Graham has really taken off with his bike riding. Going up the driveway and in our culdesac is such a great spot. We love going out in the evenings and practicing his riding. It is still amazing how quick he picked it up without his training wheels. Evan loves being out with us in his cozy coupe. He has ridden that thing way more than Graham ever did, he loves his “Car.”

Evan had splash day at First Baptist this week, which of course he loved. They played with sprinklers and water toys and even just stood in buckets of water! They had so much fun! This kid loves water for sure.

On Saturday, we ventured to the annual Touch a Truck event. Last year, just Graham and I went but this year, with Evan's love of tractors and such we knew he would love it too. We spent a couple hours running from truck to tractor to bus to construction equipment and more. They absolutely loved climbing in, sitting on and especially blowing the horns!!!!

We started off the week with some excitement - visit number SIX from the tooth fairy tonight for Graham, he pulled this one himself again (he is getting pretty good at it, apparently an animal cracker at snack this afternoon pushed it in to the zone!) He was of course excited to put it under his pillow and see what the tooth fairy left the next morning (two one dollar bills!)

On Friday evening, we met Michelle and she took Graham for an overnight adventure. They met up with Al and got some dinner and then he was excited to head back to her house to spend the night. He sepnt most of Saturday morning playing with Adam's old toys. It is truly like the closing scene of Toy Story 3, so sweet! They went to McDonalds for lunch and then met up with us at Dean's parents house. Graham had a lot of fun and they made some great memories.

We left there and headed to Dean's company picnic at Sinkland Farms. They had food and games and bouncy houses and we got to take a tractor ride out to the pumpkin and see the baby blooms on the vines. It was so different being there during the summer with everything all green instead of the fall months. On the way back, the tractor driver pulled Graham off the ride and let him help him drive the tractor. Graham sat on his lap and steered us back in, he was of course in heaven doing that!!!!!

I headed to Minneapolis to work for the week and Graham had a full fun week at my parents house. The highlight of his week was learning to ride his bike with no training wheels! We had tried it a couple times but it didnt go very well and even at first with Pawpaw he wasn't very into it and then it just clicked and he was riding like a pro! He was so excited to tell me all about it on the phone when I talked to him!

When I landed at the airport on Thursday evening, Dean and Evan were there waiting in the terminal to surprise me! Dean had done that with Graham but it had been a long time and it was the first time with Evan. Evan handed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers! I was so touched and so happy to see them and Evan loved seeing all the airplanes!

On Friday, I picked up Graham and me and the boys went to Kellys for a playdate with Grey, Reed and Zane. After we left there, we went by Dean's office and then got some dinner, it was great to have the family all back together again!!!!

On Saturday, we went to a neat event at the Roanoke Civic Center called Discover the Dinos. The boys are both so dinosaur crazy we knew that it would be hit! There were dozens of animonitronic dinos to see and of course Graham knew all of them. There was a fossil dig similar to what we did for Graham's 5th bday and then Garham got strapped on a Trex and took a ride! There were dino themed bouncy houses too and a craft area, it was really neat and something very different to do! After leaving there, we headed out to the lake for the rest of the afternoon and had another set of visitors by boat, my friend Stacy from work and her parents and Ally and Lauren. Graham loves it when we have visitors so that was neat to have them come hang out with us for a bit! We rounded out the weekend with church on Sunday and then took it easy the rest of the day!

We settled back in to work and school and then had a middle of the week day off for the 4th of July. Dean woke up not feeling well at all that day and the power was still out at Pelican Point, so the boys and I loaded up and headed to Smith Mountain Lake Community Beach. I had always wanted to go check it out, so it was a good chance to go. There was a nice little sandy beach area for us to set up and an nice wide lake area to swim in. The boys had a ball playing in the sand and swimming in the lake. It was something different but the same as well! Same lake just different area! It was another hot day, so it was nice to be in the water to stay cool. We stopped for ice cream on the way home and called it a day!

We headed in to another fun filled weekend of summer fun. Me and the boys, Christy, Gray and Emma and Kimberly and Jeremiah all headed to the Salem Fair for the afternoon. It was crazy hot, so it was not crowded at all and the kids rode and rode until we just couldn’t stand it anymore! We finished the day with some ice cream and a trip to the cooling station and then headed to Christy’s house for pizza and pool and playset fun with Gray and Emma. Dean came and joined us and we had a fun evening. Then, on Sunday, Christy, Gray and Emma headed back to the lake with us again and we stayed nice and cool in the pool all afternoon. We wrapped things up and met my parents back at our house for them to pick up Graham to take him to their house for the week as I was heading to Minneapolis for the week!

