it only happens once in a lifetime.

they are firsts!

we have celebrated a hand full of them in the past few weeks.

alexander’s first soccer camp

he loved

every minute.

every hour.

every day.

can you tell?

the crazy came out of our little friend dc; jumping from his first bridge.

23 feet…not too shabby my boy.

new schools. new teachers. new friends.

it’s the first day of school for our first grader and fourth grader. 

also our first sidewalk of inspiration for all those who cared to enjoy it as much as we did making it.

dc scores his first goal. ever!

z-man wanted a taste of victory so he too scored his first goal. ever!

a visit to the new seattle wheel was a first for all of us!

enjoying it with grandparents and cousins made it all the sweeter.

 

i competed in my first official half marathon in 1:48 minutes.

reese enjoys her first chocolate beater.  it will definitely not be her last.

and here we have it, the first of many three stooges (or better known as stoogies) show!

be sure to request a show next time you stop by.

you can enjoy your first, and only.

you are really missing out until you do.

out of this world

i wouldn’t be lying if i said we have the most passionate airplane-loving  4-year-old on the east side of Dulles airport.  i have posted about this in the past.

it’s tradition to ride home with dad from church, park the car as close to the runway as possible and watch the international flights come in.  the 747, 787, 767. he lives, breaths, and sweats airplane power.

he does some of his best research at the library.

he clears the shelves of ALL  (fiction and non-fiction) the airplane books (there are 11 in our library) every week from the public library only to return them and wait for them to be placed back on the shelf and then checks them out again.  it drives his older brothers CRAZY. “alexander, you read those books last week and you have already watched the documentary on the Big Air Show enough to narrate it yourself!” 

an ajax recommended show:

zachary surprised alexander the other day by checking out a new airplane book from the school library. it’s a new favorite and not available at the public library which makes it completely golden to alexander and a huge bargaining opportunity for zachary..  “alexander, if you bring the trash cans down instead of me I will check out the air show book again.” he’s mastered the art of manipulation. smart kid.

the new tool::

 

his passion is so contagious his teacher had a pilot visit the preschool to visit alexander.  she’s awesome like that.

the air and space museum is literally in our backyard, (okay a 5 minute drive, 8 if you get stopped at the light and 20 if you’re my dad). it has been alexanders playground on rainy days. he dreams of flying in the concorde, the super sonic jet. I know it doesn’t fly anymore, but he refuses to believe that.

it was april 17th when the 747 flew the space shuttle into dulles airport.  we could see it on the runway from our sunday watching spot!  on april 19th when all the kids got home from school we hopped in the car and headed for the museum. it was the grand ceremony of the space shuttle entering the “our” museum. 

we were there, front row (completely squished by all the newspaper photographers, but we didn’t care!)

here’s a great article in the washington post about the welcoming of this amazing aircraft.

he’s been floating in space ever since.

that’s my name!

today’s activity:

the incredible, amazing and awesome name in beans.

what you need: paper, pen, glue, bag of beans, and a proud smile.

best part is, it kept him busy long enough for me to shower and get ready for the day.

that is priceless.

havin’ a ball birthday bash

a basketball party was an easy choice for this 4-yr-old baller. 

his idea of a great morning is to send his brothers off to school, then he freely raids their closets and dresses himself in their jerseys.  to top off the morning he begs me to watch him shoot the ball “like michael jordan” over and over and over again. love it! 

favorite color: green

favorite food: cookies, anything with sugar

favorite number: 4

favorite game:  xbox connect sport.

favorite toy: jet airplanes

favorite sport: basketball

favorite quote this week: “it’s not my birthday!” he told the teacher at church.

“i’m just having a birthday party”.

EVERYONE was sporting their jersey, including jon and i.

3’s were exciting, full of independence and personality.

i sense 4’s will bring out the sassy side of this boy.

i will let the pictures do the talking on this fun filled party.

did I say everyone was sporting their jersey?

miss lyla didn’t have one. alexander almost asked her to leave. geez!

 

we played team-tic-tac-toe from the coach’s playbook. 

it wasn’t a hit, but the food and balloon games were.

 

4th birthday VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

parties over.

he was sweating sugar.

jelly beans, cake, cookies, you name it. it will do it every time.

 

in his own words," it was the best day ever.”

can’t beat that.

his favorite presents:

a might bean race track.

a new matchbox ship.

a lego jet plane (built all by himself!)

retired sean alexander official seahawks jersey.

he went through a phase on his birthday where he wanted his hair-do to be

like his older brother’s natural faux-hawk. 

it only lasted 5 minutes.

(the sugar was still pumping through his veins).

i should have sent our little ball of energy outside

to take the Christmas lights down.  err, i mean to get the mail.

 

one last birthday wish.

a haircut. okay it was my wish,

i have been dying to fix all the mistakes from the last cut. oh, the joy of cutting your kids hair.

it’s a never ending cycle isn’t it? 

i am known to follow my boys around the house for a few days after cutting their hair to “fix it” until i am finally satisfied or until they hide long enough. then i surrender the scissors..

 

happy birthday ajax!

 

in 4 years you’ve taught us:

anything is possible.

kids can live on sugar alone.

passion is contagious. 

you’ve found your way to your father’s heart. basketball.

you know more than any of us when it comes to the 747, 767 and 777 jet airplanes. oh, and the concorde, your favorite, we can’t go there or  we get a never ending ear full.

you believe in 5 years you will finally be 9 like dallin so his friends can be your friends too. right?

no matter what food is put before you, it will ALWAYS be too hot.

we love you to pieces!