Vacation Bible School

 Luke and Liam were super excited about biking all the way across this bridge at the park.  Previously, I was hesitant to even let all of us walk across the bridge unless we were buckled in strollers!  Aiden was still in a stroller for this one, but the boys did great.

Crazy Luke on his bike

New Blanket for more picnics at the park

First Day of Vacation Bible School 2012

Aiden is kissing his puppy before a nap.  He has the puppy on his pillow (with blanket and ball).

Doesn't everyone drive their cozy coupe down the slip n slide? 

What should I do now? 

What Mom?

 Playing in the fountain (thankfully no one fell in)

 Aiden is drinking the water from the fountain

Yes, seriously, he is drinking it.  He skipped dinner that night so I guess he was hungry!

We had a busy and fun week as Luke and Liam attended Vacation Bible School for the second summer.  Aiden and I helped at VBS as well this year.  I say Aiden "helped" because he stayed in the nursery for 3.5 hours while I served snacks.  The boys had a great time with all the activites although I think we will be ready for some down time this weekend.  On our way home one day, Liam said to me, "Mom, let me tell you something, I really, really liked Vacation Bible School."  So, I asked him what he liked about vacation bible school?  Liam's response was the crafts and his leader Marc.  Luke's response was the singing and snack time. 

A funny story from Luke this week and please do not be offended by the content because it really was pretty funny at the time.  I am writing it down to hopefully remember it in a few years.  We were taking baths one night this week and he randomly said, "hey Mommy, you do not have a pee-pee."  I responded, that he was correct in that only boys and Daddies have pee-pees.  He said, "yeah Mom, so when God ran out of pee-pees, he just made the everyone else Mommies!"  Its funny how Luke's mind works! 

Summer Traditions

Check out the turtle we found one night in our flower bed.  We had already put the boys to bed, but went to get them so they could see the turtle.  She was digging a hole to bury some eggs. 

Here she is again.  We were able to get really close to her and watch the whole process.  It was pretty amazing. 

First day of the summer in Minnesota where it was warm enough to swim outside without getting cold when you got out of the pool!!  On this day, we spent several hours running around in the pool and I have never seen Aiden sit so still after dinner.  He was exhausted that night.

Liam on the slip and slide (we put dish soap on it to make it a little faster)

Luke on the slip and slide

All the boys plus our neighbor

Liam feeding the goat at the Fair

AJ riding the cars.  He has asked several times this week to see the picture of him driving the car. 

Luke riding the pony at the Fair

We are getting ready for Lunch with our tie dyed shirts!!

(L to R) Charlie, Jack, Liam, Aiden, and Luke

Water Ballons!  Liam is trying to throw one at me through the door.

This is our 4th summer in Minnesota and during this time we have developed some summer "traditions."  The neat part of this is that Luke and Liam are beginning to remember these traditions.  In fact, sometime in the middle of winter on a cold and somewhat dreary day (could have been virtually any day in January or February), I remember asking the boys what they wanted to do today.  They suggested that we go to the Fair and see the animals and ride some of the rides.  Sounds great, doesn't it?  After we discussed that the Fair only comes during the summer when it is warm outside and we can wear shorts, they have been waiting all winter for the Fair to come.  Last weekend, the County Fair was here and we took three very excited boys.  Luke even suggested that he should get up "super early" on Saturday morning so we can go to the Fair.  The boys loved feeding the animals and riding the rides with our neighbor friend, Jack.  I am pretty sure nothing changes from year to year with this very small County Fair.  The rides were exactly the same, the animals were all in the same areas, and it looked pretty much the same way it did last year, but the boys loved it.  The big State Fair is in August and I am sure it will be a hit as well. 

Another one of our summer "traditions" is lots of swimming outdoors.  On just about any day that its warm enough, we have the pools or the slip n slide or something out in the yard.  Unfortunately, summer in Minnesota is often a little on the chilly side for swimming so you have to take advantage of warmer days.  We have "Pool Fridays" every week with our playdate friends.  At one of our recent "Pool Fridays," we tie-dyed shirts at a recent playdate and they turned out so cute.  We have talked about doing this for awhile because it is much easier to keep track of everyone at random parks, zoos, or other play places if they are all wearing the same thing!! 

A couple of our other summer traditions that we are looking forward to include our upcoming vacation to the beach, vacation bible school, a Twins baseball game, a visit from Grandpa and Grandma Carrithers, and more!  Stay tuned.....

Our Week and Father's Day

Here is a look at our week in Pictures: 

 Liam got to go on a "special date" with John one night this week after achieving all of the stars on his behavior chart.  John took him to this upscale, cute candy store.  John commented that this is a place we would never take all three boys because walking into a store like that can get out of hand quickly when you have six hands grabbing things!!  Liam picked up things very carefully and chose his treat (the big sucker that we still have not finished!) and a bag of gummy worms to share with his brothers. 

Aiden in the water table, this looks so much like Luke and Liam when they were his age and did the same exact thing!

He loves to get wet!  Seems like he loves getting wet with his clothes on more than he likes to swim at the pool when he has his bathing suit on. 

