legos, legos, legos

My living room floor has been decorated with tons of teeny tiny legos every day since their birthday. They have played with nothing else since. When I was looking for Christmas and birthday presents, I was searching for something more than cars and trains. I wanted something a little more productive, something constructive, and something that would hold their attention. These'll work.



Joe's camera face



As if the boys don't make enough of a mess...

Eeew

Spring rain + dump trucks + a dirt pile =



...little puddles of yucky things. Grace is drawn to it, and at the same time, disgusted by it. Her new favorite word, that we hear a hundred times a day, with much enthusiasm - "Eeeeeeewwww!"



And what was so disgusting?

Photo shoot fun

Grace waiting patiently to get into the picture







Me and my sweet, ever so serious girls

Happy Mother's Day

Yes, I realize how blessed we are. I know there are many people who don't have their mothers near and plenty of grandmas that have "raised their kids already" and don't have much to do with their grandchildren. That's not us.



Though their kids are grown, I guess a mother's job is never done. I cannot count the times we have run out of something and it is magically replaced, someone just happens to bring over a box of wipes because she knew we were out, or the loads of laundry that were washed when we were sick or had come home with a new baby or for no other reason than to be helpful.The many, many days they have spent watching the kids have not only been a huge help to us but the kids love their "Grandma's day and Mema's day."

We are blessed to have loving mothers that find time to snuggle with each grandchild.



And to be silly with them, too.



Happy Mother's day!

Great day for pictures

We went to our mother daughter luncheon this afternoon. Though none of the photos I'm posting tonight have anything to do with that, other than normally we take lots of group pictures afterward in the lawn outside the church. But today when the luncheon was over, it was pouring out. As soon as we got home, though, the rain had stopped and it was nice and warm and even sunny. Out came the camera. I ended up putting 235 pictures on my camera today. So narrowing it down as to which ones to share was difficult. These were just a few...

Photo Overload

I take the same pictures every year. The trees don't get any prettier but when you see those flowers appearing, you cant help but want to capture it, never mind that it is the same shot from last year...and the year before...
The peach tree is my favorite. Every spring, I promise that I will take care of it and spray it for bugs and be able to enjoy the fresh peaches. Maybe this year. I'm not known for my green thumb.



The apple tree is in full bloom and it's gorgeous. I was noticing how neat it was that the buds are a bright pink but when the flower completely opens, it turns white. I had never noticed this before. While I was taking this picture, Jacob noticed that there were two colors of flowers and said it must be because there are two kinds of apples on our tree, the white flowers probably turn into the soft apples and the pink are the real apples, ya know, the ones that we eat.







We represent...the lolly pop guild, the lolly pop guild, the lolly pop guild.
And in the name of...the lolly pop guuuiiillld...we wish to welcome you
to munchkin land!

You see the resemblance ,right?



With spring comes our favorite activity - snake hunting. No, I'm not a fan. I'm not afraid, I just think there are cuter things you could catch. You know, things with legs. But I'm always aware when one has been spotted in the yard. Just fallow the squeals of excitement. This little guy is pretty cute, though. Don't you think?





Her big brothers have really roughed Grace up and she's pretty tough (when it suits her) so it surprises me that she is afraid of critters. Some of it is all show. At the library the other day, she showed us a book with a rose on the front. She was saying "pretty" and smelling it in the sweetest way, then turned the book over and saw the picture of a bee on the back. "Eeww!" she shrieked and threw the book. She wasn't afraid of the bee though, it was obviously for our enjoyment. She was looking for a laugh. It worked.
But She was really afraid of this little snake. As much as Courtney tried, she just wouldn't have anything to do with it. She just might not be the animal lover that Coco is.



The boys have two favorite spots to play in the yard, the gravel pile and the patch of dirt on the side of the hill. Who needs a fancy sandbox?



Speaking of getting dirty...



________________________________________

Rain, rain, rain today. It didn't make much difference to us, we had a busy day. Well, the normal kind of busy. By the time breakfast is over, chores are done, schoolwork, then lunch, then a couple of hours of grocery shopping, the day is just about done. So this evening, when all was done and things were quiet, and the rain had stopped, I was brave and suggested we go out to play. Though I knew "go out to play" really meant "roll in the mud puddles."



Grace just loves to clean. Even if it means finding a sponge in a puddle (what was a sponge doing in the middle of the driveway - oh, who knows?) and cleaning the muddy ground.



Bad lighting = blurry pictures. But this splash was awesome. So I had a little photoshop fun.

Enjoying our boy