Pickin' N Grinnin'

Mitch, Jake, and I went to pick Strawberries with my mom last month. Amazingly, I am 33 years old and it was the first time I remember ever doing this! We really lucked out, too...In a month of uncommonly HOT June days, we actually had a very nice day to go. Jake had a blast running in the rows with his basket, and Mitch actually got in there and picked some.

Ah...my little city boy, Mitch! We are in the middle of a strawberry field, with baskets full of strawberries, and he complains that he is hungry! So...I told him to eat to some strawberries... Seems obvious, right? Mitch says, "But, Mommy...they aren't washed!" He really needs to get out of the city some! :) After much explanation and consideration, he gave in and started eating...unwashed.

Ahhh...he may be a city boy, but he sure is a CUTE city boy! How can he wear a yellow hoodie, with shorts that are almost too small, hiking boots and white socks...and still look this cute?!

And this one....This picture so completely captures my youngest son! Sippy cup in hand, bruise on head, food on face and shirt! The only thing missing in this picture is his mischevious grin!

After we got two big baskets full of strawberries, we went back to my mom's. Mimi (my mom) played outside with the boys while I made my first attempt at home made jelly...with Mom's direction, of course! Yummy! It turned out great...and was surprisingly easy! This will definitely be a new family tradition for us!

Mr. Mischievous!

And you thought I was talking about Jake! Looks like Mitch isn't as innocent as he usually looks... Check out that look on his face!

And...Mr. Innocent is back...

Chocolate Cupcake? Really?

A few weeks ago, we all (Me, Gary, Mitch and Jake) went to a "Sip N See" for a college sorority sister of mine. The hostess (T-Lynn) had cupcakes that looked delicious, but I wouldn't let my boys eat them. I could only imagine the mess they would make...especially Jake. So, T-Lynn sent a couple home with me for the kids. Looks like I made the right move! I even scraped off all of the icing before I gave it to Jake! He doesn't really love it anyway...and it was green! Can you even imagine?
Mitch, on the other hand, loves his sweets! He ate Jake's icing and licked all of his off. I'm not sure he even ate the actually cupcake!

Monday Morning Playdate #1

Mitch had the greatest group of kids in his class the past year...and the perfect number... only 8! So...before school was out, we coordinated a little playgroup for the summer. Every Monday morning, we get the kids together to play.

The first one, we went to a park. Mitch was the only boy from his class that was able to make it, and he thought he was hot stuff! :) Of course, Jake just plays right in there with them, and lots of the kids in Mitch's class have younger sibling that are around Jake's age. Here are some pics of all of the little cuties!

I just love this picture of Jake and his little red cheeks! :)

Mitch and Lily

Jake and Nora (Lily's little sister)

The kids wore themselves out going to the top of this hill and running down...Little House on the Prairie style! :) From left to right...Sadie (Ella O's little sister), Noah (Ella A's little brother), random kid, Lily, Ella O, Ella A, Mitch

Mother's Day and Papa Jack's B-day

Last month we went to Gary's parents for Mother's Day weekend, and to celebrate his dad's 70th Birthday! Since it was Mother's Day weekend, Jack and Alex didn't go with us. Alex was with his mom for Mother's Day, and Jack was actually in New York on a school trip. And Ronnie (my oldest nephew) went to a NASCAR race with his dad...so it was just little ones. They had a really good time and loved playing together. Mitch, Wyatt, and Molly are getting old enough to really enjoy each other, and remember that they like to play together from time to time that they see each other.

That Saturday we celebrated Papa Jack's 70th Birthday! The kids had a great time playing outside ALL DAY!

Papa Jack with his 4 youngest grandkids! Wyatt 4 1/2, Mitch 4, Molly 3 1/2, and Jake 1 1/2

The Birthday Boy with all 4 of his kids! Gary, Tara, Lauri, and Matt (from left to right)...Don't worry...I'll spare the ages! :)

And...a photo I just couldn't pass up...

After a full afternoon of play...we all got ready and went to dinner for a Mother's Day celebration with Gary's mom, grandmother, aunt, and uncle...plus of course, all of the his brothers/sisters, and the little ones. Yep...we were very brave! :)

Gary (um...I mean the kids...) got me a new little camera for Mother's Day. I LOVE my Nikon DSLR camera, but it is not very convenient to carry with me places. So...I wanted another one that I could just toss in my purse. He got me the Nikon Coolpix, but it didn't take good pictures so he ended up taking it back and getting me the Cannon PowerShot Digital Elph...I love it! All that say...please excuse the quality of these next pictures...they were taken with the Nikon Coolpix!

