Spring Break!

Over Spring Break, we made a (once again) very quick trip to South Dakota and Montana. The Daughenbaugh's met us at my parents' place. Since we have 3-year-old boys, by default, we went to Dinosaur Hill on our first morning. It was a little chilly, but the kids didn't seem to care. Wally found his "favorit dinosaur" the stegasaurus, which also happens to be the most fun to climb on. Here, he was going "really fast."

His head was also a great thing to jump off of.

My Dad took advantage of having Joel and Jason around to help him carry out the old fireplace insert in the "old" house so that he could put in new gas logs. Joel apparently was downwind!

There are great things to climb on everywhere at the Reder Ranch.

Even if you are 32 years old! (Notice the monkey see-monkey do action in the background.) There are also lots of things to be creative with at the ranch. On a hike, I found Wally singing "I'm a little teapot."

There are also opportunities to show how strong you are...

And to use those muscles to build something, like a house:

We'll hopefully finish it on our next trip, but it is a good start!

Joel got rewarded for waking up early to take care of the dogs...

The ranch always looks magical!

We then made a quick trip to Broadus to visit Joel's family. Sadly, as I was up-loading these pictures, I realized that we didn't get any pictures with Joel's Dad's family. We had a great time playing with the girls. They are growing up so quickly. Mary and Wally had a great time together. Mary even managed to get him in some dresses. He didn't keep them on for long, maybe if they had been pink...

As always, Wally had a great time with Gramma Kathy. Here, Wally was teaching her how to work his computer.

And here, Gramma was showing Wally how to use Great-Gramma's walker.

Gramma Kathy's piano is always a hit. We might just have a musical genius on our hands! Here is his rendition of Jingle Bells (I know it is March, but he doesn't seem to care)

We then returned to the Reder Ranch for another day with the Daughenbaugh's. This is what kids look like after several days at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The kids decorated "Easter cookies" that Reder and Katie made. Reder as as careful as ever, Wally was not, and Ruby just went for the frosting (that a girl Rubes!).

Grandma Mary had to make more pink frosting, go figure!

The kids also did some sidewalk chalk. The boys are getting so old that they can write their names by themselves (granted Wally can type his name better than write it).

Cousins are so much fun!

What boys should be doing! And girls, if you ask me!

This is the life!

Technology. Between Wally's computer and Joel's iPod, the 13 hour drive didn't seem so bad.

Wally being Wally

Wally is such a goofy kid. This blog will mainly be pictures of Wally being Wally.

Wally made a new "friend" at the tot-lot at the rec center in town. Here he is with "Hudda," the blue elephant. He found Hudda a couple weeks ago and immediately named him such. This is only the second thing that Wally has named something other than "Wally." I was able to pull Wally away from Hudda long enough to play in one of the big jumpy castles.

Grandma Mary and Papa Randy came for a visit. When they got here it was snowing, but Wally had an activity in mind that he wanted to do with them anyway.

The Children's Museum is always a favorite place. Here, it looks like Wally is shopping in the little grocery store like any normal kid, but actually, he was working very hard to put everything away that the other kids left out. We didn't complain though.

Wally is really getting interested in activity books and learning his numbers and letters. Wally was working with Papa to put stickers in the right spot to complete the picture.

Wally wanted to make a cake for Grandma and Papa's visit, so of course it was a pink cherry chip cake with pink frosting. Wally also had to demonstrate the proper way to eat pink cake. Maybe he learned this from Papa Randy!

We went sledding on a really nice morning. Most of Grandma and Papa's visit was cold and yucky.

Grandma and Papa are pretty cool!

We of course had to go play on the play ground after sledding. Wet slides in wet snowpants is pretty exciting. Maybe this is where Wally gets his silliness from...

I started the video a little too late to catch the phrase right before the slide "I don't think I want to do this!" Guess she did anyway! Sorry about that bruise Mom!

Wally and Papa played at the mall play area while Grandma and I went shopping. Wally was fascinated by his reflection in the white parts of the climbing toys. Here, he was serving Papa some fast food. Thanks for the visit!

A professor Joel works with has a ranch southwest of town. He lets us bring the dogs out for some stress-free running. Wally and I joined Joel for a hike. It was a beautiful day, but with the humidity and the whipping wind, it was still pretty cold. There was a lot of snow, so Wally had a hard time walking (plus he knows we are still suckers and like to carry him - until our backs break!).

Wally found some snow shoe tracks to follow.

How to improve pizza. By Wally.

Simply add vegetables, of course!

What a proper outfit looks like. By Wally

Pink Princess pull-ups on the head. No pants. Socks that definitelly don't match anything. Top it off with an "angry face."

This is random, but I felt it deserved a spot amongst the Wally pictures. I posted a blog last November describing a meal of fresh brocolli after Thanksgiving. Well, I went out to check on the garden a couple days ago, and couldn't believe what I found...Fresh brocolli. There wasn't much, so I didn't pick it.

