Dirt

A little cute boy to start out today's blog post...

Axel & Kristina
Oh. how I love babies and those smiles will melt your heart!!
Another week flew by and all of a sudden, it was FRIDAY! I still love Fridays even though I no longer have to sit in a cubical and wait for them. Friday means a start to a fun family weekend and this one was no exception.

We started out with a visit to Shoup Park with my book club groupies and the kiddos had a blast. It was our first 80 degree day and a perfect day to get some fresh air and running around.
Oh Susie, I know you will love this one! Love you lady!
Lucas was so excited that Daddy was home when he woke up from nap. Happy boy!
Big hugs and then straight to the park to test out the new baseball tee.
Daddy got the matching "baseball" caps out and they were out to play some ball.
I think Lucas thought Daddy was nuts half way through explaining how to stand and swing and hit. He took it all in stride and was having a ball!
Mommy and Axel were there to cheer them on...
and blow bubbles of course. :)
Oh yeah, we got motivated the other morning. Made a trip to Home Depot for lawn mower oil and found some beautiful pansies to plant. What a great way to freshen up the front of a house. They make me smile each time I walk by. What a gorgeous Friday afternoon!
The next morning we headed to The Red for some more climbing. We had to get an early start because of the heat. We also decided not to mess with camping and get a hotel room...NFL Draft is a big deal in this house. :)

We had a wonderful time climbing and were surprised that it was still nice climbing in the shade even though the temps were near 90 degrees. It was a great weekend to test out our new kid tent. Lucas wanted to share with Axel and actually did a great job doing so.
Excited about the tent but not the camera....maybe the tent should be named Lil' Stinker(s)!
We brought some new sand toys to play in the "sand"...I mean DIRT with. They were a big hit and kept some one very occupied. This is very dirty dirt but like they say, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
Yep, it got way worse! Just how dirty can a three year old get if you let him?
EXTREMELY DIRTY!
Is that the pee dance? Lucas, do you have to go potty? No....meaning Yes. Hurry!!!!Oh NO, don't do that! Yuck! Child, if you could only see yourself! Good thing Mommy was an art major and used to cleaning up messes. :) Hotel showers and a fresh change of clothes were a big help too. However, we didn't make it straight to the bath without a little nap in between. Guess who go to sleep in this bed? :)
Eventually we got everyone cleaned up and the boys watched the NFL Draft while Mommy read her now new favorite book...The Shack by William Paul Young. IT IS AMAZING! I would recommend it to everyone!!!!! It will change your life in the best way ever. :) It is one of the most amazing views I've ever read about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...excellent!!!!

God Bless!

Camping

We finally got brave and decided to take the boys tent camping last weekend. We checked the weather early in the week and it looked perfect. Our mistake, not checking the weather again until Saturday night after hearing rumors of rain storms...oops!

The boys did great! Everyone slept great and Axel thought he was in Heaven with a "free buffet" all night long. It was a pleasant experience which truly was amazing. The only not-so-fun-part, the rain, which started at 4am Sunday morning. Nope, it couldn't have waited until we got all packed up! It ended up being a full day of rain but luckily, climbing at The Red is so steep you can even do it in total down pours. We bundled everyone up in their rain coats and set out for a very rainy and muddy hike to the climbing crag. Once there, it was perfectly dry and turned out to be an enjoyable day. The hike out was wet but we survived that too!

One thing I didn't do, was take good photos to document the real feel of the camping trip or rain. Oh well, there will be other opportunities to do this but I do wish I had a few good rainy shots for the record.

Our weekend started Friday morning with a play date at Ellery & Adeline's house. Adeline is 8 months and all about her newly found freedom...crawling! It's fun to watch Catie's girls and get a glimpse of what Axel will be doing in the near future. What huge changes babies go through in their first year of life!

Adeline is checking out baby Axel...
and wasted no time to go see what he was all about. Then Mom (Catie) jumped in.
Beautiful Ellery. This girl has been waiting for Spring all Winter and can finally wear all her Summer clothes without freezing!Then it was off to The Red. We had a good sized crew which is always nice. Kristina, Jim, Alan, Mike, Lucas, Axel, Lena, Daniel, Alyssa and me.

