Celebrating Trinity

No, I haven't totally lost my mind. (Not completely anyway) I know my baby girl's birthday was in December. However, on Trinity's actual birthday her daddy was over playing in the sand in the UAE. So we never actually got to celebrate our wonderful little girl's special day together as a family. This weekend we decided to do just that. Mickey Mouse is a favorite of Trinity's, so I thought I'd try my hand at making a Mickey cake. She was thrilled!! She just wanted to sit and look at it, saying "Icky!" (Which means Mickey, not yuk.) Guess Momma did good this year.

We had ribs for dinner and as you can see on the kids' faces, it went over well.



Happy birthday (a little late), dear Trinity!! You are such a blessing to this family and we love you very much!

Shootin' Hoops

Through an absolutely awesome program at Langley, our family has been a member of the local YMCA for the past year and counting. They have a great child-watch program where I can go work out while the kids are playing. The kids love it, so that makes it easier for me to get the incentive to get my rear in gear. And in addition to that, they have some wonderful activities for the kids to participate in. So far, we have done soccer and swim lessons. Now we are on to basketball! It is not a team program this year, more like a basketball camp, which I think is actually better at this age. They are able to focus (at least a little) on dribbling, shooting, and passing...not running around the court like crazed hooligans, althought that still happens of course. :O) The kids are loving it!


Chance's class is 4 & 5 year olds and all boys. So needless to say, it can get a bit crazy at times. Organized chaos is often the phrase that comes to mind. The coaches do a great job though of rounding them up and actually getting them to practice a few of their skills.


Mikaela's class is 6 & 7 year olds and is all boys, except for Mikaela and one other girl. This does not bother Mikaela at all though. She does a good job of holding her own. However, I think it's funny to watch because the boys are all going full-throttle, just wanting to be the first one down the court. The girls, however, take their time and make sure they are actually doing it right. Mikaela is often the only one actually dribbling the ball without it rolling half-way down the court. Half the time the boys are kicking their basketballs just to get there faster!


Just look at that form! I'm pretty sure she gets her raw talent from her mom!


The kids are so excited every Saturday morning for basketball. And I have to be honest, Matt and I are just as excited. It's so fun to see them enjoy themselves so much. I have the feeling we are just getting a glimpse at the fun ahead as they get older.

To Blog Or Not To Blog

Yup, it's official. The Howard family finally has a blog. For now, at least. For the past several months I've been playing with the idea of doing this. I absolutely love going to several of my friends' sites and being able to check in on them, see pics, and feel like the many miles that separate us aren't really so many. As some of you know, I used to do the totsite where I could send out updates on the kids. And as you faithful followers know, I haven't given you all much to follow in awhile. My problem with the totsite is that I felt like I needed to put so much in a journal entry, along with a bunch of pics, that I never felt I had time to do it. My hope is that by doing a blog, I'll feel more comfortable doing little tid bits here and there, and therefore, keep it updated. I guess only time will tell. So for now, I hope you all enjoy being able to see what's happening in our family. I can't promise that it'll be as witty or well-versed as most, but I figure with kiddos as cute as mine, the pics will totally make up for it! :O)