March Instagram

I am so so so so thankful for my iPhone!! Especially now that I have a 5 and my photos are much better than with my 4. But my poor camera hasn't got any love this month, other than for birthday festivities. So at least I have my trusty phone, collecting memories as we go!

Wyatt did my hair- I packed a box- Me and my Jayhawk boys

Wyatt and I snuggling- Lego Sheets!- Graphing Games with Wyatt

Silly face at preschool dropoff- Easter crafting- Old Man Wyatt 

Wyatt at the Science Museum- Grant driving a segway at the museum- Painting at Gracie's Birthday

Lunching with the Dragon kids- Jayhawk boys!- Daddy and Grant matching

Brothers at PF Changs- Football with Daddy- Grant and Jace

Spring Playing!

Spring is in the air!! Well...maybe not everyday, like today when its 51 degrees. But some days, it feels very springy!! And those days we have been getting outside and doing our thing!! Lots of park playing, bike riding, mud slinging, rock throwing, high swinging, slide sliding kinds of things!! And its been great!! 

Bike Riding!

 Pond Playing!

 Rock Climbing!

 Duck Feeding!

 New Wheels!

 Slide sliding, shades wearing!

 "Firemen" Climbing!

 High Swinging!

High Fiving!

Now, if we can consistently have spring weather, imagine all the other things we could do!!!!!!!!

Thumbsucker

Wyatt has been a thumbsucker from the get go. Case in point...

6 days old....it was his destiny I suppose.

But as he got older, it became more and more frequent.

 10 months...

19 months...

2.5 years old...

And now, at the ripe old age of 4, its worse than ever!! He has that thumb in that mouth ALL THE TIME!!! And you better believe his teddy lovey is in the other hand. And while I find it completely adorable some of the time, because it reminds me of him being a baby, its not adorable in the fact that he's not a baby- he's 4!! I asked him a few weeks before his 4th birthday if he was going to stop sucking his thumb and he said he would when he turned 4. Well, the day after he turned 4, I asked when he was going to stop sucking his thumb and he said not even when he's 10. I asked him if he was going to suck his thumb when he was a dad and he said yes!!! And I kind of believe it at this point.

My mom always said that I sucked my thumb until I was 4 and then one day, she realized it didn't do it anymore. I just stopped. I'm hoping that will happen with Wyatt, but I have a feeling its going to be a long, drawn out battle. One I'm not quite ready to face, considering the events we have coming up this next year. So for now, I'll embrace the baby-ness in my little guy. I'll snuggle him and his lovey and let him suck his thumb while we do it. Because someday, I'll look back at these pictures and remember my sweet little guy and wish he was still so tiny and cute!

Luckiest Gifts

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17. 

How lucky I am to have these two sweeties, the most perfect gift!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wyatt, at 4 Years Old!

Dear Wyatt,

Oh, my sweet little baby! Not so little anymore! Well, still a little bit little, but getting bigger by the minute!! You are just the sweetest, smiliest, most sensitive little man! I just can't get over the fact that my tiny boy is 4 years old now!!! I remember you as a baby like it was yesterday. The smell of your skin, the sound of your cry, the way you liked to be held. A flood of memories. Yet I'm in love with the big boy you're becoming!

You can make me smile in my worst moments! You have such a tender heart and such sympathy, its incredible. You do not like anyone around you to be sad or upset. You apologize to them, whether you caused the upset or not. One time, not that long ago, you broke one of Grant's Lego creations on accident and Grant kind of grunted and said, "It's going to take me forever to rebuild that." You just kept saying, "I'm so sorry Bub, I'm so sorry." Then you crawled in my lap and said, "I don't think Bubba has ever been so mad at me before." Your heart is pure gold!! And I love that about you! I love when I hold you and your rub your little hand on my back, or rub my cheek, or kiss my forehead and whisper, "I love you!" You like to tell me out of the blue, "I love you Mom!" or "You're the best mom I could ever have!" You really know how to pull on those heart strings!

You are such an obedient little guy. You really do not like to upset me or your dad and you hold true to following what we ask. You seem to be in control of your impulses a little better than your brother. You do cry alot when you don't like the answer daddy or I have given you though. Little tiny things can make you cry, but to you, they are so important! You are still attached that your teddy lovey and your thumb. And while daddy is trying super hard to break you of it, I know it will come in time. At least I hope so!! You're so stinking cute when you do it though!!

