Videos of Nathan Talking

A couple short videos of Nathan talking. I have been wanting to get him saying Lightning McQueen on video for awhile now. Its just so darn cute.

Photo Dump

I take alot of pictures. And only a small portion of those make it into my blog. So, Im going to try and start dumping a bunch of our random pictures that dont make it into our daily blog here.

I made this artwork for the boys' playroom. I got the idea online. It was fun but a very messy project. Before you get too impressed, it isnt hung yet :)
I found Nathan hanging out like this the other day. Binky, monkey and crammed into a toy bucket. He seemed comfortable.
Justin took this picture of me because I was standing next to my favorite color wall while we were bowling. He also told me he would NOT want a wall that color in our house. Sigh - life with boys.
Evan with a giant jaw breaker in his mouth.
Nathan in the town firetruck at the firehouse open house. Funny thing, the little boy standing behind him is my friend from middle school's son who we bumped into unexpectedly, I love our small town feel!
Dyeing rice for a project.
Deer in our garden, now I know what ate all my zucchini plants at the end of the season, next year a better fence!!!!
My hat I crocheted for winter.
Nathan in an epic meltdown. Face bright red. Tears. But still holding on to his binky!
A look and find I made for the boys!
My birthday cupcakes YUMMMMMMMMMYYYY!!!!!!!!!
Evan and Nathan, this is a sweet photo, not staged, of the two of them. They are such buddies.
Nathan sporting some Fall clothes, finally getting to break them out with the cooler weather!

Fall flowers, some of the last from our garden for the year, sob.

Happy October!

This weekend our family split up and had some "big kids" vs. "baby" fun. G was taking Nathan to a concert to see a "baby show" that the boys had no interest in. So, I decided to plan some fun "big kid" only activities with Evan and Justin. We made a list of all the fun things we like to do that we can't with the baby in tow. Then we did them!

The first on the boys' list was mini golf. A recipe for disaster with the baby. The big boys however, had a blast!!! We also did the pitching machine and batting cages at the golf place. Justin can pitch 27 mph balls and Evan pitched 24 mph balls! It was so much fun!!

After mini golf we met up with my parents for lunch at one of the boys' favorite restaurants, the Weathervane. Resturants with the baby are a nightmare for many reasons: food allergies, short attention spans, etc. This was a real treat.

Then the boys and I went big ball bowling (something you could NEVER do with a baby). Justin is quite the bowler! He got SIX spares in one game. It was such a fun day. Im so happy I got to spend some special time with my older boys. Im thinking we need to make this a tradition of sorts!!!

And meanwhile...at the concert...Nathan and G during the concert:

The cast:
G and John and the kiddos:

G brought Nathan to his first concert! He went with his friend John, his wife and their daughter who is the same age as Nathan. If you don't know what Yo Gabba Gabba is I envy you, and also implore you to watch some on you tube. Nathan LOVED it! He sat enthralled for the entire show not nearly even shifting in his chair except to "break it on down" (thats part of the Yo Gabba Gabba lingo). They had amazing 3rd row seats which was a real treat for the kiddos!!

Nathan had his first dentist appointment this week. I have no pictures of the event though, because my hands were wrapped around Nathan's squirmy body in the dentist chair. Loving the dentist as much as you know I do, you can believe that the whole experience was much more traumatic for me than Nathan. I love our dentist though, he is so practical and great. Having a daughter the same age as Nathan there was no "is he flossing?" or "its time to give up the pacifier" discussions because LETS BE REAL, those things are not happening in our house. Any nearly two year old parent will understand. Nathan had no cavities and has one killer overbite (there is some technical term for this which is something like you-will-owe-thousands-in-orthodontics but I cant remember). And so begins our every 6 month trips to the chair. I figure, with three children now on regular visits, Im actually at the dentist 6 times a year, or every other month, which is a whole lotta dental visits for someone who breaks into a cold sweat just typing these words. The things we do for love and good teeth.

We have been trading sickness around our house for a few weeks now. That combined with all the rainy dreary weather has made for some long days. Im hoping that the sun comes out and I can air out the house to let these germs all out!!!

