EASTER CELEBRATIONS!

Nolan

Egg hunt in Sun City with Grandpa & Grandma Wilson

Jack


Nolan

Jack

Coloring Eggs at our house!

Britton

Isn't glitter fun!

mommy's egg

Easter dinner & egg hunting at Papa & G-ma Lloyd's

Easter morning at our house.

Nolan found his basket in the playroom.

Jack found his basket in the baby crib. Yeah, chocolate!!!

Britton found his basket up high in his room.... and then dumped the entire thing on his head.

Happy 4th Birthday Jack Nathan Wilson!

Four years old allready!

I know all mothers say where did the time go, but my goodness! It's not just that time has flown by, it's that Jack is now acting like an older little boy now. Growing up right before our eyes. He is much more aware of what is going on around him these days and is getting so smart and witty!

He makes us laugh CONSTANTLY!








It's all about the super hero's this year!
He just loves action figures and especially their super cool vehicles!
Papa & Grandma Lloyd were sweet enough to get him this batman set, complete with batmobile that actually shoots tornados in rapid fire across the room..... or at the dog or at little brother










Go Batman!
Batman rules!

Happy Birthday my little goofball! I love you!!!

Jim took Friday off and we all went to McCormick Ranch Railroad Park in Scottsdale. What a perfect day, the weather was beautiful! I could stay outside all day long when it's like this. We packed a big picnic and then played at the park. There is a big carousel the boys love to ride on and of course the little train that goes around the whole park was the highlight for the little boys.

What a good big brother! Britton squezed into the cattle car with Jack. It eventually filled up with little boys that screamed the entire ride, just for fun.

"W" is for Worm

Jack has been learning all about the letter "W" this week at preschool. At the end of the week he even got to bring home 3 worms, one for him and each of his brothers. Yay, worms! He told me all about worms and that they start with the letter "W" and they wiggle and love dirt. Apparantly worms are even artists, who knew! Jack's worms wiggled around on paper and made this amazing piece of artwork! Beautiful... a bit slimy, but beautiful.


The worms came home in a plastic sandwich bag which Jack was nice enough to let Nolan carry all the way home. What fun! Nolan was loving watching the worms wiggle through the plastic. When we got home we put them on a paper plate to get a better look at them in action. Nolan wasn't so sure about this close encounter so Jack showed him how to touch them and hold them and love them.

I wanted to put them outside into a potted plant where they could live out the rest of their days in worm paradise, but the boys wanted to keep them inside as pets, much to my dismay. Uggghhhh. We found a nice deep tupperware and went outside and put more dirt into it for them. My mom seems to know a lot about worms. Being a horticulturist, she has had a whole worm garden in the past. She suggested putting shredded newspaper in the bowl for them to help aerate the dirt and for food. As we were ripping it up into the bowl Jack said

" Here you go worms, now you have something to read. Make sure to learn your letters!" HaaaHaa! He makes us all laugh constantly.

Eric Byrnes Field Ceremony

Jim's work, APS was a sponser for a little league baseball field that was refurbished in Phoenix. The field was named after Diamond Backs outfielder Eric Byrnes, who also helped with the funding. Britton and I were out and about and decided to stop by and check out the action. It was really neat seeing first hand how APS and others take the time and money to reach out to the communities in Arizona that are in need.
Eric Byrnes gave a little speech about how important it was to him to be a part of a community that cares and helps each other and how thankful he was to be in a position of some amount of fame that he could make a difference in the lives of others, kids in particular. He mentioned a teenager he went to visit who had Luekemia and how they became good friends and how the boy touched his life. I'm so glad Britton was able to go and be a part of the small ceremony and hear one of his favorite baseball players talk about the importance of reaching out to those in need and that what's important in life is the relationship that you have with others. Eric was funny, goofy and light hearted but mostly humble. He's one of my favorite players also because he is not only a good baseball player but full of life and fun to watch. He allways puts in 110% when he is on the field and it seems also in his relationship with others.
After the speeches and field dedication by placing the bases and throwing the first ball, Eric met with the sponsers and signed autographs and took pictures. What luck that Jim is a part of a company that is so involved in community involvment and Britton got to meet one of his favorite players!


Holy cow, I didn't realize how tall Britton was!

Mr. Eric Byrnes folks.

Girl Crazy!

