Moving Along

Kaleb and Ginger posing for the picture

Late July feels like late September these days. This cooler weather gives the boys a break from the pool and plenty of chances to ride their bikes. We had to dig out their sweatshirts this morning, although Aaron refused to wear one. He said if he wore a sweatshirt his hands would be freezing. I've given up trying to figure him out; I just agree with him like he makes perfect sense. :) Ginger appreciates the cooler weather too, since we are more willing to go for walks when it's in the 70's. Still, I'm sad we had to give up our planned trip to a waterpark with our friends. We also postponed an opportunity to teach Braylen how to waterski on a private, calm lake. I have the worst summer cold imaginable, as I sit here at the computer with my kleenex box on my lap. See why it feels like late September instead of late July?



2 more full weeks of summer vacation left before we send the kids back to school. Last Thursday I couldn't imagine wanting them back in school. Today. . .well, let's just say I'll be very ready by August 17th. :) "Stop copying me!" "He hit me!" "I just want to be alone!" "I'm bored!" I hear those phrases daily, and while stricken with this cold, I've lost a lot of my parenting zeal. School will provide the kids time with their friends, keep their brains engaged, and keep them apart from each other for a few hours each day. If the weather ever warms up, we have some fun things planned during these next 2 weeks. For that, I am thankful.
We have some new neighbors down the street, and our boys have been spending time playing outside with their new 8 year old friend. He's a nice kid, but when they play outside at his house, I have no idea what they're doing. I have no clear line of vision to his yard from our yard, and I've yet to meet this boy's mom. (I've met the dad) Today Kaleb came home, grabbed a pocket knife, and rushed back outside. My mother instincts turned on and I figured I'd better find out why my 7 year old rushed home for a knife. Turns out he needed it so they could kill a ground squirrel. Aaaggghhh! I said no no no! Call me overprotective, but my boys will be playing at our end of the street where I can keep better track of them.

Sweet 16 (weeks)

Ginger sure does love her belly rubs!

Ginger turned 16 weeks on Monday, and at today's vet visit she weighed 34.2 pounds. Only 3 more pounds to go before she weighs as much as Aaron! Wood scraps are her favorite thing to eat when she thinks no one is watching. Same with rocks and clumps of dirt and grass roots. I dig more things out of her mouth. . .that crazy puppy. We love her though. :)

This week's funnies:

This one happened with Grandma in the car. My sweet city boys. :)

Kaleb: Look! The baby cow is drinking milk from the milk thingys!

Grandma: Do you know what those are called? Udders.

Kaleb: Oh!

a few minutes later. . .

Aaron: Look! Another baby cow is drinking milk from one of those thingys!

Grandma: Do you remember what those are called?

Aaron: Uhhhh, milk bottles?

Braylen: "Grandma told me when she was a little girl it only cost her 25 cents to ride a ride at the fair. Now she told me it costs three-fifty! Can you believe it Mom? Three hundred and fifty dollars to ride a ride, and it used to be 25 cents!" Apparently Grandma said three-fifty, not three dollars and fifty cents. :)

Most mornings Kaleb and Aaron come snuggle with me in bed before we get up for the day. I love those moments. Well, this morning Aaron marched in my room and immediately said, "I want to eat! I have nothing to eat but air, and that doesn't do anything!" Snuggle time came to a screeching halt and we moved right into breakfast. :)

Early Celebration

In our family, August ushers in an avalanche of birthdays, starting with Braylen on the 11th. It also brings last-minute vacations before school starts. Because of all that, we chose to have Braylen's birthday party with his friends in July. We picked 4 friends to bring boating with us and prayed for good weather. July 25th was a gorgeous day for boating--yay! The 12 hour birthday party turned into 13 hours, only one boy couldn't come, and we had loads of help from Derek's parents to pull this off. What blessings!

Highlights from the party:

3 different tubes to choose from while boating

lots of swimming

knee board and skis available, but boys chose the tubes every time

outdoor games played in the yard at the cabin

all of the gifts were guns; no two were alike!

gun fight complete with forts and bases (couch cushions and bunk bed)

taco feast for supper; camo cake with ice cream of course

lots of silliness, especially during the car rides

"This is the best birthday party EVER!"--we heard that several times

Derek and I feel so blessed to be able to provide this opportunity for our son. Even though our other boys don't have summer birthdays, we want to let them bring friends to the lake as they get older. Establishing close friendships is more important than we probably realize. Happy Early Birthday Braylen!!!

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!!!