Welcome Summer!

It is officially pool season and I couldn't be happier!  This is by far my favorite time of the year.  Because we were away for the weekend and missed the neighborhood pool opening, I promised the boys I would take them to the pool after school.  So, as soon as Colin got off the bus, he came running home with a huge grin on his face and ran to put his swimsuit on. 

Colin had a blast at the pool playing with some of his classmates.  This is the first year he has really started playing with other kids there.  He went up and down the slide probably 50 times.  He was a bit bummed that he forgot how to swim, but I am sure he will pick it back up quickly, as he doesn't seem to mind getting his face wet or jumping in this year.

Evan had a lot of fun just swimming around with his kick board and life vest.  I hardly heard a word from him the whole time and he didn't want to leave when it was time to go.

Logan LOVED the water.  However, he is officially my most fearless baby.  When Colin and Evan were babies I could read my book at the pool and they never left my side, but Logan was crawling all around the pool.  I couldn't take my eyes off him.  When he got tired of the pool he became fascinated with crawling out of the pool and trying to climb on the chairs.  He will definitely keep me busy this summer!

Memorial Weekend on Claytor Lake

Well, so much has happened over the last few days.....

Friday, Dennis took the day off and we enjoyed a nice lunch out with him, Logan and Evan and then that evening he took the big boys to see Kung Fu Panda 2.  I stayed home with Logan and packed for the weekend and cleaned the house.

Saturday, we got up and hit the road for Claytor Lake to visit with my 3 college roommates and their families.  Every other year we get together at a different place.  There are 9 kids between us now, aged 6 months to 9 years old!  After meeting Aunt Jen for lunch we arrived at the house and spent that afternoon hanging out by the lake.  The boys and Dennis enjoyed the paddle boat and the squirt guns.  Evan had everyone cracking up that evening when he was eating his smores and his face and hands were covered!

Sunday, we took all the kids to Virginia Tech and toured around the duck pond and the stadium.  One of the dads said, "You have to study hard if you want to come here".  Evans response was, "No, you have to practice football."!  The boys seemed to enjoy seeing Virginia Tech.  Colin liked feeding the ducks at the pond.  Evan was disappointed to not see the Hokie Bird anywhere.  After a great pizza lunch at PK's (Dennis was thrilled to get to go back there), we did a bit of shopping and then headed back to the lake for some fun again.  The grownups stayed up late playing a game and then we got up early Sunday and headed home.  What a wonderful weekend it was!

Me and my best friends of 15 years! Shayna, Nikki and Missy.

9 kids!

Kids checking out Lane Sadium

The boys were exhausted when we got home.  Evan even took a 4 hour nap!  Memorial day was uneventful as we were all tired and wanted to just stay at home.

Sunday was also my parents 40th wedding anniversary!  My secret project that I mentioned previously was a photo book that I made for them with pictures of them through the years, us kids growing up, our families, and all the grandchildren.  It took a lot of time and my sisters and brother helped in collecting all the photos.  I was happy to hear that they absolutely loved it!

By the way....I was really bummed all weekend that I brought my good camera, but forgot to put the memory card in it!  So, I was unable to take any pictures!  Luckily, I was able to get some photos from one of our friends, but I am still disappointed I wasn't able to take some from this fun weekend!

The whole gang!

Boys...

Today is just one of those days where all I can say is raising 3 little boys can be hard.  It isn't so much that any thing particularly monumental happened or that any of them were "bad".  They are just exhausting.  Little boys are active, impulsive, and aggressive.  And they don't sit still too well or listen all that well either.

Dennis tries to tell me that they are more difficult then little girls now, but when we hit the teenage years we will be very grateful that we have boys.  I sure hope he is right.  I would gladly put in my time now rather than have difficult teenagers.

At least the evening ended well, Logan gave us a ton of kisses this evening.  After a couple months of not giving kisses I was starting to get sad that he had moved past that stage so quickly, but was happy to see that the kisses have returned!  There is nothing like a big open mouth kiss from a little baby!  And, I almost forgot how worn out I was from raising boys today.

T-ball season has begun!

I feel a huge amount of stress has been lifted from me now that most of the things we had planned this past month are over and now that the "secret project" is complete.  Now, if we can just get rid of this house I would feel even better...

