H-O-T

Spring is officially here. The frogs are singing, the green buds are popping up, and the kids are filthy! Filthy from all the fun they've been having outside. Today it is 76 degrees out, I have the whole house open, changed all the kids bedding, have the bags mostly packed except for a few last minute things. Tomorrow at this time we will be on our way to Myrtle Beach. We are thrilled to get to the ocean. However, looking at the forecast for the next few days here, it seems silly to leave. Tomorrow is supposed to be 80. Luckily, the temps and sun look promising further south. I will try to post pictures while we're there. Enjoy spring break, wherever you are!

Sunshine Makes Us Happy

My blogging has been delayed lately. We have been embracing and enjoying all the nice spring weather we've had. The boys are typically outside from the time I pull into the garage until we pick up Elle or they're called in for dinner. It is SO NICE! Here are a few pictures from the month of March. Thrilled to play baseball.
We almost have enough for a team, right??

Trouble on wheels: Hmm, I sure hope this kid gets a helmet for his birthday!
"Christian, how old are you going to be on your birthday?"

TWO

Working very hard to figure out how to put up only 2 fingers

Headed out for a family walk/ride

At daycare, the kids read books about frogs and learned an adorable song.

They even made frog cupcakes. How wonderful it was to come home and enjoy them on the new picnic table . Look how sunny it is! Yeah!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from our Little Leprechaun

Elle made this adorable disguise at school but wouldn't put it on for a picture. So Christian did!

It has been a busy couple of weeks. Look for upcoming posts on our new niece, Grandma and Grandpa's visit, and the boy's combined birthday party. Whew! No wonder I have no time to blog, some thing's always up. Plus, we are busy packing our beach bags to head South next Thursday for Spring Break.

The Promise of Spring

Ahhh, this week was delightful. and crazy. and funny. and stressful. and sunny. and promising. I sit here on Friday night in shock of the blur of the week we just had. I had conferences, we had Elle's conference, Carter had the stomach flu, I had a few crazy instances at work, Christian was up to some serious shananagins, and I am in the midst of prepping for a birthday party for the boys next Friday and YEAH! The in-laws are coming. And double YEAH!! Our niece will be born next week. So many blessings. I am promising myself to carry my camera around next week, because I haven't been good about snapping pics lately. I will do better this weekend and into the week. The kids played outside everyday this week. They loved it. It is certain that we need a paved driveway because these boys are attracted to mud. It is unreal the magnetism between them and the gooey brown stuff???? Maybe one of these days I'll just go out there and join them to see what the fuss is all about.

Elle and I went and volunteered at a function at her school tonight. It was fun to help out the older kids. They had an over nighter for reaching their reading goals. Those parent volunteers are amazing. We just stayed until 7:15 to help out. Then Elle and I went to Target. for 2 hours. by.ourselves. It was really quite amazing. :) Scott called to check to make sure everything was ok. Unfortunately, Elle enjoyed it just as much as I did. She spent a long time contemplating the perfect gifts for the boys. They will love them. I NEED a Big Wheels for Carter. I almost rang the clerk's neck since they were all sold out. Arrrgh! Must go to more stores tomorrow.
Tomorrow,hm mm I should get to bed, I am still in the midst of training for this 'run' I have to friends who are running with me tomorrow morning. I am doing 10. They will be here to pick me up at 6:30. I should go sleep. Good night all. Happy weekend!

The sound of melting

The 50 degree weather and FULL on sunshine has postponed a Monday blog post for me. The boys are out playing baseball and I can hear them since I have every. window. in. the house. OPEN! Headed outside to play!

Moorlag's Motor House

Sometimes the kids come up with the craziest fun! Sunday afternoon the kids decided to fix Christian's car. They got all their tools and gear and worked on fixing the car. Boy, the car had all sorts of trouble: leaking oil, bad tires and a mysterious noise. These kids must pay really close attention when Scott takes them to get the oil changed at the dealer. Either that or they've been around Grandpa Blackmer while he's done some mechanical work. Who knows. It was cute and they were very content for A LONG TIME. Taking their jobs very seriously

Working on his car

I love how they creativly "jacked up the car" so they could get underneath.

Winter Break

One of the many perks of teaching affords me a few breaks throughout the school year to spend days off with the kids. In mid-February, we had a long weekend so the kids and I packed up and headed to the Children's Museum for the day. Ella and Carter helped me pack our lunches and we headed through the snowy weather to downtown G.R. It was well worth the snowy trek, the kids had a blast. To end our special day we went through the drive thru at McDonald's for a medium strawberry shake and two small orders of french fries (weren't we living large? Those who know me best know that we don't DO fast food very often.) The milkshake was a first for our family. The kids thought it was so wonderful. Crazy that they are 6, 3, and 1 having their first milkshake experience. It was memorable. So glad we have special days together like this! Here are a few pictures of our fun.

Peek a boo

Playing in the barn

A little ice fishing

Playing dentist...look at those huge teeth and toothbrushes

The BUBBLE area

Needless to say we spent a long time here, had oodles of fun and came away a little drippy

SUCCESS! yes! Look at the concentration on his face

Going for the big bubble

Can everyone fit in that button

The ups and downs of an "almost two year old"

One would think that a mom would be able to recall with precise clarity the roller coaster ride each day is with an "almost two year old" in the house. We've experienced it twice before and it was not-so-long ago with Carter and Ella. However, Christian keep us on our toes. His birthday is in a few weeks but he has bits and pieces of "terrible two-ness" that he demonstrates on a daily basis. He has so many things he does right now that CRACK us up. This picture capturing one of them. This maybe his favorite toy. He spends endless time throughout the day playing in this. He comes to me, stretches his little neck out for a kiss and says, "bye mom, going work." He takes our car keys and proceeds to "go to work". His new addition to this game is to "get dressed" and pack his cell phone in the back compartment. He also likes to wear my work id clipped to his shirt just like I do. This is precious and hilarious, and oh-so cute. I love this game and I don't ever want him to stop playing it. Scott and I have been trying to decide what would be the perfect gift for our little guy who gets all the hand me downs. We wish there was some "add on" for this thing like a wagon to pull behind, because seriously this little car brings him so much joy.
With the advent of all the language and adorable-ness that a two year old brings, there are also just a few characteristics he is demonstrating that are....well....not-SO-cute. The quicklist of these goes something like this:

• growling, scowling followed by some barking gibberish if he is upset with you or a sibling
• getting out of his crib and playing with toys while he is supposed to be napping
• stripping off his clothes and diapers at random
• hiding our car keys and cell phones
• using his stool as an extra appendage aka stilts to lift him to new levels of things he shouldn't have
• throwing things in the toilet
• jumping into the tub fully clothed more than twice
• emptying my cupboards and drawers
• pulling ALL the toilet paper of the new roll
• calling and crying for me in the middle of the night a couple times a week
• taking toys from one of the older kids
• coloring on the kitchen floor with markers and generally making dinner preparation harder than it should be

All of these things can be frustrating but he is so dang cute and precious right now. I am brought to tears to hear him sitting in his crib singing "Frosty the snowman" and "Jesus loves me" over and over. Ahhh, how is my baby turning two in a few weeks? Time is flying. for sure. I better soak up all these wonderful moments.