Happy Easter!

Ben and Conner were very happy that the Easter Bunny came this morning!  They loved all their goodies!  (Although the Easter Bunny may be rethinking the new toy trumpets right now...)  The boys had an Easter egg hunt and we enjoyed a relaxing day with good food and great company!  We are so blessed!!!  Happy Easter!

 

Pre Easter...

On Saturday, we went to Waterloo to have lunch with our great grandmas and my parents, sister, and brother.  The boys had their first Red Lobster experience, but just like me, had no interest in the seafood.  Except the lobsters in the case... Conner actually touched one!  We hung out for a while and the kids opened a few gifts.  It was great to see my nieces and see how much little Piper has grown!Then we came back home where Daddy was waiting for us.  We still had to color some Easter eggs so the boys made sure that was the next activity!  Nana, Gramps, Josh, and Jenn were able to spend the night with us on Saturday and the boys had a fantastic time playing Wii with Gramps.  It was a great time spent with our amazing family.  I am so happy that they were able to stay and we got to enjoy some relaxation and some partying at the same time!

 

Bikes!

The boys got to ride their bikes outside today... squeals of delight were heard throughout the neighborhood!  We were loving the sunshine!

Bunny Trouble...

The Easter Bunny was at Nick's store today so I was considering taking the boys over to see him.  I asked the boys while we were having breakfast if they would like to go visit the Easter Bunny and they both told me "NO!"  So over the next few hours, I asked them several more times and they both eventually said that they would like to go.  However, by the time we were ready to go, Conner was having an absolute fit, saying, "I am NOT going! I'm putting my foot down! I am NOT going!"  (I don't know where he got the whole "I'm putting my foot down" thing.  I can't think of one time that I have ever said this...)  Anyway, so I got both boys in the van and drove over to Dad's store.  Sure enough, when they caught sight of that bunny, neither one wanted anything to do with him.  I'm not sure why....  I kept asking them why they didn't want to see the Easter Bunny and no one ever really gave me a good reason...  (They both told me they felt shy at one point!)  Finally, Conner gave in and went to sit next to the Easter Bunny for a picture.  But our Ben, oh no... he maintained his strong anti-bunny stance and would not even entertain the idea of standing in the vicinity of that bunny.  It was awesome...  So glad we got such a cute picture of Conner! The trip did not go as I had planned, but it was a little funny that the boys put up such a stink.  In the moment, when I was standing there in the store, watching both boys yell and scream, and refuse to have their picture taken... not so funny then.  But after the event, I had a good giggle with Nick at how strong-willed our babies are becoming.  I adore them!  And I do love this picture of Conner!

 

 

Australia...

The boys are starting to learn about Australia at preschool and it was their turn today to bring home the "Australia Bags!"  The funnest part, of course, is that they get to choose a stuffed animal from Australia to play with.  Ben chose a kangaroo, which just so happens to be his favorite animal.  Conner got to bring home a koala, so they have had a lot of fun!  Nick and the boys did a little research on Dad's cell phone to find out a little more about the animals and we looked through their Australia book to learn more about the place.  I have a feeling the boys are really going to like this unit at school! 

 

 

James and the Giant Peach...

I started reading James and the Giant Peach to the boys!  Some days they sit and listen intently and others... not so much.  Sometimes, Ben just grabs the book and wants to "read" to me.  It's pretty sweet...

 

All Good Things...

All good things must come to an end, I suppose... even vacation...  we have thoroughly enjoyed having Nick home with us every day this past week.  There is nothing that our boys love more than having Daddy home all the time!  We have had a great week.  We got to do a couple of things that we have never done and we got to spend a lot of quality time at home together!  We even got some things done around here, enough to make us feel productive at least!  Thanks for a great week boys! 

Science Station...

We took a quick trip to the "Science Station" this afternoon.  We wanted to see what it was all about.  The boys had a good time!  (Although, they also had a great time on the escalator!)

