Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, I caught a cold from Logan and have been a little under the weather the last couple days, so I will try and make this short.  Valentine's Day here started with the boys waking up and seeing cards and a tin can with a Christmas cookie from their Daddy and I.

All the boys had Valentine's Day Parties at school.  I was not able to make it to Colin's since I had the little ones home with me, but I did take Logan and Evan to theirs since it wasn't their normal school day. They had a lot of fun and passed out the homemade Valentines we have been working on.

I enjoyed getting some beautiful flowers delivered from my awesome husband, who also brought home take out sushi.  The boys were hyper from the sugar they had today and were running around the house naked before baths with heart underwear on their heads.  The underwear was in a Valentine's package they got from their Grandma Bridgers and Robert and they were very excited about it and enjoyed wearing them at school today.  Even Logan joined in the fun by running around with it on him, I don't want to even think about how dirty they probably were!  If only I could get him to participate when it is picture time...

pushing Evan out of the way...

It Takes A Village...Or Not...

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, Dennis!  We celebrated his 36th birthday in our favorite way, going to a nice restaurant.  We went to St. Elmo's steakhouse downtown, which was wonderful.  This time we each got our own shrimp cocktail, because it is just so good!  It was nice to get a sitter and enjoy the night out, we haven't called the sitter since November, so we were very excited.

The boys did fine with the sitter, though Logan did cry when we were leaving.  We couldn't calm him down so we just left hoping that he would stop as soon as we left. Sure enough she said he stopped right away.  She commented that our boys are so good.  She watches a couple other families of boys and can't get over how good ours are, because 3 boys is not easy.  That is always nice to hear because, anyone with more than 1 boy close in age knows how hard boys can be at times.  Multiple boys feed off each other and can make for a very noisy and active home.  It is always reassuring to know that our discipline, consistency and hard work are paying off.  Like every parent, we definitely have days where we feel we have no control of our kids and are in need of encouraging words.  Luckily, the good days outweigh the bad.

Speaking of kids.  I went to the doctor recently and she said, "Wow, you have 3 boys and are open to having a 4th!"  She said her and her husband have 2 boys and they are wondering if they were meant to have kids at all.  And, she even has a Nanny!  I can honestly say I haven't once regretted having 3 kids.  I have always wanted 3 or 4 and to be honest it is hard for me to even relate to others who don't want a big family.  The thought of being done having kids is so sad to me.  I love being pregnant and having a newborn.  I would probably have had 6 kids if I lived in a different time.

However, I will admit that at times it is hard to live here in Indianapolis, because it is just Dennis and I without any kind of support system.  Most people that have multiple kids have family around to help or Nannies or regular babysitters.  Dennis and I are both very independent and we both have trouble asking for help.  I think that even if we lived near family, we wouldn't ask for help very much.  I don't like to trouble others and feel it is my responsibility to take care of what is mine (whether it is cleaning my house, cooking dinner or caring for my kids).  While this can be a great trait to have, it can add more stress to our lives.  After all, there is a reason they say "It takes a village" to raise a child.  Dennis and I have lived our whole married life away from family and with zero support system.  When a kid is sick or school is closed it is up to one of us to stay home with them, there is no back up person to call in the case of an emergency to pick up our kids or to take them somewhere for us.  It is up to us to do everything.  So, I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish and of the job we are doing with our kids.  And, it sure feels good when others recognize that.

Well, enough about that...The rest of the weekend was spent running errands and doing some stuff around the house.  Colin and Evan had a birthday party to go to on Saturday.  Oh and we finally got around to taking Colin to the bookstore to buy some books with the gift card Grandma Bridgers and Robert gave him.  He had so much fun picking out what books he wanted.

Dancing Logan...

At dinner tonight we were sitting around the table talking about our day and Evan very excitedly said the best part of his day was playing basketball with his friend Grant.  He said.... "And I won!  We played this new game where if you make a basket the other person gets a point.  So, Grant made a lot of baskets, so I had lots of points and Grant had zero....so I won!!!!"  He was completely serious.

Yesterday was the Super bowl here in Indianapolis.  Ironically, despite the Super bowl being here it was a very quiet evening for us.  Usually, we have friends over to watch with, but this year it was just our family.  I still made a ton of appetizers though.  The highlight was the half time show.  We were all just sitting on the couches watching Madonna sing and Logan hopped up and started dancing.  He danced the whole time.  He ran around the table many times, grabbed on to it and posed many times and even dropped to his knees when she sang, "I'm down on my knees".  We were all laughing hysterically.  Logan loves to dance and hear music, which makes me so happy!

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful, we ran a couple errands, got the boys haircuts and Dennis spent a long time clearing out the basement.  We have to have it all cleared out over the next week before the basement gets finished, so we are trying to figure out where to put everything.

Our New "Mudroom"...

One thing I admire most about my husband is that he is not lazy.  If he wants to do something, but doesn't know how, he will look it up and learn.  When I first married him he didn't know much at all about fixing stuff around the house, but over the years he has taken the time to learn some things and is slowly getting better and better.  When we moved in to our first home it needed a lot of updating.  Dennis was able to learn how to change hardware, install ceiling fans and other light fixtures among a few other things.  Over the last couple weeks, he has been working on his latest project...

