Springtime Fun!

Meet Woody and Buzz! This evening the Birds came over for some fun FHE and Greg and Maddox were in their element. Greg insisted he was Woody from Toy Story and Maddox joined in the fun by being Buzz Lightyear. Can't you see the resemblance?  

Greg loves being helpful in the kitchen and he particularly likes turning on the Kitchenaid! Here he is caught doing what he does best, creating kitchen mayhem.

Spring has brought some nice showers and where else would a curious 2 yr old boy be?...But outside! Notice anything? How about Greg's kangaroo pouch?

Love it!

March Madness in Kentucky is like no other place. People bleed blue from birth to death. Since we now have two native Kentuckians (G-reg and B-Ted) living in our home, we of course had to dress up and celebrate for anything blue. Go Cougs! and Cats! 

When I Wish Upon a Vacation Extension

Why can't we have sun days in March? Or why not a day to celebrate the Spring equinox? Instead I am left to rue the start of classes and clinic tomorrow....yuck. After church and home teaching, Greg and I went outside to enjoy the nice weather. Mostly it involved running after Greg in his new "fast shoes" that blink. 

Everyone Needs a Little Vacation

Day 3 of vacation and I am loving every minute of being home. True, my allergies have gotten an early kickstart, but I didn't realize how much I missed being home. This morning I took Greg to the pool and after a little bit of cajoling, Greg allowed me to zip him around on his kick board. Afterwards we headed to Walmart and as a treat Greg got a bunch of new figurines from the movie Cars.

In the afternoon Amber and I took the boys to the park where we attempted to fly kites. Greg loved it and Brighton had fun being the star of the playground. Nothing says, "My life rocks!" like laying in your  stroller as people ogle over you. The series of pictures below are from are "wickedly" awesome family time. 

As a funny side note...last fall I had a giggle over how many people from eastern Kentucky call a "hollow" a "hollor". Yet when we were returning from the park Amber was telling me about how Greg tends to "bellor" rather than "bellow" when he talks excitedly. We laughed for quite some time about this and after referring to our trusty old Webster's dictionary we realized that "bellor" is not a word but just a matter of accent. Six and half years into our marriage and I still have my "begs" rather than "bags" and Amber apparently has her "bellor" rather than "bellow" :)

While Big Boys Play, the Little Ones Sleep

Spring has brought such nice weather and after a wonderful yet busy Sunday we let Greg pound around outside while Brighton slept. What a great day!

Much Needed Dad Time

Spring has finally arrived in Kentucky with lots of rain, moderate temperatures and budding trees and flowers. Yet, since Christmas Dad aka "Noholio" has been MIA with late nights on campus, weekends working in the lab, and lots of other stuff. 

However, to start Noel's spring break, last night we spent a wonderful evening in Louisville eating at the Cheesecake Factory, attending Les Miserables (w/ actual broadway cast) at the Kentucky Performing Arts Center and feeling like an actual couple w/ a weekend to enjoy each other's company.

This afternoon Noel played w/ Greg...oh how this young boy misses his dad. Here is a picture of Greg (Noel Jr.) at the park w/ Noel. Someday we will be done w/ school!

I Was Feeling Kinda Crafty

I love having a wreath on my door. And since winter is hopefully over, I have been meaning to switch out my winter wreath for a spring one. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Around the House

Until last week, we have been a one car family. This winter has been quite a bit colder and snowier than the previous years since we moved to Lexington. As a result, Noel hasn't been able to ride his bike to school very much at all. Last winter, I would just take him to school on the days too cold to ride. But this year, chances are that one or both boys are asleep when he needs to leave for school. So he just took the car. We've been home a lot the last few months. So here are some pictures of the boys just chillin' at home.

Greg and Brighton on a "stay in your pj's all day because Mom is feeling lazy" kind of day. We have more of those than I'd care to admit.

One day, we were running a bunch of errands, and I totally wore Greg out. He fell asleep on the couch and his feet slid off when he rolled over. He was still dead asleep.

My beautiful boys.

Brighton enjoying the Bumbo seat. He really likes sitting in it but usually ends up spitting up like crazy because it squishes his belly.

