Lots of Brother Time

Having a brother (or two brothers in our case) has to be one of the best things.  To always have a playmate around, to always have someone to laugh with or run with, to have a brother to go through life with is something that I hope my boys will grow up to appreciate.  The boys have had so much time these last few weeks to be together and they have been having such a great time!!  They go outside every chance they get so it's nice that we have a fenced yard, with grass and a nice play set.  The big boys have gotten to an age where I can open the door and let them go without having to worry about much.  They know the rules and most of the time stick to them!

 Luke gets to go out in the mornings or the evenings when the sun isn't so strong.  He loves to swing and when he's not in the swing he is super content to sit in the shade in his exersaucer.  He is no different from the bigger boys in that going outside will make him happy when nothing else can!!

The big boys have also really gotten into having picnics outside for lunch on the nice days, which lately have been almost every day.  Some days we pull the picnic table over to the patio and other days we just lay out a blanket.  I love how the little things in life (like having picnic lunches with each other) make them so happy!  I hope it stays that way and that they will appreciate everything, from the little things to the big things!

Luke was just as happy to watch from the shade... as long as he is able see his brothers and watch what they are doing life is good! :)

Swimmin' Time!

Saturday afternoon once the egg hunt was over and the kids had gone through all of their eggs Nana offered to go in the pool with the kids.  The only problem was that one other adult had to go in with her in order to keep up with that many kids.  The only person brave enough to face the cold water was Sarah (I think she and Nana deserve a medal). :)  The water was in the 70s which doesn't sound too bad but it was cold!!  The kids didn't seem to mind, though... they jumped right in.  And even though all of their teeth were chattering by the end we still had to convince them it was time to get out!!

1.  Jacob enjoying his swim with Aunt Sarah
2. A few of the kids for a quick picture
3. Daddy convincing Chase that he can jump in all by himself
4. Jacob & Micah splashing with their feet
5. Brothers enjoying a little pool time together
6. Jacob jumping in to Nana and Maddie waiting for her turn
7. Jacob laughing after splashing Nana
8. Jacob with Nana trying to learn how to swim

The rest of the cousins also had a great time swimming.  Hopefully next time we'll have lots of opportunities for them to get in and the water won't be quite as cold!!

1. McKenzie & Maddie having a talk pool-side :)
2. Nana with two sweet grandsons
3. Nana enjoying her first time in the pool with Micah
4. Eli dealing with the drama of just splashing himself with water :)
5. Nana & Micah (she couldn't be happier at that moment!)
6. Sweet Maddie getting ready to jump in
7. Micah getting brave and jumping in to his Mama
8. The girls having a blast in Nana & Pop-Pop's pool
9. Eli decided that for the moment it was better to just water the plants (dead plants at that!!) ha ha

One afternoon in the pool just wasn't enough... I know once Matt, Sarah and the kids live in the states again it will probably be a regular thing to visit during the summer when we can all have lots and lots of pool and beach time!!  In June, when Becky and her family are visiting I don't think we'll be able to get everyone inside!  It will be all we can do to get them out of their suits to sleep!!  Can't wait!!  Here are a few of my favorites from all this time we had together!

1. Aunt Sarah reading about our Resurrection Eggs one night before bed
2. Micah with his beat up face.. he is a lot like Jacob - they don't go for long without some kind of boo-boo on their faces!! :)
3. One of my absolute favorites of Eli
4. Sarah with her boy (and her boy with his "Bubby") :)
5. Goomba getting some special loves from Micah

Cousin Time in Hilton Head

On the Wednesday before Easter Sarah, the kids and I headed down to Hilton Head to spend some time with our family down there.  We followed each other down, stopped quickly at Chick-fil-a on our way onto the island and went straight in to Nana & Pop-Pop's house to eat lunch.  As soon as we were finished eating Sarah and I took turns watching the kids so the other could unpack the car and take the stuff upstairs.  Once all our things were inside we took the kids upstairs so we could make beds and get ready for naps.  It was a lot to do in a short time but once all the kids were in bed we were able to sit down and relax for a few moments.  The big kids all slept in the same room... the boys in the twin beds and the girls on air mattresses.  I wish I had gotten a picture while they were all sleeping ... it is so nice to know that they are finally at an age where they are capable of sleeping with their cousins when we all get together at Nana & Pop-Pop's house!

