April

Matthew is the first to rise in the mornings so he can get ready for school.  His brothers could sleep in if they wanted to, but they very rarely do.  They sit at the table and support their big brother.  And they are endlessly amused by him.  These 3 boys are buddies, and it is the sweetest thing to watch.

Steven and I had a hot date out on our own (thanks to Aunt Pam!).  We saw The National perform at ACL live.  It was a great venue for old folks like us who don't really care to stand for the entire show and would rather sit and gently bob our heads to the music.  It was a great show.

In April we took the kids back to Sweet Berry Farms but this time with our Rener friends.  This time, there were strawberries galore!  We only went down one aisle and collected 3 full baskets worth.  Huge, ripe, red berries ready to eat.

The kids had a blast picking them and trying to find the reddest and biggest ones.  Johnny loved running up and down the aisles, picking the fruit and saying hi to the goats.  He looks like he's got something in mind, doesn't he?

Ava & Matt always scale this fence and gaze at the horses.

I came home with a huge load of berries.  Most of which we either ate or I put in the freezer for future baked goods and margaritas!

After all that berry picking we went back to the Rener's to dye Easter eggs and bake resurrection rolls, a little tradition we've tried to continue throughout the years.  They were all very focused.  Johnny frustrated all of them by moving the eggs around to different dye baths.  Maybe next year he'll get it.  :)

Easter Sunday we enjoyed early church together before Steven had to be at work.

That afternoon we went over to Mimi & Papa's to celebrate with family.  Lucy brought her tiny little toy animals, and she & Johnny had a ball looking at them and attempting to make all their animal sounds.  Uncle Bryan got them going with monkey sounds.

After we ate a fantastic ham dinner with all the yummy accompaniments, the kids were dying to hunt eggs.  The waiting was unbearable.  Why is it taking so loooooooooong???  Well, because there was a ridiculous amount of eggs to be hidden!

And then they took off.  John really didn't understand the concept at all.  I helped him find his first egg, and he proceeded to do exactly what Matt did at that age: he sat right down, opened it, and ate all the jellybeans inside that egg.  He found all he needed!

Will's excitement is so cute, and I love Matt inventorying his egg stash in the background.

The two Hanks.  Such cute trouble.

Look at all those kids!  Thankful they were still enough for a picture.

My beautiful nieces.  Growing up.

I kept finding Will passed out in the living room chair on more than one occasion.  He for sure needs more sleep than Matthew but won't stay in bed in the morning and sleep after he hears Matt get up.  Lately though, I've trained Matt to quietly tip-toe out in the mornings without turning on his light and come out in the living room and read, and thankfully Will will stay asleep now.

Matt had a research project at school.  The kids were all assigned a different fruit to research and gather facts about.  They had to collect information on their fruit and write down facts on index cards.  They also had to make a food friend to present to the class as well as the parents one morning.  Matt was assigned star fruit.  His food friend turned out pretty well I think.  And, to brag on my son, the teacher was so impressed with his fact cards that she asked if she could keep them as an example for future students.  :)

And, here's Will and his cool moves.

March

Wow, so waaaay back in March Matthew had his Sports Day at school---a highly anticipated day where the kids play field games and just have fun all day long.  Matt was teamed up with his buddies for most of the day.

When it came time for the baton relay, Matt was pumped and ready.  I didn't get to go watch him that day, but when he came and told me about the relay he said, "Mom, I was on a team of girls." What?  Girls can run too!

So, I'm not sure what I like best about this video.  The armpit farts at the end or Steven's giggles.  Classic.

Spring Break was a rather chilly week.  No complaints about that!  We took advantage of the lovely weather and went to the Waco zoo with the Rener crew.

We saw some really amazing animals: orangutans, tigers, a kimodo dragon, elephants, giraffes, bears, otters, and meerkats to name a few.  Johnny loves animals so he was fascinated by everything he saw.  He kept trying to get into the animal displays.

Matt reading a map while sitting in his babiest brother's stroller.  Pretty sure he's way over the weight limit that that stroller can handle.

These two...inseparable.  It was so cute listening to them talk about the animals they saw.  They really enjoyed it.

Little Johnny was a trooper and kept right up with those big kids.  He was thrilled to see all those animals we only see in books (that we read over and over and over) up close.  He fell asleep right away on the drive home, even with all those other kids giggling all around him.

There were a few Sundays back in the spring when Will would fall asleep either in the chair or on Steven.  He would not be convinced to go and actually take a nap.