 

New...

After 11 years of marriage, we have finally bought our first brand new living room furniture...  I feel all grown up...  Couch, loveseat, and tables!  (Of course, now Nick is trying to convince me to get a new tv for that room as well.... to go with the new furniture, or so he says!)

 

Clean Advantage...

One of Nick's projects this week was to get all of our totes and storage items moved over to the other side of the basement where he and his dad had recently built some shelving.  Once he got that done, he decided to set up some of the boys' car and train tracks, in the open space,  that we don't normally get to leave up.  The boys really liked the new "play area!"  We also cleaned out the space under the stairs which turned out to be perfect for a tent.  Conner and Ben were pretty happy with the results of our hard work!

 

"Gotcha" 2013

We decided to start celebrating our "gotcha day" a little early this year.  Nick is on vactaion all week so we have been enjoying every day so much!  Every morning, the boys meet Nick with "You not work today?!"  They are beyond thrilled to have Dad home.  So, we were out running errands on Monday and decided that a new pirate ship might make two little guys pretty happy and then we decided to get Peter Pan to watch while they played with their new ship!  They were both pretty excited!  We talked a little bit about what makes March 12 a special day for us...



On Tuesday, we went to Iowa City to go to the Children's Museum with the boys!  We figured that one of the best ways we could spend one of our favorite days was just watching the kids explore and have fun!  So that's what we did!  It was really a great time!

Ben manned the post office...



Conner and Ben loved running around, exploring every last inch of the place!



Ben was pretty taken with the room where you could roll balls on different tracks and see what happened...

Conner really liked this activity too!

The "air" room was definitely a favorite too!

Conner found his very own airplane to fly...

And so did Ben...

They had an area where you could do a little flight simulator, which was pretty cool.  Conner flew Dad around and Ben flew me around, when I wasn't trying to capture the moment...

Ben and Conner definitely had their share of giggles when they discovered that when they put little "puffs" into these air-filled tubes, the "puffs" would shoot at them from a different direction after traveling for a few seconds in the tubing.  Pretty funny...

Ben and Conner got to sit in a "real" airplane!

Ben explores the music room...

Ben and Con both wanted to drive the ambulance!

Conner was pretty excited about the grocery store!  He filled up his cart with cheese and bread, while Ben just wanted to push his own cart around!

After we were done at the museum, we decided to go have lunch at Bennigans.  We, of course, sat right next to a window where you could see the merry-go-round, so the boys asked about fifty times throughout lunch if they could go for a ride.  We couldn't say no...

We had a pretty fantastic day celebrating and even though the boys don't really understand what we are celebrating, they will one day soon.  I am eternally grateful for the fact that we are able to call ourselves a family and that we are able to be together every single day.  I don't want to miss a minute of it!

Ben and Conner, Mom and Dad love you beyond words.  You will always be our miracles!   

Last Game...

The boys had their last day of basketball today.  Ben was very excited!  Conner said he didn't really want to go! (It might not be his sport!) 

 

Ben did so good!  He really seemed to follow along better with his team and definitely tried harder to get the basketball whenever he could... no matter who happened to have possession of it at the time!  He turned out to be a bit of a ball hog, but it was awesome to watch him so enthusiastic about trying to make a basket! He was always right in the middle of the action!  No surprise there... 

 

Conner tended to stay out of the line of fire!  He did a great job of running up and down the court today, but he's not too interested in actually having anything to do with the ball!  And if you know anything about Conner, it's that if he doesn't want to do something, he sure isn't going to do it!  I think (hope) that he still had a lot of fun!  After giving high fives, we took one last basketball picture!  Good job my boys!

 

  

Snow Mowing...

Nick snapped a few pictures while he was playing with the boys outside.  Conner decided that he needed his Mater mower and, of course, Ben agreed, so they played with their mowers in the snow!  These guys are SO ready for Spring!!!  I love the way their little minds work!