Here Lucas is getting to know Alyssa who is 6 years old.
Mommy even got to climb. I broke out the old trad gear and lead a pitch...super fun! It's been so much fun to climb again without a big belly in the way. I'm slowly getting my strength back and happy we have The Red so close.Kristina climbing.
It's definitely Springtime! The toads were out...
and so were the snakes! This one scared the crud out of me at first.
It was impressive to watch this guy climb in the trees...and a little creepy too. We kept our distance and he did his own thing. I think he really wanted that toad!
So this is what Axel thought of camping...
but once all bundled up, he didn't think it was so bad. :) The sleeping bag outfit was a huge hit!Back at home, everyone got to soak off the layers of mud and dirt.At 13 lbs already, Axel barely fits in his bath tub!
Yes, I know...
I've promised to post Axel's two month photos. However, it's hard to post when I can't find the cord to download them. I have them, just can't post them yet but very soon. :)

New Name

Lucas has decided to call Axel...

Skylee

Now, we really have no idea where this comes from but about a week ago Lucas declared that he would call him Skylee. It might be from me calling Axel "Mr. Smiley" but that's my best guess.

This morning was the first day of school after Spring Break and Lucas was less than thrilled. As a last minute attempt right before heading out the door, Lucas told me that Skylee did not want him to go to school.

Nice try Lucas! And guess what, he had SOOOO much fun at school! :)

Funny little three year old world.

Time Out

Axel has been officially put in his first "time out." Big brother Lucas was not impressed that Axel was crying. He put on his best stern, serious voice and proceeded to put Axel in time out. It went something like this...

"Axel, you stop crying like that or you're going to time out!...Okay, you go over there to your time out.....you need to stop crying Axel. You stay in time out!"

Axel on the other side of the conversation had no comment. He wasn't really using his "listening ears" so Lucas eventually just walked away.


Mike and I just had to laugh. :)

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So, I know I'm behind posting two month photos so I'll be doing that today...hopefully.
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We also took both boys camping (tent camping) for the first time this weekend. Despite the rain, it went extremely well and everyone slept great...truly amazing!!! This is climbing season so we are extra busy and extra behind but having a wonderful time! Be back soon!

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend started for us on Friday morning. We headed over to our good friends house for a little egg dyeing and lunch. It was so much fun and I was quickly reminded how much I love holidays and doing fun things like dyeing eggs! We minimized the mess using cookie sheets but the biggest tip I have, don't do it alone. :) Having two Moms to help was perfect!

Lucas, Vera Gail and Emmett.
Katie & Gareth coloring eggs.
Katie & Vera Gail
The whole gang! Lucas, Emmett, Gareth & Vera Gail...this is serious business!
While the kids waited for the eggs to dry so they could put the stickers on them, they got to make 'resurrection rolls' - they wrapped a jumbo marshmallow in crescent roll dough, which symbolized Jesus being put in the tomb, and then as the roll cooked, the marshmallow left a hollow space in the middle, so when they bit it open they found an empty tomb. :-) (And those empty tombs sure taste yummy!)

Lucas making his rolls and smiles!
Mommy & Axel helping and watching
That afternoon we headed to Kentucky to start our climbing weekend. We drove through a nasty storm and about drove through a tornado. It was a little scary but in the end we all made it safe and had time to go on a rainy hike. Lucas was so excited to get out of the car and the hike was a refreshing (wet) treat for us all.

The next day we met some new friends and went climbing. We have to have lots of friends climbing these days. The boys both did awesome and we had so much fun. The bouncy seat was a wonderful addition!
Our new friend, Lena, who also has two older children. Lucas was in love! There's Daddy with Axel too.
The next morning was Easter!! To Lucas' surprise, the Easter bunny made a trip to our hotel. There were eggs everywhere and he even brought a fun game of Mouse Trap.

Mouth full of chocolate! No time to smile...must eat chocolate before mom makes me eat breakfast!
Looking for eggs, that Easter bunny sure can be silly.
SOOOOO EXCITED!! I love egg hunts too! :)
Are there anymore eggs?
Axel took part in all the Easter fun too!
Then back for another beautiful day of climbing. The rock was perfect hiding eggs.
Lucas was our egg hider and handed out candy to everyone we passed....good lesson on sharing. :)
Making sure he got them all.
Axel watching the egg hunt.
What a beautiful weekend, we hope you all had a wonderful Easter.
God is good!...GREAT!!!