There's never a dull moment

when all of the cousins get together. Since my dad is going on a fishing trip next week, we did an early Father's Day celebration at Krista and Brent's this weekend. We had two beautiful days filled with lots of fun! Eli got to sleep both nights in a camper with Zach and Drew, and woke up this morning not feeling well. He's had this happen more than once after a couple days of not eating, drinking, or sleeping enough. Luckily, he was feeling much better by this afternoon. When Noah realized at breakfast today that the other boys slept in the camper he said (with a very sad face), "I thought I was going to sleep in that campfire tent"...poor Noah.

The "kiddie cruise"

Matt and Tyler are here!

We had some rock delivered on Monday hoping to one day finish our landscaping. I made a quick phone call to my Dad yesterday, and less than two hours later my parents' were here to help. Dad and Joel got a lot done last night, and when Grandpa Jim and the boys showed up at 4:30 this afternoon, Joel put them right to work. It's nice to have that project finished, so thanks everyone for the help! Eli and Noah are in HEAVEN with Matt and Tyler here for the night. Eli has playstation buddies, and Noah has been sword fighting and wrestling. Eli had a GREAT time in Iowa (thanks Grandma, Jennifer, and Grandpa). I'm pretty sure he didn't miss us one bit, and he was fighting with Noah 2 seconds after he got home. Ah...back to normal.

Missing My Brother

Eventhough we've been trying to keep busy, poor Noah has not been the same without Eli. We met Craig and kids at Chuck E Cheese's today (which Joel informed me is just mean to do when Eli isn't here). It was fun, but as soon as we pulled into the garage, Noah said, "Is Eli here NOW????").

Eli is in Iowa

Grandpa Jim stayed with us on Friday night on his way down to Iowa, and he had this brilliant idea to take Eli with him. Matt and Tyler are going to spend a few weeks in North Dakota, so they'll drop Eli off on Wednesday. It sure has been quiet around here. Poor Aunt Jennifer is probably not having that same experience. I stole this picture from Jennifer's blog. Grace and Eli played a few games of Guess Who in the basement tonight as tornado sirens were going off.

**It just happens to be Jake's birthday tomorrow. Last week Eli told Jen that he was going to Jake's b-day party. Hmm......

Busy Boys!

Eli was supposed to have his first day of parks and rec golf at 8:00 this morning. We drug him out of bed, and the whole family went to the golf course to find out that they are waiting another week to start since school isn't out yet. We decided to hit some balls anyway. HAPPY GILMORE!

My wonderful husband had already taken today off, so I could have a day off. After the driving range, I left to get my haircut and to do some shopping. Joel had a dentist appointment at 1:30, so I came home a little after one. Noah was already napping. They had been to two parks, the zoo, the flower store, and Joel had done some planting.

The Boys

I spent two hours with the boys at Concordia today trying to get a good picture of them, and all I got was frustrated. It must be time to call Ria!

Buland Park

Today was our first day without Jack and Ella. I must admit that I have been dreading this a little bit. Although I'm looking forward to warm weather, being outside, and having a little more freedom, I'm not really thrilled about trying to entertain the boys all summer. They tend to fight a lot and listen to me very little. Luckily, it was a beautiful day. We met Craig, Austin, and Katelynn at the park this morning. Eli was INSISTING that we go to "Bulard Park" with the orange fire pole and rocks to put in his shoes. I explained to him that I didn't remember how to get there (we were there once last summer, and it is on the other end of town), and I would have to look up the address. He was sure that I just had to go towards Walmart and then take a right. I told him I'd find the address so we could go there after nap. It was exactly the way he remembered it; however, it was not to the right of Walmart.

Yum

Jack and Ella walked in with 4 HUGE chocolate covered doughnuts and a little bottle of sprinkles today. As you can see, everyone enjoyed them.

Memorial Day Weekend

* played cards

* played Clue

* played in the sand and water

* pontoon ride

*Joel, Craig and Brent stayed with kids (Joel prepared spaghetti and meatballs), so the girls (and Dad) could go out for my Mom's birthday Sat. night.

* Sun. morning the guys went golfing before we all met at my cousin's graduation.

