Easter picture overload

Before I get started on Easter, Banks wants to make sure you know how strong and tough he is. Especially since he wore lace on Easter and his Daddy says lace is for lingere and girls only. Whatever. See, big muscles and nothing but toughness.

Easter egg hunt #1. It was fah-reezing but I insisted on having him in a short all. It's the price you have to pay for cuteness.

His new favorite saying? "I gog ick!" (I got it!)

Making sure his cookies had plenty of icing and sprinkles.The egg dying went differently than I had imagined (as with most things kid related). There was lots of crying because there was lots of waiting-on the eggs to boil, on the eggs to cool off, on the eggs to sit in the dye and get all purty. There was no gentleness so most of the eggs were nice and cracked but again, whatever.
BAM!

Egg hunt #2 came with a MUCH warmer day and lots of melted chocolate. I believe he is enjoying some Nerds here but smiling, which is a huge accomplishment for us these days.He really enjoyed the bounce house/slide thingy. No fear.
Sittin pretty for the pictures Easter morning!

We managed to get a smile out of Banks for this one. Good thing the rest of us were ready for it. Wait, now that I'm looking at it is that a smile or a cry? Great family photo nonetheless.

Loot.

Gram and Grumps brought up some super fun colored sand to play with.

Hope you all had a great Easter!

Another post on love...

...and yes, I know Valentine's Day is over. Matt and I went to a wedding in Austin last weekend. First off, Austin is a great city. There was lots of great shopping and tons of fun places to eat. We did lots of walking and my legs are feeling it even today. There also happened to be a huge track and field event going on that weekend which brought tons of high school and college athletes to the area. Which means it also brought a Beale Street feel to some parts of the city so we felt right at home.

With any wedding I attend, I end up thinking back to my own wedding. Much like when I go to funerals I end up wondering what my own funeral will be like...and most importantly, if anyone will come. But, back to the wedding. You know, it's all bout love. Loving one another; loving Christ more than yourself or your spouse. And seeing the love that the bride and groom have for one another almost always makes me misty eyed. I cry almost every time the bride walks down the isle. At this wedding I cried...in my usual fashion, however the cause was much different. Although the root of it was the same: love.

There was one couple at the wedding who came all the way from small town Mississippi. Which wouldn't seem such a big deal (we all had to travel, right?) if she weren't wheelchair-bound after having had a stroke. I bawled like a baby when I saw her husband, who is constantly by her side and tending to EVERY SINGLE need, lift her from her chair and dance to At Last with her. Granted, she didn't do much dancing, and the dancing didn't last long, but I was lucky enough to have witnessed the moment and am forever changed by it. It was such an in-your-face demonstration of his love for her. Gah, it makes me tear up even now thinking about it. You know you really love someone when you make it through the tough-very tough-times and still want to dance with them at a wedding. It was just the sweetest thing I have ever seen. I immediately wanted to tell everyone I knew how much I loved them and cared for them. And it makes me want to live my life differently...being more honest with people about how we really feel about them. So, if I happen to run into you and give you a big hug and tell you I love you I promise I'm not going crazy. I just want you to know how I feel so that you never have to wonder...

Now, on to some pictures of one little boy who will never have to wonder if he is loved:

"Mom, did you know you were letting me drink out of this cup???"

He kept wanting to sit in the flower pot (notice his bottom). SUCH a boy!!!

Pretty sure his finger is telling me what he thinks about me wanting him to get out of the flower pot:

Impressionable minds...

Warning: this post is just words...no pictures today. So I understand if you want to take your blog stalking elsewhere...

I'm learning that you can teach a kid just about anything. Especially at this age, his little mind is like a sponge. Not that you should teach them whatever you wanted, but you could if you wanted. Matt has seized the opportunity and taught Banks the words to Kings of Leon songs as well as many a ridiculous phrase from some swamp/logging/gold mining/fish getting show that he watches. As for me, I've taught him to "bounce wit me" and get low. It's hilarious what he picks up on. The other day he pinched me and I screamed "ouch, you just pinched my boob!" The rest of the day he walked around saying "boob?", boob?"

And, it's not that we only teach Banks nonsense and how to walk with a gangsta lean. Oh no. He also knows his numbers. Six through ten only. The boy refuses to say one, combines two and three into "twee", and omits four and five all together. He knows all his shapes and a few colors. He also knows some of his ABC's and thanks to Hadley's birthday party last weekend he sings "birthday to you" incessantly. If I'm singing a song to him and pause, he can always tell me the word at the end of the line and most times can fill in the blank anywhere along the song line. I'm amazed at what he's taking in. So, the pressure is on to teach him the right things. My mom said I might regret teaching him things like "ice, ice, baby" and maybe one day I will but for not it's great fun teaching him things that might mortify me one day. I can't wait for him to get low at church or ask his teacher at school to bounce with him. Maybe they'll have a sense of humor about it as well...