Loving the Weather!!!

How is it when the sun is out my house feels enormous but when it is raining it feels so tiny? I am truly loving the sunny weather we have been having. It is wonderful to be able to go and sit outside with the kids and let them play. Tonight after dinner Eric and I sat in some chairs and watched the kids go down the slide and run around without a care in the world. This is truly what life is supposed to be like in my opinion. Hanging with my family and not a care in the world. Why can't it be summer all year!!!

The Box is Always the Most Fun

I got the comforter for Lucy's new room this week. And as always the box is even more of a hit than the comforter itself. Andrew had a lot of fun tonight playing with her.

He is such a great big brother!

And since I know you are dying of curiosity, here is the web picture of the comforter. I should get the second one in next week. Now I just have to decide what color to paint the room! And I can get started redecorating!!!

Tonight- Andrew

Mowed half of the back lawn.

Amazing how determined that little boy is!!!

Helped daddy remove trees and shrubs from the backyard for our neighborhood cleanup. It is looking great! And he was a ton of help!

Where did my little boy go??? I have a big kid in his place now!

Tonight- Zane

Mowed the lawn in his own special way.

Got a terrible bloody nose. Seriously, it was horrible.

Hung out with a special sissy.

And did an Arnold impersonation.

Who could be mad at a face like that???

Tonight- Lucy

Helped daddy and Andrew with the lawnmower.

Monitored progress with the lawnmower.

Stole drinks from everyone's cup.

Examined all grass and rock to be found.

And figured out how to climb up the slide. A perfect night for a Lucy!

And Just as Fast as They Come In...

Tooth #2 made its final exit today! Andrew was eating lunch and a big bite of sandwich loosened it up considerably. A little more wiggling and one twist and out it came! Another tooth fairy visit is in order tonight for sure.

My Gap Toothed Boy!

Driving home from dinner at my mom's tonight Andrew starts talking about how he heard a snap sound while he was wiggling his tooth. He was quiet for a few minutes and then yelled, "I just pulled my tooth out!!!" Sure enough the baby tooth was finally out and a little boy tongue was busily poking through the hole. Fortunately Andrew had some napkins back by his seat so he was able to stop the bleeding with relatively little mess.

We got home and immediately had to get out the tooth fairy pillow. Alice made both boys tooth fairy pillows years ago. They have been sitting in the closet waiting for a reason to get used. Tonight for the first time the tooth fairy will be making a trip to our house! I think that she will be paying out a dollar. :)

The new window in Andrew's mouth and the baby tooth that caused it!

For all of my readers out there who are suffering through teething and can't wait for that nightmare to end. Just keep in mind that the pain and crying that you are enduring now will turn into this much joy on the other side!

Hooray for my big boy! Never to look little again!

Wiggle-Wiggle Pt. 2!

Tonight we noticed that Andrew's big boy tooth is really coming in! He still has his baby tooth in place but we are working really hard to get it out. The adult tooth is kinda fuzzy but you can totally see it already!!!

My Little Scholar Pt. 2!

Crystal with her computer and Zane with his!

Crystal got in last night for a visit and boy oh boy were the boys excited to see her. They asked all morning where she was. (Sleeping!) Tonight after dinner this is where we found Zane. He thought it would fun to be a big kid with her.

My Little Scholar

Zane has been trying to copy Andrew with his school work lately. I have a couple of pre-school workbooks that I got when Andrew was little that are only half used up. Zane has taken to them like a duck to water. He is so excited to pull out the book and do the pages. Currently he really enjoys the big/small, tall/short comparison type pages. Those ones are the math readiness worksheets. Most pages have something that you trace over and then something that you color. It is all a pre-writing thing. We are working on letters too. He already knows most of his letters by sight (at least the capital ones) and we are working on the sounds right now as well. I still am pretty determined to not send him to kindergarten until he is 6 though. That late August birthday is a killer! I think I would rather him be one of the oldest in his class rather than the baby. But man is he going to be ready for kindergarten by the time he turns 6!!!

Wiggle-Wiggle

Last night after the boys were in bed Eric and I heard the pitter-patter of little feet on the staircase. "Yes, Andrew?" Eric says. "My tooth is really wiggly!" says my boy with a smile of delight. Sure enough his tooth is super wiggly. I am guessing we will have our first lost tooth within the next week. Andrew intends to take an apple in his lunch today. I think he hopes it will pull the tooth out. I just hope that it doesn't get lost or swallowed if it does come out. And I really hope he doesn't freak out about the blood. That will make all lost teeth traumatic and it drives me crazy when teeth are just hanging on by a tiny thread!

