all boy

Carhart, camo, fireman boots, and a drill.

Bugs

Evan: "there are bugs in my oatmeal"
Maddeck: "those aren't bugs Ev, they are flax seeds"

Whew ... Evan may have avoided flax seeds forever.

More wedding photos

The whole wedding party.

Head kids.

The 7 of us.

Our whole big family.

messy cupcakes; cute boys with the bride.

T-Ball Date Night

 Big appetite ... actually it was our fondue appetizer.

 Guys are in it.

 Girls are in it.

The T-Ball parents got the coaches a gift certificate to Pavz in Leavenworth.  We thought we may send a photo thank you card to the parents for the gift, but our group photos are ridiculous.  It was a great night out with the Wilkinsons.

Chat with Papa Jim

Maddeck: "Were you strong when you were in the army Papa Jim?"
Papa: "I am still strong ... want to see my muscles?"

The boys think it is pretty cool that Papa was an "army guy".  They were asking if he got the bad guys and if had to go to battle.  I think I will need to have Papa show them the pictures he took in Vietnam so they can hear it from the "army guy" himself.

Tough Boy

I was working in our garage when I saw Evan crash on his bike on our driveway.  He hurt his knees and palms of his hands.  He made a wincing face and looked like he was going to cry.  He came into the garage a moment later and said ...
"Mom, I crashed on my bike and hurt myself and I didn't even cry.  I am a tough boy".
I am pretty sure he would not have been a "tough boy" if I were standing on the driveway when he crashed.  It is nice to know that he can suck it up when he tries.

Not relevant to the post about being tough, but cute nonetheless.  

Last Day

Today is Maddeck's last day at The River Academy.  It has been an awesome year and Maddeck has grown in knowledge, maturity, and his faith.  I loved his teachers and all the little ones in his class.  We are so sad to see him leave the River, but so incredibly thankful and blessed to have given him his first taste of school at such an amazing place.

Play Set

The boys are up early and already playing outside thanks to the first warm days of the year (84 degrees yesterday) and our new play set we got yesterday!!!!!  The boys are fed, dressed, and outside by 8 AM this morning.  We got the play set on craigslist for a steal of a deal.  I am so thankful that the boys have something to play with in our yard because we don't live in walking distance of a playground.

The play set has monkey bars, rings, climbing wall ladder, see-saw (needs a couple nuts to install it), infant seat, and regular swing (need to get it from the seller still).  It is going to get a lot of use over the years.  Miles LOVES the slide.

Boy Talk

I overheard the boys talking yesterday ...
Evan: "I am going to get taller like my Dad."
Maddeck:  "I am going to get tougher like my Dad."

Photos from Grandparent's Day

I had to scan them so the quality isn't great. They were too cute not to share.  

T-Ball Photos

The Taffy Shop Tigers

Evan Quote

"I can't find Maddeck.  He is lost and now we need to get a new Maddeck."

Robin Hood Hats

We made Robin Hood hats today out of paper shopping bags and construction paper.  Each hat has a blue and green feather made out of construction paper and a little glue.  It was a quick and fun project.  The boys ran around outside with sticks and took turns being Robin Hood and Little John.  They came inside early because it was "too wet".  We had a huge rain storm last night and the ground was still saturated this afternoon.

  

Grandparent's Day

Today was Grandparent's Day at The River Academy.  All the Grandparents were invited to go to school for the day and hang out in class, go to recess, have snacks, take pictures, and attend an all school assembly.  Maddeck was so pumped up!!  It was really special.  After the assembly we went out to lunch at Red Robin and Kyle was able to join us.  The headmaster from Maddeck's school was sitting a few tables down from us at the restaurant so Maddeck was able to say hello.  He asked me, "Does Mr. DeVries work here?"  I think he was thrown off a little to see him outside of school.

Snacking

Miles has been snacking on crayons.  I found him with bits of turquoise crayon around his mouth yesterday.  As I was fishing the crayon out of his mouth, big brother Evan finished off eating his entire blue crayon.  WHAT!?!  Evan eats crayons!?!  When I asked him why he ate a crayon his answer was simply "I don't know."  I discovered that crayons are non-toxic and shouldn't bother him.  Evan must have seen Miles and decided to give crayons a taste.  I am shocked he ate an entire crayon though.