Speedy Summer

I started this post on Monday and finished it on Tuesday. . .

Checking out some classic cars and posing in the shade


The reasons we now have a "2 large pizza family"

Days are turning into weeks, and weeks are turning into months--summer is going by so quickly. Last week was one of adjustment for me, since I kind of "checked out" while my parents were here. I played catch-up all week long, and am glad to have that behind me. Swimming lessons ended on Friday, freeing up our mornings to sleep in. Ahhhh. Braylen's been playing with his neighbor friend almost every day, and at times I feel like I have 4 boys to keep track of. Actually, when he's over here my boys play together pretty nicely. I've had to figure out how to carve out time for Braylen to play with his friend, and how to include Kaleb and Aaron at times. This is new territory for me. Growing up with one brother, I never wanted to play with his friends, and he never wanted to play with mine. Imagine that. Derek's been helpful in this area. :)

Loving this time with Braylen


Gritting his teeth before his ride



Is this fun? Maybe.



Aaron's turn!

Now THIS is fun!

This weekend we went boating as a family, and each boy had his own turn on the torpedo tube. Braylen's loved it for years, Kaleb has feared it, and Aaron's been too little. This time we made Kaleb get on and overcome his fear. He hung on for dear life with a grimace, but he felt so proud of his accomplishment. :) Aaron immediately began rocking from side to side, trying to have a little more "daredevil fun." He even let go and held his arms up! What a brave 5 year old! The water was pretty choppy that day, and sure enough, Aaron fell off during one of his daring moves. Too bad the little guy didn't let go! Derek gunned the boat to force Aaron to let go of the rope, and we swooped in and plucked him from the water. Without crying or anything, Aaron simply said, "I'm done, I'm done!"

Derek and I had the chance to go to a movie Monday night, something we hardly ever do. Thanks to free movie passes and our wonderful family in town, this was a totally free date! :) We saw "The Proposal" and really liked it. Lots of laughter and time to escape from responsibilities. I think it was a great way to start our week.

Kaleb fell off his bike today and scraped his knee up. This happened right before our weekly trip to our friend's lake house. Bummer! Kaleb still went swimming, but climbed onto a water platform in the cove because his knee stung. Refusing to swim back to shore, he called out to Braylen for help. Braylen pulled him back to shore while Kaleb kept his leg out of the water. They were quite a funny sight. Some brotherly bonding occured, because as we drove home Kaleb said, "My brother must really love me because he was so nice to me." Awwww. :)

Random funnies from the past few days:

While describing his favorite car to our chiropractor, Aaron said, "Mustang GPS." I think he meant GT!

Braylen tried to remember what he was going to say, and all he could say was, "It's on the tip of my tongue!" Aaron said, "Well, you must have swallowed it!"

While making cookies with me, Kaleb and Aaron turned everything into an arguement. "I want to do it! No I want to do it! My turn! No! My turn!" I was getting frustrated with them. Then Kaleb said, "Aaron, you have stinky breath." Aaron said, "Well Kaleb, YOUR breath stinks like...like...a dead sheep!" What? Where does he come up with these things? Kaleb answered back with things like "your breath stinks like a rotten banana and cow poop." Lovely.

A major project waiting for me this week involves hosting a birthday party for Braylen's upcoming 10th birthday. We're sneaking his party in a few weeks early, since his big day falls the week before school starts in August. It may have been a lousy pregnancy for me in the heat of the summer, but it sure does provide my son with a fun birthday party opportunity! This Saturday we're taking five 9 and 10 year old boys boating. Aaahhhhh! I figure as long as I keep them fed and in life jackets, all will go well. :) Right?

All in a Day's Work

Summer is moving right along--moving too fast for me. Swimming lessons end on Friday, reading goals need to be met for the school splash party, and back-to-school items are in the stores. It's not even August yet! One thing about fall that I like--a schedule. Today I forgot a doctor's appointment and now have several overdue library books. (sigh) Too much stuff to fit in my brain.

Kaleb grew this onion in 1st grade and planted it in my garden in May. Picked it July 13th. Yummy!

Ginger at 14 weeks, July 13th

Ginger continues to bring us lots of play time. Her favorite type of play involves water. I love to watch her discover the sprinkler! Watering my plants with me also brings her lots of joy. She has her own wading pool, which Braylen fills up most mornings. He really is a big help with her. She weighed 27 pounds on July 13th. Someday we will look at these puppy pictures and video in disbelief at how small she was. :)

Aaron is finally feeling better after his 3rd antibiotic to treat bacterial pneumonia. How nice for the fevers and the cough to be history! I'm hoping the sick bugs stay far away from our family. Now that he's feeling better, Aaron's provided me with more funnies! 4 in one day! Here they are:

When the neighbor kids played tennis in the street, Aaron said to Kaleb that he wished he had a tennis "whacker" to whack the ball!

I told the kids to wash their hands (even though we'd just used hand sanitizer in the car) and Aaron said, "Why, Mom? Are you just trying to annoy us?"

After paying good money to enroll 3 kids in swimming lessons, Aaron swims in our 2.5 feet deep backyard pool and says, "Look Mommy, I can swim now! Kaleb just taught me!" Sure enough, Aaron can now do a (primitive) front crawl and float on his back and tummy, all by himself. This morning in lessons he could not. Next time I'll keep my money and just let Kaleb show Aaron what to do!

