School's Out for the Summer...

Blogger was not letting me sign out of my other account and so

I was not able to put up any new posts for about a week. Grrr!

Anyway, I wanted to get a picture of the boys from the last of school and

compare it to the first of school. Look how much they've grown!

Matthew's lost that baby face and he now rides his bike to school like one of

the big kids. Wait, is he one of the big kids now? Noooooo...

Look at how much James has grown! He's a real life 4 year old!

His baby face is slowly receding as well.

And Jakers. What a difference a year can make. He can now run.

And believe me, he does not look back. He even has hair!

These are just some goofy pictures that I had to include. Funny boys.

This is what happens when you run upstairs to

throw in a load of laundry. And make the mistake of thinking

that your totally cute, totally innocent looking 1 year-old won't get

into any trouble. Smashed up goldfish crackers all over the just vacuumed floor.

Awesome!

I should have known better. I mean, why else would he have wanted his shoes

on with his pajamas? Better cracker crushing.

I am Grateful to be Their Mom Because (part 2)....

I thought today I would highlight a few of the things I love about my boys.

Matthew is without a doubt one of the smartest kids I know (I know most parents say this about their kids, but allow me this). He is an avid reader and loves to learn. Whenever he has a question about something, he immediately seeks out the answer. Right now his interest lies with Camelot. I know! What a cutie. We both have reading in common. Currently, we are reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. We each read on our own and then discuss what we've read. Here's a conversation we had:

Matthew: "I would love to see the girls that live in the lake. They sound creepy."

Me: "That's what I thought, too. With their yellow eyes and flowing black hair."

Matthew: "You know the mermaids in Harry Potter?"

Me: "Yeah..."

Matthew: "Well, that's what I picture them looking like."

Me: "Me too!"

Matthew (bursts out into his infectious laughter): "Our minds work the same!"

I have often wondered if he is comprehending what he is reading, since he reads far above his grade level. But this is proof that not only is he comprehending, but he can see it all in his head. Love him!

James. I have a big soft spot for this boy. He is probably the meanest (and I mean that in the most loving way possible because he does not like bullies. Unless he's the bully.) of the bunch, but a wicked little smile and that dimple completely melt away any chance I have of punishing him. He is also my biggest helper. Whenever I go into the kitchen, the screech of a chair being dragged across the floor immediately follows me. He's very independent, as long as I am close by. Whenever I need to go behind a closed door (bathroom) his little fingers stick underneath it as he asks me questions. Love him!

Jacob is our biggest troublemaker. He is constantly on the go. Nothing slows him down, not even falling down the stairs. He gets right back up and keeps going. When he is doing something that he knows he should not be doing, he does this slow blink. I'm not sure what he thinks that does, but apparently it must be some kind of mind trick. And it usually works because I just laugh at him. Whenever he's told to say "thank you" or we tell him we love him, he responds by kissing the air. So stinking cute! He is also my big snuggler. He's always good for a schmug. Love him!

I'm Grateful to Be Their Mom Because...

With Mother's Day approaching, I decided it would be fun to record a few thoughts on why I'm grateful to be a mom. I'll try to post one every day. (I was going to yesterday, but you see how well that went)

Anyway, one of the reasons I am grateful to be the mom of my three boys is that they are great helpers. None of them like to pick up after themselves, but they love to help me with other things around the house. Cooking/baking, crafting, putting my makeup on (they're secure in their manliness), and many other things. But one of their favorites is gardening and watering the flowers. Gardening aficionado I am not. They take something so mundane, in my opinion, and bring life to it for me. They don't like using something easy like a hose though. No, no. Watering cans for them. So we make about 8 trips back and forth watering our flowers. As you can see, they don't have the best aim.

Jacob can't decide if he's thirstier or if the flowers are.

James is doing his crazy dance. I almost forgot why I was grateful to be his mom today while I was cleaning up pee off the bathroom floor. It was intentionally done. Ain't he sweet?

Aaah! He kills me with those big blues!

This big guy is too big to help, so he rides his bike or scooter around while we do all the work. He rode his bike to and from school yesterday with just his friends. My stomach was in knots all day long until I walked out to meet him. Obviously, he survived. When did he get so big? And I am now literally tearing up and only see a blurry mess on my computer screen.

I love my boys! I could not have lucked out any more than I did with them.

James got a pool for his birthday. He's been asking for one for a while now. I told him one day back in January, "When it's hot outside we'll get a pool." Just so I could get a bit of peace. Sometime in March it started warming up and I forgot about my promise. On one especially hot day James said, "It sure is hot outside. Isn't it, Mom?" I replied, "It is hot." He looked at me and said, "Well, it's time to get a pool then." Oops, I had forgotten. Anyway, I got him to hold off long enough for his birthday.

We decided it was time to get out of Phoenix and do something fun for the weekend. Tim had been wanting to go to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, so we thought it would be a great spot. The boys loved every moment of it. And I'll admit, I even enjoyed it.

Naughty pilot!

Jacob was his usual pleasant self.

This was James' favorite airplane in the whole museum because it was orange. There is a picture of a grasshopper on it, which is perfect for James. When we were in Alabama during Christmas, we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch one day and some big kids were "picking" on him. They kept calling him grasshopper. So he got even. He called them diarrhea.

Behind Matthew is the second Blackbird ever built, and the oldest surviving. Super cool plane.

Outside they have a giant "plane boneyard." It's full of old planes and helicopters.

This one made be laugh. I called it a blomber. Combo of a blimp and bomber. Actually, it was a cargo plane for NASA. Not as exciting as my idea.

Next we went to Valley of the Moon. Online it looks like a fun, enchanting little park. Tim got the "it puts lotion on" vibe here. We made a hasty retreat, but not before a photo op.

Then we put a perfect end to our perfect day by stopping for some yummy gelato. It was seriously very good and only 132 calories!

This was the best smile I got out of Jacob all day. Well, for the camera anyway. He smiles plenty, until the camera comes out.

James' preschool went on a field trip to Superstition Dairy Farm. He had a ton of fun.

Jacob was very ornery. To his credit, in the past five days he has had croup, RSV, pink eye, a bad cold, and an ear infection. But he's running out of leniency. I know a family of gypsies that's always looking for a new addition... Just sayin'.

James loved feeding and petting the animals. He had his huge, one-dimpled grin the whole time.

Grouchy

Crabby

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