Random.....

We are back into our school schedule and are surviving.

 

It has been a little rough waking these sweet boys up in the morning.  Getting up myself hasn't been so easy either.  I am still on "summer bedtime".  Once I put the boys to bed I start "projects" and the next thing I know it is 11:30 and by the time I lay down in bed it is midnight.  1:30 in the afternoon is usually a bit rough for me!

 

The boys are LOVING every minute at Tracey's though.  They are both such affectionate boys that they give her hugs and kisses all day!  Dane loves that they have started learning about animals that live in the water.  They got to pick their favorite animal and Dane picked the penguin.  He is always telling me something new that Tracey taught him.  Reese is moving up at Tracey's and now as mealtime with his one year old buddies.  Tracy told me not to bring any more babyfood!  Little Reese is signing "more" quite often these days!  He loves his "new foods".

 

We are working on getting our balance back.  Lots of added responsibilities this year.  Still dealing with Dave's crazy schedule.  Two very active little boys.  We are BUSY!

 

A few pictures from our weekend.......

 

My little men getting ready to head to Great Grandma's house!

 

The kids hanging out at Aunt Katie's wedding shower.

 

My sisters, my sister in law, and the kids (all but Big Trey, who had a playdate)

 

 The boys hanging out with Mama at Family Brunch on Sunday.

An Afternoon on the Lake

After Dane's birthday party Aunt Katie, Taylor, Delaney, and Trey stayed to spend the night with us.  Saturday evening we just hung out and played games.  Sunday morning Dave got ready to take everyone out on the lake.  Reese was just about ready for his nap, so I stayed home with him. 

 It looks like they had a blast.  I know everyone was exhausted when they got back!

Taylor and Delaney

Trey hanging out on the boat

Delaney, Trey, and Dane

Wild, little man!

Delaney and Trey swimming in the lake!

Delaney and Trey on the tube

Taylor and Trey

Dane loved watching Trey.

 

It was a fun day for everyone!

The End of Summer.....

I can't believe summer is over.  The boys just got up and we snuggled on the couch, all of us still in our pjs.  I have a list a mile long.  Some things I have to do before tomorrow morning when the boys and I head out the door at 6:50 a.m. as we start back to our "school year routine", some have to be done by Wednesday night when we have Open House at school, some by Friday, our first day or school, and others are things I hoped to get done this summer, but that didn't happen.

Though my to do list is still long, we have had a great summer.  We have loved waking up to Reese as our alarm clock, having "pj days", snuggling on the couch with Dane during nap time, staying up a bit later to finish a movie, taking late afternoon rides (so that Mommy can get a Diet Mountain Dew), playing outside in the evenings, taking walks, and running through the sprinkling or sliding on the slip n slide.  We have spent afternoons building race tracks and train tracks and have baked "special treats", as Dane calls them.  Dane's love of baseball and golf have grown. Reese loved watching his big brother.

I am still a little behind with blogging, but hope to be catching up soon!  I am also working on a photo book of all of our summer activities.  As I was preparing to work on the photo book I started a list of everything that we have done this summer.....Wow, it's alot!  Some days Dane would wake up and ask me, "We going somewhere today mommy?"  If I said yes I would hear the following questions MANY, MANY times! "Is it in St. Louis?  Are Mama and Papa coming?  Do I get to see Trey and LuLu?  Will Baby Trey come too?  Is Claire Bear going to be there?   Can we sleep at Mama and Papa's house tonight?"

 Dane loved all of our outings.  He would have such a blast and would just run and laugh and just enjoy doing anything I planned.  Reese was just so chill.  He would hang out in his stroller, look around, and usually nap a bit.  We often planned trips that involved heading out in the morning, before it got too hot.  We would eat lunch and then head home.  Usually my trips home were very quiet as both boys were fast asleep.  Regardless if we came back here or went to my mom and dad's, the boys naps would usually last a couple of hours and I could recover from our morning out.  When I was resting I would often think.....I am this tired and I only have one moving around.  The other one is contained in the stroller.....watch out next summer!

And so, this summer we have:

***Played at the Lake Forest Beach

***Rode the Amtrak Train from Kirkwood Station to Union Station

***Susson Park Petting Zoo (several times)

***Played Dodge Ball with the big boys at Trey's Birthday Party

***Had a BBQ with extended family

***Visited with Dave's Aunt Gail and Uncle Virgil from North Carolina

***Had many family BBQs

***Spent the day with Deanna, Luke, and Brody

***Played at Sugar Creek Park

***Zoo (many times)

***Race for a Cure

***Lake Forest Playground (many times)

***Farm Day at Susson Park

***Lake Forest Pool (many times)

***Sleepover at Trey's house

***Welcomed Baby Trey to the family

***4th of July Carnival

***4th of July Fireworks

***4th of July BBQ

***4th of July Parade

***Blueberry Festival at Daily Bread

***Swimming at Mama and Papa's house

***Wild Bird Sanctuary presentation at Kirkwood Library

***Downtown Kirkwood Outdoor Concert

***Celebrated Dane's birthday

***Had Aunt Katie, Taylor, LuLu, and Trey spend the night

***Went out on the boat

***Had Cousin Camp

***River City Rascals

***Hawn State Park

***Grants Farm

***Several sleep overs at Mama and Papa's house

***Watched Reese go from scooting to crawling!

***Watched Dane go from diapers to underwear!

We have had some fun times!  It went by too fast!

As I got the boys' things ready to take to Tracey tomorrow Dane told me he was excited to see Tracey and his friends.  At the beginning of the summer he would ask me everyday, "Is it still summer?  Do you have to go to work?"  He might be kind of ready to head back to his school year routine.  I am sure time will continue to fly by.  We are already filling up our calendar with some fun Fall activities....Back to School BBQ with family, Football Games, Disney on Ice, Wedding activities and wedding, and Reese's First Birthday!



Dane's 3rd Birthday Party

Dane's 3rd Birthday was on July 21, 2012

He is a firetruck maniac these days, so the theme was easy to figure out.

My little fireman

Cute water bottles

M&M party favors

Firehats and firetruck treat boxes

"3" birthday cookies...a family favorite!

Birthday cake with my adorable fireman on it

A wreath on the door to greet the guests

Dane was so excited about his firetruck pinata

A 3 pretzel from Pretzel Boys- another family favorite!

Birthday Boy!

Little brother, Reese, wore his firetruck shirt to the party as well.

Dave put up crepe paper 

Ready for lunch

After lunch we opened presents.

Dane got a baseball necklace just like his best buddy's.

He was so excited!

 

Trying to check out his water table

Time for birthday cake!

Blowing out candles

A normal picture of my family these days....two wild little boys!

Time for some baseball outside.

Poor Kevin, they wouldn't let him stop.

Pinata time!

Help from Daddy!

Still trying!

Thomas hit it and ran!

More help from Daddy

It was a fun party with all of our family and friends!  I think Dane had a blast!

Still can't believe he is 3!