Grandpa and Noah! I always joke that I gave Dad the best birthday present. A grandson on his birthday. lol. Mom and Dad's trip to Texas was delayed this year so they were still here on their birthdays. They came over and had dinner at our house and a cake too! We also tried to celebrate my birthday and Zach's birthday too, but I just don't make a big deal about my birthday anymore. And Zach didn't show up. He has more important 18 year old things to do than spend it with the fam. It was a nice night at home with my favorite people! Noah was happy, he loved his diego rescue pack, and his zhu zhu pet playset! I have to admit those silly little hamster toys are cute. I think I like them because they are way easier to take care of then real ones! the whole set get's pushed under the couch and they just stay there until he wants to play with them again!

The following day we made good on a promise! He wanted to do everything for his birthday! the zoo? No, too cold. The City Museum, again lots of stuff outside, too cold! The science center? DINOSAURS UNEARTHED?!? Yep, that's a winner! Our friends went with us and the kids had a blast!!! This is my fave picture of the day. Noah really knows how to use his acting skills. He was saying, "It's gonna eat me!" We looked at all the dinosaurs and skeletons and uncovered bones! Daddy even took a ride on a segway. All in all it was a great day! Or in the immortal words of Noah...."today was my bestest day ever!" HA-HA which inevitably is followed later in the day by, "this is my worstest day ever!"

January 30th we had a 5 alarm party at the fire station. All of his friends were there and Aunt Nikki made a cool cake! We ran around got in and out of trucks, had cake and ice cream, presents, and a pinata! The kids had a blast and Noah loved his day! It was an exhausting day for Rick and I. And I am so glad we have 5 months before we have to do this again!

eagle tour bust and grease

January is such a busy month. We went on our annual eagle watching trip, but not too many eagles spotted. I used my film camera with my long lens....I'm sure that is why we saw nothing. I did see a flock (?) of wild turkeys and a few herds of deer. The boys saw a few deer too so the day wasn't all shot!

Today Noah and I went with Wendy and the girls to see Grease at the Fox Theatre. He woke up coughing and I was afraid he wouldn't make it but a puff of air later he seemed fine. He was very tired but really liked the show. He loved "greased lightning" and thought it was cool when they fixed the car and made it cool. He was the best date! just don't say it to him, he kept saying "It's NOT a date!" It was so cute.

New Year

A new year and time to get on the ball. 2009 has been a very hard year that ended very badly, so I am more ready than ever to start this year. Jan 2nd was the start to my year this year. The 1st would have been Grandma's 95th birthday so while we celebrated their was still part of me that was sad. I do have resolutions to make this year and have decided to make ones I know I can keep. Number 1 being go to church more. Shouldn't be to hard since I can count on one hand the number of times I went in 2009. maybe that contributed to my bad year. Number 2 is to get more done on my scrapbooks. we are going to try very hard to do it once a month. and number 3 is a family one, we are going to try to have a family game night. I say try because we started last night. A game of sorry later and we had been through one crying fit (Noah) and one pouter because he lost. (Ethan) It's hard to find a game we can all play that is halfway fair to Noah. poor guy, at least as Em get older they will both learn that they have to let her win on occasion. :)
other resolutions that are always made that are never kept, lose weight. I just can't seem to get on that wagon that everyone else is on. I tried the walking thing and enjoyed it, but it's not something I will continue by myself. so until I can find a partner it just won't happen.

2010 will be a good year. It can't be worse than 2009.