Things I Want To Remember...

I want to remember Mac's first self portrait on his "drawing board"

That is one handsome little guy!

Oh, how I hope Drew always makes these faces!  It truly melts my heart.

Getting ready to head out to church

My silly Mac.  A Kanakuk intern taught him to make that face last year.  Drew was quick to copy after taking the picture.

Mac's first ever time to use scissors!  He was so proud yesterday at school that he cut out the egg all by himself.  His teacher even brought him to show me in my office.  She was very impressed and proud too :)

He feels so big getting to play Thomas games on Daddy's computer

Mac is truly the best big brother.  Always including Drew in what he is doing.  My favorite is to hear Mac say something like this, "It's ok little pumpkin...you'll be ok" after Drew falls down or something.  Think Mac has heard that said a few times??

 

I want to always remember my house with little boys...anything can be turned into a game!

It's Officially A Taylor Tradition

 

Well, I figure once you do something for three consecutive years, it can officially be deemed a tradition.  And a tradition is what we have when it comes to the Easter Egg Hunt at Bass Pro!  We originally went two years ago for lack of a better hunt in the area when we first moved to Missouri.  It was such a hit with Mac that we've continued going and went for the third time this past Saturday.

 

The Easter Bunny hangs out in the store during the hunt and hands out Mac's favorite candy, Smarties.  He may not be the most handsome bunny ever, but it sure is fun...and I can take pics with my own camera! :)

Hunting for eggs hidden in camping, fishing, and hunting gear.  It's so neat to have store customers get into it and help the kids find the eggs.  Both boys LOVED it! 

Found some!

My monkey was refusing to look and smile...but my big boy sure did :)

Yay, an egg!!

Putting an egg in the bag...when you reach the limit, you turn them in for candy.

No trip to Bass Pro is complete without a 4-wheeler ride...

Or a look at giant fish

Mac and Drew had fun following the tracks around the store

Drew would like a tackle box, or two for that matter! haha

 

And if we go to "the fish store," we have to go next door to the candy store to see the train that goes around the top of the store. 

Egg Dyeing Fun



When you are snowed-in at home, is there any better activity than Easter egg dyeing??  How crazy, right??  Easter eggs and snow don't traditionally go together, but it definitely makes my Papa Cha-Cha's saying hold true..."There's always a chance for frost and cold until after Easter, so don't plant anything in the ground until after."  

 Mac liked matching the dye tablets to the appropriate color cup and mixing the vinegar to watch the tablets fizz.  The vinegar also left him sniffing the cups over and over :)

 

Mac and I began while Drew was still napping.  I saved a few eggs for Drew to color once he woke up.  Drew and egg dye require all hands on deck! haha

Getting a little help writing

Dropping them in...

Now my little man is up and ready to color!

Amazingly, we dyed all of Drew's with no resulting cracks!

Masterpieces on eggs...Mac's very own cross drawing and name and Drew's graffiti egg

Time for stickers!

I found these cute face stickers and knew they'd be a hit.  Both boys love any type of sticker.

Hard at work, with a beautiful snowy view out the window

A few finished products.  Only one out of the whole dozen ended up prematurely cracked.  Not too bad, I'd say!

Thursday night "Mr. Grabby" pulled a mug of hot chocolate off the counter onto his face and back.  It totally freaked me out but we rushed him to the tub and let cold water run on the burns.  He was incredibly brave.  Didn't even cry, though he did shiver from the cold water.  Bless him.  If you look closely, you can see the red marks on his nose, forehead and cheek that remained the next day.  I am so thankful that the mug had been sitting for at least five minutes cooling...it could've been a disaster! 

 

Sweet baby...

Spring? Are You Sure???

 

This past Wednesday marked the first day of Spring...and it also marked the expectation of the first great snow of 2013 for the Ozarks!  I was so ready to trade in my winter boots for flip-flops; my sweaters and jackets for capris and tanks.  But Mother Nature had other plans.  We braced ourselves for a forecast of 2-6 inches of snow, but deep inside, I still doubted any would come to pass.  My doubts were replaced with reality on late Thursday afternoon as a heavy snow began to fall.  By nightfall we had 5 and 1/2 inches of beautiful, powdery snow!!

 

Thursday evening as the snow was quickly falling and turning our world into a beautiful white landscape

Mac doing a happy snow dance :)

Postcard perfect

My little snow explorer.  He is quite the adventurer, all covered up in snow!

Seriously, this is what spring looks like!

Friday morning view from the back deck.  See the layer piled up on the deck rail?

Cause you know we busted the laundry basket, aka sled, back out for a little fun!

By next winter's snow, we will have a real sled...Sam and I wanted to join in the fun, but you know we couldn't fit up in a basket!!

Just breathtaking...

The stuff was pretty deep, especially for Drew, who already struggles in the boots

Yep, that's a big white snowball about smack Mac!

Each time we had snow flurries or tiny bits of snow this winter, Mac wished and hoped to make a snowman.  Well, he got his wish!

Mac wanted to put the hat on all by himself.  Between the story of Frosty and the Disney cap, I think Mac was expecting some magic to come busting right on out of that snowman!

Look in the center toward the treeline...that's Mac and Sam following deer tracks all through the yard.

Like father, like son! They were making it snow on us :)

Can you spot the red cardinal??

 

Just around 5 and 1/2 inches!  Welcome Spring!!  We're so glad you came!