Let the celebrations begin ...

So, this Thursday kicked off our annual week of celebration ... it begins with Corey's birthday on the 27th, then our anniversary on the 30th, and ends with my birthday on the 3rd. Whew! That's a whole lot of celebrating, but we love it that way = )

The boys wanted to give their daddy "a whole bunch of colorful balloons" for his birthday. So we gave him 10 balloons in a rainbow of colors. I should've taken the picture right away. By the time I took this one, we had been home approximately an hour and a half -- 2 balloons had already bit the dust and 2 more squired away from the bunch for the boys' own personal play things = )

I think the boys were more excited to open daddy's gift than he was!

Riley was definitely more excited after the gift was opened and put together! A new, motorless lawn mower. Fun, fun, fun! Riley loved pushing it up and down the driveway, but came to tears when he couldn't push it in the grass. He's pretty strong, but just doesn't have enough weight behind him to get it through the grass himself. I think his confidence was crushed. Poor guy! Anyhow, Corey really likes his mower. And, what I think he likes the most about the mower is that I like it, too! You see, I never mow. I do not like the noise, the smell of the gas or the hot grass. But, with this thing, mowing was actually fun and good exercise. I even mowed the whole backyard for him on Saturday. That made him smile = )

While I was mowing, Corey started his newest project -- building a pergola over our back patio. It's shaping up nicely, can't wait to see it completed! Of course, when there's power tools and wood involved, Corey had more help than he could handle at times. The boys wanna be just like daddy! Riley especially loves drills and screwdrivers. Fun, fun, fun!

Gage on the other hand couldn't get enough of climbing the ladder. He would get so upset when it was Corey or I's turn to use it! He could hardly wait to get back up there and say, "I'm soooo tall! I'm higher than you! I can see FOREVER!"

Here's our little fruit fanatic. He ate practically half a small watermelon all by himself plus all but 4 strawberries out of a carton --- in less than 2 days!

Thank goodness he likes the healthy stuff = )

In order to keep the sanity -- and allow Corey to actually get some work done -- the boys and I visited several parks over the course of three days which is always a blast! Riley is getting so strong. He loves swinging at the top of each slide and easily flying across the monkey bars. This boy is all go, go, go!

The pergola in progress ... and the handsome devil that I was lucky enough to celebrate 12 years of wedded bliss with on Saturday. Happy Anniversay to my hard-workin' man = )

On Monday morning Riley woke up before everyone else. We heard him tinkering around in the kitchen and asked what he was doing. He said he was making us a special breakfast. This is what he presented us .... frosted brownies sprinkled with .....

no, not powedered sugar or sprinkles ......

it's Parmesan Cheese. Mmm, hmmm, yummy.
He was really bummed that we wouldn't try them. He kept taking bites saying, "They're delicious! They taste sour!" Well, that's a ringing endorsement for brownies if I ever heard it!

Well, that pretty much sums up our fantastic time together over the long weekend. Wish we had more full days together, but tomorrow it's back to the grind. Oh well, at least it's only a 4 day week, plus we still have another celebration to enjoy as well. Looking forward to see what crazy things my boys come up with!

Entertainment at its best ...

Oh my silly, billy boys. They keep me laughing all day long (when they're not causing steam to come out of my ears, that is = )

First off is my quick on his feet / too smart for his own good eldest son Riley. The things this kid comes up with just amazes me sometimes. For example, he and I were discussing what the appropriate punishment should be for something that is beginning to be a bit of a bad habit for him. I want this unsavory behavior to stop immediately, so we are taking the hard line with him. While explaining that he will get no more warnings if he continues his shenanigans, he countered with this ... "How about instead of you giving me a spanking, I just give you a big smooch?" All the while with his cute, but ever-so-ornery little grin. I tried, but I could not hold back the giggles on this one. Oh boy, he is so smart. If only he would use his powers for good instead of trouble!




Then there's Gage. So sweet, so compliant ... welllll, mostly compliant anyhow. No matter what question you ask him, he will tell you the correct answer (i.e. answer you want to hear) in his sweetest and most sincere-sounding voice. However, his follow-through is not always as on point. He's trying, though. My mom says he sounds like a politician in the making. Oh, boy!



While watching American Idol the other evening, there was a young teenage singer on named Justin Bieber. Maybe you've heard of him? Apparently everyone else in America has besides me. Anyhow, after watching the little teenage phenomenon sing, Gage couldn't stop immitating the guy he calls "The Beaver Boy." Ha! Anyhow, here's his rendition of his song "Baby" ...

