What We Do For Fun

Here's a glimpse into our lives around the house in March and April...

lots of pics, then a few videos at the end!

Hanging out with Dada being "cool"



eating ice cream from the ice cream truck

mohawks in the tub

photo op during one of our evening walks

big brother too!

Daddy loving on his boys

trying to get everyone to look at the camera is challenging these days!

leggo masterpieces

trying to be like big brother with his socks and red bag

"where's lucas?"

just chillin'

taking the hummer out for a spin

(daddy has to run alongside and help keep it on the road!)

there they go!

playing in the fort

giggles at bedtime

"cooking" for Dada

handsome boys

brotherly love

heading out for a wagon ride

lots to see

our favorite rock

"ahhhhhhhh!"
(getting our energy out!)

relaxing with Dada

(usually just Anthony likes to do this, but this time Lucas wanted to climb on top!)






two little monkeys jumping on the bed

jam session with Dada

Lucas practices his swing

Anthony's rendition of "Jesus Loves Me"

Okay, just as a side note, see how many pictures of Mario are in this post? Can I just tell you that I'm IN LOVE with this man?!? I'm so proud of how he makes such a conscious effort to spend time with these boys on a DAILY basis--and actually has fun doing it! His love for our kids makes him EVEN MORE attractive to me, and I know these boys will benefit from it their entire lives. Thanks, honey, for being such a great Dada....xoxo!

Happy Third Birthday, Anthony!

Mid-March we celebrated Anthony's third birthday with an airplane themed party. We decided to keep things small, so he had just a couple of his closest friends over to share in his special day. My parents were able to come in town for the event too, so that made it extra fun! Here are some pictures of our bash.

My mom and I spent the few days before the party refinishing this play kitchen as one of Anthony's gifts. It used to be pink, yellow, and blue with a pink checkered backsplash--sounds lovely, I know! ;) It was alot of work, but it turned out great!

Anthony gets to try out his new kitchen before his guests arrive.

What's for lunch???

enjoying Meme and Papa

the airplane cake

We hung some craft airplanes from the light fixture.

Anthony couldn't wait to dig in!

Mommy and the birthday boy

Lucas was ready to celebrate too!

He is playing peek-a-boo with Daddy

hamming in up for the camera

"I see you!"

When the guests arrive, we are all treated to an impromptu concert.

The kids loved playing outside--the weather was gorgeous!

Anthony and Michael drive the Hummer

Audrey and Lucas take a turn



When the kids came inside, they got to decorate some airplanes with stickers and glitter glue. Later the husbands had more fun playing with them than the kids!

Anthony could hardly contain himself as everyone sang "happy birthday"!

make a wish!

he would rather eat the fruit than the cake! silly boy!

but the cake tastes pretty yummy too!

Anthony and Lucas with friends Brody, Audrey, and Michael (and Michael's big brother Matthew helping out)

the gifts in their luggage to go with our airplane theme

Anthony enjoyed opening his gifts! Here he had just stuffed a wad of cash in his pocket! haha! How he knew to do that, I have no idea!!!

The doctor's kit from Aunt Michelle and Uncle Josh was a big hit!

this is what present-opening time looked like...organized chaos!

we loved it!

Anthony was thrilled with his new bike from Meme and Papa

Once the party was over, Lucas finally got his hands on that new kitchen too!

He's loving it! Cutie pie!

letting go of some balloons outside with Meme and Papa--it's fun to watch them fly away!

Meme loving on Lucas

my two boys

still having fun after the party's over!

Happy birthday, my sweet Anthony! Hope you had an extra-fun day!!!

My Baby Turns Three!

Anthony turned 3 on March 4, 2011...I can hardly believe it! The time has gone by so quickly! Well, since we weren't celebrating his birthday for another week, we had a special present for him to open on his actual birthday and spent the day doing some fun things!

his birthday surprise...what could it be???

opening the package...just look at that grin!

wow! his very own lawnmower--just like daddy's!

Ever since I can remember, Anthony has loved to push things. He'd push carts, strollers, and buggies at church, friend's houses, etc. Our playgroup met at one of our friends' parents' houses who are on a lot of land. (I think I blogged about that before) When Anthony had pushed their play lawnmower the entire time we were there (a couple of hours), I knew I had to get him one as an outside toy. Ever since he opened this one, he's been helping his daddy cut the grass.


Can you tell how much he admires his daddy??? :)

Anthony's First Gymnastics Class

At the end of February, we did a trial class with Anthony at The Little Gym to see how he would like it and if he would even be interested in taking some type of group class. He's always climbing and jumping and flipping around, so I figured a gymnastics class would be a good place to start. It was a really new experience for him, and I wasn't sure how he would do. He was in the 3 year old class (and this was right before his birthday, so technically he was still 2!). He attended the class all by himself--it was not a mommy & me class. So, I had to sit on the other side of the glass and watch. Let me just say that he did really, really well at listening to his teacher and following instructions! I was so proud! He had soooooooo much fun, and as soon as he walked out to me he asked if we could come back! We may do a trial class at a real gymnastics gym to see how they compare.

all ready to attend his first gymnastics class

here's where we went

his class and his teacher (who was fantastic with the kids, by the way)

he did quite a bit of thumb-sucking while he was figuring things out

i love how attentive he is in this picture!

(i'm not just being a bragging mommy, but i was watching all the other kids, most of whom are regular attenders of this class, and anthony was the best listener out of all of them!)

Some video clips I thought were cute...

Learning to follow directions by running and then "freezing" when the teacher stops

Anthony gets instruction on a forward roll down the cheese mat...I love his "ta-da" at the end!

They did a little bit of everything in the class...some "squat-ons" on a vault mat, chin-up pullovers at bars, walking one foot in front of the other on beam, some obstacle courses, and of course, lots of running around on the floor.

This video cracks me up. Anthony is trying first on these parallel bars to do it like the teacher told them (I think they were supposed to crab walk across). He's not quite getting it, so he tries another method, and then finally just runs through! Haha! See how happy he is, though? So fun!

Lucas Learns to Walk

Lucas has been working really hard to keep up with big brother Anthony these past few months! Here are some video clips of his learning to walk. He took his first steps at 11 months, but he still crawled more than he walked until about 14 months (March). As you can see in the last video, he run-walks now wherever he goes!

This first one is from mid January. He loved pushing the radio flyer while Anthony pushed his shopping cart. The radio flyer is great for beginner walkers because it is very heavy and sturdy and won't tip over...it's just impossible for little ones to move it once they bump into a wall and get stuck! Sorry about the video quality when we zoom in--it gets quite fuzzy.

The second video clip was taken mid-February. I know it looks like his head gets precariously close to bumping the fireplace hearth, but it really wasn't as close as it looks! I love how he does his little shuffle or sidestep to make it all the way to daddy! Gotta love that southern drawl when he says "ball"!

This last one was taken in early March. As you can see, he's pretty much got it down pat at this point. You can't really tell from this video clip, but Anthony has been "practicing" his walking too--every time we do it with Lucas! It's so funny to me how Lucas wants to be like Anthony, and then Anthony wants to be like Lucas!