This past weekend, our subdivision’s pool opened…which was awesome. The boys have been doing a count-down since last weekend (plus the weather has been so hot already that they really needed a little water action). Before we could go to “the big pool”, something seriously needed to be done for cool downs. So…last weekend I took Aiden and Logan to Toys R Us to pick out something for the back yard. They decided on one of the pre-molded baby pools…but GIANT compared to the one we had last summer…before it sprung…leaks. The played in it all day Saturday and Sunday. I think it was Monday afternoon when the neighborhood kids all wandered over after naps and school to partake.

Here they are, standing in a giant line, holding the hose and filling up the pool while admiring the water fun set up at the house behind ours. We all thought it was so cute that they were working as a team. As you can see, they also set up a little slide to go into the pool…

…which resulted in a cracked side. Oh well…at least those plastic numbers aren’t costly. BUT, something had to be done because it was still HOT and the big pool still wasn’t open. Attempt #2: a big blow-up number. This one is awesome (although it takes a lot of water to fill…and you have to bail it out with a bucket to get the water low enough to tip over and empty). Advantages to this pool: super fun to run and JUMP into the water, allows for goggle wear and “underwater search missions”, slide option still available 

Yes, I know those are spaced-aged goggles…but I bought them on a day when the pool where the boys were taking lessons was awaiting a shipment and they were the only things left. It makes it easy to spot my kiddos in a crowd though!

Since we had a long weekend, our neighbors down the street had everyone over for a little BBQ on Sunday night. All our kids kept running into their own homes and everyone else’s homes to find costumes. I thought it was hysterical. I’ve heard of Christmas in July, but not Halloween in May. They all have very serious faces because they are crime fighters!

I mean really…Logan alone has on like 3 different things (he was “mystery guy”). He’s got a karate outfit, a knight top, a red bandana around his head and his Indiana Jones hat/whip combo.

Brady saw all the big kids dressing up and said “I need sewper man!” (and apparently his bear)

This one kid in particular totally cracked me up. He had on a mobster hat, snorkel gear, a cape, a karate belt and rain boots… 

Wouldn’t even know it was Aiden under all that stuff!!

My camera and my computer decided they weren’t friends for a while so I haven’t been able to post for almost a week!

This past weekend, Logan and Aiden finished up their 5-week soccer classes. Logan played with the 4&5 year olds on “The Falcons” while Aiden was still hangin with the 3-year olds. His team name: The Dolphins…which I found to be pretty funny. Dolphins…not known to be great on land in general…not very threatening. It was really fun this year because Logan’s team did skills the first few weeks with games against others teams for the last 2 weeks. Both boys really enjoyed playing and Brian helped coach both teams (I thought watching him with the kids was almost as fun as watching our boys play). We were out on the soccer fields from 9:30 until 11:30 every Saturday. When the weather cooperated, it was a blast!

Here are Logan (blue shirt/black socks) and AJ (blue shirt/red socks) driving down the field.

Coach Brian offering encouragement

Here is Aiden’s group playing a scrimmage against each other. Some of the kids (like the one pictured below carrying the ball downfield) didn’t quite get the “only with your feet” concept. It was a riot! Somehow I lost Aiden’s shirt so he is pictured below in light blue…to the left of Brian.

This is Aiden, letting everyone on the sidelines know that his “team” is winning 5 to 0. Um…but who’s counting??

For Aiden’s team, Brian co-coached with our good friend Anna. He co-coached Logan’s team with our other good friend Anne – funny.

“All right everyone – Might Dolphins on 3!”

Logan’s Team Pic 

Some soccer mom sitting on the sidelines

Aiden’s Team Picture. I think they are yelling “soccer!”

Last week, Logan had “Silly Sock Day” at school. I remembered this as I picked him up on Tuesday (Silly Sock Day being Wednesday). I usually buy only white ankle socks for the boys…makes it easier to pair them up while doing the laundry, plus they go with anything. I had two choices: take all three boys to Target on a hunt for socks or come up with another plan. I proposed the idea to Logan that we make them instead. “Maybe,” I suggested, “we can use markers to make them look silly”. He thought that was a great idea. I proposed funny faces. Aiden and I helped him draw them on with markers as he was getting ready for school the next day.