This weekend was the start of T-ball season.  Evan really enjoyed his first time playing T-ball and I was amazed at how much he had apparently picked up from watching Colin.  He was the first to shout out the names of all the bases.  Colin had fun helping Evan out during the practice.

Colin also enjoyed his first practice.  He is back with his previous coach from last year and also has some kids from soccer on his team, so it feels like we allready know a lot of the team. 

Sunday I went up to NOVA, again.  My sisters, sister in law Fanchon, and my mom all went to DC for high tea for a mini baby shower for Holly and Carol.  We had decided a while ago that with all the kids in our family we wouldn't do big showers for the 3rd and 4th babies.  We had a great time.  High tea is one of my absolute favorite things to do.  I still have very fond memories of going pretty frequently in Singapore.

While I was out of town we had an open house.  So, Dennis was left to keep all three kids entertained away from home for 5 hours!  It went surprisingly well, he even took them all out to Cheesecake Factory for lunch which I thought was very daring of him.

Well, after traveling 5 or so weekends in a row, I am looking forward to one final weekend away next weekend (lake house with my college friends and their families) and then we plan to stay close to home in June! 

Pajama Day!

Well, I wasn't planning on writing anything today but, since I just got home and Dennis is finishing up a show he was watching, I figured I would go ahead and write about my day.

Evan's class had pajama day today.  Well, Evan doesn't go to school on Friday's so when I picked him up from school yesterday he asked if he could have PJ day at home.  Being a sucker for such a sweet face I said "Sure."  Now, at the time I was thinking we won't need to go anywhere so he can just hang out inside all day.  That ended up not being the case.
 
First Evan asked to go on a walk around the neighborhood.  He seemed disappointed that no one saw him in his jammies, so he perked up when I told him I had to go to the movie theater to get tickets for my girls night tonight.  He proudly wore his jammies to the movie theater (I tried to see if he wanted to change first but he said very confidently, "No").  Once again no one seemed to notice that he was wearing his pj's.

Evan and I also had a great time playing the board game, "Sorry".  Evan needs frequent reminders to not get upset when his piece has to get sent back home or when I win the game.  Other than that I enjoyed the time with him.

This evening Dennis was on his own for the bedtime routine.  It was my turn to host the neighborhood girls night so I chose a movie.  I can't think of a better ending to the day then watching a good chick flick with friends.  But, I must admit that I was almost giddy with excitement when the girls voted to go home after the movie instead of out for drinks.  Me being the host meant I was driving and I am not a late night person so I was dreading having to be out at a bar late.  I know, I know, I am old and a homebody.  But, I am happy to spend the rest of the evening with my hubby.

Evan's 4 Year Well Visit

Today Evan had his 4 year well visit at the pediatricians.  He is growing well and is still right around average for height 40 in (50%) and weight 37 lbs (50%).  Evan was very nervous for shots this time and had to be held down by the nurse and myself.  In the past, he has been very brave and barely moved at all.  However, Evan's personality really seems to be changing over the last couple months.  He is becoming much more sensitive.

Along with his increased sensitivity, he is also becoming more loving.  He likes to tell Dennis and I he has a secret and then whispers in our ear "I love you"  or "I am your boy".   He tells us he loves us all the time now.  At 4 years old Evan is still happy most of the time.  He also still tends to have ants in his pants.  This can be very frustrating when he keeps touching stuff and can't sit still. 

Dennis and especially I have been very stressed out lately with all the unknown going on with our lives right now and the stress of trying to sell the house.  Unfortunately, I think that all this stress is making Evan feel unsettled too.  He has been getting upset when Dennis travels.  He also says things like "Why won't anybody buy our house.  Nobody likes our house".  I feel bad that he is even having to think about this.  He also started having a couple potty accidents recently.  The doctor thinks that all of this is related to him feeling unsettled.  It's amazing how this move can really take a toll on all of us. 

Anyway, Evan is no longer quite a "rascal", but he sure is funny.  He always manages to say the funniest things and keep us laughing even we are frustrated.  He continues to do awesome in school and still has never had one single discipline issue at school.  I am thankful for this every day.  He is outgoing and not afraid to get up in front of his whole class or to answer teachers questions.  Overall, he is pretty much awesome!

Still Here, Just Busy...

The blogging site has been down for a few days (the part that lets me write posts).  So, I am a bit behind.  I am also working on a secret project, which is taking up any free moment I get, so I am not going to be posting as much the next week or so.