July 1st Graham - FIVE years old, forty weeks old, Evan - TWO years, 22 weeks old

Me, the boys, my parents, Danah and the girls headed to Randolph Water Park in Dublin for the day on Monday. Graham had been asking to go to a water park to ride a water slide and so he was thrilled that they had a corkscrew tunnel slide. He did it over and over and over! There was also the umbrellas that dump water on you and several other kiddie slides and shallow pools and deep pools. There was a little kiddie pool and Evan and Lillian enjoyed. We had pizza for lunch and played and played until we were all worn out! It was a neat little water park. We went back to my parents and my mom fixed a yummy prebday dinner and we had another cake, an ice cream cake this time and then played outside until everything was ready to crash!

On Tuesday, we headed out early to a big playground in Wytheville, it was different than any kind of playground that we go to, it was all wood and had lots of tunnels and places to climb, several slides, tired to climb, lots of neat swings and fun props. The boys and Lillian were all over it. Stacy, Sandy and the twins joined us for a visit as well, so I said it was just like all the kiddie bday parties that I go to, we just needed cupcakes and goodie bags! Haha! We left there and headed back to my parents for lunch and then the boys and I headed out. It was a fun couple days there!

Our next stop was a quick playdate with Grey, Reed and Zane in Blacksburg and then we met Dean for dinner for one more celebration for my bday, so that was nice. We went to a yummy Italian place and then headed home! On Wednesday morning, I had a JDRF meeting to go to and some errands to run, so I dropped the boys off at First Baptist. It was splash day for Graham, so he loved that. One of my errands was to look for full size mattress for Evan which I found! I picked the boys up right after nap and we headed up to the Mill Mountain Zoo for the afternoon. The boys enjoyed seeing the animals and playing on the playground and we rode the train twice! Then, we went and got ice cream to cool off! It was a fun afternoon!

On Friday evening, we picked up Evan’s new full size mattress. We finally settled on pirate bedding for his room, lots of ships and water and pirate ships, so that was neat. Graham loved it of course! We started out Friday night with the mattress on the floor and then on Saturday, Dean the bed up and he spent his first night in his big boy bed and loved it. We put it up against the wall on one side and a rail on the other side, that we used for Graham and it worked out really well. He slept all night in it on Saturday night!

We headed to church on Sunday for the first time in awhile since we had been on the go so much. Graham was excited to get to carry the cross for Children’s church and Evan went right in to play in the nursery. We had a relaxing day at home the rest of the day getting ready to get back to work and school for the week! Atleast it is a short week!

The boys had vacation bible school all week this week, so that was neat. They did all kinds of special crafts and activities and had lots of special programming. It is always a fun week for them. Evan isn’t doing great in his converted toddle bed, he is getting up a lot at night and we are ending up on his floor a lot trying to get him back to sleep in his bed. We didn’t have this trouble with Graham at all, so it looks like we are going to have to go ahead and make the transition to a big boy bed sooner than later for Evan. We have the rails to convert his bed over to a full size bed, so we just have to get a mattress and figure out what kind of bedding to get him! So, the search begins! Of course, Graham has offered to just give him his bedding and he will pick out something new, but we told Graham that Evan gets his very own, just like he did!

On Thursday night, I had a late meeting and Dean and the boys got home to discover that the upstairs AC unit was not working, after trying to put them to bed and it not working, Dean finally had them camp out on the family room floor. They were all sound sleep in their respective parts of the family room when I got home! Luckily, a technician made it out to fix it on Friday afternoon so it was all cooled off before bedtime on Friday!

On Saturday, we headed back to the lake for another full day with Christy, Gray, Emma, Miss Kimberly, and Mr Jeremiah. It was super hot and so we just stayed in the pool the whole day and played and played and played . We had a special visit from Graham and Emma’s classmate Noah, and his mom and dad. They were out on the lake on a jet ski and we gave them directions to where we were and they came to see us and played in the pool for a bit, so that was a lot of fun! The kids just love jumping in over and over and they are all getting so much better in the water. Again, it wasn’t crowded and the weather was just perfect!!!

We kicked off the week with our 7th wedding anniversary on Monday, we got take out from Carrabaras for dinner and had a picnic in the den and watching the wedding and reception videos. The boys were so funny yelling out everyone that they recognized on the tv and we all enjoyed it so much. I cried several times just like always and Evan got very upset when he saw me crying and came over and started crying too! Evan asked where Graham was and Graham announced that he was in my belly!! Not quite, LOL! Not sure how he came up with that one! It was a lot of fun and Dean had sent me the most gorgeous flowers to work as well!!!

The boys did lots of Father’s day artwork and projects and brought home all week for Dean, so that was sweet. Graham even drew a portrait of him! Graham was well on his way to learning his new purple belt form, it is 36 moves and definitely more challenging than the past ones. With summer and Dean’s new job, he hasn’t been getting to go quite as often either, so it is a little slower coming. Friday night was parent’s night again at the boys’ school, so we took advantage of that again. The boys just love doing it and it is always a nice night out for us!

