Flashbacks...

...to this time last year! Wow! My boys have grown and so much has changed!
I am so thankful for them! I have a hundred photos I could post of these wonderful boys, but this will have to do! :)

Micah likes salsa!

Not the music, although he probably would groove to that as well. :) He likes to eat salsa. I bought some this week for a recipe I'm trying and decided to have a few chips and salsa with my sandwich at lunch. He dug into my salsa and wanted to dip all of his food in it! Hilarious. I wish I had a picture to prove it, but it didn't occur to me until later that I should have snapped a pic! He was pretty cute, in just a t-shirt and his diaper. He had been outside playing in the puddles and his sand box just before lunch and had to have his pants and shoes removed before coming into the house!

Catching up...on Easter!

I realized the other day as I was downloading some pictures that I had forgotten to post some of these. Sometimes a week will have gone by and I will hardly realize it. Such is the season of life, I suppose. Anyway, here are a few pics from our church picnic and Easter celebration. We went on Saturday afternoon so that the boys could hunt for eggs and we could go to the picnic. They had a good time, but by the time service was about to start, they were tired and grumpy. We actually ended up leaving and going back the next morning for service. As you can see in the pictures, they weren't their normal smiley selves. :)

A day at the Arboretum

While Doug and Emily were here, we also went to the Arboretum. I didn't take many pictures of the plants and flowers. That is something I would have done before having children. :) But I did get a couple of fun shots of the boys! The gardens were beautiful and huge. They had several kid-friendly components, including a "Texas Town" that had mini cabins and buildings, which is what the boys were playing in the pictures.

More from last weekend

Here are a few more pics from our trip last weekend! What a fun time we had! Today is Neil's birthday, so we're hopefully off to celebrate soon!

Our weekend

This past weekend we were able to meet some good friend and their family at a cabin up on the Buffalo River. We didn't canoe, but did get several short hikes in, as well as a visit to the Elk education center, and lots of playtime. It was forecast to rain, but didn't really rain at all during the days we were there. It was overcast, but we weren't complaining! We had a great time! One of the boys favorite things to do was to throw rocks into the river. We spent hours doing this over the course of the weekend!

Bedtime Stories

The boys and I really enjoy reading together. (Not to leave Neil out...he reads often with the boys). Since we moved the boys in a room together, though, we've been trying to figure out our routine. Joshua has been used to reading 6-8 books, but Micah can't handle that many at bedtime. It has been an adjustment, and we're not where we want to be yet when it comes to bedtime. We'll keep at it, though, and figure it out! Regardless, I am so thankful that my boys love books! I can't wait until they can read themselves and have a whole new world opened to them!

More Zoo Pics

Here are a few more of my favorites at the zoo. Joshua and Aunt Emily were being crocodiles (chomp, chomp). Joshua and Uncle Doug were riding a giant tortoise (not real, of course). And Joshua had a close encounter, separated only by glass, with a gorilla. She is older, 47 years to be exact. She sat and looked back at us several times! If you look closely, you can see Micah in the reflection.

I have to brag...

Joshua is an amazing little boy, oh wait...big boy! :) Yesterday we were sitting at the kitchen table talking about various things when, out of the blue, he told us that now that we were in Texas we lived closer to Grammy and Papa (who are in Florida). He proceeded to go get his US map puzzle out of the closet to show us. He pointed to Texas and said what state it was, and then, as he pointed to each state he named which ones we would have to drive through in order to get there: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and then Florida. Neil and I about hit the floor! I have worked on the states many times with Joshua, but it has been awhile. And never has he done anything like that, completely unprompted, and entirely correct. Wow! What an amazing moment!

Our Zoo Visit

We had a great visit with Doug and Emily this week. They are great with the boys and Joshua and Micah absolutely love it when they come to visit! The boys and I went with them to the Zoo and the Arboretum and had a wonderful time. Here are the first of several photos from our trip to the zoo!

Trains and Cars

An Amazing Song

At church last week, we sang an amazing song called 'Jesus Paid it All'. You can click on my playlist and listen to it! All I can say is...What an amazing Saviour we have!!!

Random Shots

Here are just a few more random pics of the boys, taken during the past three weeks. :) Micah was trying to get my camera in the first pic. The boys were hanging out on the couch the other day, Joshua in his spidey costume and Micah with his sippy cup. The other one of Micah was actually taken before we moved, while he was reading a book. I wanted to post it because there is a pic of Neil when he was little on his blog, and the resemblance between Neil and Micah is striking!

Music for the soul

On more of a personal note, I love music. Tonight I spent awhile updating my playlist and deeply enjoyed just listening to music for awhile. I wasn't trying to do anything except find some good songs! It's been a nice evening.

The Big Boy Bed!

Just before we moved, Micah decided to start attempting to escape from his crib. Several times I found him hovoring on the edge, looking down and pondering what to do next. He could already climb out of his pack-n-play. So, we decided that once we moved, it was time to move the boys into a room together and get Micah a bigger bed. We picked up the mattresses last weekend and have been transitioning ever since. It has been kind-of wild and crazy around here, but things are finally starting to settle down. At first we had to put Micah to bed, which could take two hours, and then get Joshua to bed. But now, we are to the point that they both go to bed at the same time. It still takes awhile, but progress is being made! I haven't put up any decorations yet, but did finally get black out drapes up, which should help during nap time. For the moment, the beds will remain on the floor. The less distant to fall, for either boy, the better in my opinion. We do eventually want to do bunk beds, but all I can envision at this point is Micah climbing up the ladder, which he would do, and then careening off of the top! I know...I tend to think of the worst case scenario...but it has been useful at times!
p.s. - PacMan Frog (he doesn't have a name), Joshua's pet, lives in the aquarium on the dresser. He's getting bigger, but doesn't really do much except at feeding time. Low maintenance is always nice! :)