Bum, Bum Bum Bum, Buuummm!

David John's class just had their spring musical. It was really cute. There were a variety of musical numbers about various professions that the kids might have when they grow up. David John was cast in the role of the bum. That's right. Bum. It was like a dream come true for him. He got to wear a loose-fitting shirt and no other costume and got to say a potty-related word (even though it was in a completely different context) multiple times during the performance. In fact, his line was also the last line of the whole musical. All the other kids sing things like, "I'm gonna be an astronaut!" "I'm going to play football!" "I want to design computer games!" and then David John pipes up, "I wanna be a bum!" Nailed it.

H-E-Double Hockey Sticks, Yeah!

I had the pleasure of going with our friends Amy and Leslie last weekend to the Ralph Arena for some UND hockey. I had never been to a hockey game before and I had never been to Grand Forks before even though I am currently working on a degree through UND. It was nice to see the institution that I pay a lot of money to each semester.

Pinewood

The dreaded (for me) Pinewood Derby has come and gone again. Our boys were good sports even though their cars were out of the running early on. I loved that this year they used all of the boys' colors on their cars to represent the whole Ricks boy clan. Gabriel even painted some other first initials on his car. Our cars were hand sawed again this year but this time Marc cut them. (Thank you babe!) I dread this event because inevitably certain kids whose dads are really good at this game show up with professional looking cars and win. It's actually a competition for dads. So, I really struggle with that. Anyway, I'm glad my boys have smiles on their faces and love their homespun cars just the way they are.

The David John and Tobias Show

David John and Tobias are alike in many ways. They look a lot alike, and they are both very quirky characters. When I look through the notes that I keep about my life and my boys, they consistently have the most quotes because they are just funny! I think that maybe they should create a variety show together when they are older. Here are some David John and Tobias stories and then I'll post some comparative pictures at the end. All I can say is, it's a good thing these two are not twins. We'd be in trouble.

Four!

Tobias turned four today which just seems crazy. How can my baby be four-years-old?

Better late...

...than never. I finally got the picture collage that I gave Marc for Christmas hung on his wall today. It isn't perfect. Please don't bring a level or a ruler. However, I'm pretty happy with it. Those are all individual frames and I designed the layout myself. Marc's colleagues at the office were great with their reactions. All the "awwws" you could ask for. Thanks ladies.

Missed Moments

Every time I start a new year of blogging, I look back at my notes and pictures and realize that I missed some things from last year. So, here are a few more pictures from December that I thought should see the light of day as well as some quips and stories from my notes.

My first majorly overlooked event from last year is Marc's birthday. I hang my head in shame as a spouse. The problem is, Marc's birthday is on December 24th. So, he's competing with this Jesus guy whose birthday is celebrated on the 25th. It's a rough spot to be in. Rest assured, we did celebrate on his birthday I just failed to write about it. Here's the picture proof:

These Christmas socks were part of a birthday gift from my Mom and Dad. He loved wearing them to work.