Tempting...

I definitely laughed out loud when I saw this house listing on a "what not to do" real estate website.  So tempting to try it with our own, on-the-market-for-a-year house!

Easter 2016

Oma and Papa joined us for Easter weekend.  The boys both had school on Good Friday and soccer games on Saturday, so we weren't able to get away for the weekend.  

We squeezed in some last minute egg dying.  We all agreed that we made the ugliest Easter egg ever - one of Ellen's brown eggs and green dye made it look more like an avocado than an egg!

 

Easter baskets:  fancy chocolate bars, new soccer balls, and Universal Studios gift cards.  Not too shabby.

 

 The Easter bunny hid well over 150 eggs.  These guys were pretty excited to start looking.  I think they each netted about $8 in change, plus a plethora of hard candies and lunchbox snacks. 

 

Of course Easter is one of the days that you have to try to snag a decent picture of everyone together:

 

Because we can't just take one normal picture and be done.  My favorite part of this picture?  Papa's expression.

Brady's basketball 2015-2016

It was really cool that Brady got to play basketball with a bunch of his school friends.  We sent an email prior to registration, and there were 8 boys and 1 girl in sixth grade who all wanted to play.  They were so good that the league split their division into two groups.  These guys were put in the top group, so faced some challenging teams.  While they didn't have a winning record, we all agreed that they were the most talented all-around team in the division, since most of the teams that beat them relied solely on one excellent player.  It was so fun to watch them play, since they're all friends off the court as well.  

Rudy's basketball 2015-2016

Rudy's basketball team had a bit of a rough season as far as their win-loss record, but Rudy had fun and he improved during the season.  His coaches awarded him the rebound king at the end of the season.

Errands

Running errands with a buddy AND seeing a double rainbow?  That's a win.

Spite and malice

There aren't too many card games that I enjoy, but I love a few rounds of Spite and Malice.  (Bonus points if you know who I think of every time I play this game...)  I've taught it to both of the boys and we enjoy a game every now and then.

Joys of boys...

I suppose one of the burdens of mothering little boys is pants that come home from school looking like this...

I am no match for the red Virginia mud.  That, added to the fact that most of the boys' clothes are garage sale or clearance rack, and I finally surrendered.  After about five washes and attempts with every cleaner in the laundry room, these pants were relegated to play clothes. 

Golf

 James managed to squeeze in nine holes of golf with the kids on a pleasant spring evening.  It's not often that we get that combination of no extra-curricular activities, good weather, and an early arrival home from James, so this was a nice treat for the kids.

Good neighbors

Pat and Sally are an elderly couple who live down the street from us.  We don't see them often, but they are really nice people and love catching up when we do cross paths while walking the dogs or out and about.  Every now and then, I'll drop off some flowers from the garden or some baked goods for them.  It was a happy surprise when we came home and found this treat in our mailbox a few days before St. Patrick's day...four enormous bakery cupcakes and a nice note:

Referee

Brady finished the referee certification course a few weeks ago and started his referee career this morning.  He's pretty excited about it, I think mostly because of the paycheck!  He was the linesman for two U13 games this morning.  He's also able to be the lead (and only ref) for U10 rec and challenge games.  

 

Spirit Week

It was spirit week at school.  There were a few non-photo worthy days, but I did have to snap pictures of mis-match day and favorite character day.  It hurt my eyes to look at them on Wacky Wednesday!

 Rudy as Ron Weasley:

Wildlife

I started a new "job" at a wildlife center.  I'm not entirely sure how I got selected, since I don't have much relevant background but I love it so far.  In my third shift, I helped with a hog-nose snake, possum, red-tailed hawk, and screech owl.   I'm not experienced enough yet, but there was also a mink in treatment that the other volunteer handled.

 

 

I am fly

Bunch of jokesters up in this house.  Pretty sure this was Papa's work...

Crazy cat lady

I've become one of those people who lets my cat use my computer...

Surprise: Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

James and I reserved a trip to Orlando Universal Studios, and Hogwarts, several weeks ago.  Rudy was about to finish the books, so we though spring break would be the perfect time to go.  We waffled as to whether to tell them in advance or wait and just get them up one morning and load them onto the plane.  We ultimately decided that the anticipation is a huge part of the fun.  After we finished watching the last movie, we turned on the ceiling fan so these letters would come drifting down.  They were pretty excited!