Ahhhhh! I can hardly keep up!

Whew! Seriously, it has been a whirlwind of activity around here lately. I need to figure out a way to add more hours into the day! There have been so many cute, funny, silly, exasperating, and unusual events around here lately, I wish I had the time to blog every day to document them all. However, that's obviously not going to happen, so I'll just have to rely on my memory (uh-oh! it's not as good as it used to be!) along with my trusty pictures to help capture a few of the moments ....

The snow around here has finally melted. Hallelujah! But, the boys did have quite a bit of fun playing in it the last couple of days it was around since the temperatures were tolerable. Probably the thing they all enjoyed most was what we like to call "Spring training with snowballs." You see, back in the day, Corey was quite the baseball player. He even had a tryout with a pro team. His excitement for teaching his boys the games is unmeasureable. It gives me such joy to see him working with Riley and Gage and all three of them having a super good time!

Here they are practicing their wind up.

Our mailbox was the target. Boy oh boy did it take a beating!

Riley has a heck of an arm. Power and strength are definitely his strong suit. However when he throws at full strength, he reminds me a little of Charlie Sheen's "Wild Thing" character in Major League. A lot of heat, but no accuracy.

He got frustrated missing the target so decided a close up shot was in order = )

Once he tired of throwing snowballs at the mailbox, guess who he thought we would make a great target? Is that an ornery look, or what?

Gage, oh Gage. He quickly grew tired of throwing snowballs when he found this big ice chunk. He decided it was snack time. Yuck! Who knows what was in that? I finally had to just take it from him because no matter how many times we told him to put it down, that it was pooey, he would just respond, "No it's not. It tastes good!"

Thankfully the warm weather has allowed us to also get out and about and enjoy some outings to the park. We have sooooo missed these this winter!

Gage climbing up a curved ladder. He is so proud of himself! Last fall, these curved structures, as well as the rock climbing walls, caused him much grief. But now, he is such a big boy he has them mastered!

I soooo love catching these looks of joy as they exit a fun ride down the slide!

Ha! Gothca! Mr. Riley had been intentionally avoiding looking at the camera for a while so I had to trick him by gasping and saying, "Oh my gosh!" He quickly turned around to see what was the matter. Such a mean mommy! Don't worry, he got me back for this by bullrushing me and tackling me. Oh the joy of being a mommy to a rowdy boy = )

Another big smile at the end of a slide ride = )

Ahhhh. A relaxed mommy and daddy at the park revelling in the release of cabin fever!

Let's see, what else is going on? Riley was having some real difficulty at pre-school recently that I think was brought on by some staffing changes. I ended up having to be "that drama mama" and had some discussions with the teachers and administration to get things figured out. His awesome teacher's, Miss Crystal and Mr. Ashley made a few changes to his routine. He is now allowed to spend several hours a week in the next level up - kindergarten class as they think part of his trouble was boredom. He is really thriving in there! They have also assigned Riley several "teacher helper" responsibilities that he is required to do each day. This has also helped a ton. He loves to be a helper and be in charge. It is amazing the difference in his attitude toward school and the now mostly good reports that get sent home. Riley even wanted to make special bracelets for his teacher's the other night while I was completing some jewelry orders. So sweet! Thank goodness both he and Gage are in such a good place where the teachers and adminisration listen to parent's concerns and do everything in their power to help the children be the best that they can be. Thank you!

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In other news, Gage is now in big boy underpants! He is doing a fabulous job! He so loves his big boys pants and will gladly show anyone and everyone. He tries so hard to keep them clean. There's been a few oopsies, but we are so close! Wow, could it really be true? Could we finally be done with diapers in our household after 4 years straight with two boys? I can only hope!!!

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We've also got big things coming up. Riley turns 4 on Friday. Woohoo! He is getting so big and makes us smile and laugh every day! It's been a wild ride since he came into this world on the day the twister/microburst hit Lawrence and I imagine the craziness will continue. Thank you for all of the excitement Riley Shaw = )

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Also, Corey's dad is having quadruple bypass surgery and heart valve replacement next week. I'm sure everything will go smoothely, but any prayers you can send his way are greatly appreciated!

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And finally, we are heading to Denver next week to see my sister, Tracy. I can hardly wait! It is always so great to see her and we all definitely need a vacation. I'm looking forward to reporting back from the our great trek to Colorado = )