* Joel and my parents did a little fishing but didn't catch much. Katelynn and Eli planting a tree with Grandpa
7 busy kids digging in the sand

last day of preschool

We sure are going to miss our daily notes!!

Glasses update: Pair #1 = not even two days

It was Joel who did the breaking. The glasses were a little tight behind Noah's ears, so we were going to take them in to be adjusted last night. In the meantime, Joel was just going to bend them a little so they weren't bugging him so much, and they snapped. Luckily, they had the frames in stock, and they were able to cut them. The glasses fit much better now, but every once in a while, Noah still complains that they hurt his ears. Other than that, he is doing GREAT with them (much better than I anticipated)!

Guess what arrived tonight!

After a few tears and a little ice cream,

Noah kept his glasses on for a while tonight. They don't seem to be slowing him down, but I see MANY battles in our future (as if we don't have enough already). Any bets on how long pair #1 lasts???

Kicking off Summer

Unfortunately, it barely feels like Spring. Today ended up being a really nice day. We had our first fishing trip (the boys lasted about 2 minutes), our first campfire (we roasted hotdogs for supper) and our first s'mores of the year (YUM!).

Accommodative esotropia

Is the diagnosis that the eye doctor gave Noah today. It is a form of strabismus which means his eyes are misaligned and point in different directions.
Accommodative esotropia "occurs in farsighted children two years or older. When a child is young, he or she can focus the eyes to adjust for the farsightedness, but the focusing effort (accommodation) to see clearly causes the eyes to cross."

Basically, he's farsighted, and his right eye rolls in when he's trying to focus. Glasses should correct the problem.
However, the new problem will probably be trying to keep glasses on his face.

Mother's Day at the lake

Who knew one set of extra clothes wouldn't be enough?? I didn't really think anyone would actually go in the water on purpose (I was kind of banking on Noah taking an unexpected swim). Eli started with a hand dip, and then he took his sock off to put a toe in. 5 minutes later he was in his boxer shorts and up to his waist. BRRR!!

Bible School

Katelynn and Eli spent their evenings at Bible School this week (which they LOVED!). Tonight they had a little performance. What a difference a year makes! Katelynn is in the back row, third from the left in the pink shirt. Eli is in the back row in the middle with a gray shirt on, and yes, they are both doing the actions! Katelynn sang too, but Eli just concentrated on his moves.

Thank you Auntie Krista!

Noah's blankie got left behind over the weekend. Krista sent it in the mail, and it arrived just in time for nap today.
What happened to his face??? Oh, just another day being Noah. Somehow he managed to hit it while pushing the Little People bus.

weekend

I took the boys to Krista's for a couple of days. Drew and Noah (mostly Noah) kept us very busy, but we had a lot of fun. Krista and I even made it to a movie Sat. night. (Thanks Brent!)

Eli and Noah could not get enough of the treehouse!

Guess who

was making "gates" using "bandaids".

This child...

is really testing me, and I'm failing!!!!! Today, he went sprinting out of the playroom with two hands FULL of blue fingerpaint. He ran into the family room (with me chasing him and yelling), went behind the big chair (there's about 12 inches between the chair and the wall), and finally fell on his stomach as I was grabbing for him. Maybe I should've been celebrating his coordination as he kept his hands in the air and somehow only got a little bit of paint on the carpet, but instead, I was thinking that perhaps I have never been so angry.

Grandma Cathy,

Thanks for a great week!We miss you already!

Bad Mom

Eli had his spring program/graduation at preschool today. Here is the ONE picture I got before my camera battery completely died. Luckily, Grandma Cathy was there, and she got a few shots. A few hours later...

Vacation

Joel and I took a short trip to Laughlin, Nevada. + Travel was a breeze.

- Our room was gross.

+ We had a lot of fun together.

- Joel lost way too much money.

+ The weather was beautiful.

- The pool was freezing.

+We got to spend some time with Joel's Aunt, Uncle and cousin.

+ I read a book (my only goal for vacation).

+ Grandma Cathy took great care of the boys!

+ + Joel is ready to take more vacations!!!

- This is the only picture I took.

Daddy is the best!

