Backhand

Not tips on how to keep your kids quiet......

Karson and Aubree are in tennis and both really enjoy it.

Other then the warming up, Karson has been uncharacteristically excited and motivated to play.

Aubree still hasn't grasped the difference between forehand and backhand, and gets all pouty and sulky when she misses a ball. But, she is getting better each lesson.

The first day the teacher asked if Karson wanted to wait for the later lesson with the older kids.

I assured him he'd be just fine with the other 6-9 year olds.

He's really a gentle giant.

Their favorite part of tennis is picking up the balls, seeing how many they can balance on their racket and putting them in the ball basket.

Happy Birthday 9 days ago Karson!

As promised we have not forgotten our 5 ft tall 9 year old's birthday.

He's surpassing most of the great grandma's and closing in on the grandma's. And sadly, no he's not the least bit interested in basketball or any other team sport that requires largeness.

(The kids are in tennis, and he does seem to enjoy it.......we'll see...)

Karson picked out an "SUV & boat" combo for his birthday cake.

He wanted a Red Sox cake, but this is Vegas and the Smith's bakery isn't really up on the MLB.

After the sad departure of Ally, Karson said that he would also like a replacement lizard of his own for his birthday, so now we have two new adorable lizards, which Aubree wanted to name Ally 2 & 3, but Karson named one of them Geico and the other Hidey, because it hides alot.

These guys are smaller and way more skittesh, so they have to hold them over the tank or they'll run away and Clover will be in heaven.

Karson also got a train clock that does a different train sound each hour.

And I'm sure you're all asking the same question my husband did

"are we going to hear that all night"?

It has a light sensor, so no. :)

And Karson's most exciting present, he had his own birthday visit from Grammy!

This is the kid's favorite thing to do, go snuggle with Grammy every morning.

(Aubree's usually down there around 5 am)

Heather or Emily, tell me if you see anything familiar in this picture..........why yes, that is my bed from when I was a kid!

Anyone that knows Karson well, knows that parties just aren't his thing.

When asking him what he wants to do or what gift he wants for his birthday mostly you'll get, "nothing", or something ridiculous like a 4-Wheeler or a basement.

Any suggestions are immediately turned down.

When I suggested we go see a movie he asked "how long will it be"?

So when people ask what we did for Karson's brthday and we say, nothing, they look at me as though I'm a horrible mother.

In Karson's reality the horrible thing would be to force him into some sort of bounce house/chuck-e-cheese anxiety fest.

We did convince him, begrudgingly, to go see How To Train Your Dragon in 3-D (which was really for Aubree, but he refused to make a decision).

Several times he asked how much longer it was going to be, and about 4 minutes into the movie he took off his 3-D glasses and stared at his lap. I asked him what was wrong and he said they gave him a headache.

It's like taking your grandpa to a movie.

But, in the end, he enjoyed it and said he would watch it again, but not in 3-D and not in the theatre.

As crazy as Karson may drive us, we love him so much!

We are so lucky to have such a sweet, helpful, loving, smart and handsome boy!

And now I'm going to throw in some Easter pictures and a funny hot air balloon story.

So my mom, being the creative genius that she is, brought a pattern for her and the kids to make a hot air balloon.
They spent most of Friday constructing the balloon and early Saturday morning we took it out for launching.

The kids were so excited as it took off and then, landed in the tree.

Luckily, it blew out of the tree, and they did it again later in the day, and then watched as it launched about 30 feet in the air and flew away, never to be heard from again.
Ryan, the sensible one, asked why we didn't tie a string to it. Good question.

Again, thanks to everyone that sent money, gifts & cards to Karson for his birthday!

Thanks Mom, as always, for being such a wonderful Grammy and Mom! We love you!