April Fun...

Wally is obsessed with Wild Kratts on PBS and PBS.com.  So, he recreates shows using Legos.  Here, Chris and Martin (blue and green guys on right) touch a moose (center) to get moose creature power suits (left).  I was impressed with his moose.

Joel won a Award of Excellence at a poster presentation through the VA. Wally was so proud of his Daddy and made him a blue ribbon to wear to the awards ceremony that evening. 

 

This year, Wally and I tried a new technique of dying Easter Eggs.  You put an egg in a little baggie with a couple drops of different colored dye and squish it all around.  It is supposed to result in a tie-dye rainbow effect.  This is hard to do when Wally only wanted to use his favorite colors of pink, purple, and blue.

We made Graff family eggs.

My Cubs fans.  Wally loves to be twins with Daddy and even checked out a really old Cubs book from the school library for Daddy. 

Our church had an Easter Egg hunt this year and this was the only picture I got of Wally because I was busy helping out.  What a nut!

Even though it was raining, we had to go outside and play with the flying spinner from Grandma Mary and Papa Randy.  This was (and still is) a huge hit!  Thanks! 

I love my daffodils.  I can't wait for next year when there are even more!

Wally left his Easter basket outside his bedroom door the night before Easter for the Easter Bunny.  The Easter Bunny apparently saw how much fun the spinner was, so he got Wally another.  He also gave Wally some old underwear (I'm guessing the Easter Bunny was trying to fill his basket at 1:30am in the dark and accidentally picked up some of Wally's underwear from the laundry basket).  However, Wally was very excited to wear his new underwear to church!

An Easter Egg hunt by yourself just isn't that exciting...

But you can stop whenever you want to inspect your eggs in the middle of the hunt without worrying about someone else getting your eggs.  Next year will be different, as Sitota should be some pretty good competition for Wally. 

On Easter, I even got to do something I enjoy...pruning!  I pruned the climbing tree in the loop as it was horribly ugly and neglected.  And, as an added benefit, I can now see Wally climbing the tree while I am in the house.  Our neighbor boy came out to say hi too.

Moose is a photogenic dog, even in his old age.

Just chillin' on the swing and licking a spatula from Mom's Easter dinner cooking.

Easter on the porch.  I can't wait to have real Argo and Sitota rather than just their pictures.

The day we passed our first court hearing (a very big deal!), Wally was so excited.  He had to carry his pictures of Argo and Sitota everywhere (including the bathtub).

Ah, Wally's eyebrow raise...

And Wally needed his picture taken with his brother and sister all over the house. 

To celebrate passing court, I made doro wat, injera, and honey bread...yummy!  Again, can't wait to have real kids rather than just pictures.

Wally found some clay Great Gramma Camilla gave him a few years ago and made gifts for lots of people, including the neighbor boys.  This is an egg holder he made for Daddy.

April has been a fun month, full of excitement.  Can't wait for May!

A visit from Shaundra and Jackson

One of my bestests buddies in the whole world and her amazing son came to visit us at the end of March.  Originally, Shaundra was coming as support in the wake of losing our original referrals, but as it turns out, their trip turned out to be a celebration of our new referrals.  It was so wonderful to have them, and Shaundra even let us practice being mommy, daddy, and big brother to a 10-month-old baby boy as Argo will be roughly that age when he comes home.

Wally started out their visit by giving Jackson a few early birthday presents.  I think Wally was actually more excited about them than Jackson was, despite Jackson's smile.

Since Iowa was way ahead of schedule this spring, Jackson got to experience grass for the first time.  His response was similar to Wally's in that he didn't really like to touch the poky stuff.

 Shaundra is an elementary school teacher and has always loved kids.  I was so excited to see her in action as a mommy (she is amazing - as expected!).  I have always loved Sandra Boynton books, but they take on a whole new level of excitement when read by Shaundra.  Jackson, obviously loves reading books with Mommy.

 We got to bring Shaundra and Jackson to Wally's art show at school.  They only had 1 thing for each student up, so we only got to see Wally's zebra.  The bellybutton looking thing is actually a baby in the zebra's tummy, according to the artist.

 Wally thought taking a bath with Jackson was awesome.  Can't wait to have Brother and Sister home to bathe with! Funny thing about this picture is that it looks like Joel and Rob (Jackson's daddy) are taking a bath together.  It is amazing how much those boys look like their daddies!

 What a couple of cute buddies!

 While Wally was at school, Shaundra, Jackson and I explored Iowa City.  We took in story time at the library and rode a favorite dragon.

 After lunch at the mall, we climbed in the climbing area.  Jackson can't wait to be able to do all the things the big kids were doing.

 Wally, always thinking, figured out a way to swing Jackson while still being able to swing himself.  I think Jackson only got minor whiplash.

 Joel played baby when he had the chance.  Like Wally, Jackson is also eager to walk.

 Wally had fun playing big brother and taking Jackson down the slide.

 Wally did such a good job on the little slide that we let him take Jackson down the big slide.  Somehow, Jackson ended up on his belly at the bottom of the slide, but they were both all smiles!

 We had such a great time with Shaundra and Jackson.  I really do feel that having visitors makes our house feel more like home. 

Thanks for letting us practice on Jackson.  I feel a bit more confident for when our little man comes home!  We love you guys!