At pick up that day, the teacher told me that she and the whole class had decided that Logan had the silliest socks!

 

The ones on the bottom made his feet all sorts of colors :)

…but are these your dead rollie-pollies in the living room??

Aiden is having a love affair with bugs. If he could, that child would spend all his time lifting the paver rocks from around our basement window wells to pick out rollie-pollies. He keeps some of them in a little bug “house” that Logan got for his birthday. Sometimes, he brings all his magna-tiles outside and builds complex living arrangements for his new pets. Sadly, they don’t last long and I keep having to dispose of his little friends…only to find him digging for new ones just hours later. Once in a while, the bug homes make it into MY home..specifically into the living room. I don’t mind much. It’s not like he’s catching spiders. Mostly the poor little creatures stay put until…again, I take them to the trash the next morning. We are having some landscaping done this summer which includes digging beds up to the window wells (which means no more paver stones under which rollie-pollies can be found). When Brian broke the news to Aiden just this morning, his little face settled into such a look of utter sadness that we instantly promised to build new places in the yard for hunting.

These are the two window wells in our backyard. The stones used to outline the covers…but this is prime bug-hunting ground so, of course, they had to go!

I’m not sure what happened to the flowers beside this one…something about Aiden and Ryan thinking they saw something fly in there. I guess they decided to “look” for it (aka: destroy the plant).

Unrelated story: Brady, Aiden and I were in Target the other day. When we walked out, right there in the middle of the parking lot, there was a mama duck waddling along with 7 baby ducks. It was so stinkin cute. Brady tried to get close, but mama didn’t like that much. She spread her wings and quacked at him. I got them in the car and pulled up alongside their little parade to take a picture with my phone. Brady held my phone the whole way home looking at the picture exclaiming, “duck!! duckies!!” When the phone would automatically go dark and shut off, he would complain, “no! duckies gone!” until I fixed it for him again.

Now how can I get my kids to follow me this closely while I walk around???

I was so excited for Mother’s Day this year. All the boys were making things in their various preschool classes. Not that it’s about the gifts at all, but they were all SO excited about their projects…Logan especially. He even teamed up with some neighborhood girls and did a project at home on his own. He drew with them for a couple hours one day in our dining room, then he drew and drew some more for days after (and asked me to call the girls on the phone so they could talk about their projects). He made me look away to staple the papers together. He hid them under his bed for safe keeping and even said that he hoped Mother’s Day would be sunny just for me. How stinkin cute is that?!

Brian made me a special breakfast, my favorite dinner and just generally tried his best to spoil me. They all took me to Target (on Saturday afternoon) to “buy mommy’s present”. I was led randomly through the store until we arrived in the toy section. Say What? Brian walked us to the wall of bikes, pointed at them and said, “pick one”. Super cool! I’ve wanted a bike for so long to ride with the boys! I got a cute purple one…which I tested by riding a short distance down the aisle at Target. Logan and I rode our bikes at least 4 times back and forth to the garden plot on Sunday. He’s fast!! Today (Tuesday), he was the leader at school. The teacher has them dictate a sentence about what they like and then picks a letter that they have to circle throughout the sentence. The sentence is written on a long banner thing that they bring home. Upon inspection of his backpack, I discovered that Logan’s sentence today was: “Logan is the Leader Today. I like going on a bike ride with my mom”

Here is the craft Aiden (or, rather, Aiben according to the card) brought home. It totally made me cry! I’m such a sap, but seriously!

It’s for recipe cards.

Here is Logan’s school project. I was super impressed by his paint job. He was SO excited about the necklace. I opened the gift in the lobby of the school because he couldn’t wait to show me. Both Aiden and Logan would question me whenever I took it off all weekend. Luckily, it goes with lots of outfits! The string is stretchy and, according to Logan, can “go over your head even if you have poofy hair”

Here is the card Logan did in class

My favorite part: the scraggly “I Love You”

I even got a card from Brady (handprints are big for mother’s day!)

