Things Will Says

I have no picture, but I had to document what Will said last night.  Brian had a work dinner, so the little boys and I were hanging out at the playground while Max had soccer practice.  I'll admit it had been a long day and I was exhausted, so my fuse was a bit shorter than usual.

Will climbing up the slide while I tell him for the 100th time that the playground is really busy and he can only go down. . .

Mom:  Will, only go down the slide!
Will: Mommy, don't you know kids need to try new things!!

After the 200th time he tried to climb up the slide and I told him to sit out.

Mom: Sit down and take a minute.
Will:  How long do I have to sit?
Mom:  Count to 10.
Will stands up immediately
Mom: You did not just count to 10.
Will:  Yes I did.  I counted by 5's - see 5, 10, I'm done!

It was hilarious and I couldn't even argue with him.  Oh my, this boy is one funny kid!

Jack's New Friend

Jack made a new friend in the backyard when we took Sierra out yesterday.  It was the cutest thing ever!

No the poor turtle never did come out. . . at least not while Jack was around to see it.

Things Will Says

"I didn't draw Jack because he was mean to me today."

Fishing With Grandpa

What a glorious day!

Earlier in the week Grandpa Jack had offered to take the boys fishing before our Sunday dinner.  Max and Will were more than ready.  In fact I think Will had his fishing pole and tackle box upstairs on the kitchen table about three hours before we planned on leaving.

Brian and the big boys met Grandpa Jack and Uncle Tim at the lake around 3:00 this afternoon.  Jack was still napping so I met them a little bit later.  When Jack and I arrived Max actually had a fish on his hook!  He was so excited!  Dad got the fish off the hook but dropped him in the grass.  Will was super cute and not at all afraid of picking the fish up and tossing him into the water.  

All said and done the boys fished for a little over an hour and caught about four fish between then.  They had a great time.  We followed fishing with some playground time before a yummy dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  There was cherry jello, ravioli, and potato chips.  The kids were in heaven and they can't wait to do it all over again :)

Our Music Man

Will loves music.  He has since he was itty bitty.  Monday afternoon Brian and Max headed to Six Flags so the little boys and I headed over to Nonna and Nonno's house for a bit.

Will turned on the music and this is what happened.  Too precious for words.

First Day of Preschool

I just cannot.  I mean seriously.  Who is this little boy and what has he done with my baby!!

Jack had his first day of preschool on Tuesday at the same school Will attended.  In fact he even has the same teacher!  

 For a while now we have been talking about Jack going to school.  Whenever we would ask him he would just say that Jack says no.  He wasn't wild about the idea.  After the open house last week he started to warm up to the idea.  I kept showing him pictures of himself playing in his classroom and laughing with his teacher.

Tuesday morning when I asked him about school he told me that he would play with the red truck and yellow car and that they would go super fast down the ramp.  Progress :)

Then the big moment arrived.   He was hesitant as we got in the car to head to school.  Luckily it was his turn to bring snack for the class and he was all excited about this giant bag of Pirate's Booty.  So excited that he wouldn't move it for me to take a picture.We walked in and he was good until I went to leave. Then he just kept yelling "wait, wait, Mommy!".  I told him I would be back at 11:30 and left. 

Before I was out of the building I was in tears.  He is my baby.  I'm not ready for him to be out in the big bad world yet.  I enjoy him and I love our time together.  I made sure he didn't see me cry, but it was rough.

A little bit after I left I got this picture from the director.  Jack was doing just fine.  It is going to be an adjustment.  He is used to doing what he wants when he wants.  But I know that he is ready and he will do great, so I will let go of my baby.  Just a little bit.

 

Apple Picking

 I love memorial day weekend.  It gives us a last ditch effort at summer before fall really sets in.  We made the most of our day with a trip to Eckert's.

Max was so silly, but I love how you can see his few little freckles in this picture.  They are so cute!

We knew it was supposed to warm up on Monday so we headed out early - in fact we actually arrived 30 minutes before the pick your own farm even opened.  Oops.  At least the boys had some entertainment while we were in line.  The poor tractor driver had a really tough time backing one out.  It must have taken him 20 tries and the boys watched the whole time.  

 This guy was all about the apples.  Every time he pulled one from the tree he announced "Jack Man did it!" The look of satisfaction on his little face is just precious.

 I love watching my boys when they don't really know I'm watching.  These two pictures just melt my heart.  They are growing up so fast and I'm not ready for it.

  If you could have told me 10 years ago I would be mama to three boys I wouldn't believe it.  There is constant potty humor in our house.  Every where I turn there are stinky shoes.  I'm vastly outnumbered, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  These four men mean the world to me!

