The beauty of a Saturday with no plans

I love Saturdays. Chris is home and we get to spend time as a family.  I especially love Saturdays when we don't have any plans for the day. We can do whatever, whenever... it's a beautiful thing.  Today was one of those days. It ended up being such a good day!

We started out with a pancake breakfast... Connor and Dylan's favorite! (and mine if I'm being honest)  After breakfast and clean-up, we had some fun with paint.  We made the boys' hand-prints and foot-prints, Connor and Dylan's were quick and easy. I love hearing their laughter as I paint the bottom of their feet. They are both SOOO ticklish! Sam's footprint was easy. But, it took Chris and I both for his hand-print. If you've ever tried to get a baby's hand-print, you know what I mean... unless you wanted a fist-print. That would be much easier!

After that we played with toys for a while and Sam laid down for a nap.  It was one of those really nice, long naps.  Precious boy!!

While Sam was napping, Chris was going out to work on his truck so I took Connor and Dylan out, too. What a BEAUTIFUL morning. It was comfortable out without a jacket.  I put play clothes on them. I gathered a bowl, some spoons, and a couple of pans... and showed them how to make mud pies! They had never made mud pies before and it was REALLY hard to talk them into getting dirty. I guess that's my fault because I know I don't let them go out and get dirty enough! That's going to change now after seeing how hesitant they were to get dirt/mud on them. We are going to be making mud pies on a regular basis... and other dirty stuff!

 Only using spoons at first.

 Finally getting their hands in the mud.

 Their hands are in... but that is where they draw the line! Their clothes stayed mud free. We'll work on that next time! :)

Proud of their pies.

 They wanted trees to "grow" out of them so we broke off limbs from a tree and "planted" them.

When they were finished with their pies they wanted to jump on the trampoline. It's one of their favorite outdoor activities. And I love it, too. They burn LOTS of energy. Sometimes I get in on the jumping fun, too!

Wrestle mania!

Next, we saw Daddy going out to the building so they wanted to go, too. They played in Daddy's ongoing (and going, and going, and going, sigh) project. Connor says it's HIS blue Firebird!

Next, they decided they wanted to play with their "outside" toys. So, they...

Played basketball:

Rode their bikes:

And I have no idea what this game is:

So after all that... it was only noon! So we came upstairs and got Sam. He woke up happy and half naked! How did he do that??

I got lunch ready so we could all eat together. Well, all of us except Dylan. Soon after we came inside, we couldn't find him. I called him a few times and he didn't come. Finally, I checked his room...

I guess all the outdoor fun wore him out! :)

After lunch, while Dylan was napping, Connor wanted to watch a little TV, so I asked him to keep an eye on Sam for me while I did a few things. The next time I passed by, this is what I found:

I love how Connor put his arm around him!

Next, was Sam's bath time.  He has just started taking a bath without crying... and the trick is to let Connor or Dylan or both take a bath with him.  I guess it makes him feel safer to have someone else in there, too.  Connor happily took a bath with Sam and was such a big helper!

But, after I took Sam out, Connor had more manly things to tend to:

And Sam played on my bed for a little while:

Dylan woke up from his nap... after 3 hours!! And Sam went down for another nap. I guess it was a sleepy day! :)

The day ended with an impromptu dinner (from Papa John's no less) and fellowship with dear friends. They brought their 2 boys (both around Connor and Dylan's ages) and they had a great time playing together.

A Saturday with no plans... LOVE IT!