Our Little Nerds

We went camping at Collins Lake with Paul & Tracy. The weather was sunny and warm so I had my heart set on reading "The Hunger Games" on the beach and watching the kids swim. It was more of a fishing lake with rocky shores and dirty water. But we all had fun. Uncle Paul got all the boys bear claws which could be used to carve names in rocks.

On the drive up to Grass Valley, I read the boys a book which explained to kids how to play Chess. Every time I paused reading, they would beg me to continue. They were fascinated by the different people each Chess character represents. And they learned how each piece moves. Once we got to our campsite, we brought out the new little chess set I got on clearance from Half Priced Books. I think it's the best $3 I ever spent. Daniel and Vincent were both completely taken with this new game. They played all weekend and looked forward to getting home where they could play with my fancy chess set.

We keep telling Gavin he's too young to play, although he begs to be a part of the game often. This morning as we were getting ready for school, Gavin asked if he could play me. I come into the living room to find he has set up the whole Chess board, correctly. I guess he was paying attention.
 George keeps walking in to find his little boys playing this complicated game and shakes his head. We're just a bunch of nerds. Even as I write this, Daniel and Vincent are playing Chess, and have been for the past 1 1/2 hours.

Easter

Coloring Easter eggs was fun. The boys did a great job combining colors and keeping things neat. No eggs were harmed in the making of the colored eggs. They enjoyed eating them when the celebrations were over. They call hard boiled eggs "squishy eggs" and eat them up...sometimes not the yoke.
Our handsome boys got dressed up for church on saturday afternoon. We opted for a less crowded service to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the new life He gives us. It was a good service, but I miss that triumphant Sunday morning hymn we used to sing growing up: "Up from the Grave He Arose!" I think that was always my favorite part of Easter. I couldn't even find it my my old hymnals at home to play on the piano. I'll have to look it up for next year.

On Sunday we stayed home, flew a kite, ate candy and enjoyed time as a family.

New home for the changing table

We sold the changing table on craigslist a couple weeks ago. I admit I was a little sad letting it go. I told the woman we sold it to that I had changed roughly 15,000 diapers on it. She told me she was going to turn it into a bar! I asked for pictures and she actually sent some along with a sweet note:

"... We used it for the first time last night. I told the history of the changing table and we had a toast to you and the many diapers that were changed on the piece. We will be having people over again tonight and it will be well used and loved!"

For all the scams out there, I like this happy craigslist story.

Gavin's funny face

This helps him not get in trouble. Just try keeping a straight face when he talks like this.

Daniel's first book report

Daniel read a book all by himself. He realized he could do it as he was a few pages in. It was a first. We went to the San Leandro Library for a Saturday movie and he read it as we waited. Extra fun for mom because that was my library growing up.
Later, he wrote his first book report on "Truck Buddies."
translation:
"A truck wanted to play. All the trucks said no. Blue truck asked if Truck can help. Truck thought and he said yes!"
The report only needed to be two sentences, so I really think he deserves extra credit on this one.

Haircuts

Their hair is ready for the summer. Vincent especially likes being able to see now. Gavin has a new funny face which is fun to see too. Cross eyed post coming soon.

Vincent's recycling program

Vincent has taken over the family recycling. He is very serious about crushing the cans. He earned his first $2.09 and bought a fun project which he shared with his brothers. He continues to build his business and is now collecting plastic bottles too.