Uncovering the Pool

We talked to the pool guys last week and they suggested to take the cover off. They are going to come sometime this week to install everything and clean the pool for us. Right now you can see the bottom of the pool in the shallow end, but there is a thick layer of dirt and algae covering the liner. I can't wait to see how much better the pool looks after they vacuum it and get it running again. 

Most of the cover is off.

Nick is pulling the cover off of the pool.

The boys watched Daddy work on the pool. 

The boys found the flower pot and decided to dump it and play in the dirt. 

Trying to put the dirt back into the flower pot. 

Grant put a handful of dirt into his mouth. Daddy was trying to get it out. 

So much fun!

This is what the pool looked like when we pulled the cover off for the first time. It needed lots of help! 

Thumb Sucker

Whenever Evan gets tired, he holds onto Dumpy, his security blanket,  and sucks on his thumb. He had only sucked on the thumb on his left hand until we noticed a week or two ago that he had sucked his thumb so much that it was completely raw! The skin was cracked and peeling and it had gotten very sore for Evan. He had to force himself to start sucking on the thumb on his right hand. He has been sucking on his right thumb ever since, which has given his left thumb time to heal. I looked at his left thumb yesterday and mentioned to him how much better it looked. He got a huge smile on his face and said, "That means I can suuuuuuuck on it again!" 

Guess Who's Walking?

Grant had been letting go of things and taking a step or two before falling to his bottom for a couple of weeks. Then, when I went to my parents house last Saturday morning to pick up the boys, he took off and walked from the chair in the living room, through the dining room and into the kitchen before falling down! Apparently he had been doing that the whole time he was at my parents' house! It is amazing how one day, he would only take a couple of steps and then a day or two later he is walking across the entire room! I love watching him grin from ear to ear as he walks around the house. 

"New" Tractor

Nick went over the Kelleys Island last Sunday with his Dad and Papa to bring back one of Papa's old lawn mowers. Evan is so excited that we now have a mower in our garage. He wants to "ride" on the tractor everyday. 

Evan had to take a ride on the "new" tractor.

Grant wanted to ride on the tractor too, so Grandpa helped him. 

Evan waited for a turn on the tractor.

Daddy took Grant for a real ride around the yard. 

Then he took Evan for a real ride too. 

Bottle Fed Baby

Aunt Marca has a baby calf that she has been bottle feeding. It was having a hard time standing and even walking, so it has just been hanging out by the barn. Evan helped Papaw bottle feed him a couple of times. He also got to help bottle feed one of Papaw's baby goats. Evan loves being Papaw's helper on the farm.  

Papaw was trying to get Grant to sit down behind the little calf. 

Papaw's Softball Game

Papaw's softball team had a double-header at home on Saturday morning, so we went to cheer him on. His team lost the first game 3-2 in 8 innings, but came back and won the second game. Evan had a great time watching Papaw jump up and down on the third base line, plus he liked playing in the dirt. It was a little bit chilly, but we all survived.

Playing in the gravel.

Trying to climb the fence. 

Papaw and the boys after the game. 

Aubrey and Evan wanted to help drag the field after the game. 

FINALLY UP TO DATE!

I am not sure why exactly I waited so long to get this blog updated. Have I been busy with the boys, school, the new house and life in general? Yes, but I still should have taken a few minutes everyday to get the blog updated. Instead I let 3 months go by without a single post and I just fell further and further behind. I can't tell you how many times family members mentioned to me that they kept checking the blog for updates and they were disappointed to see that there was nothing new posted. So, since I am on Spring Break this week, my plan was to work on the blog. That would have been almost impossible had it not been for my wonderful parents. They so generously drove up here late Wednesday night after my dad's softball game, spent the night and then took the boys back to their house early Thursday morning. I worked all day yesterday priming and painting the trim around windows and doors throughout the house. That is also something that I would never have been able to do with a 2 1/2 year old and an almost 1 year old wanting my attention pretty much all of the time. Last night I finally forced myself to sit down and work on the blog. It was so depressing knowing that I had to start all the way back at Christmas because that was as far as I had gotten the last time that I blogged in January. I spent a few hours last night and have spent pretty much the entire day today working on this silly blog. I am happy to say that I have it up to date! Including this post, I have 68 new posts from yesterday and today! That's right, I said 68 new posts! Never again am I going to let that much time pass by without updating it. I am tired of sitting here looking at this computer all day long. Even though I feel so much better about getting this blog back in order, I am upset with myself for having to basically waste this beautiful day of my Spring Break inside on the computer instead of outside doing something else. 

