Houston...We Have No Problems

So when I started the weight loss competition I decided that if I won the prize money I'd be buying a plane ticket to Texas to visit my Iowa medical school friends Jessica and Margaret.  A few weeks into the competition Southwest was having a great deal, so I bought the ticket and then just hoped I would win...and yahoo!!!  I won!  So last Thursday night I flew into Houston guilt-free for a little girl's weekend.

We stayed at Jessica's cute house in Houston.  It was fun to see her little boy Beckett, the last time I saw him he was Quinn's size...and now she has another little boy on the way!

Margaret arrived early Friday morning and while we were all sitting there chatting in our jammies she said how cool it was to feel like no time had passed, and that this was just a normal day.  I completely agreed, I'm so grateful to have fantastic friends that are like family to me.  So fun to get together and feel like no time had passed!  We had so much fun eating our way through Houston (good thing I lost 20 lbs. before I left) and chatting about everything!

Saturday we explored Galveston.  We explored The Strand district and then spent some time on the beach.   I bought a kite at a little gift shop and it was so fun to fly a kite, and splash in the waves at the same time...I somehow ended up soaked by the time we left.

Quinn was such a good little traveler, he was an easy baby to take along!

I learned that I cannot take a self-portrait for the life of me.  I had some doozies!

Quinn had his first experience sticking his little toes in the waves and the sand!

Trying a little Texas brisket!  Mmmmm, mmmm, good.

Friday we had a great shopping day at The Galleria in Houston.

We wore little Beckett and Quinn right out!

After a hard day of shopping we rewarded ourselves with Sprinkles cupcakes (a little tradition started on our first girl's trip to Chicago).

That night we had dinner at Maggiano's (another tradition from our Chicago trip).

On Monday we had time to take a walk around Hermann Park and ride the train.  It was beautiful and sunny!

Then I flew home to Denver...and found this!!!  A snow storm the day I left and the day I came home.

I missed these boys!  They were excited for the gummy rattle snakes I found for them in Galveston!

I missed Clark too!  Just had to include this picture of the ice cream bars at Bryce and Jessica's house....does this not look like Clark just a little?

Little Quinn wearing his Houston souvenir...just dreaming of warmer weather so he can go outside again!

Such a fun trip!  Loved Texas, loved seeing my friends!  Can't wait for the next girl's trip!

Spring Slim Down Challenge: Final Weigh-In

So this morning was our final weigh-in for this 10 week challenge.  Over the 10 weeks I lost 20.2 lbs. and 38 inches!  At the beginning I had a quiet goal to lose 20 lbs. so I was thrilled to have met it.  We haven't found out who the winner is yet...so we will see...hoping it is me considering I already bought a plane ticket with the prize money I was planning on winning (opa)!
It was fun to see everyone's before and after photos, so I'm posting my after here.  I know I still have a long way to go, but for today I can be happy with a goal that was met, pre-pregnancy jeans fitting again, and generally feeling so much better than I was 10 weeks ago!

This challenge was really motivating and fun for me.  I'm planning on moderating another 10 week challenge starting in May.  Do any of you want to join my challenge?!  If you do leave me a comment or give me a call.

5 Year Old Ethan

It is hard to believe that I have a five year old.  I feel like the years have gone by super fast since my little E.E. was a baby.  He came into the world kicking!  Seriously, I've never seen a baby kick his legs like Ethan did, even as a newborn he would kick those legs a hundred miles an hour...it was like the excitement he felt for life just couldn't be contained in that little body.  And he didn't like to sleep, we used to drive him around at all hours of the night just so he would nap a bit in that car seat, then as soon as we hit the speed bump coming back into our apartment complex he would wake up screaming and ready to play again!  When he first learned to walk it was really a run, and he would run circles around our little living room for hours.

Some things haven't changed much, he still wakes up running.  The moment he wakes up I hear his little footsteps charging up the stairs, he's always ready to greet the day on a dead run.

There are so many parts to Ethan's personality.  He is so sensitive, he is kind and sweet, he doesn't like seeing other people sad or distressed.  At the same time he is also mischievous, he loves to be funny and play little jokes.  He thought he was so funny the other day when he poked his toy sword out of his shirt and said "look mom, I have a hernia like you."  (Yes, I need surgery).  He loves to have fun and be social...he cries almost every time I pick him up from preschool because he just wants to keep having fun playing with his friends.  He still doesn't have any stranger anxiety or a shy bone in his body, everywhere we go he likes to make new friends and tell everyone our life story.  He likes routines and consistency, change is hard for him.  The 9 moves last year, all of the changes this past fall settling in a new place, and then a new baby brother were a little rough on him.  But just the past few months I have seen so much growth in him, I think a large part is that he's finally feeling comfortable with the consistency of our routines and life again.