End of the school year party with our neighbors and Luke and Liam are trying to figure out the scene. 

 They had a kids dance party and played music and games while the kids danced around.  The boys got into it, but were a bit overwhelmed at first.  Dancing is not something they see often with John or myself.

Playing a game with the little kids

Liam is showing off his beads and new frisbee from the "dance party"

I asked Luke to let me get a picture of him and this is what I got

Aiden and his cozy coupe.  He is always saying that he is "going to work" and recently he has been telling me that "he has a lot of homework to do."

We also did a little painting one morning this week.  This is an activity that Luke and Liam love to do, but it is just a handful when Aiden is also painting.  Liam worked on his green alligator for at least 30 minutes.  He wanted it all completely green because "alligators are only green, and nothing else."

Luke painted his snake.  He really wanted it to be purple but the choices were red, green, or blue so we mixed a few colors to get a purplish color. 

Painting with a two year old is much different than painting with a four year old!  My tips:  1)Always paint when you plan to do laundry anyway.  2) Paint outside and have a bucket of water and a towel ready to wash off.  3) If possible, paint with nothing but underwear/diapers (it was too chilly for that on this morning or I would have). 

This is a picture of Aiden's new croc.  Why am I posting a picture of one croc?  Well, Aiden takes his shoes off at least every time we get in and out of the car or anytime we go ANYWHERE!  I bet I put his shoes on five times in two hours on the day this picture was taken.  He frequently kicks his shoes off when we are getting in the car.  I am trying to buckle all the carseats and get everyone in the car and he often kicks his shoes off and they roll out the door of the van.  One day this week, I drove off and left his croc in the parking lot.  I didn't realize it until I got all the way home and sent John a text asking him to please stop by the parking lot and look around for AJ's croc.  Thankfully, we found it.
Funny story from the week:  Luke and Liam (and Aiden, by default) have really been working on learning their letters, numbers, shapes, colors, etc...We have come a long way in just a few months of working on this.  We count and spell all the time.  All this week, they have been asking the same question:  "Mommy, when Aiden is 5, how old will Luke and Liam be?"  So, we add two and I tell them that Luke and Liam will be 7 years old.  "When AJ is 7, how old will Luke and Liam be?"  I respond that Luke and Liam will be 9 years old.  When Aiden is 9, then Luke and Liam will be?"  What about when Aiden is 20, then how old will Luke and Liam be?  You get the idea?  This scenario has gone on for at least 20 minutes in the car while we "add two" to Aiden's age to get Luke and Liam's age.  Then, they respond with, "wow, mommy that is really really old.  That is almost as old as you are." 

Lastly, in honor of Father's day, the boys did an "Interview with Daddy."  Thank you Daddy for being so fun to be around.  Thank you for taking us to get donuts on Saturdays, playing baseball in the yard, doing puzzles, building with legos, loving us, and being patient with us.  We love you and we love spending time with you.  Happy Father's Day as well to Grandpa Carrithers and Grandpa Morse, we love you both and thank you for the time we get to spend with you.  Here's our interview.....(Luke was really into this despite the fact that Liam and AJ kinda disappeared midway through).

Where did you grow up?  Parkersburg, West Virginia

What is your favorite childhood memory?  Playing T-ball

What was it like being a kid back then?  I enjoyed playing outside all day with neighbors and friends.  There were no computers

When you were my age, did you have any favorite games or toys?  I loved to play hide and seek and red rover.  I loved to climb trees and play with my firetrucks and spiderman toys.

What was your favorite movie when you were a child?  The first movie I remember enjoying was ET.

If you could meet yourself as a kid, what would you tell yourself?  Always do your best.

Happy Fathers Day!!!

Minnesota Beach and Our Ordinary Days

 Liam playing with a stick in the lake nearby

 Luke filling up water buckets

Walking to the Lake and the "beach."  Minnesota has some amazing parks with lots of beach area and places to swim or play.  We have our favorites that we love to visit in the summer.

 Aiden with Graham (the little boy that Kirsten babysits daily).  We enjoy hanging out with Kirsten and her boys every week.  That usually means a total of 4 four year olds, 2 two year olds, and a 9 month old (all boys)!!

AJ at the beach

AJ resting in the chair one morning.  He frequently wakes up A LOT earlier than I think he needs to and on this particular morning he said he wanted to lay in the chair.

 Putting the boys to work!!  The boys LOVE to help.  They will do almost anything you ask them to do.  They love to dust, vacuum, mop, and particularly love anything with water.  One morning this week we took all the sticky kitchen chairs out to the deck and the boys helped me clean them off. 

Seriously, we spent nearly 45 minutes cleaning the kitchen chairs!  They loved it.

Wrestling with Daddy before bed

"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."  Thomas Moore

We have been busy enjoying the ordinary days of summer.  We spend our days running around outside, playing in the water, climbing at the playground, getting sand in our shoes, kicking the soccer ball, hitting baseballs, and eating popsicles.  Then, we come inside and wash off all the dirt and sticky popsicles (the bath water has been a little brownish recently), read a book, climb into bed and do it all over again tomorrow!  Happy Summer!