That's my boy

Bryce made a "town" out of blocks today. His town included a house, a grocery store, a church and of course a chocolate factory.

Praise the Lord for crumbs and crumb-crunchers

It really is amazing what feeding four boys can do to your kitchen floor.

I mean AMAZING.

But praise the Lord for my fun cheetah print broom (yes, cheetah print! It is so cool!). A gift from my mother-in-law.

(Even though the power washer given to Brian by my father-in-law would be more suitable for the clean-up job.)

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

...yes, that's what this little girl is made of. Miss Claire is three months old now and has blossomed into quite the little charmer. She gives generous smiles and loves to converse with with her sweet baby coos to anyone who will lend an ear. She has earned the title of "easiest" baby so far, sleeping through the night every night since the night before she turned six weeks old (8-10 hours between feedings!), patiently putting up with her loving, but not always gentle, big brothers and generally displaying a happy and content disposition. She has captured our hearts and we are all in love with our sweet little girl.

Norfolk

During the week of spring break we were able to take a day trip to Norfolk, Virginia to visit the Nauticus Museum and the Battleship Wisconsin. My brother Eric was able to join us and with just the two older boys it tow, thanks to Gramma, it was a very enjoyable trip. The battleship was definitely the highlight of the day. We were able to walk on the ship's deck and take in firsthand it's massive size and were amazed to learn about the capabilities of it's enormous cannons.

Below Eric and Grant are in a protective cage just like marine scientists go down in to study sharks.

Watch out for the great white guys!

We had never seen a yellow eel like this before. God sure is creative!

Bryce was fascinated with the horseshoe crabs.

My Four Little Marines

The boys in their Marine t-shirts from Uncle Eric.

The Few, The Proud, The Marines

This Easter was especially nice as we welcomed home my brother, Eric, from Marine boot camp.
After completing twelve arduous weeks of training in Parris Island, South Carolina he can proudly claim the title of US Marine. The boys were extremely excited to see Uncle Eric and we all listened attentively to Eric's stories from boot camp. We are all so proud of Eric and enjoyed having him around during his time off before reporting to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina for more training.

Congratulations Eric!

Spring is in the air...

We've hit the parks recently for some outdoor fun.