drew's assistant

i have new shoes to fill.
as if the many roles i already attempt to fill don't keep me busy -

i am now drew's official office assistant.
the 5th grade teachers assigned the kids to write a paper
AND
gave the parents PERMISSION to type it up.
HA!

SO ...
seeing as though i have passed on my amazing ability to achieve great things
late at night - THE NIGHT BEFORE something is needed ...drew sat close by well past 10pm
as i typed up his 8 page story.



can i just say
it was the hardest thing i have done in a long time.
to not change any grammar
yes ... i know you're laughing because when you think of me ...
perfect grammar doesn't come to mind.
shut it.
but to type and keep my mouth shut
was NOT easy.

it took an hour and a half to get it typed
and i am a very fast typer.
it seemed like F O R E V E R.

yet ...
i would do it again in a heartbeat
because the thought of sitting for the 3 days it would have taken drew to type it
seems even worse ;)

eventually i finished
and drew was VERY appreciative.

he thanked me over and over again last night
and THEN ...
surprised me this morning when he walked into our room
and said
"mom, remember last night when i said i really owed you one.
well i made you breakfast."

how can you not just love that?!
the only thing that would've made it better
is if i ate eggs ;) tehehe.

drew ...
i loved being your assistant
and
i love knowing i can help you.
you have an amazing mind
and i love seeing it at work.
BUT ...
next time ...
lets just start a little earlier ;)

BALL

i have a feeling i am going to be hearing that word a lot
in the next few months

baseball has officially started for us
and this is ben's first year at the kid pitch level



he has a GREAT team
and when given the opportunity -
i have no doubt they will have some great plays
defensively and offensively.

the problem ...
finding the opportunity ;)

while they're learning to pitch ...
the game is PAINFULLY slow.

it is a lot of balls
a lot of walks
and
not very much else ;)

this week their team divided up and scrimmaged.
ben was the first player to pitch

it was at that point that he realized
just how tough pitching is.

how it's tough to be on the spot
and
how it's almost more of a mental game
than it is physical.

he fought through
eventually got some strikes

and was relieved to see many of his teammates have the same struggles

here's hoping that they catch on quickly
because based on the make up of their team
if they figure it out ...
it could be a very fun season!

new wheels

a certain nine year old at our house is VERY excited!

for his birthday ben got a new bike

and he is LOVING it!

ESPECIALLY the kick stand ;)


 it's the little things ;)

no excuse

ok ...
it's been a week since i posted last.

other than the fact that

baseball has started

i find it really easy to kill each spare minute i have playing
extremely addicting games on my phone
temple run


and
scramble

yes i know ...
loser.

AND
chewy gave us a scare this weekend
due to what we think is a bladder infection
he wasn't eating, drinking, or really even moving
and i focused a lot of my attention on just loving him

i have no good excuse

BUT
chewy is doing better
and
i promise to give at least a few updates this week ...
even if it's nothing more than pictures of baseball
and
a picture of my latest high score ;)

silly chewy

silly chewy ...



trix are for kids ;)

celebrating ben

on friday night we had a little fun

to celebrate ben's birthday!

we started with a few friends

about 17 of them ;)

added a little sugar ...

ok a lot of sugar ;)

and headed to the same hotel that we had drew's party.

although this time we had the place almost completely to ourselves

and the hot tub stayed suds free ALL NIGHT!

we had a great turn out

and

ben got LOTS of birthday love!

these girls are 4 of the 5 girls that helped us celebrate ;)

i just love them.

i love having conversations with them

and

i get such a kick out of watching the funny girl things they do -

things that just don't happen at our house ;)

things like ...

professing your love for justin bieber on a red solo cup ;)

AND

things like jordie (the girl to the left of ben) 

telling ben she wanted to go to paris with him for valentines day

and 

that she keeps a journal where every night she writes things she loves about him ;)

jordie is the closest thing to a girlfriend ben is going to have for MANY years ;) 

and

that would be why jordie only <3'd JB for a short time

before her cup got changed ...

BY BEN!! ;)

he had such a fun night!

we had cupcakes that couldn't have been more perfect for him

he got a lot of fun gifts

and

is SO pumped to spend all of the giftcards he got!!

his favorite gift however ...

was from jordie ;)

earlier in the week while i was volunteering

they were joking that ben told her he wanted a ring.

he told me 'it takes the pressure off of me'

MAYBE a good thought a few years from now ben ...

but THIRD GRADE?!?!

anyway ...

jordie (and jordie's mom) pulled through ...

and ben thought it was hilarious!!

she gave him a box with a ring pop

and her picture

and the picture has been in his pocket ever since

HA!

although it was a little noisy at times ...

i wouldn't expect any less from 4 girls ;)

all of the kids had SO much fun

and

i know that ben loved every minute of it

nueve!

it's that time of year ...
ben's birthday
also known as ...
the one time a year we go to don pablos.



we never go to don pablos
i even looked at our rewards card and the last time we were there was april 8, 2011
BUT
for whatever reason ...
when ben's birthday comes around
and we give him the chance to choose the one restaurant he would like to eat at
he chooses don pablos.
every. single. time.

since he ordered cheese nachos
and it's pretty hard to screw up melted chips on cheese ;)
i'm gonna guess the meal isn't what brings him back
and
that more than likely he just has amazing taste
and knows there isn't a birthday dessert around
that tops their sopapillas

MMMmmmmm

maybe we WILL make one more trip there before next april ;) 

our latest lovin'

here are our latest and greatest love notes



what makes this one above so great?
because ben wrote it to himself
yes ... it's true ...
my kids have NO problems with self confidence ;)

second ...
drew's birthday message to ben ...

in case you can't read the bottom it says ...
ben ... i love you because ...
for 9 years i still love you!
p.s.  (now that's a miracle)
he talks a big game ...
but let's not forget this post ;)

our easter recap

because we had the globetrotters on friday night
our easter weekend in WI was cut short
BUT
that didn't mean the boys had any less fun.

most of the weekend consisted of all 4 boys wearing skull candy sweatbands

in fact ...
i'm pretty sure i don't have a single picture of aiden and alex without them
so these may not be your traditional easter photos
BUT
they most definitely represent a weekend with 4 fun boys

saturday night we hid glow sticks for the boys
and they quickly became the night's entertainment

 

and did a great job of wearing the boys out ;)



THEN...
as always ...
sunday started bright and early
and the boys jumped right into finding their easter baskets

 

 

we were able to have our easter egg hunt outside
because of this year's FABULOUS spring weather

 

 

 

 

 

and the boys spent most of the day playing outside as well

THEN ...
for our easter dinner
my mom let ben choose the menu because it was his birthday

he chose sloppy joes and fruit salad with cool whip

not your traditional easter dinner ...
but the perfect way to combine celebrating the amazing day that is easter
with the fun of celebrating ben!