The Growing Gant Family...

You never expect it to happen...neither do you necessarily plan for it. It all started around 4 in the morning this past Sunday (of which happened to be Easter). For some reason, I woke up.  I never usually wake up in the middle of the night.  I heard this, what sounded like rubbing on the side of our house right outside our window.  It was so faint that I wasn't sure what I was hearing.  "Was it a mouse in the wall?  Maybe an animal outside?".  Shortly after, I heard a click.  I noticed our alarm clock wasn't projected on the ceiling anymore and realized the power had gone out.  My initial thoughts, "It's not stormy outside?"  "Maybe there was a car accident and the power lines went down?"  Weird thing was, I didn't hear a thing outside.  I felt unsettled about the whole thing but just kept justifying things in my head.  "Just go back to sleep Melissa," I kept telling myself, "I'm sure it's nothing." It was...

There are advantages to living so close to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival.  If it's not raining, we'll often take a walk through the filbert orchard so that we can see the tulips.  It's fun watching them slowly open up over the many walks we take.  I'd like to get better at taking a picture of the boys through the years with the tulips as the background.  Of course, it's always a little hard to get them to cooperate, but they're cute none the less (o; And here's a pic of the boys and their buddy Gavin picking some daffodils for his Mama (Emily).  If you've never seen the rows of daffodils outside our fence line, it's quite stunning come early spring.  They're getting a bit crowded over the past few years, so if you're in need of some daffodil bulbs don't hesitate to ask!

What do you do with an old broken down wheelbarrow?! Make a worm bin of course! Always wanting to help! Helping Daddy make the roof The boys really got in to this project.  The worm harvesting was a hit.  We transferred them from our old compost pile to the bin and likely got over one hundred worms to start us off! This little guy is quite the worm finder...Just the other day he was filling his pockets full. That would make for a fun surprise when it came time to do laundry (o;   Once a little nervous about picking up the squirmy things, now not one bit afraid!!! He's always searching for the longest one! Here's to well composted soil!

Curtis was going to be gone for a three day stretch at work.  If I don't keep myself busy with the boys, I start to go nuts (o;  William's never had one of his friends over to spend the night and I thought it might be fun for him (and his buddy) to try it out.  Of course, it's more of a leap of faith on my part, the whole "trying it out" thing.  Of course, when you've never done something before, there's many "unknowns".  But, I was game.  And so were Neal and Emily. Having just welcomed their newest addition to the family, baby Reese, I thought it might be neat for big brother Gavin to get to do something fun all by himself.  I didn't dare break the news to William until shortly before the plan took fruition...Just as I had anticipated-lots of excitement from my little man.  He was going to have his "best friend over for a whole night Mom!?" The boys, before we left Gavin's house (o;  We need a do-over of this photo in a...

For the past year (pretty much a day after he turned 4), William has been requesting his birthday party at the beach.  It's become an annual tradition that Grandma Marsha rents a get away for us, the "other" Gant family and her and Bruce to escape for a few days of family time.  It's become a great tradition-one that not only Curtis and I, but our boys definitely look forward to.  We have spent the last few years at the beach.  This year, we were going in the complete opposite direction-Redmond.  I asked William if he still agreed on the location for his party and/or if waiting until the end of the month would suffice.  He wholeheartedly agreed on the plan-just as long as cousins would be there. So, that's what we did. Well, we celebrated a bit on his birthday too... Here he is with one of his favorite breakfasts: homemade donuts, "no frosting please!" And this year he WANTED candles! Crazy kids!   Thank you Grandma Marsha for my nifty ...

It's not every year William gets a backyard full of snow to play with on his birthday!! When it does, you must take full advantage of it... The makings of... Meet "Snowman Sam"(as William called him)   What's snow without a four wheeler ride!?! And snow angles?! When it snows around here, you have to take full advantage of it... I love how the snow looks under the Filbert trees...Makes for a great family photo!

What is it about kids that they like to run around naked?  Literally, any chance they get. This is how I found the boys after their shower tonight... Warming themselves by the fireplace. I thought it utterly hilarious, that I had to snap a picture.  You can totally see the stark difference between the boys body types.  And those cute cheeks...who can resist?! Just don't lean forward boys...I'm not sure how I'd explain that one in the ER.