Easter Egg Hunt

After a little hunting around the Bloomington-Normal Calendar-of-Events, we found an Easter Egg Hunt at the Assembly of God Church in Normal.....which was a big event: 60,000 eggs!! There was a bounce house, popcorn, cotton candy, face painting, and door prizes. They had age-categories for the egg hunts, which was nice to not have the 10-year-olds trample over the 18-month-olds! 

Aunt Laurie trained the boys in the morning to pick up the eggs and put them in the basket! Evan did a great job picking up the eggs, while Jaden loved to take the basket and dump them out!

The boys seemed to have a great time at the Easter Egg Hunt! A fun event for all!

Down on Grandpa's Farm

The temperatures finally warmed up on Thursday of Spring Break to take the boys to see the baby cows. 

Jaden loved the adventure!! He could have spent all day playing with the calves and splashing in the melting snow puddles. Evan on the other hand, was afraid of the cows. He screamed and held on tightly to Grandpa. 

We did all enjoy sledding---lazy sledding= being pulled by the 4-wheeler! 

Back inside the boys got to 'play farm' with Grandpa's barn and tractor. 

The boys got to spend time with Great-Aunt Bondell and Great-Uncle Chuck. They loved their Easter Baskets!

Last time we visited the boys were afraid of the tunnel---this time they loved crawling through it and would crawling over each other in it and roll side to side- never a dull moment!

For the first time in their 18-month-history with me as their mother.......I lost one of them. As someone told me: It won't be the last time. 
Of all the places to lose a 1-year-old, I picked the church. Not a bad pick! In between the services we ate supper in the fellowship hall, and the boys did very well eating and then went and said 'hi' to all the other kids. I was talking with a friend and had Jaden around me, when she asked about Evan, we noticed he was not around.....I thought G & G Raeder were watching him. He had ventured back into the sanctuary and was dancing in the back pew to the worship band! A little moment of worry for me as I looked around for him, but others had been keeping an eye on him knowing who he belonged to. I apparently will need to find another set of eyes, legs, and arms to keep these boys in check this summer!!

Spring Break Part 2: Jackrabbit Country

As we made our way north in South Dakota, we entered Jackrabbit Country! Of course we had a stop at SDSU’s campus. Where the boys were once again recruited at the President’s Office---this time with some ‘bendable bunnies!’ These kept the boys entertained in the car!

In the spirit of the Jacks making it into the NCAA Tournament- the boys enjoyed some SDSU ice cream from Grandma Linda and Aunt Rachel.  

Grandma Linda told me she had baby-proofed her house. However, I followed the boys around and ‘Evan & Jaden-proofed’ the house!
They are quite the curious ones….with little fear.

Evan played for the longest time with 2^nd-cousins Bridget and Heidi learning his shapes……or training Heidi to turn the box fast enough to put the associated shape inside. 

 

 The boys had a great time being spoiled by Grandma Linda, and hardly had time to sit still for a picture!

Spring Break Part 1: Aunt Laurie’s in Sioux Falls

It was a record breaking drive to South Dakota for Spring Break this year. For those of you who don’t know—my husband and I are a little competitive and always like to break new records on our drives to SD…….least amount of stops…….fastest time……etc. I beat: “Fast time traveling with 1-yr-olds” record!! I also use the phrase ‘Spring’ ‘Break’  loosely this year. It was very cold in SD, lots of snow, and I seemed to work a lot with phone interviews and an email inbox that multiplied the week prior. But all in all it was a nice break from the ‘Normal’ world and the boys loved getting spoiled by family. So I don’t leave any family out, I’ll break up the pictures into a few various posts.

Our first stop: Sioux Falls. Aunt Laurie’s flight for her marathon that weekend didn’t take off, so we got to spend extra time with her. The boys loved exploring her place after sitting in the car all day! 

