Almost May!

I am so happy tomorrow is May 1st.  

Only 16 days of school left!

We are soooo ready for our summer off!

Reese hasn't taken a pacifier since he was 4 months old, yet this week our cleaning lady found one and we found another one in the diaper bag.  We also found two bottle stoppers.

The boys sat and read books for about 2 minutes this evening.

Our family loves Luigi's Italian Ice.

I had Friday off to take Reese to his checkup.  It was rainy and chilly all day.

The babysitter was closed on Monday to attend her son's end of the year field trip so Dave took off Monday.  It was 80 and sunny.  He took the boys on a picnic and to play at Hawn State Park.

Random...

Reese is a year and a half.  Dane and I have been talking about his 4th birthday.  

I can't believe they are growing up so fast.

My goal is to blog more about our days that are wild and crazy because they are going by too fast!

I took Reese to his 18 month Dr. appointment on Friday.  The construction at Missouri Baptist was insane.  We used Valet Parking because the only parking spot we could find was a mile away.  Dane was a little distressed when they "took" our van away.  We headed up to the appointment.  Dane kept busy on the tablet while Dr. Minnimeier checked out Reese.  He is still going strong at 97% for height and 80% for weight.  I looked back at Dane's records and found that Reese is 4 inches taller than Dane was at 18 months and weighs 3 lbs more!  WOW!  Reese got two shots, but didn't shed one tear!  We made Reese's next appointment, which will be when he turns 2......gosh, 2, already!!  We headed back down to the Valet to get our car.  We shared the elevator with two other couples and I got several comments, "Oh wow, I bet you are busy", "Bless your heart, you look tired!"  Dane was excited to give the lady our ticket to, "bring our car back!"  The couple asked lots of questions about the boys...how old they both were, if I worked, if I kept them full time over the summer.....they seemed very concerned about me, but were very nice about it.  When our van pulled around I put the boys in their carseats and I walked around to my door.  The lady said, "Wow, you can do that fast."  After the appointment we went to my parents house where my mom told me about a class she taught that morning.  She had a mom in the class with a 13 month old and then newborn triplets!  That would have really amazed those couples! 

Reese is loving this Cardinals hat and he wears it around the house backwards.

Sweet boys watching TV together.

Dane and I have been having lots of talks about his 4th birthday party.  He has LOTS of ideas about what he wants to do for it......

I am still getting up at 4:20 a.m. to head out to meet my friend for our 4:30 morning run.  We have been doing 2.5 miles about 3 days a week and 5-6 miles on Sunday mornings.  Dane always asks me, "How was your run with your friend, mom?"

I went through all of the boys' summer clothes.  Reese found these batman sandals in his closet.

Dave got this frame made for me when he got the boys' pictures taken a few weeks ago.  We finally got it hung up today.

18 crazy, busy days of school left!  A long list of summer fun is being made!

Lately...

These days have been crazy....sunny and warm one day and cold the next.  When we have a warm day we take full advantage to play at the park.....

Love having neighbors that NEED time with my boys!  They came and knocked on the back door to ask if they could have Dane for a bit to come make s'mores.  He loves them!

 Dane has really enjoyed computer time lately.  He mainly gets the time during Reese's naptime or after Reese goes to bed in the evening.  Sometimes he presses the wrong button and I hear, "Uh oh mommy."

Reese was able to grab a spoon as he reached into a drawer.  He then proceeded to scoop Max's dogfood from the food bowl into the water bowl.....GROSS!

I must have been taking too long to get dinner on the table.  Reese was ready to eat and climbed right into his high chair.

Dane informed me that Tracey gives him a "big" fork to eat with, not a baby one.

Reese is doing much better these days using his fork.

We are all pretty much addicted to Cherry Limeade lately.

I'm ready for summer break.  The kids are ready for summer break.

19 days left.  The days at school have been filled with third graders full of spring fever and summeritis.

After particularly challenging days at school and two very active little ones in the evenings by myself I have been especially drained lately.

It was so nice to come home to this today.......

bbq porksteaks, soaking in bbq sauce, made by my husband before he left for work this afternoon.

 

Next to the crockpot was a plate of chocolate chip cookies he made for us....

Definitely not needed by this mom, but definitely made my day better.

Reese has figured out how to open the sliding back door, even when locked.  Thank goodness for the 2X4 I can put in the door and for the alarms that go off anytime any door is opened.

He also enjoys grabbing my vertical blinds and swinging them.

On the "to do" list for the summer is to get rid of them!

 Loves his gogurt....

Dane has been teaching us all about recycling since they studied Earth Day and recycling at daycare.  Today he took a little field trip to the recycling center.

Reese has his 18 month appointment on Friday so Dane, Reese, and I will head to St. Louis for the day.

Love to hear all of the stats from the doctor.

The Boys

A few months ago Dave bought a Groupon to Picture People for me.  I happened to look at it a few weeks ago and realized it expired on May 1st.  This past Monday I had a four hour training after school, and no babysitter, so Dave had to take off work to watch the boys.  He decided to take the boys to People Picture to have their pictures taken. The boys did great and Dave came home with some great pictures and some special presents for me!

These two can be the best of friends....

They keep me on my toes.

Such sweet brothers....

I can't believe my little buddy is getting so big.

Only 25 more days of school this year and next year when school starts he will go to preschool.

He is into Power Rangers BIG TIME!  Everyone in the family is a different color Power Ranger.

He is so sweet!  On the way to daycare in the mornings he will say, "I love you Mommy", at least three or four times.

He is constantly on the go.  He wants to run outside, play baseball, and race Reese and me.

Reese is growing up so fast!  

He wants to do exactly what Dane is doing.

He is a happy little guy, but starts to melt down around 7:00 p.m......he still can't stay up much later than that!

Still climbing on everything...he has now mastered the bar stools in the kitchen and climbing into his highchair by himself.

We are loving the nicer weather.  We play outside all the time!  Only 25 more links left on our "How Many Days Until School is Out for Summer" chain!  We are excited for our summer adventures!  We have already started our list and are ready for some fun!

Our Week

We are so happy that the days are getting a little warmer and brighter!

Dane and Dave started out their week at Baseball.

He carries all of his baseball equipment in his bag with the football on it!

He is always so excited that he acts crazy during picture time.

Reese is doing so much better with his spoon and fork, but pasta is still a bit messy!

 

These last few weeks have been crazy so I haven't been able to plan any meals.

Trying to keep these two entertained and safe while I cook is hard.

Sometimes we have to get the bowls and spoons out to play with so I can actually get dinner made.

Reese, as usual, climbing over or under whatever he can.

I asked Dane to play with Reese while I went to the bathroom.  I came back to this.

One of Reese's newest, favorite activities....

He can't quite see in the drawers, but he reaches in, feels around...

Pulls out whatever he can grab and then throws it on the ground.

Friday night I had a very much needed Girls Night Out!

I enjoyed happy hour with my friends before heading to a painting class at a local winery.

I was so nervous about painting that I forgot to take pictures until I was about half way finished.

Here we all are with our finished products.

It was so fun and the artist made it very easy.

I can't believe I actually did it.

 

It looked good enough, at least to Dave and I, to hang up in our dinning room.

Time outside on the beautiful weekend.

 While Reese napped on Saturday afternoon Dane and I made a "How Many Days Until Schools Out For Summer" chain.  We are going to tear a link off every morning before we leave for school.

 This little guy has been so funny lately.

He will get his blanket and sit in his rocking chair when he is ready to go to bed.

Dane loves this little stump in the trees.

Worn out from the weekend!