This and That in March

Now that I have been blogging in real time, I can't let the momentum pass me by!  I have a couple of great pics and some fun things to talk about from this long, wintry month of March!

First of all, Paul and I celebrated our 9th anniversary!  Holy Cow!  It seems surreal that 9 years have gone by since we said "I do" on that amazing beach in Vieques.  Time does fly, and we are having fun, so there you go!  Paul brought me some beautiful flowers to commemorate our special day.  We had a date night over the weekend and enjoyed some delicious sushi for dinner and ended up meeting up with some friends for drinks afterwards.  It was nice!

I have been taking a photography class that has since turned out to be kind of lame.  It is thru Chester County Night School, and I thought it would help me figure out how to use all of the fancy buttons on my fancy camera to take amazing shots of my beautiful subjects.  Turns out, the class is taught by a very lackluster ex-engineer instructor who has no idea how to teach to the common people and is really only interested in photographing nature.  While I love nature, I have no desire to take pictures of it (at this particular point in my life, anyway), so after spending over 7 hours of my time in classes, I have decided that maybe there is no photographer in me.  I am not going back to that stupid, boring class and my pictures are not going to get any better than what they are.  Fortunately, my subject matter is so awesome and interesting and pleasing to look at that my critical skills are really not that important!  Anyway, most of the following pictures were my attempt at learning what little I could glean of personal importance from the very dry, boring classes I sat thru.   We were supposed to bring pictures to class every week and Everyone else brought pics of their dogs or their flowers.  My subjects of choice are much more pleasing to the eye!

Paul and I attended Starkweather Elementary's Shamrock Social this year.  It's a fundraiser for Max's elementary school at a local country club with dinner, drinks and a silent auction.  Much to our surprise, we ended up having a lot of fun.  Here is a pic of us with some of Max's friend's parents... 

Sam and Jack had a dentist appointment.  They always look so cute in their sunglasses that I can't resist taking a few photos.   

Finally the weather is getting warm enough to play outside! (but notice we still have snow in the background--it has been a loooooong winter here in PA)... 

Getting my hair done.  I found someone who does hair out of her house.  She was able to squeeze me in during the time Jack was at school, which between dropping him off and picking him up only amounts to two hours.  I never make that good of time at a salon!  Anyway, I took pics to send to Paul, so why not document them here as well.  After all, before long I will be old and gray and the Ginger with the long blonde hair might just be a foggy memory for the b-hive boys... 

Two hours later... 

As we do every year, I took the boys to see the Easter Bunny at the Exton Mall.  We got there at a perfect time since Max was at the tail end of a stomach bug (that lasted five days) and hence didn't go to school that day so we were there way before prime time...

Paul was traveling this week, so I took advantage of the situation and took the boys out for dinner after the Easter Bunny.  However, it's not as easy as it sounds--although it might beat a messy kitchen and dirty dishes!  Each of them want their meal from a different place:  Max wants sushi (even at the tail-end of a stomach bug), Sam wants a hoagie, and Jack wants a cheeseburger with french fries and ketchup.  Unfortunately, all three of these choices couldn't be further apart in the food court from each other.  I made it work, though, and had three happy boys!

The boys are taking swimming lessons right now and doing really well...

Darth Jack... 

The boys are engrossed in a motorcycle video--I am so outnumbered!

March: Soccer and Snow!

WaHoo!  I am finally blogging in real time.  It has been forever since I have been caught up like this, it feels nice!  It is only the 7th of March, but I have already taken quite a few pictures.  The fact that we got the biggest snow storm of the season a few nights ago definitely helps--snow pics are always so fun!    And we definitely had fun playing in the white stuff-- having snowball fights and sledding and making snow forts, snow angels and snowball topiaries.  Even though we have enjoyed it, we really hope this is the last snow of the year.  We are ready for spring!

MMMmmm, artichokes!  My boys LOVE them--especially dripping with butter.  They had some beautiful, huge chokes at the grocery store last week so I bought three thinking that would be plenty for the the five of us.  Jack and Sam ended up eating an entire one each, so Max, Paul and I shared the third.  Jack has been asking for artichokes for dinner every night since.

The boys had their last soccer game today.  They both played so well, and it was such a nice surprise that they wound up on the same team.  Soccer is so much fun! 

February Fun

What a fun, short, cold month February was.  It came and went in the blink of an eye (as everything seems to these days).  There was a lot of snow and a lot of really, really cold days, so again we were stuck inside most of the time. 

Jack loves to dress up.  He puts on at least two or three costumes every day.  Correction--I put two or three costumes (at least) on him every day.  Even though he always seems to ask me when I am elbow deep in dishes or toilet cleaning or cooking, I never mind helping him into his assumed identity.  This kid is so imaginative, and dressing up is a great way for him to pretend. 

  

This is Jack with his little buddy, Joseph

I mentioned in the last post that we have been doing a lot of puzzles at our house.  Jack is a puzzle genius!  Not only does he enjoy doing them, but he is really, really good at them.  And I am not talking about the big wooden, easy puzzles, either.  He does some pretty substantial puzzles-- 40-50 pieces.  We do a lot together, but I am amazed at how much he can accomplish on his own.  Once he has completed them, he likes to keep them together in the middle of the floor for several days to admire.  

Paul and I got a sitter and enjoyed a wonderful Valentine's Day date at Morton's.  We didn't even think to take a picture until we were in the car on our way home--so here is a commemorative "selfie" in the car of our 11th Valentine's Day together!

The boys love when we go to Morton's since it means yummy leftovers for breakfast.  They inhaled the  delicious "cow meat"...

The boys still love to eat at California Tortilla... 

"Family Movie Night" has become an anticipated weekly event in our house.  We pop a huge bowl of popcorn, turn off all the lights so that it's "movie theater dark" and snuggle on the couch for a movie. Lately we have been watching the Star Wars movies.  We have one more of the six to go. This is the first time I have ever seen Star Wars, and the boys absolutely love it.  I am thinking we will do Indiana Jones next, but we'll see.  

We got snowed on a few times during the month of February.  Once it finally accumulated enough to go sledding, the boys and I were beyond excited! 

 

Max and his buddy Isaac got to go on a "date" with their first grade teacher, Ms Nikish.  They were the first ones in their class to accumulate enough tickets (given for good behavior) to achieve this sought after goal.  He was so excited.  They went to a pizza place where they could make their own pizzas  I sat nearby with the other two, beaming with pride and trying to candidly snap pictures without interrupting their "date." 

  

The boys all played indoor soccer this winter.  Jack just loves that he is finally doing his own thing instead of always being dragged to watch his older brothers play.  He was being pretty silly on the morning I took these pictures... 

One more pic of the new fireplace taken in February...