Easter 2015

The spring has certainly hit in the northwest and although we are very tempted to put the garden in, we have not yet done so since the conventional wisdom of waiting until the snow is off of Mica Peak, has not occurred with any regularity yet.

Matthew is such a ham sometimes and is always talking about helping out and getting a screwdriver so when he is given the opportunity to do anything with tools he is right there.  If he is anything like me he is going to end up breaking a lot of stuff so there will be a lot of fixing in his future.

This year for Easter it was perfect weather and we once again hosted a Easter egg hunt at the house.  The dads all got to be involved as well by hiding all of the eggs while the moms kept the kiddos at bay in the front yard.  Once I gave to go ahead, the race was on.  Everyone got a chance to get some eggs and I encouraged the older kids to keep the easy ones for the littler kids.  I thought that was a shot in the dark, but it actually worked and the hunt was very civilized.  I gave the ground rules at the beginning and did so without smiling, so I am sure that helped.

James is such a cool kid and it is great to see kids learn and do things for the first time.  It never ceases to amaze me the things that these kids come up with.

Matthew showing off his first egg of the day.

Here is Brenda going over the 12 resurrection eggs that were mixed in with all the other ones.  She  was in all of her teacher glory. 

One of the very few pictures where you will actually see me in the background.  I am convinced that one of the main jobs of a dad is to take the pictures and therfore is rarely in any of them.

Matthew got a twofer here

 Easter Sunday after church we had a chance to take a few picture via the 5 burst shot time delay feature on the camera.  Out of five shots, I am bound to get a least one where everyone's eyes are open.

Matthew and James being best of buds and holding hands on the swing.

We got some chicks on Saturday and the boys loved touching them and petting them.  Matthew had this automatic reaction when he touches something soft.  His thumb in his mouth is so predictable. 

James was initially frightened to death of the chicks, but he got used to them and loved touching them.

Adorable.  James thought it was a good idea that we played with them in the grass and told the chicks "hey baby chicks, it is ok if you want to poop in the grass"

Check out this guy with a chick in his pocket.  He loved having it  in there, but the chicks grow very fast and this is not possible with them anymore.

Hanging out

Matthew with the thumb thing again.

We hauled a bike we got for free out of the barn the other day, but the bike is a 18" wheeled bike and meant for bigger kids.  James normally rides a 12" bike so this one is big.  I told James he has to be able to ride this bike if he ever want to ride a motorcycle and that was all thee motivation he needed.  He cannot even touch the ground on while sitting on the center bar, but with a little direction he can get started now on his own and riding around like a champ.  He is such a natural at biking and almost never wrecks.

The kids love to have cereal for breakfast and Life is a favorite.  James loves looking at the cereal box and plays "eye spy" with the same picture every day.  I love hanging out with him and eating cereal in the mornings... it is the simple things in life that really make it fun.

Kids at play

There is so much randomness when it comes to hanging out with kiddos that I am having a hard time finding a title for what is now, my monthly blog.  You will notice I started out a many years ago with a once a week posting regieme and now I have slid all the way down to once a month.  Such is life.

I had a chance to take the kiddo to the ever crazy "Spokane Discount" store which is a weird store with half of the stuff broken and/or returned from Costco.  It is quite a scene if you have never been there and if you look you can find all sorts of stuff.  At the Spokane Discount Clearance store you can find all sorts of stuff...like a shopping cart full of blenders that may or may not work for $4.  Yes, $4 for the entire cart, not per blender.  If you are creative and kind of a fix it guy, this is the store for you.

In town this month was the Washington state B basketball championships.  We had a great time at the game and both of the boys liked watching the games....having red vines for the helped. 

Jim and Sandi came up for the basketball games and Jim brought this great sign for out on the street when the kiddos are running around.  This is a copy of a historic sign that used to be at all of the school crossings in the 50's.  It is a pretty neat piece of history and it is really an eye catcher so it does make people slow down.  We live on a cul de sac, but there are a few neighbors that need to be reminded to slow the heck down.

The boys love messing around in the front yard and riding bikes, playing catch, throwing sticks, and all of the good things that everyones youth should be filled with.

Of course there is always time to read a few books and that is what all kids really love.  I am not sure when I grew out of the loving to read phase, but I certainly did.  I now "read" audiobooks on the way to work and that is what I really enjoy.

Matthew always can be seen with a screwdriver trying to fix something around the house.  It is typically something that he had hung on and broke, but that is a small price to pay to hang out with these two guys.

These two little guys have been practicing Jenga with mom and now are actually quite good.  It really helps having a big brother because Matthew is really pretty good for a 2 year old.

I don't know what it is about these horses that James got from mom not too long ago, but these boys sure love to play horses with races and all sorts of other "games".  Here you can see James combing a horse with a toothbrush and of course, a flashlight.

I took James for a ride on the Cafe racer around the neighborhood the other night.  The battery on the bike was about completely dead so the headlight did not work so I made it a short ride...since it was well after dark.

