Happy Easter Weekend!

He is risen!!!
On Friday the boys and I felt creative.  We made some festive egg nest cookies from a recipe a friend shared with us.  Every time I turned around Nash had stolen one of the eggs from the nest.  SNEAKY!

On Saturday morning we had a neighborhood egg hunt at a local park.  The weather turned out to be half way decent so we were so thankful for that.

The boys and I going over our strategy

Nash filling up his basket

Nolan gets a bird's eye view from Jason's shoulders

Nolan admiring his loot

On Saturday afternoon my mom and sister came over to dye eggs with us.  It was interesting to say the least.  Nolan decided he would rather smash the eggs really hard into the table until he had a mushy mess of scrambled hard boiled egg in his hands.

Nolan and I showing off his masterpiece

Nash wanted to forego the instructions and just dip into the dye with his hands.  At one point he licked the egg wand and said, "This juice is yums!"  How can that be?  It has dye and vinegar in it!  And it happened more than once!  His taste buds must not be fully developed yet.  Funny little guy.

Nash and I

Nash, Whit, and Nana busy concentrating

Sunday after church we had the crew over to our house for lunch.  What a feast!  After lunch we had a big kid egg hunt for Whit, Evan, Jason and I.   There was some diving and shoving involved if I recall correctly.

Evan, Me, Jason, Memphis, Whit, and Daizy

Nini and Nolan

Great Grandma Phyliss and Nolan

Nash and Nolan got to have their egg hunt after nap time.  Nolan doesn't cover a lot of area at this point but he still had a lot of fun.  Luckily the rain held off again.

Papa and Nolan

Nash

Nolan and Nini

The crew watching the big egg hunt

Nolan hits the jackpot!

Uncle Will giving the "kids" a ride in the wagon

We had a fun weekend filled with family and Easter festivities.  Now we have to figure out what to do with all of this candy!

Playtime with Nana

Nana will do just about anything for her boys.  This includes pushing them around the house in a clothes basket until she can't go another lap.  Best Nana ever!!!

Just one more lap Nana!

Happy passengers

Lessons Learned

Last time Grama Jo visited I posted about things we had learned from her while she was here.  This time, I received an email from her the day after she left about things she learned while in Iowa.  *I posted my comments in italics.



1.  @ The Red Ginger, sushi is filling but sashimi is appetizers.  *Jason and Julie went out for a sushi lunch one day.  I hope he got his fix! 


2. I must chomp Jason's fingers harder and faster to get him to quit sooner.  *So true.  Jason thinks its funny to dig his fingers into very ticklish collarbone area until victim can no longer breathe.


3. Don't tease Megan about pouring a glass of wine.  *Julie offered to pour wine then proceeded to get out the crackers and cheese first.  I was parched.


4. Experiencing heat, humidity, rain, cold, wind, thunder and lightening, tornado warnings, more wind/rain, and finally snow in only seven days can wreak havoc on a California girl's hair. (Not to mention her mind.)  *Very weird weather week in the Midwest.  We literally had a little bit of everything!


5. Cuddling with a grandson is wonderful, even if encouraged by fever.  *Nash wasn't feeling well one day and was more cuddly than normal.


6. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox is very hard to share with another person, especially for a grama.  *Grama Jo has a very fun game on her iphone.  Nash would tell her they could play together but she would have to be very quick in order to actually get her turn.


7. Nolan and I are still fascinated with sticking out our tongues at each other.  *The last two visits I have captured pictures of them sticking their tongues out at each other.  See previous post from Grama Jo's visit.


8. Socks do NOT belong on the feet when it is time for sleep. That trait is inherited. You get it from your grandsons.  *Nash, Nolan, and Grama Jo all have to have their socks off when sleeping..even for a nap.


9. Megan and I (and Eggroll) were the only ones able to catch the egg. But is that a good thing??  *We ate at Osaka one night for dinner.  There were 10 adults and only 3 of us were able to catch the egg in our mouths.


10. Doing mundane chores with family is precious to me. I hide those memories in my heart.  *Grama Jo does not have to be entertained when she comes.  She's along for the ride and fits right into our daily routine.

Nolan and Grama

Grama and Nash

Nolan's new tricks

Nolan is pulling some new tricks out of his bag this week.  On Tuesday I asked him, "again?" and he signed it back to me!  I've only showed him that sign a few times and now he is using it more frequently.  On Monday evening Jason and I took my mom and dad to a Cirque Du Soleil show for staying with the boys while we were in Vegas.  Whitney and Evan watched the boys for us.  Whit texted me to let me know that Nolan said "cracker."  He is also saying "ball" and "baby" now.  Yesterday when I got home from work, my mom showed me his latest trick.  She asked him what color a block was and he said, "ellow."  I realize he doesn't know his colors yet and probably everything is "ellow" but the fact that he said it is pretty cool.  Mom thinks Nash's first color word was yellow too.

