The Growing Gant Family...

Our Easter was a bit different this year.  Curtis had to work and Marsha was out of town on vacation, which meant it was just me and the boys for the day!  When I thought about it, I concluded that this might have been the first Easter not spent with extended family...Made me realize how thankful I am for them!  And despite it being different, the day was actually a ton of fun-just me and my boys!  We had a little Easter fun while Dad was with us on Saturday and hit up the egg hunt in Canby with the Thorne family-Always a good time spent with them... There's always a "better" way to wear your basket. This was William's first time dying eggs (o; The two little munchkins, Calvin and Jadrian (how much sand did you find in Jade's diaper Emily?) Here the boys are Easter day.  I hid eggs in our backyard while the boys napped.  You should have seen William's excitement when he woke up and saw colored eggs in the yard! Cute bo...

I should have known before I sent both boys down for their naps this afternoon....William glanced over at the bathroom spray while he was pottying and asked what it was for.  I told him and then followed it with, "But we don't need any right now because it doesn't stink in here."  After both boys were silent, I went outside to check on my garden starts in the greenhouse.  Shortly after, I came back in and noticed that it smelled "nice".  At first I thought of the daphne I had picked from the yard and set in the house.  Hmmm...it wasn't quite a daphne smell.  I hadn't yet put two and two together at this point.  When Calvin woke up, I opened the door to the boys room and was blown away by the scent that wafted out.  I'm surprised both boys are still alive after breathing that in for a lengthy period of time! After William woke up, I asked him why it smelled so much in his room and he happily explained that his wood smelled bad (on his bunk bed...

As I snapped this pic, my mind flashed back to a similar scene... Calvin @ 16 months  Different buns, different seat...same cuteness! William @ 23 months

Lately, I’ve been learning to keep my eyes (and heart) open to those things that give me joy.   As crazy as this life can be, I want not to miss the beauty that surrounds me.   I want to exemplify for the boys, what it means to slow down and breathe deep of all that God’s given us.   Here’s what I’ve been joyfilled over these last few days… Joy is… …watching the daffodils pop their blooms all over my yard… …taking the boys to see the baby chicks at Coastal and watching William get excited as he teaches Calvin the sign for “bird”… …watching William turn every stick he can find into his latest and greatest “gun”… …my winter Daphne in bloom…I think this is what Heaven is going to smell like… ...driving less than a half of a mile from home to see a a breathtakingly beautiful snow capped Mt. Hood without any power lines obstructing our view (o; …the anticipation I have while waiting for all five of these Camellia blooms to burst… …...

"Wanna see somethin' really cool Mom?" "I can fly!!!" Just as long as he doesn't get any ideas and start climbing high buildings to test their flying capability...(o;  (A huge thank you to a friend of Curtis' at work who's boys outgrew these wings!  Now they have many more hours of fun fly time ahead...)

Thank you Great Uncle Ernie and Aunt Gingy for taking the time to make us a part of your travels up North!  We had a great time visiting with you...