Boston's 3rd Birthday

 Boston turned 3 on Easter Monday and the day before we left for Arizona. We were busy, but made sure we made some time to celebrate him! Bentley and Deacon had no school that day, so we all headed to Treehouse (minus Jeff, at work). Boston figured out how to go down the big slides all by himself. There was also an Easter egg hunt there and, if you found an egg, you got a free prize. The kids got some cool things. They also did the arcade and Deacon especially ended up with a ton of tickets, which were mostly spent to buy candy. We had a great time though!

That evening we invited all of Jeff's family to meet us at DQ for a little birthday party. We treated everyone to blizzards and Boston got to open up a couple of presents. Unfortunately, he fell asleep on the way there, and was half asleep during his birthday song. We brought a candle and put it in his oreo blizzard, but he blew out the candle right away and then looked very sleepy! When the presents came out though, he got very excited. Mostly because his grandma found a very cool toy boat, which is his favorite thing right now. The kids helped him put it together and decorate it for quite some time. It turned out to be a lot of fun!

Boss is so cute and we just adore him. He is the cutest to play toys with and has such a big imagination, and the cutest little voice. He loves going to nursery and other fun places. He is, however, VERY opinionated and stubborn for such a young age. He likes things the way he likes them. There's always a special way he wants his plate and fork, and likes everyone to be in their proper place. He likes to do certain things on his own without help. He also loves his diaper and being a "baby," which we are working on changing! Potty training try number 2 coming up. He loves to take 2 hour baths, sometimes multiple times a day. He loves to watch "Ben and Holly" and has an obsession with the big fish "Big Bad Barry." He also loves Peppa Pig and Bluey. Boston is so smart and sometimes just doesn't stop talking. We think he's way too smart for his own good. He also became attached to his Christmas sweater this year and, for a time, didn't want to take it off. I added a picture of him in his sweater. We love our Boss Baby!

March/Easter

March wasn't the best of months, as I was sick for a lot of it, and our basement got sprayed with something that made our whole house smell for days. We ended up staying at Don and Cindy's house for 3 nights to get away from it. I had a horrible ear/head ache for a week and, after seeing 2 doctors that wouldn't help me, eventually took some antibiotics Cindy had gotten from Mexico and finally felt some relief. 

I put Leo in one of Breanne Gallup's music classes with his friend Gus and others. On the last day of class I got to watch him sing and show me what he learned. It was very cute!

Easter came around and we went back to our house and slept there the night before Easter Sunday so we could wake up and do our festivities in our own home. We did our usual bunny waffles the kids always love! They each got baskets from the Easter bunny, which were filled with really good things this year. Bentley got some t-shirts she loved, a gua sha, and Air Jordan white shoes, amongst other things. Deacon got a Wilson black basketball, crocs with jibbits, and sunglasses he wanted. Leo got crocs with jibbits as well, a Marvel calendar with Captain America (his favorite), and a swim suit. Boston got some clothes, sandals, and play doh. It was really fun! 

We went to church and it was great! Easter Sunday service is now supposed to be more special (aka musical). I had arranged a piano musical number as well as a choir number, which came together nicely, even though I was worried our numbers would be very low. The choir also sang the closing song, and we added the congregation for the last verse. It turned out really well!

For dinner we headed back over to Don and Cindy's. My parents were gone still and Tamara's family were also away, so we just did something with the Ady side. We decorated eggs and had an Easter egg hunt, as usual, and had a delicious dinner. The kids loved being at grandma's house so much that weekend! 

Basketball Wrap-up

Bentley, Deacon, and Leo all did community basketball this year and it was a great experience. 

