Superstar!

Isn't he cute! He saw his brothers playing with sunglasses the other day and did not want to be left out. He is 17 months old now. He is walking and climbing all over the place. He is pretty good at communicating without having a lot of words. He loves to laugh! Sweet boy!

Looking pretty

As I was trying to get myself ready for a date with the Captain, the test pilot walks in. He says, "Mom, you look pretty. Why do you always have to look pretty for a date?"

I replied, "Daddy likes it when mommy looks pretty."

The test pilot thinks awhile and then says, "So when you go on a date the girls are supposed to look pretty and the boys are supposed to be handsome."

I think he's got it.

Note: It is particularly challenging to look "pretty" when it's 100 degrees out and you are sweating as you apply make-up.

That's why God gave us big brothers

Crash and the test pilot just finished two weeks of swim lessons. (Man, am I glad that is over.) Crash is at the stage where he is just not certain about putting his head in the water. He would blow bubbles with his sweet teacher Miss D but that's it. She tried for days and all different techniques but no luck.

On the weekend in between lessons, the Captain and I took all the boys to the pool with a goal of trying to get Crash to put his face in the water. We did not do any better than her.

The other night I had put Crash and the test pilot in the tub and left for a second to go get towels out of the dryer. As I am coming back I hear, "Mom, mom he did it!" The test pilot had taught Crash to hold his breath and put his face in the water. Both boys were beaming. I am sure glad God provided Crash a big brother.

The handy men

I casually walked out into the garage the other night and saw this. "Hey did you know that our 6 YEAR OLD son is running the band saw?", I frantically ask the captain. "Yes," he calmly says.

End of discussion.

The captain is an excellent teacher. That is one of the things I love about him. He is so patient with the kids and lets them do lots of things (that other parents may not let their child do)because he is willing to put in the extra time to teach them to do it properly and safe. The test pilot actually did a good job and was very safe but the mama in me is not overly thrilled yet.

We found these tool belts and accessories at Lowe's around Christmas and grabbed them for the boys. They are always stealing daddy's tools so he thought this would be a good solution. They love to put on the whole get up whenever they are in the shop with dad.

They came with real tools but they are just smaller for little hands. They love being with daddy. He is teaching them to use a level, a square, and the hammer. So far no injuries.

Are you eating butter?

Warning: This was posted by a really, really sunburned lady. You can feel the heat radiating off of me. Please take the advice that I just learned about. Throw out your sunscreen and buy new stuff every summer. I had to learn that the hard way. Ouch!

Have you seen that commercial? I can't remember what it is for. Anyhow, the dad walks into the kitchen and finds one of his boys eating butter because the boy is so hungry. That has been a standing joke around here knowing full well that may be my reality sooner than later.

We are in the middle of swimming lessons. They go everyday for two weeks. It has ramped up their metabolisms like I have never seen. So we have spent a lot of time around the table.



The test pilot looks at me after I have slaved over his meal (and before I have even sat down to eat my first helping) and asks, "What else do you have?" Because he has already inhaled his meal.

Crash barely made it through the first day of lessons because he was whining that he was hungry. Now we eat granola bars right before lessons and have something else in the car to eat to hold us over until we can drive home and get lunch.

Wingman doesn't participate in the swim lessons but he loves to participate in the eating. He wants a snack at the lessons and then he proceeds to bang his hands on the table until food is presented before him. Lovely table manners. We will work on that.

I can not tell you how many extra times I have gone to the grocery store this week because we ran out of _______. I am doomed when they are teenagers.

Baby it's hot outside!

Well, it's early June and we have had days hitting 98 degrees with a heat index of 105 degrees. Yeah it hot outside. We decided to have a little fun in the sprinklers the other night.

I just love our new backyard. Look at the beautiful grass. The Captain revived the sprinkler system that had not worked in over 9 years. We would not even try this at the old house. Too many weeds and stickers.

Even the baby got in on the action. He does have a swimsuit but he was so hot and he had a diaper rash and he's just cute naked so there. Look at those rolls.

Tonka trucks

This activity has been a favorite since we started going up to the cabin. I am not sure what my parents had in mind when they bought these Tonka trucks but this is what the kids do with them.

They all sit in their truck at the top of the ramp to the barn.

Then they take off riding down the hill attempting to steer and not take down any of the adults or do damage to a mini van.

My dad was amazed the test pilot still fit in his truck. Let's just say his quads got quite the workout keeping those long legs up.

Then Wingman decided he wanted to get in on the action. He thinks he's three years old. So I put him in the stroller and we would run along side all those crazy boys. He thought it was hilarious.

After awhile they all decided that they should have helmets which is probably good since they kept running into each other. Do you see how dirty Crash is? He had dirt up his nose. Don't ask me how that got there.

Fun at the cabin

We had so much fun at the cabin as usual. It's in the most beautiful place ever and we get to hang out with some of our family. We spent the weekend with my parents and my sister and her family. There is just so much fun to be had. You can swing with Nana.



You can play Star Wars with your PVC pipe light sabers which are also good for chasing off the bears. Yes, we did actually see bears this year. It's so dry up there that the bears and other critters are venturing close to humans in search of food.

Or you can ride the teeter toter. It's fun to watch the kids try to balance each other out. This toy also turns the back side of our pants pink which is quite interesting.

This was Grandave's cool new toy this year. The ATV was very fun. All the kids loved it even the mamas.

Here's me and my sister. Awww! Good picture dad! I never really thought we looked that much alike growing up but we actually look like we are related in this picture.

Last Day of School

The test pilot had his last day of school right before we left our trip. I can't believe he's finished kindergarten. We had a great year. I was the room mom so I was able to get to know a lot of the kids. He had a good class.





Here he is doing a celebratory jump at the end of the year.






We loved Mrs. D. She was the perfect teacher for our boy. We pray that we are as fortunate next year.

They had a little awards ceremony for their class. The test pilot received the "Smiley Face" award. The class has behavior charts that they use everyday. Mrs. D starts each child with a smiley face at the beginning of the day and if you misbehave your face changes and this brings consequences. The test pilot had kept a smiley face all year long. We were so proud of him.

Now on to first grade!

Got to catch up

We are back from our adventures with mounds of dirty laundry so in between loads I am going to try and catch up on some posts from the last several days.

Wingman is now walking so I took him down to the big city to get his first pair of shoes at Stride Rite. He has wide feet just like his brothers so we are destined to be good customers for several more years. Aren't these little shoes so cute? The mom and the PT in me were happy with our purchase. Now we are ready to get moving.


Then one day I get a call from pre-school. It seems he is falling (literally) in the footsteps of his older brothers and hit his head on the door hinge at school. They said it bled a lot but he did not seem too upset. He got his first butterfly band aid.



Maybe we better stick to assistive devices for awhile until we have this walking thing mastered.

Gone for awhile

The kids and I plus one nephew are spending the week at my parents' cabin and house in NM.  We are having lots of fun, getting very dirty, and playing a lot of Star Wars.  Note: PVC pipe and duct tape make the best light sabers.

I will post lots of pictures when we return.  

PS- I miss NM!  It has the most wonderful weather and terrain.  Sigh.