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.