 
Will was pretty excited to pick apples, and even more excited to eat them.  His laugh and smile are totally contagious.  I mean who could look at that grin and not smile themselves - it's impossible!

Stinky shoes and farts may be the norm in our house, but I love my role as a boy mom.  It's pretty fabulous even if it isn't very glamorous.

Celebrating Nonna

Last week was Nonna's birthday, so on Sunday we had her and Nonno over for dinner.  It was all around a pretty perfect evening!

We started off with a yummy dinner and then headed outside.  The weather was beautiful and we took full advantage!

This little man  - he can ride a two wheeler - all on his own!  I swear all that riding around the house on his motorcycle - AKA balance bike - the past two years has paid off.

 Jack is super into silly faces lately.  He just can't get enough.  Then he says "Jack Man so silly!"  and laughs and laughs.  I love that he calls himself Jack Man.  It's one of those things that I know will be short lived, so I"m going to enjoy it while I can.

When everyone was sweaty and worn out we headed inside to finish celebrating with some cake.  These three love their Nonna so much!  We look forward to many more days - and years! - of celebrating with her.

Japanese Festival

It has been a gorgeous few days so we were on the lookout for a fun family event yesterday afternoon.  The Botanical Garden is hosting their Japanese Festival, so we decided to check it out.  Thank goodness Nonna came along!

 The first thing we saw were the bonsai trees.  The boys actually thought these special little trees were pretty cool.  Especially when they realized that several of them were older than Nonna!

 We made our way through the Climatron to try to check out some of the Japanese exhibits.  We were actually really disappointed - things sounded very kid friendly online, but the reality was far from kid friendly. The ice sculpture area was one melted block - we were expecting a demonstration.  The balloon art cost extra and the marital arts exhibitions were done in slow motion without any explanation.

Fortunately the garden is a pretty cool place even without a festival, and there sere some things to keep the kids entertained - like the boxwood garden maze and this jumping water fountain.  I honestly don't know who was more entertained the family in the background, or Max and Will.

I really wanted to boycott on principle, but we ended up paying the extra $15 to enter the children's garden - I firmly believe that when you already pay $60 you should get to see everything!!  But it was worth it.  The boys had a great time exploring and climbing all over the place. 

All in all it was not our best outing - if I'm honest 75% of it was actually pretty awful.  Certain little boys were not being the best listeners, Jack screamed at the top of his lungs every time we left something he liked, and Max was super disappointed that we couldn't ride the tram.  Thank goodness Nonna came along - otherwise we might not have all made it home alive!

We followed up the not so fabulous adventure with a wonderful dinner at Nonna and Nonno's where all three boys were perfect angels.  I guess they knew they had pushed us to the limit already :)

Meet the Teacher

On Wednesday Jack and I headed over to his soon-to-be school to meet the teacher!  I was all excited.  Jack . . . not so much.  In fact he actually plopped down in the middle of the hallway and put his hand up in the air.  When I told him we needed to go meet his teacher he kept yelling "Jack say no!"  It was cute the first time.

After a few minutes he was willing to enter his new classroom.  He made himself at home pretty quickly once he was in there - he just loved this garage and cars!

After ten minutes or so of play time he was willing to meet his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Jaycox.  We are so excited that Jack is in the classroom this year.  She was exactly what Will needed for his first year of preschool, and I know she will be just as perfect for Jack.  We have already exchanged a few texts and I know that he will be in good hands Tuesday morning.

 Jack's favorite part of the whole experience was getting his bookbag.  He was thrilled to wear it just like he saw his big brother William do every day when we dropped him off.

I'm prepared for some tears on Tuesday mornings - probably from both Jack and Mommy - but I know that within just a few days we will have the routine down and he will be all excited to head to school.  I can't wait to see how much he grows this year!  

Summer Wrap Up

Wow, where have the last few weeks gone?  We have been so busy!  Here is a sneak peek into what we have been up to. . .

 Exploring the science center with Nonna and one of her coworkers.  The boys love the building opportunities on the bridge.

 A picnic at the park with Grandma and Grandpa - which included lots of fun at the playground.  It was a beautiful day!

 Will must have asked Grandma to take 100 pictures of him.  It was pretty cute.  He would pose over and over again.  "Take my picture, Grandma!"

Grandma was happy to oblige - his own little paparazzi :)

We are officially back into the swing of school.  With three weeks under their belts the big boys are both doing great.  Will's favorite things are music and library.  Max continues to love his mosaics time with Mrs. Klohman.  Poor Jack continues to miss his brothers.  As the bus pulled away this mornign he kept yelling "Come back, brothers, come back!"  So stinkin cute!