Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer!

We were blessed with awesome weather while we were in Kansas last week! The boys were even able to strip down and have a water gun fight! We spent most of Monday soaking up the sun at Nana and Joe's house.....we even squeezed in some Italian in Independence and some playtime at the Riverside park...this park has been there for a long time! My Mom even broke her arm at this park when she was a little girl!

The rolled up jeans, bare feet and no shirts were screaming Tom and Huck to me!

"Will Wash Cars for Candy!!"

Gabe soaking up some wonderful Kansas sunshine!

On your mark, get set, GO!! Racing down the slides at Riverside Park!

Lovin' Me Some Pork Chops!

So, for those of you who don't know, my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Lee are hog farmers, and while we were at their house for Easter we were taken on a tour! Their farm is huge...this is not just a couple of little piggies here and there...there are thousands of those stinky oinking things! We were given the WHOLE tour and I mean from the how they get the piggies pregnant to how they were born...the whole shebang! We were about 20 minutes late on getting to see an actual birth...I can't say I'm bummed....the aftermath was hard enough for me to stomach! I'm glad my aunt and uncle love their farm....because I love me some pork!

Here piggie piggie!

These yummy little pieces of ham were about 10 weeks old.....they were loud, stinky and scared!

Easter with the Seiler Side!

On Palm Sunday we spent the day with the Seiler side of our family! We haven't been able to make an Easter with them since moving to Washington, so this was extra special! This holiday also holds an extra special place in Shawn and my life as this was the place he hid my engagement ring in an Easter egg! So needless to say Easter at my Aunt Joyce's is always my favorite! The boys had a blast with their cousins running around on the farm, hunting for eggs and just being kids! I had a great time sharing laughs and inside jokes and stories with my cousins.....a wonderful group of gals who have known what it's like to wake up at the crack of dawn to pick blueberries and who are finally able to laugh about it 20 years later! I love this family and I can't wait to be closer to them again!

My Aunt Joyce always hides lottery tickets in the Easter eggs...well this year, Gabe was the big winner....$15 bucks!!! The money burned a hole in his pocket all week!

Grady could have cared less about the lottery ticket....he was lovin' him some big 'ol lollipop!


The Silly String Fight! Somehow, I ended up with silly string on me.....I guess it's the price you pay for getting good pics in the middle of the battle!

And those silly bunnies hid the eggs a little high....but no fear Grandpa Glen to the rescue!

And their off......Gabe and Jordan in the big hunt!!!

C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I said I was signing off for the next two weeks...well something oober exciting happened this evening that needed to be blogged! GABE WON THE SPELLING BEE!!! He and another boy went back and forth for probably 6 rounds, but in the end Gabe was the victor! He has worked so very hard and it paid off.....we are so extremely proud! He will go onto the districts on April the 14th....we'll keep you p-o-s-t-e-d! For real, see ya in a couple of weeks...unless anything else oober exciting happens!

HaPpY eAsTeR!!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know this is super early...but we are heading to Kansas tomorrow! We had to color those eggs early this year or they were not getting done!! We are so excited to be heading to Kansas....can't wait to see all of your smiling faces!! Wishing everyone else a HaPpY EaStEr...catch ya in a couple of weeks! Signing off!

Go Cart Time!

On Friday night, we spent the whole evening spoiling our Grady! Gabe had an all night sleepover birthday party, so we decided it was the perfect excuse to spoil Grady rotten! We started off the evening at Traxx, an indoor go cart race track....he thought this was AWESOME!! We was such a careful driver....the other little boy he was racing kept wrecking and Grady would just patiently wait for him to get corrected by the attendant and then just follow along behind him! After Traxx we headed down to Seattle for some California Pizza Kitchen...yummy! After dinner, we headed back north to grab some Cold Stone Creamery! I'm not sure who felt more spoiled Grady or us! What a fabulous evening with our favorite four-year-old!

Performance and Pancakes!

Saturday morning we headed off to a Kiwanis pancake breakfast! So, what may you wonder would get us out of our jammies on our usually lazy Saturday morning...why Gabe singing of course! The Picnic Point Choir (minus about 75%...I guess 8:00 on Saturday was not very inviting to most!) was asked to entertain for a little bit during the breakfast....they sang beautifully! They sang 6 or 7 songs plus one of my favorite songs "If You Love America Like I Do"....so I was singing along too! Just ask Gabe some time and I'm sure he would love to sing it for you....you'll be singing it the rest of the day! If your super lucky...maybe I'll join in too!

The Reptile Man!

Brave Grady petting the Burmese Python from the other side of the chair!

On Thursday, the Reptile Man came for a visit to Grady's school! Grady had the chance to see lots of neat reptiles like a gila monster, Diamond Back rattlesnake, a miniature alligator, desert tortoise and even a Burmese Python! He is becoming a lot less afraid of lots of things..so this was actually pretty enjoyable this year!

Taking a ride on the tortoise!

How about giving the alligator a little pat??!!

Happy Spring!!!

Last night the boys and I decided to do some baking! Grady has been wanting to use these cookie cutters he found for quite some time, but I didn't feel Easter Bunnies, Eggs, and Spring Chicks were appropriate for Christmas! So with Easter and the official start of Spring in the near future...we busted them out and did some baking! Happy Easter Everyone!!

Okay....look past the underwear shot, and enjoy the beautiful and extremely yummy finished product!!! The boys have decided clothing is optional after 7:30!!

Grady is carefully placing little eyes on all of the bunnies! It was so cute watching him....they had to be perfect....he is usually not the perfectionist, but bunny faces must be a different story!

Gabe loved cutting out the cookies! Usually he is not the "baker" type...he usually leaves that to Grady and I, but today he was quite the little helper!

Manly Things!

On Saturday, I went out for a Girl's Day with one of my greatest friends, Carla! We had a fantastic time going to a movie, lunch, shopping and most importantly gab time! But, while I was out doing my girlie things...my fabulous fellas were out enjoying some Manly Time! They did some metal detecting, fishing and went to a gold and mineral show!
After metal detecting for a little while the decided to do some illegal fishing on the river...oops! Thankfully before the police officers told them, a nice fellow in a boat told them fishing was illegal until March 1st....only a few days off, right?!

They decided to get legal, so they headed back to Monroe and had some Taco Time and went to a gold and gem show!

Both of the boys talked Dad into some gold nuggets, but Gabe came away with the best prize of all! He decided to spend his own money on an "S" Quarter from the year 1912! Well, now for those of you who do not know the significance of the year 1912.....where have you been??!! Just kidding...but for those of you who know Gabe, he is a history buff...especially for a kid of his age...he has this crazy way of remembering EVERYTHING...but has really taken to history of the Titanic! Well, 1912 is the year the Titanic sank...so that is the importance of this to Gabe! He bought the quarter for 8.00, but when him and Shawn got home they googled it, and they found a quarter that appeared to be the same that was worth $65.00....who knows!
I'm so glad my guys had a great day doing Manly Things!