Belly Update for #4

I thought it was time for me to update on the newest little member of our household that is busy growing in the belly. She is currently 28 weeks 5 days old. For those of you out there not used to prego timelines, I am just starting my 7th month of pregnancy. I refuse to post any pictures (purposefully) of my gut until I am positive that it actually looks prego. And not "I wondered but I didn't want to ask" looking prego. More like "Holy Cow! You look like you could deliver any second!" looking prego. Whether people are thinking the first way or not, I don't know (and frankly I don't want you to tell me if you are still wondering what is baby and what is just fat!!!). But I feel like I look definitively pregnant and thus you are getting treated to a picture. Anyway, this little one is not terribly active at this point. I do feel pushing, shifting and kicking around on the inside but it is nothing like with Lucy who never stopped moving. I am currently measuring like I am just over 30 weeks pregnant which is normal for me to do this early. My kids have always measured big and I laugh about it with my doctor. She claims it is nothing too be concerned about and that I am not out of range large. Just wait until I am 9 months though. Then I will treat you all to a picture that is just comical in appearance!!!

Beatiful Weather!

Today was wonderful. It was sunny, warm and best of all NOT RAINY!!! I get so tired of our never ending springs! We went out to play (well, the kids played, Eric and I watched) for almost 2 hours tonight. Let me tell you, we have some exhausted kiddos. I got some super cute pictures of the kids that I wanted to share.

Zane was in a particularly agreeable mood tonight so I took advantage of it and got some great shots of him. More often than not he is making a grumpy face or has his tongue out. Not tonight though. I just love this one of him and Calvin. Precious, in my opinion!!!

Andrew and Lucy played quite a bit. Andrew is such a great big brother. He loves to play and help his sissy. It is so cute to watch.

Little Miss Lucy figured out how to go down the slide all by herself tonight. She still needs someone to catch her at the bottom or she would sail off the end but she has the guts to go down without anyone coaxing her. The boys both took turns catching her at the bottom and she thought that was wonderful. Eric spent the whole time paranoid that she was going to fall off the platform but she is more coordinated than he thought and she did just fine. Although you have to watch her like a hawk because it takes all of 3 seconds for her to scale the ladder these days.

Andrew had fun playing with a pinwheel we got at Mr. Will's b-day party. He thought it was fun to put the reflection in Eric's eyes and blind him.

Zane spent a lot of the evening playing with his trucks. He is so cute and energetic. I love to watch him play. He has an amazing imagination.

Great evening altogether and sooooooo excited for the summer to fully get here so I can spend more time playing in the backyard.

Bubble Fun

We had a wonderful time this evening playing with the bubbles! I got one of those no spill tumblers with three wands earlier this year thinking that it would be a fun, inexpensive and relatively clean thing to play with in the backyard.

So far the bucket has been a hit. Andrew is really good at blowing bubbles and likes to run around and catch them with his wand.

Pure joy!

Zane is getting better and better about blowing the bubbles. At first he got extremely frustrated when they would not come. Now he is getting the hang of it though and will stay occupied for quite awhile blowing bubbles and then watching them float all over the backyard. He thinks it is particularly fun when they float over the house.

Lucy has not gotten the hang of bubbles yet but she still thinks it is a ton of fun to dip the wand in the bucket and then lick it. I figure if it is keeping her out of trouble it can't be that bad for her. And I am hoping that the bubble solution isn't too detrimental to her health. She can't be consuming that much of it right?

Happy Mommy's Day To ME!!!

As a rare treat you will get a picture of me! Eric wanted me to show off the bare belly. Since I didn't even do that when I was pregnant with Andrew and the stretch marks were fresh, I told him no way! Anyway, the kids, Eric and I got up this morning and went to church, then went out to eat at our very favorite Chinese food restaurant. Then I came home and took a nap. All in all a wonderful mother's day! They got me a new waffle iron too. A round one this time, which I have wanted but have been too cheap to get to replace the square one we got for our wedding. I managed to melt a spatula against the old one this year and it makes a nasty smell when we use it. So it was a wonderful dual purpose purchase. Present for me and replaced something that needs to get chucked. Plus the non-stick doesn't work too hot on my old machine. I think we may have to have waffles this week to test the new one out.

As I thought about mother's day this week, one thought kept popping into my head. Even more than a day for me to honor my mom and have my kids love on me a bit (which is all wonderful). I think of mother's day as a day for me to once again renew my commitment to being the very best mom I am able to be. I am not so arrogant to think that simply by giving birth I get to claim the title of mom because many women become mom's by various other methods and means. Rather I think of becoming a mom as a commitment to doing the very best I can for the children God has decided to bless me with. I do not take them for granted and I do take my role as mom very seriously. I do not want to float through this period of time while they grow and develop and hope that they turn out well. I want to take an active role in the process to bring out the very best God has given them the ability to be. I think I have been giving my babies as a gift that I need to determine to cherish each and every day. Good days and bad days. And there are plenty of both. My being a mom is a commitment and a choice that I make freely and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to continue to grow along with my little blessings!