Here are a few shots of the 18-plus-page book Logan made for me…

These are tulips I believe

These are weeds which he said were picked and put together so they wouldn’t hurt the flowers.

This is “a twirly whirly sunflower” – My favorite!!

I think Ella and Mackenzie taught him how to draw hearts…and a blue butterfly up the corner.

Many years ago, Whitney Houston popularized a song all about loving yourself. I think this is an important message and one that we all need to remember from time to time. Kids especially, I think, should be shown how to love their own strengths and gifts...maybe not compare themselves on every level to their peers. I’m thinking that I may not have to worry about Brady much in this department. Over the past few days, he has systematically removed all of his pictures from the console table on the landing at the top of the front stairs and has brought them down to the living room for prominent display on the stand in front of the TV. He hugs them, carries them around, took one for a car ride and yells at us if we try to move them. Pictures of Logan, Aiden, Logan/Aiden/Brady were left on the table…but any pictures of just Brady are now front and center in our house.

Since I love Brady probably more than even he loves Brady, here are more fun things I jotted down this week:

I think I’ve posted before about how Bear will NOT let us sing. Every time Brian or I start humming or singing (unless it’s bedtime and we are singing night-night songs in his chair) he gets angry and says “NO seeng-ing!” Well…the other day I was bopping him around on my hip and he informed me that there was also “NO dan-sing!” Fun hater.

Brady loves gum, but I refuse to give it to him because he eats it. When I try to fish it out of his mouth, he clamps his teeth shut and swallows it just so I can’t have it. This past week my purse was on the island in the kitchen. I found Brady standing up there, contents of the purse all over the place with a piece of gum in his mouth. He had pushed a chair over to climb up. He also raided Aunt Diana’s purse on Monday which was sitting on an entirely different counter top by climbing up on a bar stool. I would be happy to let him have it…if only he would spit it out after he chews it!!

Every few days, Brady decides he wants to pee in the training potty. This past week, as he was peeing, I told him “Someday you can also put your poops in there buddy!” You know what he said to me? “Oh!? Ok! GREAT! Tank-yew mommy!”

Refuses to wear shoes. hates them. takes them off or yells to have them removed. It was freezing one day at soccer and he, sitting on the sidelines, sat down and tore off his shoes & socks so that he could happily run around…freezing. I sort of understand. I think I was also that kid.

Despite the overall tone of this post, Bear is a super happy and funny kid. He is totally my comic relief and my protector. He pulls me away from even play fights where he senses possible danger and is never stingy with hugs and kisses for mommy. Sometimes, especially after I’ve just been yelling about something, he will come to me, wrap himself around my leg and say “it otay mamee. you happy? you happy!” One of his favorite things to say when the other boys are playing too rough is “CUT It Out!” If mommy is yelling too much he says, “Top it maaameee!!” (stop it mommy). Peace Keeper.

Every morning, Brady is the last to rise (God love him). I’ll get him dressed and send him off to go meet his brothers downstairs. Most mornings, he will stand at the railing along part of the second floor and yell down to Logan and Aiden, “dood morneen brudders!” (good morning brothers!)

One day I was in my room and I could hear Brady NOT taking his nap. Instead, he was loudly talking to himself saying “I Bat Nan! du-nu-nu-nu BAT NAN!” Bat Nan = Bat Man and the du-nu-nu-nu is the actual batman theme song. Oh…so YOU can sing, but not me? ;) He was also doing this while running through the field towards our garden plot last weekend…complete with arms out to the sides like wings and a “whooshing” sound to represent flying. The whooshing was throw in between stanzas of “du-nu-nu-nu BAT NAN!”

Once this past week, I dropped the side of Brady’s crib while he was in it to change his shirt. He thought it was the coolest thing ever and begged (in his Brady way…which is sort of yelling) for me to leave it down while he slept. I thought for sure it was going to be a nightmare. I was having flashbacks of Aiden climbing out of his crib 18-20 times during a single 10-minute period (with the side fully up that is). Brady, however, stayed put and has slept that way for 4 days straight. weird. But, as we always say…he may look exactly like daddy, but he sleeps like mommy!

