Easton is 4!!

Happy 4th birthday to my little Easton guy! 

Born on March 23, 2009.  9 lb 13 oz.  

Who can't wait until he is taller than his mom!

Who can't wait until he can do big guy things like his dad!

Whose favorite word is hot dog.

Whose favorite food is hot dog.

Who likes to act like a chicken...probably to drive us all crazy.

Who likes all things dirt, trucks, tractors...and well all things boy!
Who has non-stop energy.

Who is my sweet little boy.

Who I can always count on helping
me when I need his help.

He is a very hard worker...and I just know he will be just like his
dad when he grows up!

To celebrate his birthday, I rented a bowling alley for a few hours.  Because his little group of friends are so young I invited all of the kids in their families.  It was a good time!

Here is the cake I made.  He wanted a tractor cake.  I guess there are tractors on it??  Well the theme was construction.  My cake was a NIGHTMARE!  Too moist.  Couldn't even frost two of the layers.  Good thing for the theme! I had trucks chewing into the cake and falling rocks.  It
was busier than I had anticipated.  Everyone thought it was yummy!  AND I made it to Omaha without it falling over!  Big plus!

Here is the front:

Here is the back:

 I also made some yummy cupcakes!  Jocelyn was mad because I was not following her "how to frost" them directions.  I get better with practice...but she thinks she could have done a better job.  That goober.

I provided lunch for the group and everyone had a good time bowling!

Blowing out the candles:)

and a video of the group singing happy birthday:)

A few random thoughts for the week!

Yup.  It is another random thought posting.  I know at least my mom and sister read my blog...so I hate to disappoint them and not post anything...:)

Just a random pic from school today...my almost 4 year old!!!

~~I joined *another* *big sigh* weight loss challenge.  It has been going on for a month now.  I am not sure I have seen any progress.  Sean says he has. So we will go with that.  The snow and kids with colds are really ruining my mojo...thank goodness for our indoor bike. 

I have been eating better about 90% of the time.  I splurged while we were on vacation and have snuck a few things here and there. 

I am just hoping that everyone else in the competition are complete slackers....

~~I am getting extra nervous about this 1/2 marathon that I signed up for.  I have this training plan...which is becoming hard to follow when life and sick kids get in the way...darn you YMCA for not having a room for kids with colds....but I am doing my best with what I have here.  The most I have run "in my short 1 year of running" has been 8 miles.  I ran that extra....extra slowly...but hey I was in the running motion.  A friend reassured me last week that people walk the thing...so I may not come in last after all...but I still might finish at the same time as my marathoner friends.  :) 

I had a really weird dream last night that I got lost, took several hot cocoa breaks, and then realized I forgot to bring a flash light since I was still working on finishing at dark. 

Is it weird that I am already planning out my outfit?  I hope not.

~~I have my days when I think to myself...does Sean realize all of the stuff that I do during the day....it is a crazy day teaching these kiddos, keeping the house in order, cooking, cleaning etc.  Then I sit down...or stand up...which ever position I may be in at the time... and realize...why yes he does!

We have different jobs.  My job is the keeper of the home.  I LOVE my job.  I wouldn't trade it for any other job out there.  Sean has a different job.  Head of the household.  Not keeper of the home like mine.  His days are about a million times crazier than mine. His work never leaves him.  He gets e-mails and phone calls non-stop...when he is not at work...but technically he is always at work....just not physically.  That is his job.  His job is extremely stressful...so lucky to have him as the our head of the household.

~~Last month I started a group to help me stay accountable for reading the Bible in 90 days.  We are over half way through and as of today...and....I am right on track!  When is the last time you opened up your Bible and just read away.  I know life gets in the way.  Kids keep us busy.  Work--whatever you do, takes away our focus.  But try to carve out at least a few minutes a day to open it up.  You won't regret it.  I promise.

~~Do you ever have a secret that you can.not.wait to tell someone?  Sean and I are going to take our girls somewhere tomorrow night.  I can't wait to see what their reaction will be.  Jocelyn has a pretty nasty cold right now...so hopefully she will be able to stay up late to enjoy her surprise.   Thanks to my dad for thinking about our little munchkins:)

~~I am going to have a 4 year old little boy in 11 days!!!! 

Is it weird that I have been obsessing over his cake for like 6 months now....and I switched it again last week?  That isn't weird is it?  I am thinking not.  Can't wait to start spreading the frosting!  I hope he likes it!
 
~~and last...please pray for our little family over the next few weeks.  We have a lot of things swirling in the air right now.  Sean will be traveling quiet a bit over the next few weeks.  He may have some big decisions that need to be made.  A bit of prayer would help.  Thanks:)

A little Colorado getaway:)

Sean and I LOVE Colorado!  Love it!  We can not wait to take the kids there to go river rafting, skiing, fishing, and camping.  There is so much to do there!  But we left the kids behind to have a little weekend getaway.  It was for our birthdays!  We are lucky enough to have my parents that are willing to take on a little extra craziness for a few days...thank you!  

Our trip started off in Denver.  We always start off in Denver to acclimate to the higher altitude.  I know most people don't do that, but that is just us.  We had an easy 45 minute flight and a lovely evening shopping, eating, going to a movie, and eating cheesecake at the Cheesecake factory.  Weight loss challenge failure for sure!

The next morning we took off to the mountains.  It was really nice in Denver....

 but as soon as we hit the mountains...we hit this.  Non-stop traffic and white out conditions.

We stopped off in Breckenridge for lunch and a snowmobiling tour.  I was a little nervous to drive, so Sean and I rented a 2-seater--and he drove!  It was nice to take in the scenery!

The highest point of the tour was almost 12,000 feet.  It was pretty windy, snowy, and cold that day....but we were still able to enjoy the view!

After the tour we headed to one of our favorite spots-- the Minturn Inn.  It is a lovely little bed and breakfast right outside of Vail, Colorado.  We stayed there on our honeymoon and have always talked about going back.  I would highly, highly recommend this place if you are in the area without kids.  Our room had a 2-person jacuzzi tub and let's just say it was really nice to take a soak right after the snowmobile tour.

 The next day we headed to Beaver Creek, CO, just a few miles up the road.  Our original plan was to go to Vail, but there was a big US Open Snowboarding tournament.  That would have been fun to see, however we didn't want to fight the extra crowd. 

Sean and I were both a bit nervous about hitting the actually mountain.  We took a few lessons at a local "bluff" in Iowa, but we knew it wasn't the same.  Sean has been fighting issues with his height and can't quiet find boots that fully support the extra inches.  We asked around and were led up to an easy beginner area.  Um.....yes so it was a really tough hill.  I was almost in tears thinking if this is as easy as it gets, we are in trouble.  The first little way down I freaked out right in front of a batch of trees...and fell.  Sean fell as well at some point on this hill.  After skiing downhill for a bit, we finally discovered a really nice trail and stuck with it for the rest of the day.  It took us a good hour to ski this trail and we did it 3 times...boy were we soar afterwards! 

 We still have some things to learn to improve our skiing ability.  Confidence issues.  Equipment issues.  We ended up buying a pair of ski boots for each of us!  So this should help some for next season.  We are hoping to get all of the kids in ski school next year at the local hill and one of these days we can all go skiing as a family!  Can.not.wait!