Webelos Scouting Camping Trip

April 11th- Ethan is going on his first camping trip for scouting this weekend!  He was SO excited to go.  I let him pack his back with all his stuff.  When I asked him if he had such and such, he responded, "Yes."  We shall see if he comes back wearing the same clothes! HA! I know he'll have so much fun.  Almost all the boys in his den went...this means guarenteed fun, laughter and stories!  Can't wait to hear them all! HA! 

Hunter Trike A Thon

Today was Hunter's Trike a Thon for St. Jude's Children's Hospital!  This was my 5th Trike a Thon....and my last one at Morning With My Friends Preschool.  Ethan, Alexis and Hunter have gone to preschool here in VA...it's a bittersweet day for me.  I will miss this place I know as home.  I will greatly miss the people AND the valley- it's just so beautiful here!  Happy Hunter having fun with his friends....

Bathtime fun

Besides his first time bath pictures, these are Ryan's only bathtime pictures!  Boy does he love his bath.  Be prepared to get wet when you are bathing him!  He splashes and kicks and squeals- I love it!  He says, BaBaBa...I think he knows when we go in and I start the water- excitement I tell ya!  So adorable!  Alexis actually loves to give Ryan a bath.  She's so good with him.  She sings and plays with him!  I'm SO thankful- Alexis is my big helper!  She's such a sweet sister...her brothers adore her!!!

 Ryan is finally STARTING to get some hair....little spikes!!!!

 Pap-Pap and Ryan....

End of March....

Mom came down with Breanna at the end of March to visit!  Bre is growing up into such a wonderful young lady!  She's going to be 14 this year in June...I just can't believe it!  She is into girlie things, one of which is nails.  I took her to get a pedicure while she was down here...I've been wanting one since Christmas...so it was about time!  Here is a picture of the finished product!  The lady even did a design on Bre's toes for her birthday!  I wanted to take her because I knew I'd miss her birthday this year.  We will be moving to SC 2 weeks before her birthday and it's going to be too busy to come up for it!  Happy 14th Bre!  We sure do love you.

 The lady who did our toes talked us into also getting our eyebrows waxed...something I personally haven't had done in at least a year- maybe 2!!!  The lady was so funny!  After every sentence, she'd add 'baby' to it!  It took some getting used too...and was our joke for awhile afterwards!

Ryan and Ethan having some fun!

 We took Pap-pap fishing for FHE the end of March.  We didn't catch anything...I think the water is still a bit too cold...but it was fun to get out there.  It had rained the day before we went...and the kids picked up all the worms on the driveway for bait!  AWESOME!!!

I love this picture!!!!

Randomness

next...

 So, in the mist of going through all the children's clothes- I saved everything and had almost 15 rubbermaids (all sizes) of clothes...I'm now down to about 7!  That's huge!!!!  I knew I had these PJ's...and finally found them.  Perfect for this boy!

 He was so excited to wear these to bed!!!!

 Working on our letters for school...he's doing well!!!

 Here's Ryan boy...with his hat...what a stud!

 Hunter and Ryan during the day play and have a great time!

 Here you can see Ryan's 2 bottom teeth...

 He is trying to crawl....but not yet!  He is sitting up very well though...and scooting and rolling over EVERYWHERE!!!!!

 I picked up these PJ's for free at a mom's swap...they are 18 month  and fit him very well! I love that they are Thomas the Train!!!
 Ryan is trying to figure out this beard thing! 

 I love this picture of Ryan and Hunter in their PJ's.  So cute!

Mid March days...

2 days after we went to Monticello, we received 14 inches of snow!  The weather has been ALL OVER THE PLACE here lately!!!  It melted quickly but took about 2 weeks to completely melt away!  I was very tired to seeing white on the ground by the time all the snow melted!  I'm READY for spring- even the kids are I think!  They didn't really go outside much to play in it this time around!

 

 Ryan turned 7 months old on the 12th!!!! AMAZING how fast time is going!  This little boy is growing fast and we are so glad he's in our family! Happy Ryan boy!!!  This bouncer is on loan...and he sure does love it! 

 My boys!!!!  I really love this picture!!  Ryan, Hunter and Ethan!

 Jump, jump, jump!!!

 Happy 7 months old Ryan.  You have 6 teeth, are waking up once a night and are wearing 12 month clothes.  And you LOVE food!!!

Monticello

The very next weekend was Scouting Day at Monticello in Charlottesville, VA.  This meant that admissions were 1/2 off....a huge savings.  We had not yet gone to visit there becuase of the price!  We had to jump at this offer and it was so fun and totally a learning experience for the kids AND adults.  I came away with a much greater appreciation for our founding leaders of our great, amazing country.  Their courage, bravery, honesty, and drive are inspirational!

 Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence at age 33.  WOW!

 This house is 3 stories tall.  It took over 40 years to build and is AMAZING in the basement.  Thomas Jefferson had over 600 slaves, although he didn't like slavery.  He owned 6000 acres of land and had a HUGE garden, orchards for fruit/wine and at one time, he had 29 people staying at his house.  He traveled to Europe after the start of his house.  After 6 years, he came back and told the builders to stop where they were.  He quickly changed the look of the finished product and had the builders restart several places on his house.  It has many european influences.  The kitchen is AMAZING!  The entire basement is one long hallway with rooms off to the sides.  He had a huge ice house- DEEP into the ground.  When we walked past it, you could feel the cold air from this area.  He had a clock with 7 balls on the wall- each for the day of the week.  The ball would drop as the time ticked by and this way he knew what day of the week it was!  AMAZING!!!!  He had 29 houses built for his slaves....all for a purpose- it was called Mulberry Row.  Thomas Jefferson lived until he was 83...he died on July 4th.... the stairs in his house where very very narrow and steep- he didn't want to waste space.  I also thought it was very interesting that he had all the beds built into the wall...so that the space in the rooms could be fully used!

 The 'necessary house'...or the bathroom; in the main house, he had a north and a south necessary house.

 Beautiful stone work!!!!

 It was an absolutely gorgeous day too....almost getting up to 70*F.  We couldn't ask for better weather!