Lebo Weekend

We spent most of the weekend in Lebo, visiting my parents and getting together with Sharla and her boys (waiting to steal some pictures from her since I was too lazy to get my camera out).  

We agreed to let Owen drive the mule along--just around the driveway.

Miles made Star Wars cookies with Grandma.  He started out making the characters their real color, but soon we had red Yodas and multi-colored Darth Vaders.

 Graham enjoyed looking for anything dangerous outside.  I'm sure he didn't sit nicely like this for long.

 Mmmm, Miles' cookies are GOOD!

 Newman enjoyed his freedom, but could have done without the heat.

 My mom bought the bigs a blow up bed and Sponge Bob sheets so they could camp in the living room. They thought they were pretty cool.  Only a grandma would pay $33 for S.B. sheets!

And, of course, we had plenty of great food.... as always!  And doughnuts, ice cream, Cheetos, chips, popcorn, and pop for the kids.  

"Who lives in a pineapple..."

My kids love this show (although we try not to let them watch it). I try to pacify them with Sponge Bob go-gurts instead. They were very excited when I introduced our very own Sponge Bob Square Pants. Wal-Mart PJ's. $5. Actually kind of cute. Sorry Miles they only go up to 5T.

Birthday Boy #1

The last of the birthdays.... Owen turned eight on June 20th (on vacation). We considered our visit to Disney his birthday celebration, and he was happy with this. He requested tuna steak for his birthday meal, and Grandma Rosie tracked down an ice cream cake in Orlando.

He was truly in need of a new bike. In fact, he'd been without one for a couple of months. His old one was too small and he broke the chain--it has since been repaired and found a new home at Debbie's (Miles' baby-sitter). We took him to Big Poppi's to get his first "nice" bike, and they told us he's ready for a BIG bike, the kind with hand breaks and gears! He is loving it, especially the "noise" it makes while he's coasting. I'm not sure what age I will let him take his own bike rides :(

At eight he LOVES sports, particularly baseball and basketball, is a great student (but has to be prompted to go read), enjoys Legos, computer/Wii/iPhone/iPad games, asks for lots of play dates, is a strong swimmer, eats like a pig, has big feet, puts up with Miles, and is a huge help with Graham.

New clothes (from Grandma Jean and Grandpa Harlan) and new bike (from us).

New shoes that he bought with his birthday money from Grandma Rosie, Grandpa Mike, Great-Grandma Eunice and his aunts/uncles Quint, Susan, Michelle, Rhett, Emily and Josh. Now that he's in the "old kid" shoe sizes, things aren't cheap!

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July from these three firecrackers!

Birthday Boy #2

Miles turned five on June 22. It's crazy to think he'll be going to Kindergarten! He is quite the character, and definitely the most likely of our three boys to end up in the theater. Recently he has become the hungriest kid on the planet--must be growing. For his birthday, he picked out a K-State ice cream cake and requested tuna steak for his birthday meal (just like Owen did). There was absolutely nothing special that he needed this year, so rather than buy some junky toy just to have a gift for him, I told him he could pick his birthday gift this year. After a long time checking out the toys at Target he settled on a $9 Phinneus and Ferb toy (that he played with for about 15 minutes) AND new black Reebok Zag shoes.... that's my boy!

Five year favorites: granola bars, shoes and athletic clothes, drawing and coloring people, riding bikes, swimming, entertaining Graham, copying Owen, watching movies, playing with friends, copying words from random objects into his journal.

At five he can: swim and jump off the board without a life jacket or an adult, write letters and numbers, tell his essential information, get ready/eat breakfast on his own, sing many songs, remember every detail of things you tell him, make us laugh.

New Under Armor clothes from Grandma Jean and Grandpa Harlan. He has yet to spend any birthday money from the grandparents, aunts/uncles. I have a feeling he'll be buying some clothes when we go on a shopping trip. The dude loves anything he can wear. He had a bit of an attitude the day I took these.

Birthday Boy #3

I have yet to put up any actual birthday pictures of the boys, so we'll go in reverse order this time and let Graham be first. He turned one on June 28th. No big party--just us and a baby cake from Dillon's which suited him just fine. He is getting a new car seat for his birthday--waiting for Target to restock. (I have a cake eating video that won't load right now, but I'll try to add it again later.)

"Let's get this party started! Why did you take off my shirt?"

"Hmm...not bad...where's my fork?"

"Yum!"

"Frosting...tasty! Mom, is this homeade?"

"Actually, I'd rather just pick these little dots off."

New clothes from Grandma Jean and Grandpa Harlan. Looking like a big boy. (Miles ripped this gift open, ripped off the tags while Owen immediately stripped Graham. We had him suited up in about 30 seconds). He got birthday money from his other grandparents and aunts/uncles. He is saving it for new clothes this fall.

ONE!

Happy Birthday, Graham! It's hard to believe a whole year has passed with Graham in our lives. For the most part, he's been a very easy baby. At one year he is: walking, drinking real milk and eating man food with his 8 teeth--including two big pancakes every morning, making lots of sounds but only saying "Mama", still sitting in his baby carseat (due to laziness on his mom's part), sleeping through the night (just this week, don't jinx it).