Lastly, this weekend Corey started the construction of the pergola over out patio. I can't wait until this is completed! In the meantime, however, the boys want to offer their daddy just a little more help than he needs, so we got a little something to distract them and enjoy this summer ... thank goodness it's finally getting hot out!!!!!

Mish Mash ....

Well, the content of this post is all over the place ... which is fairly appropriate as this is how our lives have been lately ... here, there, and everywhere. It's exhausting, fun, exhilirating and crazy all rolled into one. And I wouldn't change it for the world = )

First off, here's a shout out to my little fellas for their awesome Mother's Day presents they made for me! The most beautiful cards in the world with cut out shapes glued on them. LOVE them!!! Also, Riley and Gage each handpainted little cardboard flower pots and grew little Marigold plants from seeds in their classrooms. They started this project a long time ago and were so excited to present these to me. Toooo cute = )

We've also been busy at our house planting wildflower seeds in various locations. The boys and I are so excited to see them start growing. It's been a fun project for us and has brought about many questions about growing up. It's so amazing to see the little lightbulbs go on above the boys heads when the finally "get" the connection about growing. We've been doing a lot of comparisons with the flowers and the boys in regard to how the right food and water will help each of them grow big and strong. Of course, we usually end up on some far off tangent by the end of the conversation ... but that makes is even more fun! For example, Riley weighed himself the other morning and he now weighs 40 lbs. I told him that was awesome and that he was getting so big and strong because of the good food and water that he's been drinking. His response was, "Yeah! Now I'm 40 pounds! Now I can go shoot a gun and go deer hunting with Papa! And drive a car!!!" Hmmmmm, not quite what I meant, but that's just one of many differences in the way the mind of a 4 year old works and the mind of a 30-something year old mom works = )

And then there's Gage. Sweet little food-lovin' Gage. There are several things that have stuck with him from our trip home last weekend, but the ones he talks about the most, of course, involve food. The first one is Tiger Soup. What's that you say? Well, the boys were enjoying some soft serve DQ vanilla ice cream at their Grandma and Papa's house and wanted some chocolate syrup with it. Upon mixing these two thing together, the swirled chocolate really struck a chord with our little redhead and he deemed his creation Tiger Soup. He now requests this daily and gets just as excited each time ... although, he definitely knows it's cute and really hams it up as he's stirring his "Tiger Soup." His other food memory is Grandma's delicious fruit salad with "ALL THE FLAVORS!" He'll then continue to name each fruit that was in the salad. It's amazing the things that stick with these kiddos. I made the fruit salad twice this week for our little foodie, but the 2nd time I didn't have any pineapple. Oh my goodness, did I hear about that the whole time he was eating!!!! "Mmmmm, mom, this fruit salad is good! It's got apples and bananas and peaches and strawberries and blueberries. It's delicious! But, it doesn't have pineapple. I really like pineapple ... " Oh Gage, always one for the details = )

This little video is the boys new favorite kamikaze thing to do. The rides on here are mild compared to some of the craziness that can happen on the whizzing trip down the decline of the driveway. They sure are good at finding new ways to make their mom's heart rate rise!



Other than that, this past week and weekend flew by so fast. Nothing really of note occurred, just all of the daily stuff that fills up every second so fast. Riley has been requesting to go swimming at the beach almost non-stop. I would soooooo love to take him, but Mother Nature needs to get her act in gear fast. These dreary rainy days are for the birds! Yesterday, even little forever-on-the-go Gage had apparently had enough of the dreariness. I snapped this picture at about 5:00. Corey and I were doing some cleaning around the house while Gage and Riley were reading books and/or watching cartoons. The next thing we know it has gotten eerily quiet, which typically is not a good thing if you know what I mean. So we peak into the living room to expecting to catch the boys in some type of shenanigans, but instead found this sweetness ...


Yep, just snuggled up in his cozy cocoon and taking a little snooze. Could he be any cuter? The rest of us decided he had the right idea so we spent the rest of the evening just relaxing and not doing much of anything. What a great night! Now we're all rested up to take on whatever this week has to offer = )

Two of the best weekends ....

Oh, if only every day were a weekend day, that would be the best! I seriously live for the weekends and we have enjoyed two of the best that we've had in a while. Two weekends ago we had family and friends come up and stay with us which is always fun. The big boys headed off for the races in KC and had a total blast! Here's a pic of one of the Indy cars ... they were sooo close to the action!