On Saturday, the boys and I headed to a fun pirate themed birthday party for Carson, complete with backyard bouncy houses, pizza , cake and treasure. It was a super fun afternoon. The boys both enjoyed it a lot and of course didn’t want to leave! Dean headed to the lake and worked on the boat while we were there. Then, we all got ready and headed to my office for the Advance Auto Parts Pit Stop Cruise In. My parents and Lillian met us there and Dean’s came as well, driving the Fairlane, which Cal proudly displayed. It was a fun Father’s day evening hanging with Opa and his car and walking around with both grandpas checking out all the old cars. There were bouncy houses as well for the kids and we had hotdogs and did lots of walking! It was a fun night for sure! Graham liked the red cars best of course!

We celebrated Father’s day with Dean by heading to the lake for a fun afternoon. We had lots of fun in the pool and playtime at the beach and even loaded up all four of us in the kayak and went for a long kayak ride around to the boat. We had not done that before, so that was a lot of fun! Again, it was not crowded at all and we had another great day. The boys swimming is getting better and better every week and we are so proud of them!

Graham settled back in to the duck class for the summer since his K program wrapped up. He was glad to be back with all his duck friends for the mornings as well as the afternoons. We signed back up for Melody Makers and he also signed up for gymnastics. He couldn’t do those two things during his K time because they were during class time, so that will be some fun extra stuff for the summer. Evan loves Melody Makers and they sing all kinds of songs in the jeep during our commute, whenever ask where they a know a certain song from, they always say Melody Makers!

On Saturday, we headed to the last swim lesson for the session and the instructors wished them a fun summer. We will look forward to starting back in the fall with hopefully not too many bad habits! We spent the afternoon at the Va Transportation Museum looking at all the trains, so that was a big hit. Evan has developed Graham’s love of trains and definitely enjoyed every minute in the railyard and watching the model trains is always fun too! We left there and went and had ice cream to cool off, so that was fun! Graham said it was the best ice cream ever, even better than Mawmaw’s push ups (it was from coldstone creamery). We came home and grilled out for dinner and rounded out a full summer Saturday!

On Sunday, we were very excited to have Christy, Gray, Emma, Miss Kimberly and Mr Jeremiah joining us at the lake. Graham LOVES to take friends with us, so we were super excited. We hit the pool for a while, then, Dean took the kids on kayak rides and so did Mr. Jeremiah and Miss Kimberly and then we went back to the pool for some more fun. The kids were all little fish and we had the best time, so fun and so pleasant and the weather was perfect and of course the pool was not crowded at all! We stopped for dinner at Wendys and called it a day, a super fun one and we said we will definitely do that again!

Both boys crashed hard from our full weekend at the lake and so we took it easy and stayed cool on Monday to rest up. We all had a little too much sun too! We did venture out to a couple playgrounds in Rocky Mount on Monday evening that we had never been to before, so that was fun and the boys loved swinging and sliding and such! Then, time to head back to school on Tuesday, atleast it was a short week!

On Sunday, we headed back to the lake for another day of fun in the sun. We had lots of fun in the pool and then played around in the lake and beach some, hung out on the boat, watched a fisherman and just had another wonderful day. We could not be any happier with our lake time! The boys are going to have a great summer there for sure!

Graham - FIVE years old, thirty five weeks old, Evan - TWO years, 17 weeks old old

We all were getting some spring fever and getting excited to head to the lake for Memorial Day weekend. They boys all got their summer haircuts on Wednesday. Evan just needs little snips, and he mostly cooperates, it works best for me to hold him though and we distract him and she trims him up a little. Graham is a little champ though and then the boys always love to sweep up the hair and get their suckers. Rachel is so great with them!

On Friday, I took the day off and spent a good bit of the day getting all the lake stuff ready for our big weekend. Graham has been telling us for weeks that when he starts to sink, he will just start swimming, they have both came so far in their swim lessons, so we were really excited to see them at the pool!

We headed out on Saturday for our first day at the lake. Graham couldlnt wait to jump right in and Evan was also fearless just like we expected. There were a few people at the pool, but we still had plenty of room for spreading out and floating and swimming. Graham would jump in and swim across the pool, it was so great to see. And, he is really strong on his back. Evan loved jumping in and then would come up, flip to his back and head for the wall, it was so great!!!! Evan has been using the noodle the last couple months at swim lessons, so he was quite content floating around on a noodle or in a ring. It is going to be a fun summer in the pool. The boys went on kayaks rides together with Dean and each one individually, it was so neat watching them. They know they have to get their life jackets on and just ride around in the kayak loving it. They played in the sand along time as well and then we headed back to the pool. It was a super fun day!

