HAPPY EASTER

We had a nice Easter Sunday today and enjoyed some time with two neighbor couples and their kids. We went to church in the morning and the kids got to have yet another egg hunt and then came home and had brunch in our backyard with our friends. It was a special Easter because Andrew really understood the meaning of the holiday. He came home from school last week and told us the whole Easter story, which is very cute from a three year old perspective. We took him to the Good Friday service and he understood that it was the day Jesus was hung on the cross. He told Luke all day that "Jesus was on the cross right now", we're still working on understanding the concept of time, but he got the idea. Today he said, "He's Alive" and opened up his paper tomb he made at school. He came home from Sunday school singing or shouting "Hallelujiah...Hallelujiah, Jesus is the King" He even did a good job of teaching the story to Luke, so Luke tells us the story in his own version as well. We love that he is understanding more about why we celebrate this holiday and it makes the day even more special.

NEIGHBORHOOD EGG HUNT

Saturday evening we planned an Easter Egg hunt with the kids on our street and the next street over. The kids had all the eggs found in a matter of five minutes. When I gave them instructions I said to only collect 10 eggs to start off with to make sure that everyone got some. All the kids so nicely came running back to me when they had 10 eggs in thier basket. I was trying to help Luke collect his eggs because he just wanted to eat what was inside and meanwhile Andrew was very intensely filling his basket with as many eggs as we could find, not paying any attention to the 10 egg rule. He was very proud of his over flowing basket. Everyone ended up with plenty of eggs and Andrew even shared a coupleof his 50+ eggs. We all enjoyed ice cream sundaes out in the street and the kids rode bikes and played until dark. Luke and his friend Eli sat up in the corner of the driveway for about 20 minutes sharing their candy and eating way too many jelly beans and chocolate. They were content and happy and being the best of friends, so we let them enjoy themselves!!!

We have an ARTIST on our hands...

Our final stop on Saturday (read the next two posts) was at a new pizza place by our house. As we were sitting at dinner Andrew surprised us and began drawing "men" (his version of people). He has really only scribbled before, so Andy and I were so excited to see something that resembled a person. I had to save the placemat to hang on the fridge and for our keepsake art box. I think his little drawings are so cute...hopefully you can figure them out.

Luke was also very proud of his drawings. Even though his placemat was covered in food, we had to save it and hang it on the fridge. I'm not sure his pizza stained placemat will make the art box though. I love his proud look in this picture though.

Jelly Bellies...

Driving home from the Bay Area on Saturday we decided to stop at the Jelly Belly Factory. We got to go on the tour of the factory and pick out some of our favorite treats...that would be candy corn for the boys and peach and pear jelly bellies for mommy and baby sister. Andrew and Luke thought this place was great....daddy on the other hand was not so excited!!!!

Not so sure what Andrew is doing here...they are posing in front of the jelly belly motorcycle!!

BIOLA girls....

We spent the day on Saturday with some Biola friends and their boys. We drove down to the Bay Area to all meet up and hang out at the park. It was great to see these girls and their husbands. We had fun talking about old college stories and sharing about being mommies. We have to do this more often girls!!!!

Multi-Purpose Easter Baskets

This is what the boy's Easter baskets from grandma are being used for...race car driver's hats (please use your imagination).

An Early Easter

Last weekend we celebrated Easter early with Grampie and Grammie before they headed off to Spain to visit Uncle Paul. The kids swam in the spa, had an EGG hunt, and colored eggs. They had a great time and enjoyed many yummy easter treats. Thanks grammie for the fun time!!!

Lukey & Mommy time!!!

Luke is a great boy.... he is so much fun, has the cutest way of talking, and is just down right adorable. He is pretty easy going and usually just goes with the flow. I love the time I get to spend with him when Andrew is at school because it is just me and him hanging out and talking. The last week he has decided that because he is 2 he can throw some extra tantrums, just to see what happens. We usually just ignore them and he gets over it pretty quick, but it got me thinking..."what if he is telling us that he is tired of just always being the boy that goes along with the flow and doesn't make much fuss." He has decided that he wants to be heard a little more, so I decided that today we would have extra special one on one time while Andrew was at school. I let Luke choose what we were going to do. He initially said he wanted to go home and play Candyland (this is not what I had in mind), so we discussed it a little and decided to go to the local zoo and park. We had a great time seeing animals and playing together. We ended our "date" getting "sticky bagels" (cinnamon bagels) from Panera, which is Luke's favorite. Of course he is the nicest brother and bought one for Andrew to have after school. He rushed to the car after we got Andrew to give him his yummy surprise. He's GREAT!!!!

Adventures with MY BOYS...

The weather has been great the last week or so and we have been loving it. The boys love to do anything outside so we make very frequent trips to the park and you can find us riding bikes out in the street with our neighbor friends about every afternoon. A couple weeks ago Andrew decided that he was all done with his training wheels and ready for a two wheeler. He got a tool from Daddy's workbench and off came his training wheels. He mastered it in no time and is turning into quite the dare devil on his bike. He speeds up and down the street, down the driveway (and the front step), rides with one hand, and stands up while pedaling (I'm sure that by next week we will have a bigger list of accomplishments and tricks). I am very excited for this though because now he can ride his bike while I run with Luke in the jogging stroller, which is a lot easier than pushing both of them in the double jogger. So yesterday we set out on an adventure with the two wheeler and the stroller. There are some dirt trails near our house and there is a little lake in the middle of them. The boys have been eye-balling this lake from the road, so we set out to find it. Andrew was in his glory riding on the dirt trails. He claims he is practicing for when daddy gets him a dirtbike or a quad motorcycle when he is 5 (I can't wait :) ) We enjoyed a yummy lunch together and did some exploring. Luke is a great little bro and cheers Andrew on the whole time..."Good job Andrew..good job." Andrew would speed ahead of us and fly down the hills while trying to do his "tricks" at the same time. I was constantly saying good job, but under my breath saying, "please..please... please be careful." I was trying to figure out how I would get my injured 3 year old, his bike, Luke, the stroller, and my prego belly out of there and back to the car. Thankfully we were injury free!!! We are also working on being more independent at our house, so the boys each picked out their "hiking" outfits. Luke's boots were my favorite, especially since they are Andrew's. I love these special times with my boys and I'm sure our many adventures are only beginning. Their sister is going to have to be a tough girl to keep up with these two.