We're BAAACK!

I kind of fell off the "Updating our Blog Wagon". So I'm back, I had a nice quiet night here so I've posted a few entries that I've been meaning to write. Hope you enjoy them.

Future Spelling Bee Champ

Spelling has never come easy for me (or Craig for that matter). So when Drew started coming home with spelling words I almost dreaded it for him. So to our surprise, the kid is getting a perfect score on every test! Each week he has 6 words (man, cat, and). Then he has 2 challenge words (milk, dish, crack). He also has to write a sentence that is worth ten points if he gets all the words spelled, plus punctuation, etc. (Many frogs like blue and green dots.) Then there are these Super Challenge Words. This part amazes me. He is spelling words like; octopus, thought, trapeze and December. I'm impressed and now I think I'm going to use spell check quick to make sure I got them all correct.

37 Doesn't Look So Bad!

For my recent birthday, I received a nice surprise of flowers. I think this is maybe the second time that Craig has ever had flowers delivered to me, so this was a treat! There are 4 red roses from my 4 favorite guys in my life and then the rest of white. I'm a lucky girl!

Happy Ground hog's Day

Since school started in September, I've been joking that it feels like I'm in the movie Ground hog's Day. As each morning we try to leave the house at 8:30 to allow us enough time to walk to school. Every morning we see the same other people on our street walking to school, the same mini-vans from farther down the street driving their kids to school and the same buses going to school. I always know if we are on schedule based on where everyone is in the morning (and I know if others are on-time too). I love routine, but some days I could use a little change. So maybe now that the weather is getting cold, we'll drive Drew to school on occasion and we can change it up a bit. Happy Ground hog's Day!

Last Laugh

The other night the boys tried to play a trick on us and hid after we put them to bed. So when I went into their room to tuck them in before going to bed myself, I was at first confused as to where they where. Then I checked one of their favorite hiding spots. Both of them had squeezed into the area under the desk and between the bed. Believe it or not, they slept there the entire night. And just to give you a little perspective, they are sleeping between the bed and the desk where you can see the red blanket on the floor. Crazy kids!

All Grown Up

Many of you know that we've had lots of struggles with Matt in the bathroom. We are working on those and are slowly making progress. So the other day I was very surprised to see Matt going to the bathroom using the "peephole" in his underwear. I'm not sure I'll ever understand that kid. He can use the peephole, but won't poop to save his life. Ugh!

A + A = A+

For those of you who know Craig or I, you know that we both have Type A qualities. Well, when two Type A's have kids, those kids are either going to be really strong Type A's or are going to rebel. Drew seems to be following in our footsteps. Here are a few examples:
- Recently Drew had so proudly moved (reorganized several items in his room. Craig unknowingly moved all those items back as he was concerned that Ryan would get into them. The next day Drew made a sign for his door that said, "Do Not Arrange Anything!".
- Drew also recently told me, "I think organizing is fun, sometimes I think it is more fun than playing!" Poor kid doesn't have a chance.

As for Matt and Ryan, the jury is still out on their personality types, hopefully they can survive living with us!

Money Management

A few weeks ago we attended the book fair at Drew's school. We told the boys that we would buy them each one book and if they wanted to buy another book or some other trinket then they needed to bring their own money. This was their first opportunity to spend some of their very own money. So with $5 in both of their pockets they each picked out a poster for their room (cost was $4.50). The highlight of the night was when they made their purchase, they were both excited to see that they each got money back. We obviously need to talk more about the value of the various coins and dollars, but boy was it cute to see their reaction when they got their change.

Early Reading

As part of Drew's nightly homework, he is required to read us a story each night. Recently one night, Drew was reading his story to me when he got stuck on the word "hold". He was rereading the sentance and sounding out the word, when Matt offers up his help and tells Drew that he thought the word was "hold". I had all I could not to laugh out loud. I was both impressed that Matt had figured it out, but sad for Drew that his little brother figured it out before him. Needless to say, Drew wasn't very happy with Matt.

Once Upon A Time

There were three lions. These lions all lived in the same home and were a few years apart. Can you guess each lion's name?

The Non-Soccer Mom

In many ways, I'm your sterotypical stay-at-home mom. I drive carpool in my mini-van, somedays you can find me wearing my yoga pants at Target, I'm often driving a kid to or from an activity, but I am no soccer mom. So when Drew announced this summer that he wanted to try soccer, Craig and I both tried to encourage him to try football. Football was Craig's sport growing up and I've never watched or played a game of soccer in my life. But Drew insisted on playing so we signed him up. The Polar Bears had a good season and Drew learned a lot and had a ton of fun (and has often reminded us that he had fun even though we told him he may not enjoy it). He even scored his first goal, too bad it was against his own team. I have to admit it was fun to watch him, but I had more fun hanging out with the other moms.