On Sunday, we headed back over first thing and my parents, Kenneth, Danah and the girls joined us. We had a great day in the pool mainly. None of the kids wanted to get out to eat lunch or take breaks. They were just little fish. Even little Molly did so good riding around in a float. Our cousin Tracy came to visit on her speed boat and took us for a little spin. Graham said it was the best boat ride ever, he liked how fast we went and Evan laid back, put his thumb in his mouth and I thought the boat was going to sway him right to sleep! It was super fun! After being there all day (and it was a hot one too), we headed home around 6pm and both boys fell asleep. We carried them in to bed and they slept all night long!!!!! They were clearly worn out! But, it was a great weekend and we are so excited that summer and lake season is here!!!!

Graham - FIVE years old, thirty four weeks old, Evan - TWO years, 16 weeks old old

We headed in to a super busy week for all of us, still settling in to Dean's new work schedule and Evan's new wake up schedule! Evan's personality is really starting to develop and be different from Graham. I tell everyone that he is like Graham on speed! His teachers told me this week they have nicknamed him Rev'n Evan!!!! Sounds about right!

The evenings finally started being warm and we have been heading outside to play a lot after dinner. Also, my camera started dying Mother's Day weekend, so we finally got a new one, the one i was using, I got right after Graham was born and I would say it literally had tens of thousands of pictures taken on it!!!! All the outside time made for lots of good picture fun! And, the boys just love being outside every minute they can!

Friday was Parents Night Out at First Baptist and we took advantage of it again. It is a nice break for us to go to a non-friendly kid place and the boys love hanging out at school with new and old friends. They got to play on the playground for a long time and had a lot of fun. Graham would be happy if we could do it every Friday!!!!

On Saturday, after swim lessons, we went and got some landscaping stuff and while Dean was putting Evan down for his nap, Graham and did a lot of the work. Graham was the best helper and we had a lot of fun, Dean was very proud of us! Once Evan woke up and joined us, we had lots more playtime outside. Graham loves riding his bike and Evan tries to ride his trike some but then just goes back to his cozy coupe, he loves that thing way more than Graham ever did!!!

On Sunday, Graham got to carry the cross again for children's church, he just loves doing that! We had some fun outside time after church and then we headed back to church for Graham's spring choir concert. Dean's parents joined us as well. They sang several songs and were accompanied by the hand bells as well. They got certificates for their participation and then got to go to the "choir store," to redeem their points. Graham got lots of bubbles, trinkets and stickers. Evan hung out in the nursery while we were in the concert, so that worked out well.

Graham - FIVE years old, thirty three weeks old, Evan - TWO years, 15 weeks old old

And, Graham kicked off another week with another lost tooth - that would be number 5!!!!! Something must have loosened it up at school and it was just hanging by a thread after dinner, Graham was insistent that he wanted to pull it himself and worked and worked on it and out it finally. It is such a BIG huge hole and bled a little more than the others did. The one beside it is loose as well!

The boys did all kinds of neat artwork for me for Mother's Day. I had to take a white shirt in for Graham's class and I got it back all decorated with his handprints in the shape of a flower on the entire front of it, so creative and pretty. And the neatest thing from Evan was a little flower pot with a construction paper flower with his photo in the middle, it was really neat.

We had a full day on Saturday celebrating Mother's day. We stopped and had breakfast and nice visit with Dean's parents. The boys had fun playing inside and outside and Oma enjoyed all her goodies. We left there and headed to my parents, where Kenneth and the girls joined us. The kids played inside and outside and we had a fun time and Mawmaw got lots of goodies too. We had yummy pizza and a fun afternoon. On Sunday, we headed to church (after a fun Mother's Day photo shoot). We got takeout from my favorite Carrabaras' for lunch and then had a fun afternoon playing outside. It was a great weekend and a very special Mother's Day for me for sure!!!!!

It was a super busy week with Dean starting his new job and us settling in to somewhat of a new schedule. Evan is also becoming a super early riser. He typically comes walking out of his room most mornings before we are getting done getting ready, some mornings even before 6am!!!!

Graham - FIVE years old, thirty two weeks old, Evan - TWO years, 14 weeks old old

I had a quick overnight trip out of town and Dean and the boys got along pretty good. Graham is working on his new purple belt form in Taekwondo, it is 36 moves and is one of those forms that starts out with the slow motion moves, so that is really neat. He seems to really like it and is excited about his new belt.

On Saturday, we headed to swim lessons and then back home for Dean and I to get ready to go to a Kentucky Derby party, hats and all! Two twin sister teachers from First Baptist came over to babysit. Graham was excited because it meant that there one of them for each him and Evan, haha. They played outside, had pizza for dinner and they were both good boys going to bed and were sound asleep when we got home! It worked out really well and it is so nice that we know them and they know the boys so well!