When we were looking at homes in Indiana, I had really wanted a mudroom.  With three little boys and snowy weather, I knew we would drive ourselves crazy trying to keep the house clean.  I also knew that we needed somewhere to hang all the snow gear.  Anyway, the house we chose did not happen to have a mudroom, so we have been trying to figure out how we can organize their stuff and where to put their dirty shoes.  The way the house is set up the only option is the garage.  So, I started looking up cubbies online and all the systems were pretty pricey for something that was going to be in a garage.

Well, my awesome husband decided he could try and build one for a lot less.  He did a little research online to get some inspiration and this is what he came up with...

I am so excited about how it turned out and very proud of Dennis for tackling his first wood work project!

Just A Recap...

A recap of the week....

Tuesday, I was home with Evan and Logan and we made banana chocolate chip bread.  Logan had a great time helping out this time.  I gave him the job of mashing the bananas.  When he wasn't trying to sneak a lick, he did a great job!

Thursday and Friday Dennis worked from home because of all the stuff going on downtown for the Super Bowl.  It was nice having Dennis home, even if he was in his office the whole time.  Evan and I have been working on some homemade valentine's for his class.  I usually am one to buy valentine's, but this year we decided to try and make them instead.  I don't think it saves time or money, but it is a lot of fun!

Great news on Friday.... My brother, David, and his wife, Fanchon, found out they will be having a baby boy!  They are due end of June.  My sister, Julie, is due early August, but looks like they may wait to be surprised.

Friday evening Dennis had dodge ball, and for a second week in a row his team won!  I guess they are starting to figure out the game.  He is having a blast playing and then going out and socializing afterwards.

Lastly, we have settled on who is going to do our basement, so right now they are getting the permits and then they should be ready to start working on the basement February 13th.  We are SO excited to get moving with that project!

Oh, and something completely random that I must right down so I can remember when I am old and looking back at this...sometimes, like this morning, when Dennis has his shirt off Evan laughs and says, "I see your armpit beard!".  It is so funny what comes out of little kids mouths!

Super Bowl XLVI NFL Experience...

Today was the best day we have had in Indy and one of the best days we have had as a family ever.  The Super Bowl is here in Indy this year and it is really fun to see all the excitement around town.  We spent the day at the NFL experience in downtown Indy today.  The boys had a blast throwing footballs, kicking field goals, jumping in the football bounce house, getting pictures taken in front of a green screen, and seeing the lombardi trophy and Super Bowl rings.

Colin had a great time participating in a football clinic where he got to be coached and catch passes from a couple NFL players (Brandon King from the Colts and Brett Grimes from the Falcons).  We also saw Joesph Addai (Colts) while we were there.  Colin caught a couple catches and made a couple touchdowns and got a free t-shirt.

We also had fun getting some other free stuff, like footballs, chips, and football cards.  We were there for about 4 hours and the kids were all pretty good, especially considering we were there during the time that should be naps.  Logan was exhausted by the time we left and fell asleep on the walk back to the car.  Colin and Evan LOVED all the football stuff, they had so much fun.  Who knows when we will ever be in the same town as the Super Bowl again, probably never, so it was great to get to experience all the fun surrounding it.

My Free Spirit!

I always admired people who just have a joy of life.  I tend to be too much of a thinker to be a free spirit.  I always have a million different things running through my head at one time, which makes it hard for me to just kick back and enjoy the moment.  The great thing about being a Mom though is you get to enjoy traits your children have, that you wish you could have yourself.

Evan, at least as a young boy, is a real free spirit.  He almost always has a huge smile on his face.  I really have never met a happier kid in my life.  Actually, his cousin Alex is pretty happy too, maybe that has something to do with them were born only 2 weeks apart.  Yes, sometimes it is incredibly frustrating, as he is often smiling and laughing at the wrong time (like when he is being disciplined).  But, most of the time he keeps Dennis and I from taking ourselves too seriously.  We often look at each other and try to keep from laughing at some silly thing he is doing as we are trying to be mad at him (we often fail).

Lately, when I go to pick him up from school.  He looks over at me and then says very loudly to his class, "Evan is out of here, PEACE!!!!".  Today, he threw off his art smock onto the floor and yelled this as he ran to me.  His teacher looked at me and said, "He is very animated."  That sure is putting it mildly.

A couple weeks ago, I was trying to get him to go upstairs and put his shoes on, so he could go to school. He comes down dressed as Thor with snow boots on (there wasn't any snow outside by the way).  I said, "I am in a hurry, I told you to put shoes on so we can go."  He just looks at me like I am crazy and very seriously says, "I did put my shoes on."  Only Evan can get me to laugh even when I am home alone with 3 kids and running late.

Yes, sometimes he is frustrating.  But, often I think we can all learn a little something from Evan and just kick back, laugh and have fun!  By the way, Logan is pretty silly himself, I wonder if he will be like his big brother.  He loves to dress up in any shoes he can find...

Well, that's pretty much all I have to say today.  Mommy is out of here, PEACE!