Bentley was in U11, which meant real games with refs for the first time. She was a little bummed at first that she didn't end up being on the same team as any of her friends. She was supposed to be in Div 6, which would have put her with Sophia Dunford at least, but I had to move her down to Div 7 because of practice time scheduling. She ended up with Coach Patrick and Assistant Coach Dan. They were very nice, although maybe could have stopped to teach them a little more and give them more tips. The team started off knowing nothing, and it was a little painful to watch some of their first games. However, as the year progressed, Bentley became friends with all of them and liked to go to practices to hang out with them. She was always a little nervous at the games, but did really well and would score at least 1 basket almost every week. The team learned how the game works, like inbounding a ball, and rules such as over and back. They definitely improved a lot, but unfortunately didn't win very many games. The last practice was a "family night," so Deacon and I went and played with them. They had lots of fun games planned. In the finals they lost and then were playing for the bronze medal. It was a really close game, but unfortunately they didn't come out on top and there were many tears shed as they watched the other team get their medals. The coach arranged a team bowling party the following week. We all met up at Chinook Bowl and then went to the food court to eat together in the mall afterwards. Deacon and I tagged along too and it turned out to be such a fun time! Bentley got along really well with lots of her teammates. I also have some photos of the time that Kellie took Bentley to her game and the cousins watched and cheered her on!

Deacon was still in Tykes this year. He ended up on a team with his friend Reed and Boston Ausmus. Dallas Ausmus was the coach and did a great job with the boys. They were all quite competitive and played really well together. They started out having to do half court, but after Christmas they were able to do full court and the boys just loved that! It was so fun to watch Deacon play, as he is getting really good. They got participation medals at the end, although Deacon says they beat all the teams. He is so ready for U11, even though he is supposed to be in Tykes one more year. We will probably put him up since he is old for his age anyways. 

Leo gave basketball a try this year in Jr. Tykes. He tried hard at first and did ok with the drills, but struggled to understand the game and stay focused. He became less interested as the year went on. We may have let him miss a lot of practices, but made sure he made it for the last one where he got a participation medal. It clearly wasn't his thing, so we'll probably try an individual sport next year, like swimming or something. 

It was a great season! Bentley and Deacon are about to start spring ball and are both playing with FYB for the first time. It should be fun!

Leo's 6th Birthday Pool Party

 Leo's birthday was long awaited, but it eventually came! He has a hard time waiting after he sees Bentley and Deacon have birthday parties. He planned out what he was going to do for the party and even had party bags for everyone ready a whole month in advance. When it was finally his turn, he was so excited!

Leo picked a swimming party, so we booked the Wingate in midnapore that we had done parties at in the past. We like the pool there because it is always so empty, and it has a slide and a hot tub. We invited most of the kids in his primary class to come, as well as his buddy Gus. There were a lot of kids that were away or couldn't make it for different reasons, but we still had a good number to make Leo happy. We had Leah, Ezria, Gus, Reed and Lucy, and of course all of his siblings. Grandma and Grandpa stopped in for the last hour as well. The kids swam for 2 hours and actually played so well together. Jeff and I got in the pool as well so we could help Boston. We brought a couple blow up toys that they all loved. Then we got dressed and went to the party room for lunch. We had pizza, fruit, and a tray of spring rolls, fried pickles, and wings. Leo opened his presents afterwards and was thrilled with everything he got! Then we did cake and a pinata. I had taken Leo to Dairy Queen earlier in the week to order an ice cream cake and pick whatever picture he wanted on it. I was feeling a little under the weather that week, so this was the best I could do! He wanted to stick to the "swimming" theme, so he found a picture with Nemo and Dory in the ocean and thought it was perfect. He made sure we got blue icing and writing on it. He had also been talking about having a pinata since we did one at Deacon's party. I took him shopping for that stuff as well and he insisted on having the exact same one with a funny face. He also picked out the exact same candy to go inside and then prepared it all himself. The day didn't disappoint for him, and everyone had a blast!

Leo has grown up so much this year and, even though it takes him a little longer to learn things, he constantly surprises me with the things he knows. He is getting the alphabet and sounds down, but he is definitely gifted with his hands. Leo can open any box and cut things out so well, and we all know his love for chopping and preparing food. His little fruit salads he makes are my favorite. He loves to make and wrap presents, organize things in bags, and make cards or notes for people. He also loves to play outside at the playground or ride his bike, and would hate to miss out on anything. He has such a good spirit and his laugh is contagious. We love our Leo!