Spring has Sprung...(maybe?)

Baseball season has started up and we're dedicating at least four nights a week to practices! I love seeing this extra little set of cleats on the garage shelf this year as Landen has started teeball! We're also excited this season about Ethan moving up to little league. It's kid pitch in this new league, so that's a big adjustment and Josh is the main coach of Ethan's team this year, so that has been a fun/interesting transition.

We finally got a decent amount of snow here a few weeks ago (instead of just a dusting). The boys couldn't wait to get outside and play in it!

Landen and I have been practicing writing the first letter of his name. He loves the letter "L" and is always saying "L is for Landen!". 

He has also began speech therapy and just had his third session yesterday. I was hesitant about whether he needed it or not because Ethan had some speech issues at this age too and outgrew them. But we decided to go ahead because Landen seems to get frustrated when people (outside of the house) can't understand him. And hopefully it will help him so that he doesn't have to be pulled out of class for therapy once he begins school. He seems to be making a bit if progress so far. An hour is just a long time to ask a four year old to sit in a room and repeat words over and over. After 40 minutes, he is done!

The weekend after our snow accumulation was gorgeous! So we cleaned out/organized the garage and the boys had fun with sidewalk chalk on the driveway.

And Landen rediscovered his playset after the cold winter months.

This sweet picture of him sleeping is one I took to remember the sweetest thing...right before he fell asleep he said "Mama will you hold my hand?" And in the next second, he was out!

You can see the playground from the new field that Ethan practices on. So guess where we end up 95% of the time? Last practice Landen made a new friend and so they played trucks in the gravel and dodgeball, so I actually got to watch the practice. Oh well, we have fun either way!

I had to share this cute pic from FB...

And this one of Landen ready for his first teeball practice...

Just a Normal Week for Us

L taking a bath with his "gobbles" on and his army men lined up...

    

I picked up this cool Melissa & Doug sticker book where you create meals using the food stickers and place setting pages. Landen loved it! And once we finished with that we practiced our fish face. His is pretty cute if you ask me!

L thinks his new vehicle magnets are pretty awesome! He divided them into categories and was so proud. We are a little obsessed with Melissa & Doug products.

On Wednesday, Ethan had baseball practice so we went over to Moe's for dinner before. There were a group of local firemen there and the boys were in awe. Ethan really wanted a picture with one of them so he worked up the courage and asked him. The fireman was more than happy to oblige. It made the boys' night! 

Landen and I watched E practice. Landen would yell things like "That's my brudder!" And "Good job Bubba!"

 

     Ethan and his baseball instructor...

          We had to take a selfie...

     He just looked so cute sitting on the        

     couch watching a video last night...

We had a pretty normal week, other than Josh being gone to Texas from Sunday until Wednesday for work. The boys were thrilled to see him at home when we got back from baseball on Wednesday night!

Missing Amanda & Valentines Weekend

We had dinner last Tuesday at Shogun to celebrate Amanda's birthday. It's the boy's favorite restaurant, so they loved it! It had been a few weeks since they'd seen their Aunt Amanda so they spent the evening vying for her attention. We came back to our house for cake and gifts and Ethan built her a special birthday scene on Minecraft and Landen had to show her all of his new skills from physical therapy.

On Valentine's Day Landen had his buddy Xander over to play. They played so well together and had a blast!

     They played monster trucks...

     And doctor...

   And superheroes...

Ethan had a fun Valentine's ice cream party at school. He made a Minecraft box for his valentine cards.

After Josh got home they opened their gifts from Josh and I and then we headed to a hotel to spend the night and let the boys swim in the indoor pool. 

On Saturday, we took the boys to see The Lego Movie...

And they couldn't resist the arcade games in the theater lobby...

We spent the afternoon at the Disney Jr. Live Pirates & Princesses show...

After having dinner we headed home to rest up for church on Sunday. I think the boys had a great weekend! 

It's the Little Things...

Things have been busy but quiet around our house lately. A couple of weeks ago Landen enjoyed running around in the tiny bit of snow that was falling...

         I could kiss those cheeks off!!!

And he also had a blast making our annual valentine's cupcakes. This year we took them to a lunch at church and he was  very proud to tell everyone that he made them.

We've been continuing his physical therapy with Ms. Sarah and he's making great strides. For the most part, he's an old pro and knows exactly what he's supposed to do.

Landen has also been learning his ABC's. He can sing them all with only a little mumbling on the "h-i-j-k-l-m-n-o-p" part. Isn't that the part that's always the trickiest?! And he's counting to 20 but struggles some in the teens...especially with thirteen and fifteen. It really would be easier if they had just made it "threeteen and fiveteen", ha! We've began talking about MDO (in the Fall). He's excited to make new friends but I can tell the thought of going makes him nervous. He'll say "I have to grow bigger first". But he loves getting his crayons and paper and doing his "homework" with his brother. He's learning about money too. He's always had a piggy bank but we just bought him a new wallet at Target and he loves to put dollars that he earns into his Skylander "pocket". 

This past weekend we went to the rodeo in B.G. We go each year when it comes to town and the boys always enjoy it. The rodeo is something that my grandparents began taking my brother and me to when we were young, so it'll always be special to me. And I love keeping the tradition going with my boys. Seeing Ethan remove his cap for the National Anthem and prayer always puts a smile on my face (It's the little things.)

We are excited to celebrate the boy's aunt Amanda's birthday tonight and we have some fun Valentine's plans for the boys this weekend!

Ethan's Week of Sickness

Ethan was home from school all of last week, sick with an upper respiratory infection. He tested negative to Strep and Flu but he certainly was sick. His throat was raw, he lost his voice, and he ran a temperature for three days, at times up to 103 degrees! We made two trips to the doctor. After the antibiotic wasn't cutting it he got a shot on Thursday and felt much better by the weekend. Landen sure enjoyed having his brother home to play with him all week.

                  (Ninja Landen)