You are one smart little cookie too! You still love doing school work at home, but I've been so terrible at getting supplies out for you. I pulled out our Easter stuff I had made up last year and you've really been enjoying that! You love writing your name and the letters of the alphabet. You are very good at that! You love counting and numbers. You like to try and count by 2's and 5's and 10's, but you say counting by 1's is the fastest! You love love love love puzzles and board games. Since Grant is usually playing Legos all day long, you kind of wander around aimlessly not sure of what to do, but the second I tell you to bring out a puzzle or a game, you're on it! You haven't met a board game you don't like! But when Grant does step away from the Legos, you love to play Imaginext with him, or Littlest Pet Shop, or anything imaginary. Spys, Ninjas, you name it! 

You're doing so so wonderful at school! I know you enjoy having your brother there and I do worry about you going to a school all on your own next year. I know you worry about it to, so hopefully we find a school that is a good match for you! Church is still iffy, for whatever reason. Since your church classroom is your preschool classroom. You usually cry and are clingy when we drop you off, but most of the time, you recover fine!

You love your strider bike, big bike, Razr scooter, swinging, basketball. Anything outside pretty much, as long as it's not windy! I hope you'll like our pool at our new house!!

You are a smart, loving, sensitive, playful, goofy, loud, caring, silly, charming, precious little boy!! I love the fact you can still curl up in my lap and fit just perfect! But I also love that you're growing into exactly the type of child I have always wanted to raise!!

I love you my handsome heart!

Mom

Grant, at 6 Years Old!

 Dear Grant,

I can't even believe you're big enough to big 6! I remember so vividly, my pregnancy with you. The trip to the hospital. The long journey that was your birth! Bringing you home, panicking those first few hours. All these memories so clearly etched in my mind, yet so many more have been made since! You are an amazing little boy and I am so so so thankful to call you mine!

You are still just as sweet as ever!! You are truly a kind spirit, although your craziness and impulsiveness does shadow that from time to time! But you have a heart of gold and a heart for God. You are pretty flexible and it really takes something major to get your mad or upset. Being misunderstood or not given a second chance to correct your mistake are the things that make you most upset. But you've been very easy to discipline and I hope we are leading you down the right path! I've seen a great turnaround in how you lead by example for your brother and try to correct your mistakes, and help explain to Wyatt how to do things. It's so sweet to see you nurture him like that! 

You are obsessed with Legos. I'm not exaggerating when I say that you play Legos 99% of your waking hours. If you aren't sleeping, at school or therapy, you're on the floor in the playroom, surrounded by Legos. It's like an addiction that you just can't stop! When we are out and about running errands or what not, you'll blurt out that you have to get home and build. You'll sometimes get out of bed before you fall asleep because you have an idea of something you want to create. And your creations- holy cow!!!! They blow me away each and every time! Currently, you are trying to recreate all the Lego sets from The Lego Movie. You have an "encyclopedia" of all the main characters and sets from the show, and you use that as your guide. Between Christmas and your birthday, you've built up quite the collection! I wonder where this incredible talent will take you!

You've done amazing with all your therapies! At speech, you've mastered your S's and L's and are almost 80% proficient in your TH's. You are starting to work on your R's, which I think is going to be the hardest for you. But you've been at this for a year now and have just done so well and really have fun going each time! You're also doing great at OT. Your music therapy has helped tremendously with a lot of your hyperactivity and your teachers go on and on about what a transformation they've seen you in! I think you are ready for Kindergarten (finally!). Eating is still a struggle for you and nothing really seems to motivate you to eat new foods. I'm hoping being at school will sort of nudge that along. 

You're a true homebody and would prefer to stay home ALL DAY LONG if you had your way, unless that is if it involved looking at new Lego sets. Even if I ask if you want to go out to eat, you would just prefer to stay home!

We are preparing for our move in the next month or two and I know you're going to love being in a MUCH bigger house, is a much bigger town, close to Mimi and PawPaw and Mason and Luke. I know you'll have a hard time without your dad around, as you like to be his little shadow. But I know that you will take good care of me when he is gone! You like to be held responsible and do "grown up" tasks. I think God knew exactly what he was doing to make you the first born. You'll be a leader for sure!

You are a fun, spirited, happy, joyous, grateful, protective, innocent, playful, and loving boy!! As much as I want to keep you little, I love watching you grow just as much and I can't wait to see what the future holds for you my special boy!!!

I love you big kid!!!

Love,

Mom

Basketball Birthday Party!

Well, another fun birthday party is in the books!!! I got lucky again and the boys decided on one theme for their birthday- Basketball!!! They've been thinking of this since November! And so have I! I knew we could have alot of fun with this theme!! And especially appropriate, as their birthday always falls during tournament time!!

