Cole and Jo are 7!

The kids were so excited about their birthday this year that it was 10pm and later before they were both sleeping. We thought they actually might sleep in but no, they woke earlier than normal so we sang Happy Birthday to them while spraying them with…

SILLY STRING!
(Were they really awake yet? Not really)

They both opened some gifts before school, new outfits for the day, a real necklace for Jo and grinding pegs for Cole’s bike.They were up so early Cole even had time to try his new pegs out.

School PartySome of you ask do they do “twin things” because they are twins?
They are so different that something so simple as a cupcake is completely opposite of the other one.

That evening we headed back to their school for a school BBQ, along with displays of the kids art work and even our first concert!It was not a full blow production but it was quite fun watching and listening. Jo was completely into the stage and attention, doing her best to read the music and sing her heart out. Cole was very embarrassed and was quite shy.

Birthday Evening


We took gifts and cake next door to celebrate the kids’ birthday with Dale and Francis.


Caught a tender moment with the kids hugging after opening gifts from each other.





We then ate angel food cake, strawberries and ice cream.

Francis and Dale

SKATE PARTY!

Both kids have been asking to have their birthday party at the skating rink so we gave it a go this year.They had a GROOVY time!

The room was large enough to hold the kids at the party only.

Lots of gifts given with lots of love.

Yes, we ate their faces!

Mom remembers skating when she was young while her brother always put on the skates but then spent most of his time playing video games, with his skates still on.Don’t know if it’s a boy thing or a Belmont thing but the generations have not changed things. Cole with his skates on playing a driving game and Uncle Todd still trying to beat Atari’s Poll Position, this time without skate!

We ended the late afternoon in different places.Jo, cousin Lanna and Mom headed to Jo’s soccer party for a few hours where she got participation medal and we ate pizza for dinner. Cole, Oma, Nanny and Grandpa ordered pizza in and hung out at home.

The end of the party weekend we caught glimpses of Hannah Montana doing a private concert in our back yard with one of our neighborhood kids.

Happy Birthday Cole and Jo!
WE LOVE YOU!

Queen of the Bees!

Jo is playing soccer for the first time and is a completely different kid. Smiling, running hard, falling / getting knocked down and popping back up to keep playing. She is truly loving it!

So this post is about Jo and her ROCKIN' SOCCER MOVES!

Here Jo is busting through the crowd using her dominant soccer moves to outplay her opponents!It’s a foot race to the ball, can she do it? Did she do it?Do you really have to ask!

Jo overpowering yet another team as
she blurs by them to get the ball!

Skinny Mini she is
but she has a
powerful throw!

Here she is in all her GLORY!

Jo the
Queen Bee
soccer star!

Reality Check:
First, Queen Bee’s is the name they chose after the girls got their yellow shirts, their choices before they saw the shirt color was the “Snowflakes”, “Bunnies” or the “Cheetah Girls”. Personally I would have loved yelling “GO SNOWFLAKES!”

Second, we only have one girl who has ever played soccer before so we have a quite a few missed kicks, bunching up, stealing the ball from their own team and not able to stop the other team from scoring. (the photos were just lucky shots of Jo playing)

With this said, we have a very happy girl! Jo is showing more independence than she ever has, not only with soccer but at home as well. It’s like a new child has come to life with this activity and we are all smiling!

The Welcome and Bye writing by Cole on our front porch.

Easter Weekend

Separation of Parents and Kids, or another way to say it - the kids had a great chance to be without their parents and get spoiled rotten, or that the parents had a full weekend to do whatever they wanted alone, or lastly we could say that double booked this weekend so everyone had a good time doing their own thing.

We did manage to color some eggs before the kids headed out.Just Fun Stuff!

One night with Gma Marie and Gpa Norman then off to Rachelle and Connie’s for the rest of their parentless weekend.

Another round of coloring eggs.

Cole and Rachelle worked on an erector set building a plane.


We hear
that this
project
was quite
intensive
and took
hours
but the
little man
enjoyed himself!

AND THEY'RE OFF!

We were told that Jo was a vacuum gathering up eggs.

(This hunt is a little different than most being that some eggs are painted silver or gold, which are money eggs, and then some eggs have business’s written on them so when the kids take that egg to the business they were given a prize.)
Jo’s words: “I got one egg and it was a dollar, and one was an ice cream. Oh, and one I got a cookie and another dollar one and I also got a jelly bean one. And then I got a five dollar one in the big kids area.”

Cole did fine as well netting two bucks and some candy.Gma Marie, Gpa Norman and Cole were hunting in the big kids area to see if they could find more loot that might have been missed. It’s easy to miss in this area usually because the grass is so long and the eggs are hidden really well.



Plane was finished, he was proud and Rachelle’s back was sore.
















Happy Easter Kids!The Bunny brought some candy, socks, a toy each and some GIANT stuffed egg bunnies!

Sounded like everyone had a very good time south!

What did we do?
I know you’re asking because the blog is about our whole family not just the kids.
Oma had a high school classmate fly in from DC, so though the Facebook group of friends a bunch of the ’86 class had a get together.Most, but not all, of who gathered this evening in Longview!

We stayed at our favorite B&B Ruiz style, watched Maggie and Lanna play soccer and visited the nephews Holden and Skylar.

On the way home we took a random exit and had a wonderful ‘linner’ (that’s lunch and dinner) at a Deli tasting cheeses, meats and olives and then sharing a roasted mushroom ravioli dish. Fun and relaxing stop adult style.

Mom played lot of Guitar Hero, (she didn’t have to wait her turn for the Wii) Oma read and we just chilled.
Oh, what a lovely weekend.

Calm, Smooth and Sharp

I think he takes after his Mom on this one.

Coles asked quite a few times when he could learn how to shoot. While we were celebrating Uncle Todd’s 40th birthday Cole was offered the chance to learn how.

First lessons all came in the house with how to handle a firearm safely at all times along with how to sight in his target.
This 22 was still just a tad long for him but with the bipod stand it worked out well.A small hike out to the field, clay pigeons were targets and lessons continued. Uncle Todd really took his time teaching Cole how to be safe, calm and slow with each shot.

First shot,
a clear hit on target.



Cole was a happy boy!

Cole learned a lot this day and said he really enjoyed learning from Todd and can hardly wait to go shooting again.He would like to one day go hunting with his Uncle but knows that this is still a few years away.

A Diamond in the Rough?

Or is it that the Pigs Flew, the Cow Came Home, the Camels Back Broke and the Creek definitely Ran Dry on this day!


Do you see
what we see?

Yes, Jo is
playing soccer!


A little pressure from us but most of the pressure / conversations came from her classmates who are playing and really wanted her on the team.



Jo had a rough start actually getting to her first practice saying that she did not want to play soccer after all. But once she was in cleats, shin guards and her soccer shorts she got excited and ended up having a very good time. As she was jogging out to the practice field she said

“But I don’t have a jersey?”With her leg strength in jumping and kicking her brother we think she could actually do very well at this sport. We are just hoping she enjoys herself enough to make it through the short season happy and maybe wanting to join in other physical activities.

We do know that on this day the
Fat Lady Sang and it was a
lovely sound indeed.