Planting "Trees" - March 24

One of Wyatt's favorite new activities is "planting trees." It started with him "planting" pieces of mulch in the flower bed and calling them a forest and has progressed to "planting" limbs from trees in the yard. If you ask him, he will tell you that he is just "pretend planting" because his trees don't have roots. This has triggered a huge fascination with trees, which is a little strange since we live in an area with very few trees! When we are driving out of the city (where there is mostly pasture and farmland) he will often look around and say "Hey! Where did all of the trees go? Did someone forget to plant them?"

Jacksonville, FL: St. Augustine - March 19

Before leaving Florida, we drove down to St. Augustine to tour some of the old forts and see the lighthouse. The boys especially loved the old cannons.
Aren't they cute? : )

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Jacksonville, FL: Hunting for "Sea Turtle Eggs" - March 18

Since it was so close to Easter, Danny's mom planned a "sea turtle egg hunt" on the beach for all of the cousins. They had a great time digging in the sand for the eggs and then opening them to find prizes inside. It was the first of many egg hunts this Easter for our boys!

Jacksonville, FL: The Wedding - March 17

All of the kids did a great job during the wedding...but they were happy to be able to run around again after it was over!
Wyatt, Colter, Abbie and Emma dancing at the wedding.Colter enjoying some cake - yummy!

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.