Ethan's 1st REAL Birthday Party

Ethan has been begging for a 'real' party for the past few years. For his past few couple birthdays, he's been in the hospital, Bryan has had to work, and other family birthday parties. He has seen Matthew have parties, but he's never had his own party. This year, he finally got his wish. Due to all of the hockey obsession flowing throughout the neighborhood, he opted for a hockey party, of course!! He got to invite his little school friend, his cousin Eli, and some neighbors. The boy was STOKED.

Thank you to to Lorraine and my parents for your help!! We are so thankful to have such wonderful parents! Thank you Dad, Tim, and Bryan for helping push all the 5 year olds around the ice!! Everyone had a great time!!

Ethan wasn't on the ice for 10 minutes and he fell and banged his lip. He had blood smeared all over the place. It was on his face, his coat, his hands and all over his sleeves. He was done. He didn't want to skate again. When I told him he was like a real hockey player, he perked up and got right back to skating!!

Even my momma got on the ice...even just for one lap. I think she laughed the entire time around the rink!!

ELECTRIC SCOOTERS!!

Thank you, LoLo & Poppy! Another electric scooter for the Ward house! Ethan has been begging for one since Matthew got his in October. Can you tell how happy they are?? They have so much fun zipping around the court and down the street. What's even better is that there is no more arguing over taking turns! YAY...score one for me!!

Score one for the Ward boys...this is going to be a great summer!

Street Hockey

As soon as it was warm enough to play, hockey became the sport of choice for the neighborhood. Secretly, I think Matthew imagines that he's on ice, playing for the Philadelphia Flyers. He certainly dresses the part!

Snow Day!!

We didn't get a lot of snow this winter, so for our last 'real' snowfall, we made a point to go outside and play! (LoLo was supposed to be out there with us, but the poor girl got sick!!)

Here they are tyring to build the biggest snowman ever! Needless to say, this huge snowball got stuck on the side of the house and never grew into a snowman!

"Hey Ethan, you sure you want to do that to your brother?! He's going to get you back!"

Don't say I didn't tell you, Ethan!

Matthew made is very own, much smaller version, right in the front yard. He did it all by himself and did an excellent job!!

Birthday Dinner

For Ethan's 5th birthday, he chose Chick-fil-A for dinner...and then the snow started. Ethan chose Kiku's, a local sushi place! Granted, he won't eat sushi, but he loves getting the free Japanese cream sodas and of course, their rice! He was so excited to turn 5! LoLo flew into town, my parents joined us for dinner and we had a great night! Still can't believe he's 5!!

Let the Star Wars toys begin! :)

The best part of Ethan opening this gift from Matthew was Ethan's extreme gratitude for the polka dotted bag. Never mind, the fact that Matthew gave him the very book that Matthew himself has wanted for MONTHS, Ethan loved the bag. (The book, too, but that's besides the point!)

A Wii game for the boy always makes him happy!!

On the Eve of 5...

This year, I didn't get out my fancy camera. I just used my phone. We got a little silly. We talked about his upcoming party. I got sad. I knew in just a few short hours, you'd no longer be four, or as you say it, 'foe.' You still can't say your Rs. I am apprehensive about this new year, wondering if this year will bring more changes in your speech, your behavior and your interests. It's sad to realize how quickly time does fly by. I try to soak up every bit of your childish ways, hoping to remember all of the silly things you say. The things I thought I'd miss over your fourth year, still exsist today, even if only faintly. Your lips are still perfect and when you sleep, you still look like that little baby I held just a few short years ago. That blue blanket given to you as a baby gift, is still your comfort at night and a must have whereever you sleep. Over the last few months, you've added a stuffed animal to your 'must haves' when you sleep. The things you do now amaze me...reading, spelling, counting. Even though you're losing those baby things, I still look forward to what the next year holds. So, tonight on the eve of five, I am watching you breath heavily, snoring. Sound asleep, dreaming of lightsabers, army men, winning races and hitting homeruns. My little boy, I can only sit here and imagine who you will become. As much as I am sad you aren't so little anymore, I'm happy to know you are all ours! No matter how old you are, you will always be the little man we love so much!

Of course, it wouldn't be complete without listing the 5 things we love most about you:

1. Your imagination for pretending to be whatever and whoever you want to be.

2. Your little lisp and your own little language

3. Your admiration for your big brother, even though you two can fight like cats and dogs.

4. The way you still like to cuddle close on my lap, while you play with my hair

5. Listening to you sing Justing Bieber's "Baby, Baby" over and over and over and over and over and over....

Happy Valentine's Day

Nothing like a low key, simple night at home with my guys to make me happy on Valentine's Day. I usually make heart-shaped meatloaf for dinner, but I was not in the mood for that, so I made a soup from Pioneer Woman that the boys saw on TV and had been begging for!

