Talking

Max is quite the jabber mouth these days. All non-sensible talk, of course, but he can now say a few words, including: Mom, Dad, Bye, Hi, Shoes, Uh-Oh, This, and That. And I really mean that he can say the words "this" and "that". He says those the most as he wanders the house all day and points to things, or brings me things, or wants something that I have that he can't have. It is so fun to watch him grow his own little personality and voice.

Home Progress

We have gotten a lot done lately on the house, so I wanted to share some of the progress we've made since moving in 2 months ago.


Sprinkler pipe.
Sprinklers: New valves installed for the runs in the backyard. Still need to finish laying pipe and installing sprinkler heads. Oh, and can you see our pretty gate that is finished too?!

Retaining Wall: only 15 more bricks on the bottom row left, and then we can stack like legos!

Master Bedroom: pictures hung and curtains up. (Still need to finish the valance).

Office: pictures up and computer set up, with a new valance just completed today. Done!

Boys room: pictures up and curtain up. Done!

Max's room: cute shelf up. Done!

Kitchen: Found some places for my decor, but I still need to line the curtain over the sliding glass door, finish the valance that goes over the sink window, and finish putting the rest of the decor and pictures up where they belong. I haven't even begun thinking of what I am going to do in the Living room yet.

Projects that still need to be completed:

• Sprinkler system
• Retaining wall
• Extend cement patio
• Finish fence
• Build raised garden beds
• Build sandbox
• Lay sod and bark and gravel
• Finish valances and curtains for the rest of the house
• Finish living room and kitchen decor

And hopefully, this will all be finished before Labor Day. We've got our work cut out for us, but we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Boys and bugs

Easton found this on the trampoline, and then raced to get his bug pincers. When I went outside to see this bug, I was immediately disgusted by its size! Where did this thing come from, and why was it on the trampoline?! Oh well, at least it wasn't in my house. (Poor thing was waddling around with half its insides squeezed out of him. Easton was a little too vigorous with the pincers, whoops.)

Slip slidin' fun!

It was finally hot enough to break out the water sports. The slip 'n' slide was our water sport of choice. The kids had a blast, but even more fun once Dad started to throw them down the slide. I think they thought it was pretty cool that even Mom joined in on the fun (no pictures necessary). Afterwards we all enjoyed a nice cold popsicle. I love the summer time, if only it would stay for good (we're back down the 60's and windy today).

Saturday is a special day....

Its a "do whatever Dad is doing" day.

My kids make me....

Laugh.

Sigh deeply in frustration.

All of the bleach spots that Max created on his pants and my new bathroom rug from shaking around the last bits of an empty toilet bowl cleaner canister.

Wonder in amazement.

Although Luke has more energy than all of us put together, his memory astounds me, and he soaks up information like a sponge.

And cry tears of joy.

Written while I was at mutual and Easton missed me. He kept telling Scott that he loved me so much and I take such good care of him when he is sick (strep throat).

But mostly they just make me happy that I am their mom.

Superhero for a day

Easton had his birthday party today, and it was a superhero party. The craziest thing to me, was that no one ate anything. We provided lunch, just simple pb&j's with chips and pop, and then had cake and ice cream for dessert. No one ate any of it. I think Easton and Luke had cake, but no one else wanted cake, and no one at all ate any lunch. Odd. Very, very odd.

But the rest of the party was a success. The boys all enjoyed training how to be superheroes. The best part was stomping out the bad guys (balloons). I think they could have done that all day if I had enough balloons.

Easton just loved having friends over at our house, it didn't matter what we did, he just enjoyed them being here.

Happy 5th Birthday Easton!

Happy late birthday!

We did celebrate Easton's birthday on Wednesday, his actual birthday, but the day was so filled with fun stuff, that I never had a chance to blog about it.

We had to wake him up before Scott went to work so he could open presents and eat his requested donuts for breakfast. He was surprised to find an Iron Man, his new obsession, although he knows nothing about him and hasn't seen the movie. Easton and his brothers played with toys all morning, and then we went to McDonald's for lunch. I fed them an early dinner, and then as soon as Scott got home from work, we all went bowling. Easton, of course, beat me again! It was a great birthday, and he went to sleep completely satisfied at the end of the day. He told me it was the best day ever!

Pre-birthday fun

My parents came down yesterday to help with some backyard stuff, and to spend Memorial Day with us, so they decided to give Easton his presents early. One of these gifts was Balloon Rockets. They love it! It is so fun to watch little boys get such enjoyment from something so simple.