Moving on... some recent updates

1. I think I'm coming to grips with the fact that I got behind on blog updates and I'm just going to have to move forward without trying to catch up.

2. I borrowed some clippers from our neighbors last week and cut the boys' hair by myself. $50 saved... woo hoo! I think I'm going to borrow them again this Wednesday to clean them up before vacation.

3. We leave on family vacation this Thursday morning!! We are all super excited, probably most of all Ryan. He asked me when we were going about 20 times yesterday... although he is a little skeptical about getting on a boat. The three boys are packed so now I need to get busy with the rest of the stuff.

4. Chicago marathon training is in full swing... but it's HOT and getting hard to get runs in some days. I did get to enjoy a 7 mile run in 60 degree weather last week in Denver for work. My long run so far has been 12 miles (three times) and I'm supposed to be up to 18 in a couple of weeks... eek!

5. Speaking of hot... we did some playing in the backyard pool and hose last night to cool off. We'd tell Ross to jump in and he'd bend his knees and jump but his feet wouldn't leave the ground. Had Russ and I laughing pretty good.

6. As I was packing for family vacation and frantically searching for some 2T shorts that we didn't seem to have anymore I decided that all of the boys' past clothes were a mess and needed fixed! I found some size 4 clothes that Ryan never wore because that tub was unknown to me, etc. I spent several hours last week starting and then finished it all up yesterday. Ryan came home from a movie and helped too - he loves being a helper and loves sorting and organizing! I'm proud to say I found LOTS of 2T shorts (in a tub with 3T shirts - go figure) and got ALL of the boys clothes sorted, organized and labeled for future seasons.... more money saved :)

7. I moved positions at work. My new team is located in Denver, CO so my calendar has many 4:00 - 5:00 calls on it. Between that and trying to decide how I was going to do three different drop offs in the mornings, I FINALLY came to the logical conclusion that I just couldn't continue to drive across town to our home day care any longer. Our boys have been to Beth's house for almost 8 years now. It is a bitter sweet good bye as she represents peace of mind and comfort for us but we're also looking forward to more flexibility and more time as a family as I save over 90 minutes in the car each day.

JUNE

Wow, I missed a MONTH (well, almost a month and a half)... I'm not sure the best way to go about updating but I'm going to attempt it with some pictures and quick captions. Will probably take me a couple of posts to get through June.

School's out! I forgot that I had taken this picture but it cracked me up. When Reid brought home his school supplies on the last day of school - these were the pencils he brought home. However, not the pencil on the right that says 'happy birthday'... I put that one there for contrast to show how small his pencils were. One was split in half and the other is nothing more than a nub. Someone please remind me to check in with him mid year and ensure he has some suitable pencils at school... sheesh!

Summertime -

Reid has been asking to take karate for at least a year now. We've been telling him that he's too busy with other activities and needed to wait for summer. We bought a three month pass from his school's silent auction for $17 - score! He's LOVING it and seems to be doing really well.

Aunt Courtney came to visit!! She was able to stay for over two weeks and was a great help and a lot of fun. She babysat, washed windows, did laundry, helped with meals, etc. We also squeezed in quite a bit of fun - a trip to Olive Garden, Cars 2 in the theater, Tbones game, Schlitterbahn (water park), bike rides, walks, and of course playing on her iPad (above).

Russ took the boys out of town for an overnight (more on that in another post) so Courtney and I took the opportunity to go out to eat with Ross. We went to Olive Garden and he was pretty good. Here he is enjoying his spaghetti.

This was obviously a pre-meal picture because his shirt was still clean but I just had to throw it in... I think he really looks like Ryan in this picture.

The boys completed swimming lessons in June as well. Ryan missed one day because he had croup (which included an urgent care visit in the middle of the night) but still did really well. He was in the 5-6 year old class and was able to complete all of the skills except for a couple. He'll probably take the same level over again next year. Reid passed his level 1 class with flying colors and is swimming really well.

I mentioned Schlitterbahn up above. Courtney and I took the older two boys one day while Ross was at daycare. We got there at 11:30 and stayed until almost 7:00!! It was by far my best day of the summer so far. We had so much fun. There aren't a ton of rides open at the park yet (still under construction) but it was enough for us. I loved how they let you bring in coolers. We got a picnic table and took drink and snack breaks while re-applying sunscreen. I could go on and on with how much fun we had - something I definitely want to do again some day, and the boys are STILL talking about it too.

This was Ryan on the way home from Schlitterbahn! It didn't take long for him to completely pass out. I changed his trunks into shorts and put him to bed where he slept all night long... and then we left the next morning for our trip to Hannibal (Fourth of July Weekend)... more on that weekend in a later post.