My Sweet Boys

My sweet Brooks gets a little out of sorts when he doesn't get his morning nap.  (One would think if you're extra tired in the afternoon you should sleep more.  I still don't understand why this doesn't apply to young children!)  Anyway, Brooks woke up Easter Sunday very soon after being put to bed.  Twist my arm - I had to snuggle my little boy for the afternoon!  Very sweet time. 

And, it's officially summer here!!  Sunday evening, we had 80 degree weather, steaks and fresh peas from Trader Joes.  A wonderful end to a great weekend!

(The context to the last picture - Graham has begun to learn the art of negotiating.  He has quite a sweet tooth and loves to have a "special treat" after dinner.  Sometimes that special treat is fresh watermelon, a fruit squeeze, homemade frozen juice pops, etc.  Other times we really go wild and give him chocolate!  He has now started to say - sometimes even at the beginning of a meal - "Mommy, tree (3 - he can't say th, yet) more bites.  Then special treat.  YEAH!"  And he gets pretty excited.  Naturally I respond with "Oh buddy - you've got a ways to go.  Eat 9 more bites, then special treat".  Luckily he has not yet learned that he can continue to negotiate that number of bites down!) 

Easter Brunch

We had a wonderful Easter brunch with some friends and family at my parents' house this year.  and Graham got to go on an Easter egg hunt through my parents' back yard.  (Thank you, Papa, for hiding the Easter eggs!)  By now, Graham has become quite proficient at finding Easter eggs and opening them.  He was quick to open every Easter egg and eat the M&M inside! 

Easter Morning

We haven't pushed the concept of the Easter Bunny, and Graham hasn't shown the slightest interest.  Which is fine by me since Easter isn't at all about bunnies or candy.  That being said, we did put together an Easter basket with candy for Graham - which he, of course, LOVED.  And he also got his first children's Bible!!  He has books with Bible stories, but he hasn't had his own Bible.  At least a Bible at his own level.  I have found it very difficult to find one that I like.  I tend to have a negative reaction to Bibles with pictures of Jesus on them.  (It seems almost every children's Bible at Barnes and Noble has a picture of Jesus on the cover!)  Finally found a Bible that looked interesting and fairly accurate.

Happy Easter!

I know it's a waste of money to get suits for little boys that they will probably only wear once. But I couldn't resist this year. Seeing my boys all looking spiffy gave me so much pleasure! And Graham was actually excited to wear his spiffy clothes!

On a more serious note, one of my favorite songs lately is Matt Maher's "Christ Is Risen". Wow it gets me.

We didn't go to our Good Friday service - for the first time that I can ever remember. And, I felt quite empty on Friday before Easter. The timing was just lousy for Brooks' current "schedule", and we knew it would be more of a time managing him just in a different place. And it would probably be distracting. And we didn't think it fair to put him in the nursery when we knew he would be tricky. So, we did our own service at home. We read scripture at dinner with Graham, and once the kids went to bed Kyle and I did our own little service together. Then Kyle watched part of The Passion of the Christ, and I watched the stations of the cross and the Pope on TV. It was a very different Good Friday for us. In some ways disappointing and in some ways reflective in a very good, quiet way.

(The pictures below were taken in our side yard - our neighbor's white azaleas were just beautiful!  (And in the shade - after dressing two children, Kyle and I were sweating!!)

Graham Has Personality!

The other day, Graham got so mad (can't remember why) that he took off all his clothes. Literally. Then he wanted to go play outside. It was quite the conversation to tell him that he couldn't go outside completely naked. We struck somewhat of a compromise with a pair of underwear and a game of foosball. Oh and a pair of tennis shoes. This kid makes us LAUGH!

Nature Walk

Last Friday, we all went on the nature trail at the Aquarium - what a wonderful walk! We found bugs of all sorts and one even came home with us in the car - a giant ant. (Graham held it until we got home.)

Decorating Easter Eggs

Funny Foot Wear

Happy Birthday Lila!!

We had a little birthday celebration for Lila, Graham's cousin, last week. And Graham took her for a special birthday ride in his jeep! He really looks up to his two older cousins and VERY much enjoyed getting in the mischief in the pool with them. They each ended up with a squirt gun, and I don't think there was a dry person at the table.