Three!!!

 This little one is three (3!!!) now!   I simply cannot believe it!  

C is a fun-loving, silly, likes to make you laugh, little boy!  He likes balls, sports, vehicles, and all things boy! 

 He requested chocolate cake, purple icing and blue and green sprinkles for his birthday. 

 

 The boys swam in the pool, C requested the "batman gargles." (Blue and black goggles)

 We did a movie and popcorn that night, and the movie he requested was (no surprise here) Frozen!! (He watches at least some part of it at least once a day).  But it was good all over again.

My sleeping baby!  Two was pretty good for him!  He has seemed older than two to me for awhile, but everyone thinks he looks young, short and stocky makes him look younger, I guess.  

How I love this sweet boy!  His snuggles, his love of pretty shirts (printed shirts), cozy pants and grandfathers, his jokes, his smiles... all things that make him his lovable self! 

Snapshots

 This was Tatum after I took him for a run.  He seems to enjoy it while we are running, but he is worn out when we get home! 

 Sick babies again!  Lots of sickness this year!  It was strep throat two weeks ago and the stomach bug this week.  Hopefully next year will be a little healthier.

 Charge!

He makes Monday afternoons with a sick brother look good!
(and then he got sick the next day...)

 H drew me a picture of sunflowers and then put pipe cleaner "earrings" on the sides.

Very creative!

Brothers!  

I caught them like this at bathtime, chatting about their lives and splashing water on the wall in rhythm.

They sure do love each other (when they are not fighting...).

Prep Center Graduation

 The school year has almost officially come to a close.  It has been a pretty good year, and the boys school has been wonderful for our little family.  Lots of lessons learned, friends made, and memories created. 

H had his PreK graduation on Friday.  His class has been practicing for weeks, and they took a little field trip to the Municipal Center where the graduation took place to practice.  He was so excited and could tell me everyone's lines and exactly what everyone was to be doing.  

 

 H and his "best friend" Sidney.  Getting ready to go on with their Letter Friends.

 I knew that H's line was "M is for Microphone,"  but I didn't realize he would be leading the prayer, the pledge of allegiance and "My Country 'Tis of Thee" with his buddy Marley.  I had thought they would all be doing that together, but it was just H and Marley!  I would have been terrified at that age, but he seemed to have no problem!

 Leading the opening of the graduation.  I missed some of it because I didn't know he would be doing it!

 The kids left after they sang a few fun songs to get their cap and gown on while the families watched a slideshow of pictures from the school year.

 H and his teacher, Miss Laura.  She was a great teacher for him this year, and he loves her!

 

 PawPaw and Missy, Daddy, Mary Ann, Mama and brother all came to see H graduate.

 C wanted a picture with H too!  They are holding his diploma.

Me and my boys!  

I'm pretty proud of how we have all grown this year!  

 

Mother's Day

 This was C's present from school, in a handprint painted bag.

(They smile so much better for other people than for me...)

 This was from H, along with a handprint flower.  His people no longer have stick legs or arms. 

We enjoyed church that morning and a barbecue with friends and then went visiting neighbors and families with roses.

 A fun afternoon visit with Missy.

A visit to Nanny too! 

A long distance visit with SweetHart while she opened our box of Mother's Day goodies that we sent.  (I love technology!)

 So happy to be a mama to these two boys!  I'm glad to be their mama, to be able to watch them grow, to love on them, to help them become their best little selves, and to help them to know their Heavenly Father and their Savior.  They make me happy, fill my days with love, surprises, joy, silliness, and sometimes some less than pleasant things, but I wouldn't change a thing!  

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mamas!  It is a big job!

Did you know...

....that Saturday was National Migratory Bird Day?

Well, it was!  They had a fun morning planned at Black Bayou.  We missed the early morning bird walk, (we aren't the quietest walkers at Black Bayou,  I'm sure all of the boys' exclamations of "Look, there's a sign!"  or "Frog!!!"  would have scared off any birds and annoyed the more serious bird watchers...), but we did get to enjoy some of the more child friendly activities.

 Face painting.  The boys have never wanted their faces to be painted, but they surprised me and wanted a "tattoo" painted on they're hands.  H chose a frog and C chose a snake.  They giggled and said it tickled.  C enjoyed it when his snake "scared" the other adults.

 C giggling.  

They had caterpillars and their cocoons/chrysalis to check out with magnifying glasses, and actual (dead) birds that migrate through Black Bayou to look at.  

 C put his hand in the bobcats mouth to make sure it wasn't going to bite him.  

They were able to chose a picture to make a badge with, and make their own pine cone bird feeders, and learn about the different ways that different birds eat.

We got to decorate owl masks and they took a picture in front of the owl.  

There were pictures of how owls look so the kids could copy, but they didn't exactly follow that instruction. 

We got to measure our 'wing span' and see how it would measure up to the wingspan of a real bird.  C had the wingspan of a Wood Duck, H had the wingspan of a Mallard, and I had the wingspan of a Canadian Goose. 

 We even saw Pacha!!!  The boys were happy to see her.  She thought it was funny that when we come to Black Bayou that C is most excited about the motorcycles and Jeeps that he sees, and H asks me to read him the Audubon guide to Shells for his bedtime story. 

Petting the animals in the Visitors Center.  

Fun morning at Black Bayou.  I just hope they won't expect these activities every time we go there!

Snapshots

What if I told you that the night before my school music program that the boys had green smoothies and peanut butter cookies....?  

 Loving our Kiwi Crate outside on a beautiful morning.  Rainforest theme this time with a rainstick to make and jumping frogs.  Great for my boys who love all things natural (H) and "ribbits" (C). 

 Fun craft at Michael's with our buddies.  The green boy is H's, and the blue one is C's.

 H drew "our two animals" on our wall (chalkboard).  Horton and Tatum look so happy!

I don't remember the day, but we were loving some warmish evenings before it gets too hot 

 Looking for shapes in the cloud to draw.  

At church last Sunday, they did a craft with cotton ball clouds and the resurrected Jesus in the clouds.  Now he looks at the clouds and says "I wonder which cloud Jesus lives on."

 Super Boys to the rescue!!!

 Sick babies!  C had two bouts of fever, and then a rash all over his body, H got it too, when we went to the dr, it turned out that they both had strep!  Poor things!  They were pretty pitiful, especially when they got a shot.... The only thing keeping C happy was Frozen and his blankies.  H just needed his blankies and a show, and a snuggle!  So glad that we are all healthy now!

 Biker boys!  We have loved H's balance bike that he got before he turned three.  C has desperately wanted to ride!  He is so short, it was hard to find one short enough for him to ride on.  He is happy now to ride his "blue bike like brother!"  He does pretty good on it too.  H is having a hard time getting the pedaling going on his big boy bike,  he has the balance down, and can go as fast, if not faster, on his balance bike as our neighbor on her big bike, so he would rather stay on it.  We will work on pedaling this summer.

I have a little chalkboard in the dining room where I write a word or scripture on.  H started underlining my words "so they won't fall down."  

One day I found this written "I L U spells 'I love you.'"  I may never erase it!