James's Extracurriculars

Now that James has turned three, there are a lot more activities he can be involved in. The boys are only allowed one activity at a time, but James also gets to go to story time at the library. We  pick up his cousin Kayden, who is his best buddy, so it becomes a play date & library time. Score for James!

James has also started gymnastics. He's quite timid about most things, and cried the first time the coach put him on the monkey bars. He absolutely loves the climbing and trying to flip over the bar. It's really helping him learn to follow directions.  He loves Coach Dave, who remembers having Alec in gymnastics a couple years ago.

Alec turned 6!

We had agreed not to do a big birthday party this year, since we did one last year and we had just gone to Disneyland. So, I decided to surprise Alec after school one Friday and take him and his friends to Flip 'N Out, a trampoline place. He wasn't expecting it at all, so that was really fun. It was nice to keep it simple, with an afternoon of bouncing and cupcakes, while the little two stayed at my moms house.

Catherine, Loryn, Bradley, Alec, Cannon & Logan.

He chose these candy/juice box robots to make & bring to school for his birthday. 

Evy's hair

I don't think even I realized how much I desperately wanted a little girl until we had Evelyn. Now that her hair is long enough to fall in her eyes, but not quite long enough for a ponytail I'm having fun doing some styles with it! As long as she has a cookie to chew on, she's quite content to sit our bathroom counter while I do her hair.

Easter Weekend in CA

We drive out to California over Easter weekend to see my cousin, Ryan, his wife, Chrissy, and their new baby boy, Tyler. They'd flown out from Ohio, so we were excited to see them and meet Tyler!

We went to Paradise Cove in Malibu. It was windy, but that didn't stop the boys from playing in the sand (and a little in the water!). Afterwards we got some Mission Burrito & enjoyed the awesome view from grandma's backyard. Evy was so funny with Tyler! whatever toy he picked up, she would just grab from him! It didn't matter what he had, she'd drop what was in her hand & grab it. I guess being 4 months older gave her a huge advantage for now. Tyler's already bugger than her though. That night we did glow sticks in the eggs, which the boys loved!

Sunday morning the boys hunted for their Easter baskets, then we went to church with grandma, & then the boys got to do another egg hunt!

Egg hunts

This year the boys participated in 5 egg hunts. I tried to remind them that eggs symbolize birth & the resurrection of Jesus, so I'm hoping it wasn't just about the candy for them!

I thought the nighttime one with glow sticks in the eggs was pretty fun!

Black Beans

It's what she had for dinner.

Little Miss refuses baby food at dinner time-she wants what we're eating, so I just mash up bits for her. She's not above using her 'banshee scream' to protest anything she dislikes. Nobody will be pushing her around, I guess.

Alec's story

PBS was hating a Kids' Writing Contest. So, I asked Alec to tell me a story & I wrote it down, then had him write it out & illustrate it. I thought it was pretty cute! He's really working hard on writing neatly.

Kindergarten has been a learning curve for him. He has such a hard time sitting still & listening-he's always trying to be silly. But, he's come so far this year & I'm very proud of him for working on it.

Cute Kids

It was just a slow morning when all three kids were hanging out in bed with me...

Disneyland

We took our family vacation to Disneyland for 3 days, Feb. 28-March 2. It turned out pretty hot & crowded, which seemed crazy that time of year, but the boys still had a blast. I was pretty proud of them, because they'd decided to save all their Christmas money & only pick one gift each, so we could pay for the trip. Sometimes at Walmart (back in December), the boys would want a toy, but when I asked if they wanted the toy more than a trip to Disneyland, they always chose the trip!

It was a little rough with Evy still nursing & James still too short to ride the roller coasters (my poor vertically-challenged babies!), so we did a lot of turns on the Buzz Lightyear to amend that.

Alec was chosen again for the Jedi Training Academy (his fave!), so that made his trip! We also had a character breakfast with Chip and Dale, which is always fun. The buffets are always fantastic & having the characters come around to the tables is so nice!