This year, our park district is doing a community garden. For $20, you can buy yourself a nice-sized plot of land (20 feet X 20 feet) in what used to be a corn field…which just so happens to be located behind the elementary school in our subdivision (ie: within walking distance from our house). When I heard about the garden, I thought it sounded like fun…something different to do in the summer besides play in the front yard, play in the back yard, go to the pool, repeat. I also thought it would be a great experience for the boys. Brian was all over the idea and has subsequently taken us to a WHOLE new level of gardening. We now own a grow light, a couple heated mini green-house things, a soil tester do-hicky and a bunch of other stuff. We have maps (mostly drawn by the two of us in crayons…see pictures), graphs printed from gardening sites and seed packets by the dozens. We started a bunch of seeds in late March which have now, miraculously, turned into little plants!

The first day we had access to our plots was this past Saturday. Soccer and a birthday party precluded us from gardening that day, but we went out for a couple hours on Sunday to get everything set up (well…first we went to Menards for supplies like Peat Moss, Mushroom Compost <—which the boys were thrilled to hear contained poop cause that’s just too funny, and weed control stuff…OH and mini gloves and little gardening shovels for the boys – so cute!)

March 20th: Seed Planting

Here is one of the two mini greenhouses we now own (you plug them in and the seed tray sits on top of a little heating pad). FYI: We have the right of first refusal on our plot for next year (which means it’s ours unless we don’t want it) so we’re hoping all this investment pays off in years to come…but also, it’s super fun!

Some of the first seeds we started: squash, lots of different tomatoes, habanera peppers, jalapenos, cucumbers etc. We have since added some herbs and other things…I’m not even quite sure anymore to be honest with you. I keep finding flats of seedlings everywhere…only Brian knows at this point :)

Step one: water the planting disks until they turn from these little coin-looking things into puffy mini planting pods.

Here is my colorful and visually helpful ;) chart of what we planted on day one.

3 Days Later: March 23rd

May 25th: Look at the Progress our little seeds made in a month!

Brian also purchased a grow light (based on the advice of a co-worker who is a very serious gardener…one who starts his seeds in the middle of the winter!) We kept the grow light and the seedlings in the basement for most of the month, but moved them upstairs last week so they could start getting natural light and also so that we could take them outside for a few hours a day to harden them. I am happy to report that our little babies stayed out all day today (I just brought them in before dark)…such progress! (sniff sniff…they grow up so fast, don’t they…ok…I’m done with the jokes…I think…)

)

…and now my kitchen counter-top is a giant garden area. It’s all good…

Brian took to the crayon box and plotted out where we will be planting. We have also researched canning…on the off chance that all our plants actually survive and make vegetables!

Sunday, May 2nd: Garden Prep Day

Step one: a picnic lunch garden-side. I made sure to pick a plot on the outside of the whole gardening area so that the boys can run crazy in the field and not bother anyone (plus the elementary school playground is quite close as well). On Sunday, there weren’t too many people there, but I don’t want them wandering around the plots once everything starts growing so it’s best to have room to move

It’s hard to see, but here is our plot. This BIG area (which is not all in the picture) makes up 8 plots. In the distance, you can see that there are 3 rows of these 8-plot sections. We are in the bottom 1/2 of the garden so there is another section of 3 major plots to the West of us (view in this picture is to the North). I also didn’t take pictures of the massive watering things they have set up for us or the piles of mulch that we can use to make paths.

Step 2: clean the plot.

Logan and Aiden with daddy: ready for rock-hunting and weed digging!

The top soil was super wet so we all ended up with a good 1/2 inch or more of dirt on our shoes (this is a picture of Brady’s foot). Talk about a massively dirty shower when we got home…we were all FILTHY!

Step 3 & 4: Peat Moss and Mushroom Compost

Step 5 was fertilizer, but I had gone to the park with Logan and Brady so I missed all that. Aiden was busy catching bugs in the field. He found an iridescent beetle which he carried around with him, pinched between his 2 fingers, for over an hour. He took him in the car home with us and put him in our bug collector where he lived happily until Logan took the lid off to get a better look…and then he flew away (Aiden was NOT happy!)