Birthdays fast approaching...

Wow. Not only is July going to be a busy month for the rest of our lives, but expensive! Party planning has been in the works as we are having a small family birthday party for the boys at our home on the 10th, and then Gage is getting his first "Friend" party with a few of his preschool classmates and the neighbor kids he plays with often.
I have ordered a total of 3 birthday cakes, started making lists for present ideas for all 3 boys as well as party supplies (Tim and I get a "date" night tomorrow night to do this fun stuff together), and we just got pictures taken last weekend that I am working on ordering now.
WHEW.

I am excited for it all, of course, and will hopefully get some fun pictures of the parties up on the web sooner than a month after the party is over...

but as you've noticed, the blog has been falling further and further down the ladder of my priorities these days, although it does weigh heavily on my mind.

These are the pictures that I put on the invitations for the party:

Landon

Bronson

The (Painful) Memories...

This whole month has been bringing back so many memories of last summer when I spent the entire month of June just trying to survive the last weeks of my twin pregnancy.

While I was uploading pictures of my last post (T-Ball) I caught myself clicking onto photos from one year ago today. I found this beauty. It was taken on June 14th 2009, just a little over one year ago...

OUCH!

T-Ball

We signed Gage up for T-Ball this year. He is by far the youngest on the team, as the ages are 4-6, and he won't be 4 for another couple of weeks. He is doing really well, though, and we are very proud of him.
His first game was last Saturday, which felt more like an October morning than a mid-June one, but he had his very own cheering section and even got to be the catcher for an "inning". They do not keep score, or count any outs or strikes. Every member of each team gets to bat and run the bases. 3 innings took over an hour...
so I guess it's a good thing they don't count outs or runs.

Early Summer Photos

I have nothing more to say other than "busy" and "I'm sorry" for not making this blog more of a priority. The sun has been out, the babes are on the move, and this mama is making up for an entire lost summer...
therefore we are rarely indoors, and when the house is finally quiet at 8pm or later, the last place I will sit is on the computer (other than tonight, of course!)

Here are a few photos of my family, so you can see how much the boys have grown since my last photo update nearly 2 months ago. (Oh, and I cut my hair off and will most likely be going shorter....thanks to some encouragement from my Beezatch ladies on our last night out!)

Hope your June is going well!


Me and my men

Park playdate before bed (in their jammies). Bronson, Landon

At a friends' cabin. Gage, Landon, Bronson

Gage wanted green eggs and ham but settled for just green eggs. He loved them, and seemed to love me for making them!

My first kayak experience. I LOVED it! I wish I had one. And I wish I had a lake to paddle on.

Chilling on a blanket, under the tent umbrella at my dad's last weekend. B, L

Gage and Bumpa Tom

Katie, Bronson, Gage

Katie, Bronson, Landon, Nana

Katie and I before heading out to the "All 1990's Reunion" in Nville

Please Pray

There is a family here in New Richmond that although I am not close with, I have met both mother (Jenn) and daughter (Avery) at the local library storytime recently, and we have mutual friends.

They found out last Friday that little Avery (about 18 months old) has an inoperable brain stem tumor, and has a very slight chance of survival, even with the radiation that they have begun today. This family needs your prayers for a miracle. Please help to spread the word to your churches, your family, and your friends. I cannot imagine going through this right now with my own children.

Thank you.

Caringbridge Website:

Precious Avery

Waterpark Weekend

Due to the fact that the winter was a long one, and we had pretty much been stuck indoors since the weather turned cold last October, we decided to take a weekend getaway at a local waterpark in Eau Claire, WI. (Metropolis hotel, Chaos Waterpark, Action City). Highly recommended, as our experience was a great one!

Landon and Bronson absolutely LOVED the water!

Bumpa Ken and Nana came for the weekend to stay and help out.

Bronson

Landon

Gage had a blast, too! He went down the waterslide all by himself the entire weekend! There was only 1 that he was tall enough to do alone, and the other one that he could ride on with an adult had a dark tunnel that he tried once, but wasn't a big fan of. For his age, the one was plenty for the weekend, along with all of the other water activities.

Mom and Bronson

One of Landon's current silly faces

Bronson all passed out in Nana's arms

Landon eating, imagine that!

Soaking in the spa

Landon

Bumpa Tom and Landon taking a little snooze

**************


The Easter Bunny even found us in our hotel!

Landon and Bronson got some puffs and bath toys...

And Gage had a whole basket of fun things.

Two more Gage conversations

I've really struggled with my little man the past couple of weeks. It has to be an age thing, as I have talked with several other people who have 3-4 year olds and some have seen the same behaviors. He's just been so sassy, and refuses to take no for an answer for anything, and whines...etc. etc. He has also thrown a few temper tantrums this past month which is really out of character for him. So with all of that being said, I really have to take these moments that make me smile and remember them, as these are all parts of being age 3...going on 12!

Due to the rain, we were stuck inside all day today which had both of us going crazy. I offered to play "house" with him, as I had heard him and his friend Ben playing that last night. Gage then tells me, "You be the mommy and I'll be the daddy". He "leaves" to go to work, and upon his return, I asked him, "So, daddy, how was your day at work?" to which he replied, "I just hanged with my coworkers".

I laughed out loud.

"Co-workers? Where did you hear that word?"

"My daddy told me about his co-workers".

****

When playing with his matchbox cars and trucks, I picked up a blue truck and said, "I've got a blue pick-up" . Gage replied, "That's not a pick-up, it's a muddin' truck!"
I looked a little closer at the truck and sure enough, there were mud splatters along the sides of it. It most definitely was a "muddin" truck.

***

After noticing that it had started to rain really hard again, Gage went to the patio door to look out. Within a few minutes, I noticed it was quiet, so I said, "Gage?" and found the patio door open. When I looked out back he was nowhere to be found, so I went to the garage door and looked in the garage. I called his name again and when he still didn't answer, I started to walk out toward the driveway. There I found my little boy, in sweatpants and a t-shirt, barefoot, and riding his bigwheel all around the driveway. It took him several minutes before he noticed me standing there, with my hands on my hips, pretending to be mad. I had been watching him stop and pick up worms, just chatting away to himself. It was very sweet. A very typical little boy, just playing in the rain without a care in the world.

Needless to say he knows he is not to go outside without permission, but I did let it go this one time, as he's usually really good about letting us know.