At dinner, Gary gave me, Lauri, and Tara the best Mother's Day gift...He sat with the kids and we got the dinner off! It was great...and Gary is so good with the kids...so patient!

Sunday morning, we got up and went to church with Gary's mom. It wasn't until we got there that I found out they would not be having Childrens Church or the Nursery. WHAT!!??!! You mean Mitch and Jake are going to have to sit still and quiet in church for an hour?!? Okay...Here goes nothing! :) Actually, Mitch did great! It was Jake that was quite the challenge! He wasn't loud, but he sure didn't want to sit still! With Gary and Gran'ma Judy's help...we survived! Sure am glad I don't have to do that often, though!

Okay...one more update down, and only 1/2 a ton more to go! :)

The Little Stinker...

You just gotta love him! Jake has started wanting to stay in the garage when we get home from anywhere. I let him out of his car seat, and he doesn't want to come inside. I have a rocker in the garage that needs to be refinished, and sometimes Gary puts Mitch's booster seat in it when he takes it out of his car. The other day I walked out to the garage to get Jake, and this is what I found!

Like I said...you just gotta love him! You never know what the kid is going to do next!

Mitch's Spring Luncheon and Pre-K Program

A couple of months ago, Mitch had his Spring Luncheon at school. It was such a special treat to get to see him in his classroom and see what they had been doing this year. Then the entire Preschool also sang some songs for us! Mitch was glad to have me there, but absoltely beside himself that his Daddy was there! It was just too cute!

It is so precious to watch Mitch and his buddy, Tyner, together. They are inseparable at school! Aren't they too cute?

This is the class walking in and lining up for the singing performance.

And...Mitch smiling for the camera. He was going make sure that we could get an obstructed picture of him! :) (Yep, that's him on the 3rd row...peeking around the kid's head in front of him!)

How does he do it?

It is amazing to me how Gary gets Jake to sit still long enough to fall asleep on him, but he does! Jake has not fallen asleep on me since he was 4 or 5 months old. Oh...how I miss those days! He would fall asleep on me, and I would sit on the sofa holding him while he slept for 2-3 hours (while Mitch was napping in his bed). I knew there were a million things I needed to be doing in those hours, but nothing was more precious that time. It wasn't an all-the-time-thing, but every now and then, I just couldn't help myself!

Well, not so much anymore. My friend, Lindsay, says he climbs on all over me like a dog...and she's right. He won't sit still in my lap. He climbs up in my lap and then back down and over and over again. It's like he's afraid to sit still. But...not with Gary!

Is there anything more precious than a sleeping baby?

Get Ready!

Okay....Get ready....and check back often! I have tons of pictures to post! We've been so busy for the last couple of months that I haven't been able to stay on top of my pictures or my blog...but I'm motivated...I plan on catching all of you up on what has been going on and lots of pictures will be coming! Consider yourselves warned! :)

Wow! What a year!

Well, it official...School is over for the year...and what a year it has been! I took the boys to school on their last day, and couldn't even get out of the building before I got all choked up! And no...it wasn't because I won't have my 5 hours a week without kids for the next 3 months! It's because my babies are growing up so fast...and because they are leaving such wonderful teachers who genuinely love my kids!

Mitch has learned so much this year, in school and at home! He learned to recognize all of his letters and numbers. He learned to write his name and even to recognize his friends' names! He has made wonderful friends, and learned to share and take turns! He learned his bedtime prayer and can say it all by himself! He learned to draw stick people! He learned to sing songs for the preschool program! He learned to take care of his little brother! He learned who Jesus is and what he did for all of us! He learned to play Lego Star Wars on PlayStation! :) He learned to play computer games and put together puzzles all by himself! He learned to dress himself! He learned how to get himself ready for bed (go potty, get pjs on, get drink of water, and get in bed)! Oh...and about a million other little things!

And Jake...wow! How he has changed! When we started the school year last fall, he would cry every time I dropped him off, and again every time I picked him up. It was really kind of funny with the pick-up, but miserable with the drop-off. By the end of the year, he was going right to his teachers for some good lovin' as soon as we would get there. And when I picked him up, he would run to me with his great big smile (knocking over anyone or anything in his way)!

Now...we have a few months off. I decided not to put them in summer school. I may regret that decision later, but so far it has been great! I'm sure we will keep busy! We have plans to go to Six Flags with Gary's sisters and their kids, to Michigan to visit Christy, fun time at Mimi's, fishing with Pa, and will probably even go to spend a few days with Grandma Judy and Papa Jack. Not to mention, all of the fun with our friends right here! Don't worry, I'll be documenting all of it, right here!

Batter Up!

Mitch is going to be playing T-ball at the Y this summer, so Uncle Josh got him a batting tee. I think T-ball is going to be much more up his alley than soccer! He can really smack the ball! I love these pics of Uncle Josh and Mitch!

