Marley, Mimi, and Kelly's Birthdays

Who says you need to wear clothing outside to eat lunch?

Lots and Lots of snow..blizzards of 2010

Springtime and Haircuts

I know, I have been such a slacker lately when it comes to updating our family blog. I promise to post some pictures soon of the 2010 blizzards and Easter. The winter was long and hard being stuck indoors and the kids were sick so much. Just about every week, I ended up at the doctor for one of them. Life is apparently much easier with an almost four year old and 19 month old when the weather turns nice. River and Mason are living outside. Playing in the sandbox, collecting sticks, finding worms and bugs seem to keep them busy. It is such a pleasure to actually see them playing together as they get older. River continues to love school and we were/are so blessed for that transition to be so beautiful. He loves playground time and movement days and finding worms on the playground. No surprise there. Riv also enjoys Spanish classes and I already see a huge difference in his fine motor/coloring skills. He continues to be interested in learing new sounds and numbers. We are so blessed for him to have Mrs. Sempeles. His biggest buddies now are Jack and Thor. He wants to do "crafts" all the time and play marbles or other games when Mason is asleep. I eat up the one on one time with River at night before he goes down.

Mason is becoming very independent and a huge follower of whatever River does. I think the second child actually learns more from their older sibling than their parents. He is talking so much this month and repeating words constantly. He loves buckles, putting on his frog boots by himself, playing in the car and truck with the keys, his binki, pops, milk, cuddle time, hugs, and SLEEP. He is such a great sleeper at night and napper. His smile lights up my day with those huge blue eyes and dimples. He is an entertainer as well and goofs off for his brother's laugh. I see so much of uncle Kevin in Mason now personality wise.

The boys got haircuts today and look about 2 years older. River got about 2 inches cut off and all the curls. He looks so mature now and his birthday is just around the corner. I cut River's bangs last week and butchered them. He looked in the mirror and cried. So, Auntie came to the rescue today. Our family is counting down the days to the beach in June...

"Daddy, I want Jesus to come in my heart..."

Last night, Logan was putting River to bed. This was a bittersweet time because he was also saying "goodbye" to River for 7 days. Logan was going to leave for a business trip at 4am and Riv would still be asleep. River taped the 7 day calendar that Logan made for him by his bed. Each day had a picture on it that River wanted to see for that particular day. He says, "You will come home on boat day Daddy" b/c Logan had drawn a boat picture on Sunday, when he returns. After Logan read to him some short versian bible stories, River had on his heart the story of Jesus "Knock Knock Knocking on our Heart." River said, Daddy, I want Jesus to come into my heart." Logan told him that asking Jesus into your heart is something you have to ask Jesus to do when you are ready. River said, "Daddy, you ask him." "Buddy, Daddy asked Jesus into my heart when I was ready and that is something you need to do when you are ready," Logan replied. River said "Okay...Jesus come into my heart." Tears were already rolling down Logan's cheeks as he was having to say goodbye for the week and knew this would be the last time putting Riv to bed for awhile. The tears rolled even more after this. Yes, he is three. Yes, he is innocent. But, I wonder what his little mind was thinking. It really is so very simple to ask Jesus into your heart and believe in him. We cried. It was just cool! Of course we look forward to the day where both our sons accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior and believe in him when they are old enough to grasp that concept. But how cool for River to begin to desire that at age three.

Leaves, Leaves and More Leaves...

Some pumpkins, a drill, a dragon and a pirate

Great Country Farms was so fun for the kids. We met Mimi, Pop, Aunt Erin, Uncle Todd, and cousin Cedar there. River loved the giant balloon bounce to jump on and especially the hay wagon ride to the pumpkin patch. It was great for him to actually see that pumpkins do grow in pumpkin patches, come from the ground and not the grocery store. It was really cold that day but the weather made it feel that much more like Fall time! It was a great family memory. We carved one pumpkin and drilled holes in another. River names the pumpkins "Jake" and "Mimi."

For Halloween, we went to the church that my brothers attend with their families for a fun party designed especially for kids. They had so much to do and River could not wait to spend time with his beloved cousins! He must have asked me about the party 50+ times. So, he was more than thrilled when he finally got to dress up at Auntie and Uncle Chris' house with his cousins and then hit up the party. River was a green dragon that he picked out at "Old Navy" after trying on 3 costumes and looking at himself in the mirror. I could not believe he was just 3 acting much older. My Mom bought Mason's costume at a thrift store. The BEST $2.00 spent. I still laugh just when I think about him in this costume. I spent the whole night chasing Mason around and getting him off of the top of tables that he climbed on over and over again. As fun as this stage is, I had forgotten about how demanding and tiring it can be on MOMMY! We also enjoyed another hay wagon tractor ride at the party, this time in full costume. Enjoy the pictures.