Little League Opening Day

a few posed pics before the days' festivities:

awwww...

then we scarfed Santiago's breakfast burritos and glazed donuts and went on the parade:

before going back to the ball fields for introductions and baseball:

We love baseball!  What a fun Saturday morning and that was only the beginning of our fun day... part 2 up next!

Go Mud Dogs!

Easter 2012 and more!

Did things a little different this year and had a castle instead of Easter baskets.  The actual castle is way more of a hit with the boys than any of the wrapped gifts that were inside.

Warren is so proud of the eggs he dyed! In fact this one is still sitting in the fridge -- he won't let us touch it.

I happened to miss out on the messy job of coloring eggs, since Bryan did that with Warren and Jack while I took Nolan to Home Depot for a kiddie thing to make this bird feeder.  So cute!  He looks every day multiple times to check for any action.

Speaking of action, we took these three to the "bmx dirtbike arena" by our neighborhood last night.  What a riot!  They had SO much fun.  We will be back often!

Oh how I love Kindergarten crafts!  They make me smile and make me miss being 6.

Baseball continues to go well, another scrimmage this week before the official "opening day" this Saturday!  Nolan loves to go to practice.  Here he is getting ready...clearly...he has a baseball hat on so that's all you need right? :)

He is into all kinds of head gear lately.  Like winter hats in 70+ degree weather. 

Not that any of his older brothers are qualified to tell him what is appropriate gear...this is what Warren regularly wears when he rides his bike.  Hilarious.  We are gonna order him some actual bmx goggles soon!

Warren is such a neat kid, we took him on a real date to a nice restaurant only to find this scene when we arrived in Boulder.  He did wake up nicely and enjoyed some time alone with Mom and Dad.

Tearing it up at the dirtbike trail!

The End.

Moab 2012

So much I could say about this trip. So much I probably should say. I'm sure I'll find the right perspective and words at some point, but for now I will just share the handful of pictures from our first (and incidentally only) day in Moab.

{Captain cool in his drug store kiddie sunglasses with Mr. Dorito and the youngest bandit driving the wagon at the Red Cliffs Lodge, where we all lunched half way through their rafting trip.}

{Oh yeah, Jack got some new shades too!}

{Hmmm.  Looking a bit less that thrilled to be doing such a treat as going rafting...a little hint as to the entitled, disrespectful attitudes that followed.}

{Jack acting like a daredevil.}

{Moab is beautiful, you could point your camera randomly into the landscape and capture something special.}

And a few iPhone pictures too...

{I'll always love Moab.  It holds a special place since that is where Bryan and I fell in love.  We went there a couple months into dating and hiked in the Fiery Furnace and I just knew...}

{Mama and sleeping baby in the shade along the CO river.}

{Nolan and I walked all the way across this bridge to the other side of the river from where we parked and he got to swim (completely nude) in the Colorado River.  No pictures since he was determined to drown himself, but it was quite the scene and really reminded me of pictures of myself at his age swimming naked at Big Lake, Alaska.}

It was a short trip unfortunately.  But we had to follow through and our kids' behavior did not warrant them being lavished with any more fun adventures or gift store treats.  We've shaken up their world a bit since returning home too.  Chores! No Apple devices! No movies in the car! Very limited Wii!  Absolutely no tolerance for backtalk or any kind of disrespect!  Hopefully this memory is etched into their memories...and hopefully we return to Moab again sooner than 9 years from now!

Boys here lately.

Ahh some of the stuff that happens on a daily basis with a brood of boys...

{Nap mutiny results in eventually crashing on the floor}

{Nolan is so skinny his pants fell down while he did the monkey bars yesterday at the school.}

What else have we been up to?  Hanging out at The Children's Museum as per usual.

Finding cool new toys at the preschool playground.

Jack made this perfectly arranged and symmetrical pizza at the museum. Yum!

Warren comes right home from school and gets into an activity.  He is a busy body for sure!  Have to force a snack in him and get him ready for baseball practice most days.

We recently got updated pictures done so I have been busy updating my photo wall in our loft and making my Easter mailers.  I LOVE pictures.

It was fun to put the new images in and see how their faces have changed.  Little Nolan at 6 months and at 2.5 years!

The Summer of 2012 is finally coming together!  Enrolling Warren and Jack at Camp Primrose for 3 days per week half days.  They will be there for 15 hours per week going on field trips and having a blast.  Also decided on golf lessons for them at our nearby course.  Nolan and Luke will be my home buddies and I will make sure we have lots of fun stuff going on here for them.  Of course we will have our usual stomps like the Children's Museum and our favorite bounce house. 

And I already got the boys' Summer workbooks at our local OfficeMax since it is closing and selling everything for great prices.  Thinking to have T and Thu be "school" and golf lesson days since they won't have camp.  Everything always goes so much smoother in my head, so we'll see how it all works out :)

Valentine's Day 2012

This is the Shutterfly card I mailed out and gave to teachers etc:

I absolutely love Shutterfly!  Sent these out to about 25 people for less than $10.  They have so many great designs it is always a struggle to choose just one!
*** 

Finally got a double boiler to melt Ghirardelli chocolate chips for dipping strawberries for Jack's class party. Yum! I see a lot of melted chocolate in my future.

I got flowers, tickets to see The Fray at red rocks soon, and love notes from my boys. What more could a Mama ask for?!

We don't normally make a big fuss out of Valentine's Day, but the boys love getting all dressed up for their parties at school and they just beam when they bring home their handmade Valentine's for Mom, so that is pretty contagious!

We've been...

...playing with baby Luke via Mama's belly button.  Also trying to nurse a lot lately, but that's a whole 'nother topic.  Oh Nolan, such a boob man!  I predict some jealously when Luke gets here and starts nursing.

...eating LOTS of berries and whipped cream.

...attending more than our share of fun birthday parties at cool venues.

...blowing bubbles in the living room of course!

...dressing up as Captain America every morning.

...eating SO much fruit that we have to go to the store sometimes three times per week to keep stocked.

...READING!!  Jack is reading at around 1st grade level and loves to make a "project" after he reads a new book.  Love half day kindergarten :)

...Writing our last name (phonetically) on all school work now.

...loving Mo Willems books in the library while Mama stuffs the Friday folders at school each week.

...finding treasures at our thrift store.  Nolan loves his new piggy bank toy so much!

...attending so many activities like this Valentine's Day puppet show at our local library.  What a gem of a community library we have!  We have been to a SpaceTime thing, a wild safari thing where the kids got to see an chinchilla and pig and lots of other animals.  Next month is a Chemistry thing that we won't be missing!

...thinking we're way cooler than we are drinker root beer from a coozy like Daddy.

...so busy as usual.  Life is full and good!