I've saved the best for last. In all seriousness, Aaron asked us, "How can you still float even when you have a crack in your bottom?"

How can I not love raising these boys? Catching these little moments is my favorite part of being a mom. Especially a stay-at-home-mom. I feel blessed beyond belief. Good to remember when I'm stressing about the menu, shopping list, coupons, bills, cleaning, laundry, etc... Taking the time to stop and listen to what my kids are saying brings me much laughter!!!

Mom & Dad

The sheets are washed and the towels are folded. The bathroom is clean and the dishwasher is empty. But even if my house doesn't hold any evidence of their presence, my heart sure does. Mom and Dad were here for a week, and as I've learned over the years, one week is never enough. How I wish I could see my boys soak up their grandparents' love year-round instead of one week at a time. After they pulled out of our driveway, Braylen came to me and wrapped his arms around me to try and hide his tears. Kaleb's voice shook as he said, "The only thing I don't like about Grammy and Grampy visiting is when they have to leave." Well put. We sat there for a bit, just my two boys and me. Soon they were riding bikes and eating lunch, but every now and then I find them lost in memories of the week gone by. Aaron misses my mom's Mentos and her knitting. He snuggled up to her on the couch all week while she knitted and we chatted. I think she used that time to tell him stories too--like Jack and the Beanstalk. He's the last little grandson to be content with stories and snuggles. Braylen keeps wondering where Grampy and Grammy are at on the road right now. He and Kaleb miss my dad's attention, whether it was playing catch or riding bikes. I miss everything about them. Their company, sharing life together, planning fun outings here and there. Long-distance relationships are HARD, but I'm thankful for such wonderful parents.

Ginger has been a member of our family for 6 weeks now. She's become quite good at catching fireflies! I enjoyed seeing my dad play with her this week. At first glance, I'd assume he was playing with Sonja. Or Misty. My two beloved dogs from my growing-up years. I feel like we've come full circle when I watch him play with my kids and my dog. I remember playing with him and our dogs back then. Life is funny like that. The things my kids love about my parents are things I remember loving too. When did I become the grown-up here?

Some funnies from this week:

I took my mom to a hair salon for a haircut. That night, while eating supper, we talked about it. Out of the blue Braylen says, "Oooo, big sexy hair!" I about choked on my food hearing my son say that. Trying not to make a big deal of it, I asked him what he was talking about. He says, "Last time you went there I saw that on a sign." Okay, so he remembers a phrase he read 6 weeks ago. I wonder if he knows what sexy means? I don't want to know. Oh Derek, time for a little father-son talk!!!

At breakfast one morning, Mom showed Kaleb a picture of an astronaut. She said excitedly, "See that man standing by the flag? He's standing on the moon!" Kaleb said, "So?" Then Mom said kids are hard to impress these days. :)

Like I said earlier, Aaron loved to watch Grammy knit. He called himself the string man, because he'd pull the yarn out of the ball when she needed more. One night he knocked on my bathroom door while I was in the shower and said, "I want to knit with Grammy!" Only I heard it this way--"I want to LIVE with Grammy!" That took a little while to straighten out that confusion. :)

What a great week. We went boating, bike-riding, played mini-golf and ladder ball, ate out, shopped, played Scrabble, and shot off fireworks. We stayed up late and slept in. I didn't even have to make the coffee every day--a real treat for me. :) I had plenty of opportunities to step back and watch my kids enjoy my parents. And watch my parents enjoy my kids. Thank you Mom & Dad for coming, and for being who you are. I love you!!!

Stars & Spots

The only thing consistent around here is change. I planned how we'd spend our 4th of July, and my plans did not include cool, gray weather. Or a child with a high fever. Or a child with chicken pox. Yet that is what life has brought to me today! Braylen came down with chicken pox last Sunday. Kaleb showed his spots at 4am today. Aaron spiked a fever at 5am today, along with a lovely cough. Hmmm. Time to rearrange the day and trade boating at the lake for playing the Wii at home. My saving grace through all of this? My wonderful, fantastic parents arrived for a week-long visit yesterday. They suggested lunch in their minivan so the kids could pretend they were at a drive-in movie. What a hit! And since it's not hot outside, they were able to sit comfortably in the van. We set up Ladderball in the yard, and they taught Grampy how to play. Mom and Dad treated the boys to a few last-minute fireworks at the neighborhood stand, and now they're having a Wii-marathon while Derek grills our steaks for supper. I have much to be thankful for on this Independance Day.

Braylen with his Grampy & Grammy

One person I don't want to leave out is my amazing husband. When my week took a nosedive with Braylen's chicken pox, he agreed to take all 3 kids out of the house for an evening to give me some time alone! I power-cleaned the house and even took the dog for a walk. It was heavenly. Our boys enjoyed some time with Dad while fishing, playing at the park, and going for ice cream. To top if all off, my 4 favorite guys brought ice cream home for me! Ice cream is the easiest way to win me over. :)

Aaron discovered his love for snails while fishing with Daddy.

Aaron's lastest Aaronism:

While enjoying our first watermelon of the season, Aaron says, "I love this lemon! Lemons are sooooo good!" Watermelons and lemons--one and the same for him.