These three kids are some of the most well adjusted, go with the flow kids I have ever been around!!  I guess being a family in the military has helped them to be flexible.  And when it comes to my sister-in-law, Sarah, words just can't express just how strong she is... she relies on the Lord's strength to get her through and her attitude is and always has been to just do what she has to do, no sense in complaining because God has them right where He wants them!!

During our time down in HHI, the boys spent a lot of time reading books... just like they always do!  Whether they are home or somewhere else, I will often find them sitting down with a stack of books.  It does my heart good to see how much they love to read and it makes me even more happy when Chase sits down and reads to his younger brothers!

Luke was definitely not fighting for attention... between having Sarah and the kids at our house for four days and then being in HHI with great-grandparents, grandparents and more aunts and an uncle he became spoiled pretty quickly!! :)  Tomorrow will be a week since we got home and back to our normal and we're still working on being content on the floor with toys... he is still wanting someone to give him attention 24/7!

We were going nonstop while we were down at Nana & Pop-Pop's house.  We were either busy out doing things or busy at home!!

1. Nana playing a game of Go Fish with four of the kids
2. Chase & Jacob spent the longest time "cooking" for Eli
3. Chase & McKenzie enjoying breakfast together
4. Jacob & Maddie sitting at the kid's table together one morning for breakfast
5. Chase & Maddie taking a quick pause from pretending together for a picture
6. Chase & Eli sitting together while watching a show

GG (Great-Grandma) is the one who gives Luke the most attention when we are all together.  He puts a smile on her face from ear to ear and it is so special to watch her with her youngest great-grandchild!  I have pictures of her feeding every one of my boys around this age so I couldn't let this time get away from me without getting one of those with Luke!  And I have to say, he was the happiest when he was sitting with his GG!!

 

It really was another great visit with family... it is so fun for the kids to play with their cousins and it is so great for us to spend time with the adults!!  

Just a quick story before ending... we were riding in the car today and Jacob out of no where says "I miss my cousins!" (This is probably said at least 10 times a day between the two big boys)  Charles wondered if he really knew what he was saying or if he was just repeating Chase so we asked him who he was talking about. "McKenzie, Maddie, Micah..."  We then went on to ask the boys to tell us the rest of their cousins.  "Noah, Colin, Eli..."  We told them they had two more and after a second Jacob said Emma and Ben.  The car was quiet for a few seconds and then Chase spoke up, "They aren't our cousins... they don't live far away!"  We corrected him of course and told him that just because they live close by it doesn't mean they aren't our cousins!  It gave us a glimpse into how his little mind works sometimes... kind of sad that he associates cousins with being far away!!  Hopefully one day that will change and we'll be within driving distance of all our cousins!!!

Easter Morning

The tradition of hiding the Easter baskets may not have happened in the Smoak household growing up but it did in the Morgan house and to this day that tradition lives on.  Saturday night after the kids had baths and were in bed we put the baskets together and then found appropriate hiding places.  It is so fun to think of places to put them that aren't too easy but won't take them too long to find!  It was even more fun to be in the house where I hunted my basket each year and to use some of those same spots for my kid's baskets!  Easter morning the kids came down and we started the day by reading the Easter story, spending time in prayer, thanking Jesus for his death and resurrection.  It was such a sweet time of reviewing what happened on those days leading up to Easter and then what it means for us that death could not keep our Savior in the grave.  The boys grasp so much and it was so special to first and foremost put the focus on Jesus before the fun of the Easter bunny.  Then it was time to let the kids hunt their baskets.  It was so fun seeing them all search the downstairs at Nana & Pop-Pop's house!

Once baskets had been found and gone through it was time for breakfast.  Uncle Dan, Aunt Ashley and Eli came over to enjoy Nana's special french toast breakfast.  We had about an hour to get everyone ready, take some pictures and head out the door and somehow we pulled it off!

My boys looked so handsome in their matching vests and it was so great to have someone there to take a family photo for us (thanks Ash!!). 

Everyone looked so nice for church that we had to take advantage of the opportunity and get a few pictures!  I finally got Eli to smile for the camera... the trick: have him look for the car, truck or train in the lens and he thought it was so funny!!  Whatever works, right?!  I love the picture of Danny with his son as well as the family pictures... Matt would have made the picture even better!!

Normally we talk and coordinate the kids but with the busyness of Sarah leaving Japan that just didn't happen so we each shopped separately for our kids and to our surprise they all matched!!  They all looked SO great on Easter morning!  And it was a bonus that they were all so cooperative in getting a few pictures!!

