Ethan's Cooking Blog

Ethan really loves to cook, and so he has started his own cooking blog. We are still working out a few kinks as far as him being on my "Blogger" account, but for now the address for his blog is: www.koolskitchen.blogspot.com. I am LOVING having someone else with the desire to bake and cook. Eating cookies that someone else has made (and cleaned up the mess) taste really good!

Maya's 7th Birthday

 She is 7!! Her only wishes were a new bike and some "Littlest Pet Shoppe" toys. Here she is on her new bike, and she got plenty of "Littlest Pet Shoppe" things.

She started the day off with breakfast in bed, which she thought was awesome. It was a school day, but her teacher does a great job of making them feel special. She got to stand in front of the class and they could ask her any question that they wanted. Then they all wrote her birthday letters. They were really sweet.

For her birthday cake she wanted red velvet, but also wanted chocolate. Why not have both?

Maya had a great day, and I think had all of her birthday wishes come true. We love her so very much. She keeps us hopping, laughing, and wondering what we are ever going to do when she is a teenager.

"Cousin It"

Just had to share this picture of Maya in the morning. Her hair has always been pretty amazing when she wakes up, but this particular morning was REALLY amazing. She definitely looked like "Cousin It".

Alex

Alex spent a good part of the month of March being sick. He was so miserable, I don't think I have ever seen him be that sick for such a long time. This is how he spent most of that time; lounging on the couch with his "Steelers" blanket. He didn't spend most of the time with Maya's pink bandana on his head, however. I just happened to be walking by him to put it away, and thought I would tie it on his head. We had to do something to contain that afro!! We ended up having to take him to the doctor to get antibiotics for a sinus infection, and within a few days he was off and running again!

Origami

Ethan has been obsessed for some time with origami. He discovered the Star Wars origami books, and since then we have miniature Yodas, Darth Vaders, etc. all over the house. He needed to fulfill a requirement for a merit badge that required him to teach a skill to someone. One afternoon he taught Maya how to do Star Wars origami, and they had a lot of fun. It really is amazing the things that Ethan can do with a piece of paper!

Sketching

Lately Maya has been obsessed with "sketching." She has taught me that since she uses a pencil, that is what it is called. The only thing she likes to sketch is animals, and so it is a very good thing that we have hundreds of stuffed animals for her to choose from. She is actually pretty good at it. She will go and choose an animal, put them on a box on the floor in front of her, and sit down and start sketching. While she is sketching she is thinking about who to send her creation to. She wants the animal to somehow correspond with the person she wants it to go to. Keep an eye on your mailbox, because I have been given a large stack of finished sketches to send off.

Sweetheart's Dance

The Sweetheart's Dance at Sky View is a girl's choice dance. This sweet, beautiful girl asked my sweet, handsome boy to go with her. She really planned a fun day and evening, and Alex had a great time.

Valentine's Parties

Ethan and Maya had their Valentine's parties at school today. Maya was very excited to see what the Valentine would say that River would give to her. She was also excited that Mom got to come and help with the party. Through the years my excitement at helping at class parties has dwindled a bit, but I still love to see how excited the kids get to see me there. Since I was "fired" from helping in Maya's class each week (a story for another time), I was excited to go. Ethan was a little nervous for his class "party". He actually had his first school dance,being in middle school will bring that on. I was asked to be a chaperone for the dance, but Ethan was very much against that. After all was said and done, they both had a good day. Maya was excited to come home and look through all of the Valentine's she got, and Ethan was excited to come home and not have to be dancing anymore!

Oh, the Snow!!

There is only one of us in this family that enjoys the snow, and you are looking at her. Maya would play all day outside in the snow. It does not matter how cold it is, how cold and wet she is, if she has to play alone or with friends, she will always jump at the chance to play in the snow. Tonight after school that was the first thing she wanted to do. She gave her friend a call and they decided to have a quick after school snack and meet outside in 5 minutes. They played until it was dark and had a great time. The hot chocolate was waiting when she came in.

How Do You Make a Teenager Happy?

You buy him a pool table for Christmas! Alex has been trying to talk us into buying a pool table for a few years now. Troy found one for a great deal, and on Christmas Eve we had each of the kids open a present. One had a pool ball, one had a ping pong ball, and one had a ping pong paddle. (There is a top that goes over the pool table that lets us play ping pong.) Alex couldn't believe that we had really done it. He kept saying, "Are you serious?!" So far it has been getting used every day, by everyone. Just be ready if you come over and play a game with Maya, she knows all of the rules and will not let you get away with anything.

Science Fair

Ethan has been working on a science project for the Science Fair coming up at his school. He chose a project where you use batteries, magnets, and copper wire. The wire runs in between the magnets and each end of the wire is touched quickly to the battery. The wire then jumps around a bit. There is more to it than that simple explanation. It took Ethan quite a bit of time to get it figured out, but he did it. I was proud that he did not get discouraged when it wasn't working, he just kept trying. I know I have said it before, but Ethan's mind just isn't wired like mine. He can understand and think through things I would never be able to. Everything he tries academically comes to him so easily, and he has great plans for his future. Yes, his future does involve a mansion with a room for his mother (to take care of his kids)!!

The Cake Boss

Maya is becoming obsessed with Buddy Valastro from Hoboken, New Jersey. We started watching these shows on Netflix over the Christmas break, and little by little she has developed a crush on him. I don't think that she really cares about the cakes, although she does think some of them are pretty cool. She is obsessed with the members of his family that work in the bakery, with Buddy's children, but especially with Buddy. She can tell you how all of the family members tie into each other. She can tell you all about Buddy's children, especially his daugher Sophia (Maya actually looks alot like Sophia). She can tell you all about Sal and how he was important to Buddy and that is why he named his new son after him, but now Sal has passed away. She can tell you about the character traits of Buddy's sisters, and how she doesn't think they need to act the way they do. She can tell you about the times that Buddy gets angry and yells at the workers, but she thinks he probably needs to do that sometimes. Her favorite part is the opening of the show, where Buddy talks about Carlo's Bakery. She says that she really likes the way he talks, she really likes his voice. Tonight, however, really showed me how much she loves him. She told me that when she gets to be "Student of the Week" in her class at school there will be a poster that she gets to fill out. On that poster, on the very top even, is a spot to write what your hopes and dreams are. She let me know that she will be writing down that she wants to go to Hoboken, New Jersey and see Buddy. This is not the way I thought my little girl's first crush would play out! But it is really very sweet.