A post dedicated to my little ham.

Here are just a few pictures I have taken of Hunter in the last month or so. He's growing so fast, and becoming such a big boy, and I feel like I need to capture these developmental moments as best I can, while I can. His voice is the most fun right now; he really learning to express himself in words, but he still has such a baby sound to his voice. I've tried to record some of his funniest moments. He's still uber cuddly, and whiny, because we box him into the baby role, but then he exerts his independance, and shows what kind of little boy he's going to be. He'll be 3 in a few weeks! Time flies!

I love his seriousness here.

Outside on his swing, hamming it up.

Inside on the sofa, being a ham, as usual.

He brought this whole big bowl outside all by himself.

He took one of my vintage towels and put on the table as a "table cloth" for his meal.

I'm such a lucky momma!

Sprinklers in April?

So hard to believe that less than a month ago we were making snowmen in this very same spot! We had temperatures up to 85F this last week, and the boys and I were so hot we pulled out the sprinkler. Here's Hunter running through.

Both boys.... and Hunter is not really that thin, I think he's screaming in most of these shots, so his ribs are showing.

We made the boys' slide into a waterslide, and a pool of mud formed at the bottom. Oh, and this lady bug tried to get into my pictures.

Needless to say, the near 90F temps didn't stick around. In due time, though, it will be this warm again. We've had tons of rain since this day. Tons...

Easter Fun

This Easter the bunny must have known we needed to go to see the family in Chicago on Sunday, because he visited us Saturday instead. He brought lots of chocolate, gadgets, water bottles, games, and more...


Ben's favorite find was "Molly," a Thomas the Tank Engine character.



Hunter loved this Diego puzzle and quickly figured out how to do it over and over again.

The EB also brought the boys these bug houses. They love their bug houses, and have been putting various bugs in them outside ever since.

Hunter also got this cool flashlight that makes fun outdoorsy sounds.

And of course, tons of chocolate.

Ben's chocolate "crossing." He's hilarious. We can tell him a hundred times it's a "cross," and he still calls it a "crossing."

Later, when it warmed up outside, the boys searched for Easter eggs in the yard.

I love my brother!

Just 4 young boys playing in the backyard.

Hope everyone had a nice Easter!

Mud and Outside Fun

One gorgeous March afternoon Theo, Jason, and Alyssa made me a wisteria arbor! I'm so excited to have some shade on this deck, and the wisteria has since been trained on it.

Dad and Hunter rest under the arbor.

This is Ben's girlfriend, McKenzie. They played in the mud together.

This is McKenzie's little brother, Evan, experiencing his first mud.

Here's McKenzie covered in mud, again.

You can see spring is in full swing here. We've been outside almost everyday. It's starting to warm up significantly, too. More to come, as usual.

Turns out I'm pretty good at Poker.

Theo and Jason have learned to play poker recently from a new friend we've made, another one of the pre-school dads who runs a local poker league. They've been playing at home, not for cash, just chips, and from a distance I admired the game and the fun they were having. I decided I needed to learn how to play. My dad loved poker, and I never had the chance to learn from him.

I learned, and although I often need reminders and help, I enjoy the game. One night I decided to play with everyone. The guys even put on their "poker" gear.

Here's Jason:

Later, Jason switched to Ben's goofy hat.

Theo:

Big Ben

Alyssa and I didn't need costumes. :)

And look who won! I played well enough to beat even the seasoned veteran, Ben. I was so tickled with myself. I may or may not have made three male "parts" to flaunt all my poker chips. I also may or may not have had a whole bottle of wine that night, too. ;) Good times.

Spring Fashion Show

The boys have been getting up very early, sometimes 3:30am, long before mom and dad open their eyes, and dressing themselves. I snapped a few pictures of their best outfits yet.
Here's Ben in a T-shirt, pj bottoms and snow boots.

Hunter in pajamas and cowboy boots, of course.

Hunter choses pajamas whenever he can. Here he's in a nice shirt with some clashing pajama bottoms.

Ben all dressed and ready for school in a hoodie, shorts, and tall black socks (with his crime fighting badge).

Hunter got a package from Tony, and he dressed himself in all the sponge bob wears he received. Two T-shirts, swim trunks and sandals.

Inspiring, eh? Kind of makes you want to go try on your craziest gear?