Easter Fun

Easter weekend was filled with fun activities as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, our Savior!  Our church's Easter egg hunt should really be called an Easter Festival because they go all out!  Not only do we do the hunt, but there are bounce houses, little carnival games with prizes, a car show, some animal races, and a free hot dog lunch.  This year Mike's mom, Debbie, and sister, Amy, were able to join us.  Mike and his dad, Kendall, even stopped work on the patio long enough to come for the egg hunt!

Caleb picking out a tattoo to wear with Amy's help.

Caleb and Daddy waiting for the egg hunt to begin.

Momma and Caleb waiting for the egg hunt (Caleb is too concerned with all the eggs to look at the camera for a picture.)

The Brandons are not fans of getting their photos taken, so I have to snap them while I can!  Here's Amy, Kendall, and Debbie watching Ethan while we wait for the egg hunt to start.

Caleb collecting eggs.  He was really good at it this year and filled his basket fast!

Ethan even found a few eggs too!  Poor kid, Momma wouldn't let him eat any of the candy!

Here's Caleb "fishing" for a prize.



Though none of the balls got where they were supposed to, Caleb was at least consistent and hit the same mark all three times!

This bounce toy was set up as the game Twister, but as the big kids hunted for their eggs, they let the little kids just bounce around.  Caleb had a blast!

Too much excitement for Ethan!

Picnic lunch, yum!





Ethan had a blowout of a diaper right after his catnap and we had the delight of cleaning and changing him in a very inconvient spot...the blanket!

After a much needed nap, Caleb went to work on coloring Easter eggs.  He had a great time making them all rainbow colors.

Checking his egg...over and over and over again.  That egg was a VERY dark blue when it was done!

Easter morning we went to the yummy Easter breakfast at church.  It was delicious!  Pancakes, sausage, bacon, fruit, muffins, juice, and milk.  Yum!  Afterward we went to a joyous celebration of our risen Lord!  What a fabulous service!  We swapped "photo ops" with our friends, the Davises.

Here's Caleb, Ian, and Christopher taking such a nice Easter photo!  Too funny!!

Before church Caleb got to hunt for his Easter basket and have a treat!  (Nope, not in the dryer this year either, Uncle Rob!)  After church he got to hunt for some Easter eggs in the yard.  Such fun!

Then we went inside and rehid the eggs a dozen times!  Ethan even participated.  Can you find the egg he's hiding??

Here's Momma's favorite Easter basket!  What adorable boys! 





Playtime

We've been busy learning how to play differently the last couple of months.  A lot more snatches of playtime for Caleb with Momma and Dada while Ethan is happily on the floor!  Momma has also tried to do at least ONE fun/different thing a week with Caleb to let him know he is still loved and important.  Of course for him, that is never enough! :) 

Caleb thought he would lay next to Ethan to "play" like Ethan does.  It also shows you the difference four years makes in size!  Our first-born is definitely not a baby anymore. (Momma sighs!)

Here the boys are webcamming with Grandpa Grothe and Grandma Jan during our weekly "chats".

One week Momma made Caleb a fort to play in for the day.  It was a big hit!

He even let Ethan and Momma come in to read a story together (with a flashlight, of course!)

One morning, Momma was busy feeding Ethan and Caleb decided to build his own train track, which he has gotten VERY good at!  Just look at this creation!  We thought Uncle Rob would be especially impressed since he likes to help build tracks when he's here.

Ethan has FINALLY decided that the swing is okay, at least for little bits at a time.  Here he is fascinated by the hanging things.

What a cutie!

Ethan really moves his arms and legs a lot during floor time, though he's not a fan of "tummy time" at all!

The pillow helps him try to hold up that head, but even though he was so close to holding his head up in just the first two weeks, he still just doesn't want to work those muscles.  Someday he'll get it!

Caleb Quips

We've been doing Lenten devotions with Caleb the last several weeks and he has said a couple of things that made us giggle and you might too!

While we were talking about the Passover Mike mentioned that Jesus is the lamb for us.  He is the "Lamb of God".  Caleb thought this was great and said, "When I get to heaven I'm going to say, 'Hi, Lamb of God!"  He then proceeded to laugh really hard.  He thought it was a funny nickname for Jesus like Mike calls him Chimichanga and Silly Goose!   Will you call Jesus any funny nicknames when you get to heaven?

Another day he asked if Jesus has eaten peanut butter and jelly.  Neither Momma or Dada knew how to answer that one...has He???  Well if not, Caleb decided that he would bring them with him to heaven and share them with Jesus when he gets there!

Signs of Spring

One day while we were out playing in the yard we noticed that Caleb's "Butterfly Weed" plant had some caterpillars on it.  Upon closer look there were at least FOURTEEN caterpillars on it!  The plant really was aptly named!

When we mentioned to Grandma Jan that we were watching to see what the caterpillars would do, she suggested we bring one to watch.  What a great science experiment idea!

The caterpillar cleaned all the leaves and flowers off of the plant we put in and then did something very interesting...it formed a type of "web" across the top of the jar so that when it made its crysalis it could hang!  How interesting!!

