Happy Birthday!

Well, we've made it through THREE April birthdays in the Cave household, with one more to go next week (Greg). Everyone made out pretty well I think. Matt, however, got the short end of the stick. I thought I was being so cool and bought him his first HD DVD to watch on his BIG HD TV. However, I did not know that the stupid loud surround sound system he has does not have an HD DVD player, so basically my "Super Purchase" was worthless. AND he had to use the leftovers from Ben's birthday ice cream cake for his cake. No sense in buying two of the same ice cream cakes two days in a row, I say! But he did get the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which is something he was wanting, so that's good I guess. And I made him some of his favorite brownies. But he likes the ice cream cake better so I pretty much handled the brownies that night. I've got three brownies hanging out on my hips, and a couple in my thighs...sorry, too much info!

The Many Faces of Ellie Cave

The many funny faces of little miss thing! So cute I had to share! Enjoy!

Easter 2008

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all had a good Easter! We had fun traveling to Omaha, Sioux City, and Remsen to spend time with the extended family. We had a couple of Easter egg hunts, and the Easter bunny DID end up coming to Gramma and Grandpa's house, despite the repeated threats that he just may not bring anything to children who make bad choices! Apparently the Easter bunny decided that my children made good enough choices, although I begged to differ.

So the latest with Ben is that baseball is starting soon, I think in 3 weeks, so he is pretty excited to get things rolling. Also, his 11th birthday is right around the corner, April 17th, and he's having a pool party at the community center where Matt works out, and is inviting the whole class. That's a total of 42 kids! I'm sure they won't all be able to make it though, at least that's what I keep hoping for my sanity's sake!!! So anyway, 11th birthday...but I'm pretty sure he thinks it's his 13th. At least that's how he's acting. He was growing his hair out, ya know, because he's maturing, and that's the cool thing to do these days is for boys to have long hair. But with that hair growing came the growth of a major attitude! I'm so not ready for a pre-teen! The rolling eyes, the arguing, and giant sighs of despair...mom, I'm so sorry!

So anyway, in our parent/child battle for control, I took him for a haircut yesterday. It's not quite as short I as I would like to see it (and crazy Matt wanted it buzzed!), but I had told him we'd compromise and I'd let him keep it a little longer. However, when all was said and done, he informed the hairdresser that this haircut was NOT a compromise. So I informed him that next time we will NOT be compromising and he will be getting a buzz. He changed his tune pretty quickly. He will learn sooner or later not to mess with me....

Greg's soccer season has begun and his team is 1-1. He doesn't seem to be quite as enthusiastic about soccer this season, but I think he'll get into it a little more when the weather warms up. For some reason, he's not really a fan of playing soccer in 40 degree weather! Greg's birthday is also coming up, May 7th, and we are not quite sure what we are going to do to celebrate his 10th birthday yet. He's pretty laid back about it, isn't too worried about it yet. He's pretty preoccupied with debating whether or not he wants to grow up. Seriously, he told me that. He's not sure if he wants to grow up or not, and sometimes his actions tell me he's going with the latter! However, he really is a sweet and caring boy, and generally learns his lessons from watching/listening to Ben get in trouble!

Alex is just as onery but cute as ever. His latest phrase is "Do you know what GRANDPA says? Grandpa says YES!" whenever he wants something that I say no to! And he told me last night that he had a problem. So I asked what the problem was, and he said, "the problem is that we have to go get Greg from soccer. I miss Greg..." Awwwwwww. Another funny...he kept telling me that he wanted to play with the "potato" in the front closet in the living room. I could not figure out what he was talking about and just told him no. He kept asking me day after day, so finally I had him show me what in the heck he was talking about...he wanted the Play-Doh! LOL! He also has a birthday coming up, number 4 on April 30th. He told me he wants a rocket cake for his birthday. I'll have to see what I can come up with!

And finally, Ellie is still Ellie. Drama queen, princess, loves to make fish faces and give kisses when she wants to get down. Her favorite things to eat are the Little Einsteins brand fruit snacks, and yes, they have to be Little Einsteins (or Backyardigans). I bought the cheapy ones and she wouldn't eat them! Little stinker! She's becoming quite adventurous, climbing up steps, sliding down on her booty, and she now gets up on the hearth, climbs over the arm of the chair, and sits in the chair as if she's climbed a mountain! So funny. Oh, and she likes to read books.

She's starting to say a few more words, but she generally doesn't say too much. She just screams mostly. We are working on that.

So that's the scoop around here.

Hope all is well with everyone!
Love,

Lisa