Art, Jeeps and New Things

 I volunteered to teach Art Masterpiece at Max's school this year. It's about 1.5 hours out of my day and it brings art into the school since they cut art out many years ago due to the budget. Growing up art was my favorite class so when I found out AZ doesn't have art I was definitely bummed. Then I heard about parents volunteering to teach Art Masterpiece so I signed up. I did it three times this year and it was sort of fun. Max LOVED having me in his classroom teaching the kids so I enjoyed going. This month was the last month and it was a painting project. I took this quick picture of Max working on his artwork. It's his tree of life that he is embellishing with shiny things. 

Art Masterpiece is now done for the year and I am probably going to sign up to teach two or three classes again next year especially since Max still thinks it's cool to have me in the classroom. One day he won't think it's cool and that's when I won't sign up.

Andy got a new vehicle. He got rid of his truck and got a Jeep truck. He had a Jeep when I first met him and he always wanted to get another Jeep someday. Max loves it and loves it when Andy takes the top off. He's just waiting for Andy to take the doors off. Now, Max isn't sure which car is cooler, mine or his.

I did a thing! I started swim lessons. Yes, that's right, my old butt isn't great at swimming and is very fearful in deep water. I am fine in play pools but I don't do well in the ocean or a deep pool where I can't touch. And when I say "don't do well" I really mean I have panic attacks. After the last "framily" vacation where I was the only one uncomfortable with the water and requesting to wear a life vest, it was time to learn to swim. I found someone online in the area that teaches swim to adults and kids. I booked private lessons with him in his backyard lap pool, which is 10 feet deep, and I had my first lesson this past Tuesday. It was such a positive experience and I now believe I can overcome my fears. I will see him once a week until I get over the fear of deep water and putting my head underwater. 

Here's to doing new things at any age!

Happy Easter

 We spent the day before Easter coloring eggs in various ways. Max's favorite was to use whip cream and food color.

We went out for sushi with grandpa the night before Easter and filled Max's belly with plenty of salmon.

Max woke Easter morning with his basket full of goodies from the Easter bunny.

We did our annual egg hunt.

Since grandma L and grandpa T were in town we hosted everyone at our house for the WI standard ham on Easter. We started with appetizers and champagne of course.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter. I know we did!

Happy Birthday

 Another year went by super fast and we came upon Andy's birthday. He is such a humbug, he didn't want to do anything for it. He just wanted it to be low-key and let Max dictate how we celebrate. So, of course, the birthday celebration revolved around food. 

We started at Max's favorite breakfast spot and got fresh-pressed juice.

For lunch, we went to the dine-in theater. Max has been waiting two months to see the new Sonic movie and he was so excited. Way more excited than Andy was to celebrate his birthday.

For dinner, I wanted to go out to eat, but Andy and Max decided we would order from one of his favorite Italian restaurants. 

Andy opened presents and blew out the candles on his blizzard. It's crazy that nobody in this house really likes cake. The only cake I care for is Nothing Bundt Cake and Max and Andy just plain don't care for it at all. Andy, therefore, requested a blizzard as the celebration piece while we sang and he blew out his candles.

The Cubs, Crawfish Boil and Friends

 Two weekends ago we went to a Cubs Spring training game. Normally we sit in the grass and lounge, but since it was going to be 93 degrees that day Andy got us seats in the shade. That was definitely a good call because I don't think I would have made it past the second inning in the sun. Grandma L came along and we had a very fun day.

Max also got to see his good buddy from school for a little bit. His parents are Cubs fans too!

Last weekend we went to the Campbell's house for Russell's famous crawfish boil. It was our usual group of friends and just a lot of fun catching up with everyone since I feel like we don't see each other that much anymore. It seems like "life" is getting in the way. 

Max initially didn't want to hold the crawfish, but since I did, he held it too. Russell handed him the crawfish and he reluctantly held it. I think he prefers eating the crawfish over holding it. 

It was another successful crawfish boil and Russell and Jessica did a fabulous job of hosting. We look forward to the next crawfish boil. 

Max had a playdate with his best buddy at the house this past weekend. These boys are crazy when they get together. They were just having fun running around and playing with nerf guns before they settled into video games. 

One day after school this week, one of the moms walked with the group of boys to the grocery store where they each bought their own snacks. The group then went back to Caleb's house to eat snacks and have a play date. Max loved this and felt so grown up to be able to do this with his friends.

It's been a very busy Spring so far, but I will do my best to keep the blog updated.