Party Time!

Mitch and Thomas (one of our friends in the neighborhood) are only 5 days apart, so we decided to have a joint party for them. We had the party at Pump It Up. For any of you parents who have never done or been to a Pump It Up party...I highly recommend it! They do everything! We took goody bags and cakes and that was it! They have two "Arenas" with different inflatables in each arena. The kids spend 40 minutes in each arena and 40 minutes in the party. We were even able to order pizza, ice cream, and drinks through them.

I think Mitch's favorite part was wrestling in the "jumpies" and "force fielding" Jack and his friend, Joe. Mitch is seriously into Star Wars, if you didn't catch that. If you ask him, he will tell you that his favorite part was all of the presents! Yep...he's 4! Here are some pics of the festivities!

Here is one of many pictures of him "force fielding"

He loves to climb the rock wall...but he always wants Daddy to help...no one else...just Daddy!

These are the four boys in his preschool class. Funny how they all grouped together, isn't it?

Here's the attempt at a group photo. There were way more kids there than this picture shows, but you try getting 20 4 year olds to all sit still for a picture! This is the best we could do!

Thomas's and Mitch's cakes. Thomas had a Wall-E cake and Mitch had a Star Wars cake. If you have never done one of these Pull-Apart cakes, you are really missing out. It is cupcakes (these have 24 each) that are iced together like a cake... no cake to cut...you just pull them apart and hand them out! Wonderful invention! We got these at Publix.

I made these goody bags for the party. I love doing this kind of thing...I just wish I was a little more creative by nature. By the way, as long as I'm giving party advice... Oriental Trading! You can't beat it for goody bags goodies!

Mitch and Thomas sharing the "throne"!

Mitch wasn't so sure at first when everyone started singing Happy Birthday, but he warmed up to it pretty quickly!

I know it was Mitch's day, but I can't complete this post without some pics of Jake enjoying the "jumpies" also! He was very clingy with me when we first got there, but Mimi eventually got him to go to her for a while. Before long he had warmed up to everyone except the men. It was really pretty funny... After Jake had completely worn me out carrying all 27 pounds of him up the steps to the gigantic slide, I made Uncle Josh take him. Jake cried the entire time Josh was carrying him up the steps. As soon as they got to the top and Jake got ready to go down the slide, he went straight from crying to laughing. He laughed all the way down...all the way until Josh picked him up at then end of the slide...and then he went straight back to crying! It was way too funny!

Jake going down the slide alone...the only way he likes to go!

Gary throwing Jake...he LOVED it!

After the party, Mom, Josh and Leah (my brother and his wife) came back to the house with us and spent the day. It was so much fun to be able to just hang out with everyone while the kids played! Josh and Leah are great and super patient with Mitch wanting them to play with him all the time! They are going to be great parents to my little neices/nephews one day! :)

Happy Birthday Mitch!

I can hardly believe that my little baby turned 4 last week! When did he change from a baby to a little boy who wants to go everywhere his Daddy goes and do everything his Daddy does? Where has the time gone?

Last Wednesday was his birthday and Mom, Dad, and Kathy (Dad's wife) came over to help him celebrate! They went in together and got him a Power Wheels. My brother had gotten him a little 4-wheeler for toddlers for Christmas a few years ago, and he had outgrown it...so he needed a big one! He wasn't too sure about it at first, but he's kind of getting the hang of it. I think I have him figured out finally...he doesn't like to be out of control, and he isn't totally certain how to control the Power Wheels yet. He is so concerned that he is going to run into the road, bless his little heart. Jake sure had a blast being driven around in it, though!

Don't you just love how hard he is concentrating?

Oh! And how about the haircut? Yep...I had it chopped off again! I know, I can't make up my mind if I like it short or long.

Mitch had his party this past weekend, but that is a post all on its own. Don't worry, I'll get to work on it, and it won't be another month before I get it up! :)

Wow! He's really becoming a man!

Last weekend, Jack had his Confirmation. For any of you who don't know what that means exactly, I'm kind of with you. It is something the Catholic faith does, and I am not always up on those things, having been raised Methodist. I've learned alot over the last several years, though, through Jack and Alex. To the best of my understanding, this is a time that is Jack's turn to Confirm his faith...to make the same promises on his own that his parents made for him as an infant when he was Baptized.

What an amazing day it was to see this wonderful "kid" taking one more step to becoming a wonderful man! I am so proud of him...the love he shows his friends and family, the friends he has chosen, and the decisions he makes on an every day basis! I feel so blessed that his dad chose me to be a part of his life, and am cherishing every moment!