Just an Ordinary Monday (and Tuesday)

When we went to Tae Kwon Do on Monday, Zack was given his yellow belt and joined the colored belt Tiny Tigers class. Here's Master Kim giving him his belt.

Dylan, Adam, Master Kim, Zack and ??

After TKD, we went to the library greenway and fed some fish and turtles. Mark ran, Zack rode his bike and I pushed Xander in the stroller.

Look at that happy boy!!!

For the first time since Zack got Mario Kart, he actually took first place in one of his races. It was so exciting, I had to take a picture!

Super Surprise!!

Finally!! It's taken me over a week, but here are some pictures from Zack's surprise party! When he was asked a couple of months ago what kind of party he wanted for his birthday, he told us a surprise party. So, aside from asking him who he wanted to invite to his birthday party, he had no clue what was going on--sometimes right under his nose! So on the day of the party, Mark and I conveniently had a meeting at church that morning. Zack went to spend the day with Gramma, and Xander was at our house with Mo. We spent the day decorating Zack's cookie cake and doing the last-minute cleaning. When there were a few people here, we called Gramma and she brought him home. When he walked in the door, we all threw balloons at him and yelled Surprise!!! We had some great fun--throwing balloons around, having snacks, making superhero capes, playing dodgeball, having cake and ice cream and opening presents. Zack was very happy with his surprise birthday party, and I was thrilled that we pulled it off! Here's way too many pics from the event...

Zack and his friend David from Tae Kwon Do--the invites said dress as a superhero, so David came as Bumblebee.

Zack, of course, had to change into his Superman shirt!

A 21-month-old and a sharpie don't mix--that's why he's shirtless!

Daddy helping Zack with his cape

Lanaysia making her cape

David, Zack, Christine, Lanaysia, Pooja, Imani and Isaac showing off their capes before going to play

Ashley and Matt were playing ball with Zack..before the ball popped when it hit a sharp bush!

Xander wanted to go inside, so Nana Cathy took him flying

D's cape

Our own backyard version of Dodgeball, which actually worked really well--Xander, Mark, Christina, D, David, Zack, C, and Isaac

Lined up to watch Zack blow out the birthday candles--Imani, Lanaysia, Pooja, Christina, K, Xander and David

Zack with his Superman cookie cake--Thanks to Aunt Mo!!

I just thought this was a cute picture--Zack with his card from the Runners

The K family got him a Webkin

Transformer from David

Can you tell what he's doing with his arm? Aunt Mo did good with the Hot Wheels launcher!

Color Wonder Air Brush set from Stacy

Focus...Confidence...Ayaaa!!

We took Zack for his first belt test at Tae Kwon Do tonight. He knew how to count to 10 in Korean and the name of his form (Sah Ju Ji Lu Ki, but he pronounced is Sah Ju Li Yu Ki--close enough for a 5-year-old, right?). After they asked him some questions and had him demonstrate some moves, the older kids got to break boards. I had to go to work, but Zack later came in carrying the two pieces of the board that he broke!! It was only about a 1/4 inch thick, but still! When he got home, Pooja held up the board for a re-enactment. He was so proud, and we are very proud parents tonight!!

My Zack is 5!!

I can't believe how quickly five years have seemed to have gone by!! Zack has grown from a baby who loved his swing and sleeping on Mommy to a rambuctious, talkative, social kid who's about to start kindergarten in August. He love superheroes, monster trucks, Gramma, chocolate milk and his brother. He hates bedtime, when Daddy leaves in the morning and ketchup on his cheeseburger. He is reading, and not just patterned books, he is actually "decoding" using parts of words and the pictures! He throws out random math facts all the time, and he loves playing word and rhyming games in the car.

Zack with Gramma and his balloon at IHOP

They sang to him at IHOP. His face was so red, and it was the first time, probably, that we'd ever seen him speechless! Then he enjoyed a two-spoon scoop of ice cream!

Mommy and Daddy's Gift

Pure joy!!