I made their invitations and cakes, as usual! It's such a fun tradition I enjoy doing!

Grant decided on cupcakes shaped like basketballs, and Wyatt wanted a jersey. These were probably some of the easier cakes I've made for them!! And boy, did they taste good!!!

 We decided to do just a family party this year, so my family came in on Friday and Levi's family came in on Saturday, the day of the party. Friday evening, Levi took Mason and Luke and Grant and Wyatt all to a simulator on base (post to come!). Then Saturday morning, the day of their birthday, we celebrated with birthday pancakes at home, and then Mimi and PawPaw took them to IHOP with Mason and Luke and to the hotel pool. Unfortunately the pool was FREEZING, so they just came back here to play! We were fortuante that the weather held out and the rain didn't come til later on that night, so the kids were able to play outside quite a bit!

Then all the Broeckelman's showed up and it was time to start the party! We had lots of festive birthday decor and all of the snacks were round and orange!  

 We started off with cake time and singing!! 

And while the cakes were being cut, we headed outside to do the pinata. We've never done one before, so we didn't quite know what to expect. But the pinata seemed extremely durable. We didn't think any of the kids would be able to bust it open, especially with the plastic bat we had. So Wyatt came up first, and Levi was going to give them each a hit for each year old they were. So Wyatt hit four times, and man he hit that so hard, it cracked immediately! So we handed the bat over to Grant and he made it explode!! Unfortunately, Mason, Luke, and Haylie didn't get a turn to hit, but they did all hit the candy jackpot!!

 After scarfing down the yummy cake and ice cream, the boys headed over the open their presents. And I must say, they are way too spoiled! We are so thankful for all the wonderful gifts they receive, and all the thoughtfulness that goes into them!! They truly are blessed!

Grant got quite a few Lego sets, Switch N Go Dinos, Lego Sheets, and they got a few shared gifts of an over-the-door basketball goal and an outside soccer/hockey goal. As he tore through each present, he smiled and screamed and said, "Thank you thank you thank you!" And he truly meant it!! 

 Wyatt got some new puzzles, a game, ABC stamps, Lego sheets, Switch N Go Dinos, some pool toys, and their shared gifts. He would literally yell, "I've always wanted that!" or "I love that so much!" He was overjoyed with each gift!

I'm so disappointed I didn't get any pictures of all our family that was there. My mind was not on pictures as much as I wish it would've been! But I guess I got the basics! We loved having all our family there to celebrate our two greatest gifts in life! We are blessed beyond belief!!

Thank you all for celebrating!!

Happy Birthday my darling boys!!!!!!!!

School Birthday Celebration!

The boys were soooooooo excited to celebrate their birthday at school on Thursday, March 13th! It helps that their school treats them oh-so-special on their big day! 

I asked them for a while if they wanted to each bring treats on separate days, or bring treats together, and without a doubt they wanted to do it together. I know they LOVE sharing their birthday! So after some thinking and Pinteresting, we came up with Chocolate Chip Birthday Cake Cookies. Mine looked nothing like the blog where the recipe came from, but they tasted pretty darn good, and looked festive too. Shoot, I didn't even take a picture of them! 

When they first got to school, they got to color their birthday crowns and get their birthday badge! They said they colored their cakes orange because of their basketball party! They get to be the line leaders too! I, of course, came back to school in time to celebrate with them and they were so happy! So after sanctuary time, they led their class to the snack room. What makes it so special is that you get a special birthday placemat (which Ms. Terry had to make a duplicate and Grant thought that was so special!) and the whole class eats together (they usually are in their separate groups).  

 Once all the snacks are passed out, they get to stand on their chairs (a BIG deal in preschool!) and all the kids sing. I love the line where, instead of saying, "Happy Birthday Grant and Wyatt," they say, "Happy Birthday, God Bless You!" Their faces were smiling (and singing!) the whole time!!

 Then it was time for prayer! They learned a new prayer recently at school and I just adore it!

Everyone ate up all their cookies!!! And then after snack was all over, they got to pick a birthday book from the birthday book basket!   

 It was just the sweetest little celebration and they were so excited and so proud and I could tell they felt so blessed! I am so thankful they got to have that experience together! I know as they get older, a shared birthday may be a little hard to celebrate, so being in the same class really made it all the more special!!

The Birthday Cake Calendar in the snack room. Lots of March birthdays!

Birthday Pancakes

Our birthday tradition in this house is to fix Birthday Pancakes on the morning of their birthday! No matter what we have going on that morning, we make time for pancakes!! What makes a birthday pancake is sprinkles and a candle!! And they wore their birthday crowns too! We sing Happy Birthday and they make their birthday wish!! It's a special tradition on a special day to celebrate my special boys!!!