I've decided Nolan is either going to be a quarterback or a pitcher.  He's got some skill when it comes to throwing.  You have to be quick when he's around or you may just get a strawberry or a block upside the head.  I'm not really sure what to do because he thinks it's really funny.  He also likes to have complete conversations with me now.  It's really cute when he babbles for 30 seconds straight then looks at me like I should know how to respond.  It would be nice to know what he's thinking sometimes.
I also happened to do a tooth count today and realized that sometime this week tooth #11 came in (bottom right pre molar) and #12 has just started poking through (top right pre molar).

Quotes from Nash (3 years old)

"Lesson number 3.  Always listen to Nash Charles Wentland."

"You're not concentrating."

"Mom, Nolan's freaking me out."

"I'm Super Nash."

Waiving the White Flag

I finally had to wave the white flag this week.  I have been trying to fly under the radar of germs for too long.  It was nice while it lasted.  I started to get a sore throat about Tuesday and it's just gone south from there.  I started sounding like a man about Wednesday evening.  The cold went from my throat to my chest and is now creeping toward my head.  I worked short days on Wednesday and Thursday and when I got home my mom watched the boys while I tried to get some sleep.  I wish I was better at taking naps.  It just wasn't in the cards.  I'm hoping to feel human again before tomorrow.  We have a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt planned for Saturday and on Sunday we are having Easter lunch at our house after church.  Nash is pretty excited about the Easter Bunny this year.  Until then, it's orange juice, advil, and lots of kleenex for this girl.  Life doesn't stop just 'cause Momma's sick!

Fun With Grama Jo

Grama Jo arrived from California last Saturday around 2pm.  We snatched her up from the airport and headed straight to Rocket Park.  It was such a beautiful day!  I'm sure Grama could have used a rest after her travels but instead she chased the boys around the park with a big smile on her face.

Nolan

Grama Jo and Nash

Grama Jo assisting the boys on the slide

 Aunt Nini and Lexi walked down to see us too.

Nini and Nash. 

We had pretty good weather the first several days.  Grama Jo even got a little sunburn.  That's right...California girl came to Iowa for a sunburn!  We had such a fun week filled with puzzles, books, cell phone games, cookie making, singing, dancing and laughing.  We even broke in the water table this week.

Nash and Nolan

Nolan taking a break

Nolan, Grama Jo, Daizy, and Memphis

Grama Jo "safety patrol"

Like a pro

Nolan

Grama Jo and Nolan

Nolan and Nash.  Nash is always too busy to look at the camera.

 We even had our first bon fire of the season at the fire pit.  It didn't last long but there was still a fire.

Fire pit in our backyard

Nash "talking" on his phone 

Grama Jo and Nolan

Nash finding the perfect stick to put in the fire.

 Tuesday night we had our "wine and cheese party."  It's something that we do every time we get together with Grama Jo.  SO GOOD!  Each time we learn a little more about which cheeses and wines we like and which ones will not be invited back.

Wednesday night we ALL went out to Osaka to celebrate March birthdays.  We had to ask our chef not to make the big flame on the grill because Nash was still traumatized from the last time we were there.
If you've never had their plum wine, you are missing out.
Wednesday was also the day that I skipped out of work a little early to meet Grama Jo, Nana, and the boys at the zoo for the first time this year.  Unfortunately Nash was not feeling the greatest as you can tell by some of the pictures.  He was just not himself.  The combination of the fever and the zoo trip caused him to wake up from a nightmare three times that night...he thought there were snakes and alligators in our bed.   Looking back, I wish we hadn't visited the reptile house!

Fearless.  Nash and Nolan feeding the goats.

One of the baby giraffes.  The giraffes are my favorite part of Niabi Zoo.

Nolan and Nash ignoring the giraffes

Nolan and I enjoying a ride on the carousal

Grama Jo, Nash, Nolan, and Nana on the train.

Unfortunately we only got to keep Grama Jo for a week this time.  She left this afternoon to head back to Cali just a few hours later than scheduled.  The weather made an about face from earlier this week.  Today was windy and rainy and it even snowed.  I don't think that should ever be allowed in April!  It was a great week and we had a ton of fun.  Thanks again for making the trip east Grama Jo.  We love you! (and thanks for bringing the Grama Bag)