Russell, Carolyn, the Boy, and Twin Girlies: April 2013

Addendum to "Monster Trucks"

Ty is so cutely obsessed with Monster Trucks right now. He made some "jumps" for his 2 monster truck toys to go over by wrinkling up part of the blanket on his bed. This morning he called me to come into his room, which is odd because usually after he wakes up he just comes out, and said, "Watch Grave Digger do this jumps!" Of course he waited for me to cheer and express how impressed I was and then did more jumps, too. I loved it...loved that he was using his imagination and being a little boy playing with trucks!

When Russell came home from work, Ty called Daddy into his room to watch more cool, cool tricks that Grave Digger can do. He also spent about 45 minutes looking at the program (which is pretty thick and does have some great pictures) from the Monster Jam show. I looked at it with him for a while and he told me who all of the trucks are and asked me, "Can you say words?" meaning, "Can you read the stuff on the page out loud?" I'm surprised (but then again, not) at how quickly he has learned the names of the trucks and how into them he now is!

Tonight when he went to his room at bedtime, he wanted to kneel by his bed and drive his trucks around on the course he created. I convinced him to at least sit on his bed and drive his trucks up there. I helped him up and sat him down then he started crying/whining. I couldn't understand what he was saying for a while then made out, "But I'm squishing my jumps!" How rude of me to make him ruin his Monster truck ramps and jumps he so carefully set up! Pretty sure he's sleeping right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's snuggled up with Grave Digger. ;)

Monster Trucks!!!

Russell has been talking for months about taking Ty to the Monster Truck Jam World Finals (or whatever it's called) that happens in Vegas every spring. When we found out the cost of the tickets, his plan was set aside until Big Papa (Russell's dad) generously offered to cover the tickets so Ty and Russell could have some awesome male bonding time. They had a BLAST and will probably make it a tradition to go every year we live here.

During the day before the show, the cars were parked and you could go see them and meet drivers and stuff. Russell took Ty then brought him home for a nap before they went back at night. He said Ty was scared of the trucks and wouldn't get close to them!

Grave Digger, Ty's favorite.

The boys before they left for the show. I'm pretty sure Russell was more excited than Ty. :)

Ty wore the noise-canceling headphones for a while, but then took them off after a while. Obviously, he doesn't seem to scared of the trucks now!

Russell said the show was fairly family-friendly and there were quite a few kids there, which is good. I was a little worried about that part...

Ty brought his Grave Digger truck (that Big Papa gave Ty for Christmas) and Russell said Ty entertained himself by driving Grave Digger all over Daddy and himself doing jumps and flips and other cool tricks. This morning after he woke up he asked me to come into his room so that he could show me Grave Digger (who slept in Ty's bed with him) doing "so cool" tricks and jumps.

While at the show, Russell bought a program that's full of pictures and "bios" of the Monster Trucks and Ty has been reading that thing lots! I'm glad that they shared this experience together. Next year they'll probably go with Big Papa! :)

Hoppy Easter, One and All.

Easter came quickly this year; I didn't even have any decorations up. That's all well and good, though, because I'm pretty sure I don't even have any decorations...unless you count the green, plastic Easter grass that's strewn on the floor. Anyway, we know it's not about the decorations or eggs (that will probably be dyed tomorrow or even Wednesday) or jelly beans. Easter is about the miraculous resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Its significance for us is beyond our comprehension, but I know it means that I can become perfected and live again with my Heavenly Father and family eternally. That's definitely reason to celebrate.

We got to go to an Easter egg hunt at "our" park around the corner from our house with other kids in our ward. Ty didn't really get the urgency of finding the eggs and was more interested in the cars parked around the area. Oh, well--he still had fun!

Getting ready for the prayer before starting the hunt since it was a church-sponsored activity.

"Hey--an egg! What's this doing in the park?"

Now he's getting the hang of it.

Daddy lifted Ty up to find an egg in a tree

Mommy got to lift Ty up, too!

Introducing the idea to Ty of going and actually playing at the park since most of the eggs were found and I think Ty's enthusiasm was waning.

Lila girl is so good at giving hugs/grabbing faces and hair. :)

I also have started the tradition of having Easter clothes for our kids. I know it's not much of a unique tradition, but until they protest, our kids will probably be matching. ;) This year I found this plaid shirt for Ty then, although I found coordinating dresses for the girls, I decided to make them skirts and accessories for less than 1/2 the cost. The fabric for the skirts wasn't too easy to work with, but no hemming was involved and I lined them with part I cut from an old shirt of mine. Plus, it's kinda fun to have a reason to force myself to make stuff. I like that crafty/sewing thing, but it's a bit of a mess and time taker-upper. (Colors are really muted here...don't know why.)

The Easter bunny was kind to our children (and us, the bunny does leave stuff for Russell and I, too). We are lucky that Ty is impressed by things like $1 Hot Wheels cars and licorice. He also did get a new Pixar movies Kinect xbox game that we all can play together. (He's actually playing it right now--driving with Mater and McQueen!) He also got an Angry Birds t-shirt that I hear his mom was going to give to him anyway, but stuck it in his basket instead. Ty also got candy and at first was like, "Can I eat this one jelly bean?" Later on in the day he kept popping in and saying, "I ate a green jelly bean!" "I ate a red one!" "I ate another purple jelly bean!" He also decided to open and eat his Cadbury cream egg all by himself. And we let him.

Avery was totally into pulling stuff out of her basket. The twinsies got some nail polish, bibs, baby puff snacks, and little necklaces. Russell will be nice and eat the Cadbury cream eggs they got. :)

Little just-woke-up Lila was even dressed in her bunny jammies!

Our post-church, pre-lunch pictures were less than super successful. Big thanks to Russell for humoring/tolerating me and taking the pictures while I tried to bribe, entertain, and prop up our kids.

Handsome Ty-Ty! He came home from church and impressed us with what he learned about Easter and Christ's resurrection, "The angels came and pushed the big rock. And Jesus comed out." True.