A Lucky Tradition

 Laura ran her 3rd 5K on St. Paddy's day!  Yipee.  Laura had a great time running with her two friends Laura and Leslie (yes..that is not a typo...we were the three L's... it is quite humorous actually...Laura lives right next door to Laura and there is a third Laura on our cul-de-sac...weird).  Laura has decided that running a 5K every year on St. Paddy's day is a good tradition to keep going! We did a 5K as a family last year, and when this year came up Laura was totally on-board. Clay wanted to run with her, but unfortunately, due to his work schedule he couldn't make it. So, Laura partnered up with some friends and they had a sportin' good time running through tunnels and down dirt roads in the 6 tunnels to Hoover Dam 5K run.  The kids stayed behind with a babysitter, but CJ wrote a nice note for Laura to read and respond to when she got home!!! 

Every Body is "Flip -n- Out"

As birthday tradition goes in the Ward family...we take the birthday child out to lunch...So..Laura took CJ out of school and to.....drum roll please.....McDonalds..of course..ok..birthday boy!  Then, to celebrate he chose 2 friends, Will and Connor,  to go with him to "Flip-n-Out." Flip -n-out is a warehouse with a huge area of trampolines to bounce your heart out, plus blow up houses, slides, and arcade machines.  The kids LOVED it...they dog piled and attacked Clay, threw balls, and bounced all over the place.  Aparri and Laura weren't going to participate...but Aparri wasn't going to have anything to do with that...she wanted to go in and jump...and after a few minutes, Laura couldn't resist the fun either...so by the end of the night...everyone was in bouncing having a great time!  When the kids were all jumped out - we went back to our house for homemade pizza and cake.  Fun times!

Wish List

 CJ's Birthday "Wish List" is below...let me decipher it for you.  It consists of the following...a camera, beyblades, a phone, real tools, a nerf gun, underware, a tv, my own playground, and a lot of money...what?? Isn't that a typical teenage wish list???  He's 7!!  ....let's just say - thanks to his 2 friends he got 2 of the 9 things on his wish list... a nerf gun and beyblades...not so lucky with the other items from mom and dad..try again in a few years!

The CANDLE Cake of Pisa

I think Laura looks forward to the kids' birthday almost as much as they do! When it comes to the cake...it is her chance to have some fun in the kitchen with a bit of artistic, crafty, messy fun! She has had requests that range from princesses to garbage trucks - so when CJ's request for a CANDLE cake came through...she was quite puzzled. A candle cake? Yep... after several conversations to make sure that is indeed what he wanted, Laura and CJ came up with a plan and specifications for the cake... tall, white frosting with a blue ribbon of frosting and sprinkles with a big candle and flame on the top...ok. We will see what we can do. Here is the end result.... it turned out pretty good, except, Laura is still trying to figure out how to keep her cakes from falling over...by the end of the night, it was the "leaning candle of Pisa.." but it held up just long enough to blow out the candles and eat...whew... mission accomplished.

CJ "The KING" is 7

I can hardly believe CJ is 7...wow.  He is the tallest in his class and still growing!  I swear he has a loose tooth every other day...if only we can get those suckers out!!  He likes to just wiggle them forever!!  CJ is a fun boy to have around and we sure are glad that he is part of our family. CJ's breakfast-in-bed request was.. strawberries, rollos, toast, bacon and apple juice...when Laura said, "I don't think you need all that" CJ's response was... "That is what I want...and I am the birthday boy, you know" So..waa laaa CJ got strawberries, rollos, toast, bacon and apple juice - I guess Laura felt..hey, you are only king for a day.. might as well enjoy it. However, when Laura kept hearing "I am the birthday boy, you know" days after his birthday and in response to anything that wasn't going his way..Laura finally dethroned that king....until next year. FYI..CJ did NOT eat all that food either..he shared some with Aparri and Preston, but mostly took 1-2 bites of everything then said he was done.. of course!

Chuck Yeager and Army Sidekick

For school..CJ had to dress up as someone in history...so he dressed up as Chuck Yeager!  Preston, was also in the dress up mood and was Chuck's army man sidekick!!!  Oh...boys!