<Graham - FIVE years old, thirty one weeks old, Evan - TWO years, 13 weeks old old

We kicked off the week with Graham loosing his fourth tooth, on the bottom on the other side of his middle two. The first two are pretty much all the way in and the third one is working its way in. He pulled it out himself and was quite proud. He (and Evan) were quite excited to see the two one dollar bills that the tooth fairy left!

Evan started saying the cutest thing this week, when ever he hears a noise,he says, What is that noisy, it is so cute. His vocabulary is really coming along and he is communicating a lot but he is still having his terrible two moments too!

On Saturday, we went to swim lessons and then headed to a park for a power ranger birthday party for one of Graham's classmates, there were several siblings from school that were Evan's age too, so that was fun. It was raining off and on, but they did get to play some on the playground, have pizza and cake, do a pinnata and they even had a visit from a real power ranger - which Evan wanted no part of!!!!!

<Graham - FIVE years old, thirty weeks old, Evan - TWO years, 12 weeks old old

The highlight of last week was Graham testing for his purple belt. He really worked hard the last couple weeks to get ready for test and it worked. There was a big crowd and he got to do his form pretty early on, then it was awhile before he got to spar. He sparred other senior green belts and that went pretty well. We told him how very proud we were of him. Evan hung out with Vivienne and Josephine and had a fun time playing dress up in princess dresses!

On Friday night, it was Parent’s Night out at First Baptist, so the boys stayed for that It is just such a neat arrangement, they were both in their regular classrooms and had familiar teachers. They got to stay on the playground for a long time and Evan got to play on one of the big playgrounds, so that was exciting. We had a nice dinner out and ran some errands and the boys were late getting to bed, but it was fun night for all!

On Saturday, we headed to swim lessons and then home for Evan’s nap and then off the Taekwondo awards ceremony. Graham was so very excited and he ran so fast to the front to get his purple belt and was just beaming. We left there and had dinner out and then got ice cream to celebrate his purple belt. He has been at it exactly a year now and he seems to enjoy it and be just as in to as the day he started. We have asked him a couple times if he wants to take a break and he says no way. So, I guess we will stick with it!

On Sunday, we had a busy day of church fun. Graham got to carry the cross for Children’s Church so he was quite proud of that. He has to march from the front of the church, all the way down the center aisle and out the door. He grins from ear to ear and is so proud. We all went back to church that evening for the spring Celebration of the Arts event which was a Dr Seuss theme. The children’s choir had been working on a special farewell song for a long time staff member, which was a variation of Oh the Places you go! Graham loved it and we have we sang it a lot. We ate dinner and then they had a bunch of children’s stations set up with games for the kids. Another one of Graham’s old friends from First Baptist was there and so that tickled him. We just love all the kids and kids programming that is there!

Evan has been doing pretty good in his toddler bed. We get in there most mornings before he wakes up and he is going to bed pretty easy in it, so that is good. He is talking soooo much and continuing to develop his little personality in such big ways. Graham of course, still loves to teach him and show him things and Evan wants to copy and do everything that his big brother does. He still calls Graham brother most all the time, which is cute, but we try to get him to say Graham and he can but he just prefers brother!

<Graham - FIVE years old, twenty-nine weeks old, Evan - TWO years, 11 weeks old old

Graham got his 5th stripe and approval to test next week for his purple belt, so he is super excited about that. He had to work a good bit on his sparring, but when he realized that he might not get to test this time, that really seemed to motivate him to work on getting those kicks up higher and focusing. He has been at it right at a year now and seems to want to stick with it and keeps enjoying it, so that is good. We had the week off from swim lessons because of spring break, so Evan had a free week, but Graham picked up some extra TKD classes to prepare for testing.

Graham also didn’t have Kindergarten class except for one day because of the county schools being in spring break. He just stayed with the duck class all day and seemed to enjoy that,but he was ready to get back to his routine in the K class too. Evan continues to just talk up a storm, you can just carry on a whole conversation with him and he is just learning and developing so much and continuing to be a stinker and have his terrible two moments too. We are that place of me having to ask his teachers every day how he did today, did he use nice hands, etc. I will be glad when this stage passes!!!!

We had more outside time over the weekend and just continue to love that so very much. Evan dearly loves that Cozy coup car, I think way more than Graham ever did. It is so funny to watch him try to keep up with Graham on his bike. Graham absolutely flies on his bike, with his training wheels still on, so pretty soon it is gonna be time to start working on that big transition!

