Afternoons at the Park

We had some time to kill this afternoon because lately the kids have been doing a fun thing called "short/no naps," so we went to a park in Newton before our trip to Dillons. These monkeys climbed to their little hearts' desire on all of the new "climbers," as we like to call them.

Easter!

We woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground Easter morning! We were hopeful that it might stick just long enough for the kids to play in it a bit once we got to Yates Center, but the snow in YC didn't stick, so we blew bubbles and drew with sidewalk chalk instead. We had a great Easter, but like last year, it was so busy that we didn't have time for pictures of the kids in their Easter finery, so we staged them this evening. Click here to see last year's pictures.

More Eggs!

We were shopping in Newton this morning and got done right in time to stop by our church's Easter egg hunt.

After the hunt, Natalie checked out the new school playground equipment

while Max worked on another sucker.

Easter Egg Hunt

We have always missed the Hesston Easter egg hunt for one reason or another, but we made it for the first time this year! Chris had the day off work, so we all walked to the middle school for the 0-3 year old hunt this morning. We coached the kids on the way about leaving some eggs for the littler kids but also about it being okay if they didn't get very many eggs themselves. Our coaching was all for naught though because the lawn was covered with plenty of eggs for all the little ones.

Sentences

Max has been talking a lot more lately at least to Chris, Natalie, and me. He is still pretty silent around most others. He said his first long sentence a few days ago, and what a perfect first sentence for a little brother: "Mama, Natalie bonk me!" Haha! Not the first or the last bonk, and not the first or the last tattle.

Here are some unrelated pictures from yesterday afternoon right before the smoke from the huge grass fire rolled in. You can tell it was coming though based on the orange tint of the pictures.

Art Class

Natalie and I went to a "Mom and Me" St. Patrick's Day themed art class this morning, and we had such a fun time. Lately she has been really into creating, so I knew this would be right up her alley. She made binoculars for catching leprechauns, sand art, two different rainbows, a couple paintings, and a rainbow snack that she shared with Max when we got home. Most of her projects are already prominently displayed in her room.  

Natalie Suess

We checked out Dr. Suess's If I Ran the Zoo from the library last week. Natalie thought this page about a little deer was hilarious.

We had to read it over and over. Then when we were out for a walk later in the day she tried to recite it and remembered most of it but couldn't quite get it all right. She made sure that we read it once we got home so that she could memorize it.

Spring Fever

Spring? Is that you?

Family Portraits

Lately Natalie has been spending a good chunk of her days drawing. She mostly draws people, and it has been neat to see her people progress over the last few weeks. Each day she figures out how to add a little more detail, and they're starting to look really cute. 

Today she drew our family. Daddy, Max, and Mommy on the front, and Natalie on the back. It's so neat to compare these pictures with the one of the three kings that I posted a few weeks ago. It's amazing how quickly their minds are growing! 

Carmax