Jumping Beans

Till We Meet...

Yesterday, very impromptu, a few of us gathered to say goodbye to Jackie, our great friend, who will be moving next week....so sad that we haven't even had that long of time together, but how close we have become- Jackie is amazing! She is multi-talented in more ways than I can count, and is the BEST storyteller- she is hilarious! She even came on our exclusive girls shopping trip last winter- she is one that I will remain friends with no matter where we live. I am sad that she has to go so fast! The spring and summer are just coming and that is when we get together and have the most fun- winter isn't so great! So, to honor her, we had a delish lunch with better than uh, you know what, cake, and cookies....my friends are the best food and treat makers! So see you later, for now, but not forever...Jackie, you will be MISSED!! At least we have Facebook to keep in touch! Heaven bless the internet!

Thanks to Spencer, Suzanne's 6 year old, for being the only one able to take the picture!!

Derby Day

Last night was our Pinewood Derby! It was Alex's second year in it- last year it was on his 8th birthday and he won 1st place! Well, this year, he got 4th place- but we were happy nonetheless. He worked really hard on his car (carefully selecting the perfect pre-cut model from Hobby Lobby!!), painted it red and then with Dad's help, paint a black stripe down it. He was happy with his creation.

There were 7 scouts in the Derby- missing a bunch due to Spring Break, but here they are with Cory, our Cubmaster, and Bonnie, "the best den leader" there is!

Alex's car lost it's first race, but then won 2 in a row....they didn't do as many heats (Dana doesn't think), because after the winners had been announced, the boys continued to race, and Alex's car kept winning!! We are just happy it was so fun for all of them- they are really good sports and had a great time just racing from one end of the track to the other-they even cheered each other's car on!


"The best den leader" brought balloons to occupy the small kids during our delay in starting...the girls loved that and we had a huge cheering section.

We are proud of our Scout- he had fun and that is all that matters. Way to go boys!

Spring and Rita

On the first day of Spring, Rita's Italian Ice gives away FREE flavored ice!! We love Rita's! It is soooo good! And the fact that it is FREE on the first day of spring makes it even better! Well, it was sunny on Friday, but not that warm, not warm enough to be eating ice outside, but we did it anyway! Leah got Cookies and Cream, which to be honest did not sound good- but it turned out to be my favorite...Celeste got Cotton Candy- which she loved, but it was too much, so we ate it the next day...I got Raspberry Lemonade which was super yummy, but more refreshing if it were hotter outside, and we brought home Cherry for Dana- it was good too.

Alex spent the weekend with my parents- lucky kid- so on Sunday, we went to pick him up and since it was nice outside, we went to the park, and the kids got to play on some new equipment. I found an I-pod someone left behind...8gb, actually, but we found the owner, and gave it back...it was a really nice one, too...darn.



I hope Spring is sticking around now...the kids have loved being outside- and to be honest- SO HAVE I!!!

A

Birthday Boy

Today my Alex turns 9! That is amazing to me...because just yesterday he was born- honestly, I do remember it as if it were just then. I love this boy- he is everything I could have hoped for in a son- he is sweet, tender, caring, thoughtful, honest, loving, funny, silly, sports-loving, people-loving, and just 100% wonderful. I wish I could just stop time for a while and keep him young- it is hard for me to adjust to having a big kid...he was just a toddler...I know because I have a great memory! I always tell him that I am going to quit feeding him so that he stops growing- I think about it everyday! He always laughs, but I am SERIOUS!
We had a combined birthday celebration on Sunday for him and my niece, Brianna's 3rd birthday. It was at Sean and Steph's and it was a lot of fun. He got more Bakugan figures, baseball cards and a cool Tony Hawk shirt. He was so easy- just wanted cherry chip cupcakes with red icing- I thought, "finally, something easy!!" I didn't have to do an elaborate cake this year! Loved that. He didn't even care that I forgot to get a number 9 to put on top- thank goodness Stephanie had a single one- he just blew that out and was happy.
Stephanie made 2 other cakes: cute, huh?!

It was a nice spring afternoon, so the kids went outside to play and Alex started to "fix" things with the awesome tool box and tools from Grandpa- the perfect gift. The girls love the fruit spread. Kelly (Stephanie's niece), Adriana and Leah.
Great tools!

The 3 amigos...

I made funfetti brownies for his classmates today for him to take to school. He was so excited- he wanted extras to take to his former teachers and current ones too- such a sweetie. Tonight I am taking him to dinner- so it's a mommy/son date- I am super excited. Not to mention it is a perfect day outside- 70 degrees again!

Dana didn't want Alex to wait until he got home today to let Alex open his gifts from us, so we surprised him and gave them to him last night:

We got him tickets to a Reds vs Braves game in June - just check out his face- he is so happy!

Baseball cards and gum- easy gifts!
He loves his new bat- did you know how expensive bats are?! Outrageous! He better use this for a while!

Chipper is ready for the season!
Of all places, Alex chose Big Boy! I am not sure why, but whatever- it is his birthday, and it is rather cheap, so that is where we go:

His 2nd hamburger of the day- he ate lunch at school too- lucky kid!
Hot fudge sundae cake- yum!
After dinner, he and I went to the new Target and he bought an I-dog that he wanted with his birthday money- he loves it. He said that is was the best birthday ever! I think I remember him saying that last year and the year before too...it was indeed a great day for me, too!