While the big boys were out doing their guy stuff, the girls and I hung out with the little ones and had our own kind of fun ... 2 parks, lots of cooking, and tons of giggles = )

Adorable little Maylin -- she just makes you smile!

The boys ... "big" Cooper, Riley, and Gage ....

there's only a little bit of ornery going on between these three ...

Ha! If you believe that, I've got some oceanfront property for sale = )~

After some long days of fun, relaxing by the firepit in our backyard

is the perfect way to wind down

Uncle Jamie was the lucky target of the boys wrestling energy ... cousin Hunter even enjoyed getting in on the action!

Whew! So much fun packed into two days! After going back to work to recuperate, we headed back to both Corey's and my own old stomping grounds for some great fun. Dad and Corey did some turkey hunting which they both enjoyed, then my parents were awesome and watched the boys for the night so Corey and I could venture out to the big city of Dorrance, KS ...

Riley and Papa ... can't you just feel the love?

One of my great friends from high school has a pretty successful band based out of Austin, TX. We used to travel to watch them if they were within a couple hour drive, but since we have had the kiddos, these trips have all but come to a screeching halt. So, getting out to see them again was super fun. What helped make it even better is the show was held 10 miles from my hometown and a ton of people I grew up with showed up. I haven't seen some of them in almost 20 years ... talk about a blast from the past! Also, this show brought back some great memories of how terrific it was to grow up in a small town. For the show, the mayor blocked off Main Street with cattle guards, set up a stage in the middle of the road, charged $2 a pop for 3.2 beer sold from some card tables, and let the band play way past the allotted time. Gotta love that kind of small town get together ... good times for sure!

A portion of the Russell High School class of '92 ...

we'll forgive Jen for the K-State shirt!

Dancing queens ...

Too much fun!

Rock 'n Roll

Whew! That one took a couple of days to recover from, but was soooo worth it! Looking forward to doing it again next year = )

Secrets and "Cookie" Hunting ...

I so wish I had the time and the memory to record all of the hilarious and oftentimes informative conversations that we have with our children. Many of my favorite talks with them occur on drives to and from pre-school. They are just so open during that time and their little personalities and their unique ways of interpreting the world around them is just so apparent. The boys' teachers do a fabulous job of providing the agendas of what will be covered each day and send home some really great recaps that include everything from what they ate, how much they ate, how nap time/quite time went, the boys tempermants, struggles and accomplishments. As a mom, I love these so much. But, what I love even more is hearing the boys explain their day. Seeing things through their eyes is so much fun and can vary greatly from the description of even the most discriminating adult.

On the way home yesterday, I asked the boys what they learned about today. I already knew that this week's focus is family, but wanted to hear their perspective. Gage piped up first saying, "Momma, we learned about family and about Mother's Day! I made you a beautiful Mother's card. It's a secret!" As I tried to hold back the giggles since the "secret" part was obviously lost on Gage, he finally caught on and breathed out an unsure, "Uh oooooh." To which Riley quickly came to the rescue, "Gager, it's okay to tell mom. We don't keep secrets from our mommy. It's always okay to tell her." This made my heart so happy. Riley really does listen to what I say! I went on to let them know how proud I was of them and reiterated that they can always tell me anything. As family, we shouldn't keep secrets from each other, because telling the truth is how we protect one another. I hope they keep this lesson in their hearts and minds forever (especially during the teenage years! ... I won't hold my breath on that one, though = )

The Mother's Day conversation got us talking about what we were going to do for the boys' grandmas since it's Mother's Day for them, too. Riley immediately started in that he wanted to go see Grandma Soukup right now and give her hugs and smooches. Such a lover! I explained that we couldn't see her tonight, but we could call her and let her know. So we dialed her up and Riley gave Grandma an earful, then it was Gage's turn to hold the phone and talk. He immediately wanted to know where PaPa was. When Grandma answered that PaPa was turkey hunting, Gage got super excited and exclaimed, "I want to go COOKIE hunting, too!" Oh that boy, always something food-oriented on his mind. After the giggles died down, both Grandma and I reiterated that PaPa was actually hunting a big bird called a turkey, not cookies. Gage thought that sounded okay, too -- but the level of excitement waned measurably. Such a little foodie, that one.

So, still on the topic of Mother's Day, though ... I am so excited to see my secret Mother's card and to visit our family and celebrate together. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend as well!