Special Day at School

All dressed up for the special day!

School Egg Hunt

Driving the truck on the playground.

Thursday was a special day at Isaac's school...they got to wear their Easter best, instead of their uniforms. Isaac was a little confused by this, but he went with it. They had pictures first thing in the morning, and then an egg hunt on the playground. I volunteered to help hide the eggs, so I got to spend some time in the classroom with Isaac while I waited for everyone to bring in their eggs. It was fun for me to see him interact with the other kids and to see how the morning goes at school. Then another mom and I headed out to hide them. It took us about 3 times longer to hide the eggs then it did for them to find them, but it was so worth it and so fun! I'm so thankful I was there on that special day!

*A funny side note...Carl came to pick me up from the school because we were headed to a meeting, unfortunately, the pictures ran a little behind, so Isaac was out front taking a class picture when Carl got there. He quickly parked, and texted me, I told him we still had to hunt, so he decided he'd go run a quick errand and then come back. He waited for Isaac to go in before he left. One of the first things Isaac said to me after school was, "Daddy came to school today, too. I saw his truck. Why was Daddy here?" Oh goodness, the boy knows his vehicles!

Easter Weekend

Pancake Brunch at the church.

Church Egg Hunt

My Sweet boys...their first Easter together!

All 4 of us!

Luke loves his new lamb!

Easter morning

The hunt is on!

Luke found his first egg...and he's content with just one.

So many eggs to find!

Luke and Mariah got a few eggs and they are happy on the porch...if only they could keep Tex from eating all the cheerios!

Happy Birthday Daddy! (a week early, I know)

Boys and their toys!

Carson loves hanging out with my little one, and as you can see Luke loves him!

Our Easter weekend was full of rest, fun, family, and friends. It was a fabulous weekend to celebrate our Risen Lord. I struggled with explaining Easter to Isaac; I don't want him to think it's all about the Easter bunny and Easter eggs, but I do want him to enjoy the fun traditions of the holiday. I finally decided to give him a basic explanation, which I don't think he understood, but I tried, and then we enjoyed the bunny and egg hunts.

Saturday morning we started the weekend off with a Pancake brunch and Egg Hunt at the church where he goes to school. We weren't sure what to expect, and Isaac was really confused about going to his school, but not seeing his teachers or going to the classroom. It turned out great though! The event started with a yummy pancake breakfast, then a talk about the meaning of Easter, and an adorable puppet show about Easter and preparing for the Egg hunt. Isaac really enjoyed all of that. Of course, the Easter bunny made an appearance, and Isaac did great with that, he didn't want to go near him, but he waved to him and wanted to know where he was at all times. Luke enjoyed people watching and munching on a banana and even had some nibbles of a pancake. Next, we headed outside or the 4 year old and under egg hunt. I had planned on letting Luke down to grab some eggs, but it was too crowded, so he stayed in Daddy's arms and watched the bigger kids swoop up the eggs. Isaac found a friend from his class, so they stood together waiting for the hunt to start...while waiting his friend reached out to hold his hand, it was precious seeing them stand together like that. I'm so thankful he has made some friends at school! The hunt was fast and furious, but Isaac came away with a few eggs, and he enjoyed it. After the hunt we let the kids run free a bit, and found 4 more of Isaac's classmates! It was fun to see them interact and see who Isaac was drawn to. It was also great to meet some of the other parents.

Saturay evening we went to the Crews' house to celebrate Samantha's 5th birthday! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the big party, but it was a fantastic time! Isaac ran around, played with the other kids, adults, and jumped his heart out in the bounce house and trampoline. He also drove around in her power wheels car as much as he could, he had to share and was too shy to ask for his turn. Luke had fun crawling on the patio, the trampoline, and watching all the fun. I can't believe sweet Samantha is 5, gosh the years fly by! She is such a good hearted, spunky, fun, all girl, princess! I love her and am so thankful we get to watch her grow.

