What were we thinking?

             

 

If you have school age kids you are probably familiar with how kids' birthday parties roll these days. Kids are inviting everyone in the class to parties at bowling allys or places that have huge inflateables indoors costing parents a pretty penny. And of course each time the boys get invited to one of these they start to dream of what their next party will be like. Call me old school, but I think their friend parties should be at home where they can be kids and just play and have a little cake and ice cream. So after a little convincing I had Drew and Matt on board that they could invite some of their friends from school for a good ole fashion birthday party. I'm not going to lie, it was a little hairy having about 10 boys ages 5 - 7 running around for 2 hours. But having summer birthdays we got very lucky that we had a super hot day and had planned on a slip-n-slide and water balloons as part of the fun. All the kids had a blast and Craig and I were exhausted after the two hour party.

Captain Destructo Strikes Again!

As you can see Ryan can't be left unattended without making any sort of major mess. To say

he loves emptying drawers is an understatement. Although to his credit, he will also help put everything back as well. As someone recently pointed out, perhaps he'll get all the mischief out of his system now before he's a teenager. Chances are that isn't 100% true, but it does make me feel better when I'm putting everything back in the drawers. But when given the option, I'll wait to take a shower till nap time if I can so that I don't have to fold any more than I have to.

Mardi Gras!

On almost any given day, you'd think Ryan had recently been to Mardi Gras. He loves going into Drew and Matt's room and dig through their drawer of trinkets (junk). He always comes out wearing several necklaces & beads and will want to wear them everywhere we go. Silly kid.

Developing the Love for Baseball.

At the age of five, the boys are able to begin baseball. After watching Drew play the last few years, Matt has anxiously been waiting for his turn. As five year olds they start their baseball career in Rookie Camp. Basically they meet every Saturday morning during the summer for a few hours to learn the fundamentals of the game. Matt has absolutely LOVED it. And as a perk to being on the team, he was also able to march in the city's parade and squirt people, which he also enjoyed.  It has been fun to watch him enjoy something like this so much.

A New Bike for Matt

Being a younger brother, Matt often gets stuck with mostly hand-me-downs. So you can image how excited he was when he got to pick out his first new bike. He's loving it and can ride without any training wheels.  Here he is the night right after he got it. Very proud.



Annual Post-Tax-Season Family Weekend

It has become a tradition in our home that after tax-season has been completed we head out for a family weekend of relaxation and bonding. This year we went to Brainerd, MN where we stayed at at water park as a treat for the boys as thank you to them for dealing with tax-season. While we were in town, we hunted for the statue of Paul Bunyan (this was the only one we could find - the really big one was in a park that was closed). And we also took in some mini-golf. A good time was had by all.

My Mother's Day Wish

I've never been one to have high expectations on Mother's Day (or other holidays for that matter). I love the gifts that the kids pick out for me, even if they are selfishly selected for them. This Mother's Day was no different. We had actually spent the weekend up North at our annual post tax-season family weekend and returned on Sunday afternoon. My only request was to not have to cook (so we ate out on our way home and then Craig's mom invited us up for a picnic) so I got that wish granted and then I also asked for us to take a family picture. As you can see I also got that one too. Two wishes granted in one day, I'm one lucky lady.

Patiently Waiting

Even though you can't see his face, I LOVE this photo of Ryan waiting for Drew to come home from school. Or perhaps he's just trying to figure out to get out. Either way, I love the photo.

Ryan the Explorer

I don't what it is about these hats, but they sure make kids look darn cute.  If only he would wear it long enough to protect his head from the sun.

Best Friends.

We took the boys to the Mall of America to ride rides at the end of our spring break (yes I'm catching up on our blog). As you can see they were walking ahead of me to get to the next ride. I'm sure they were also plotting how to stay as long as possible. I know they won't hold hands for much longer, but hopefully they'll always be best friends.