About 5 minutes after I found out I was having a baby GIRL I started planning the nursery. Pink pink and more pink, bring on the pink. I don't even like pink. I'm so sick of blue and green though that I can't wait to bring some pink into this house! Boy are the boys in for a big change around here! Especially since she is due on Aug. 1st, my birthday! Oh yay, a girl and another LEO in the house! Jim is allready stressing out! heehee.

I am in love with this bedding! Of corse it is from PBK! I swore I wasn't even going to look at pottery barn and wouldn't you know it a catalog came in the mail and I came across this adorable nature inspired girls room. I would be even happier if it was from anywhere else and I could say it was different and not trendy.

I NEVER thought I would say this, but I think I want to learn how to sew! My sister Rachel sews the cutest outfits and whatnots for her 3 girls and well, just look at how cute this little peasant dress is! It may remain on my to do list for ever though since I really don't think I am patient enough to sew.

My little neices, Olivia & Bailee (Kate not pictured) are the cutest, girliest girls I know. I remember staying at Rachel's house a couple of years ago and woke up around 5:30 a.m. to a 4 year old Bailee clip clopping into the living room in her plastic high heels, feather boa, princess skirt and accessories to say " Good morning unt Gwennie."

I can't wait.

I can't wait to start refinishing and repainting an old dark dresser we have into a cute, white, vintage inspired one complete with these perfect flowers I found on Etsy.com.

The Clean Gene

Nolan has inherited the clean gene from the Lloyd's. Honestly, he can not have a speck of dirt or God forbid something sticky on his hands. He always wants his hands washed. I fear I may have had a little to do with this. I am a known germaphobe. Not only is half of my family clean frieks and germaphobic but I think it also goes hand in hand with my working in surgery.
I took Nolan to McDonalds to get an ice cream cone today after his Dr. appointment. He actually asks for a napkin, two years old and he has to have a napkin in one hand and his ice cream in the other, oh, and one on his lap! He would wipe his mouth after each lick and when the ice cream started melting he said "Oh, no! It's dripping!" Then carefully wipes up each drop on his hand. When he was all done he wiped up his lap which had nothing on it and said "All done, here you go!" so I can dispose of the dirty napkin.
If only I could get Britton to at least keep his room from smelling like a zoo! ;-)

For Valentines Day Jack's preschool went on a field trip to a Surprise Fire House! Jack and Nolan were in heavan. All the little kids and some little brothers and sisters got to climb all over and even inside of the fire trucks! The firemen were so great. They opened up all of the secret compartments on the truck and showed the kids all of the tools and gear. Two of them even got all geared up and walked along on their knees so the kids could touch the gear, that way if the kids ever saw them in action they wouldn't be afraid.

All the kids got to walk through the fire department and see where the firemen ate and slept and what happened when they got a call. The fire chief asked if any of the kids knew what else they did besides put out fires. Jack was quick to announce that they came to our house all the time when he fell down and hurt himself.

After the field trip everyone headed over to Surprise Park for a Valentine exchange and cookie decorating! Can you say sugar rush!!

Big Brother, Big Helper

There's a new picky eater in town. Nolan, who once would eat whatever you put in front of him has learned the phrase " I don't like that, I want a popscicle!".
He won't even try anything unless it's the usual stuff he likes. It's so frusterating because I just know that he will like it if only he would take that first bite! Jack, who is now almost 4 years old, has all of the wisdom and experience of a big brother who has been through this sort of thing. Sitting across the table, Jack is just FULL of advice for Nolan on how and why he should eat his food. He goes over and over the fact that Nolan will not get a snack if he does not at least try his dinner. He even demonstrates that it is in fact edible by taking a big bite of his food and saying "See Nolan, it's yummy and now I have big muscles! You should try it, you might like it!" Usually this works because Nolan mimicks EVERYTHING that Jack does ( which is where he got the " I don't like that" phrase in the first place). Tonight however, his terrible two stubborness was in full effect and he would not have any of it. So after Jack finished his plate, he went over and told Nolan he would help him eat his yummy food. I swear, just when you think you are going to throw in the towel because you are sure that your kids don't listen to one single word that you say, one of them does something like this! Jack stood there and very sweetly told Nolan to "eat his yummy yummy vegetables so his tummy would get full" and even put the spoon up to his mouth and pretended to eat a bite and said "Mmmmmm!" and then carefully fed Nolan every last bite of his dinner! I couldn't help but laugh at Jack's facial expression with every bite, how he opened his own mouth. I don't know when I started getting a kick out of these little things in life! I just think this was simply sweet and am glad to know they actually do listen to us!

nieces