What Goes In Must Come Out.

Yes, you probably know that this is going to get gross - so consider that your warning.

The other night, Ryan was playing with this airplane toy that had foam propellers. I swear I saw him take a bite out if it, as there was a hunk taken out of it, but there wasn't anything in his mouth and nothing on the floor, so I gave up looking for it. Sure enough the next morning when I changed his diaper - I found the missing piece. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard while changing a diaper.

Look Out Preschool, Here Comes Matt

Preschool has been a bit of a roller coaster for Matt. He was so very excited to start, but in week two he's developed what he calls his "puke headache" also sometimes known as a stomachache and to others you might just call it anxiety. He's working through it and I'm so proud of him for that, but it just breaks my heart to send him, sometimes kicking and screaming and at the very least with tears in his eyes. But his teacher is wonderful (same teacher Drew had at this age) and we are working together and communicating to help him through this. I'm sure before we know it, he'll be asking when he can go next. Fingers crossed!

Hello First Grade

Drew started First Grade this year. Now that he's got a few weeks under his belt, here is what we've learned:
* The hamburgers are his favoirte hot lunch meal. However, he does not like the fries, tater tots, tacos. And I'm pretty sure he rarely takes the fruit or veggie options, but would be willing to bet chocolate milk is the first thing on his tray. Guess we are going to have to work on that balance.
* His music teacher is "hilarious" - his words not mine.
* Like most kids, especially boys, recess and gym are two of his favorite activties.
* He's already too cool to be seen with his mom so I can only walk him as far as the crosswalk then he's on his own.
* He's already learned that if he'd rather sleep in and will often ask for 5 more minutes, little does he know I've started waking him up 5 minutes earlier.
* Even though he complains about having to read a book every night, I can tell he's very proud of himself and we are too.
* He's teacher seems great - like one of those rare finds that a student will remember for many years down the road.
Here's to a great year of First Grade!
Here's to a fun year of

You Can Have Your Cake, But You Can't Eat It!

Mid-summer, Ryan had an eczema rash that we couldn't get under control. Long story short, we ran some tests and learned that he was showing a potential allergy to egg whites and peanuts. So when his birthday came around we had to get creative with his cake. We made him a dirt cake that he could still make a mess of, but was egg free. And his big brothers were very gracious to pick out a cake from Target on Ryan's behalf that everyone else could enjoy while we celebrated his birthday.

We met with an allergiest last week. He's been cleared of the peanut allergy which is a huge relief and the doctor thought that he'll grow out of the egg allergy in due time, but thought we could even feed him most items that contain eggs seeing they are proceed and baked. So we are happy with the results and Ryan is happy to have pasta back in his life.

Fluent in a Foreign Language

When I listen to Ryan "talk" I always wonder what he is trying to tell me. To me, baby talk always sounds like a foreign language. What do you think he is trying to tell us?

The Doctor Will See You Now

We just had Ryan's one year well check so I had to ask the nurse how many times we've been in over the past year. Between all the various illnesses we saw a doctor 33 times within one year. Thank goodness for health insurance!

Sit, Stay, Shake Ryan, Good Ryan!

At this age, I often feel like Ryan is our family pet. He has all these new "tricks" that we are always happy to show-off to family and friends. My favorite is the peek-a-boo and how he places his hands above his eyes. Enjoy this video.

And He's Off . . .

Right around Ryan's birthday he started taking several steps nows he's almost running. This video was taken a week ago, as you can see he's still doing the Frankenstein, but he's really on the move. Here comes trouble!

A New Labor Day Tradtition

A few weeks ago, Drew and Matt had spent the day at Craig' parents and ende up playing with Craig's cousin's kids (they are all about the same age). On that day the kids got an idea that it would be fun to get all their jeeps together and have a parade. So they planned it. In true Drew fashion, he had big plans that included streamers and balloons and he made it happen. As you can see the kids had a lot of fun decorating their jeeps and even more fun being in a parade. Ryan not only was in the parade, but was the Grand Marshall. I think the adults had just as much fun watching it. I just wonder how long before Drew starts planning next year's parade.

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Can you believe a year has already passed? Today, Ryan turned one and while there really wasn't much of a celebration (we'll be doing that this coming weekend with our family) we still had to have a little fun.


Ryan just LOVES this balloon - can you tell?


Still loving the balloon, I seriously think he would sleep with it, if we let him.



And we got a little cake for us to celebrate and of course we had to give him a little frosting.

Happy Birthday Ryan - it has been such a fun year, I can only imagine how much fun the next year will be.

