Happy 7th Birthday, Tyler James!

Yesterday was Tyler's 7th birthday. As the youngest in his class, he couldn't wait to turn seven. Only problem, all his friends will be turning eight when they return to school. He doesn't like to be the youngest, but at least he's one of the smartest! :)

Since Tyler got a new tv for his room, we did not have a big party this year. He was given the choice...party at Pump It Up or a tv. Of course, he picked the tv! Summer birthdays are hard anyway. You never know which friends are going to be out of town.

So, it was just eight of us (Papa, Nene, Aunt Laura, and Uncle Steve joined us) celebrating the big day. I made peanut butter pie (Tyler's choice) and we picked up pizza. The guys worked on our outdoor pavilion while we sat around and talked and the boys played. It was a nice, mellow birthday!

Day in Seattle

The boys and I took the ferry over to Seattle yesterday with Laura and Matt. Our first stop was to Pike's Place Market. Connor was less than thrilled, but did like watching the guys throw the big fish to each other. I took a picture of the boys standing next to the famous pig which is located at the entrance of the market.

After some more walking and complaining by "you know who", we took the boys to Game Works and then out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Our last stop of the evening was at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company where the boys ate ice cream and I bought one of their yummy chocolate covered apples for Jim.

Oh, I forgot to mention that while we were walking to Game Works, we noticed a man with 4 Chihuahuas. This was probably Connor's favorite part of the day. The dog with the glasses was hysterical. He posed the entire time we were talking to the man, never once moving. He said the little dogs, who look like puppies but are over a year old, won't get any bigger. They were so tiny!

Tacoma Rainiers Baseball Game

Jim took the boys to see the Rainiers play last night. Connor's favorite part about baseball games is Rhubarb, the Rainiers mascot. I am pretty sure he is a baby moose, but Connor likes to call him Rudolph. The boys enjoyed the game and came home with two baseballs!

Another visit from the tooth fairy!

Tyler finally lost his front tooth today! This one makes number four, with two more loose. I would say it's been about a year since we noticed the tooth getting loose. Tyler isn't the type of child to sit there and wiggle and pull at his teeth, so it takes forever for one to come out. This tooth in particular was looking pretty gross the past couple of weeks. It was barely hanging there and starting to turn black. I told him that his goal was to get the tooth out by Jim's birthday, so he was only a day late. The tooth fairy will be visiting tonight, and I am sure she will once again be very generous!

I am also including a couple pictures from Jim's birthday. Unfortunately, I had a horrible headache yesterday and didn't get a chance to run out to the store and pick up a cake. At the last minute, when I was feeling a little better, I made a lemon and vanilla cake. Nothing fancy, but Jim and the boys seemed to like it. Tyler told me today that I make good cakes, so he wants me to bake one for his birthday on Saturday instead of ordering one. Works for me! :)

Finally, not really liking how blogger doesn't let me move my pics around, so they are a little out of order. Also, sometimes it lets me put a space between paragraphs. Other times, it doesn't. Weird! I will get the hang of this eventually!

Bears, Bikes, and Birthdays!

Today is Jim's birthday! 39 years old....wow! The crazy thing is that Jim was just 25 when I met him. Hard to believe that 14 years have gone by! Jim is working hard on the deck today, so we really don't have any plans. The boys and I will probably run out in a little bit and pick up an ice cream cake (Jim's favorite).

The past few days have been busy. The boys and I hit the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale on Friday to do some school shopping. After we went to BJs for lunch, we stopped in Build-a-Bear. We hadn't been there in a couple of years, so I was surprised that Tyler wanted to go in. He made a panda with full Harley gear, including a motocycle. Connor got a cute little owl that he dressed in an Iron Man costume. We were at the mall for five hours and the boys did great. I could have stayed longer, but they were getting tired by the end of the day.

On Saturday, I took Tyler birthday shopping so he could pick out his new TV. Three stores later, we finally found one. The cable guy is coming out tomorrow to hook it up. I'm excited that Jim and I will finally have our tv back after 7 years!

Yesterday, we went to the Vashon Island Strawberry Festival with Steve and Laura. Not a lot of strawberries, but we still had a nice time. The service was terrible at the local restaurant (we had to wait 15 minutes for beer), but the food was good. We then took a drive around the island and checked out the bike in the tree. Not sure how long it has been up there, but apparently decades ago, a boy chained his bike up there. He never took it down and the tree has grown around it. There is even a children's book about it. We took a few pics on my iphone of the tree and the boys with their henna tattoos. Still need to get the ones from our camera uploaded.

Long Overdue!

A friend of mine reminded me today that I am long overdue for an update, and looking back at my last post, it's been nearly three months. That's a long time! I fully intended to write about my trip to Europe and post pictures, but after putting them on Facebook and talking about my travels on there, I kind of neglected our blog. Same goes for the conclusion of Tyler's baseball season (they won 12 games out of 14), Tyler and Connor's last month of school, and whatever else we had going on between April and now. Then the computer died and I am currently having connection issues with our new laptop. Finally, while school was wrapping up (one of the busiest times of the year), and we were getting ready to head over to Spokane to attend my niece's graduation, we had to put our 11 year old dog, Bailey, to sleep! :( I know...a lot of excuses. But in my defense, I did have a lot on my mind!

Fortunately, things have gotten slower (sort of) around here, so here's a quick "hello" to let you know that we are doing well! No big summer plans, with the exception of Jim's quick trip to CA last week. We have decided to stay home and redo our backyard and build a pavilion (more than just a covered deck). Jim broke ground today, so no turning back. It's a big project that I fully expect will take all summer to build. We might take a few drives here and there, but for the most part, we will be home and working hard in the yard.

Tyler lost a tooth today. I have been meaning to take a picture. This is tooth number 3! He is just like his mom...the last to lose teeth! His top, front teeth are loose, so maybe by the time he goes back to school, they will finally be out.

Connor is doing well, but going through a little bit of a defiant stage right now. He told me yesterday that he only listens to his dad because he is the boss. He also kicked me! I couldn't believe it because that isn't like him at all. Not sure what is going on, but he better get over it quickly.

I am so far behind on pictures, so I am only going to put on some recent pics. Sorry! But if you are all on Facebook, you have seen them anyway. I promise that I will try to be better about posting updates and showing our progress on the backyard.

This and That

After 12+ years of being a blond, I decided that I needed a change. Here is my new hair color...reddish brown with blond highlights. I love it! :)

Here we are at the Rainiers game. Connor loved the mascot, Rhubarb. He wanted to take him home with us!

Tyler had his third baseball game this past Saturday. The weather was beautiful and our team won by 2 runs. The best part of the game, Tyler got the game ball. Way to go, Tyler!

All the players signed the ball. Connor is always right in the middle of everything. Silly guy!

Finally, Connor had his second hearing test this afternoon. The Flonase must be working because he got a perfect score. So glad there aren't any hearing concerns.