Father's Day Weekend 2013

Our Father's Day weekend started off on Friday afternoon as we played in the back yard.  It was finally slightly cooler and not as humid so we could not have asked for a better afternoon.

As we were hanging out on the deck after dinner, we heard this odd clicking sound on the side of the house and I made the comment, "That sounds like our air conditioner. Gosh, could you imagine if our A/C went out? How do people manage without a/c?" and Ben replied that probably 80% of the world lives without a/c and most of them live in hotter climates than we do.  And of course when we went inside, we both noticed that it felt really hot...even hotter than outside.  And our thermostat confirmed that it was 79 degrees inside.  Go figure.  Thankfully, we were able to call the A/C Medic who came over within an hour (at 9pm on a Friday night!!) and fixed our a/c.  So thankful for hard workers and excellent service.

On Saturday, Ben & the big boys slept in until 10am and then we had homemade waffles for breakfast and spent the day just hanging in the backyard.  Colton took his first dip in our kiddie pool as did Ben :)  Colton was way more cooperative than Weston was about getting in the water.

We showered Ben with his Father's Day gifts & cards on Sunday morning before church.  Jackson, my little arts & crafts guru, created a personalized Star Wars card for his Daddy, using an old DVD insert and other random craft materials.

He also wrote him a card along with a fishy handprint.  These two cards were in addition to the $8 musical card that he insisted on buying.  (Trust me, thats the last time I will let him come along to help me pick out a card.)

After a lunch at Joy of Tokyo, we spent the afternoon playing in the sprinklers & hoses out back.  Ben has tricked out the playset so that the waterhose can be attached to a series of PVC pipes that are now attached to the fort & controlled by various valves, creating a very impressive built-in water gun.  Top that off with 20 feet of plastic sheeting at the bottom of the slide and you have what we fondly refer to as our redneck waterpark.  I think Ben and our neighbor Kyle had more fun on this contraption than Jackson & Emmerson did!  They laughed, slid and played for hours.

We finished up the day with a little surf & turf with Kyle, Abby & Emmerson.  We did a shrimp boil and grilled up some delicious steak to wrap up our Daddy's Day celebration.  Then we threw the 3 little dirt dobbers in the tub before bed.

It was so much fun to celebrate Ben this weekend.  He is such a wonderful husband and an amazing Daddy to our 3 little boys.   I am so thankful to have him as our leader, our protector and our provider.  We love you so much, Ben.  We are truly blessed!

First Week of Summer

Our first week of summer flew by!  We packed in lots of activities and tolerated enjoyed the hot, muggy weather.

I have been getting up early this summer and really love it so far.  Its daylight at 6am so I try to get up at 6:30 when Ben gets out of the shower.  It gives me some precious time with Colton and I also get a couple hours to blog, shower and get ready for the day.  On the flip side, on Friday, Colton dozed off after his 6am feeding and so did I...and slept until 10am, along with the big boys.  Talk about a lazy day!

Colton got his weekly bath :)  He's getting a little chubby and growing up way too fast.  I cannot believe he is 7 weeks old already!!  We are getting some tiny smiles and coos from him and he is getting good with head control.  He is still the sweetest, most content baby (as long as he's being held or worn).

We had a big outing to Target, Hobby Lobby & the Dollar Store, wahoo.  I am surprised at how well I can wrangle 3 kids out in public.  I make sure to threaten the boys before we get out of the car with my now very familiar lecture: "No begging for prizes, no screaming, no whining, if you have to potty, tell me when we first walk into Target, NOT when we are at the back corner of the store, and you have to stay in the buggy.  We will turn around and go straight back home if you guys don't behave  & we won't get to go anywhere again for a long time."  And sometimes I throw something in about me having to go to "mommy jail" if they act up, and who would take care of you all day if I was in mommy jail?  {"Mommy Jail" is where they send mommies that don't brush their kids' teeth, comb their kids' hair, discipline their children, etc.  So far, the boys cooperate enough to keep me out of mommy jail.}

Jackson & Weston are really starting to play well together,  I love to see them enjoying each other so much.  I caught them squished together in this toy bin watching a movie in the playroom.