What better place to eat your breakfast than on the step-stool?

Check out those cheeks! I can't get enough of kissing Brighton's squishy, adorable face!

Ya like Noel's black eye that he got while playing racquetball against Gordie? Yep...it was his own shot that hit him.

Towel Monster

We are all creatures of habit in the Dickens house. Bed time routine is basically the same every night. And depending on Greg's mood, it is often identical. He takes a bath before bed and has to have one of his hooded towels, which he calls "towel monster." He gets out of the bath, Noel wraps him up, and he stands in front of the mirror and says, "Towel monster. Ha ha ha." It's pretty funny.

When Brighton was born, my friend Jenna gave him this adorable hooded towel. It was perfect...a towel monster. Darling! What a cute little "towel monster."

Little Buddies

We are lucky to live in a ward with LOTS of little kids. When I say lots, I mean TONS. There are about 30 kids in nursery, and 10 more entering nursery this year. So obviously there are lots of families in the ward in kind of the same situation as us. We've made many great friends and so has Greg. It's so fun to watch him play with his little buddies. It's great to hear them talk to each other and laugh together. Everynight when he prays (we still help him by telling him what to say), we tell him to say, "I thank thee for my friends." Which he does and then he starts listing them off. So precious.

We had Brynlee and Ashley over on Monday. Here is Greg and Brynlee playing with the rocket. They thought it was hilarious. Every time one of them would stomp on the pump, they would both crack up. So funny!

Since Monday was President's Day, my parents had the day off, so we Skyped with them while the girls were here. It was so cute. When I told Greg we were going to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa, all three kids jumped up on the chairs by the computer. They all wanted to Skype. :)

These two little boys LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cars. Whenever Jackson comes over, the race track is always going.

What play date would be complete without an indoor picnic (chicken nuggets, of course) while watching "Cars" ?!?!

A Random Look into Our Lives

I'm sick. Greg's sick. Luckily Brighton's not sick this week. I don't think Noel's sick either (sick of pathology and tests, but not the other kind of sick). It's just been a cycle of sickness this month in the Dickens house. So it's been a stay in my pjs and not do very much kind of day. Perfect day to put some pictures on the blog.

I have definitely neglected our family blog for a LONG time. Luckily Noel has done some posts. But anyway...being a stay at home mom is the best job I've ever had. It has been such a blessing to have Brighton join our family. He is getting the hang of sleeping; he sleeps through the night about 2 or 3 times a week. It's great! It's also getting much easier to get him to sleep at night, which is also great. What used to take a couple hours each night is down to about 45 minutes. Brighton is such a content baby (as long as he is being held or somebody is right by him). His smile is adorable! He is almost three months old and is growing like a weed. Last time he was weighed, he was over 17 lbs. Definitely a big fella; my arms are getting pretty defined from holding him all the time. :)

The loves of my life! I liked the sequence of these pictures. 1. Greg smiling, Brighton not looking and spitting up on Noel. 2. Brighton looking, Greg yelling to see the first picture. 3. Noel getting spit up on again by Brighton, Greg squirming to get down. It makes me laugh.

On Saturday afternoon, the boys and I went to pick Noel up from a long day of studying on campus. On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a couple of things that we would need before Monday. I stayed in the car, and Noel ran into the store. When he came out, he had the necessities and this...

Yep...that's right, 35 oz. of cheese balls! Look at the size of that thing next to Greg! Greg was in 7th heaven!

On a completely unrelated note, I re-read a General Conference talk given by President Eyring this week. He gave the talk, "Rise to Your Call," in October of 2002, my first semester at BYU. I'm not quite sure why it made such an impression on me as an 18 year old kid. Maybe because Heavenly Father knew I would need it later on in life. It is a great talk and definitely worth a read.

Also, for those that read our blog (I know that's not a ton of people) that are serving in primary or other organizations in the church, if you haven't already checked out sugardoodle.net, I highly recommend it. It has TONS of ideas for sharing time and FHE, lots of clipart and stories, etc. I love sugardoodle!