Speaking of big transitions, on Saturday night, we took the front side off of Evan’s bed and made it the toddler bed. He was pretty tired from all the outside play time, so he went to bed pretty easy. We shut his door and of course still have the gate at the top of the steps, but wasn’t sure what to expect come morning. For Graham, for the longest time, it was like he didn’t realize, he could just get out of the bed without the side there……….well, not Evan. I went to his room and he wasn’t there and sure enough, he was in Graham’s room and they had pulled nearly every toy of out Graham’s toy box and were having a big time……..it took some coaxing to get him down for nap on Sunday afternoon as well. Hopefully this will be an easy transition, but I definitely don’t think he will stay put in the mornings. Graham was right at three before we went ahead and converted over to the big bed (when I was pregnant with Evan). I suspect we won’t make it that long with Evan!!!!

<Graham - FIVE years old, twenty-eight weeks old, Evan - TWO years, 10 weeks old old

It was a short week for us leading up to Easter. The boys had Easter Egg hunts and parties at school and had a lot of fun. We had to stuff 12 eggs for each class with candy and then they each brought home 12 eggs that they found with all kinds of treats in them. They did all kinds of fun Easter art and Evan had a really cool bucket that he made for his eggs and he was quite proud to hold up his bucket with the eggs and say – I did it, I did it.

We were off on Good Friday and did our traditional egg coloring. Graham was very patient and serious about it this year and Evan was just a mess. He turned over a bowl of blue dye all over him and the chair and wanted to immediately take the eggs out and DROP another one back in and just generally was a stinker!!!! But, it was fun nonetheless! Dean always gets artsy and creative with the eggs and Graham joined right in with him. We went to church that evening to round out the day!

On Sunday morning, the boys came downstairs to find what the Easter Bunny had left in their baskets – lots of candy and cars and Monster trucks and books and stickers and it was all a big hit. In no time flat, they had everything torn out of their baskets and strewn across the floor, just like Christmas morning!!!! We took some family pics and headed to church, which was jam packed! There was no children’s church and so Graham was in the whole service with us and he worked on his activity book and did great! After service, we got Evan and headed to the playground for an Easter egg hunt. The eggs were laying all over the playground and after getting eggs, both boys had a ball playing on the playground. We had never played on the church playground before, so that was a treat in and of itself! We headed home and rounded out the day with some fun play time outside. Evan loves to ride around the driveway in the cozy car and he also tries to climb on Graham’s bike. So, I went to the basement and got Graham’s tricyle and helmet and pads for him and he thought that was pretty cool! We are loving being outside and it is going to be a very fun summer!!!!

<Graham - FIVE years old, twenty-seven weeks old, Evan - TWO years, 9 weeks old old

The weather has finally turned to spring and with the days staying light longer, we were able to get outside and play a couple nights this week, so that was fun. Evan loves to swing on the playset and he can fly up the ladder and rock wall, right on Graham's heels. THey love being up in the top of the playhouse together too. We enjoy walking around the yard going on nature walks too. Graham is very in to bugs and digging.......he has brought me several worms! Boys will be boys, I guess!!!

On Friday evening, Dean and the boys met me at the mall and had a fun evening out. First stop was to go see the Easter Bunny, Graham was excited about, however we expected Evan wouldn't be thrilled. I assumed I would likely end up holding him in the picture. We walked up and the Easter Bunny was actually walking around and Graham ran over and hugged him and from the stroller, Evan started screaming and didnt stop....Graham went ahead and had his picture made and then we tried everything to get Evan to settle down, finally the photographer just told me to duck down and he would snap it and so that is what we got.....

We went around to ride the train next and that made it all better. Evan looked like such a big boy riding beside Graham in the train. They rode two times and then Evan was all smiles. Next, Graham went on the bungee jumper, which he loves. Of course, as soon as he was done, Evan said - MY TURN! We left there and went to Chick Fil A for dinner and the boys played in the play room, so a very fun evening (with a little drama!)

It was another nice weekend and we had more fun outside time, kite flying bike riding, nature exploring. Evan asks to go outside all the time, even more so than Graham!

On Sunday, Graham had a big performance day for choir. It was Palm Sunday and so they sang for both the 9am and 11am services and he went to Sunday School in between. It was a packed church and he did great. He really seems to enjoy it, so that is fun. They have a couple more evening performances before the season is over. I expect he will want to do it again!We are looking forward to all things Easter next weekend!

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I headed out of town again Monday through Wednesday, so the boys and Dean were on their own again. It should be my last trip for awhile. They did pretty good. We still have Evan in his crib, every time we think about converting, then he settles down and doesn’t seem the least bit interested in getting out, so we want to stretch it out a bit longer. I remember how at first after we converted Grahams, even when he first woke up, he would still lay in it until we came in his room. With Evan, I think that is highly unlikely. He is such a climber too, so we will really have to get his room ready for him to be all mobile in it alone!