Sunday we decided to sit out of the church service due to Luke being a little under the weather and I wasn't feeling too great, either. We had planned an Easter party at our house for that evening so we spent the day at home preparing. The Easter bunny did suprise the boys with a basket for each of them, which included a book, some bubbles, and a toy. Sunday afternoon all of our family joined us here for an egg hunt, a yummy pot luck type dinner, and a celebration of Carl's upcoming birthday. It was a wonderful evening, the weather was perfect so we sat outside and let the kids play. I'm so thankful to live so close to family and get to spend the holidays together.

First Bike Ride

Isaac has gotten really good at riding his tricycle, so this evening I decided to take him for a walk/ride. He did great! He pedaled the entire way and I never needed to push him. He was so excited to be biking in the street. I'm so proud of him...he is growing up so fast!

11 Months

For some reason he was not interested in sitting with his bear yesterday.

Running away from the bear in his bed. Learning to walk! The auto is his favorite toy these days! It's so hard for me to believe that Luke is already 11 months, he will be one next month...it's just crazy! He has developed and changed so much this month, his little personality is showing more and more, and he has grown some, too!

• Luke went to the doctor last week and was up to 16 pounds, which means he gained a pound in about 6 weeks...yay!


• I still nurse him twice a day and he gets a bottle twice a day. He is drinking more milk these days, and has increased the amount of solids, too! The last few days we've been giving him more real food things, like pieces of cheese, peas, and bites of bread.


• He still adores Isaac, and of course wants to do everything big brother does. This is so cute, but doesn't usually end well...when he tries to get what Isaac has and Isaac doesn't give in Luke screams, which usually make Isaac scream, and although it's annoying it is also kind of funny. ;-)


• He crawls everywhere and fast! He even climbs the stairs, he would go all the way up if I let him.


• This week he has become very interested in walking, he holds our hands and walks, but if we let go he can stand alone but doesn't want to, so again, he screams. Ha! He walks behind his walker toy, Isaac's auto, and anything that will hold him and move.


• I've tried teaching him sign language, but so far he just laughs at me when I tell him to do it. Although one day last week Carl randomly asked him to do the sign for more, and he did it (well his version of it)!


• He is adventurous, yet cautious...and always has to have me near by when out and about. He is a mama's boy, but I am not complaining...one day I'll wish for these days back.


• He loves to hug and kiss. When playing he will crawl over to me, hug me, and then crawl back to his toys...so sweet!


• Luke's favorite toys are cars and trucks, he pushes them back and forth, over and over. He also enjoys reading books, and dancing to music.

My Luke is such a sweet, fun, and silly boy. I love watching him learn, grow, and try new things.

The Auto

As we all know, Isaac loves to drive his auto, but he is starting to get some competition these days. Luke has discovered the auto and is quite a fan. Carl put both of them in it together, and I am not sure who had more fun...it was precious!

Just me and my boys...

Yesterday I took the boys on our first big outing by myself; we went to the Houston Zoo! I was nervous leading up to it, could I really handle that all alone? Both boys in such a big place with no help, was it a dumb idea? Well, I am here to say, it was great! The boys loved the zoo, and both behaved great and made my job easy! I am so thankful for them! It actually was kind of a calm trip, it was nice to not worry about any one else's agenda or what others want to do...it was all about my little ones! Isaac really enjoyed all of the animals, but I think the giraffes and ducks were his favorite. Although, he really liked the elephants, too. We've been to a few petting zoos lately, so the first 30 minutes we were there he kept asking me if he could pet the animals...even the elephants! Silly boy! Luke was very chill all day, he spent the entire time in his stroller, except during lunch. He seemed to really like the animals, too, but I think his favorite part was watching Isaac play the drums in the African Forest.

After the zoo, we headed over to a friend's house for a playdate. We were kind of in her area, so we decided to stop by and visit. She has two boys, both born in February the same years as my boys, so they are only a few months apart. It was really fun to visit with her and the boys seemed to have fun playing together! Luke was exceptionally relaxed and enjoyed being around the other boys. Isaac had fun playing with his new friend, and really liked playing with his trucks. ;-)

It was a long day, but a fun filled one! I'm so thankful to spend this time with my sweet boys, they are such a blessing!

