Kade bagged his turkey!!  He was pretty excited!

Mason is big enough to drive the tractor!  He's been going in circles for now and practicing running the bucket.  So far so good!  I can't believe he's big enough already.  Time is flying by.

Mason learned how to properly throw the ball this year.  He's been taught for a few years but this year he finally listened 😉  Anyway, Kade now truly enjoys playing catch with him!  It's been fun coming home to see this when the weather permits.

All weather fishermen.

 

These pictures pretty much sum up our last week and a half!

We thought this was the last snowstorm of the year.  So we went out with a bang.  After putting the snowmobiles and snow tubes away, we got them out again for a day and had friends over to play!

Kade and Isaac

Mason and Gunnar

Even got a little basketball in.

Then it warmed up enough for Kade and Grandpa to take a walk in the woods.  Mason missed that trip because he was sick.  However, spring break was just a few days away and Mason was well enough to join that trip.

A great picture of the boys!  

Until you notice Mason's zipper is down and Kade's chaps are WAY too short 😆

Then it got so warm for Easter, they did their hunt outside and Mason was comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt.  

Who am I kidding though, that kid is comfortable outside in just his underwear when it's 10 degrees outside.

I completely failed at Easter this year.  I forgot to take my annual picture of the boys with their baskets.  I'm so sad.  I gotta remember to just make them pose anyway one of these days.

This year Kade decided he wanted to be the one in charge of the scavenger hunt.  So he put together clues and hid the eggs for Mason.  However, I did still hide a basket for him!  He's getting older way too fast for this mama.

And then it got SO warm that, of course, Mase had to hit the open waters!!  Unfortunately he didn't catch anything but that kid is a different person when he's got a pole and worms in his hand.  

I love watching Mason fish.

And, now we're back to winter.  The boys even had a 2 hour late start due to a snowstorm.  I knew I shouldn't have put all the snow gear away. 😒

Fingers crossed May weather treats us better.

 

 These past few weeks have been a DOOZY!!  To say I am sick of this season is an understatement.  It started a few weeks ago when I got super sick for 3 straight days, I couldn't even get out of bed unless it was to run to the bathroom.  A couple days later, Kade caught it.  Unfortunately he was in school when it hit so he had to throw up in the school bathroom.  Well, that triggered some anxiety for him, which we didn't realize for a couple days.  So every morning, when we thought he was well enough to go to school he'd have a panic attack at the thought of puking in school again.  He'd get so worked up, he'd end up throwing up at home.  We finally realized it after he missed an entire week of school, and a basketball tournament.  He had been fine all weekend, then Monday morning he was throwing up again.  After talking with Grandma and getting some breathing techniques as well as short trips (15 minute increments) into the school, he was finally able to go back.  He ended up missing 8 days but his teachers were very understanding and he caught up in no time.  

Just when we thought Erik and Mason were in the clear, Mason caught it.  Unfortunately he did not make it into the bathroom so now we're dealing with an overwhelming smell in his bedroom.  Because of that, he's been sleeping on the floor in our room.  Kade has also been on the floor in our room, to keep all the sickness contained.  Which means Erik has taken over Kade's room in the basement. 

To top it all off, Kade ended up catching the bug AGAIN two days ago!!!  Thankfully, since he's already fought it off once, he recovered quickly.  Just when I think it's safe to put the puke bucket away, it comes right back out again.

Fingers crossed Erik stays in the clear!!!

In healthier times, Kade's tournament team ended up taking first place out of 16 teams in a 2 day tournament!!  They only had 7 boys, but those 7 are the energizer bunnies--they never stop!  

Kade kicked butt and really showed what he can do when he gets competitive.  The championship game they ended up playing the team that beat them the day before.  It was a competitive team that talked a lot of trashy and they got in his head the day before.  He came back ready for revenge!  They ended winning 42-33 and Kade had 25 of the points.  Unfortunately it was unknowingly his last tournament of the season, since he was sick for the last one.  Thank goodness he went out with a bang!!

In other news, he was measured at the doctor and he's now 5'10"!!

Mason on the bench helping coach

Back in February the boys had their second tournament and they took home first place!  They played a Byron team in the championship game and won by 5 points.  One of the boys from Byron was Kade's teammate last spring on the AAU team.  They still talk regularly and although Kade likes the kid, he didn't want to lose to him.  Kade really turned it on the last game and it was so fun to see him, and the rest of the team, take themselves to the next level of play.  After all the hard work parent/coaches have put in, it's FINALLY starting to show!!  They were all very proud of themselves.

There were enough medals for the #1 Brother to get one too!!

The next day Erik took Mason ice fishing.  They've gone a few times and it's basically just been them drilling holes in the ice and enjoying the outdoors 😆

However, this time they went for "The Night Bite".  They went later afternoon and it finally paid off!!  Erik said they were getting into the truck to go home and he saw Mason taking a BIG sniff of his hands.  He looks over and Erik and says, "Aaaaah...I LOVE THAT SMELL!"

And finally.....

BRACES!!!!!

 

This post has nothing to do with the boys.  

Super Bowl weekend we took our annual trip to Duluth with 2/3 of Erik's siblings.  We left the boys and the dogs with Grandma and Grandpa and spent 3 luxurious days and nights sitting around doing nothing but eating junk food and drinking adult beverages 😆

We spent most of the time on the beach, sitting by a fire, playing bean bags and drinking and laughing.

The sun was shining and it was actually pretty warm!  I even took my coat and boots off and sat barefoot in the sun.  

Counting down the days til next year!

 

Basketball Recognition Night

A few weeks ago the boys' teams had their recognition night.  Mason's 3rd and 4th grade team ran out with JV, did their warm ups and sat behind their bench during the game.  Kade's 5th and 6th grade team did the same with varsity.  Both boys found some new role models to look up to!

Mason in front with gray shorts

Going in for a layup

Kade at the back of the line across the court.

Going in for his layup

Kade's team got to line up for the National Anthem as well

The highlight of the night might've been watching Mason slooooooowly (and very sneaky) make his way down to sit on the varsity bench 😆

The 2 players standing were a bit confused and tried to move him but quickly gave up and just scootched him down.

Kade's also playing with a more competitive (and much smaller numbers!) traveling team.

They didn't do so hot at this tournament but they still managed to kinda smile for pictures.