This was definitely an Easter to remember with all the time we were able to spend with family!  We missed the four members our family that were in Seattle but are so excited to see them in June... we are definitely counting down the days and can't wait to see them again!  It has been a L-O-N-G year and a half since we have seen them!!!   We're sitting just shy of 8 weeks and I can't wait!

Easter Egg Hunt #2

Saturday morning we got up and got ready for our second Easter egg hunt.  The night before Sarah, GG, Nana and I stayed up stuffing the eggs...we counted a total of 168 eggs.  After breakfast Pop-Pop went out and put down all of them, hoping the kids would find them and not the bugs or the yard crew! :)  Pop-Pop told the kids "the rules" and then sent them out back to find as many eggs as they could.  They also hid a golden egg but Pop-Pop must not have realized his grandkids are MUCH shorter than he is! ;)

Maddie & Chase were the two that were the most into the hunt... they took off running and didn't stop until the hunt was over.  Eli found a few eggs and then was more interested in the candy... a few times I looked over and saw his basket but Eli was no where to be found!  McKenzie took her time and carefully went around making sure she didn't miss anything.  Jacob was in his own little world finding his eggs and Micah was very intrigued with the slug that somehow found it's way into the first egg he opened! :)  haha  - I think we'll laugh about that for a while!  As soon as all the eggs had been found Pop-Pop and Nana checked everyone's basket for the golden egg.  The older two needed a few hints but McKenzie finally spotted the egg and the hunt was over. 

The kids all had a blast together hunting eggs!!  We took the baskets inside and checked each egg carefully before pouring the candy into baggies for each kid.  Once all the eggs had been emptied we counted and to all of our surprise the kids found each and every egg put out by Pop-Pop! :)

Decorating Easter Eggs at Nana's

The kids were all so excited when they found out we were going to be decorating Easter eggs for the second time this season!  I boiled the eggs earlier in the day and as soon as dinner was done and the kitchen was cleaned up we decided to jump in and have the kids dye the eggs two at a time.  We started with the younger ones and had Sarah and Nana standing close by.  They were so cute!!

Next it was Maddie & Jacob's turn (the middle two)! :)  They were able to do it mostly on their own but Sarah & Nana were standing by just in case!!

Finally, the older two (who had been waiting so patiently) had their turn.  They knew just what to do and McKenzie got very creative putting two colors on her eggs! :) I think Chase took notes for next year!

Last but not least, Luke had a "turn"... just for documentation sake we put Luke on the counter in front of the cups and we quickly realized he would take a nose dive just to get his hands on those colorful cups!  Nana did a good job keeping his busy hands from knocking everything over!!

What a special treat to be able to spend Easter with Sarah, the kids, Nana, Pop-Pop, GG, Goomba, Ashley, Dan and Eli.  We had so much fun coloring the eggs together!!

Egg Hunt #1

This Easter was special in the fact that we were able to celebrate Easter with the Smoak side of the family right before our family came into town and then we were able to celebrate a second time during Easter weekend with the Morgan side.  We had a blast hunting and dying eggs at the Smoak's house Friday evening.  We ate dinner and then let the kids go out and hunt the eggs.  Jupe (Charles' dad) put over 150 eggs around their backyard and the boys had a blast running around and filling up their baskets.

 The boys had so much fun filling their baskets.  There were a few times that Jacob had his basket so full that as he ran to get the next egg he saw he would spill eggs all the way and wouldn't even realize it until he got to where he was going.  It was so fun to watch!!

Luke had a great time just watching... he doesn't quite know what he is missing at this point but by this time next year he will be going full speed trying to keep up!!  He was super content watching from his Daddy's arms, eating his Daddy's shirt and playing with his blue egg! :)

The boys love doing anything and everything with their cousins... cousins, aunts and uncles just make everything more fun! :)

As soon as the eggs had been found Grandma brought out all the stuff for the kids to dye eggs.  This year for us was definitely a little bit easier with the boys being a year older.  I didn't worry quite as much over them spilling the dye all over themselves or turning all the cups over and they really enjoyed it this year!!

That Friday evening at Grandma and Jupe's with cousins and family was so much fun!  I love living close enough to be able to do these types of things and I love that for years to come our boys will make lots and lots of memories just like this!!