The Dickinson Boys: Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! My previous promise to blog more often didn't pan out. But here's hoping I can make it happen more frequently from here on out. As usual, our last couple of months have been eventful. During the early part of the year we battled recurring colds. It seems like our January was mostly spent with one person or another being sick. In early February we took a short trip to Anderson, SC so I could finish my CLE credits. Will was having a bit of asthma trouble when we left but nothing too bad. We brought our nebulizer and were giving him his medication. That night, however, he started having more trouble breathing and we ended up taking him to the ER around midnight. He was having asthma problems and croup. David stayed at the hotel with Luke and Will and I were in the ER until about 5:15 a.m. He was much improved the next day. I managed to stay awake through my class and got my credit. And we all had a very early bedtime that night!

We've all been much healthier following our problems in South Carolina. Will had a fun Valentine's Day party in his class. He made Thomas the Train valentines for his class mates. As far as I can tell he was the only kid in his class that wrote his own name on the valentines. He was very deliberate that all of the girls got the purple or green trains and all of the boys got blue or red.

Our biggest news is that David was promoted to Major at the end of February. His parents, his cousin and her brother-in-law all came for the ceremony. Will and Luke were not very cooperative with sitting still. By the end of the ceremony they were running all over the courtroom (with the Colonel's permission). The Colonel said some very nice things about David and how hard he works. We're all very proud of him. A couple of days after his promotion David ran his first 15K and got the trophy for his age group.

We had some very nice weather and a taste of spring in early March. The boys were able to be outside for a few hours a day, which they love. This week, though, we're having a bad cold snap. My sister, Erica, niece Savannah and mom are all in town this week. The boys have loved having cousin Savannah here. Today the kids did an Easter Egg Hunt at the YMCA. The little ones were still getting the hang of hunting eggs but Will knew what he was doing. There is another hunt for church on Saturday and then Easter services on Sunday.

Little Luke is making so much progress talking. He's learned so many words lately and is starting to answer questions. He has also started singing, which is so adorable. He sings "Tinkle Star" (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star). Luke learns so much from Will too. Unfortunately, not all of it is good. Luke has learned from Will to ask for "five minutes" when I tell him to do something he doesn't want to do. Luke still loves trains and has started playing dinosaurs too. He does a mean impression of a dinosaur. He also can count to five and sometimes beyond!

Will knows all of the days of the week and months of the year now. He knows his birthday and that he will soon be four years old! He can count pretty high. At first when he would get to the twenties he would say "twoey-one, twoey-two..." But now he says "twenty" instead of "twoey". Lately he has been absolutely hilarious with what comes out of his mouth. I've kept a list so I could add it to the blog. Enjoy!

Today we pulled up next to a logging truck carrying trees to a nearby paper mill. Will said, "look, that's a logging truck." I agreed. Then he said, "it's carrying Lincoln Logs."
He was telling me that he wanted a red train named Victor. I told him we would put it on his wish list for his birthday. He said, "No, I want to put it in my hand!"
He kept calling the jug of vegetable oil "juice". I would tell him it wasn't juice and we couldn't drink it. A couple of days ago he saw it and said "That's oil. Only robots can drink it." No idea where he got the impression that robots drink oil!
While eating peas at lunch one day he informed me that "Peas are like green berries."
After getting some Tootsie Rolls on Valentine's Day he began asking me for more "tipsy rolls."
One of his trains is a tough diesel named Bert. Bert has small black dots on his face that are supposed to be stubble. Will pointed to the dots and said, "Look, he has a dalmatian on his face."
After picking him up from preschool one day I asked what he did at school. He replied, "good manners."
While chasing Luke with a little toy farm combine, Luke decided he was done being chased. Will very politely asked, "Lukie, will you please run away from me."
One day he picked up the phrase "What is the deal?" It was his phrase of the day. I'd hear things like "What is the deal with this couch?" or "What is the deal with Zoe?"
We were about to go out to play and I told Will it wasn't too chilly so he just needed a light jacket. He replied, "No, I want to wear a dark jacket!"
Will had his first experience with an ice cream truck at a recent birthday party for a friend. Then he got the idea that food comes on trucks. While driving the next day, he said, "I want to see a pizza truck!"
My favorite: Will caught of glimpse of SpongeBob Squarepants on a package of gummies he got for Valentine's Day. A few minutes later he kept asking to see "the yellow cheese man." It took me so long to figure out that he was referring to SpongeBob! He had no idea what his name was so he called him "the yellow cheese man."