This is what the poor plant looks like. Now with the snow melting quickly. I will have to see if there is enough brocolli to pick a serving.

Wally loves mail, so here he is paying his bill. He "loves bills." (Where did this kid come from?) He can write a W, and likes to trace the other letters. Wally is also into playing fireman. If he can sucker someone into playing with him, he is in seventh heaven. I apparently was on fire in this picture. Fireman Daddy just stayed on the fire truck for this fire.

Wally can put out fires and can drive the truck!

When outside to play in the snow and build a snowman, make sure to always climb a tree instead. Wally has had an oral fixation lately. He chews on his coat or mittens constantly. I tried to tell him to stop because he was getting his face all dirty. He didn't believe me, so I took a picture. Didn't help. He kept on chewing on his dirty mittens. He's pretty cute though!

Wally takes very good care of everyone, including the dogs. Daisy apparently needed Blue Daisy to sleep with her on the porch.

Ah, though I don't have a picture. Wally hit a major milestone last week. He broke his first window. He was fishing on the porch with his fishing pole. He is getting really good at casting. He did a really good cast and bang, his weight thingy nailed one of the windows on the porch and one of the corners shattered. It is now fixed with packing tape. I guess boys will be boys (even if pink is their favorit color).

Fun at the Museum

Yesterday was another "Free day" at the museum. Wally always has a blast. It wasn't nearly as busy as the "Free nights" are. This time, Wally discovered the post office. And, of course the airplanes "like Papa Randy's!"

We also discovered the "floating balls." I love watching his mind work:

A Big Day

Friday (Feb 12) was a big day for us. First of all, we got our paperwork back from the state, so I quickly added it to our dossier and Wally and I ran to the FedEx place and sent the whole thing to Washington DC. This is hopefully the last we will see of all our the paperwork. After a courrier carries it to the Department of State and the Ethiopian Embassy, it will be mailed back to our adoption agency. The agency will then send it off to Ethiopia and we will be allowed to receive referrals. We just need to be patient and trust that God will help our agency find our kids at the right time. The second thing that made this day special was that it was Wally's 3 1/2 birthday. I've been struggling with Wally lately, mostly because he is a 3 1/2 year old trying to see what he can and can't get away with, so I took this milestone to my advantage. I decided to play up the day and therefore make him realize what he can do now that he is a BIG kid and what is expected of him. It's only been a couple days, but it is working! The BIG kid helped me make a cake. I was hoping for chocolate frosting, but since he was helping, he got to pick the frosting...pink!

We then made some almond bark hearts and flowers to decorate the cake. He took this part very seriously.

After a delicious dinner of frozen pizza (with olives), we had cake with 3 1/2 candles.

Because he is a BIG kid, he got to help light the candles...

We sang "Happy half birthday."

And he huffed and he puffed...

And he blew the candles out...

As a present, I got him a grab bag from the Dollar Store. It turned out to be perfect for him and quite a hit. Perhaps a great idea for road trips.

Joel does try to take pictures of me with Wally, but Wally always gets squirmy. Here we are reading books before bedtime. Fire Dog (thanks Jenna and Molly) has become a favorite stuffed animal and goes with Wally everywhere. Tonight Wally told me that "Fire dogs keeps me warm at night and I keep him warm at night. We are a team."

Walking on Water

The weather warmed up enough for Wally and I to play outside in the snow earlier this week. It was actually quite nice with the sun shining. Not sure how many pictures we have with Wally and this tree, but I'm sure there will be many more of him like this and many of his brother and sister. I wanted a picture of him making a snow angel, but he wouldn't cooperate. So, I just added another cute picture of him instead.

Yesterday, we went out to Lake MacBride for a walk and some sledding. It was beautiful like it was when we went with Grandma Mary and Papa Randy, but a little whiter and a little colder. Personally, I don't think this picture looks like Wally. Maybe the Daughenbaugh squint. He really enjoyed walking on the walls again, but this time he had the added hazard of snow.

We went out on the lake for something new. We figured it was safe since there were many ice fishermen out there. Wally and I took the sled down the boat ramp to get on the lake. If you ever wonder what a 3-year old does on the way down a hill, here it is. He was chewing on his zipper the whole way!

We found some holes that had frozen over. Wally still thought they were neat enough to pose by.

Here, Wally is showing me an ice hole. He couldn't see any fish, just "nothing" and "dirt."

A man and his dogs walking on water...

We of course had to stop in the middle of the lake to put Wally's "food" in the sled. He then would lay face-down in the sled eating his "food" while I pulled. That kid!

There was a random icicle on a tree on the hill above the beach that I had to try to be artsy and take a picture of.

When we asked Wally if he wanted to go to the lake for a walk, he immediately responded, "I need my Sponge Bob fishing pole." He fished in the car all the way there and then in the porch when we got home. He and Daddy are both ready for fishing season.

Last night, Wally was doing his obstacle courses and we found his jump rope. Here is a video of some stellar jump-roping!