My Birthday!

While I don't make a big deal about my birthday, its always a fun day with my family! I had to work that morning and while I was at work, Wyatt and Mimi planted some pretty flowers for me! Wyatt even made me a cute sign!

 Mimi and I were able to run to BoLings and TeaElla before I had to get the boys from school, since it was early release. After I picked them up, we went to Mission Southside to drop off donations and then I took the boys to Chuck E Cheese because they had been wanting to go FOREVER, so it was a great day for that (plus, we had the whole place to ourselves!) Wyatt hit a ticket jackpot- woohoo!

 After Chuck E Cheese, the boys had gymnastics practice and then we headed to Pizza Shoppe for dinner!

 During homework time, Wyatt made me a cake :)

Birthdays are fun, no matter how old you're turning, but spending special time with my family is what I love most!!

Mission Southside

For the boys' birthday party, they collected travel toiletry items to donate. We had planned to deliver them to the Kansas City Rescue Mission, but couldn't find a weekend to get out there as a family (and its not in an area I'd like to go by myself with kids) so we decided to bring our donations to Mission Southside in Olathe. They typically have a "drop box" style of donating, but I wanted the boys to really see and understand where their items would go. So we came inside to drop off. One of the men who works there told the boys about how there are kids in our town, maybe even in their school, who can't afford toothbrushes, or soaps, etc. Their parents have to make the tough decision to buy food or toiletries and most often, the toiletries are luxury items. That was so eye-opening for them and I am so glad they were able to make a difference in another child's life! Mission Southside even wrote about them on their FB page:

Later that day, Wyatt said, "I was so close to crying tears of joy. I was on the 9th stage. The 10th stage would be tears of joy. I was on the 9th stage when we left the donation place because I was just so happy. I was so happy because this was just such a great day! Everything was so great!"  

They are already thinking about what to collect next year!!!

Easter Lego Story

A few years ago, the boys made the Easter Story out of Legos and they thought it would be fun to make one this year. They also did a "live action" video as they told the story. It was so cute! I love their understanding of the story and all the little details they don't overlook.  Like all the guards are the stormtroopers ;-)  Not pictured is the giant curtain since I took these pictures after their live action movie and the curtain was, of course, broken. 

This was the scene of the crucifixion, and the guards casting lots for Jesus' garments as the townspeople look on.

This is where Judas hangs himself. See- no detail overlooked. 

 This is Pontius Pilate talking to the high priests.

This is the angel at the tomb (and the guards passed out) telling the two women that Jesus is not here, He has risen!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter! We celebrated at church on Saturday evening and the boys wore collared shirts AND non-athletic shorts!! It was an Easter miracle!!! And even our church encouraged Levi and I to take a church selfie before service! I'm glad we did too!

 Sunday morning, we did our usual egg hunt. There were LOTS of eggs to find this year and the Easter Bunny did not go easy on those boys!  They literally had to hunt for them!! 

 We spent the day rejoicing in the miracle of the Resurrection. The boys each told us the Easter story in their own words and then we finished the night by watching the Easter episode of The Bible. We praise the Lord everyday for sending His Son for us!

New and Improved Fairy Garden

The boys and Mimi have enjoyed putting a fairy garden together over the last few years! Now that Mimi and PawPaw live with us, we've tried to find the best place for a fairy garden here. This year, its  in a new and wonderful place! The boys and Mimi worked SO hard to get a wonderful garden together. It took them a few weeks to tweak it here and there (and these pictures don't even show all the tweaks!) to get it looking beautiful! A few special visits from the fairies have also brought some fancy new items to the garden as well! It's a fun tradition everyone loves!!

GO FISH!

Grant's class finally had their musical and it was SO cute! There is just something about children singing together that gives me chills! But put kids in costumes, with choreographed movements, and catchy tunes- I'm hooked!! Their show this year was called "Go Fish." The premise was that a shark wanted to be friends with everyone in the ocean, but everyone was scared of her. That is, until everyone realized it was what made them different that made them all special! I mean- SO CUTE!!! Grant was a clown fish- very fitting! It was just the cutest performance and I'm so glad I have the video of it to watch for years to come. Because I'm sure I will :)

Sister Time in Chicago!

It had been 7 years since I'd seen my dear friend, Erin. 7 YEARS!!!!!! When Sara said she had booked a trip to Chicago to visit Erin, I knew I needed to do the same! We took a weekend and soaked up every second with our sista friend!!!! It was the most beautiful weather we could've asked for! We spent the day at a sitting on the front porch of winery just down the street from her house, and walking around their cute little downtown area. It was the most perfect getaway, immersing ourselves with girl talk, memories, wine, and friendship!! Can't wait to do it again!!

 Things may have gotten a little weird at this point....

 And that was all the pics we took! Not pictured- eating chinese and sushi later and rolling ourselves out so full, sitting on the front porch, playing baseball with Patrick, watching the new Ghostbusters as well as the originally, and a really long discussion about the movie The Skulls.

Miss you already Ginger SnaP*

A Beautiful Night of Play

We had quite a few beautiful spring days so far and we try to enjoy them to the fullest when they happen! This day was SO perfect, it was one of those days where it was so hard to pull them inside to shower and get ready for bed, since it was a school night. I wanted to stay outside til the sun went to sleep, but I resisted! It makes us so hungry for summer break! We can't wait! 

Easter Egg Lunch Hunt

One of our very favorite traditions that the boys ask for as soon as a hint of spring is in the air: Easter Egg Lunch Hunt!! It's getting harder too with school and nightly schedules, but its a must to squeeze it in!! This year, it became a dinner hunt because lunch at home is a rarity!! Now, their egg plates wind up being an appetizer for their real meals because they eat so much more! But the tradition remains the same!! Find as many eggs as you can, sort them out later! 

This picture of my boys makes me laugh- Wyatt wearing full clothing head to toe, and Grant hardly wearing anything. Sounds about right in this house!! I'm pretty sure it was COLD this day!!!

Love these special memories made with my fellas!!!

Time to Color Eggs!

I'm pretty sure we could color a dozen dozen eggs throughout the course of the Easter season. We just LOVE coloring eggs! This year, we got our usual set of dye, but I also found a fun paint/stamp set to use as well. There was a lot of creative coloring going down on those eggs! Grant liked experimenting and found a way to almost have a "tie-dye" look to them. They all turned out so pretty, it was hard to crack into them to eat! 

April Fools Day

Levi had been preparing an April Fools prank for the boys since February! He got an idea and he just HAD to make it work! Luckily, the night before, the boys spent the night at the VanAllen's so he had plenty of time to pull off his prank. When they got home the next morning, we told them to go upstairs and put their things away so when they opened their door, they got a HUGE surprise! Their entire room was filled with balloon trash bags!!