Chivalry at Four..

Hayden is such a sweet little boy. Almost every time we go outside he picks one of the purple petunias from our front flower bed to give to me. "I picked a flower for you, Mom," I sweetly hear. He remembered after so long ago his Daddy taught him to pick a flower for his Mommy. It always stuck with him. I think he always longs for the smile it brings even after sometimes difficult days. I kept meaning to post about this long ago but this was the first night I was able to get a picture with him holding the flower. He likes to see me tuck in my hair behind my ear. Little E is even starting to catch on but I think he just appreciates ripping a flower out of the flower bed without being told no - he he. I am so thankful they have such a wonderful Daddy who is setting a good example and teaching them how to someday treat their own wives.

Oh, Brother!!!

As with all siblings, we love one another but drive each other crazy sometimes. As little E gets older and is more able to play with his brother and his treasured belongings, the frustration on both sides is emerging more and more. One minute they are chasing each other laughing, the next minute and I am hearing screaming and crying as one of them flees to Mommy for resolution.
Unfortunately my little E without proper verbal skills at this age has picked up biting as a way to communicate anger towards his brother. I understand this is common in toddlers of this age but I have not dealt with this before - Of course Hayden did not have an older brother to antagonize and take away toys he wants to play with so badly. I am working hard with my boys to teach Evan to not bite but also teach Hayden not to tease or run after things he sees Evan going for. It is definitely challenging but I am confident we will get through this stage hopefully very soon.
Getting to the point of my post -Hayden was at least able to provide me some unintentional comic relief today during one of their "encounters". They were building together sweetly a fun little tower with their "Pop'ems" (kind of a baby version of legos) when all of a sudden things went suddenly downhill. Evan decided it would be fun to knock over the beautiful tower they had just built together. I saw rage come over Hayden's face as he yelled,"Mommy, WE PICKED OUT THE WRONG BABY!" It took everything I had not to laugh. I started to explain again that we did not just pick Evan out at the hospital and that God had given him a very special brother to love forever. He stills just thinks we got him from the doctor's office. (I think Hayden totally forgot about me ever being pregnant.) Before I could even finish Hayden tells me, "Mommy, we picked out the baddest baby!" This is as he sees Evan going back for round 2 of knocking down their great little tower. This of course led to a whole other heart to heart discussion between Hayden and I but I had to get this little blurb out there....It cracks me up some of the things he comes up with.
With all that being said, I can see their love growing for each other each and everyday.

These beautiful photos were taken by my friend, Tammy.
I will treasure them forever!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday we went to the 8 am service at church and then headed to Grandmommy and Granddaddy's (a.k.a. Greg as Hayden has decided) for a lovely Easter dinner and fun.

Hayden and Grandmommy decided to try out some kite flying. The wind couldn't decide whether or not it wanted to blow so there was quite a bit of kite crashing involved but Hayden had a great time with it. The Texas jersey was a "faux coat" as it was a bit cold out that afternoon.
I was a bit disappointed I splurged on Easter outfits at my favorite store but ended up covering them up with their Christmas sweaters! I wish I would have known ahead of time I could have gotten a 2 fer on that deal - ha!

How cute am I?

Hayden is an old pro at Easter egg hunting.
Evan is partaking in his first Easter Egg hunt.
This is a fun game!
The boys enjoy sitting down to open their eggs and enjoy and explore the yummy treats inside.

Evan devoured his first taste of M&M's and Hayden learned that he was to give them to Evan just "one at a time" as he reminded me later this week. Hayden is so great in helping me watch out for little E.

The Dying of the Easter Eggs

Saturday Grammy came over and we had a great time with Hayden dying Easter eggs while little E napped. Hayden enjoyed picking the colors we would use next and loved watching the little color tablets dissolve in the water.

These are not just any Easter eggs, but "Cars" Easter eggs from his favorite movie!
Picking out the perfect stickers to decorate the eggs is a very important task.
Grammy helps Hayden perfectly place his Cars stickers.


Hayden poses with his masterpiece.

My Little Bookworm

I am excited that while Hayden has known his letters for a while, he has finally developed the interest in wanting to learn to read. It is great how he picks up books, any book and wants me just to sit and "read the words" as he says. He likes to point out the letters and make the associated sound. Sometimes he instructs me on how he wants to read. Sometimes he wants me to say the letter and he makes the sound or vice versa.
I got a little too excited the other day when I thought he read Starbucks but quickly realized children are pretty darn good with identifying logos :-)
That book pictured on his head, TouchPoints of Hope, was one that he wanted me to read him the other day. Thinking that he would quickly tire of a book without pictures I was surprised to find after several minutes of reading page after page as he sat next to me on the couch he did not lose interest. I stopped after a chapter and he told me to "keep reading, Mom." It was great for Mommy too because the chapters I was reading just happened to be things that Mommy needed to nurture her soul that day.

It Is Spring!

So spring is definitely upon us....

This past Sunday we attended an outdoor Sunday service at The Springs, a church started by one of Steve's best childhood friends, Joel Halpin, who is Pastor of the church. They had the fun idea of having Easter eggs dropped from a helicopter!

The Easter bunny first drops in for a hello before the big egg drop.
Joel and the bunny get the crowd excited about the festivities.

It turns out the helicopter frightened little E.

Just part of the 5,000 eggs that were dropped from the helicopter.

My sweet friend Rachel invited us to the Arboretum on Monday to share a nice morning with friends and fun chasing the kids around and to enjoy the beautiful spring flowers.


Hayden had NO interest in having his photo taken at the Arboretum. I had anticipation of getting some great photos in his Easter attire but he just wasn't having it and technical difficulties with my camera didn't allow for any great photo ops that day but it was a fun time none the less!

Sweet friends holding hands - Maddie, Hayden, Mia, Owen, and Ally.

Beautiful Mia.
Evan grabs a banana during lunch and enjoys listening to Kindermusik at the Arbo.
Precious Noah thoroughly enjoys his lunchtime applesauce!

Cute little Will.
Ally is a GREAT "prop setter" for their Mommy, Julianne.

Then there was Wednesday night at home.....



This was little E sporting his cute little boy overalls in the front yard just running up and down the sidewalk having a blast. It is nice to be outside again after the cold weather.

A Beautiful Snow

Daddy, Hayden, and Lizzie begin making a snowman.


Who knew that Girl Scout thin mint cookies could double as Frosty's eyes?



Lizzie and Brinkley equally are in awe of the snow.

Monday Night Snow

So we opted out of getting the boys up Monday night but Steve was up with them early and he grabbed some pictures of them delighting in the snow.
Steve and I were able to enjoy watching the snow fall for a while late Monday night. Steve ventured out for a moment (in his short sleeved shirt - crazy man!) not to play but to scrape the snow off the satellite. He was not going to let a little snow get in between him and his DirecTV!


This was Evan's first time to venture into the snow. He thought the snow slide was quite fun!

Hayden explains to his little brother the art of a snowball.

Hayden was so disappointed when I picked him up from school for him to discover the snow had melted. I told him the sun had melted it and I was a little sad to see it go too. He told me he was going to get a hot air balloon and go up into the clouds (where he envisions that God resides) and tell God to take the sun away. Of course that led to a whole other conversation about why we need the sun that God provides but I did find his solution of the melted snow a bit entertaining.