A Little Spring Break Fun

Well we finally had a day of sunshine!!! Yesterday was my birthday so a friend of ours took the boys and I out to dinner. It was still so nice out afterwards that the boys convinced us to go check out a listing I have about 15 miles out of town. They're dying for me to buy it (ABSOLUTELY NOT GOING TO HAPPEN EVEN IF I COULD POSSIBLY AFFORD IT, WHICH I CANNOT!! I'M SO NOT A COUNTRY PERSON!!) They were thrilled to be able to ride in the back of the truck on the gravel road...simple pleasures.

Looking all sweet and kind...

And their alter-egos, except for sweet little Sammy...NOT!!

Connor even got to drive the truck on the gravel road when we were leaving. He was beside himself and actually did a pretty good job.

Cat Litter & Presents

Connor was dying for me to make the Cat Litter Cake that Trina had sent us the recipe for back in October of last year. It really looked pretty authentic. A few of the kids were having nothing to do with eating it but the rest said that it was actually yummy!! Very funny!

Looks appetizing, huh?!

Happy Birthday to YOU!!

Sammy trying to gross out his cousin, Megan. She and my brother, Chris, were in from Seattle so that got to help us celebrate. That was fun!

Just GROSS, huh?


Connor made out like a bandit, lots of money and gift cards!! Thank you everyone for being so generous!! (Note the new AC/DC shirt from She-she and Logan. He loves it, guys!!)

LASER TAG!!

Connor turned 11 on April Fool's Day. He wanted to have a laser tag party at Stars so...I think that all of the boys (and his cousin Megan who was visiting from Seattle, the only girl) all had a great time. It looked like a lot of fun!!

Connor all geared up!

And of course Mahlon, ready for the battle.

Bryan, Sam and T.J. messing around. They look quite intiminating don't they?!

The whole crew!!

We've Now Resorted to Creating Our Own Fun!!

Nothing new going on here...obviously the kids are getting very bored at home. Connor came out in this get-up last week serenading me with a fabulous rendition of "Eye of the Tiger." He even agreed to allow me to blog this...what a dork sometimes!

MORE SNOW PHOTOS

Soda Springs was a blast but a little crowded. We stopped at the gas station in Kingvale, one of my kids' favorite snow spots, to play on the way home. Here a couple more cute photos from there.

SNOW FUN!!

We went to Soda Springs to play at the tubing park for the holiday. Lots of fresh snow and not terribly freezing. The boys had a blast!!

Sammy wasn't quite heavy enough to make it the whole way down the run. He had to pull his tube at the end.

Mahlon needed a little more weight, as well.

The three monkeys goofing off while waiting to head down the tubing lane.

Connor had a little more weight so he got a bit further, a bit faster!

And then...CRASH!

The Lindenmuth Topper

This is to top my friend Trina's (http://www.giardino5.blogspot.com)last blog update. She asks why her 3 year old is so preoccupied with sticking things in his nose but I think that Connor can top it. Here he is yesterday at almost 11 years old, sticking food in odd places in a public place. Nice, huh?! Do they ever grow up?!

PBR

Santa brought us tickets to the Professional Bull Riders competition at Arco for this past weekend. It was the first time that the boys had ever been to any sort of rodeo type event and they absolutely loved it. The rides were fun to watch and the clowns, one in particular, were absolutely hysterical! The Bakers, Joey and Mary Beth, also got tickets so we were lucky enough to have good friends with us. It was a very fun evening. We'll have to plan to get a group together for next year's event.

This bull was hysterical! He decided to have a little stand off with one of the clowns complete with throwing dirt up into the stands. Too funny!

Adorable Mary Beth Baker enjoying her ice cream!

And of course, equally adorable Sammy enjoying his!

The rides were fun to watch. Eight seconds must seem like forever for those poor cowboys. Some of them were so young (some only 18 or 19) and were winning some huge sums of money for their rides. Very cool to watch.

Mahlon & Sammy's Basketball Game

Mahlon and Sammy had their first game of the season this last weekend, too. This was actually Sam's first official basketball game and he did great. They both did great! They don't keep score at this age but of course if you were to ask them they surely won!!

Oh you can so tell that he's the youngest of three boys! Look at him fight to hang onto that ball! Too funny!

"I'm open!" Go Sammy! He actually scored a basket this game! Yeah!

Mahlon in action! He had a great game and a lot of fun which is the most important part!! Mahlon and Bailey Foster were guarding one another throughout the majority of the game and were a great match. Very fun to watch!

Basketball Has Begun!!

Connor had a great game! They won 33 to 28 and they all played great! He'd taken a year off of sports to concentrate on schoolwork(even though he was on honor roll all last year) so it was a lot of fun to watch him back out there and he's really enjoying it again!

And of course, the all important snack!!

Connor's getting so tall!

I've got to figure to figure out how to work my camera better. All of my action shots came out awful. There must be some sort of indoor sports button but who knows!

Christmas Day

Connor and Mahlon had to take their new bikes out for a test drive in the court despite the rain. They love them!!

Imagine their surprise when they walked in to new bikes left by Santa Claus!!

My mom sent them an iPod nano. That thing is too cool!! We got the transmitter so we downloaded a bunch of tunes and can move it from the home theater system in the family room, to mommy's alarm clock in her room to the car to... It is so amazing!! I'll be fighting them for that present I think!!

Sammy got a tetherball from Santa. He is the tetherball king at school!!

Connor being a goofball with his stocking.

And Sammy...

And Mahlon...

Don't you love Sammy's dinner? All that good food and he eats a banana! Gotta love that boy!!

Good dinner, good drink and good people! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Eve in San Francisco

I went into San Francisco's Union Square to meet my sister, Shannon, and her fiance, Logan, this year. It was a beautiful night and we just walked around and had an appetizer and drink before heading back to Dixon to get ready for Christmas morning.


The tree in the rotunda of Neiman Marcus was just amazing!!

Shan and I in front of the tree in Union Square.

Union Square was full of people admiring the tree and holiday lights and listening to carolers, etc. Very fun and festive!!

In Our 'Hood

These pictures came out kind of dark but I had promised all of the boys in the 'hood that I would blog their night. We have the greatest court. I don't know what I'd do without my fabulous neighbors and the boys would be truly bored without all of the boys and activities on the court.

Devon Stone, Justin Giardino, Connor and Angel Lara all waiting for Jake Giardino to throw the football.

Devon and Connor battling it out for the pass.

Justin and Jake Giardino. Those Giardino boys are so darn cute!!

The whole crew out playing football in the court. Notice how nice the Giardino's house looks in the background. Joe always does the best job putting their lights up!

And finally we have the mellow, videogame-addicted boys, Sammy, Miguel Lara and Mahlon. The boys so adore all their buds "in the 'hood!"