Oklahoma, birthdays and Easter

I have lots to post, things I should have done a week ago and didn't get to it, so I'll just have a big random post. And I can do that because it is my blog and if you don't like it, you just don't have to read, right?! :)

A couple of weeks ago, my Bonnie from NY was going to be in OK for her son's Army graduation. I would NEVER pass up a chance to see Bonnie and I thought I would really like to see a military graduation. So I packed up myself, Kash, & Ruby and we headed to Fort Sill. It was WONDERFUL to see Bonnie but now I just miss her so much all over again. And I was SO impressed by the graduation. Nolan, (Bonnie's son) has grown up so much and I was so proud of him and all those other boys (it really was all boys). I am a patriotic girl anyway, but these soldiers were something to truly be proud of. It was a very nice ceremony and just a great couple of days.

Saturday was Kash's birthday. He is four. And he tells me all the time how big he is. But he really is getting big--so hard for me to believe--he will always be my little boy. We took the kids to Mr. Gatti's (like Chuck E Cheese) on Friday night, minus Jake. Jake went to a birthday party/sleepover where he stayed up ALL night--I remember thinking that was fun--vaguely. The pizza was average, but we had a great time. The kids loved the bumper cars and Ruby loved the Merry-Go-Round, she wouldn't get off. And of course they all love the tickets they can redeem for prizes.

After we left there, we went shopping for a bike. Kash has outgrown his tricycle and said he wanted a new bike for his birthday. He picked the bike and has been riding it lots ever since. He loves anything with wheels. Don't look past the awesome Spiderman boots Kash is wearing. When we had the snow storm a few weeks ago and we had to find some boots for Kash to wear, these were the ones that fit him. He was SO thrilled! So now he keeps them in his closet and wears them all the time. I think it is cute.

Kash wanted me to make a John Deere tractor cake. A friend told me she had a tractor mould and I said "no thanks"--I know my limits and that is beyond them. I was just planning to make a green cake and stick a tractor on top. You know, I consider myself a fairly decent cook, but decorating a cake is truly just not my thing. I will give it my best effort and still, it just doesn't work right. It is a great thing Kash is just 4--he thought the cake was great. Brian and I just laughed. For starters, I got too much batter in one of the pans and it was spilling all over the oven and getting really uneven. Neither cake came out of the pan right and I was left to try and put it together with frosting. This plan didn't really work out either. The cake was literally falling apart. I bought a little John Deere tractor to put on the cake and as I set it gently on top, it started to sink because there was so much frosting on the darn thing trying to hold it together. But again, Kash thought it was "AWESOME", that is what he said! :)

So after we ate a late dinner (the cake took forever), we colored eggs at 9 pm and sang Happy Birthday at 10 pm. Brian could see this cake was not going to cut well, so he said, "Kash, wouldn't it be fun if we all got forks and just started eating?" Kash smiled big and said, "YEAH!" So we dug through all the frosting to get to the cake and enjoyed. Not a conventional way of doing things, but when have I ever been conventional?! :) And once again, Brian had the fanciest eggs. He loves to complain, but the guy is just plain creative! He comes up with the most clever ideas. I tend to go for the plain eggs with bright colors, maybe a two tone here and there. But BRIAN, his eggs have faces, designs, all kinds of stuff. I always look forward to what he will create.

So we finally got the kids to bed and still had to make sure the Easter bunny stuff was taken care of. Needless to say, it was a VERY late night for us and I was thrilled to get a nap Sunday afternoon. We had a great Easter although there is more candy in the house than I would like, but less than last year. We did quarters and half dollars in the eggs instead of so much candy. The kids thought that was great. And we were only 5 minutes late for church--AMAZING! Easter is always such a great holiday. I love to celebrate Christ's resurrection--such a hopeful event. And the anticipation of spring is so exciting as well. Just a great day all around.