Camping 2011

Isaac focused during the hay ride.

Riding Redbird!

Playing in the tent with the girls...Adilyn and Kacy.

One of my favorite pictures from the entire weekend...walking out to fish.

Somebody caught a fish, and Isaac touched it!

Nothing sweeter than these moments.

Finally a four wheeler just his size!

Kacy and Luke were deep in conversation.

My sweet boys.

Driving Daddy's truck to the edge of the property.

This weekend was the annual camping weekend out at the Durante's place. In the years past we have gone out for the day, but never stayed the night. This year we decided to go for it...so we bought the tent, the air mattress, loaded up the family and headed out. We had the best day yesterday! There is not much that is more fun for family and friends than to hang out outside, enjoying all things dirty and out of the ordinary. The kids got to do so much that they don't get to do often, such as play in a huge dirt pile, ride a horse, go on a few hay rides, go fishing, and just run around free all day! It was the perfect day for both of my boys! I think Isaac and Luke would both gladly spend every minute of every day outside...so this was heaven! We started the day with a hay ride, driven by the tractor....oh how Isaac loved the tractor! Next, we checked out the dirt pile, and Isaac got dirtier than I've ever seen him get. He used to stay away from dirt/sand, but he's getting more used to it and played in it! There were some power wheels to play with, so of course he had to drive around the four wheeler and the truck. Then, we headed over to check out Daddy's progress on the tent, it looked great! We put Luke in it, and he had so much fun crawling around free! Two of his friends joined in, and they had the best time laughing and playing! Oh, there was also some horse back riding during this time, as soon as he saw the horse Isaac said, "I want to ride it." I was a little surprised by this, but he was right, he wanted to ride, he had no hesitations! I am so proud of him! After dinner we headed over to the ponds to do some fishing, Isaac had been waiting all week to fish with his new fishing pole! He was so excited, and he did pretty well! Although it was hard for Carl to handle Isaac's inability to leave it in the water and wait for a fish to bite. So of course he didn't catch anything, but he didn't care he just wanted to cast and reel it in. Luke and I sat back and watched them fish, and I have to say it was one of the sweetest moments to see Daddy and his son enjoying this new experience together. These are the moments I live for! After the fishing we headed back to camp to get ready for the night. As soon as I walked in the tent, Luke said, "NO WAY, MAMA, I'm not sleeping in here." I tried to convince him otherwise, but he cried so loud and long that even Isaac said, "Tell him to stop crying, he's scaring me." So, I made the decision to take Luke home. I didn't want us to be responsible for keeping everyone awake. Our truck was blocked in, but thankfully we have some awesome friends, so I borrowed a friend's truck and we headed home. He slept like the sweet baby he is as soon as we got home. And I slept pretty good, too! We headed back out to camp this morning to pick up the big boys and help clean up camp. When I got there I found a happy big guy, he loved sleeping in the tent! Carl says Isaac slept great, he rolled all over the tent, but During this time Luke discovered Adilyn's little four wheeler. Isaac drove it around a lot (of course, he loves anything with wheels), but this morning he drove it over close to Luke, and boy was Luke excited! It was so precious to watch as Isaac got off of it, and started to tell Luke all about it, starting with the wheels. Luke listened closely, and then slowly inched his way on to it. Isaac thought that was great and showed him how to drive it. Isaac and I helped Luke drive it around in a circle, and Luke's face lit up! Then he sat proudly on it as we all watched and snapped pictures. He accidentally pushed the button on his own, it went forward a little ways, and he didn't even seem phased by it! Looks like there might be another four wheeler driver in our future! After some morning fun and cleaning up it was time to head out. Isaac helped Daddy drive the truck to the front of the property, we said our good-byes, and then put a crying Isaac in the truck...he was not ready to leave. We cannot thank the Durante family enough for opening their property and hearts up to us all, we have made memories we will cherish for a lifetime! And we are already looking forward to the next campout!