It's not for the faint of heart.

[Warren had a couple friends over after school, for a grand total of 5 little boys at our house!]

It was loud and crazy and a whole box of toaster strudels disappeared in three seconds flat, BUT...

I am so glad that Warren has good friends and for the opportunity for him to mature as a friend by having to share his things and be a host. He has admittedly got some room for improvement, but he is only six.

I SO want to foster the kind of home environment where my sons and there friends are HERE, under my watchful, overprotective eyes... JUST KIDDING... sort of :)

It is so nice for Jack and Nolan to also reap the benefits of having lots of excitement and playmates that are also as awesome of kids as these two Warren has come to call his best friends.

So while chaos reigns supreme when they are all here, this picture reminds me why I do it!

On my memory card.

I would normally delete all these pics without even blinking, but I've got nothing better to share at the moment.

So, in no order of importance...

[I have been totally kicking @ss at cooking dinner every night]

[And I had a great trip to my favorite thrift store the other day, where I found among other things, this classic toy that everyone loves]

[I remember having the tic toc answer clock by Tomy when I was little]

[Warren loves to run over and set it to the current time, turns out he already knows more about telling time than I thought he knew]

[Yesterday was "crazy hair day" at the school. Jack had a faux hawk and Warren got ahold of my camera and took some silly pics of me and Jack.]

[This pic makes me laugh...]

[Jack coming in for a kiss, with marker on his forehead from preschool]

Riveting, I know...

Operation 4th baby has proved to me a major headache thus far. It has officially been a year since we started trying, and I have to admit I am frustrated to be no closer to having our family finished than we were a year ago. I feel like the whole thing has aged me and hardened me a little.

I am so happy for Summer! Already working more at home with the boys' academics and have lots of fun things planned. Thinking Warren will skip all the "sports" like soccer (sorry but I do not like soccer one bit) and go for football this fall. Have to decide flag or tackle still and officially get him enrolled. Fun fun!

He's a jello eating kitty cat.

Lately, when he's not laying on the back of the futon in the loft like a kitty cat

he's been eating jello -- both with a spoon

and with his "paw".

[pardon the poor quality cell phone pics but every now and then they gotta be shared.]

Jack Dylan,

You're the one who is a homebody like me.

You're the one who loves my cooking the best.

You're the one who understands my incessant picture taking and plays along.

You are an amazing kid, Jack Dylan. But seriously, what is with the belt around your neck (that I didn't even notice until I uploaded the picture)?!

What I'm working on right now.

Thanks be to the Organization Gods (aka the lovely people at California Closets) for changing my life. Okay, they just changed our coat closet, but still...

I am on an organizational high and shoe storage cubbies are my drug of choice. The basketballs are now tamed in a pull out wire basket. The doors are still off awaiting a new ball bearing track system, but I actually don't mind it without doors.

New picture mural in the upstairs hallway. Warren and Jack's Petite Lemon poster prints will soon join Nolan's.

Warren's birthday mailers are all set to go out! A little bummed that I already had them done before I could add that he went to the shooting range for the first time and shot like a pro, but oh well. I am super happy with them... look for them in a mail box near you in a couple weeks!

Watching in amazement as this little guy really takes off verbally. He is talking so much! Even said "I love you" to me last night. Awwww. Love that! Here are some of his favorite words of now:

[mimicking mommy at the computer. "click"]

[realizes he's getting his picture taken. "cheese"]

Cheese
My/mine
More
Car
Ball
Uh-Oh
No-No
Daddy!
Ben (his neighbor buddy)
Outside
Up
Food
Ba Ba (yeah he still drinks bottles)
Choo Choo (his bedroom is train-themed)
Bye (he dropped the Bye-Bye and now just says Bye, he's so big)
Hi!
Gun (if you have to ask you don't know our family very well! :) )
Park
Cracker
More
Mmmmm...Good (says this almost every time he eats a bite of cracker or cheese)
Jack (hasn't quite figured out how to even attempt to say Warren yet)
Go!! (this is what he says to me every morning when he wants me to get out of bed and go downstairs with him. I affectionately call him my demented little alarm clock)
Juice (he very rarely actually drinks juice but for some reason this is what he says when he wants a sippy of water to drink)
Shoes (he says this all whiny when he wants to go outside)
Sock! (this is exclaimed anytime his sock comes off. sometimes he strings two words together and says "sock uh-oh".)
Sit
Bath
Splash-Splash!
Bubble (this is a very new favorite since we broke out the super miracle bubbles the other day... I have to hide them from him!)

He has lots more words but these are his favorites that I for certain hear every day. Don't get me wrong, he still does more than his fair share of pointing and grunting and whining and looking at me like I should just be able to read his mind, but we're getting there!

just some pictures and some words.

Coming off of a four day weekend and in the midst of "screen free week", so this will be short and to the point. If there even is a point.

We had three birthday parties on Saturday. One was for Jack's classmate and was at Joe's Crab Shack, his favorite restaurant ever. He was all smiles.

[can you see his finger without the nail? Ick. It is slowly growing back after a gross incident of getting his finger smashed at Bass Pro Shop.]

[this is his total "cheese face" fake smile, but I love it!]

