Bedtime Stories with Photos

Thankfully, Will loves photos.  Historically he has asked me to print some pictures to have in his room.  He would use the printed pictures to tell stories.  The stories are so sweet, and since I totally want to encourage his love of photos and story telling, I printed 50+ pictures for him.

I give him a few every night to add to his stack (which he is now keeping in a treasure chest).  He gets excited to look at each picture and remember when what was happening when we took it.  One of his favorites is one with Jeff Brand during our visit to Chicago.  He and Jeff are standing in front of a metal crushing place/junk yard.  It's been fun to relive these memories!

This morning Will was putting all his photos out on the sofa to tell a story.  The story was about Jesus (played by Big Tex).  He told me that all the other pictures were Jesus's disciples.  Will said "Jesus took all his disciples over to the grass.  He had something very important to tell them.  He told them that it is time for him to go to Heaven."  And with that, Will took the photo of him with Big Tex and put it over his head.

It was just so sweet.  Made my heart melt a little. 

Can't wait to hear what story I will get tonight!

Tricycle

Katie figured out the pedals today on her tricycle!  She was going back and forth for quite a while - trying to keep up with her brother on the big wheel.  She did great! 

iPhone Photos

So often I forget about my iPhone pictures! Here is some of my favorites since Feb.

Will feels baby Hilton Brown (who has since arrived!)

Hiding in the fridge (I believe this is the same day Katie left her boppy in the fridge)

Waiting for her 2 year check up

Milkshakes at Smashburger!

Pony tails!

This grill doubles as a changing table

Will was so proud of this fort

Feeding the ducks

Swinging

Katie enjoying a gift for Caroline White - she wasn't sure she wanted to part with it!

Feeding her baby

The fence and this outfit are still blue.  Boo for Melissa and Doug "washable" paint!

Attempting to get the blue off their bodies

Will sees his cake for the first time

Will and the amazingly talented Colleen

Party time!

Best friends

 Katie loved Pump It Up

Easter baskets

Will and Katie decorated our bunny cake this year!

Dying eggs with Chad

So often Katie looks so big, so I LOVE the picture of her sitting at the table because you can see she really is little!

 "racing"

Ready for summer!

Outside fort (and you can still see the "washable" blue paint and "Will" on the deck in the lower left)

Hungry Hippos!

Bluebonnets

We were supposed to meet up with our friends to go see the bluebonnets, but my kids had an action packed Sunday and napped until an hour after we were supposed to leave!  So, we canceled the trip.

I had already told Will about it, so when he woke up he was so sad we weren't going.  So, since it was still so bright outside, we decided to go check it out.  At 6:45pm, we headed up to this bluebonnet patch.  These pictures were taken around 7:15pm - there was still so much light!

I didn't get my dream shot, but I thought these sibling shots were so sweet.  Looking forward to going again next Sunday!

 

Sunday in the Park

We had gorgeous weather here this weekend.  True Spring weather.  To celebrate, Will rode his big wheel to the park while Maddie rode her scooter and I pushed Katie in the stroller.  We had a great time playing and meeting up with Aunt Leen and Andrew!

Will loves wearing his cowboy boots - apparently they don't stop him from climbing on top of the monkey bars!

Katie loves to slide

Taste testing the bread for the ducks

Maddie and her huge bubbles!

Post Dinner Ride and Puddle Stomp

Will and Katie do not seem to mind the rain at all since it leads to puddles.  As Will said yesterday, "As soon as it stops raining, I am going to put my boots on and go stomp in the puddles!"

And so we did.

Katie loved it - probably her best puddle stomp so far.  Will decided it was a great time to also ride his big wheel, and next thing I knew he was riding through this muddy puddle.  He went through the puddle about five times, and he was soaking wet in the end.  I had to leave their clothes outside and run them right up to a bath.  Even his face had mud on it!

Towards the end of his bath, Will asked, "Can we go back outside and race in the mud now?"  He could have done this all night!

F O U R

Will is officially four.  He is loving his new number and things have changed quite a bit for him and for me.  He says things like "When I was three-and-a-half I didn't want to play soccer, but now that I am four, I do!"  It's like something changed for him overnight. 

I have even noticed some changes as well.  He seems a bit more grown up to me.  For example, last night he was in bed and I was downstairs.  I sneezed, and next thing I hear is Will opening his door, yelling "Bless you Mommy!" and then closing his door and going back to bed.  It was the sweetest.  Up until now, once his door was open, he required Chad or me to tuck him back in in order for him to go back to bed. 

On the same sleeping type note, Katie and I were playing out back while Will was still napping.  I guess we were a little loud, and so Will opened his balcony door and asked us to be a little quieter since he was still sleeping.  He shut his door and went back to bed. 

He is also the master negotiator.  He tripped down two stairs and let out some cries saying his foot hurt.  I could only imagine that it really did hurt!  I went to hug him, and he said "you know what would make me feel better?"  There was a little pause... then a smile... "candy!"

And I was the mom who was worried that my kid wouldn't like candy.