easter eggs

Last night I thought it would be fun to color Easter eggs with the boys. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking since there was dye and eggs involved! All in all, the boys did quite well. Each of the boys had their own egg to decorate. I don't think I boiled the eggs long enough, but at least the boys had a good time!

Please pray for us as we try to explain the true meaning of Easter to Aiden. We are trying to explain it in a way he will understand, but I think it's still over his head. I keep praying that God will save my boys young. Aiden says he loves God and doesn't want to go to hell, but I know he doesn't understand what following Christ means. He is still so young yet that I can't expect him to understand much yet.

I personally really want to focus this Easter on Christ and His incredible gift. I love that my Savior is not dead, but is fully alive! One of my favorite songs right now is "Lead me to the Cross" by Hillsong United. Here are the lyrics:

"Savior I come

Quiet my soul, remember

Redemptions hill

Where Your blood was spilled

For my ransom

Everything I once held dear

I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross

Where Your love poured out

Bring me to my knees

Lord I lay me down

Rid me of myself

I belong to You

Oh lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I

Tempted and trialed

You are

The Word became flesh

Bore my sin and death

Now Your risen

Lead me the cross

Where Your love poured out

Bring me to my knees

Lord I lay me down

Rid me of myself

I belong to You

Lead me, lead me to the cross"

May this be my prayer this Easter season!

uh oh!

We have begun to realize that when it's quiet in the house, Kian is up to no good. Multiple times we have found him playing in the toilet. Last night was the most recent. I walked in the bathroom and found Kian literally soaked in toilet water. He had the scrubber in his hand and had almost emptied all of the water out of the toilet. We have caught him with cleaning supplies, soap and shampoo (weirdly enough, he LOVES eating soap...so much for cleaning his mouth out when he says something bad), and many other things.
A couple of nights ago, Aiden starting yelling for us to come in the bedroom. Kian had opened my makeup case and was painting his face with my makeup. I had to take a couple of pictures before I stopped him. Here are the pics!

He looks so proud of himself for some reason!

Leo park

What a gorgeous day! I love that the sun is shining and that the boys don't need to wear their winter coats! So today we decided to go to the park. We packed up peanut butter and jelly (well honey for Aiden) sandwiches and were off. I didn't know how Kian would do, but he did well! He did not like that his brother could do more things than him though. The park also had a basketball hoop which we made sure to go and shoot for a little while. It really was a fun time!

Aiden loves to hang upside down and swing himself.

Kian upset that who can't climb this yet.

Aiden at the basketball court. He now can shoot and make it with a youth size ball!

Lunchtime!

Thankfully I brought wipes and paper towels.

The last thing of the day. Aiden got on the swing and wanted Kian to sit on his lap while I pushed them.

Aiden held on tight! That is until he wanted to get down. I didn't get the picture of Kian falling off (I was trying to catch him).

They have fun together... most of the time.

Fire extinguisher

The boys and I went to Kohls today and Aiden saw a fire extinguisher on the wall. He replied that he knew what those were. We talked about it and Aiden said, "Could we use that for the fire in hell?" I laughed and replied, "no Aiden, fire extinguishers can't put out that fire." I love the fact that he at least is thinking about spiritual things, even though he doesn't get it yet!

We are really working on whining with the boys. Both are struggling badly with this right now. It is something I struggle to tolerate (which means I am working on patience at the same time!). It seems to be so natural for them! Man, I hate sin! I am just sick of messing up and seeing the boys mess up. I am just praying that they become saved at an early age!

Yesterday was Aiden's screening for preschool. It went very well and the teacher thinks he won't have a problem being in the class. I am very excited for him, but still am feeling a little anxious about the fact that he will be gone. I will definitely miss him!

Do they ever stop growing up?

Aiden today has his first meeting with his new preschool teacher. He is being screened to see what he knows, how he handles leaving me (I am the one who will struggle more I think) etc. He is soooo excited. He talks about it every day. It's hard sometimes to see your kids grow up. Mind you, as they get older, I love each stage more and more, but it's a little weird knowing Aiden will be with other people for hours at a time every stinkin day! It makes me wonder if we've prepared him enough for school. There are so many things I want him to "get" before he starts this new journey. I'm scared about all sorts of things, such as peer pressure, Aiden being a friend to everyone, kids being mean etc. I know that I just have to trust God with Aiden and pray for his protection and growth. It's just a weird feeling.

