Lots of pictures this week!

Last Friday the 1st and 2nd grade classes at Kade's school put on a Spring program.  The theme was pajama party so they all got to wear their pajamas to school.  It was highly entertaining and pretty darn cute!!

This is all of Kade's class!

Kade's 3rd from the right, top row.  

Mason had some little buddies over, Harper and Nyle.

This past Wednesday cousin Violet came to play for a little bit.

They got to frost some sugar cookies for a snack, and then again at dessert!  When I'm playing "Aunt" there are no dessert rules!!

These are out of order but I'm too lazy to put them in order.

Last Sunday it was cold and windy but the boys needed to get outside and run around.  Luckily we had a bunch of friends in the same predicament!  So, we met at the football field and let them loose.  It was so fun we didn't even notice the cold and the wind.

Mom Pyramids:

Kade and I were the weakest link, he kept falling off!!

It was Mandi's birthday, therefore she got to be the top of the triangle.

JB (on the far left) didn't know what he was getting into having Mason on his back.  One of Mason's favorite things in the world is horsey rides.  I bet he asks Erik 100 times a day, "Dad.  Can you be my horse?"  After the pictures were taken I literally had to pry Mase off of JB's back because he wasn't budging.

I swear we actually did play football, these cheerleader poses were AFTER the game.

Basketball player in training...

Kade decided he wanted to go for a run with me.  The last time we tried that he made it about 0.1 miles before calling it quits.  I knew he had been running in PE though so I figured he'd be good for at least 0.5 miles this time.  He proved me wrong...he ran 1.5 miles!!  He chit chatted the whole time though so I'm pretty sure if he would talk less he could run a whole lot more.  That's ok though, I'll take his stories and chatting with me on a run any day, makes the time much more enjoyable for me!

Mason's daycare mom is a wrestling mom.  She definitely encourages his interest in wrestling!  Providing him with her son's old singlet isn't helping matters for this basketball playing family!!  He certainly does look cute though and I'll take a wrestler over a couch potato any day.  Looks like I may need to learn some things about wrestling.

Just a couple of studs looking for some studs in the wall.

Mason marches to the beat of his own drum.  You're never quite sure if he's listening or paying attention.  He's stubborn as all get out, if he doesn't want to do something there's no making him.  With Kade you can count to 3 but you'll only ever get to 2 before he's doing whatever you asked.  With Mason, you can count to a trillion and he's still not doing it.  

Mason is smart however, unlike most kids who love to show off their skills when you ask them to count, say colors, repeat the alphabet, etc., he'll refuse.  He might give you 1 or 2 answers but then he's done.  School is going to be interesting with this kid!  But the other day, he surprised me and my heart swelled with pride.  I was in my closet while he was playing in the room and he had no idea I was in there.  I heard him say, "Hi God.  I love you, even though you are invisible."  So, he must be paying a little bit of attention in Sunday school!

Right now Kade is all basketball all the time.  He plays in the driveway after school everyday.  He practices his form shooting, begs us to play Around the World or P-I-G, and dribbles up and down the sidewalk.  When it's time to come in, he grabs his indoor basketball and continues to dribble on the wood floor and practice his "goose neck".  When we've had enough of the pounding, he takes Erik's phone and watches Steph Curry highlights on youtube.  He's especially interested in Curry's dribbling warm ups.  I keep telling him if he's tall as Erik and can dribble like Uncle Mike he might just go to college for free!  Right now he says he's not going to college because he doesn't want to leave us.  I'll take that for as long as I can because I know the day when that response changes is coming soon enough!

The boys "helping" Dad with the never ending stair project.

Mason is so into guns right now.  

It's all he wants to talk about and play.  

He yells, "BAM!BAM!BAM!" at least a thousand times a day.  

We now call him "Bam Bam".

Whenever the Z's come over, the big kids play a sport.  

Football, wrestling, basketball it doesn't matter, but no matter what they are starting it off with the National Anthem.  This time they had Erik spotlight the flag.  Mason and Harper even joined in!

Love their imagination and attention to details!

This past weekend we had to say good bye to Erik's aunt Connie.  She played such a major role in Erik's upbringing as his aunt but also as the mother of his cousin/best friend, Damon.  They are the same age so they were more like brothers growing up, going to school and working on the farms together.

She was always the loudest fan cheering Damon and Erik on at their games.  Not only would her voice rise above the rest of the crowd, she would also ring a cowbell--just in case they couldn't hear her.  She would always make sure their bellies were full after chores, bailing hay, before games...anytime really, she made sure they were fed with delicious home cooked, farm approved meals.  The best way into Erik's heart is through his stomach and there's two women in his life who are head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to making meals and desserts, his mom and his aunt Connie.  I really can't do justice explaining the impact she had on Erik's life.

Connie was one of our fiercest supporters.  When we lost faith of ever becoming parents, she would quietly let us know she was praying for us.  She never gave up hope.  When we were blessed with Kade and then Mason, she beamed with happiness and jumped for joy.  Everyone should be blessed with an Aunt Connie in their lives.

Those waffle cookies are one of Kade's favorites!

You will be dearly missed, Connie!  

I've been terrible at taking pictures lately, so it's an oldie but a goodie of the two boys who are the joy and the light of our lives.

These pictures sum up my boys perfectly.  There is no doubt in my mind that Mason is going to be a motor head.  Engines, keys, drills, anything involving small parts and fine motor skills--this kid's got it in the bag.  Right now he could care less about sports but ask him which key goes in which lock or ignition and he's got you covered.

Kade, on the other hand, is all sports and friends.  All.the.time.  All weekend, every weekend, he's begging for friends to come over.  The only way to get him to stop asking for a friend is to play a sport activity with him.  Or take him to a sporting event.  

Thanks to Mason, Erik can never find his tools.  But it doesn't matter anyway because, thanks to Kade, he's too busy playing catch or shooting hoops to have time to use them!  Whew, these boys are busy!!

Thank you to Grandpa and Grandma H and my friend, Mandi, for supplying the pictures to this week's post!