The One About the Easter Bunnies

     In a true Easter miracle, Ernie found a nest of baby bunnies in our front yard tonight while he was mowing.  There were 6 in total.  Sadly, it was after Asher went to bed so he didn't get to see them yet.  Gavin was pretty excited. 

Gavin, sporting his new blue eyepatch.

Here is a pic of the boys with their Easter baskets from this morning.

The One About the Two Egg Hunts

   Yesterday, the boys were able to do two egg hunts.  First, we went to O'Neill to hunt at the O'Neill Assembly of God Easter Egg Hunt with Grandpa and Grandma Whiting.  It was sooo cold.  The boys searched for the golden egg to win the big prize, but had no luck.  They still had a fun time.  Afterwards, we came back to Ewing to hunt eggs at the baseball park.  Asher found the winning prize egg and won a basket of bubbles, a jump rope, sidewalk chalk, and a flute.  Here are some pics from the hunts:

This threw Asher off for a little while.  He couldn't figure out how he was going to get this egg. 

Here is a pic of the Easter egg winners in Ewing:

The One About The Big Red Barn

   The first time it happened, we thought he was just tired.  Then it happened again and again.  Whenever we read the book The Big Red Barn, Asher cries.  He is fine at the beginning of the book when the animals are around the barn.  He loves when the mice are in the cornfield.  However, when the sun starts going down and the animals trudge up to the barn to go to sleep, he starts getting that sad look on his face.  When I turn the page and the animals are in the dark barn sleeping, the tears start to fall and I hear, "Nigh, nigh."  The first time it happened, he wasn't just crying.  He was sobbing when the animals went to sleep.  I even said, "Asher, they aren't dead.  They're just sleeping."  He was just so affected by that part.  Even after we had moved on and I had gone back to the beginning of the book, he was doing that cute little baby "catch your breath" that happens after crying hard.  For being such a rough, little guy, he is so sensitive about those farm animals. 

The One About the Second Try on the Potty

When Asher woke up this morning, we thought we would give that potty thing another try.  So into the bathroom he went.  He sat on the toilet and "tried" to potty.  Instead, I heard, "I toot, Mommy.  ha ha ha"  Oh well, at least he tried. 

The One About the First Potty

Hmmm..I seem to have a lot of potty and poop posts lately.  I guess that is what life is like when you have boys.  This morning, Ernie told Asher to run to his room to get dressed. He instead ran into the bathroom and said, "I potty."  So Ernie put him on the toilet.  And.......he pottied! 

The One About the Cow Poop

   On Monday, my Mom and I took the boys out to a bridge.  Gavin has always loved bridges, and throwing rocks into the water.  Asher loves it too.  So because it was so nice, we decided to just take them for a drive and stop at one of the bridges.  We climbed down under the bridge and let the boys find sticks and rocks to throw into the water.  We stood under the bridge and listened as trucks drove over it.  We saw some cow poop.  Since Monday, all I keep hearing from Asher is "Cow poop.  Yuck!"  He says it constantly, and then smiles really big.  Oh, and on the way home from the bridge I heard "I toot, Mommy!" about 20 times.  Then it became a game where I could see his face tense up like he was purposely trying to toot.  Man, I need a girl! 

The One About the Pirate Patch

    Gavin had a 6-month checkup at the eye doctor today.  I was really curious to see if his vision had improved since he started wearing glasses.  Fortunately, his right eye has improved and is now at 20/20 vision.  However, the left eye is not improving.  Therefore, the eye doctor recommended we patch his right eye to force the left eye to start working harder.  I immediately thought about my cousin Kim, who wore a patch all the time as a preschooler.  The doctor told us that new research has shown that patching an eye for a few hours a day yields the same benefits as patching an eye for 8-12 hours, like was recommended when my cousin was younger.  With Gavin's vision problem being so mild, he recommended we patch his right eye for just an hour every night.  Luckily, Gavin is a pirate fanatic, and thinks it is SO COOL that he will get to wear a patch.  The doctor ordered one that will clip right onto his frames. 
    After we got home, Gavin and I made a special spring treat to take to his daycare friends tomorrow. 

Bird eggs seemed to be the theme of the day.  We read an Easter book about a bunny who guarded a robin's egg and also checked in on the eagle web cam several times.  This wasn't so pleasant today, since she had some kind of gross animal she was feeding on in her nest.  Yuck!  If you don't know about the eagle web cam, check out the link:

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles#utm_campaigne=synclickback&source=http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/decorah_eagle_xcel.html&medium=3064708

The One About the Bike Riding

     What a busy weekend!  We crammed a lot into the last two days.  On Saturday morning, the boys played while I did some heavy spring cleaning.  I was able to keep them inside till around 11:00, and then we just had to get out.  We took a walk to get the mail and then around town.  After lunch, Shayla and I took the boys to the park in Clearwater.  There were a couple of boys there playing who were around the same ages as Gavin and Asher.  Asher followed the 1-year-old boy around repeating, "Hi baby."  Then he insisted on touching his curly hair saying, "Nice baby."  They had a good time playing.  We came home, cleaned up, and then Gavin and I went to church to watch Allison make her First Communion.  Allison is the daughter of Lisa, the boys' daycare provider.  Asher stayed home with his Daddy.  He has difficulty making it through a normal mass, let alone a longer First Communion mass.  Gavin had told Father Kramper last week that he needed a new rice bowl b/c his was full, so Father announced in church that Gavin had already filled one of his rice bowls and was starting on his second.  :) 
   After church, Gavin, Ernie, Shayla, and I went to DW's for supper.  Asher got to stay with his cousin, Sammie.  We ate and then headed to a wedding reception/dance, where Gavin was so excited to see his best friend, Sydney.  The kids played, and Ernie and I were able to catch up with Josh and Megan, who we haven't seen since the Super Bowl. 
   On Sunday, we slept in (well 7:30...which is really sleeping in for us).  We ate breakfast, and then set out for a family walk around town.  Ernie and the boys stopped to play at the park, while I came home to finish some of my cleaning and workout.  When they got home, we decided that it was time to teach Gavin to ride his bike without training wheels.  I have never been so proud/scared to death at the same time in my life. 

Gavin's friend, Emma, from next door came over to cheer him on.  I love his hair in this picture.  Today was so windy, and definitely not an ideal day for teaching, but it worked.  However, we did have some accidents.

    He did so well though, and within 20 minutes or so he was riding up to 2 blocks by himself.  I ran alongside him, and got some sprinting in.

Asher ran along with us all for awhile, and then got bored and headed to his treehouse.  Today was "go down the slide on your tummy backwards" day. 

Gavin pushed Asher on the swing, and Asher screamed for his life.

     After lunch, Ernie, Gavin, and I headed to Norfolk.  Poor Asher was left home again.  We took Gavin to see the Easter movie HOP, his 2nd movie theatre experience.  It was a cute movie.  We went to Target afterwards to buy Gavin a new bike helmet, and Gavin decided that we should take Asher home some Easter candy.  He chose Peeps, dipped in chocolate on the bottom.