Here's Caleb looking at the beautiful crysalis with tiny gold-looking spots on it.  Almost as if it had jewels!

Within a couple days of noticing the caterpillars they had stripped the plant clean.  There were no more flowers or leaves at all.  Then all the caterpillars disappeared and Caleb and Momma wondered where they had made their crysalis' since they weren't on the plant or even the bushes next to the plant.  How far will a caterpillar crawl????  Well, Mike found them hanging on the side of the house!!

Mike managed to get a picture of the butterfly coming out!  Amazing to watch!

Great picture!

We noticed our crysalis getting dark grayish black and thought it would soon hatch so we kept an eye on it.  Unfortunately, the butterfly was too fast for us!  We looked at it after breakfast, we went to feed Ethan and play a game for an hour and in that time the butterfly was already out!

Here we are trying to release it!

Poor butterfly was too big for our jar!  It kept scooting back into the jar as its wings touched the mouth of the jar.  Mike had to finally just gently shake it out!  What an awesome life cycle to watch!

Also in a tree in our yard we discovered a nest.  How did we discover this??  Well, while hunting for Easter eggs in the yard Caleb found half of a REAL eggshell!  Mike found the nest and if you look carefully you can see it in this picture.  Though we couldn't actually see the babies at all!  We'll have to keep our eyes out for them.

Ethan at One Month

It's crazy how relative something concrete like time can be!  One month with Ethan has felt like an "eternity" and the "blink-of-an-eye" all at the same time! 

There really aren't that many accomplishments a one-month old can do, but here are a few.  Ethan is living up to his name and is pretty strong for his age.  He likes to "stand" when being held upright and can put a bit of weight on his legs.  He also likes to hold his head up (especially when he's supposed to be burping!) and tries to look around. 

Ethan can recognize voices and will turn his head and his eyes to the voice he hears.  He really likes to follow Momma's, Dada's, and Caleb's voices.  He is in awe of his big brother and sits mesmerized when Caleb talks or "reads" to him.  Though he's not really a fan of the TON of kisses Caleb bestows on him all day! 

All in all life is moving along here as we are all living in a state of sleep deprivation!  Well, everyone except Ethan that is!  If any of you gets an inkling to hold a little one for a bit, come on over and we'll hand him off so we can get some naps in. 

Ethan's Baptism

Ethan was baptized into God's family on Sunday, March 11th! It was so special to have Grandpa Grothe here to do the baptism. What a blessing!   Uncle Rob and Aunt Aurea are Ethan's sponsors and it was great that they were able to be here as well. 

After the service we had all the family over to our house for lunch.  This included Kati's and Mike's extended families as well.  It was quite the housefull.  Mike had even grilled fajitas for everyone!  They were absolutely delicious!!  Mike is a fabulous cook and does a great job on the grill too.  Thanks honey, for making such a great meal for everyone.

Grandpa Grothe, Mike with Ethan, Kati with Caleb in front, Aurea, and Rob

Add Grandma Jan and it's the Grothe side of the family!

The Brandon side of the family. 

Tori, Eric, Mike with Ethan, Kati with Caleb in front, Kyle, Debbie, Kendall, and Amy in front

Grandpa and Grandma Brandon brought this beautiful cake!  It was very yummy too (especially the chocolate side!)

The Grothes Visit

Shortly after Ethan was born, Kati's family came for a visit to see our newest member.  The best was that Grandma Jan was able to stay almost three weeks!  What a "Super Grandma" she is too!  She fixed meals, helped clean the house, did countless loads of laundry every day, held Ethan so Kati could nap, played with Caleb so he wouldn't feel left out, and helped make those millions of decisions every day! ("Should I let him sleep?  Should I feed him now?  What do you think is wrong?....") 

She even went with Kati for both boys' doctor visit.  Caleb's four-year (Where he got four shots and I have never heard him scream that loud!  Though on a brighter note, he loved his hearing test and even sang the "beeps" for the nurse.)  And Ethan's two-week, where he also got a shot.  It was an exhausting morning for everyone. 

Grandma Jan and Ethan

 

Caleb and Grandma Jan playing Disney Sorry!

Sleeping baby again!

Playing playdough

Spray Bottle Duel

Drawing smiley faces together! 

I love this picture!  You can just hear Ethan saying, "No more kisses!  No more kisses!"

 

G.G. (Great-Grandma Mattson) came for a visit and we were able to get an

updated four-generations picture.

Grandpa Grothe, Uncle Rob, and Aunt Aurea came for Ethan's baptismal weekend.  It was great to see them again, but too short of a visit!  Here Grandpa and Ethan are getting acquainted.

Of course Caleb was in heaven!  He knew Uncle Rob and Aunt Aurea solely came to play with him!

Rob gets a chance to hold Ethan.

Playtime with Grandpa and Grandma Jan.





Ethan with his baptismal sponsors: Uncle Rob and Aunt Aurea!

What a cutie!  He's dancing!

More playtime!  This time with Uncle Rob.

One of Caleb's birthday gifts was this bubble blower from Uncle Rob and Aunt Aurea.  Doesn't it just look like so much fun??

We had a GREAT time with family and did not want to see them go!