Father's Day

We spoiled our Daddy this year!

First, we gave him his big gift about two weeks early because I hate to wait! 

This is the Lion and the Serpent sculpture by Louis Barye. I was listening to a youtube video of one of his classes and he just went on and on about this sculpture. Apparently, many of the staff have heard Ryan talk of this sculpture but because I am never able to take his classes, I had only heard of it the one time. 

With many, many different ebay searches, I finally found a replica that would be perfect. He was totally surprised and loves it. I have warned him that this is likely the best give I'll ever give him.

And we threw in this super cool stamp for all his many books! We actually held onto this one and gave it to him on Father's Day morning. 

 And finally, a picture of my boys looking like Daddy.

Milestones

It all started when the boys asked to have a sleepover in early May. They first night went so well that they ended up spending a few nights together on the floor of Nate's room. Nate stayed in bed until their little clock said they could get up.

Seriously, how cute is he?

But he is still my baby.

He is so grown up. They were in heaven having a sleepover.

So, we decided Nate was ready to be out of the crib. He was thrilled about his big boy bed and did fantastic.

Why stop there? We moved his crib into Ben's room and plan to get some IKEA bunk beds during a summer trip to Texas and reclaim Nate's old room as an office/catch-all room.

I was checking on him during naps and found him like this! He can sleep through anything.

We have also been potty training since about the same time. I planned to start once we finished our weekly Bible study since he was in a diapers class, but some really serious diaper rash started us a little early and we haven't looked back. 

Nate is showing you his Thomas underwear, by far his favorite!

 Gosh mom, this is so embarrassing.

  A starburst for pooping on the potty.

We thought this essential skill would never come, but finally, I think he has mastered it. There was a lot of scrubbing while he learned and I'll leave it at that.

 So proud!

He continues to do really well telling us when he needs to go potty. We are rarely having accidents anymore and don't have to rush to all public potties when running errands. That is the worst! He wakes up dry every morning and from every nap and has since the day he started wearing underwear. Ben is still waking wet each morning though, but we are thrilled to be almost diaper free in our house!

Touch-a-Truck

What came to your mind when you read Touch-a-Truck? Boy heaven!? That is just what it was. I cannot get over the fact that someone actually had the idea to get tons of massive vehicles in one place and let kids jump in the driver's seat and honk the horns. It was loud, but there were smiles and giggles galore! And the weather was gorgeous. We could not have asked for a better evening!

Our friend Jackson started with us, but he couldn't handle the loudness. I felt bad for him bc he LOVES diggers.

 Sitting in the scoop. Jackson covering his ears, Ben with his hand-made sun visor and Nate complaining it was hot (don't worry, it wasn't). 

 Driving a digger.

 Checking out some kind of old fire truck.

 The biggest dump truck ever. Multi-million dollar for sure! It really was larger than life.

And they got to climb up into it.

And drive it. Wow! See all three of my boys? The operator of it asked Ben to do him a special favor - honk the horn. Boy, did he!

 And they got to steer a real fire truck!

 Future fireman?

 My favorite - a military armored car. There was a guy in the back to chat with, a body shield and body armor. It was crazy cool!

 A crane truck. The boys actually got to hold onto the crane and they raised it up a bit where their feet were off the ground. 

 A sewer truck. They cleaned it up real nice for this. 

To keep the outdoor fun going, we went to a free outdoor event at Cabela's and the boys had a blast. Who knew?

Ben shooting a pellet gun. It took two fingers, but he finally pulled the trigger.

 Daddy had to help Nate, but don't think Nate wanted to give up his turn. He took his shots.

 Shooting a bow and arrow. The guys working it were trying so hard to get the boys to hit the target. The boys didn't seem to care either way!

 Nate finally hit one! With great assistance of course. So proud!

 And they had some cool animals. They are petting a Honey Badger.

Lately

I honestly can't believe I haven't gotten more complaints from the grandparents since my blog has been sparse for quite some time. Here is a fly by of the last couple of months in pictures.

We have spent plenty of time with friends! We have been relatively cool for May/June and have been loving it! 

 But some days are really hot and you just need to drink from the cooler.

 Brothers! At a staff bbq in the park.

Wherever I go, they go. We had a volunteer group repaint the kitchen where I cook for World Impact. The boys are inspecting their work.

 Checking on other work groups with Maren so mom can take photos for work.

 Another staff work day - getting to eat with the group without doing all the work. Perfect!

Painting. I could barely drag them inside because they were having so much fun.

Some mornings start like this. What more could a mom want?

The city is still tearing up our road. They dug a massive hole directly beside our driveway for the gas lines. The boys loved checking the progress. 

Only days after they dug our gas line hole, this happened just down the street. We were so thankful that it wasn't at our house. No one was injured, but it was quite a scene for a few hours.

Mother's Day

I am so blessed!

Soccer ended. Medals for everyone.

 We have planted beans with our friend, Linda.

 We have had a picnic with friends.

We have shared a hug with a friend.

 

We have been brave.

 Very brave...while the parents wrapped the kiddos for fun. 

And we have even photo bombed a friends 30th bday picture.

At least we brought a pretty cake and cake pops to make up for the photo bomb.

It's been a wonderful spring. Summer feels like it is here now.