Happy Birthday to Steve!

Steve celebrated #41 a few weeks ago.  What a handsome husband I have!  He is still looking very youthful, if you ask me.  He says he'll start to feel officially old when his elderly patients at work stop seeming astonished when he walks into the room and they realize that he is their "real" doctor.  :)

Steve's birthday actually fell on the same day that Luke and Landon started kindy.  It was an exciting day all around! 

Since Steve had to work a late shift that day, he opened his presents in the morning.  I had picked up a few things at the Red Zone store in Utah which specializes in University of Utah merchandise.  I've had a few strike-outs in the past when giving Steve clothes, but this time he loved everything.  

A sticker for Big Red!

One thing that Steve and I both love to do is write each other homemade cards or letters on special days.  No matter how serious and sappy we get, we often include some sort of inside joke that might be embarrassing for some of you readers, so it's probably best that I not post the card I composed...but I thought I'd share what the older kids wrote to Steve.  I am so pleased that our kids have grown to appreciate the value of a nice, sincere, hand-written card as well…it's one of my favorite family traditions.

After Steve took off for work, I whipped up his favorite treat in the whole world -- homemade chocolate-chip cookies:

Hello, my name is Mindy, and I love to eat raw cookie dough.  I think it's better than the actual cookie.  Don't judge me.

When I asked Steve what he wanted to eat for his birthday dinner (which we shared the night after his birthday), he said, "Surprise me."  After being married to this man for 17 years, I have learned that his favorite kind of meal involves something saucy and flavorful served over rice.  Throw in some shrimp and a kick of spice, and that would make it even more perfect.  I found a recipe for a spicy shrimp coconut curry sauce, served over hot jasmine rice.  It was a slam dunk!

I don't know why there are two forks in the picture…maybe Steve was more hungry than I thought!

We enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" and eating cake after dinner.

The birthday weekend was topped-off by a night out without the kids.  I love this picture of us.

Happy Birthday, Steve!  We love you!

Off to Kindy for Luke and Landon

Kindergarten (kindy) is the kiwi word for preschool.  What we refer to as kindergarten in the US would be called Year 1 here in NZ.  The New Zealand government pays for up to 20 hours per week of kindy!  How can you pass that up?  Actually, we did pass it up, for the first few months after moving here at least.  With all the changes we had gone through, I wasn't ready for the twins to leave the nest quite yet, but eventually I realized that it would probably be okay for us to have a few hours of independence from each other. :)  I certainly wasn't ready for 20 hours, but two mornings totaling 8.5 hours per week is just about right.

Luke and Landon hit the kindy ground running, and haven't looked back.  We love their school, the teachers, the campus…it's all fabulous.  The structure is definitely more laid back than our preschool experience with our older kids in the States, but that definitely hasn't been a bad thing at all…just different.  The boys are thriving and have adjusted to their new schedule and environment without a hitch.  They were ready.

I love all of these photos from their first day.  I know I'm biased, but these little boys are pretty dang adorable if you ask me.  See for yourself: 

Turns out, we drop the twins off before heading to the other three schools.  It was a little crazy that first day (well, everyday), getting everyone/everything ready and out the door on time!  Emily was hiding there in the van somewhere... 

I can neither confirm nor deny the claims that a massive cheer was heard erupting from inside our van when we returned from dropping the boys at school. :)

We love these little guys to the moon and back, but they are very busy and loud.  Spending a few hours per week in a different environment has been a welcome and exciting change for them, and the few hours without them has been welcome and somewhat exciting for us as well.  Hooray for kindy! 

Touch Rugby (featuring Cameron!)

It was a pleasure to watch Cameron participate in touch rugby on his school team.  The league contains all school-sponsored teams, and Cam played in the division for 9- & 10-year old boys and girls.  Cameron has never played rugby before, but he caught on quickly and truly enjoyed himself.  His team was inexperienced and only got one win, but they improved so much over the short season.  Cameron kept saying every week how much he loved it, so that's what matters, right?

Rachel's soccer jersey and Cameron's touch rugby jersey must have come from the same place.  Cameron still played hard, despite his very roomy top with a (much too) deep V:

My goodness.  That's a LOT of bare chest goin' on.

We've heard one girl's name come up several times this year when Cameron has talked about his "friends" at school… Jasmine.  Did Cameron sign up for touch rugby after learning that Jasmine would be playing?  Perhaps.  :)  

We had fun going to the park as a family to support Cameron.  The park was enormous, and it honestly felt like every person in Palmy had a kid playing touch rugby.  Despite the crowds, the matches were quick (30 minutes) and were played back-to-back each week, so the season actually passed quite rapidly.

We will definitely play touch rugby for years to come.  It's fast paced, simple to learn, and just plain fun.  We really enjoyed watching Cameron play.  He always pushed hard, stayed focused, and tried his best...despite the score.  Great job, Cam!