 I didn't go into a whole lot of detail with most of the posts because I just wanted to get everything updated. I know that I have forgotten about cute little stories or special events that took place, but unfortunately if I didn't take a picture of it, then it was probably forgotten and didn't make it into the blog. If Nick or I think of things that we missed, then I will be sure to make a post about it, but for now these pictures are just going to have to be good enough. I truly hope that you enjoy looking at all of the new pictures.

Lots of Fun!

We invited four of my friends (who happen to also be teachers on Spring Break) and their families over for a play date on Wednesday.  There ended up being 9 adults and 10 children ranging from 3rd grade down to 6 months old in our house. The kids played very well together and had lots of fun. We had pizza and tons of snacks to eat. We plan on having everyone over again, but next time it will be warmer and the kids can run around outside in the yard, or maybe even swim in the pool.

Annabelle wrestled with Gabe while Zach watched. 

Evan and Owen enjoyed some snacks before the pizza arrived. They will most likely be in the same class.  Cute little Emmalee sat on her mommy's lap. 

Gracie, Liam, Colin and Grant all tried to play with Grant's Elefun toy. 

Gracie and Colin enjoyed a brownie with ice cream. They are in the same preschool class together. 

Alphabet Wall

I got a few ideas from Pinterest for an alphabet wall in the boys' playroom. It is obviously still a work in progress. I have some letters that still need to be hung and a few letters that still need to be decorated in some way. 

I laid all of the letters out on the floor first so that I could figure out how I would hang them. This was before Grant woke up from his nap and crawled right over all the letters, scooting them all around. 

This is what I have completed so far. The C and M are finished, I just need to figure out how to hang them.  The rest of the letters haven't been decorated yet. 

Sorting

Evan helped Mommy put away all of the Easter eggs and other decorations. 

Evan and Mommy sorted the eggs into piles of different colors. 

Camouflaged Rain Boots

The Easter Bunny brought Evan and Grant some camouflaged rain boots but unfortunately they were too big. We took them back and exchanged them for the correct sizes. Grant's new boots are Cars instead of camouflaged, but they are super cute as well.  Now everyone is happy and safe walking around the house with boots that actually fit. 

Evan now has rain boots that fit! 

Happy Times

Evan wanted to "hold" Grant, so I put Grant right in front of Evan. 

About 5 seconds later, they are on the floor wrestling. This is an everyday occurrence at our house. 

Another Haircut

I trimmed Grant's hair again. This time instead of only trimming around his ears, I trimmed all of his hair (or as much as I could get to while he kept moving around). 

Easter Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's House

The Easter Bunny left something for the boys at Grandma and Grandpa's house too! 

Evan wanted to see what the Easter Bunny had left for him. 

Daddy helped him look through his bucket. 

Grandpa helped Grant look through his Easter bucket. 

Grant got a little doggy. 

Grandpa and the boys. 

Grandpa was showing the boys some nursery rhymes on youtube. 

Aunt Tara and Grant

Papa was probably telling Evan a story. 

Coloring Easter Eggs

After lunch on Sunday, we took the boys nice church clothes off and let Evan color Easter Eggs. We used Kool Aid instead of the actual egg coloring kits, and it worked really well. Plus, it smelled really good too. 

Mommy helped Evan stir the eggs around so that they would get the color on all sides. 

He was so excited! 

His turn to stir the eggs around. 

Waiting for a few minutes. 

He checked to see how they looked. 

While Evan was busy coloring Easter eggs, Grant had fun playing on the window sill. 

Concentrating very hard on moving the egg into the carton. 

He did it! 

Two of the eggs cracked when they were boiled, so he colored 16 eggs.  I thought they turned out pretty good. Next year I will remember to get some blue Kool Aid.