What a great night!

Instagram!

I'll admit. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed with Instagram on my iPhone! Enjoy my obsession with a few of my favorite pictures over the past week or two! :)

Ethan: "Money makes me happy." Me, too, Ethan! :)

My bathroom remodel with a gallon of paint!
Love the finished product!

This is a picture of the fungus growing on a tree stump outside. It is so pretty, but it is still a fungus!

One of our new little furry friends! Meet Harry Potter! This little guy is Ethan's roommate. He runs from 8 PM to 9AM. EGADS. He's the baby of our neighbor's hamster. Now we are the proud owners of TWO of those babies! YAY US. (Can you hear my sarcasm?!)

Rock and Worship!

My boys (and I) have been looking forward to this night for a very long time! We went last year and had an amazing time! The line up last year didn't disappoint. This year's line up was a bit 'younger' and catered to more youth groups. I am still impressed by how much Christian music has changed since I was a teenager. I feel so blessed that Matthew and Ethan can listen to rap, heavy metal or just a good singer/songwriter, and not be concerned about what it is they are hearing. This year, they were able to see Disciple, which was a heavy metal band that all three of my boys liked. They were able to see Lecrae, a rap artist, that even I was impressed with. They got to see Sidewalk Prophets, Rend Collective Experiment (great Irish sound), Hawk Nelson (pop/punk), Tenth Avenue North (another household favorite) and of course, MercyMe!! We love Mercyme!! Ethan LOVES MercyMe! You can see how much he loves them HERE! Ethan fell sound asleep half way through. Matthew rocked out to some good music, had fun with his friends and smiled all night long! Each band sent messages to the audience that always seemed to speak right to you. It felt great being surrounded by others that share the same beliefs as you, but also knowing that God works in mysterious ways. Those words were spoken to help everyone in that building. Even though the music may not be my 'taste' all the time, being with my friends (Spiro's and McMeins') and my family made the night a real 'feel good' kind of night! I can't wait until next year...or maybe we'll find them touring again this summer!! :)

MercyMe

Nicholas and Matthew

Hawk Nelson

Tenth Avenue North (This moment made my night! I caught Matthew videotaping his talk, when Matthew turned his camera back on himself and said "This guy is awesome!")

Ethan sleeping through it all...

MercyMe singing "I Can Only Imagine"

Bryan is 40!

The man is officially 14,600 days old...give or take a couple after Leap Year! :)

We had a surprise birthday for him on Saturday! His family all came in for the festivus! His Aunt Karen even brought out his Grandma to add a very special surprise!! Bryan's sister, Leighanne and her husband, Steve, flew in from CA and NJ. Bryan's brother, Steve, and his son, Alex, flew in from VA! We haven't all been together in A VERY LONG time! The time went VERY quickly and we had a great weekend. My mom and Bryan's mom did SO much to make his surprise party a success!! I appreciate all the food you bought, the decorations, the set up and the clean up! Thank you to my dad for picking up the food and letting us use the building! Thank you to EVERYONE who helped make the day a great memory for Bryan!! It was a great night and felt wonderful, being surrounded by friends and family!!

I took so many pictures that night, Blogger couldn't possibly hold them all! If you've got the time, check out the link to see what was suitable for all viewing audiences! :)

CLICK HERE FOR THE PICTURES!

Ethan Rocks!!

This has to be one of the highlights of my night! Ethan was rocking out with a band called Disciple at the "Rockin' Worship Roadshow." It's not my kind of music, but apparently the Spirit moved Ethan!!

Ice Time

Today was supposed to be a 'girl's day' with my mom...shopping, coffee and getting our nails done. Bryan and the boys had other plans. They wanted to do a family day...a family day at the ice rink! For those of you that don't know, I HATE ICE SKATING!! I married a guy that probably could have skated professionally, and I have NEVER ONE TIME gone skating with him. EVER. Well, after 14 years together and two kids later...we went. $37 dollars was well worth the amount of laughs I had watching them! Matthew was the funniest skater I've ever seen. Picture Elaine from Seinfeld dancing, put her on ice, and you've got Matthew. I cackled. I howled. I had tears in my eyes. Ethan had tears in his eyes, too...but he banged his face on the walker he was using. He probably hates skating as much as his mother. Bryan tried to show off all afternoon and loved every moment!! So, after I skated 4 laps without falling, I called it quits. Overall, it wasn't so bad. I'll admit. It was pure entertainment!!

(and I wasn't the worst one there!!)