Nathan at the concert:

Jumping Game

Evan went to his friend's birthday party today. I was lucky enough to attend with him without the other two boys, thanks to my mom who babysat for me. The party was at Chuck E. Cheese, which might possibly be my least favorite place on Earth, or tie with the dentist. But people rarely have birthday parties at the dentist, and as it turns out lots of kids have their parties at Chuck E. Cheese. Dont believe me? This is our THIRD Chuck E Cheese party since August. Its only September. Sigh...

Anyways, Chuck E Cheese has this fabulous game called the jump rope game or something like that. I got this awesome video of Evan playing the game. Take a look at Evan's feet as he jumps, its absolutely amazing!!! This from a boy who a year ago could not jump with two feet. Ever. Let alone timing his jumps to the game. This video brings a tear to my eye. How far Evan has come in such a short time. How hopeful we are for the future.

September

Its nearing the end of September. To be exact, we have 9 more days until OCTOBER. It blows my mind that October has snuck up on me. And while I've been clinging to the idea that summer is NOT over. It is. The sweatshirts and even pants have been dragged from the back of the closets and drawers (as an aside I love dragging out the pants after a season-long hiatus to see just how much the boys have grown when they put them on and discover they are at least two inches to short). I love Fall, dont get me wrong, but I had a few more summer bucket list items that never got experienced this year.

The weather is still reasonable enough for the park. The past couple weeks we have been to our favorite park in our town quite a number of times. This park has been recently updated and pretty much has it all for the boys, to include a fabulous rock climbing wall that Evan is getting really good at! Look at his little leg muscles!!! So proud of that.

The boys have been enjoying their time together more, now that school is in session and they aren't together 24/7. I snapped a cute picture of the three together on the couch watching Cars. This movie has been resurrected from the depths of our dvd case and watched repeatedly for the past couple weeks. All three boys love it and are obsessed with it. We cant wait for Cars 2 to come out on video!
One of the best parts of Fall is visiting the farm with the corn box (thats corn in a sandbox for the non-locals). And it is fabulous. It was Nathan's first experience in the cornbox. After reminding him several times that even though this looks JUST LIKE what you eat, its not, so dont, he had fun playing and only once tried again to eat it.
This cornbox just cries out to you to put your bare feet in it and feel it in all its glorious cool soft/hardness. I know its gross but it had to be done.

I bribed the boys into taking a picture with creepy-pumpkin-man with me. They (sortof) obliged. Justin wouldn't sit anywhere near the pumpkin dude, he was scared. My kids are so not ready for Disney World.
At least Nathan liked him!
The boys have been really into arts and crafts lately: paints, playdough, coloring. Its pretty great that all three can do an activity together for any length of time. Nathan really likes playdough.
And coloring. And anything his older brothers are doing.
It seems that Nathan knows he will be turning two years old soon (two years old - MIND BLOWING). He has been doing his best impression of a terrible-two year old. Its pretty convincing.
Thats his mad face. I think I told him he could not have the second bag of fruit snacks he found in the back of the drawer that he was rummaging through while I was not looking.

The boys and I have settled into a decent routine with school and homework and activity schedules now. Evan started tball last weekend, he isnt playing through the town this year, because they dont have a town league for tball in the Fall. But, he is enjoying the indoor class I got him in. He and G play together in the class, and it is special bonding time for the two guys on the field. Justin started gymnastics. He is in an older level this year and its alot more intense and serious. His class is 1 1/2 hours now. He is the youngest one and definitely the smallest but he seems to be able to keep up and likes it.

Our goals for the end of September include finishing the shed project in the backyard that is probably 75% finished currently. G is anxious to get his car back into the garage before the cold weather and snow, which means moving all our lawn toys and equipment out and into the shed. Im hoping to can the rest of the tomatoes that are on the vines in the garden before the first frost. Our current tomato count is just over 200 for the season. I also would like to try and dig up the horseradish and see if I can preserve it as well.

Then and Now - Butterflies and Boys

The boys in 2007.
The boys in 2011.These pictures shows what a difference 4 years makes! The boys are impossible old looking compared to their former baby-selves.

Then and Now - Go Carts

Justin on the go carts 2011.Justin on the go carts 2007.