A Boy and a Balloon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Did It!!!

This past weekend Chris was the first person in his family to graduate college!

After more than ten years of working full time, teaching, and starting a family, he took class by class until he reached his goal.

We couldn't be more proud!

He had more than a dozen people cheering for him as he crossed that stage!

A mother's tears of joy!

The first night was an evening ceremony, so two wonderful friends put the boys to bed while Daddy walked the stage.

 

But the next morning they joined us all on the National Mall for the big commencement ceremony (where Kerry Washington was the speaker)!

These pictures are my favorite as they personify his journey, taking care of his family while pursuing his education!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guess we could have bought a smaller car!

Recently, Ethan has learned to climb into his own chair and buckle himself in. It's pretty awesome, for me.

Well, today, he decided to change it up a bit.

"Look where I'm going to sit today Mommy!"

Finally, with a pinch of a cheek and a "Gavin, you're sooo cuuuuuute!"...

He swung back to his side!

(Where they promptly held hands, no lie.)

 

And let the tantrums begin!

Right on time, at about 17 months, Gavin found his first play obsession and threw his first angry tantrum.

 

Vacuuming! The pretend vacuum was dead to him once he heard the noise the other could make!

 

Until...the battery died!

 

If only his older brother had grown OUT of these before the youngest grew INTO them!

 

Terrific Thrills at Truck Touch!

Today the boys and I went to our first "Truck Touch," and I've literally never seen Ethan as happy! It was better than Christmas morning!

Note that he's wearing a race car tshirt, monster truck shorts, and police car shoes. The first day he EVER cared to pick what to wear and he was devastated to take them off at the end of the day for bath!

Diggin' the digger!

He got to throw recyclables into the garbage truck!

Climbed into the cherry picker!

Seeing the police car, he climbed right in... THE BACK!! And then, he put on the seat belt and told all the other kids to do the same so they didn't "get a ticket"!

 

He found latex gloves and put them on to "rescue" everyone.

When he got his face painted, he got to pick what the 11 year old artist would paint. After the "monster truck" he requested was painted, she asked, "Anything else?" Without skipping a beat, he answered, "A baby. A baby girl. A sleeping baby girl!" Whaaa? And NO, we are NOT pregnant.

Hats off to a terrific day at Truck Touch!

 

(I got so many kisses and "I love you Mommy's" the rest of the day I am going to find one of these every weekend!