He’s so verbal now and picks up things from his brothers we don’t even realize.  They were playing with some pirate toys (thanks Uncle Peter) this morning in their room.  Kingston woke up and toddled into their room and shut the door.  They all played for over an hour!

He’s saying probably close to 30 words now.  Uses a few signs, but not much anymore since he’s tryng to say the words.  These days, we’re loving going to work in our garden (we got a plot at the community garden) and weeding and planting soon.  We also go the YMCA when the weather is nice.  The boys are riding their new bikes very well.  We’re playing with lots of neighbors.  And I’m soaking in every moment.

Especially these:

Started with a scavenger hunt around the house and block.

Had some fantastic cake and cupcakes

Played some games… (Malachi was especially excited to play the games and keep up with the big kids!)

And opened gifts… the last of which was new bikes!

I win for best surprised face haha!

They were more thrilled than their faces look, haha.

The actual day of their birthday, we went to the zoo.

Thus far, age 4 is proving to be pretty enjoyable.  They are understanding and obeying so much more.  I feel like the hard work we put in the past few years is starting to pay off!

Please note the great amount of love felt between brothers

The fake smiles

The great backdrop (the previous owner decided to paint our cement steps…)

And last, but not least, the gorgeous Easter outfits.  Yeah, we definitely went all out this year…fitting Kingston into the same size shirt Lincoln is wearing.

The parents definitely had nicer outfits than the kids.  Good thing they didn’t care.  And neither did Jesus.

After our church service, we hosted a dinner at our house and my mom and Carl came.  We dyed eggs with the boys and then hunted them at the park.

This on really needs to work on his egg-hunting skills.  He found zero eggs.

This one did pretty good, but had to stop and eat the candy out of each egg he found, slowing him down signifcantly.

All in all, it was a fantastic day.

Get as many kids to try and jump rope at the same time.

Never made it more than one rotation.

Lots of pointing fingers and blame.

The big ones look out for the little ones.  And steal their bikes

Jessie is the protector.  She barks at e.v.e.r.y. stranger.  The boys love her.  Kingson goes to our window almost every day whenever he hears her bark and says, “dog-ga”.

With a 10:1 boy/girl ratio on the block, these two sweeties have to assert their femininity in interesting ways…

He was kept very safe riding his tricycle that day.

Chairs are optional on the U-block.

And apparently, so are shoes (see background).  Kingston playing peek-a-boo and wearing pajama pants.  Cause on the U-block, we don’t judge.

In all seriousness, though, we have the sweetest bunch of kids in our little corner of the city.  Unspoiled, loving, kind, innocent, creative, and rambunctious are just a few adjectives that describe them.  They are so patient with the younger ones and I rarely have to break up squabbles.  It’s a very unique thing we’ve found in a large city.  It’s a place that feels reminscent of the small town rural neighborhood I grew up in.  While there are certainly big-city issues that we see and feel in our neighborhood, we remain ever thankful that our kids have such a great community to be part of.  I’m also getting to know and so appreciate the relationships we’re forming with the other parents here.  Can I just press “pause” on the age of all these kids right now?!

Malachi:  Mom, can I join my friends and their school?

Me:  No, hunny you’re too young to go to school.

Malachi:  But mom, I want to learn all my letters at school!

(Malachi playing with Noura and she has to change her pants so closes the door).

Malachi: Noura, why did you close the door?

Noura:  Because I’m changing and you can’t see my private parts.

Malachi:  But I want to see your private parks!

Lincoln:  Mom, I used to be a baby and then I growed up into a monster and then a little boy.

Me:  That explains age 2.

Lincoln’s prayer on 1/30/12:  “Thank you that Malachi pooped in the toilet.  Thank you we eat healthy food and we eat peanut butter and jam and treats.  Thnk you mommy is the best mommy in the whole world.  Thank you GiGi is the coolest.  Thank you I marry Noura.  We love you Jesus, amen.”

I told Lincoln he needed to come inside to take a bath.  He starts undressing himself in front of his friends.  So I tell him to stop.  And he responds, “Yeah, if I take my clothes off, they will all laugh at me!”

Malachi comes in with a dress shirt on and says he wants me to button it so he can look like daddy and go to work like daddy.  I asked him what he will do at work and he says he will see all the doctors and give them buckets for people to get sick in.

Lincoln (while watching the Toy Story 3 movie):  Mom!  Woody dropped his hat.  We need to go help him!  I’ll get into the movie to help him.  I”ll just break the tv a little and climb in and you can fix it with sticky tape, okay?

Malachi prayer on 2/28/12:  “Thank you I don’t have a mean mommy and mommy’s head didn’t fall off.”

When discussing the homeless man we gave money to, Malachi says, “I think we should use our magic powers to make a big shooting star that will go in the sky and sprinkle houses all over for people to live in.”  If only it were that easy…

When talking abt his favorite part of the doctor visit this week, Lincoln said, “My favorite part was when the doctor went away.”