And another little sleeper right here.  Poor guy gets woken up from naps all the time.  So precious to see him sleeping so peacefully.  And he's filling up that crib!  Thankfully, he still loves it and has made no moves to try and escape the thing.  Yay!

Matthew was ready for another go at flag football, only this time we switched leagues.  This time around we were only committed to one day a week with practice and the game back to back.  It worked out much better for us.

After Matt's football game one Saturday we drove out to Marble Falls to scope out the town.  The kids were pretty patient with our driving and exploring for the most part, but you knew when they had had their fill.  The whining came on like a steam train and didn't stop.  We ended the day at Sweet Berry Farms for some strawberry picking.

The plants were still pretty immature due to our crazy winter so we didn't come away with too much fruit, but it was still fun to be out there in such a beautiful setting.  And that didn't stop Matthew from scouring those plants to try and fill up our box.

Johnny wasn't complaining.  He found plenty of good fruit right off the ground to eat.  A little dirt never hurt anyone, right?  Blech.

Johnny was most captivated by the goats.  He and Will fed them for quite some time.  The delight John gets from seeing live animals is the best.  He squeals with joy every time, I love it.

Not sure what these two are doing...impersonating a goat?

Back at home Mr. J is still his charming, busy self.  He loves to be outside.  At some point nearly each day he and I are outside while the other two are inside racing cars or building Lego.  He says, "C'mon, Mommy!!" in the sweetest little voice while gesturing me toward him.  How can I say no?

For the two hours Matthew was engaged in football, I was charged with the task of running the other two around and keeping them entertained, out of trouble, and off the football fields.  We found these hurdles all chained together, and Will & John made it a game of crawling through them.  They ran around the track, played in the long jump and sand pits, and jumped on the crash pad under the high jump.  With snacks in hand at every event, of course.

In March the hills at the middle school where Matt played his games were covered in beautiful bluebonnets.

Lots of park time with these three.  Lots of 'tude, too.

This spring was the windiest one I can remember.  It made for a great kite flying day one afternoon.

After school one day Will fell asleep while cuddled next to Matthew.  I think he did it the next day too. Still wouldn't take a nap though.

Steven took the older two out to Goldthwaite to go collect his hunting gear and visit his Uncle & Aunt. Matt's favorite part about going there is looking for bones.  It never disappoints!

And this is a slice of life with these 4 boys.

February

Febraury was poetry month in Matthew's class at school.  He recited poems for us daily.  Such a great orator!

Matthew also penned this little beauty about his brother, Will.  Will's food struggles must have inspired him.  I am here to testify though that Will's eating habits are much improved.  He will eat most of what I put in front of him, but just don't be in any big hurry.  I can't decide what is my favorite part about this poem....the "eern't" buzzer sound or the tiny, tiny bites.  Love it.

The Fun Run at Matt's school was a great way to start a chilly day in February.  Once again, Matt darted way ahead of us and I didn't see him until Johnny and I crossed the finish line much later.  Will charged ahead too and ran his little heart out trying to keep up with all those long-legged big kids.  He ran the whole thing without stopping; he wanted to quit but he kept going.  I was so proud of him.

I bought this hoodie for Will and it turned out to be his very favorite article of clothing.  So funny.

Steven bought me these really beautiful flowers.  Three days before Valentine's Day.  He loves me so much he couldn't wait.  :)

Another "snow day" and no snow.  The kids ate their packed lunches on our very own cafeteria table at home.  Matthew was sure to sit down exactly at noon just like he does at school.

Three boys all in a row!

We took Matt & Will to see the Lego Movie.  They got to play with Lego before the movie began.  The movie was a big hit with all of us.

Meanwhile back at home under the supervision of Tim & Pam, Johnny snuck into his brothers' room and had his own Lego party.  Baby-zilla!  I think he was a little miffed we left him, but then again he had been dying to get his hands on those precious Legos for a long time.  Matt & Will were pretty shocked when they stepped into their room.  Matt was pretty cool about it and said that now we could build some new creations.  Will immediately melted into tears and was inconsolable.  Over the next several days we worked hard to rebuild most of it, police station included.

Johnny is much more suited to work on Johnny-sized Lego.  He loves to build a big tower that he can then smash to the ground.

Wary of their littlest brother's reputation and appetite for destruction, Matt & Will decided to set up their Playmobil town on the dinner table.  Don't they look pleased?

Steven & I have long stood back in amazement at the awkward positions that Matt finds himself in to read, write or watch tv.  This has got to the best one to date.

This cute guy got to go on a lunch date with his daddy.