If I could freeze time...

I'd stop it right now. My boys are just the perfect ages. When I was at the park today with Jace, he was playing with new friends and they asked if I'd pitch to them. He said about 4 times with a huge grin, "Hey guys, this is my mom, she's going to pitch to us. She's a really good pitcher." I could just hear in his voice how much he loved me, even though I'm not really a great pitcher. I know it won't sound like that forever. Parker follows me around asking question after question about the world then having me verify that he really is getting bigger. He's still my loving monkey and so smiley all the time. James brings us so much joy. He is happy, goofy, silly and sassy and even easy. He's my little buddy all day long.

Right now my boys all play so nicely with each other. All morning before school, Jace has them playing some made up game or catching insects outside to surprise us with. They play basketball non-stop and whisper in their room until we have to tell them forcefully to get to bed. Last night, we came upstairs to their "campout" on the floor. These are the stages you hope never end.

Easter Best

There is not another day during the year when I love the way my boys look more than on Easter Sunday. They are just the most handsome little men! I LOVE that they still let me dress them. They have brought so much joy to us this year...I can't believe all the ways they have changed and grown. They are the greatest kids and love each other so much. We often find them giggling uncontrollably about some gross boy thing. That's my favorite, not the gross boy stuff, but the three little belly laughs together.

Serious Spoils

Growing up, we always had a fantastic Easter egg hunt at my Grandma Olsen's. It was so fun this year to watch my kids look for eggs with their cousins. They loved the hunt and REALLY loved the treasures inside the eggs. I'm pretty sure James didn't stop eating candy all day. He was in heaven.

We like the California Easter Bunny

We decided that California is the place to be for Easter. He is much better to our kids than the Arizona one.

More Sprinkles Please

I'm not sure I've ever eaten so many treats as we did over Easter. We started out early by making sugar cookies, frosting them, then adding mountains of sprinkles. Yum!

San Diego Weekend

We were lucky enough to get out of town for Easter. We love that San Diego is only 6 hours away...perfect! We were so excited to see our family again and the kids literally played outside all day everyday with their cousins. It doesn't get better than that. Parker was thrilled to find out that he matched his Papa. It's crazy how much like Papa Parker looks. It's so cute. When we first got there, we went to Chuck-E-Cheese. Not a bad spot. The kids and adults had a blast playing all the games and it only took us a full hour to decide what prizes to buy with our mountain of tickets.

Let the Easter Celebrations begin!

We had a fun neighborhood Easter egg hunt the Saturday before Easter. It got my kids totally charged up for lots and lots of candy. The problem? I don't want them to have too much, so instead I eat it all.

You Always Listen to Satan

Situation: James hits Parker

Parker: James, you are so rude. You always listen to Satan.

James: No

Parker: Do you even know who Satan is? He is a really bad guy and you always listen to him. Right mom?

Now really, what do I say to that?

We still hate good-byes

It doesn't matter how many times they visit, we all hate to see them go. Jace ran inside and cried again, I bawled at the airport. My parents are just so great--they totally spoiled us this time and made our lives feel carefree again. I'm so grateful to have parents like these/

Take me out to the Ball Game!

Besides Parker's birthday, my parents came down to see Jace's first baseball game. He is the very youngest on his team (by about a year...we didn't realize that you don't play coach pitch until 7 in AZ), but he's doing great. He has the most AMAZING coach...we really lucked out. Jace has learned so much and Mike's been enjoying it too.

Just a little background, I come from a serious baseball family. My dad played in college and it was the way we spent all day Saturday and most week days in the spring and summer...watching my brothers play. They were really good too and it took us on some really fun trips. The funny thing? I LOVED going to the games and watching. I knew all the rules, got sweaty palms when my brothers were up to bat, loved chomping bubble gum, and brought a book but rarely read it. Baseball season meant family togetherness, support, new friends and time outside in the sunshine. My family played it a lot together too. I swear my dad was always pitching balls.

So, it was so fun to watch my little guy play his first game. The boys all look so cute in their uniforms. Jace was the first one up to bat and he hit a TRIPLE! It was awesome. My dad cried. Love that about him. He also played pitcher and made a few outs. We were so proud. As long as I keep my boys in baseball, I think we are guaranteed lots of visits. What a fun day to share!

Come KICK it with Parker!

Parker wanted a soccer party for his birthday. My mom came through with the gift cups and Mike totally rocked with all of his soccer games. I actually got to enjoy watching the kids play ball and chase each other. They were all so cute in their old soccer uniforms. Parker loved having the special day all to himself and really loved all the presents he opened. SCORE!!!