Graham is getting close to testing for his next belt. His form is looking really good, but he is still working on his sparring, his little short legs, just cant kick as high as some of the other kids. But, we will go ahead and give testing a try in mid-April and see what happens. He still loves it and as long as he is still interested we will keep with it. Swimming continues to go great for both of them as well, they are both learning new things every lesson and we are so proud of them!

On Saturday, I tried my luck at a yard sale and then took a big load of baby clothes to Once Upon a Child and sold them and some of the gear and toys. I did pretty good and the rest is going to goodwill. It was kind of sad to see it all go, but we are running out of room and it was just time. Evan has moved in to 2t and 3t, so all the 0 – 18 month stuff was just taking up room. I have saved back sentimental pieces from both of them for mama to make patchwork quilts for them, so that has been really neat and I will excited to see how they turn out. And, of course, all the bigger size stuff that Graham has grown out of is still waiting for Evan to move in to and there is plenty of that!

On Saturday, we had the annual denim and diamonds fundraiser to go to for JDRF, so my parents came down to stay with the boys. They had some fun outside time and Daddy and Graham went for a bike ride. Then, while we were gone, they decorated Easter cookies, so that was neat. Dean and I had a fun night out and the boys were sound asleep when we got home! We slept in on Sunday morning and the boys were up early with my parents. They headed home mid-morning and we hung out at home the rest of the day and then Graham and I headed to choir practice.

Evan continues to just talk up a storm and want to be so independent and wants to do anything and everything his big brother is doing. He is still calling Graham brother every breathe, we never started that but clearly he is stuck on it! They are both growing so much too, Evan is weighing in at 29 pounds and Graham at 44 pounds! Graham’s 4th tooth on the bottom is so loose, we really expect it to come out any day and he has a top one that is loose now too!

The boys had spring pictures this week, I sent them in matchy spring polo shirts and they were going to have them separate and together. Apparently Evan didn’t smile, but I am still anxious to see them, they are supposed to be back just before Easter! It was a pretty spring background, so I am hoping they are at least good enough to serve as their official “Easter Pics.”

We are continuing to get to spend lots of outside time, playing on the playset and exploring nature, as Graham likes to call it. We found a bird who was sitting on four eggs in the mulch under one of the trees like we have in past years and that was very interesting for the boys. The squawked at us really loud as we got close, but that just made Evan want to get closer! Graham is very concerned and wanting to keep a close check on her. Hopefully we will see baby birds soon!

The boys went in on Friday in their match St Patty day shirts and had fun parties and such. Then, on Friday night, Dean and I went to a show at First Baptist and Ms Jessica came and baby sat the boys. They do so good with her and we are really glad we found her. They go right to bed for her without any trouble and were sound asleep when we got home!!!!

On Saturday, after swim lessons and Evan’s nap, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and headed over to the lake. We always like to go visit when the weather breaks and check things out. We hung by the pool a little bit, then threw sticks in the lake at the beach, walked out on the docks and looked for fish, cleaned leaves off the boat and walked up and down the docks looking at all the other boats. It was very fun and made us even more anxious for Memorial day weekend so we can kick off lake season!

On Sunday, we had to be at church early for Graham to sing again. He is really enjoying choir and we are so proud of him. The kids file in behind the adult choir and stand up front for a few prayers, then sing and file out to children’s church. Graham is all smiles and so proud! We are really proud of him!

We kicked off Monday with our ususual activity night, swimming and Taekwondo and then on Tuesday, I headed out of town through Thursday. The boys did pretty good. Evan is in a pattern or waking up every few nights for a couple hours during the night. Nothing seems to be wrong with him, he is just awake and wants up and out of his crib. If it goes on too long, he starts throwing his leg over his crib, meaning it isn’t going to be long before we have to make the big crib conversion, but we are trying to hold out a bit longer.

We headed to swim lessons on Saturday and the boys just continue to do so well and we just really enjoy it and it makes us so super anxious for summer to hurry and get here!! On Sunday afternoon, we went outside and played awhile and that gave us even more spring fever, we didn’t even have to wear coats! Evan has came a long way on the playset. He loves to climb right up the steps to the top and then slide down. Climbing is def a fave activity for him, so he is thrilled to get to do that! We didn’t even have it yet when Graham was this age and then it took him awhile to master it, but Evan is a whole different story!!!! He is so proud of himself when he gets up there!

Graham is really picking up on his reading and loves to pick out his library book each week and read it to us and read us other books. They studied about teeth brushing this week and he apparently really enjoyed talking his teeth this week and is all excited to brush his teeth more than ever! Evan is still working on his nice hands, good days and bad days, but he really loves his new class, so hopefully he will settle in.

