Have I mentioned to anyone that I cannot wait to spend my full days with these two hooligans?!
The end of another school year is ending and another wonderful summer with my guys is beginning. I cherish my time with them and am so thankful.

Clayton's preschool class has a friend, Leo. Leo is a stuffed Lion and visits a new friend's home everyday! We were able to provide hospitality last year to Leo and had the opportunity to do so again this year. Clayton takes this very seriously and has been planning his time with Leo for weeks now. His home is a clear plastic backpack and a journal is included to record your experience with him. I must say that Leo had a better odor and appearance to him this year......last year I was tempted to give him a bath in the washing machine :) As much as you may like a detailed story about Clayton's day with Leo, I have tired of the story a bit. Don't get me wrong! I love the excitement of it all and Clayton had such a great time but. but. We sat down to record the adventurous story and read through it several times. Clayton continued to "read" the journal from recall several, several times. I think the pictures will explain our day with Leo! Papa Bruce and Grandma Jeri's farm provided the entertainment!

Happy Easter!!

This is Myles' talent: stacking.

The boys have a play firehouse and Myles is either climbing up on it or stacking the little furniture.

I love how the boys are so different and I enjoy seeing both of them grow and develop in their own ways and in their own time ! Clayton has always drug out tractors and other pieces of farm equipment from his room. Myles chooses the blocks. He stacks so carefully and we can't really believe some of his creations!!??

Clayton and I went to the Lake Park Community Center and played BINGO last night! It was fun! I had not played BINGO in a very long time. Young and old and in-between came out to play the good old-fashioned game. We did well and even came home with prizes. Clayton did not in fact get a win on his card but Grandma Betty let him pick out a prize from her win. He got an Easter bucket full of little prizes. All this evening as Royce and I were walking around the house we would find this Easter basket in our path. The Easter Bunny had fun leaving the basket and hiding. Too funny :) * * * * Often times on Sunday evenings I will make a trip to "The Walmart" and stock up on diapers and whatever else is on our list. The boys like some time to wrestle and hang out with Dad as well. We had ran out of milk and it was on my list! I was running a bit late tonight and it was getting close to Myles' bedtime. He was mad that we had no milk. I got a phone call and told Royce that he may have to make a trip to Stan's Corner. It's in "the routine" to have a slurp of milk before bed. Every. single. night. Royce thought that maybe he could get by with some juice water but Myles took one drink, held it in his mouth, looked up at Royce, and spit out a mouthful on the floor. The cup went flying and he had a tantrum. Myles was put in his crib with blankets and Royce prayed that he would forget about it and fall asleep. It got ugly. They loaded up in the pickup and got some milk. Myles won. The End.

Clayton is getting so big and brave. He has loved the new adventure of riding the 4wheeler at Papa Bruce and Grandma Jeri's farm. We really were not sure if he would ride on his own or not!? Uncle Tim was there for the first ride. He set Clayton up with the helmet, goggles and riding gloves. I call the equipment the "extra courage". Tim rode on the back and guided Clayton through the steps of starting the machine, steering, running the throttle, brakes and all of the safety precautions. They rode around the building site and Clayton pulled up to the barn and turned to Tim, "You can get off now. I can handle this!"

He sure did! Cautious but confident:)

A quote from Clayton yesterday, "Mom! I am getting SO tall. Those growing pains worked!"

THIS IS NOT MY SEA MONKEY "TANK" !!! YIKES!!! THE MOLD!! I found this pix on the internet but the Sea Monkeys look just like ours!!! :) So what exactly are Sea Monkeys? Sea Monkeys are a type of brine shrimp, and a member of the animal family Crustacea, which also includes crabs and lobsters. All crustaceans have a hard shell (known as an exoskeleton) that provides their bodies with support, the way our bones help us keep our shapes. Having a hard shell is great when you’re a small creature in a big ocean! It makes it more difficult for animals to eat the Sea Monkey and get to its gooey parts inside. But there’s a big problem. As the Sea Monkey grows bigger inside the shell, the shell stays the same size. So it needs to shed its shell, but this exposes its soft bodies to the outside world. It’s a perfect time for predators to eat them! (Fortunately, Sea Monkeys don’t have any predators in the little tank, so yours will be safe!) So they want to grow that shell quickly. Once the shell grows back, larger and harder, they are protected until the next time they need to grow bigger! I'm not sure that I can handle the tank getting this "green" and gross!! Our Sea Monkeys are happy I guess!? We feed them every couple days and Clayton does peek at them maybe twice a week. I am starting to wonder how long the Sea Monkeys can live without food? What am I going to do when we do run out of the fine green powder? Do I order more from the internet or try some alfalfa meal :) ? Do I order a new and bigger tank? hmmm......I think not. I'll let you know what we decided.......