I hope all my fellow mommies out there have had a wonderful day with their own little blessings!

A Peddler.... Finally!

Finally, finally, finally! My Zane has graduated to a peddler. For over a year and a half we have been trying to convince him to actually peddle on his trike. Peddling (in case you are curious) is one of those skills that just seems to come or not come in its own time. It can be extraordinarily frustrating for a mom or dad to try and teach this skill. And when the toddler in question is extraordinarily stubborn and independent it can make an otherwise sane parent lose their marbles.


I was busy working on dinner for the mom's today when Zane came streaking (no he wasn't naked!) into the house to tell me that now he can peddle his trike and will I come and watch him. OF COURSE!!! I flew outside and sure enough there was my guy peddling down the driveway!

He was so excited he showed everyone that came over how he can peddle. They all oohed and aahed appropriately! I love it when my kids figure out something new. It is almost as exciting for me as it is for them I think!!!

Now to just get him using Andrew's old bike. That will be amazing and Lucy can have a shot at the trike!

A Once a Year Kind of Day

Andrew and Lucy have been sick the last two days. They both woke up yesterday morning with a fever (they have had other cold symptoms for a few days) and looked terrible. Well, I don't know why it seemed to rock Zane's world but he was a grump and a pest all day yesterday. On top of that the kids were all crabby and irritable and picking on each other. I think we have not had that bad of a day behavior-wise in almost a year. Plus it was rainy nasty out and I didn't want to go anywhere. And I couldn't send them out to play either. Andrew was bummed all day that he couldn't go to school and we made him lay down for a nap/rest to add insult to injury. Lucy was just grumpy. She wouldn't leave anyone alone but never seemed to find a groove to play in. Plus she took a short nap. Today we seem to be having a slightly better day. The kids are playing together. Zane is not making us all insane with his peskiness and Lucy is taking a decent nap. I am glad we only have those types of days every once in awhile. They are no fun and make me long for bedtime. Ideally we will be back to normal by tomorrow. And I will be reminded anew why I love them all so much.

Big Girl Toes and A Baby Doll

Once upon a time when I was a mommy of one, I tried to paint my baby's toes. Since that one baby happened to be Andrew, a certain daddy came unglued and personally removed the paint. (It was orange! not even a girly color) Now that I have a girl I have been patiently biding my time until she got big enough to sit still and let me paint her toes. Last night that time arrived. I have been longing to paint my own toes and got myself this sassy teal-ish color of paint. Something about painted toes screams summer to me and I am guilty of wanting summer to get here quick! Anyway, I painted Lucy's toes and then held her hands while it dried. Eric accused me of wanting her to grow up too fast but I think it is just cute!

Could there be anything cuter than my sweet girl's cankles and painted toes!!!

My other argument against her growing up so fast is that Lucy is finally playing with the baby doll that we got her for Christmas. How can she be growing up if she is just now playing with dolls? She is so cute with her dolly. She hugs it and carries it around the house with her. If you ask her where her baby is she can tell you. I am hoping that when her new little sissy is here she is just as affectionate!

A little mommy adoration

Sweet snuggles from a sweet mommy!

Seriously, could she get any cuter!

So PROUD of my Boy!

Last night at 3:15 I heard a beautiful sound. I heard a door open and the pitter-patter of little feet as they RAN, not walked, RAN! to the potty. A light was thrown on and the toilet seat crashed up. Pee was eliminated, loudly. Toilet flushed, light went off. Pitter-patter back to bed. My Zane for the first time got up to go potty in the middle of the night. No wet sheets for me today! Hooray!!!

Size WHAT???

The boys moved up in pajama sizes today. I went and got some summer pj's in the next size up for Andrew and switched out Zane's pj's for the ones Andrew wore last summer. In case you were unaware pj's run in weird sizes. My kids have always worn them big but this time I think it is a little excessive. Andrew is currently wearing a size 10 and Zane is in a size 8. Now granted these are all even sizes and those tend to run differently than if there is a separation between little boys and big boys. Either way I think they are way too little for those numbers to be on the clothing but that is what fits. Andrew has been wearing the 8's (I have a whole second set of long sleeves and pants) but they are silly short in the tummy and the pants completely fit in length. As you can see the top is not all that long on Zane either (size 8) so I guess I guessed right in sizes. I understand that pj's are supposed to be worn snuggly (there are about 4 tags on each pair of pj's to remind you) but I disagree that they need to be short and have your gut hang out. Anyway, my 5 year old is wearing size 10 and my 3 year old is wearing size 8. Sound wrong to anyone else?