More Friends and Rain

Last week, Dylan and I did a lot of yard work. We did some hedging and weeding, etc. Then while Dylan was at preschool, I went and got some mulch and flowers. Thursday after preschool, I put down the mulch and most of the flowers. Then when Blake got home from school, the boys helped me plant the rest of the flowers. It was a great workout lifting all the mulch around our yard...but I was glad when that was done...except that I needed to get some more mulch.

Aaron got home Friday night from his trip 10 minutes before our friends arrived at our house for dinner. They are big U fans so that made for some interesting conversations. They have 2 girls. One is in 2nd grade and Blake is way taller then her and then they have one in kindergarten and Dylan is taller then her. They are cute kids and now we are BFFs...these girls and I. They came up to me before Sacrament, before Primary and every day after school they find me to say hi. Even though they are U fans, we still like them. She is our pianist in primary and she makes awesome cakes so we will keep them around.

Saturday morning, our babysitter came over and watched the boys while we went to the temple. When we got back, we went to Home Depot for round 2 of mulch. We then came home and laid it all out. Done.

Sunday morning Aaron left for Chicago. He left early so I wasn't able to go to ward council..oh darn. Dylan gave the prayer in Sharing Time. The Sunbeams are adorable. I may be a little biased because one of my kids is a Sunbeam, but these 3-4 year olds are super cute...way cuter then the 11 year olds who are graduating.

On Monday, Dylan had Austin over. He is from his preschool and is super shy. His teacher was telling me that Dylan is the only kid who Austin will talk to and play with. His family also just adopted twins so thought it would be good for him to come over. Monday morning it rained...a lot. Crazy crazy rain. The good news is that we actually have water in our lakes now. We have had so much rain lately that they MIGHT let us water 2 times a week starting in May. As a reminder we can water 2 times a month right now and during the winter we weren't allowed to water at all. Interesting how our stake president had our stake do a special fast for rain months ago when we were in serious drought trouble. Those prayers have been answered.

But it cleared up enough and the boys were able to play outside.

And look for potato bugs.

Day with Lacie

A couple days after Easter, we had Lacie over for a playdate. We went to the park.

And they did lots of eating. These 3 year olds eat so much. Dylan and Lacie play together so much that not they are getting to be like brother and sister where they really play well together and like one another and then they each know how to get on one other's nerves. Aaron was gone that week in Houston so it was nice to have Dylan have a friend over so that I could get some stuff done. I dragged him around town the day before dropping off some birthday party invites and doing some primary stuff so he welcomed a friend the next day.

Happy Easter

Sunday morning the boys found a letter from the Easter Bunny inviting them on an Easter adventure. It was fun this year because Blake could read all the clues. (Note: we ate breakfast first which proved to be a brilliant idea because Dylan has to eat immediately after waking up otherwise he basically dies...okay, just super unpleasant....and he didn't need to eat all his candy this way.)



They first were sent to the pantry where they found their baskets.






The next clue sent them to their costumes where they found some candy and another clue.


They next were sent to the garage, but only found their next clue.


Which took them to the dining room where they found some candy and another clue.


The clue sent them to the media room where they went on an Easter Egg hunt.








They also found their last clue that sent them to the guest room.

Where they found a special surprise.


That was immediately played with.





They played until they got hungry so we made our snack of Resurrection Rolls. These have become a tradition in our family. It is a great way to teach about what happened to Jesus' body, etc.

We then watched Conference and had some yummy dinner. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

I don't have any brains!

We were playing on the new trampoline on MLK day.  I had the day off.
The kids wanted to play Zombies.  So, that means one of us is a zombie so he goes around with his arms out, slowly walking towards the non-zombies and saying "Me eat brains".  You know, like zombies do.
Well, I was the designated zombie and I started walking towards Dylan.  I knew my lines well enough, so I started in on them, "Me eat brains."
Dylan starts running away and says, "No, I don't have any brains. "
Blake, Michelle and I, of course, broke character, so we could laugh.

Then when Dylan was the zombie, he started "eating" Michelle's knee.  Apparently, some are gifted with brains in their knees.  Go figure.

Aquaman's Wet Underwear Gets a Thumbs Down

For regular readers of the blog, you know we try to stick to a pretty detailed night time schedule with the boys.  One of the questions we ask Dylan daily is if he was able to keep his underwear dry that day.  So last week, during this routine I asked Dylan, "Buddy, did you keep your underwear dry today?"  
He quickly responded, "Yes."
I then gave him "the look" as he had a small accident earlier that day.
I followed-up my look with, "Well, buddy it was wet today, remember, how did your underwear get wet then?"
He gets this real innocent / confused look and says, "Well I didn't, Dad.  I guess it was magical."

The boys like to play a game where they ask us what the name of a super hero is "when he takes off his costume"  We were playing this game the other day and Blake asked,"Dad, what's Aquaman's name when he takes off his costume?"
I ask you, what well adjusted father actually knows the name of Aquaman's secret identify?  I know most of them, but apparently need to brush up on some.
I responded with, "Hmm, I don't know buddy. That's good one."
He immediately responded with, "Well ask Google.  Google will know."
Not sure about you, but I know when I was five I didn't think to ask Google for answers.  Faith in Google, is that a thing?

