Funny Bunnies

As Easter approached this year, Brendan told me, "I'm not that into Easter this year mom." I stopped for a moment and felt sad. This is inevitable. Growing up. Maturing. Then, I asked him why he wasn't into it. His response entailed telling me how he still liked decorating eggs, the Easter egg hunt, and the candy. So, what isn't there to like about Easter? He relented that he must still like it.

You think?

We let each boy color about a dozen Easter eggs this year. This was the first year where they didn't completely color their hands as well as the eggs. (I miss those little colored hand pictures!)


Evan did feel that he was getting too messy, so he took his shirt off for this picture.
This year, the boys also colored the ugliest color eggs I have ever seen. They just kept dumping the eggs into each color to give the egg a great appeal. This was the result. .. Blah.

Browns, khakis, etc.

Even the traditional egg hunt was also a success. We had one egg missing for a week, however. Evan just found it this morning. Eww. . .
After our fun morning of hunts and heading to church, we relaxed for a wonderful afternoon.


Happy Easter from these funny bunnies!

Not LeBron Yet

Many times I have reconsidered naming my blog ESPN- DeForest with the amount of sports reporting that I seem to do. However, this winter was a little quiet for sports. Our main focus was a basketball team that Brendan was involved in. He and a group of friends practiced twice a week for a few months to take part in a tournament team.

Here is Brendan at an earlier tournament.

They played in three tournaments and many other small scrimmages. The tournaments usually began around 8 or 9 in the morning, and we would still be gracing the bleacher seats around 3 or 4. The last tournament of the season was a few weeks ago when Chris' mom was in town for Spring Break. And this was their best tournament of the year.

The boys played four games total. They lost their first one, but then went on a winning streak. Maybe their momentum came from the way that they spent their free time.

Video games and candy galore!

After their third win in a row, the boys placed third and were rewarded with trophies. They were giddy!

He may not be LeBron yet, but that smile is worth LeBron's salary to me. . .

An Astounding Critique and a Little Potter

About six years ago, I fell in love with the Harry Potters books. I started reading them after book four came out; then, with each of the remaining three books, I would scurry to the bookstore the day they came out and voraciously read each book in a matter of days.

Even then, I looked forward to the day where I could share these mystical books with the boys, and in June of last year, we started our journey through the Harry books.

Now, we have just finished the sixth book, and I have gained so much more from the books this second time around.

1. When I first read them, I finished books so quickly that I missed so many of the small details. Reading them out loud has allowed me to appreciate every word of the book. I love watching the boys sit rapt to every word that I say, inquiring when confused and giggling when delighted. I also have discovered the immense amount of foreshadowing that occurs in the books, things that the boys can't possibly understand having never heard the conclusion of the series. I have never heard the background about Rowling's plans, but I imagine she had a vision for most of the characters from the very start.

2. I love sharing the magic with all three of the boys. They have fallen in love with these books so completely. All three boys will run around the house with wands -- or makeshift wands-- and yell spells from the book at each other. Never before have they been enthusiastic about going to bed, only to listen to me read for 45 minutes.

3. Most awe-inspiring to me has been the indepth analysis that occurs between readings. (If you have not read book six, don't read this next part. I will ruin it for you!) As we were reading the sixth book, I knew the death of Dumbledore was coming and was worried about how they would handle it. Andrew and I were both a little emotional, but he stated that he knew that something like that would happen. I asked him Why? He said that Harry needs to face Voldemort all by himself since he is the only one who can kill Voldemort. Wow- How very cool!

Then, we were discussing what we expected to happen in Book Seven and Andrew was talking about his thoughts. He explained to me that the Ministry of Magic was the broken part of the equation to beat Voldemort. He said the good people could defeat him if they unite to do that, but with the Ministry of Magic working against the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore, they are broken. Again, WOW!

Harry Potter has changed our ordinary bedtime routine into a magical world. We are taking a small break now; Andrew is struggling a little with Dumbledore's death and the scariness of the death eaters, but we will pick up again soon to finish Book Seven. We will cap off the whole experience with a trip to Harry Potter world this summer. I am not sure who is more excited: the boys or me.

Now, I am back to watching the movie with the boys. Guess which one? Harry Potter.