The boys got to cheer on the Jackrabbits on Saturday night.....and again on Tuesday when SDSU won their spot on the NCAA brackets! Jaden really gets in to watching basketball! Go JACKS!

Aunt Laurie gave the boys Easter baskets filled with lots of goodies- including a bat. Something every 1-year-old should have......???  Didn't take Evan long to figure out what it was for! Oh Mr. Evan. 

Jaden learned that the basket also dubbed as a hat. And then you'll see Evan practicing his tackling skills. 

 We were welcomed at Embrace church with a sermon series on 'Normal.' Ha! 

Side note: both boys did get taken out to the nursery......I try explaining that they won't make it through the service, but every family member wants to try it!!

We visited miss Taylor in Harrisburg. I don't even want to know what Evan was doing in this photo. 

She did share that adorable pink chair with the boys. 

Sledding in the Snow!

Finally---we get snow that stays long enough to play in it!! Never thought I’d be saying that:) 

Last night we bundled the boys up - complete with snow pants, coats, hats, boots, and mittens that surprisingly stayed on their hands. I think it may have taken just as long to get them ready to go outside than it did to actually play outside!

Evan’s favorite part was eating the snow. His cheeks got pretty red from that cold snow. Jaden loved running in the snow. Sledding was my favorite part! Nathan and I took turns sledding with the boys.  I’m pretty sure I had just as much fun as they did!

Jaden laid perfectly still when Nathan pulled him around........what?! He never sits stills!!

Twindividuality: Jaden

The Early Riser, The Smiley One, The Emotional One, it’s 5am as I write this-did I mention The Early Riser??! Younger Brother, Jaden, has always been on-the-go! He pretty much went from crawling to running. He keeps me on my toes, too say the least. But although he wakes up SO early, he is always smiling, and who wouldn’t like to wake up to this face?!

He loves to climb and has learned that toys- any shape or size- make excellent step stools. 

He works up an appetite and is a ‘good eater.’ He eats at about twice the speed of Evan. I’ll also add that when I made butternut squash mac ‘n cheese for the day care kids, he pretty much ate everyone else’s servings including Miss Lauren's……..either he is easy to fool or he was just being nice to me! 

Jaden’s security blanket. Thanks Lynae Heninger for the blankets! I guess Jaden took Evan’s blankie, too! A naptime and bedtime treat. At bedtime the blankets get passed from one crib to the next until someone ends up with two blankets and someone with two stuffed animals!

He is the first one to get his molar teeth –and boy I can’t wait until all of them are in. It really does look painful back there, and he lets us know it! I appreciate Heather Carlson’s teething tablets recommendation---what a relief for all of us!

 Jaden has a place for all of his toys. And of course, they all should fit in the hayloft of the barn. Wonder where Farmer Al parks his tractors?? Likely not in the hayloft with a cow, a ball, and a measuring cup!

Jaden was very proud when he first learned how to make baskets on his new hoop. He was definitely encouraged by the cheers from the spectators!

Evan & Jaden's Dance moves! Jaden is ready for Jr. High dances-he has mastered the sway-side-to-side!

Twindividuality: Evan

The Lazy One. The Morning One. The Crazy One. Yes, I know---don’t label! So instead of ‘labeling’ I will share some recent pictures of Evan in this post, and then in treating them as individuals, Jaden will have his own post. See, I can follow the directions in advice books! 

 I love these new bibs we got. Makes laundry time lots easier! He is ready for finger painting!

Evan is a pretty good eater. He often stuffs his cheeks like a chipmunk! 

 Evan can keep him self entertained reading books and trying to play with puzzles. 

Evan loves to make crazy faces. The windows to their toy room need to be cleaned often!

 Why keep the bagel in the bowl?? It's lots more fun to shake it all over!

 Evan is such a cuddler!

The coloring didn't last long.....crayons apparently look appetizing to a 1-year-old.

 Evan can finally walk to the basketball hoop on his own....and score!

Sometimes the simplest things bring the most laughter!