4 and 6 Year Stats

I guess they just don't listen to me when I tell them to stop growing!!! Luckily they're still small enough for me to hold and snuggle with in my lap but they are getting so big!!!

Wyatt 

Weight: 32lbs (15th percentile)

Height: 3'2" (7th percentile)

Small, but mighty!! Wyatt is wearing 3t/4t shirts, and 3t pants/shorts. He's in a size 9 shoe. 

Grant

Weight: 46lbs (51st percentile)

Height: 3'9" (39th percentile)

I feel like Grant is a giant, so I'm surprised at his percentile for height! But he's been complaining of his legs hurting, so I have a feeling he's in the middle of a growth spurt. He's pretty much in a solid 6 in clothing all around. He's in a size 12-13 shoe. 

My big boys are getting too big!!!

Wyatt's 4th Birthday Interview

1. What is your favorite color?  Red

2. What is your favorite toy?  Imaginext

3. What is your favorite fruit?  Pears

4. What is your favorite TV show?  Max and Ruby

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Pizza Lunchables

6.  What is your favorite outfit?  I don't know, everything! (Luckily, we are still in the stage where he could care less what I put on him!)

7.  What is your favorite game? Jokers Funhouse (although we play about 5 board games a day!)

8. What is your favorite snack?  Regular Cream Pies 

9.  What is your favorite animal?  Panda Bears

10.  What is your favorite song? The color ones at school. (He sings ALL THE TIME!)

11.  What is your favorite book?  All of them!

12.  Who is your best friend? Luke (Westfall!)

13. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms (like his mama!)

14.  What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Play and ride my Strider Bike

15.  What is your favorite drink?  Apple Juice

16.  What is your favorite holiday? Easter (possibly influenced by the Easter activities I've been pulling out!)

17.  What do you like to take to bed with you each night? Teddy Lovey

18.  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cinnamon Toast Waffles with whip cream

19.  What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  Cake!

20.  What do you want to be when you grow up? A Policeman

Grant's 6th Birthday Interview

1.  What is your favorite color? Blue

2.  What is your favorite toy?  LEGOS!

3.  What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries

4.  What is your favorite TV show? Ninjago

5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Chips

6.  What is your favorite outfit? Jammies (the apple doesn't fall far people!)

7.  What is your favorite game? Lego Game (we have three different ones!)

8.  What is your favorite snack? Fruit Roll-Ups

9.  What is your favorite animal? Seals of course (runner up- mouse!)

10.  What is your favorite song? Everything is Awesome...from the Lego Movie

11. What is your favorite book? My Lego Movie book

12.  Who is your best friend? Wyatt (awwww!)

13. What is your favorite cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Make mud rivers

15. What is your favorite drink? Grape juice

16. What is your favorite holiday? Summer and Easter

17. What do you like to take to bed with you each night? Cuddles 

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Waffles

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Golden Chick (he is his father's son!)

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? An animal dr.

Happy Birthday My Boys!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANT & WYATT!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

We can't wait to celebrate your special day!!!

We love you!

Mom and Dad

A Visit to the Base

Mimi and PawPaw brought Mason and Luke to Oklahoma with them so they could be here in time to visit the base. Levi had arranged to take all of us to a simulator the evening before the boys' birthday!

I started off by giving them a tour of the base. We checked out all the static displays, and thought the A-10 was a good place for a photo opp!

Beforehand, he showed everyone around the squadron. The boys and I are so used to being up there, that we kind of forget that none of our family really knows what goes on around there! So Levi showed them around his flight room, his office, around the squadron. He took them over to the area where they get their flight gear before they head off to fly.

Levi showed them how to put on all his gear, including his G-suit and harness. All the boys got to try the harness on!

 He also let them try on his helmet and mask. I didn't get Mason and Luke's pictures, but I did get my little Top Guns! 

After that, we headed over to the SIM building. (I didn't get pictures because it said not to use cell phones) Levi sat with all the boys and let them "fly" the T-6. The SIM is really high-tech and you really feel like you're flying, except that you aren't physically moving, a very disorienting feeling! He did some spins and barrel rolls with the boys! Made me dizzy just watching! But they all loved it! I had a turn in the cockpit, and let's just say I'm better at being a pilot's wife than a actual pilot!! It was fun and I think a memorable night for all the little boys!!!

They sure do have a cool Uncle Levi (and Daddy!)