Eli and Noah have been begging Joel to make another big fort in the playroom, so we had Katelynn here for a movie/fort sleepover last night. Today, Joel took the boys to see Curious George at the mall (He even got a picture...what a good husband).

SPRING

We have finally had some spring weather, and the boys (especially Noah) are loving the outdoors! Noah on a scooter=the reason helmets are now strongly recommended! He is crazy!!!

Eli had his Kindergarten open house tonight ( I didn't take a camera if you can believe that). He was very shy with the teachers, but he was excited to see one of the boys he knows from preschool. He had fun checking out the classrooms and taking a ride on a bus.

Puddle Jumping

The boys had to try out their new rainboots this weekend, and Grandma Connie had to try out her lounge chair!

Happy Easter!

We got the whole gang together at my parents. The kids had fun finding Easter baskets and doing an egg hunt.

7:00am-8:30am = Frosted Flakes, Nerds, a plain waffle, and Lucky Charms

Noah: "I need more Lucky Charms Mom"

Mom: "You have lots of Lucky Charms."

Noah: "I don't have any Charms."

Goofy teeth and the return of Teddy

Over a month ago the string on Teddy's mouth came loose. Mr. Perfection REFUSED to have anything to do with Teddy until I fixed his mouth. We told him that maybe Grandma Cathy could fix him when we went to her house. Well, Teddy has been in my closet waiting to go to Grandma's, and I forgot to take him with. I thought Eli had forgotten also. Out of the blue the other day Eli said, "We forgot to have Grandma fix Teddy". I told him that Grandma would be at our house in a couple of weeks and maybe she could do it then. At bedtime last night he started sobbing thinking that Teddy was gone. When I went to my room to get the bear, Eli (crying) told Joel, "I didn't treat Teddy very well when the brown string came out of his mouth". As for the teeth..... they were in his backpack after preschool today and in his mouth the rest of the day. He said that he got to pick something out of a yellow bucket on his birthday. Because of spring break, being at Grandma's, snow days, and flood days, this was the first day of school for Eli since his birthday on the 13th. He was glad to be back, and it was nice for the rest of us to get back to normal too.

There is a reason people use the drive thru

We had a very fun playdate with Jack and Ella yesterday. On the way home, I was talked in to eating INSIDE McDonalds. I remember the days when the boys could get one happy meal, we could throw the box out, and the boys could "share" the toy (that is if I didn't throw it out with the box). Yeah....First, Eli cried because he didn't get the exact toy he wanted. Then, I couldn't get him to eat until he read the entire happy meal box. Noah (who is always a great eater until we "go out" to eat) took two bites and declared he was done. By the time Eli was ready to eat, Noah was crawling around on the freshly mopped floor. Therefore, we ended up taking most of Eli's meal to go anyway. The happy meal theme right now is for the movie "Monsters vs Aliens". On the box was a punch out eye from one of the monsters. The directions were to punch it out, wet it, and put it on your forehead. Well, it's cardboard, so it only stays on for a few seconds. Eli was sure he needed this thing stuck to his head, so I found some photo stickers to keep it in place. We talked him into taking it off at bedtime last night, but as soon as he woke up, we had to find more stickers. When we went to the movie store this morning, Eli didn't understand why I let Noah go with just a hood, and he had to wear a hat.

strange

Joel and I had subs for lunch yesterday. I put half of mine in the fridge for lunch today.

Noah woke up at 6:30 this morning. I turned on the TV for him and fell back asleep on the couch for a little bit. While I was sleeping, I had a dream.

DREAM: Joel's dad was here, and as I was sleeping on the couch, he and Noah ate breakfast. When I got up, I noticed the wrapper to my sub sandwich was lying on the table. I thought it was weird that they ate my sandwich for breakfast.

7:30 am:
Me: "Noah, what do you want for breakfast?"
Noah: "A sandwich"
Me: "You want a peanut butter sandwich (the only kind of sandwich I have ever made him) for breakfast?"
Noah: "No, a sandwich"
Me: What kind of sandwich? Do you want an egg sandwich?"
Noah: "leaves" (aka lettuce, which is something I VERY RARELY have around the house, but I bought some yesterday)
Here is Noah eating his ham and lettuce breakfast sandwich!