Crosby's 8th Birthday!

And now Crosby's turn to celebrate!  What a sweet 8 year old he is!  We love you, CGG, and we are so thankful for you.

He took cookies to share with his class, and I had lunch with him at school one day!  

His birthday was on a Sunday, so he opened gifts before church.

His expression was so cute when Lane handed him the toy rifle he'd been wanting:

Family Photos with the Birthday Boy

We went to brunch at Keeter Center after church.  Lane's parents came up to visit for a couple of days.  Crosby was excited to have them here to celebrate with him!

That evening we went out for Mexican food.  The waiters came to the table to sing to Crosby and it surprised him so much!  They were really loud and stuck this sombrero on his head, which made him laugh.  :)

It was a fun night!

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EIGHT THINGS ABOUT CROSBY:

1.  He loves sports:  basketball, flag football, baseball & tennis. 

2.  He currently likes songs by the Christian group Switchfoot.  He knows all the words to Live it Well and I Won't Let You Go.  And Chris Tomlin's song, Home.

3.  Likes to play Roblox and FaceTime with Pierson & Grant.

4.  Usual school-day breakfast:  pancakes or an Eggo waffle with powdered sugar & chocolate chips.

5.  His 2nd grade school leadership job has been sportsmanship leader.  He leads the class in warm-up exercises before P.E.  

6.  He learned all 50 states and capitals in school this year, did his state project about Arizona and wrote and illustrated a book about cheetahs (research project).  He's been reading the I Survived book series as well as Amulet and Dog Man graphic novels.  

7.  Some of his favorite snacks:  popsicles, apple slices, mango, granola bars, fruit snacks, pretzels & Oreos.

8.  He has brought so much joy, fun and laughter to our family for eight years!  We know God has big plans for him!

Our Teenager!

I can't believe it, but our first child is a teenager!  How do the years go by so quickly!?  We were just planning his nursery, learning how to put his infant carrier in the car and watching Blue's Clues together.  Now he's my tech support, he can cook a meal by himself and he likes to practice driving when we're at my parents' farm.  

Happy 13th Birthday, Rhett!

We love you, and we are super proud of you!

The day he was born, his 1st birthday and his 13th birthday

We had cinnamon rolls, eggs and bacon for his birthday breakfast.  (I'm terrible about remembering to buy birthday candles, but we happened to have a "3" in the drawer so he added a "1" in front of it.)  :)

I let him choose what we had for dinner that night, and he chose shrimp enchiladas with poblano cream sauce.  He even did most of the cooking!  Maybe he'll be a famous chef someday. 

Alexee had a basketball game that night so after dinner we went out for donuts (instead of birthday cake) before the game.

donut decisions

As it usually does, his birthday fell during Spring Break, so his school lunch celebration took place the following Monday.  He asked me to bring Panda Express.  I loved getting to have lunch with him at the JH campus for the first time.  

*****

And less than 24 hours after Rhett turned 13, my niece turned 13!  (What a crazy few days that was in 2004...I was still in the hospital with Rhett when my sister went into labor!)  These two have always been super close friends.  They are such special blessings to our family.  We love you both, R & J!

Spring Break in Kansas City

March 14-16

We spent two nights in Kansas City during the kids' spring break.  It was nice to get away for a little while and spend time together outside of the normal routine.  Unfortunately it turned cold again (and snowed a little bit during our drive) so we stayed bundled up while we were there, and we had to change our plans a little because it was too chilly to go to the zoo.  And I happened to wake up with that weird stomach bug the morning that we left town, so that wasn't great timing but we still made the best of our break.

When we got there on Tuesday we ate at T-Rex Cafe and then took the kids to SkyZone trampoline park.  I think they jumped for two solid hours!

Crosby wanted his picture made with the pterodactyl in the background because he did a project on pterodactyls earlier this school year.

We went to Trader Joe's to restock our cookie butter and coffee.  I love their fresh flower displays, but we're never able to buy flowers because we're traveling.  It would be nice to have a TJ's closer to home.

We also visited the College Basketball Experience/Hall of Fame at the Sprint Center.  It was very interactive, and I think the kids really enjoyed it.

Breakfast at eggtc. and shopping at World Market

We'd planned to visit the zoo on Thursday, but it wasn't warm enough so we went bowling instead.  We hadn't been bowling in years!  It was a lot of fun (but so much more difficult than it looks--my score was terrible)!

We ordered pizza there for lunch.  Love Crosby's expression on the left.  :)

That afternoon I dropped Lane and the kids off at home then I went to meet my parents to get Bogart back.  He does fine staying with them, but we were really missing him!  It was great to have him back.

Snowy March B-Day Celebration

On March 11 we got a spring snow!  Alexee had a volleyball tournament 45 minutes north of here, and by the time we got back home, the ground was covered with snow.  The roads remained clear though, which was great, so we carried on with our plans to go to Flippin for our annual March birthday party.  It snowed on us all the way there, but we had no trouble at all.  

Snow on the redbud tree in our front yard

It had snowed a lot more in Flippin.  It was so pretty!  Strange to see it on the blossoming trees though.

No coats...It didn't really even seem cold!  

I love the tree-lined road by my parents' house.

So Saturday evening was our family party to celebrate all the March Birthdays:  Micaela's, Rhett's, Jaiden's and Crosby's.  Mom made chicken tacos, chips & dip and we had cake and ice cream for dessert.  She got these cute little individual cakes for the birthday people and a large cake to share.

Crosby--soon to be 8 & Rhett--soon to be a TEENAGER! 

I can't believe how big my nephew is already!  We don't get to see him enough.  He's sitting up and reaching for everything...he seemed to love C's glasses. :)  He's such a sweet baby.

I think Jaiden had one of her "laugh attacks".   :)

Happy Birthday to these sweet kids!  We love you all!

My parents asked Crosby what he might like for his birthday, and he sent them a picture of a snake rubik's cube.  He was excited to get one (and has spent many hours since then improving his time working the puzzle).

SO FUN having a baby to play with!

In preparation for swimming season, Crosby also received some pool toys!

My parents and grandparents with all the kids.  A fun time together!