Joshua's Birthday Party!!!!

We had a Birthday Party for Joshua today. It is a little early, but between soccer schedules and dad being out of town, today was the best choice. We invited all his friends from school and church. There were about 15 boys all together, so I decided to let Iowa City Gym Nest help us celebrate. This is an indoor gymnasium....and boy did they have fun. They played dodge ball, tag and kick ball. They jumped on the tramp, played in the "cheese" pit, climbed the wall, swung on the rope, twirled on the bar, and so much more! They were sweaty boys, but they had oodles of fun. We then had cake and icecream and opened presents. Joshua was excited to tell everyone that "Walmart" made his soccer cake....(he knows that mom decorated cakes don't turn out). Joshua was smiling from ear to ear when it was all over. I guess Joshua summed up this day the best when he said, "Mom, this was the bestest day ever!"

EASTER

We had a very nice Easter this year. Friday night we decorated Easter eggs with the kids. We attempted to dye camouflage eggs this year, but they turned out more like icky green and black, but the boys thought they were cool, so I guess that is all that matters. We went to our friends Gary and Gwen's home for the traditional ham dinner on Saturday. They are great hosts and we had a great time. Sunday morning the kids woke up to find baskets with LOTS of candy. Joshua got a new leapster game and Nate got Yugio cards. Thanks Easter Bunny. We then got all dressed in our new "Easter" outfits and went to church. When we got home we watched the Lamb of God (an Easter movie put out by our church). After this we told the boys that we had a special "Easter" gift for them. We made them sit under a blanket while we brought them out. When we pulled the blanket off they were SO excited. They both got Roboquads. They have been playing with them all day long.

Story behind Roboquad purchase....

We usually do not get our boys big gifts for Easter. Joshua's birthday is in April, and Jared and I went shopping for him a few weeks ago. We went to Best Buy and found this robot looking thing on the clearance rack....only $10, so we bought it thinking it would be a great birthday gift. The very next day, all Nathan could talk about was this roboquad robot he had seen in a magazine and how cool it was and that he wanted to save his money for one. We got online and looked at it and saw that it was the exact same thing we had just bought for Joshua, only Amazon was selling them for $80. Jared rushed back to Best Buy and bought the last one. We then thought that we would save Nate's for his birthday (in August). We soon realized what life would be like when Joshua got his for his birthday....not pretty. So we decided to give them to both boys for Easter. Smart move on our part, although now I still have to get something for Joshua's birthday!

What did we do over Spring Break.......

University of Iowa Soccer Camp!

From 9:00 to 12:00 Nathan and Joshua worked hard at soccer camp. They had SO much fun and learned SO much. Joshua is nicknamed "The Beast" and Nathan is nicknamed "The King". Joshua is very aggressive and is a real fighter. He is constantly moving and trying to get the ball. The coaches had to remind him a few times not take the ball away from his own teammates. I had to remind him to stop pushing with his arms. We definitely don't have a timid problem with him. Nathan dominated the field. He was always after the ball and directing his team on where to pass. He is getting very good at getting the ball to go where he wants....in the goal! I must say we are truly a "Soccer family".

Our Future Musician

Nathan has really been into music and instruments lately. His latest idea is that he wants to learn to play the guitar. He keeps reminding us that he wants one for his birthday. He had a 3rd grade music performance at school. They sang a lot of songs and played instruments. He did a great job singing and playing the xylophone. He was a little bugged that mom would come with video camera and camera in hand, but too bad, he'll get over it!

More Snow Fun!

(CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE)

So Jared took the boys outside (too cold for mom!) and boy did they have fun! He came running back after about 30 minutes for the camera. I am glad he did, because he got some good pictures. The boys had a blast sledding down the snow mountains. They also figured out how to get Wolf to pull them on their sleds. I am so glad Jared takes the time to play with the boys. They sure love him, and so do I!

It's over....

Nathan's basketball is finally over! Don't get me wrong. It has been fun watching him play, but now we have our Saturday's back. (Until soccer starts in April!) He has really improved a lot this season. He has had a lot of fun. They ended the season with a party at his coaches house. Twelve (loud) boys, pizza, game cube, ball guns, all until 9:00 at night, doesn't that sound fun!