Bye Bye February

Today is the last day of February. I am so glad to see it go because that means we are one step closer to warmer weather. I feel like I have been slacking on my blog and not blogging everything we have actually done. On Thursday night there was a Family Fun Night at the kids' school. Brynlee hooked up with her BFF Sydnee and we ended up chasing them from activity to activity all night. The boys found some friends to hang with and did their own thing. Brett helped Brynlee, Sydnee, Harlee and another little girl who is in Bryn's class, Jerzie, make princess crowns out of paper plates. The girls made friendship bracelets, bookmarks and painted. It was a blast and we ended up spending the better part of the evening there. Brynlee has been dancing here little heart out with several extra practices as we gear up for competition time. The boys are getting ready for baseball season to start as is Brett would volunteered his time and is serving on the Baseball Board this year as the VP over the Rookie/T-Ball division. We have had some issues with a few things in the league and hope that this will give him a reason to voice his opinion and hopefully make some things change. He is also going to coach Trevin's Majors team. Tryouts are coming up in a week-so I will keep you all posted. No luck on the potty front with Harlee yet. I tried bribing her with dance but so far nothing has worked. Oh well-we will keep trying. Hopefully March will bring some more exciting posts from the Ruoti home.

Jazz Game

Tonight was McKade's turn to go the Jazz game. The Jazz played the Atlanta Hawks. McKade was so excited. He wore his new jersey he got for his birthday and Brett bought him a hat to match his green jersey. The Jazz were down two players last night and ended up losing by 5 points but it came down to the final minutes. The boys really needed this one on one time with dad and I think we may have to make this an annual tradition.

Saturday Fun Night

We are so sick of the cold and so tired of being cooped up in the house. Brett needed to get out, the kids needed out and I was happy for an excuse to not have to sit at home. There's not much to do in Utah that doesn't involve being outdoors in the winter but we really wanted to stay warm. Brett mentioned The Skybox at The Gateway. His team went there for appetizers about a month ago and they have unlimited video games for $2 per person. We ate our dinner in the Stadium room surrounded by TV's with nothing but sports on them. Trevin was already in heaven. When we mentioned the video games the kids went nuts. Most of the games were broken-hence the $2 price tag-but we ended up spending and hour and a half playing just video games. Harlee didn't know what to do and just ran from game to game. I forgot my camera again-I have become quite the slacker lately. It was a great way to waste away the evening-without having to be cooped up in the house.

Happy 9th Birthday Bubba

Today my baby boy turned 9. Only one more year until my youngest son hits double digits. For some reason this has really affected me in more ways than one. It's hard to see my kids grow up. Don't get me wrong, I want them to grow up but it's just happening way too fast. We went a little overboard for McKade this year. You see, he always seems to be the product of the Middle Child Syndrome and this year we changed that a bit. We didn't do a friends party but celebrated for a couple of days. We had the family party on Sunday night, we went to the movie on Monday, McKade went to a birthday party for a girl in his class at Classic Skating on Tuesday night and on Wednesday night, the day of his birthday he picked dinner at the Olive Garden. I had also promised him lunch but because his birthday fell on Wednesday-pizza day-he opted for me to bring him Arby's on Thursday-the day after his birthday. I sure love this kid. He never lets anything get him down and he will be your friend forever. I guess he had to be born with that kind of temperment to survive the middle child syndrome. I am so lucky that he chose us to be his parents!!!! Happy Birthday Bubba-we love you!

Percy Jackson

Today was President's Day and the kids were out of school. McKade wanted to go to a movie for his birthday and today was the perfect day. We went and saw, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief". The movie was awesome and we all gave it a thumbs up. Harlee even sat through all but 15 minutes of the movie before she finally fell asleep. McKade got the books for his birthday and is just starting the 1st one. I have heard the books are way better than the movie so we will have to see. I think I am going to read them after he is finished.

McKade's Birthday Celebration Part 1

Tonight we had a family party to celebrate McKade's birthday. This is just the beginning of the week long celebration for McKade. We are headed to the movie tomorrow and then I am taking him lunch at school on Wednesday and then he gets dinner of his choice on Wednesday night. We opted against a friends party this year and he decided that the movie was a good replacement for that-thank goodness. He got a lot of fun presents tonight. He has become almost as big of a sports fan as Trevin so it's a little easier to buy for him but also a little more expensive these days. He got a couple of jersey's, a couple of hats, a hoodie and some T-Shirts-all of his favorite teams and players. He also got a couple of video games and some money so he can spend as he pleases. I can't belive my baby boy is turning 9 years old-where did the time go?

All She Wants To Do Is Dance, Dance, Dance

I hardly ever remember so many of the cute things that Brynlee says and since this was still fresh in my mind I need to post it. Last night we headed out to Brynlee's 3rd night of dance practice this week. We are headed into competition season and they have several extra practices lined up this month. This put her at the 6 hour mark for dance this week. She was pretty quiet on our way to dance and I said to her, "Are you tired of dancing so much this week?" She looked at me like I had absolutely lost my mind and said, "No way mom, I LOVE dancing". There you go, straight from the mouth of babes. It makes me feel so much better about the wad of change we are dumping into dance every month for this little girl. Brett informed me that we could afford to buy a boat for the amount of money we spend just on dance every month. I know that I am living vicariously through her but if she loves it then what's the harm-right?

Harlee and Her New Cousin

Harlee has a new baby cousin, Erica and she is totally enthralled with her. She loves to carry her babies around and wrap them in blankets and put them down for naps. This was her first time meeting Erica because there were restrictions at the hopsital and Brynlee had a yucky cough all week. She couldn't get enough of her. I hope that she and Erica are as good of friends as Brynlee and Erin are.

More Jr. Jazz

In an effort to help McKade be a little more aggressive while playing basketball this year Brett told him he had to try and get a foul every game. This helped and he was able to draw some fouls. At the last game they played today McKade was also fouled a couple of times and had two chances to shoot foul shots. He made 1 out of 4and the last one gave their team the lead. They did end up losing by 1 point but McKade was so excited that he had made the shot. Jr. Jazz is now over for the year but next up is baseball that starts in just a couple of weeks and yes folks, it is still winter here in Utah. Brrr.......

Trev's Night Out with Dad

For Christmas each of the boys got a set of tickets to their own Jazz game. We gave them the option of picking which parent they wanted to go with them. Since both of these games fell on a Monday night it ends up that dad is the one that gets to go with them because I am working. Tonight was Trevin's turn. The Jazz played the Dallas Mavericks and even though the seats weren't all that great Trevin had a blast and even wrote a "thank you" to Brett the next day because he had such a great time. The Jazz won and Brett said that Trevin can cheer like the best of them. McKade's turn is coming up at the end of February and he is already looking forward to it.