan and his friends take these little spinner things to school to trade with each other. They come apart and you can switch out the pieces to make the best bey ever! 

A boy named Daniel saw one of Ethan's that he liked at recess and offered him $50 for it. Ethan happily said yes and pocketed the $50 bill. Apparently when back in class a classmate said "Ethan made $50 at recess". The teacher intervened and thus the trip the the Principal's office. To Ethan's credit, he didn't go to school with the intent to sell. The opportunity just fell into his lap (isn't that what all white collar criminals say?). I tried to explain to Ethan that receiving $50 for something that costs $8.99 in stores is shady. He didn't agree - he thought it made good business sense. So I went with the "It is against school rules to buy and sell items at school" route and he said ok. I guess being sent to the Principal's office doesn't always mean what it did in the olden days!

Crabby Boys

We went to this really yummy seafood restaurant for dinner. Ethan wanted to pick a crab out of the tank for dinner. The crabs were huge so Ethan and Cameron decided to share one. The chef came out and got Ethan, let him pick a crab out of the tank, and he even had him pet it before taking it off the kitchen! It was so funny watching Ethan wrestle with his crab trying to get the meat out. By the end of dinner he was a pro at using the cracker and the crab fork. He could even get his crab dipped in the clarified butter and in his mouth before the meat fell off the fork!



Here they are getting ready to dig in!



Working hard for his dinner



Yum Yum



To Back Date or Not to Back Date

It really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows me well that I have commitment issues. I still write posts and then save them for days before I publish for fear that they aren't really what I want to share. Really? Then I remember that there are things that I haven't shared yet (like Christmas morning photos) that I should have and I get all crazy about whether or not I should back date my posts so that my dates are in order, but if I do that, someone may miss a post because it is further down on the posts they have already seen. I am certain that blogging isn't supposed to be this hard . . . I just have issues. Having said all that, I am posting Christmas morning (in its proper date order), so if  you are interested, scroll on down and have a look.

It Finally Snowed!

The front yard

The backyard

My kids have been dying for the snow to come. There was no snow for Christmas, no snow for winter break, and a lot of news about snow that never came! The past few days it has been snowing here and there, but nothing that has been sticking - meaning no snow to play in. Alas, the snow has arrived! Last night is started snowing hard and it was predicted to snow all night! When we woke up this morning, here is what we saw. The kids of course see "Yea, no school and we get to sled!" I of course see "No school = snow clothes on and off all day, wet footprints on my floor and not getting half the stuff done I had planned for today!".  Oh well, I better go get the camera and at least get some good pictures out of it!

Ethan getting another snowball ready

The neighbors dog, Stuart. Gavin kept throwing him snowballs and he would catch them in his mouth.

    

Avery looking wet and cold



Gavin on the sled



Half the neighborhood on my driveway





My Husband - The Poet

So here is the story: Years ago (probably before Ethan was born), I asked my not-so-talkative husband to write me a poem as a gift for something. I was in one of those "I wish you communicated more to me how you feel" moods. Then just this last week, we were talking about poems with the kids, so I got out this slip of paper I have kept all these years and read the kids my poem from Cameron. They were cracking up and, I have to admit, it never fails to put a smile on my face either! Who knew such deep feelings lurked below Cameron's surface?!?