I'm Chopped Liver

As I recently posted, I enjoyed a quick weekend away with some college girlfriends. The following week, Craig went to his annual fishing trip with a group of guys from work. Craig left bright and early on Friday morning. Shortly after Drew got up, he made him this sign. Although he knew Craig was leaving for the weekend, he still wasn't very happy about it.

A new meaning to hot lunch

Drew recently attended a week long day camp through community ed. He enjoyed "Creepy, Crawly, Critter Camp" mostly because he got to experience school like a first grader will. I'm not sure if he was more excited about being assigned a locker for the week or being able to have hot lunch each day. However, on the way home from Day 1 of camp he informed me that not everything was hot, "the cookies weren't hot and the milk wasn't hot, so why do they call it hot lunch mom?". Gotta love how simple their minds are.

Cindy/Mommy Appreciation Day

When I was working and needed to travel, Craig would call that time "Cindy Appreciation Day(s)" as he was thrown into the role of Mom and Dad and would gain a greater appreciation for the role that I play in our home.

This weekend a friend of mine is getting married so my friends and I are making it a girls weekend. I have been feeling in need of some time away so I decide to take off early and enjoy a night in a hotel all by myself. So here I sit with a pile of magazines to read, I'm catching up on my blog tonight and will enjoy waking up on my own in the morning.

Hopefully I'll feel reenergized when I return home on Sunday and I'm sure I'll be greeted by 4 boys who will be happy to see me.

Here is how they welcomed me home:

Fun on the Farm

The boys and I spent at week at my parents farm last week. They love spending time on the farm, I mean what isn't there to love as a 4 or 6 year old boy? There are animals, tractors and other machines and space to just run. Below are a few pictures from our week.


The entire family by the corn field right behind my parents' house.



The boys and my dad after a tractor ride.



The always popular photo of the farm kids by the big tractor tire.



A tractor and wagon more their size.



The boys on a wagon of big straw bales. Don't you just love how these city slickers are wearing their snow boots?

Dinosaur Camp

Matt and his good friend Maren attended "Dinosaur Camp" a few weeks ago. They had a great time and were tickled to feel like the big kids who were attending other camps. During camp they decorated these hats and practiced their roars. Needless to say, I had to make a special trip home to get my camera before dropping off Maren as this was just too cute to miss the photo opp.

Zero to Destruction in Seconds

Ryan just LOVES to tear things apart and he isn't picky, it can be a diaper bag, the tupperware drawer or the dishwasher. As you can see he is in his glory when he is destroying things. Who needs toys when you have all these other things to play with?

Ryan Recently

Sharing some of my favorite photos of the the litte man. Enjoy!

Go Dodgers!

This year Drew played T-ball for the Dodgers. At the begining of the season his favorite part of T-ball was the snack, but by the end of the season he was enjoying playing the game, hitting the ball and sliding. But I think the snack still rates right up there, especially when the entire team went to Dairy Queen for their year end celebration.

License To Read

Drew is now the very proud owner of his very own library card. I swear he told every person he's come in contact with about his new card. Hopefully it will mean a love of reading for a lifetime.

MulcahyFest 2011

We had another fun party this year. Here are some of our favorite photos. Enjoy.

This free photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

Traditions

Over the past few years we've started a few traditions to help make each boy's birthday extra special.


On the morning of their birthday they wake up to their door decorated.

Around their birthdays we measure them in our garage and are keeping track of how they are growing. They love to watch their growth.

And on their birthday they get to pick a restaurant for all of us to enjoy as a family.

Go Twins!

The boys are developing their love for baseball and enjoyed a Twins game the week of their birthday. In a few years we hope to take the boys to visit other ball parks to grow their love for the game.

Birthday Fun

As you know June is a big month for birthdays in our house. This year Matt turned 4 and Drew turned 6. We celebrated with our families and had cake, presents and the hightlight; a trip to Elko Speedway for the Eve of Destruction. For two boys - it just doesn't get any better than that. And Ryan was just happy to play with the wrapping paper.

Our Very Own Superhero

Matt loves Superheros and will wear his BatMan costume all the time, so when a friend of mine posted photos of capes that she got her boys I knew I had to get one for Matt. Needless to say he loves it. Never fear, MattMan is here!

Rub-a-dub-dub

3 boys in a tub. I couldn't help but take this picture one night when the boys where all in the bath together.

Water Park Weekend

Last year we started the tradition of going to a waterpark after tax season to spend some much needed quality family time. Drew and Matt really look forward to it and even Ryan had a good time.

Three of A Kind

Can you tell the guys are brothers? Bet you can't guess who is who?