Luke's Preschool Program

Luke's end of year pre-school program was yesterday afternoon.  I was so proud of him!  He participated well and was clearly excited to be up on the stage!

You all know that I am NOT tech-savvy.  I can't figure out how to imbed the videos on Youtube.  I used to know how...  Anyway, I had to just post links to the videos Amber took for me during his program.

Each child said their name and what they want to be when they grow up.  Up until a week ago, Luke said he wanted to fix power lines when he grew up.  Apparently he has different plans now.

Luke's introduction

The next 2 videos are songs that all the kids sang together:

5 Little monkeys song

Nursery rhyme song

And now for a few pictures of the program.  This is Luke waiting for it to start:

In between the various children's introductions Luke made some pretty great faces as he fidgeted until it was time to sing again.  I think watching him during these moments was the funniest thing of all:

He was pretty cute singing the songs as well:

Great job, Luke!

Giant Band-aid

Not totally sure how to explain why this is 
NOT a band-aid...

A Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Jared's parents recently finished a 2 year mission to Germany.  When they arrived in the States they took care of a few things and then headed out to see their kids.  We were so happy to have time with them!  They spent Sunday-Wednesday with us during the last full week of April (about 2 weeks ago.)  Here's a recap of our adventures:

On Sunday, after church, we drove across the street to a little park that has a pond.  The boys drove the remote control boats and cars that one of Jared's friends had given us.

Monday was packed full of fun.  In the morning Micah stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa while Luke went to OT.  Micah met with his Behavior team while Luke was at school, and then after school we went to the zoo.  This is the only picture from our zoo trip that turned out very well:

Then we made dinner, ate, and had a family home evening lesson about birds and how they help us.  And then off to Sutherland (home improvement store) to pick out a bird feeder and birdseed.

We are watching the birds get fatter and fatter each day. 

We have to refill our feeder daily!

Tuesday was freezing and windy and more-or-less miserable.  We ran a few errands and then mostly played inside.

On Wed. morning, we had a tour of the federal court house.  Luke played hooky so he could spend more time playing with Grandma and Grandpa.  He read books with them and did some puzzles while Micah was sleeping, and then we went to John Stiff park to play.

Grandma and Grandpa left early, early Thursday morning, and ever since then the boys have been asking when Grandma and Grandpa are coming again.  What a wonderful visit!

Mommy Wisdom

After a week of potty practice with Micah, I firmly came to believe that:

1. Micah LOVES wearing his James underwear.

2.  He isn't bothered AT ALL by soaking himself in urine.

3. I absolutely, positively DO NOT know how to potty train.

Maybe we'll try again in a few months.

The Years Fly By

7 years ago today

I made the best decision of my life

when I married this wonderful man!

Plum Creek

This past weekend we went camping with our friends, The Moodys, to Plum Creek up by Lake Meredith.  We were so glad Todd new about this spot!  It's about an hour north of Amarillo in a much hillier, much greener, much prettier place than Amarillo.  PARADISE!  There was NO ONE else there.  We pulled into a little spot that had 2 sites (and that's all!), pitched our tents, and spent the BEST weekend relaxing with friends.  I wish I could show you our friends, but (I don't know how!) I actually didn't take any pictures of us together, even though we were together the whole time.  But here's what I did get:

Luke having a little snack

Micah driving the car while Jared set up the tent

Settling down for the night--

This was a bit uncomfortable.  Both boys climbed into the double sleeping bag with me.  Jared got kicked out to sleep on Luke's bed, and I was wedged between 2 sprawling little boys.  At least they were warm.  I woke up later that night with a TERRIBLE crick in my neck (from sleeping cramped and awkward) that kept me from turning my head at all for 2 very long days.

Climbing trees on Sat. morning

Hiding in the tent

WE LOVE CAMPING WITH OUR BOYS!

Silly Heads

I think pretty much everyone stuck underwear on their head at one time or another during childhood.

But not everyone has a mom sneaky enough to take a picture with which to embarrass her children later!

Egg Hunt

Gotta love an Easter Egg Hunt!

I love the look on Luke's face!

After church on Sunday we went to the Moody's house for dinner and a backyard egg hunt.  Lots of fun and laughs.  So glad we have our friends when we are far away from family!

Easter Party with the Higgins

Last Friday we had a little Easter party with Luke H. and his family.  We planned a pretty full evening. First, we had a delicious dinner together.  Then we dyed Easter eggs.

It was the Higgins family's very first time!

And then, since we skipped this fun tradition over Christmas, we decorated Easter bunny houses.  OUr boys did much better than expected at helping with their houses.  Luke did a great job putting sprinkles on his roof, and Micah did a great job staying in his seat and downing jelly beans like a champ!

So glad our Luke has this cute friend!

Camping

Over spring break weekend the weather warmed up and we decided to try a little camping trip in Palo Duro Canyon.  While I have to admit this trip went smoother than our last adventure in VA at Chickahominy, it was still a trip with our boys.  

When we arrived I pulled out the food and Micah sat at a table downing Sprite and Root Beer while Jared and I got the tent up.  Luke spent the time finding cactus, then dragging Micah over to look at the cactus and shouting at Micah, "Don't touch it!"  From the very beginning we were definitely the loudest site.  Once the tent was up and ready Luke did the air pump to blow up mattresses, and Micah drank some more Sprite.  But once everything was ready and put into place we headed out for a little hike.

It really was so pretty!

After our short hike we drove over to the bathrooms-- that's right.  Drove.  For some idiotic reason there were no restrooms in the camping area, just in the picnic area up the road.  I can bet there's a lot of pee in the dirt around the campsites.  Luke sprayed a few spots (and told his teacher all about it when he returned to school!)  Anyway, after the bathroom stop we headed back to our site to roast marshmallows and hit the sack.

The boys ready for bed:

It was a pretty good night, except that it was much colder than expected.  Micah fussed in his sleep quite a bit until we pulled him into bed with us.  Then he fell right into a deep sleep.  He woke up bright and early hunting for his blankets (at the top of his voice!) and singing (also at the top of his voice!) which woke Luke up (at the top of his voice,) and we decided we better head out before a lynching party was organized.  We drove over to the picnic area to eat breakfast and go for another walk before cleaning up camp and heading home.