March 2013

Grant had a month of firsts. He lost his very first tooth on March 29. We went camping that night so the tooth fairy came the next night and brought him a $1. Grant also gave his very first oral report. He spent the month researching and writing a poster report about mountain lions. When the poster was done he practiced the report in front of 3rd graders and kindergarteners then presented it in front of his class. He did a great job. He also built his first snowman all by himself, complete with snow cap, stick arms and a carrot nose. He was very proud of it.

Cole is in a cape and camouflage phase if you can't tell from the below pictures. These are all pictures taken of him on different days for different reasons and events. He wears the cape everywhere, all day long, except when he has to poop. It comes off just long enough to get the job done then goes right back on. Cole also loves to stomp around in his snow boots or my rain boots. He had a fun Easter egg hunt at preschool. 

Tyler continues to grow and entertain us. The big even for Tyler was his move from a crib to a toddler bed. Thankfully, it hasn't been a problem at all. He has yet to figure out that he can get in and out as he chooses. He cries his eyes out but stays in bed and in the morning stays there talking and yelling until someone gets him. He continues to love his bathrobe, running around the house like baby Heff.

On March 1, we went with a bunch of other little boys to the mall for National Geographic Kids Club one Friday morning. Everyone received free t-shirts and pizza. There were lots of songs and dancing and playing musical instruments. They had a prize raffle at the end. Cole was devastated that he didn't win anything. When the next Kids Club came around again, Cole said he didn't want to go because he didn't win any prizes the first time.

On March 8, we had another big dump of snow. Chad and I took turns shoveling the drive while the boys built up a sled ramp and tried to tube on our neighbor's driveway. I love that the boys, even Tyler, really enjoy the snow.

On March 18, we finally made it to Grand "Chocolate" Falls on the Navajo Reservation. We have been wanting to see this amazing piece of nature for a few years now. It only runs for a few weeks each spring and we've never been able to time it for a visit. It was beautiful and almost unreal. First, we drove to the end of the road and hiked a little along the river on the top of the falls. We then found the parking area to view the falls themselves. We walked the span of the falls then hiked down to the bottom of the falls. The boys were troopers, enjoying the mud and the view and exploring. 

Other events this month including dogsitting an adorable mini dauchsund for one of Chad's co-workers, sighting many deer and other wildlife and making homemade ice cream. The boys are fascinated with the ice cream maker. Grant finished the hockey season, complete with an end of season team party. Cole is still working his way through swimming lessons and is finally able to swim on his own. By summer he should be well on his way. Yeah!!!!

On March 23, Grant played in his first hockey Jamboree. We spent Friday night helping set up for the Jamboree and then arrived bright and early at the rink at 6:45 am for his first of five 30 minute games. He was on the 8U blue team. There were several teams from out of town and they were unbelievably good. Grant's team only scored one goal in all five games but they had a great time playing so much hockey. Grant even got to play goalie for one of the games. He was so excited to give it a shot and did a great job.

Here's video of our hockey star: http://youtu.be/wCOQErUsQQA; http://youtu.be/-NHIg7Aqp_M; http://youtu.be/xqSngPdtlBk; http://youtu.be/7RhlbeEvq38; http://youtu.be/O23SC5HrJgM

 From March 29-30, we took our first camping trip of the season to Pump House Wash. I loaded up the car, we picked up Chad from work and made the long 20 minute drive to the campsite. We got a fire going, set up the tent, unloaded the car, tried out Grant's new bow and the headlamps from Papa, cooked up some dinner, roasted some marshmallows, made sure we were extra dirty and extra warm and snuggled in for bed. We started out the only ones in the meadow but at about 9:30 three cars arrived and set up camp across the meadow from us. Several hours later we were awoken to blasting mariachi music. Chad had to trek across the meadow in the middle of the night to ask them to turn it off. Luckily, it went smoothly. I was nervous for him.

Video of Grant shooting his bow: http://youtu.be/-_IKgaugCeY

During the night Tyler was cold so I put him in my sleeping bag with me. After awhile he was wide awake and ready to play. He kept laughing at himself and saying eye, nose, mouth and ear over and over. Finally, he went back in his own bed and went to sleep for a few more hours. Of course, we were all up early but stayed in the tent because it was warmer. Grant and Cole ended up in a sleeping bag wrestling match. Tyler was a huge grouch because he had a middle of the night solo party. Breakfast was fun to cook over the fire. Cole stuck to Sun Chips. He likes our one rule of camping: you can eat whatever you want.

After breakfast we hiked down to the wash which had great pools to wade and swim in. It was unbelievably beautiful. I love exploring nature with Chad and the boys. The boys started out with barefeet only but ended up in their underwear. Grant stripped down on purpose in the last pool we found to take a swim in the ice cold water. Cole ended up pantless because he tripped in the water. Tyler wanted to go in too but everytime he got his feet wet he changed his mind.  

When we got home from camping it was time to get ready for Easter. We dyed eggs, set out the Easter baskets and got ready for Sunday. The Easter bunny hid candy filled plastic eggs and brought baskets with fun, summer park toys for the boys. They received bubble wands, a giant yellow ball, a little bit of candy, a baseball tee for Grant, a stuffed monkey for Cole (immediately named Monkeytail by him) and a little baseball glove and ball for Tyler.