Dennis is off to Indianapolis and it is really starting to get old.  Evan seems to be getting the most upset by it.  He had a rough day at school crying a lot last month when Dennis left.  This morning he cried when he woke up and realized Dennis was gone.  He said, "I didn't get to give him a hug and kiss goodbye".  He even woke up at 10pm last night crying and wanting a hug from his Daddy. 

I have been busy with baby showers (two in the last couple weeks and one next weekend).  The drive up to Northern VA is also getting a bit old.  I hate killing a whole day to drive up there and back and missing out on hanging out with my family.  But, I also know that when (and if) we move I won't be able to get home for every shower, so I am trying to enjoy it while I can.

The boys have been busy playing and playing and playing.  Colin is really in to a game on the computer right now and Evan seems to be happy just watching him...

Mother's Day

I am such a very lucky wife and Mommy.  We had no plans for Mothers Day yesterday, which was just perfect.  We spent the day cleaning the garage, because we had someone coming today to fix the garage steps.  And then we spent some time with the boys outside. 

Dennis made me a book with pictures of all the kids from babies until now and pictures of Dennis and I with them.  I love it!  Colin made me a few different pictures and a book that he made.  My favorite part was where he wrote "My Mommy has brown hair, My Mommy has brown eyes, My Mommy loves to eat Brownies!"  He knows me so well!  Evan had already given me his homemade gift which was felt flowers coming out of a cut out of his hand, it was very cute with a little poem on the bottom.  They all made me feel very special.

Happy 4th Birthday Evan!

Evan came in to our room this morning to cuddle (most days he is the first to wake up these days), and when we said "Happy Birthday" to him he got a huge grin on his face.  He stood up and said, "Do you want to see how tall I am now!"  He seems to think that on each birthday you suddenly grow and are bigger.  I didn't have the heart to tell him differently because he was so proud of how "big" he is. 

Well, our last minute panic to plan a party for Evan (due to being double booked where we had previously booked the party) turned out very well!  We had a fun bus come to our house, which was a big hit.  It had a climbing wall, trampoline, slide, etc.  The parents enjoyed it just as much.  They were able to hang on our deck and drink some beers while the kids were entertained in the bus.

Evan loved all his gifts.  He was thrilled to get the Thor hat and hammer!  The party theme was Thor, which is his current favorite super hero.  I don't think any of the other kids there had a clue who Thor was, but Evan loved it!

I had to drive up to Northern VA this morning for a baby shower for one of my cousins, Vanessa, and then drove back and arrived just in time for the party.  Dennis had all 3 boys all day and did a great job setting up for the party.  He took Colin and Evan to their last soccer games of the season and took them to a comic store for Free Comic Book Day 2011.  The boys got a ton of free comic books and of course were thrilled.

The day was busy and exhausting, but was a huge success!

Rascal #2 and Mothers Day Celebration

I risk sounding like a horrible Mom by admitting this, but Logan fell out of the shopping cart at Target.  I turned my back for one second and next thing I knew he was on the floor crying!  Luckily, he landed on his hands and knees and wasn't hurt.  That kid insists on standing up in the cart.  All the time.  And yes, I do buckle him.  Very tight.  But, somehow he still manages to turn around in the seat and spend most of the trip on his knees.  And yes, I do constantly say no and put him back on his bottom.  Many times.  I think he did get scared because he spent the rest of the trip on his bottom.  Though I have no doubt he will be back on his knees or feet next trip.  I think we may have been premature in calling Evan the rascal, I feel like Logan my give him a run for his money!!!

I am convinced that to be a good Mom you have to selfless.  I was blessed with an awesome Mom who did so much for us and I never realized how much until I became a Mom myself.  Really, being a Mom is often a thankless job.  After all, kids are pretty self centered most of the time.  After the exciting trip to Target, a walk, and trip to the playground, I fed the boys, played a little, read them stories, put them down for naps, cleaned the playroom, and mopped the whole downstairs.  It wasn't until after all of this that I realized I never ate lunch myself.  Now I love food, so it still amazes me that I can be so focused on two little human beings and their needs that I completely forget to eat myself!

After naps I took Evan to his school so he could join in on the Mother's Day Celebration.  His class sang some songs for us Mommy's and I got a cute homemade gift from him.  And just like that I was reminded why I love being a Mommy and would gladly skip lunch to care for my babies!