Aiden was measured and weighed the other day. He is 43 1/2 pounds (90%) and 42 inches tall (75%). He is huge! He is officially at the "annoy Kian" stage. He has never been one to try and annoy Kian, but I think that has changed. Aiden now will take a toy that he knows Kian wants and will hold it out to Kian and say, "do you want it Kian, huh?". Then he will pull it back in and play with it. Kian does not find this very humorous. At ALL. Overall, he is fantastic with Kian, but sibling rivalry has begun!

Kian is talking up a storm. He still prefers to scream to try and get what he wants, but we are working on that one! His newest phrase is "no way." I don't know why the child likes to say "no way" more than "yes", but that's Kian! He more uses it with Aiden. It's very cute when he says it. Thankfully he hasn't said it to us as a response to something we've asked him to do.

I am so thankful for the ability to stay hom with my boys and be able to see all of these things! I thank God for a husband who works hard to provide for us!

The boys found the pots and pans.

Kian thought it was a hat.

It's hard to see in this picture, but you can sort of see his cut from biting through his lip. It's all the way to the left of his lip (right in the shadow).

My Aiden! Such a happy go lucky little boy!

I LOVE these boys!

rough 24 hours

Poor Kian. He's had a rough 24 hours! Chad and I took the boys to the mall on Saturday night. On our way out, Kian slipped and fell and bit all the way through his lip. It wasn't nearly as bad as when Aiden did it in October as only 2 teeth went through, but I think they will have matching scars! He is feeling pretty good I think, however, that night he woke up several times. Yesterday, we all took a long walk outside (what a beautiful day!), when we returned we left to get some groceries. Aiden accidently slammed Kian's fingers in the car door. It was awful! Thankfully he is using his fingers and they don't seem to be hurting him today.

sectionals

Last night was sectionals for Lakewood. We ended up playing one of the best teams first, Blackhawk Christian. Our guys played pretty well, but just fell short. We are such a young team, in fact many times yesterday, we had 4 freshmen on the floor at the same time! As much as I wanted us to win, it will be nice to have a little more time now!

It's been an interesting week! Chad was sick much of this week with a head cold. He has really struggled to get healthy. He is finally starting to feel better. He of course has been moving in fast forward with basketball, which probably didn't help in getting him better (seeing that sleep was definitely lacking!).

Two days ago, the boys and I went to Walmart to develop some pictures and get some groceries. Aiden had to go potty, so off to the restroom we went. Later, when I was trying to pay for the pictures I realized that I didn't have my purse. I stayed calm until after looking in the bathroom, going to customer service, the photo lab and anywhere else I could think of. It was gone! I finally went back into the restroom and went into the stall and I found it behind the stall door. Thank God! I left and realized later, that all of my cash had been stolen. I normally do not carry cash, but needed some for various activities later. I was so disappointed! I called mom and she kept tellling me how much worse it could of been and she's right. None of my credit cards, information, camera, or checks were taken and I am SO thankful for that. It could of been a lot worse.

This week my volleyball team had a surprise baby shower for our assistant coach (and my friend), Jessica. We had a great time together. It was at our house which meant I was super busy getting ready for it! It was so fun watching her unwrap the gifts and spend time together! She is having a little boy at the beginning of May. I am hoping for May 6th which is Kian's birthday.

Chad and the boys built a tower of legos to the ceiling while I was out exercising. Chad took a picture of it. When I got home, Chad was sitting on the couch with a paper towel on his lip. He told me that he might need stitched. Apparently the lego tower fell and split Chad's lip open! He's fine, but seriously, this only happens to Chad!
The boys, once again, playing with all the diapers in the crib!

The boys and I went outside and built a snowman. Aiden put on the tiny head.

Here's our finished product!

Jess opening up her pack and play!

Most of our volleyball girls were able to come. They are such good girls!