you can't take the "boy" out of the boy!

Usually while I shower and get ready Kade likes to sit in his chair, in our bedroom, and watch Sesame Street.  Last week he changed things up a bit.  He came into our room, pointing at the TV, while getting into position to sit down.  When I turned the TV on, a tennis tournament was on live TV.  I went into the DVR and found Sesame Street, but Kade was not having it.  He started yelling and whining at the TV.  I thought maybe he wanted to watch a different show, so I found him something on the Disney channel.  He let me know that was not what he wanted, so I switched back to Sesame Street.  Then he started yelling, "a ball, a ball, a ball!"  That's when I realized he wanted to watch the tennis tournament!

             I turned on live TV, he sat down in his chair, giggled and watched tennis.  I went back into the bathroom, laughing at him, to blow dry my hair.  After a few minutes Kade came running in the bathroom, talking up a storm (in Kade speak), and then ran back out.  I followed, to see what was up, and when he came running back in to the bedroom, he was carrying his little tennis racket.  He stood in front of the TV swinging and grunting.  I was laughing so hard!  He really is all boy, who loves any sport with a ball!

3 Years!!!

Rob & I celebrated our 3 year anniversary, on the 3rd of March! He planned a whole evening for us, and even found a highly recommended babysitter. ( I was a little worried, because he would be up for a couple hours, and then she would have to put him to bed...)
We started off by taking the light rail to downtown Phoenix (yes, that's public transportation, but we had been wanting to ride on it since it started running a few months ago.) It took us to a stop only a block away from the swanky restaraunt, where Rob had made reservations. (Thanks Jen & Russ for the gift card.) After dinner, we hopped back on the train, only to ride it 2 stops, to the Phoenix Theatre. We had tickets to see Le Miserables! I had never seen it before, and it's Rob's favorite, so I was really excited! And surprised!
Rob did such a great job planning our evening, and it was great to spend time together, just the 2 of us. The babysitter said that Kade, "was such a fun kid!" Yea! The evening was a great success! Thank you Honey, for planning such a special night!

Love you! And happy 3 year anniversary!

Great Friends, Great Food, Great Fun!

My fabulous friends from CA, John & Annie, were down in Tucson for a family reunion last weekend. Rob was working down there, so Kade and I decided to drive down Friday morning. We headed straight to the Tucson Rodeo, with all of Annie's family in tow. Check out the getup on the kids! Ready for the rodeo! Annie's 4 year-old signed up for the Mutton Bustin'! He's fearless... They put him in a helmet and safety vest, and then he laid on the back of a sheep, trying to hold on for as long as he could.

But before he could "Mutton Bust" , he had to get some cowboy boots. And my friend John is almost as tight with his money as Rob is, so I couldn't believe he bought boots for his 4 year-old! They were adorable!

Alex is standing in line with the other 4 year-olds, gettin' nervous...

All decked out!

Way to go Alex! I think he held on longer than anyone in his age group!

For competing they gave all the kids a trophy, bandanna, and a belt buckle. He was so proud of his trophy!

Annie & I asked John to take our picture, but I think he was more interested in the tractor.
The cute Blatter Fam.

Annie & taking pics of ourselves, while holding kids on our laps.

Cuddling with Kade & Hannah.

Kade loved the rodeo. He just sat on my lap the whole time, watching the cowboys, cowgirls, horses, and sheep.

John & Alex.

One of Annie's family members even made cute boot and hat cookies.

The Buckin' Broncos were fun to watch!

Check out Owen!

Kade loved hanging out with Jake.

This is about as country as we get, at our house.

Hannah & Owen were checking out the bulls.

Jake showing Kade the horses.

After the rodeo, we headed back to Annie's cousin's house for a "big 'ol bar-b-que!" They had soooo much yummy food! We played baseball & basketball, they set up a bouncy house and a Thomas the Train tunnel. The kids had a blast!

Kade loves anything with a ball. He tried to keep up with the big boys.

Annie & Owen were playing baseball.

Swing Annie! (Isn't she cute!?)Kade loved the bouncy house. He would giggle, jump, and then fall over.

Bouncy bouncy....

I think Kade played in the Thomas tunnel for an hour. He would crawl around giggling, get to one of the trains and yell, "Mommy," wait for me to take his picture, and be off again.

He's in the train, posing for a picture.

He loved this party!

Annie was stocking the drink bucket with ice, and struggling, so I had to take a pic.

After work, Rob was able to make it to the bar-b-que. He had a chance to see Kade in action. Bounce away, Bud!

After dinner, they had a birthday cake, for all of the different cousins, and all the missed birthdays. Kade decided to help himself to the green frosting.

Mmmmmmmm...

After most of the family had left, it was bath time for all. You get pretty grimy at the rodeo! Kade & Owen enjoyed their tub time.

The next morning, we headed off to the Tucson International Wildlife Museum. They had every kind of animal on display. It was a neat place!

John was trying to get a head in our picture!

I put this picture in, so everyone could check out the farmer burn on my arm. That was from the rodeo! I covered Kade in sunblock, but didn't put any on myself! What was I thinking?

Rob with the Woolly Mammoth. That thing was huge! (I think this is the only Picture that Rob is in. Sorry, Honey!) Lion Kade.

Owen kept trying to steal Kade's snacks. He was pretty sneaky about it, too!

I seriously don't know what we were trying to do here? Kiss on the cheek or something?

Much better!

Saturday night, we drove back up to Tempe. Of course, John & Annie wanted to hit Cafe Rio for dinner. Annie, Rob & I played some games that night, while John was getting some good sleep before his big drive back to Cali. And then Annie & I stayed up until around 3:30 giggling, talking, and being goofy in front of the camera (wearing the America's Next Top Model jackets I had purchased for us).

Even though I was only able to see them for 2 days, I had so much fun! Come back soon! (I'm sure John won't be too anxious to do that drive again anytime in the near future :):))

Love you guys!

We're hot!

No More Combover!

Kade had his 1st haircut on Saturday. My Mom was in town, so we scheduled him an appointment at this adorable children's salon. And we took a bunch of pictures!
Here's a before shot...

This is the cute salon that we took him to.

I messed it up, so we could get the full effect of how long it was.

(The comb-forward...)

He was getting a little rat tail in the back. It was hot!

At the salon, the kids get to pick their own seat. Kade chose the airplane. He loved spinning the wheel.

There were some little girls in the back room having manicures and pedicures. It was so cute!

Kade was mesmerized by the clippers. We thought he might actually fall asleep.

Isn't he handsome?

Almost done...

He thought he looked good, so he wanted to try on some new shades.

He was not happy when it was time to leave, he was having fun in the salon's little play area.

He was a little mad about it!

He got over it pretty quickly. And he looked so handsome at lunch. (We didn't get too many "after" shots.) But we think he's pretty cute! Glad my Mom came up, to get some pictures of the 1st haircut. Of course, we saved some hair for the scrapbooks!