He loves: swimming/baths, his baby friends/girlfriends, eating things like sticks, rocks, and chalk, emptying the bathroom trash and looking for treasures, taking all of my bracelets out of the drawer, crawling on the fireplace, and following the bigs around.

My favorite things: he's going through a "Mommy only" phase now, he sucks his right thumb only, he pretty much falls asleep instantly when he gets his blue blanket--the afghan with all the holes in it, and he lets me dress him how I want. But my absolute favorite thing is how much Owen and Miles love him and how he adores them. They are AWESOME big brothers!

Newborn.
Fall 2010--3 or 4 months old.
Winter 2010-2011--probably 6 months old.
May 2011.
June 28, 2011. He discovered he could open the drawer under the oven, crawl in and play. I suppose this is better than getting in the oven...

Orlando Vacation

We just arrived home from our vacation (with Adam's family) to Orlando/Disney World. It was a great time! Hot weather--but could have been worse. We spent 3 days at Disney parks and one day at the beach. When we weren't out and about we enjoyed hanging around the rental house. The kids absolutely loved having their own personal pool and thought it was very cool to swim in the morning and at night. The highlight for Owen was riding Space Mountain (roller coaster in the dark), and Buzz Lightyear ride was Miles' favorite (you shoot things and earn points). I was proud of Owen for riding roller coasters and very impressed that Miles rode the Tower of Terror which flings you up and drops you down, elevator style. It worked out well for me because I love rides and Adam doesn't, so I had big kid duty and he had a lot of Graham duty :) We went to a really nice, clean beach one day and enjoyed the sand, waves, and sun--but not so much the salt water. Owen turned 8 while we were vacationing, so he enjoyed the attention that the "Happy Birthday" button got him. I stayed late (after midnight) at Magic Kingdom on his big day to let him ride Space Mountain once again. Thank you Mike and Rosie for planning and hosting this trip for all of us. Great fun!

Customize your own free slideshow design

Fun with Friends

Several of the boys and their families stayed over in Topeka this weekend. We enjoyed a long lunch complete with "Braves" table, "Junior Braves" table and "Adults (plus two babies)" table. I forget how entertaining it is for kids to stay in a hotel. Nothing like over-chlorinated indoor pools!

Chilling...
Entertaining...

Baseball Weekend

The boys got to "travel" this weekend (to Topeka) for a baseball tournament. We were very fortunate to have amazing--even cool at times--weather! The Braves played hard, tied for second in pool play, but missed out on advancing based on point spread. They did end on a one point win--an exciting game with good defense and two home runs!

The facilities at Lake Shawnee were amazing--felt like we were playing on a MLB field!
Owen and two buddies enjoying post-game birthday treats for another teammate.
"Junior" Braves posing on the gigantic baseballs. I'm sure we'll be here watching these guys play soon enough.

Poolside

As expected we've spent nearly every sunny day at the pool. All three boys love the water. Owen and Miles have already added some new skills.

After many failed diving attempts last year, Owen has the hang of it now. He still needs to clean it up, but is managing to go in arms and head first instead of jumping at the last minute.
Miles is jumping off the board, without a life jacket and without an adult catching or being in the water with him. I am proud of the little dude, but now he thinks he should be able to spend all of his time in the deep end...
Graham loves the water, especially walking around the baby pool. My days of lounging on the edge of the pool are over for a while.

Memorial Weekend (More Pics)

Catching up... Grandma Rosie and Aunt Emily organized a kid version of Minute To Win It.

The kids helping Grandpa Mike celebrate his birthday--by eating his cake before he can get a bite!
Atwood has a nice, new pool. Miles and Owen persuaded Uncle Josh to join them--playing Sharks and Minnows with Owen and throwing Miles.
The "big" cousins were smart enough to ask Grandma and Grandpa for candy (instead of moms and dads).
Mike and Rosie bought this 1993 Buick for cruising around Atwood. The kids are all piled in the back of this paddy wagon.
We FINALLY had Graham baptized. He was too big to wear the baptismal gown, but did squeeze his arms in for a picture. His cousin, Jack was baptized alongside.
Grandpa Mike had rigged up a little trailer for rides in the pasture. A lot of laps were made around the field as each kid had to have a chance to drive the four-wheeler.
Cool slide in the deep end. Almost tempting enough for me to get in... almost.

11 Months

I figured I had better get some 11 month pictures posted since he'll be ONE very soon! He is making all kinds of sounds and says "Mama." Five new teeth came in all at once so he's up to seven now. I'd say he crawls 2/3 of the time and walks the other 1/3. I think his record is 12 steps. He has found the tupperware and plastic kid cup drawers and cleans these out a few times each day, and if he's lucky enough to find the marker/crayon container left out, he's in heaven! Another favorite place to check out is the fireplace--don't worry, we don't let him play there, I just had to catch him on camera.

Oh, Baby!

We spent Memorial Weekend in Atwood with all of Rosie's (Adam's Mom) family--including FIVE babies! More pictures of the big kids later.

Jack: "Don't mind my greasy hair, I was just baptized!"
Jillian: "It stinks to be the only girl!"
Graham: "Yes, the drooling has started again!"
Brody: "Seriously lady, enough pictures!"
Jake: "Something looks a little sketchy over there..."