Dakota's #7

 Happy 7th Birthday to my sweet little boy!!  Dakota had 2 parties already and it is just his birthday today.  He got spoiled at both and had a ton of fun.  First it was his friend party at our house.  We played   dodge ball on the tramp, ate pizza, and watched Happy Feet 2.  All of his friends were so nice and polite, I was impressed.  Next was the family party where he got his new BIKE.  He was super excited.  It is the same size as Braxton's.  He took right off on it.  Both sides of the family came and had peach cobbler and Ice cream.

                   Dakota here are 7 reasons I think you are great:

1-You have a very kind heart.  Always thinking of others!

2-You listen when I ask you things--what a gem.

3-Your very best buddy is your cousin Denim and after that it is your brothers.  You are so lucky to have three people to play with all the time.

4-You go with the flow.  If I say something and plans change, you just go with it.

5-You love to play outside.  Basketball, Soccer and Baseball are so fun for us to watch you play.

6-You do so well in school.  You are quiet, kind, and compliant.  Your teacher loves you and you are a very easy student to have in class.  You are smart and becoming a very good reader.

7-My very favorite thing about you at age 7 is how happy you are to see me when I come to help at your school.  It makes my day the way you come up and give me a great big hug then beg me to stay for lunch.  I love seeing the smile on your face when you see me and hope it never ends!

Work

40 dollars. How much do we value 40 dollars? A new pair of jeans, an outfit for one of the kids, school lunch for 22.8 days, monthly dinner out with our spouse. Being the cheap skate that I am, I think 40 dollars is a TON of money. Enough that out I don't just throw it away, set it aside, or blow it off. Well last night a table of 5 people left me a $40 tip! I was in shock (that is $8 per person!). Am I worth $40 for serving one table. A table of kind, easy going, people to say the least. They weren't even there for a whole hour. Am I worth $40 an hour for bringing them drinks, food, napkins, straws? 30 seconds before I gave him his bill, I asked my best bud at work "Who goes out on a Wednesday night and blows 90 to feed 5 people?"

You can imagine what crossed my mind when his bill went from 90 to 130 in a matter of seconds, but all that I can say it Thank you Kind Sir---You made my day!!! I may never see you again, but I want you to know the kindness did not go unnoticed (and I am left wondering, was that man a millionaire?).

Spring Break and Easter

Jake and Alayna invited us to spend part of spring break at her parents cabin at Lava. We had a great time! 6 boys under age 9 who get along so well and never stop makes for tons of fun. We sledded in the snow and went swimming outside all in the same day. The boys thought it was pretty neat to do those two things in the same day. We woke up to about 4 inches of snow Friday morning and without anything warm to wear they still went out in it. Later we went to Downata Hot Springs in a nearby town. The water was so warm and they had a slide and a rolling log to play on. Shane tried out his new camera under the water and got some pretty great shots. Afterwards we took them fishing at a friend of Shane's pond. It was heated and had Talapia in it. It was like fishing at the fish farm.

The next day, Saturday, we hit the Lava bunny festival. They had the greatest toys at the egg hunt. Each egg had candy and some had a ticket. The kids then traded tickets for prizes. They got loaded up.

Braxton, Ridge, Dalton, Cam, Dakota, Gunnar

We successfully wore them out after a long day at the pool. Each kid fell asleep on a couch except Dalton. Even all 4 parents crashed out. In my eyes its is always a great day if there is a nap involved (just to rare these days ;)




Sunday was Easter and after getting home quite late Saturday night, we were exhausted but still accomplished the egg/bunny task. The boys each got 2 outfits and something to play baseball with--a bat, bat bag, and throw back net. They also got candy and little toys. Afterwards we finally got around to dying eggs, which was fun as always.


My mom got each of the grand kids some church clothes. My cousin Abbie said they looked like Jelly Beans walking down the road. They looked very handsome either way. Mom also got Shane a shirt and tie and me a dress so we had to take a family photo outside before heading off to church.

And finally, this is how we are spending our evenings for the next couple or few months. Braxton started comp baseball this year and he LOVES it. He plays shortstop and 3rd most of the time, but at this game he got to pitch one inning (which made me very nervous). He did quite well. Some of the other teams are WAY intense and above our league but our boys are having fun and really learning a lot. We had our first double header of many ahead, it was long but I enjoy watching. There is also a park right next to the bleachers so the little boys do quite well. He plays for 2 1/2 months then Dakota starts for the next couple months (as well as soccer in between). It is going to be a long spring/summer for baseball, but I guess this is what we signed up for having 3 boys.