Almost there!

We are just one short week away from summer vacation, woohoo!  While it hasn't been too hard to adjust to working life for just 3-4 weeks, it will be nice to have a less strict schedule.  Particularly in the mornings, so I can enjoy cute smiles like this!

Fatman Ike went to the doctor for a check up.  He's weighing in at 15lb 7oz, which puts him in the 97th percentile for his age.  Wowsers.  Despite his behemoth status, he has figured out how to roll from tummy to back pretty consistently now.

I received this picture from our nanny, Laura, last week.  Sam was having such a grand ole time playing that he fell asleep in his toy box.  Classic.

Had to capture Isaac's cute, fat hands.  See the dimples on his knuckles?!

 I took the boys to the lake for the first portion of Memorial Day Weekend.  We celebrated some spring birthdays.

 And Isaac got to see some cousins and meet others for the first time on this first trip for him to the lake.

 Noah and CJ picked up playing like old friends.  They are looking forward to a special trip with Pops and JoJo, just the two of them, to the Dells in July!

 Sam often talks about seeing Kate, so imagine his excitement when he finally got to see her after a long time apart!

Ike was held by just about everyone, including Mary Kate.  Typical 3rd child, he takes love from anyone and everyone.

 We had a butterfly kit this spring, a gift from Aunt Andrea.  It was fun to get caterpillars, see them form their chrysalis, and then come out as butterflies.

 We had our releasing ceremony this week.  Sam opted for jammie wear as he often does.  

 Good thing Daddy was there, I decided flying bugs creep me out.  They are beautiful to look at from a distance.

 Noah had his last day of Preschool on Wednesday.  What better way to celebrate than ice cream?!

 Can't believe how big this guy is!  Just a few short months and he'll be gearing up for Kindergarten, yowza!

Great Gifts!

I love May!  For many reasons; the weather is getting better, the school year is ending, my birthday happens (which as I get older may not be nearly as exciting), and there's Mother's Day!  So usually May is a month of great gifts!  One highlight of the birthday (aside from magical fantastic cupcakes Mike brought home that were so good) was this Keurig drawer from my brother.  I had given myself the one-cup Keurig as my "push" present to myself when Ike was born.  Now instead of random cups strewn all over, I have a nice drawer that holds 36 cups!  That should be enough to get me through, what, 4 days or so?

The big boys have really been good to each other lately.  Noah is a GREAT big brother and always willing to help.  Sam is working hard on decreasing the whining and learning to share space with his brother.  What better gift could a mom ask for?

Yep, mommy was drinking the Pinterest koolaid again.  This time it was cloud dough.  It's 8 parts flour to 1 part baby oil.  My kids love sensory experiences that involving digging around, etc, so it was a big hit.  And it gives mommy the gift of time to get things done and peace..

...well, sort of peace!  After one time in the kitchen I quickly learned that this is a more appropriate activity for the deck.

One great gift we have had this school year is Bamma!  Boy, are we lucky that she's retired!  Our Mother's Day gift to her was a card that involved butt prints.  No, I'm not posting pictures of painted butts even if they are pretty hilarious and cute!

 These three guys are the greatest gift any mom or grandma could EVER have!  The tattoo on Noah's head?  Let's just say that's a bit of payback from Josh for a certain dragon tattoo that my cousins and I convinced him he needed on his forehead way back when.

This guy turned 2 months old!  He's given me the gift of sleep, sometimes making it from 10pm-3am.  Not too shabby, since I went back to work this week.  I need all the sleep I can get!

After a busy first week back at work, we finally had the gift of a day at home with very little planned.  The boys love their doggie!  And she tolerates, um loves, them too!

Sam has been working on his independence with getting dressed.  When you tell him he needs "nice" clothes for church, this is what you get!

 The gift of Daddy snuggle time, priceless!

 Noah's class got to sing at a "Family Live" church service this week.  He only has a few short days of preschool left and then it's summer!  

 We are so thankful for all our gifts, but the greatest of all is a happy healthy family!

Pack in the fun!

So, as I prepare to head back to work next week, we've tried to cram in just as much fun as possible in the last week or so.  We visited Daddy at work and had giant pizza slices.

 Isaac continues to do well sleeping...

 ...and smiling!

 We made some puffy paint thanks to pinterest!

 We celebrated Cal's birthday with him by attending the Palatine big truck show...

 The big boys had fun (well except here where Sam lost his mind for a bit) while the babies (Ike and Hattie) stayed at home.

 The weather has been fantastic lately, so we've spent a lot of time out on walks gathering dandelions, etc

 We have further investigated smoothie recipes.

 And we found a local (less than 5 miles from our house!) train restaurant where a train actually brings your food.  It was Monday, so we had a great family day there!

 Isaac's chub just won't stop, anyone notice the cleavage on this kid?!

 We have had fun supervising the outdoor construction/landscaping at Bamma and Bampa's new house.

 And Sam got a legit, real haircut at KidSnips.  It took 3 adults to manage him and promises of lollipops and toys to make it through...

 The result was great, considering the kid bobbed around screaming the entire time!

 We built a bottom bunk fort (yep, pinterest again) that also serves as a nice curtain in the early mornings for Sam and will hopefully prevent him from waking up and jabbering to his brother at 5:30am.  

 We celebrated my birthday with these amazing cupcakes that Daddy brought home.  They were seriously about the best thing I have eaten ever (and I've eaten a lot, trust me!).

 We got a glimpse of what Ike's hair does when he gets sweaty...

 And how his head is actually the same size, if not bigger than his older brothers.  How 2 brothers could look more different....?

 And lastly, Isaac is trying to spur on the home team.  And, for the record, that onesie is 6/9 month size.  Yep, big guy!

So, whew, that sums it all up for now.  Wish me luck as I head back to work and try to juggle this motley crew with the other motley crew of kids at school!