Thomas turns 5!

It's official!  Thomas is ready for kindergarten now that he is 5 years old.  He told me, "It's strange!  I am 5 now, but I still feel like I'm 3 years old!"  I'm not exactly sure what he meant by that, but it made me laugh.  For his birthday dinner Thomas wanted Macaroni and Cheese for dinner (the same thing I asked for as a kid).  He also loves grapes.  Edamame was not part of his list, but it got added by me.    

I think Thomas liked all of his presents.  Dave is the expert present buyer for the kids, and he pulled through once again.  Sam (and I) worked hard to make a picture book made by taking pictures of Lego picture books we have.  The story is a little hard to follow, but it's original!

Finally, a natural smile!  I love this picture!  And I love this boy!  Thomas is sweet and conscientious.  Just last week he used his money to buy a pack of gum for himself, and another pack for Sam, just because he wanted to make Sam happy.  That's pretty typical of him.  He's becoming a great reader and soccer player.  He's always been a great sleeper. :)  He is my cheerful sidekick when I have to run errands, and he does his best to keep his sister happy during those errands too.  Right now Thomas is brimming with self-confidence.  It's not uncommon to hear him say things like, "I'm so good at this!" or "Look what I can do!" or "My team was so good because of me!" without an ounce of guile or arrogance.  He's just purely excited.  He can throw a terrific tantrum if he's tired or hungry (My favorite one recently was because I folded his quesadilla in half rather than leaving it open face.  I think he yelled for more than an hour until he finally cried it out and felt better.)  But they are few and far between.  His loves right now are legos, hot wheels, strawberry milk, waffles, and mac'n cheese.  And screen time.  We feel so lucky to have this young man in our family!

The bliss of having a back yard!  You don't appreciate it until you've gone without it!  

I'm not too good at throwing parties, but kids are pretty easy to please.  I think they had fun.  And Thomas loved having friends over, and he loved the presents he got.

This little pool was a little cozy!  But the boys didn't seem to care.  

Dave, ever the good sport, was the target for the water balloons.  Of course, he was a target with  a good catch so he wasn't the only one getting wet.

I think I forgot to tell him to make a wish....

Hannah Mae turns 1!

This little girl has been bringing joy to our family for a whole year now!  She is so playful and fun.  What would we do without her?  She is a bundle of energy and keeps us on our toes.  She has a ready smile for anyone who will look at her.  She is about as pleasant as they come, with plenty of spice.

Opening a few birthday presents.  Luckily she didn't know it was her birthday or she might have objected to the six hour drive we took coming back from my parents' house.  She did pretty well, all things considered.  

Exploring this baby doll.  

Loving her birthday present.

Dave and Sam both had Good Friday off so we went mini-golfing!  Glow-in-the-dark mini-golfing, no less!

Miracle Man Dave got Mae to sleep while we were there.

Cutie!

Also for Easter weekend and Conference we had a visit from Jeff, Lizzi, Emma and Duke.  We love living close enough to spend a long weekend with these guys!

 Emma (can you believe those eyes?) and Thomas dying some eggs.

More egg-dying.

Giddy with greed. :)  Except Emma looks pretty composed. :)

And finally we took a trip to West Virginia for the blessing of John Weston Powell.  This can of sardines is a deluxe air-mattress filled with cousins getting ready to sleep.  Not a one of them ended up sleeping in that bed!  (Although little William did fall asleep in the bed, but eventually migrated to his parents' room like the rest of them.)  We also love living close enough to drive here on a long weekend!  Sam is already asking when we can go back (we've only been back a week).

Fabulous February

 Blue Eyes

 Back when shoveling the snow seemed exciting...

Hannah's meal time is a family affair. 

 Fun time with Hannah (named by Sam)

Thomas playing "Keep the balloon off the ground"

Um...Hannah wants to play a game (named by Sam).

Hannah is getting to be good at standing!

Thomas was playing with Hannah and she was giggling away.

Thomas and Hannah playing trucks. (by Thomas)

Thomas and Hannah playing Transport. (by Sam)

Shoveling the snow...back when it still seemed kind of exciting.

Sam, Thomas and Mommy shoveling the snow. (by Sam) 

Pajama party.

Sam has perfected the one-eyebrow-raise. 

Dave's Valentine's gift to me!

Snow, Snow, Glorious Snow!

Ah, winter.  My long, lost friend.  It's good to have you back again!

The good thing about the freezing cold weather last week is that this morning when it was 33 degrees out, it felt warm!  Sam (and I) forgot to take his snow pants to school this morning for outside recess and he said, "I think I'll be fine."

One of the great things about kids is that they make snow in the backyard a blast.

Thomas is looking Asian here. :)

Sam started out like this....

And ended up like this.

Yup, that's Sam's head sticking out there.  Who needs sand when you have snow?