His love language is definitely quality time.  He loves his Dad because he plays with him so much.  All of the time I hear him say, "you are my best buddy Dad."

He is a smarty pants.  He knows his letter sounds, and can count to 110.  The thing that amazes me is his ability to figure things out.  He has an engineering and scientific mind, he's curious about how everything works.

I love how he has a big vocabulary but still uses words incorrectly.  Instead of instructions he says, "let's read the constructions."  Or sometimes he'll throw out a sentence like, "I need an assessment."  He calls cannon balls "bomb-its."  Instead of saying without you...he always says, "I won't with about you."

I love this 5 year old Ethan!  I can't believe the ways he has changed in the last year.  I love that he is still so innocent and guileless.  I love his imagination right now, he is constantly inventing a new world to play in...they go from pirates, to animals, to Donkey Kong, to cowboys all within an hour.  I love that he is sweet and fun.  Like all parents do, we really feel like Ethan is such a special little boy with the potential to do great things.  We are so thankful for our little E.E. boy, and can't imagine life without him!

Ethan's Answers to His 5 Year Old Interview:

Favorite Food:  Chocolate Ice Cream and Mac and Cheese
Favorite Color:  Red
Favorite Toy:  Brown Dog
Favorite TV Show:  Wild Kratts
Favorite Movie:  Star Wars (he saw this once when it was playing on TV and my Dad was in town, the rest of us fell asleep, but Ethan watched it all)
Favorite thing to do:  Play
What do you like to play:  Anything that my mind loves
What do you want to be when you grow up:  A pet doctor, a "vicksinarian"
Who is your favorite person in the whole world:  Henry
What are you really good at:  playing stuff that I like
Who's your best friend:  Momma
What do you like best about Mom:  that she's so snuggly and so sweet
Who's your best buddy:  Caden, and Daddy is my funniest Daddy
What do you like best about Daddy:  that he plays with me.
What do you like best about Caden:  he plays with me like Daddy.
What do you like best about Quinn:  that I can do cheek to cheek with him
What do like best about yourself:  how I can jump down from stuff that Caden can't

Grandparents

One of the best parts of living in Colorado is that we've been able to see Clark's parents more often!

Enjoying a nap time story that put almost everyone to sleep except the 2 year old!

My niece Delanie took these next ones with her phone and I think they are pretty sweet.

It looks like Quinn loves his Grandpa!

Kitchen Help

Working in the kitchen is almost enjoyable with this little helper!

Celebrating Easter

The Sunday before Easter there was a great talk in church about making meaningful Easter traditions that help teach children about Jesus Christ and His resurrection.  So for that last week leading up to Easter we had nightly devotionals about what Jesus did in His final week before the crucifixion and resurrection.  We used the free Bible videos from here (Bible Videos) to help the boys understand.  I'm always amazed at their questions and what they can remember.

Here are my handsome boys all ready for Easter Sunday in their new duds.

Just striking a little GQ pose.

Clark coordinated nicely...and we were late for church so I am not pictured...besides my hot pink skirt totally clashed with the matchy matchy going on!

On Friday I took the boys to an Easter egg hunt.  They had all of us wait in the gym before it was time to start.  The boys had a great time playing with the toys...when they filed all of us out of the gym to the field we were the last in line.  So by the time we got out there the egg hunt had started and there were only a couple of eggs left.  Ethan took off and found about 5...Caden came running back to me and had 1!  Luckily he had no expectations and was pretty happy about his one egg.

My great egg hunter...with his lone egg!

Our Easter egg hunt Saturday in the cold wind and rain with friends went a lot better!

We dyed eggs one night too.

I wonder who Ethan gets that crazy eyed look from?

Easter morning was exciting as the boys found the baskets that tricky bunny had hid for them.

Quinn found this little dog and was seriously grinning at it.  My favorite part of the morning.

And the boys had candy for breakfast.

By far my favorite part of the whole week was hearing my boys singing, "Did Jesus Really Live Again?"  Especially because at the end they said, "Did Jesus weally live again, after He had died," and then with a lot of emphasis, "OH YES! and so shall I."
It was a great Easter!