On Friday night, we went to Tyler’s house to celebrate Josephine’s 5th birthday day. A couple other kids were there as well and we grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and had cupcakes and the kids played and played. We stayed until after 9pm, a really late night out for us! The boys were exhausted and went straight to bed when we got home! It was very fun though!

On Saturday, my parents came and picked Graham up from swim lessons and took him to the mall and Chickfila and Barnes and Noble, so that was a fun adventure. Evan and I headed on home and he went down for his nap and then when he woke up, my parents and Graham were there. We had fun playing the rest of the evening and they spent the night and stayed with us until after lunch. The boys enjoyed lots of attention and play time and of course Evan talked up a storm to them! So, that was neat.

Graham and I continue to go to choir practice every Sunday night and he really loves it. They keep is so interesting with all the instruments and new songs, we are really looking forward to the next time they sing in a few weeks. Graham seems to be fitting and enjoying it so much.

The snow was lingering on Monday morning and for the first time ever First Baptist was two hours delayed opening! So, that was different. It also meant that Graham didn’t have kindergarten that day. We dropped them off at 930am and then settled in to our regular routine. Graham was glad to get back to Taekwondo this week and is moving along as a senior green belt. He got his first stripe for his kicks and is perfecting his form.

On Tuesday night, we headed to St Johns for the Shrove Tuesday Pancake supper and had a very fun evening. The boys ate tons of pancakes and sausage. The fellowship hall was all decorated in a Mardi Gras theme and then after we all ate, they had pancake races (flipping pancakes in a frying pan while running relays). It was very funny and then the kids got to take a turn and of course, Graham gave it a try. He had a lot of fun and has made a couple friends, so it was really a nice evening. On Wednesday, we went to Faith Christian School for our family interview, it was an early morning appointment and they offered to watch the boys since it was too early to drop them off at First Baptist. We met with the Admissions Director and head of the lower school and we talked about why we want to come to Faith and about Graham’s assessment. He tested very well on the first and K assessments, but landed on going ahead and repeating him in the K program there, mainly due to his late birthday and to start out with the his class from the beginning as opposed to joining an established group. We just really like it there and Graham was very excited to go back and visit again and to take Evan with us this time.

On Saturday, after swim lessons, we headed to Blacksburg to Michelle’s house and Dean’s parents came over and we had pizza and hung out for the afternoon. Michelle had them some hot wheels cars and they played with some of Adam’s old toys and watched cartoons and played with the dogs and just had a fun time. It was a nice visit and we all enjoyed it!

We headed to church on Sunday for the beginning of Lent. I decided to go and join Graham in children’s church this time and see what it is like. They had a lesson, said several prayers and sang songs, it was really cute. The lesson included a part about pretzel making by some monks and we got a recipe for homemade pretzels. So after lunch when Evan went down for his nap, Graham and got out all the ingredients and we made pretzels, he is a good helper and we had a lot of fun and they were yummy!

Evan’s vocabulary continues to just explode, he is just carrying on full conversations with us like crazy and it is so sweet. But, he also has his true terrible two moments as well. He is struggling a little in school with using kind hands, so similar to Graham at this age! Hopefully it will be a fast phase. He is also being so independent and just wants to do everything himself. He continues to have a really good appetite and just blows us away with how much he eats and what he is willing to try!

Graham’s 4th tooth is really really loose and now the top one is pretty loose too. He keeps a daily check on them and it could be about any day now! He seems to have taken a little growth spurt in his height as well and just has a more grown up look about him lately!

We survived our split week. Dean and Graham and Evan went to Evan’s swim lesson on Monday evening, but took the week off from Taekwondo. They got along real well. They had their class Valentines parties on Tuesday and had lots of goodies and brought home all kinds of cards and candies and goodies, so that was fun. I had crazy travel delays getting home and didn’t roll in until about 5am Friday morning, I did wake to see the boys on Friday morning and then stayed home and slept and worked most of the day and then went and picked them up that evening. We had to go to the airport to get my suitcase and watched the planes for a little bit, so that was fun, we got some pizza and then headed home. We had a picnic in the den and they showed me all their valentines, so that was fun. And, I gave them all their goodies that I had brought them, which was of course a big hit!

We headed to swim lessons on Saturday and then took it easy the rest of the day, getting caught up from our split up week and then Sunday morning woke up to the beginnings of a big snowstorm, so we stayed home from church. It steadily came down and after Evan’s nap, we headed out to play in about 3 or 4 inches. It was fun and Graham got to make his snow angel that he had been talking and talking about and the boys had fun sledding around the yard. It was sleeting a good bit, so it wasn’t the most fun snow to play in, so we headed inside and then it really started coming down. We probably had about 8 inches by bedtime! It was pretty and we had that one big snow and got to play, but now we are all ready for spring!