Jacksonville, FL: The Slide - March 16

One of the highlights of our trip to Florida was the inflatable slide that Aunt Cheryl set up in her backyard. All of the cousins had a blast climbing up and sliding down and our boys were no exception.

Jacksonville, FL: Cousins - March 16

We traveled to Florida for the wedding of one of Danny's cousins and were able to spend several days with Danny's family. Danny's brother and his family drove down from Tennessee and Danny's parents flew in from Colorado. Wyatt and Colter loved playing with their cousin Abbie and meeting their newest cousin, Georgia.

Party Time - Again! - March 9

Noni, Papa, Aunt Kim, Uncle Craig, Aunt Megan, Aunt Cathryn and Uncle Jerod all drove up from Lubbock on Friday evening to help Wyatt celebrate his birthday.

Wyatt requested pizza, salad (he like the leaves!) and strawberry-pretzel jello for dinner.

Wyatt's birthday cake - a drum cake with orange icing (his favorite color!).

And a musical birthday just wouldn't be complete without some musical instruments. Wyatt got a ukulele (which he calls his "guitar") and...
an accordion, along with some maracas and a xylophone to add to his growing collection of instruments.
One of his favorite presents was a "big boy" sleeping bag and sleeping pad that is "just like Daddy's!"

The night ended with a campfire and marshmallow roast in the backyard. Then Wyatt, Colter and Daddy slept out under the stars so that Wyatt could try out his new sleeping bag. Wyatt said it was a great birthday!

Four Years Old! - March 9

Wow - four years old!

This was taken after Wyatt had finished eating his favorite lunch, peanut butter and honey sandwich. You can even see some of the peanut butter if you look closely!

Wyatt's Musical Birthday Party - March 6

When I asked Wyatt what kind of birthday party he wanted, he answered, without any hesitation, "I want a music party with drums and lots of other instruments." Musical instruments are his current passion (and have been for several months), so I wasn't surprised by his request. He can make a drum out of anything, including the groceries in the shopping cart, and he drums to all of the songs at church using the little pencils in the pews!

The kids spent much of the party playing musical instruments in the living room. Wyatt loved having his own band!
Then they made their own musical instruments to take home - paper plate tamborines and egg shakers!

And of course we had cupcakes (with drums on them!) and ice cream.
It was a fun party for a very special four year old!

Our Desert Boys - February 24-25

Danny took the boys out for a Big Bend backpacking trip the last weekend in February. These are just a couple of my favorite pictures. More pictures, and a detailed description of their trip, can be found on Danny's blog - www.griffisfamilyoutdoors.blogspot.com.

Colter and His Potty - February 20

Colter has been talking about using the potty for several weeks, but hasn't really used it for anything other than reading a book. All of that changed this morning when he finally experienced success!

Look - I did it!

Even Bear (Colter's constant companion) got a turn to sit on the potty!

A Work of Art - February 16

During a recent "home improvement" weekend at our house, the boys decided they wanted to get in on the action. So we let them paint the closet! They had a lot of fun, but the best part for us was that after painting for about 20 minutes they were happy just watching the rest of the morning. :)
Wyatt experimented with how much paint the brush can really hold and then he tried to get it all on the wall!
After a few minutes, Colter decided that brushes weren't necessary and started painting with his hands!

A Cold and Snowy Valentine's Day - February 14

Wyatt had lots of fun at his Valentine's Party at school!

Colter enjoyed making some special valentines.

We braved the cold, snowy weather to walk down the street and deliver some Valentine cupcakes to some friends.

Our Little Valentines

And what would Valentine's Day be without a kiss!

Snowshoes and Sledding - February 2-3

We spent the first weekend in February with my family (Noni, Papa, Uncle Craig, Aunt Kim, Aunt Megan, Aunt Cathryn and Uncle Jerod) on a weekend getaway to Ruidoso, New Mexico. They had just gotten about a foot of snow the day before we arrived and the forecast for the weekend was nice and sunny - perfect weather for enjoying the snow! We spent lots of time sledding and Wyatt loved stomping around in his snowshoes. Wyatt has fallen in love with snow (much to Danny's delight!) since he now has his own pair of snowshoes. He loves that he can walk through the deep snow and not sink!
Colter loved sledding down the hill!

Daddy's Little Helpers - January 31

Danny always has plenty of help when it comes to doing projects around the house. Anytime they see Daddy's tool box come out, both boys are very quick to get their own tool box and help him in any way they can!Wyatt with his saw.

Colter with his hammer and nail.

Playing in the Mud - January 25

The melting snow didn't cause our boys any heartache. They just decided to turn their snow boots into mud boots! While Danny and I were working at cleaning out the garage, the boys had a great time splashing in one of the mud puddles that formed from all of the snow melting off the roof. As you can see they got pretty messy!

Panhandle Sledding - January 21

If you've ever wondered how people sled when they get plenty of snow, but live in a county where there is quite literally no elevation change, now your question has been answered. Our friends the Claytons invited Danny and the boys over to do some "Panhandle sledding" which as you can see, involves attaching a swimming pool to a four-wheeler (or in this case, a six-wheeler) and pulling it down the street. The boys had a great time riding in the "sled" with their friend Katie while Matt pulled them up and down the street.

A Texas Igloo - January 20

Our snows out here tend to be pretty dry, but this one had lots of moisture and was great for building. But Danny wouldn't settle for just building a snowman, he decided to build an igloo. It was about seven feet tall on the outside and big enough inside for all of the boys to sleep comfortably - which they did on Saturday night! You can see more pictures of Danny's igloo (and other outdoor adventures) on his new blog www.griffisfamilyoutdoors.blogspot.com.

Look what Daddy built, Colter!

Snuggled down and ready for the night!

Lots of Snow! - January 19-22

This was quite a snowstorm! We got somewhere between eight and ten inches in just over a day. The boys had great fun playing in it for the next several days (and as I am writing this on February 1st, we still have some snow on the ground!).Wyatt enjoyed making snow angels.

The boys had fun trudging through the deep snow. Thank goodness for snowboots!

Colter loved eating the icicles!

Wyatt's Gears - January 10

Wyatt has always loved things that spin, so when I saw this set of gears over the summer I bought them and put them away for Christmas. It was his favorite present and he worked hard to learn how to put it together himself. This is the first gear train he put together all by himself!