Benji's 4th Birthday

Happiest of birthdays to my little dreamer with the big ideas!

Birthday dinner at Chuck E. Cheese's with his preschool buddy, Blake, and family friend, Caleb.

BFFs, Blake and Benj

In honor of his Super Mario Brother's-themed birthday, we gave him dress-up hats and mustaches:

First visit to the High Trestle Bridge over his birthday weekend (Jack is with grandparents)

Just a few Easter pics

Louisa's 40th Birthday Bash

I must admit that weaning has introduced me to a new level of freedom and individuality that I haven't experienced in soooo long. Nights out with no curfews, sleep, overnight date nights with my husband, sleep, trips to California alone, sleep..... Tonight I had a great time helping my friend Louisa celebrate her 40th birthday with a girl's night out for sushi and dancing. We all used this as an opportunity to buy new dresses, shoes, jewelry, make-up... and really look hot. We got some looks at Taki (not everyone dresses up for sushi?) and quite a few looks at Denny Arthur's during the first hour we were there. We were the youngest people in that club until about 10:30. Ha! It was a good time with great company. It even included the usual night out stuff like borrowing floss in the ladies room from complete strangers, checking out each others' underwear, and fending off creepy guys for one another. Good times ;)

These are some seriously hot mamas-- am I right?!


Birthday girl, Louisa








This man was so cute, with his red pants and black patent leather shoes. Such a gentleman, too. And the only guy to officially ask me to dance :)

Something is new around here...

I was pretty shocked when Jack's preschool eye report came home and found he needed to see an eye doctor. Turns out one eye has 20/20 vision and the other has 20/25, causing an uneven refraction of light. I guess the weaker one could get lazy and lose eyesight over time. They said he is borderline and doesn't really "need" glasses, but it's recommend. We figured we might as well go for it while the idea is still exciting to him and not scary. He picked out some bright red ones that he'll wear during school, and when he reads, colors, and watches t.v. Luckily it's not a major thing and he seems excited about it! Too bad we'll probably go through 5 broken pairs in a month. But I suppose that's how it goes!

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

A neighbor friend had a great idea to do a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt in the (now empty) "park" space. We each brought 10 filled eggs per kid and hid them. Mine, of course, weren't interested in the "hunting," and found the closest, easiest ones they could so they could sit and eat while everyone else hunted :)

April 1st, Summertime Fun

Our morning looked a little like this:





That would be a "practice" Easter egg hunt. I guess the boys wanted to make sure they know how to do it before next weekend. And taste test the candy.







Everyone in the family caught a fish today. Even me. Although mine was not caught with a pole, rather I scooped one up in a big, pond-scum-covered piece of plastic during my pond clean-up.

So this was our morning! I wonder what the afternoon will hold on this gorgeous 85 degree April Fools Day....

and this is what our afternoon looked like...

IC Trip

Last Sunday we took a fun trip to Iowa City to visit friends Sarah and Orion, and meet their new (now 2-months-old) baby, Archer. Samantha, Ernie, and crew made it over to hang with us, as well, which was fun. It was a super short visit since we spent the first half of our visit at the Ono/Meyer household and the other half with my brother before heading back. And as always, not nearly enough catching up and chatting occurred since most time was spent entertaining all the kiddos. But it was great to meet Archer, see each other in person, and enjoy a beautiful day outdoors together.

Picnicking outside the lustron


Lovely Sarah and cutie Archer


Adam took us to the fossil gorge. This was a great place for the boys to explore and burn off energy







In other happy news, I finally (FINALLY) purchased tickets to visit my dear friend Bridget in CA, and meet her little Willa. How long have I been talking about visiting friends in CA? Sarah, sorry it didn't happen while you were in LA. Though I'm just as happy to see you more often now that you are in IC. Bridget, I'm coming and I can't wait!

Two weeks until Mike starts his new job. Only 2 more Wednesday evening shifts left! And aside from Easter (of course it's his turn to work a holiday), no more weekends! He already has his first work trip planned in early May. I think it will be really exciting for him to be traveling occasionally. I'm eager for him to get out and have that freedom; work-related or not. We are both excited for this shift in life. Good things coming, I can feel it.