Summer 2013 Recap: Part Dos

Weston has really needed extra time with Mommy recently so I've made an effort to sneak away with him whenever I get a chance. Last week we went to Target and had the best time letting him try on hats. He would definitely be content as an only child.










This was a first...I literally had to cut the onesie off of Colt. His blowout was so extreme that I could not pull it over his head without getting it all over him. Ugh.


Jackson's really into dressing up. He wore this police costume for 3 consecutive days.




This is something I found that I am tempted to get Ben for his bday in October, from West. And it's sold out, what a shame. Really!?!



Lots of warm evenings spent hanging out in the driveway.




A little finger...or foot...or body painting.




The search for a new pair of sunglasses...mission impossible!! I have bought and returned 3 pairs so far. I am a retailer's worst nightmare.




Popsicles after a day of "swimming."




We've made lots of tents this summer thanks to the wet weather. I've had to step it up a notch to keep these two entertained. So we've added globe lighting...then moved on up to the tent "bubble" using a queen size duvet and a fan. LOVED IT!







I recently got a laminator...and have pretty much laminated any and all flat items in our house. Personalized ABC flash cards, a hand-drawn story-improvised 3 Little Pigs Book, number books, caricature puppets...you name it!








Last week Poppy came to hang out for a day and we had the best time running, swimming, wrestling, chasing and hanging out with him. The highlight of the day was when Poppy let them ride around the cul-de-sac in his Z4 with the top down {think beauty queens in a small-town parade}






We have had an awesome summer and I am absolutely loving being a mom to my three boys. And even though Ben always seems to play second fiddle to the boys out here in the blog world, he is still #1 in my heart and I am so very grateful and thankful for such a loving, strong, hardworking husband to lead our family. There is never order, quiet or cleanliness in my house in this season but with it comes pure joy and love for the wonderful gifts God has given us.


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Summer 2013 Recap: Part Uno

So its finally taking its toll...there is just no way to keep my blog up to date and manage 3 little boys. There are simply not enough hours in the day, and its pretty freeing admitting that.... and taking the pressure off of myself to document every little tidbit.

So here's a little (picture-heavy) recap of our last several weeks:
Swimming with fun friends












Lots of brotherly love, seriously they are so sweet to each other 98% of the time. It makes my heart so happy to see them love each other so much












Ice cream (lots of ice cream) with friends






A fun morning at the zoo




Jackson's outfit of choice for pre-school. The bike shorts have crotch pad for biking comfort, oh so practical. Go Lance! Complete with the light up shoes that GiGi & Poppy bought him.



{Note to self: be sure to explain that light up shoes DO NOT work if you put them under water.} Thankfully they dried out and are back in action. Sheew!

My high school BFF Sally visited with her three sweeties. We had the BEST time. J & W think Jay & Betsy hung the moon and they all played so well together (girl drama aside :) ) Sweet Lucy & Colton were fast friends too!












Westie is obsessed with Mickey...all of our drawings, paintings, chalkings, etc MUST have Mickey ears.




We've been watching videos from my childhood and Jackson absolutely loves watching. Its so funny to see myself at his age, this has been one of our favorite activities lately.



Yes, that is 3-year-old me riding on the front of Mike's trike...backwards & barefoot. No helmet. And Dad is pushing us. And yes, that is Weston & Jackson riding double, too. And he looks terrified.

Here's me at my 2nd birthday party...Weston looks JUST like me.



And here's Ben when he was 4. Am I the only one who thinks he looks just like Jackson?!?




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Quotables

Jackson continually makes us laugh at the things that come out of his mouth.  

We watched K-Mart's "Ship my Pants" YouTube commercial and I don't know why we were surprised to hear Jackson use the phrase.  Definitely watch the video if you haven't seen it yet.  Its a catchy phrase, especially for a chatty 4-year old!

{I tricked the boys by hiding Weston's paci and told them I could do "Mommy Magic" 

to make things disappear.}

"Mommy, you can't do magic.  Jesus didn't make people who can do magic. Only Jesus can do magic."

{Dressed up as the latest & greatest super hero}

"I'm a super hero who watches movies with little kids."

{Trying to divert Westie's attention to the very dated electronic toy laptop.}

"Westie, go play a game on your iPad!"

Jersey Boys

Ben has been working a lot.  A LOT as in 60+ hour weeks.  Which means that I have been working overtime too.  A full day with three kids, including baths & bedtime single-handedly is a lot.  I have such a respect for single moms, or mom's who's hubby's travel all the time.  Whew.

So to say we needed a date night is an understatement.  So last week, Ben proposed that we get Lovee to watch the kids on Saturday night and we get tickets to see Jersey Boys.  Don't ask me twice!  We hadn't been out on a date without at least the baby since he was born!!  We got it all lined up and even managed to snag reservations at Larkins prior to the show.  So delish...we shared an argula & goat cheese salad, bone-in ribeye and smoked gouda mashed potatoes.  And the most amazing chocolate lava cake.

And let me just say the show was FANTASTIC.  The music was phenomenal and the performers were so talented!  We were so enthralled the entire time. It made us want to see more musicals!

When we came out of the show, it was after 11 and we laughed at how we had not seen Greenville after dark in several years.

Thanks babe, for an awesome night out!

Family of 5. Will travel.

To celebrate the 4th of July and the long weekend, we headed up to Blowing Rock to the "Tweetsie House" with Poppy & Gigi.  Make no mistake...loading up our crew of 5 was not walk in the park.  And the week of, Weston was an ill-pill, the weather was nasty and Ben was working 14 hour days.

But we loaded up and headed up the mountain mid-morning on July 4th.  It was a gorgeous drive and we arrived just after lunchtime.  Linda had planned the "1st Annual Isaac Family Reunion" for that day so it was a real treat to see most of my aunts, uncles & cousins who I rarely get to spend any time with.  It was also nice having so many extra sets of hands to help corral the kids.  Even if they were showing them how to use paintball & bb guns...

And while Jackson clearly understood that the sparklers were HOT, I guess we never specifically stated that the metal sparkler wire was also hot...even after the sparkler went out.  Alas, Jackson experienced his first minor burn and learned not to be quite so curious.

On Friday, we woke up to a rainy day.  We managed a short little walk outside and found lots of worms.  Poppy wowed the boys by "eating" it.

Finally, some much needed sunshine broke through in the afternoon. We jumped on our chance and Ben & I took the big boys to Tweetsie for the afternoon.  Colton enjoyed an afternoon of being the one & only grandchild for once :)

Let me just say that Weston was speechless.  Literally.  He was in AWE of the trains, the rides, everything.

We had the best time riding the rides, chowing down on ice cream & popcorn and riding Tweetsie.  We dodged short storms throughout the afternoon but none lasted more than 10 minutes!

On Saturday, we visited the outlets prior to heading back towards Greenville.  Gigi & Poppy treated the boys to their first pairs of light-up shoes.  Talk about proud kiddos, these boys have been stomping ever since.

{On a side note, Jackson wanted to see his "light up under the water" and hopped in our kiddie pool with his kicks on.  Devastatingly, they quit working....but after drying overnight, they are back in action.}

And you'd never know from the looks of it, but this little rascal screamed the whole way home.

What a fun & much needed little get-away!