new obsession

Ethan got Beyblades for his birthday from some friends.  This is our first experience with them, and they are definitely a hit at our house!  The boys played with them for probably 4 hours Saturday afternoon/evening.  I love that Ethan shares so willingly most of the time and that they play together so well most of the time.  This was one of those times, and it was so nice to watch them have so much fun together!

These will be especially great for a couple of rainy days that are supposed to be coming up in the next few days. 

nails

So I had noticed toward the beginning of chemo that ridges had started appearing on my fingernails.  Then a few weeks ago I decided to ask one of my nurses about it.  To me, it looked like there was a ridge for every cycle of chemo.  She confirmed it.  Then she had some really great news about it......they will most likely fall off.  Great!  Not more than a few days later did the nails on my right hand start peeling away from the nail bed, beginning the process.  So now I'm just waiting to see how this is all going to play out.

This is my "normal" hand (my left)

And here is the other hand.

It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but about the top 1/3 of each nail is starting to peel away.  I think it's odd that my left hand isn't as affected.  I did notice today that one of the fingers are starting to peel, so it looks like it's just a matter of time.

Oh well, I'll have brand new nails to go along with my brand new hair soon!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Happy 7th Birthday Ethan!

Can't believe you are already SEVEN!

Love your expressions here.

So you.

Love your sense of humor and fun-loving self.

Love your sensitive side.

Love your love for us and others.

Love your generosity.

Love that you'll play any sport and love it.

Love you!!!

 

major league party

Ethan wanted to have a backyard baseball game for his birthday party this year.

Brian told the kids we could sing the National Anthem before we started.

Guess who had to sing most of the song by herself?

The first pitch of the game.  The birthday boy got the honors of first at-bat!

I think most of the boys could have played for hours.  It was a lot of fun to watch them.

Waiting patiently in the dugout for their turn at bat.  This is probably the most that were ever sitting there at one time.  Most of the time they were over in the snacks or getting a drink.  They were starving after all of that baseball playing :)

We played relay games, too.

One of them was "dizzy bat".  I think we should have made them run around the bat a few more times because none of them seemed too dizzy.  Maybe that's a good thing, though.

Another crazy face getting ready to blow out the candle on the cookie cake he requested.

So glad that Ethan has such great friends.  I love each of these kids and the blessing that they are in Ethan's life.  Thanks for celebrating with us!!

best of missouri market

Last year I waited months to get to go to the Best of Missouri Market at the Botanical Gardens.  It's this huge spread of vendors from all over Missouri showcasing their items and products made or grown here in Missouri.  Yes, that had my name written all over it.  I can't remember now exactly why we didn't get to go, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with rain and cold weather.

So this year a friend mentioned on Friday that they were going Saturday.  I had forgotten about it this year with everything else going on.  We debated for a while about whether to go, since Elliott's sleepover was the night before and then we had Ethan's soccer that morning also, but in the end we decided it was a beautiful day and just to go for it.

And we did not regret it for one minute!

We probably walked about 10 feet into the first tent when Elliott turned to me and said "I love this!"  There were all kinds of food vendors - salsa, fudge, bbq sauce, wineries, jams, jellies, bakeries, meat markets and more.  And each booth had samples.  I think they sampled almost everything!  And we came home with two kinds of bbq sauce, jalapeno pepper jelly, and a mini pumpkin pie (and empty Fitz's bottles).  It was almost torture for me, because I still didn't feel like having anything in my mouth, but I just loved being there in that atmosphere with all of those handmade, local-grown items.

They had a kids' area behind the Children's Garden set up with a pumpkin patch, crafts, etc.  This is Ethan grinding some corn.  They both also got to make apple cider with a cider press, and one of them even milked a cow.........

Ethan didn't want to try it.  He thought it was disgusting.  Elliott was game though.  Brian and I passed too.  I'm sure I got to do that at Grandpa's when I was younger so I didn't need another turn.

Honestly, this was one of a handful of events like this that I can remember that all four of us really loved.  We will definitely go back next year......with backpacks to carry more stuff and with my true tastebuds to start the sampling again!

campout (or camp-in) party

Elliott wanted a campout party this year for his birthday.  Brian said he would campout with them so we went for it.  It was tons of fun even though it turned into a "camp-IN" party.  The mercury dipped into the lower 40s that night so they all camped in the loft.  The boys were disappointed for a few minutes and then got over it and played TRON with the glow sticks I gave them. 

We ordered pizza and ate out in the blustery wind.

They made trail mix.  This was a last minute thought on my part, but they really enjoyed doing it and it gave them something to snack on and they had plenty to take home the next day too.

One of Elliott's friends had a 3DS that took 3-D pictures (very cool), and he was quite the photographer while Elliott was opening presents :)

Okay, so I really like to make their birthday cakes.  I just enjoy coming up with the ideas and seeing how it all plays out.  I don't do it every year, and I figured I might not be able to this year.  But I had found a camping cake that looked really easy that I was going to do.  So I asked Elliott what kind of cake he wanted, and he said a cookie cake.  Really?!  So disappointed not to be able to decorate the camping cake, but in reality this was the best scenario cause I did NOT have the energy to even BAKE a cake, let alone decorate one.  But I did build a tent out of graham crackers and a campfire out of pretzels and candy corn.  That counts, right?

a peek out the window

Last Thursday Brian came home from work, ate dinner with us, tucked the boys in, and then went back outside to put the tent up in the backyard for Elliott's birthday campout the following evening.  We had the boys' windows open cause it was such a nice night out, and when I walked by Ethan's room this is what I saw.

I thought maybe he was talking to Brian, but he was quiet.  I finally asked him what he was doing, and he said he just liked looking out the window.  He liked the view, he said.  And he liked all the sounds.  It made me think of how I like to sleep with the windows open and listen to all the sounds too (well, as long as they're just nature sounds).  Maybe we need to do this more often.