Chaos is Sleeping: May 2011

A few more pictures...

The boys get some Valentine treats.

Aaron gets a big boy bed...insert sobbing sounds from Momma.

Making Star Wars cookies with Mimi and Pops.

Aaron plays with dried beans and pasta while Elliott does his lessons (brilliant!).

Big brother reads a favorite library book to little brother.

Elliott loses another tooth - #4!

Elliott tries on his new Pilot Luke costume.

My baby is 6. Elliott is a great kid, and I am so proud of him. He is 48" tall and weighs 46 pounds. He will probably be taller than me by his next birthday! And can you even believe this bear picture? Where is the little blond-haired, chubby-cheeked boy that I used to photograph with that bear?

On Elliott's birthday we took off from school and went to lunch at Chick-fil-a and then to the Discovery Center. Matt worked a half day so he could join us. The boys had a great time, and on the way home we picked up Elliott's buddy Caleb for his first sleepover.

Elliott opened some presents. Another Lego set...

and a knight costume.

The birthday boy got to choose our dinner and dessert on his special day, so after a tortellini dinner we celebrated with apple pie. (I think we may be raising a little old man in a 6 year old body - the boy loves pie.) The boys watched Star Wars and played with Legos before camping out in Elliott's room for the night. They did great - those two boys like their sleep!

The weekend after E's birthday, we had a party at Pump It Up for our family and friends. The kids (and some adults) bounced and climbed the rock wall. And then we had cake in the party room. Matt has a picture of the cake decorated with Darth and Luke on his phone since my camera battery died. Boo! I was really bummed that I forgot to check the camera battery before the party, but it didn't seem to stop any fun. The kids seemed to have a great time, and I know the Birthday Boy enjoyed himself. Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Soccer time

Elliott is playing soccer again this spring. His new team is called the Robot Monsters. He's really having fun this season and participating a lot more than he did last year.

There he is - number 13.

And kicking the ball in to his teammates.

What we've been doing this spring

Hanging in trees...

Picking up sticks...

Learning about the life cycle of dandelions...

Being stinking adorable...

And leading the church in worship at all 3 weekend assemblies. I am so proud of my boys!

A trip to see the trains at the botanical gardens

Easter Eggs Galore

We had a fun time celebrating Easter this year. I finally remembered to buy some Resurrection Eggs, so we used those to talk about Jesus in the days leading up the Easter. We opened the eggs and discussed the symbols included from the Bible story. The first egg contains a donkey. There are others with a crown of thorns, a leather whip, a die, a linen cloth, a stone, etc. The last egg is empty to represent the empty tomb of Jesus. The boys enjoyed opening the eggs and finding these symbols. Elliott recreated the story using some of the symbols from our eggs and his Batman figures. It was really neat to watch him act out the story with things he had on hand.

We also dyed eggs and decorated them. The boys always have a good time and it's always fun to see what color our fingers will be for the rest of the day.

The boys had several opportunities to hunt for candy-filled Easter eggs. The first was at the park for a family reunion. The day before Easter, we celebrated with Matt's family, and we had a big shindig at our house after church on Easter Sunday. In case you're counting, that's 3 egg hunts. That's a lot of candy for those boys! (I did re-hide most of the eggs for subsequent hunts.)