[it was funny for me to see my social butterfly in action. He is such a little social director and every one's best friend.]

The third birthday party was in Pueblo, so we all stayed Saturday night at Bryan's parents' house.

We were all super tired and happy to be home on Sunday.

Monday started Screen Free week, which has been great so far. We had a fun busy day playing outside most of the time and Bryan even had the idea to cancel cable until the Fall, which I am totally on board with!

I am so disappointed at how I have not been getting Bryan and myself into our pictures on here. Determined to do better with that! Otherwise when the boys look back at all this it will be completely devoid of parental figures :)

California Closet system getting installed as I type in our huge coat closet. The contents are strewn all over our downstairs so I am really excited to put it all back in a beautiful storage system. I love organization! Thanks to Bryan for painting the closet himself last night so that the crisp white of the built-ins will be contrasted.

Can't think of anything else at the moment!

Do they even know?

That I'm watching them as they play...

That their smiles brighten my day...

That I covet their energy...

That I love them head to toe...

That they are SO smart...

And just as silly...

That we cherish each step they take...

That we have their faces memorized...

Even upside down...

That it sometimes takes self-restraint to not tackle them with a giant embarrassing hug at the playground...

Well, now they do!

Happy Camper.

If you give a boy a big bowl of strawberries,

Don't be surprised when he sits himself down and devours half of them,

and then thanks you with his eyes while playing hard for the next hour.

These two...

...LOVE hanging out with eachother.

I can't even imagine the potential these boys have and how they'll grow together and someday be grown up brothers with all these memories and pictures to look back at. You're welcome! :)

He's not one to hold back.

::Jack's reaction when I told him we were going to the "big park"::

I absolutely LOVE his freckles. Oh my. They melt my heart. Each and every one of them :)

Many (many) more pictures to come of the boys tearing it up at said park!

They leave me clues...

...that their self-esteems are doing just fine.

{a self-portrait Warren taped to his bedroom door.}

...of their love of books.

{this is what Nolan's nightstand always looks like.}

...that they are above all else, happy healthy kids with a huge appetite for play.

{Jack is back on the Nerf gun bandwagon right now.}

I love the little clues they leave me.

Sunday Funday

I love a good weekend that totally exceeds my expectations and somehow manages to culminate into a superbly lazy Sunday morning on the sofa.

And apparently, so do my little monkeys.

Makes all the stress and commotion of the past 7 days melt away and all I'm left with is a deep gratitude for my awesome family.

Alphabet Soup

Isn't this print adorable?

It will soon be hanging in my hallway along with updated photo art of the boys that is on its way from Petite Lemon Prints. So fun...

It is GORGEOUS outside! As soon as Nolan wakes up, we will walk to the school to pick up Warren and hopefully play at the school playground for a bit. Nolan and I are a tiny bit sick feeling, presumably from swimming on Wednesday. Either that or maybe we just over did it this week. I crammed a lot in the past five days and am feeling especially tired and rundown today.

I hate feeling this way going into a weekend. Ugh.

I am glad that I got the boys registered for their Summer Rec Center activities, got in touch with local Meals on Wheels to volunteer with the boys, went to a LONG PTA meeting last night, took the boys to multiple fun venues this week, helped a neighbor by watching her adorable little girl yesterday for a couple hours, and took care of the boys by myself twice this past week while Bryan was away. BUT, I am seriously tired. And just a little cranky. This wouldn't be real life if I only shared all the wonderful things though, right?

Tids and Tads

Sometimes it feels like I start a lot of little side stories or plot lines on here and then don't finish them.

So, I'll attempt to tie up the loose strings (that I am aware of.)

Chapter 3 in Toilet Training is on hold, since Nolan flatly refuses to have anything to do with the potty right now. Although he does clap and say "yay" when anyone else uses it. We will revisit the whole topic in a month or so.

The kitchen project has been done for a while. I LOVE my pot filler faucet! It is so pretty and shiny like kitchen jewelry and I use it EVERY day.

There are still so many things I would like to do to our house that I sometimes feel anxious to move them along, and I have to remind myself to be happy for what we have done and enjoy it. We may move ahead with a California Closet system in our huge coat closet on the main level. That would seriously change my life... :)

Spring Break went well, although by Tuesday when they went back to school we were all thoroughly DONE spending so much time together. We did a lot of fun things and it went by fast.

I have decided for sure on the cowboy theme for Nolan's second birthday party. I already have the invites designed and most of the other details floating around in my head.

I think that's about it for now!

Slice of Life #1

Now, we all know how good I am about keeping these sorts of things up, but I just had this idea and thought I'd try it out.

So, here is what all three boys were up to at the exact same time.

[Nolan was in the hallway playing with some toys I brought up and left at the top of the stairs. How do little kids sit like that?]

[I caught Warren on the couch right when I walked down the stairs, playing some game on the iPad. He is engrossed with his after homework reward.]

[Jack, I had to go and find. He was washing his hands in the bathroom. I was happy to see that he does in fact wash his hands after using the restroom even when I'm not there.]

I had fun sneaking up on them and capturing them without their knowledge. Who knows, maybe I'll do it again... maybe not. :)