Another Museum Visit

Last week we went to the Museum of Natural Sciences with Leigh, Ava and Emet, Logan and Caleb (extra kids she brought along), and Pooja. Unfortunately, I didn't really get any good pictures of the boys, but I captured Emet's big beautful blue eyes and a close-up of a butterfly in the Living Conservatory room. We also had a carpet picnic in a corner of one of the hallways. The boys always love exploring, and it was great hanging out with Leigh and her kids!

Growing Babies!

Okay, not sure about the formatting again! Here you can see three baby bunnies--one in the grass and two in the hole. You can actually see the ears of the two in the hole facing in opposite directions. Unfortunately, one of the bunnies didn't make it. We found it stiff and unresponsive while Mark was weed eating (don't worry, he didn't hit it!). We wrapped it in a dish rag and buried it in the back yard.

The first picture of the baby birds was taken 4/14 (Tuesday). What you see in the middle of the nest is the back of the neck of one of the babies. The second picture shows three babies, taken 4/17 (Friday). Two of the babies are resting their heads on the back of the nest. The last picture was taken today, 4/19 (Sunday), and you can see the three babies facing the front of the nest. Unfortunately, you can also see their poop all over the nest and my house! Their eyes are open and they are much more active. When they were littler, you could see what I think was their heartbeats, but their whole bodies were thumping and pulsing with the beats.

The boys love having the baby birds outside. The second we step around the door, they both want me to pick them up so they can see in the nest. We watch for Mama and Daddy Bird to be there when we pull up in the driveway, and we're very careful not to disturb them if we can.

Easter Sunday

In a nutshell, Easter morning was great, afternoon was crazy, dinner didn't work, but the evening was pretty good. The boys had fun looking at all the stuff in their Easter baskets, and they looked very handsome in their shirts that Gramma bought for them. While they were napping after lunch, Mark and I had to clean up (I don't know why I can't just keep the house clean!). Eileen, Alannah, Alyssa, Damien and Christopher were also here during the afternoon, so the boys got to play with their cousins for a while. Dessert got started a little bit late, and then it had to have time to set in the fridge. Mark made sweet potato casserole, but used too much brown sugar on top. And then, silly me, I had no clue that the ham was not pre-cooked! I realized at almost 6:00 that it was going to take about 3 hours (or more) to cook it! So I ran out to KFC for chicken--thank goodness they were open! After dinner, Mark hid Easter eggs in the backyard for the boys to find.

"Wow, look at my chocolate Easter bunny!!"

Xander knew what to do-"out?"
Zack picked up his Easter book and started reading right away.

I read Xander's to him, and it's a good thing, too, because later on he tore the book apart. It's in the trash now. Our family on Easter, after church

See the egg on the ladder on the right? He was trying to find that one.

Zack also missed one by 'that much.'

Marbles Kids' Museum

On Good Friday, we took advantage of Mark being off work and went to Marbles Kids' Museum in Raleigh with Andrea, Steve and their family. The boys had been once before with Aunt Mo, but Mark and I had never been, even when it was Exploris and PlaySpace. We had a lot of fun, and it was well worth the ticket price! It's not something we can do every month or anything, but I'm pretty sure we'll make an effort to go back sometime!

Zack knew right where the trains were and went straight for them! That's about the only think he played with in this area of the museum.

Xander found the farm animals in their stalls.

Around the tank: D, Xander, Zack, C, K, G and L. (Andrea doesn't use her kids full names on her blog, so I wanted to respect her privacy.) Mark and Andrea are helping the kids out, too.

Xander in his water play smock. He was so adorable in it, since it went all the way to the floor. He may have been wondering why he was wearing a dress!

Daddy was helping Xander throw the anchor out.

Playing in the igloo--At first there were three girls in the igloo who had all of the dogs and didn't want anybody else to play with them. Xander just wanted the dog! When they left, he finally got his wish! I think he really wanted to bring the dog home with us!

Rubbing on the marble wall

Discovering

Building or taking apart?

Lost in a sea of peas and carrots

Getting all the kids to sit for a picture was quite challenging.