Michelle and I created a way to get the boys (mainly Dylan) to be reverent during prayers.  Of course, like most parents, we've given the guidance of bowing your head, closing your eyes, folding your arms, etc.   So at the end of each prayer, depending upon how well they've done we give them a thumbs down, a thumbs up or if they are really good two thumbs up.  This has gone on for a while (probably 6 months) so, we're fairly used to it.  However, when we have family or friends over, they ask a few questions when the thumbs pop out after we have a prayer over dinner.
So, last week, I went to get Dylan from his Sunbeam (Sunday School) class and maybe for the first time ever I was there before the teachers were done with their lesson.  I peaked through the window as the class was wrapping up and the prayer was beginning.  Dylan didn't see me as I watched him fold his arms, bow his head, and close his eyes.  Oh what a proud moment, right?  However, shortly after the prayer started, Dylan peaked his eyes through his folded arms and started squirming in his chair as he looked at his classmate.  I moved around to see through the window that his classmate didn't have her head down, arms folded, or eyes closed.  I looked back at Dylan, who's hand shot out with his thumb down.  He then quickly closed his eyes and bowed his head but kept his thumb down.  I, of course, laughed, Trying to be reverent while "letting her know she wasn't".  To the uninitiated, Dylan's actions made little sense, I can only imagine if others saw this little guy during a prayer trying to be reverent but with his hand out and thumb down.  Classic Dylan.

Easter Activities

Saturday morning, we went to Home Depot for the monthly project. We found out there was an Easter Egg hunt there, but we missed it by about 2 minutes. We came home, ate and then headed over to an Easter Egg hunt that our city was putting on. It was huge with so many people. It was very similar to the hunt we did last weekend at our HOA clubhouse, but on steroids. They also had a train, an Easter bunny, bounce houses, rock climbing wall, etc. There was also a place to jump rope, which the boys did. They didn't really want to do anything.

But they did want to do the Easter Egg Hunt. They brake up the kids into age groups because it is a free for all. They get each age group onto the soccer field.

They wait until all the kids are there and then they count down from 10 and  then everyone runs onto the field and collects as many as they possibly can...no limit.

There are a ton of eggs.


Dylan went first. Good thing he had his gloves?! It was a little cooler then it has been, but not cold...he didn't want to wear a sweatshirt though and apparently thought gloves would help make him the perfect temp? He had fun getting lots of eggs with those gloves.

Then we had to clear the field so they could put the next batch of eggs out for the next group of kids. They have trash bags full of eggs and poke a hole in the bag and dump them out as they drive on the golf cart. Then they use the leaf blower to spread them out a little more. Not sure the leaf blower was totally helpful, but it was fun to watch.

Then it was Blake's turn.




We had to coach them a little to just keep grabbing eggs and then once they were all done we would open them. Lots of kids got distracted by the candy inside.

They got a good stash.

Then we came home and colored some eggs.

After coloring some eggs, we watched Conference. What a fun day!

Fairy Tale Ball

Friday, the Kindergarten classes at Blake's school had a Fairy Tale Ball. This was to celebrate finishing their fairy tale course. How could fairy tale stuff possibly be helpful? Well, aside from learning what the definition is and having them be creative and write their own fairy tales, they also learned manners and how to be proper...like some fairy tales also include.

My mom made this dinosaur costume for my brother for Halloween years ago. Blake had the idea of using the dinosaur costume and using it as a dragon. I didn't spend anytime putting together a costume. Good thing my mom hung onto these costumes that she worked so hard on. He wore it the entire day...even during recess, PE and sitting in his chair with his big tail. He had a fun day.

Dylan really wanted me to play the Batman Lego game on Xbox with him. I don't love to play this game, but the boys love it and it is fun to do something that they really enjoy doing with them.

Preschool Easter Program

 Thursday Dylan had an Easter program at his preschool that the parents were able to attend. Several kids were gone, but it was still fun except Dylan didn't sing all the songs.





I got to hide the Easter Eggs and then the kids came out to find them.



He had so much fun.

After school, we had our friends Brexton and Macie and their baby brother Brian, over to play. After they left, the boys ate and then I went to dinner with some friends from church for a girls night out. It was fun. Cambria organized it all and her mother in law happened to be in town so I was able to meet her. There were 10 of us which was the perfect size.

More Fun

Tuesday afternoon, we watched Beckett and Kelsey while their mom was at her doctor appointment. Her appointment went long, so they came with us to pick up Blake from school and then we played on the playground until her mom was home.

Wednesday we went to the library. We had some rain in the morning so it was busy day at the library. Following the library we went to Costco. Dylan still had plenty of time to play and be silly and put together his own superhero costume.

Park with Friends

Monday Dylan and I met up with his friends Lacie and Sophie at the park. Sophie and her family were leaving a couple days later for their house hunting trip in Arizona. So sad to see them go, but we are trying to have fun while  they are still here.