I also took my first trip to the grocery store with 3 kids in tow.  Not impossible but definitely easier with less kiddos in the cart.

On Thursday, Poppy & GiGi came down for the day.  We played outside most of the afternoon and we went through at least 100 water balloons.

It was such a fun day and Jackson & Weston both wanted to go with them!  Which is saying something because Weston NEVER willingly leaves his momma.  However, he climbed right into Poppy's Z and waved bye to me, no hesitation.  Next week, Jackson is going to spend a week with them and it won't be long before Weston will insist on going, too.

I know I've mentioned it before, but Jackson likes to sneak around.  Last week, I hear him creeping downstairs really early in the morning, only to find out that he was getting peanuts out of the pantry and bringing them up for he & Westie to munch on while they both hung out in Westie's bed reading books.  I wasn't sure whether to laugh or scold him, and he immediately defended himself by explaining that, "Daddy says nuts are a healthy snack so I got some peanuts for me and baby Westie to eat so we can be healthy and grow big and strong like Daddy."  So I figured that hey, if he wanted to be independent and get them something to tide them over before breakfast and buy me another hour of "me-time", I'm okay with that.

Well on Friday night, about an hour after we had put the kids to bed, Ben goes into the kitchen and catches Jackson standing on the step-stool in the pantry, holding a baggie of teddy grahams and two ziplocks of skittles.  We totally busted him trying to sneak some late night snacks upstairs.  It was so hard not to laugh, and in Jackson's defense, he did get some for Weston too.

Come to find out, he has managed to sneak campfire-size marshmallows & pretzels in the past, and Jackson justified it by explaining how he is a big boy now and can open the baby gates and door knob locks to gain access to the snacks.

We are never short on funny tales & adventures with these kiddos of ours, thats for sure!

Lazy Weekends are the BEST!

We spent our weekend just enjoying the weather and hanging out with friends.  It was SO nice to have no agenda and to put all chores on hold for a change.

Friday morning, we spotted a turtle in the cup-de-sac and rushed out to observe him.  We named him Spotty and kept our distance since his claws looked quiet sharp and turtles can snap.

Later than morning, our friends Megan & Jackson P. came over.  Sweet baby Savannah and Colton were born 3 weeks apart!

Friday evening we hung out in the cul-de-sac with our neighbors and let the kids ride around.  Check out Weston riding with Jackson... that Power Wheels sure did slow down with him as a passenger :)

Saturday morning, we spontaneously headed downtown with friends.  The Saturday Market in downtown Greenville had Touch A Truck this week and we barely made it in time to see the big rigs.

We had lunch at Carolina Ale House, then strolled around Main Street, stopping in little shops and enjoying the amazing weather.  After Cold Stone, we headed to Falls Park to feed the ducks and play in the splash pad.  The kids had a blast and the cold water felt great!

After late naps, we had Dominos for supper on our back deck, followed by an evening of water sliding, water guns and skinny dippin' :)

Sunday morning we went to church.  We had intentions of making the 9:15 service however all 3 kids slept until 8:30 so we hit up the 11:15.  And Colton finally fits into cute clothes!

After lunch, we played out back for a while until the biggest thunderstorm ever rolled up and dumped rain on us for the rest of the day.  Which meant we watched lots of movies and I got to finally pick up the book I'm totally into.  I loved the Hunger Games trilogy and the book Divergent is a similiar in context...I can hardly put it down!

Here's to a full week with all 3 kids at home and a rainy forecast :)

School's Out!

Last Wednesday was Jackson & Weston's last day of school for the regular school year.

Jackson, almost 4 years old

Its SO hard to believe that Jackson will be in 4K next year...he will be one of the cool "big kids" that he talks about.  He had a great year and learned so much.  He is speaking & pronouncing words so much better and his vocabulary continues to surprise us (appropriately using words like "ridiculous", "ingredients, "imagination", "hibernation"...).  He knows the Pledge of Allegiance, the planets, how to tie a knot, how to introduce himself, his & our full names, how to independently take a shower & wash his hair, how to use scissors and so much more!  This little guy brings us so much joy.