James loves to help out in the kitchen.  He is good at cutting up mushrooms with his butter knife.  If you give this kid a task, he is intent on finishing it up.

Although it is only spring, we are constantly playing outside and looking forward to a long warm summer.  There is almost snow in the mountains and the snow pack was really low, but since we are upstream of everyone else, I am not too concerned.  Hopefully we will have a inch of rain every month during the summer, but I guess we will see.  All in all it has been a great March.

The Boys will be boys.

I like it when the winter just seems to fly by and that it has this year.  So far in the NW the winter is very mild and the temps have hit up to 50-60 degrees in February which is unheard of.  That of course is in stark contrast to the east coast but I guess that is why we live up here.

We have relied on our friends Jim and Jan quite a bit the last few weeks to take the two boys from us and help us out with them when we have other events going on.  I guess this is the trouble they get into when Jim and Jan have them.  James is having more fun than he puts on.

I got a chance to hang out with Matthew the other night just him and me.  We had a blast hanging around in the backyard and running all around.  Matthew is rarely seen without his "silky" which is a cape from a super hero T-shirt.

Here is Matthew trying to get some air.

He is actually a pretty good thrower.  There is something about a kid throwing a ball around and laughing.  It is really the best sight and sound in the world.

This is a pretty typical sight around our house.  James is constantly trying to climb all over the place.

Matthew loves to paint even if it is with the edible paints mom got off of pintrest.  Anything to create a mess.

The boys both have begun the inevitable love of Legos.  All boys, no matter how old, love Legos and I am sure that ours will not be any different.  That is one toy that even a father can love.

Matthew is such a cutie.

Once a week or so I stay overnight in St Maries and the last time I stayed down there I had a chance to go to Bingo.  A pillars of the community, our company has several people who have become members of the Fraternal order of Eagles.  With that comes the responsibility of calling the Bingo game.  It actually was a lot of fun.

Matthews favorite thing about being in the garage is sitting on the motorcycles.  Frankly, that is my favorite thing to do as well so I fully understand.

James is one speed demon on the bicycle and he has only had about one big fall.  I am quite impressed that the crash did not really seem to phase him one bit and his still has a need for speed.

This month James got his first valentine addressed to him and he loved opening it.  Thank you grandma and grandpa Elenbaas for all of the love.

Seriously...how adorable can you be Matthew.

With the weather warming up so much it really is starting to feel like spring so there is not time like the present to be digging in the garden.  Digging in the dirt is a favorite past time of many a De Jong and it is not going to stop at this generation.

The other day James really hated wearing his jeans since it gave him itchy knees so he thought he could wear some of Matthews sweatpants.  The results are unmistakable and leaves me asking where it the flood?

Matthews Birthday

Yes, Matthew is now 2 years old.  It is hard to believe that he is getting so big, and man is he growing so much faster than we would have thought.  Having an older brother must make you grow up faster and I think it is true since I obviously matured faster because of my brother.

Matthew was super excited every time he got to open presents.  James was always right there of course, but I think we were able to regulate that alight and let Matthew enjoy it as much as possible.

Matthew and James were very excited to see the candle.  I don't know what it is about fire that kids just seem to like it, but who am I kidding, I love fire as well.

Matthew really like to blow his candle out and I think Grandma liked to see him do it.  I know she did, because she preceded to light the candle three other times so he could blow it out over and over again.  You gotta love grandmas.

James was able and willing to assist with all things that included birthdays and attention.

Look at that cutie.

The weather has been unseasonably warm and I got the bikes out the other day for the kids to ride around.  I put Matthew on the tricycle and was trying to show him how to pedal, but there is only so long I can bend over, so I let James take over.  He loved drag gin him around the streets telling him to "pedal Matty, pedal", but to no avail.

Eventually James gave up and then wanted to have Matthew push him around.  I have a theory that this was his intention all along, but that is just a theory.

The weather was so nice that I got a chance to go out on the bike and take it out one Sunday afternoon for a few hours.  It was a breathe of fresh air and I now remember what it is like to be out on the bike.  Every time I get on that thing I feel like I could go out and ride for days and days without ever getting tired.

On my ride just when I got off on a "summer only" road I got to see these guys.  The road was initially pretty good and I knew I did not have far to go so I thought I would give it a try.  It got pretty muddy and rutted and I ended up dropping the bike in the mud, but I had a blast messing around out on some back roads.

Then, of course, it was time again for more presents.  Jim and Jan came over and knew James's propensity and brought him a present as well so he would not feel left out (and Matthew would be left alone).

James was interested to see what was in the present Matthew was about to open.

Then James got to open his scuba Steve as well.  It was then immediately time for a bath and time to play with the new toys.

Matthew has come to like these rubber boots and puts them on all the time.  He is a very easy going kid and always rolls with the punches.  James has not been the best at sharing and we are working on it, but Matthew does not seem to mind.  I don't know if there is much of anything else you can say about this picture...he is adorable.