Random Pics From April :)

Jackson/Mommy date to a play about Snoopy... we went to lunch first and then to the play, which was kind of awful so we left at intermission!  :)  We had a nice time, though.  He would not look at the camera for a picture...

Haircut for Reid (he is now in desperate need of another one!)...

A little treat break at the mall on a trip to town one weekend...

Little girls enjoying the Reid bathtime show!  :)

Girls' overnight to Bend...

Yummy IPA in a fancy glass on said trip...

Reid wanting to be a big boy!

Playing with Daddy on the trampoline... One of their favorite things!

Sweet big boy with his gold doubloon necklace...

Jackson taking pictures with my phone (I think a babysitter let him do this with hers).... :)

Phil and I got all gussied up (well, I got gussied up) one evening for a date at one of the two nice restaurants in town... and what's greeting us when we pull up?  A drunk homeless guy sitting in the doorway.  Nice. He wouldn't even move for us to open the door!  We had to squeeze in and I think Phil bumped him with the door a little!

Riding bikes on a cloudy/rainy day... I had to laugh because the boys found the one little puddle on the street and were riding through it over and over!  :)

Another trip to town... It was a gorgeous day and we ate outside at our favorite pizza place.  Phil and I were commenting on the way home how good and mellow Reid had been all day (he sat on my lap really peacefully for almost this whole lunch)... well, it turned out that he had a fever and wasn't feeling great because of the beginning stages of that hand, foot, and mouth thing.  :(  But he was really calm for once!  Haha!

Emmett all tuckered out on the way home...

Eating dinner outside on another nice evening...

And here's our new favorite family activity... We finally bought bike seats for Emmett and Reid, and now that Jackson is so good on his bike we can go on family bike rides together!  We usually head out on the trail right behind our house and it is really fun!  This ride was actually a little colder than we thought it would be and Reid was a little upset on the way home, but usually it is warm and fun!

We think Reid looks like the mushroom character from Super Mario Brothers with his helmet on!  He's so cute!

And finally, some pics from boys' night out while Mommy was hosting a book club at the house.  Phil is such a good, patient Dad!

Emmett's 3rd Birthday

Here's a very belated birthday post for our little E!  His actual birthday was back on April 15, but we had his party a week later so we just pretended it was then.  :)  Here he is opening a card from my grandma and grandpa, Mimi and Pap...

They sent him some money that he was very excited to take to Fred Meyer and use to buy some more cars!  :)  Thank you, Mimi and Pap!

Like I've mentioned before, we never know what we are going to get weather-wise this time of year, so we didn't want to have E's party at a park outside... and our friends in the squadron have tons of kids, so I didn't want to have it at our house!  :)  We decided to rent out the bouncy house place in our town and have the party there, since E loves to go there so much.  It worked perfectly.  No setup or cleanup... all we did was bring in the food and play!  Of course, it did happen to be gorgeous outside that day (one of our first really nice days this year!)... go figure!

Cheetos are Emmett's favorite thing...

He also loves anything to do with the Cars movies, so we had a little Cars theme...

Lots of kiddos came and it was nice to have the place to ourselves...

Reid would not eat his pizza cut up into little pieces... he insisted on chewing on the crust like a big boy.  :)  This picture was taken right as he was contracting hand, foot, and mouth disease.  Ugh.  We dealt with that for a whole week about 10 days after the party and it was awful.  He looked like a blistery leper and is still healing from it.  I'm pretty sure he got it this day at the bouncy place.  :(  Poor baby!

And, of course, I forgot to get a family picture or any really good pictures of Emmett.  :(  But I think he had a really fun time!  I did have Phil take one of Emmett and me before the party... not great of either of us but the best we got!

We didn't have time to open presents at the party, so we did that at home after naps.  Here Jackson is "helping" Emmett open his presents... :)

I asked Emmett some of the questions that I asked Jackson a few months back and these were his answers (some I had to pry out of him):

What is your name?  Emmett.  Emmett Gilcreast?  No, just Emmett.
How old are you?  being a stinker... 10.  4.  5.  6.  (He does know his age!)
What is your favorite color?  green
Who is your best friend?  Jackson
What is your favorite animal?  a walrus
What do you want to be when you grow up?  Emmett.  I don't want to grow up.
What is your favorite movie?  Whiteming 2.  (Cars 2)
What makes you happy?  Nothing makes me happy.
What makes you sad?  Nothing makes me sad.
What is your favorite book?  Blueberries for Sal
What is your favorite food?  blueberries (ha! Blueberries on the brain.)
What is your favorite song to sing?  I don't want to sing a song... (then thinks about it and breaks into Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star).  :)

As you can see, E is definitely still into being defiant and testing us.  Often the answer to any question we ask is "No."  Sometimes he'll even say "no" before he actually processes the question!  We might ask something like, "Emmett, do you want some ice cream?" and he'll automatically say, "No, I don't WANT any ice cream!" and then immediately change his answer once he realizes what we're asking. But I do want to make sure to point out that he is usually a very good boy and is sweet and loving and friendly and uses good manners.  We just still have our moments.  :)

Oh, Emmett... we just love you so much!  You keep us laughing all the time and for as frustrating as you can be sometimes, you are just as super sweet and loving.  Daddy and I love your kisses and snuggles and clingy monkey hugs and we love to watch you immediately start your little stomp-dancing whenever you hear any sort of music at all.  We will read Mater and the Easter Buggy, The B Book, and Blueberries for Sal as many times as you want because we absolutely love to have you snuggled in our laps while we read.  You have such a great little personality and sense of humor and we are so blessed to have you in our lives!  ;)

Here are a few videos for the road...