Weston, 21 months old

Weston wrapped up his first year of preschool and still isn't a huge fan of me leaving him.  I think I was able to drop him off tear-free maybe 3 times all year.  He would be content as soon as I was out of sight, thankfully!  While he may be socially insecure, he is certainly quite the academic sponge.  He can count to 10, almost sing his ABCs, knows some of his colors, do the hand motions to any kiddie song that he has ever heard, says "Thank you Mommy, may I be excused" when he's done eating & understands just about anything that I ask him to do. (Whether or not he listens is a different story).  He is a big boy and weighs almost as much as Jackson.  He climbs, swings and runs to keep up with his big brother and I find myself having higher expectations of him because he seems older than he is.  Weston has a really cute personality and is always being silly and getting us to laugh.  We love this little one so much!

And to see how much they have changed, here's the first day versus last day.

Thankfully, our preschool has a summer session so after a 1 week break, these two will be back in school two days a week.

Sneak Peek

I had the boy's pictures made last week and despite the crazy chaos, she managed to get some great shots.  I am dying to see the rest of the pictures...she only sent me four as a sneak peek.  

So far I'm thrilled, considering that Weston was less than cooperative, Jackson was being goofy and Colton just wanted to nurse the whole time!!

Oma & Opa's Visit

Ben's parents came to see us last weekend and we had a wonderful, action-packed weekend!  

On Friday night, we went to the Greenville Drive game.  Ben's company had a family event there that evening and Oma & Opa were more than happy to tag along.  And we were thrilled to have 2 extra sets of hands to help us out!

Being such all-star parents, we let Jackson play on the grass hill with his friend Chase, running up and down the steep embankment.  Weston of course joins in and we both are holding our breath, waiting for him to trip and log-roll down the hill.  And not 5 minutes later, we look down and about 30 feet away see little Westie rolling down the hill, towards the fence at the bottom.  After about 4 rotations he manages to stop himself before hitting the pavement, but he's certainly screaming when he gets up.  And if that doesn't lock in our super-parent status, we are both chatting it up when we see commotion at the bottom of the steps and realize that Jackson just took a head-first dive off the 3-foot high wall...and is screaming so loud it is silent.  Lesson learned that we need to keep the big boys on a very short leash.

And Colton just chilled the whole time.  And by the way, the super-nice, well-maintained Flour Field is not very accommodating to nursing moms.  The one and only place to nurse was the family restroom which is essentially a single-stalled, un-airconditioned jail cell.  So fair warning!!

Saturday morning we headed to the Saturday Market in downtown Greenville.  It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed strolling around downtown.

After lunch at Ford's, we walked through Falls Park, feeding and chasing the ducks.

Followed by a spontaneous shirtless run through the splash pad.

After grilling out steaks for dinner, Lill and I headed out for a little power shopping for housewares.  Its amazing how much we accomplished in our 45 minutes before the stores closed.  We laughed and said we could have redecorated the whole house if we had another hour!

We had the best time with Oma & Opa and we are so glad they came to see us and meet baby Colton!

Memorial Weekend

We squeezed every ounce of fun out of our three day weekend over Memorial Day.
Friday afternoon was spent setting up camp and being true southern boys in the backyard, chopping wood for the fire & pitching the tent.  Oh, and a wagon ride or two...

 After the Jackson/Daddy campout on Friday night, we had a second bonfire & s'more-fest on Saturday night.



On Sunday night, we had a cookout with our neighborhood friends. The kiddos had a blast playing together. Jackson & Nolan pretended to be shepherds with their beach towels. And Weston just enjoyed snuggling up with us.






Monday morning, Jackson went to a gymnastics class with his friend Jackson P. He was so proud of himself after doing the rings, parallel bars & trampoline. And he hasn't taken off his medal since!




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