It was a busy day so after the party I dropped off the little boys with Dennis, so I could take Colin to a birthday party.  It was a "Game Truck" party.  A truck with a huge trailer was there with 4 flat screen tv's and leather couches.  16 kids could play video games at the same time.  It was a 6 year old's (and I imagine all the father's) dream.  It was amazing how quiet a party with 16 little boys could be, they were mesmerized!

Well, this Momma is tired, and I have a very busy day tomorrow, so I better get some rest.  Oh, and Colin and Evan are officially signed up for baseball!  I can't wait!

Evan Moments And Colin In Trouble....

In the span of 60 seconds or so Evan managed to go through 1 pair of underwear and 2 pairs of pants, and stain his carpet.  It went down like this...

Evan had to go number 2, so he went to the bathroom.  He comes out holding his pants and underwear and tells me that he got them wet while he was pooping.  So, I tell him to go upstairs and change.  He comes back down in fresh clothes, but tells me, "I got poo poo on my carpet, but I cleaned it up."  I asked him how this happened and he tells me he sat down on the carpet naked.  Of course I know that there is no way he cleaned it well, so I tell him to wash his hands and I go upstairs to check out the damage.  Sure enough there was a large spot of brown carpet where he had attempted to rub it in.  While I am cleaning this up Evan comes back up carrying the pants he just put on and tells me he got them wet while washing his hands!

When I come back down stairs Evan had taken out food for lunch (see above picture).  He points to the brownies, peanut butter and jelly and says, This is all I want for lunch."  I tell him, "You know what is wrong with this, you didn't get anything healthy.  Please pick out something healthy to go with it."  He looks at me very seriously and says "gum?"

Soon after this I decide to check Colin's school lunch account to make sure he hasn't been buying any "extras".  As I have posted in the past, we let him get chips or cookie on Fridays if he has been good all week at school.  Colin was doing so great at this that I haven't checked the website in months.  Well, I was shocked today when I checked the site and Colin had gotten chips or a cookie everyday the last 7 days!!!  It only tells me the last 7 days so who knows how long he has been doing this.  I was so mad at him.  When he got home we had a long talk about him disapointing us and loosing our trust and that he has now lost the privledge to get "extras" until next school year.  Of course Colin cried and ran up to his room, but at least he was honest and admitted what he did.  He is such a smart kid that he can be very sneaky. 

Osama aka Dr. Doom

Colin was watching the news with me this morning about Osama Bin Laden being killed and he asked me if what we were watching was real.  I told him how Osama was a very bad man who killed lots of people so the US army killed him.  He said "A bad guy like Dr. Doom (that is from his Super Hero Squad show)".  I said, "Yes, kind of like him."  And Colin said "Except he (Osama) doesn't have super powers, right?"

Logan has been practicing his walking a lot, he is so proud of himself and smiles every time.  The most he has done is about 5 or 6 steps. 

Happy 60th Birthday Grandma!

I have been slacking in the pictures department the last few days.  We have been so busy, I haven't even gotten a chance to think about my camera. 

Friday I had a wonderful girls night hosted by one of my neighbors.  We all wore hats and tiara's, ate scones and English cheese, and watched the William and Kate's royal wedding (which she had taped).  What a beautiful wedding!

Saturday we had 3 soccer games to go to.  Colin's team had 2 round robin games.  They lost the first one (their first lost of the season), but won their second game in a shoot out (it was 2-2 before the shoot out and Colin scored both those goals).  Evan was great in his game too and also scored a goal.  He played against his best friend Connor's team for the second time, so he was excited about that.

After soccer we headed up to Northern VA again to celebrate Catherine's (Dennis' Mom's) 60th birthday.  While my parents watched the boys, we had a wonderful dinner at a french restaurant in DC called Bistro Bis.  The food and drinks (thanks to Eric for picking wonderful wine's) were AMAZING!  We had a great time with Catherine, Robert, Meghan, Eric, Jen and Erin.

Today we rushed home very early to get Colin to CCD class at church.  The boys also had a birthday party to go to for Evan's friend, Connor.  Of course the boys were running around crazy at the bounce house.  They loved this one moon bounce where they could put on huge boxing gloves and "fight".  They also liked the moon bounce that had basketball hoops in it.  At one point I told Evan, "You are doing a good job shooting the ball." And he said,  "I know, I am awesome."

Along with a couple errands, it was a busy day.  A busy weekend too.