Crafty boys

So my super summer challenge of doing something GREAT every day didn't exactly go as planned or hoped for, but overall it was great. In addition to going to all sorts of fun places we also did some crafty things. A couple of which Jake initiated all by himself My apologies for how wickedly unhappy he looks here. I don't even remember why he looks this way, but Parker in the background is pretty funny! Anyway, he made a sock puppet by taping lego pieces to make a face. Stringing popcorn and macaroni noodle necklaces. Of course they ate more than they strung. Is that a word? Jake constructed vehicles out of tupperware, jewelry boxes, crayons, pencils, tape and legos....etc We did a Home Depot workshop where they built and painted moving trucks. That was awesome And here's a drawing of Cousin Tate flowboarding that we sent to him at sleep away camp. I wish we had done more crafty things, but I'm not gonna lie, I prefered leaving the house and going somewhere than staying home to do such things. Oh well. We still had a great and memorable summer.

An end of the summer trip to the zoo

and I think we spent more time in the gift shop than we did looking at animals, but whatever. It wasn't 9,000 degrees in the gift shop. It's a shame Sponge Bob made it into this picture but Baby Parker did not... There he is, although not looking at the camera... How cool is that? Nolan let the deer lick his hand too and then he proceded to lick his own hand afterwards. Gaga or Doc McStuffins must not have traumatized him about germs yet... Parky held a hermit crab while a creepy one winged owl kept a close eye on us. It was a HOT, but fun way to end the summer.

I obviously need to fix my layout here with the pictures and text. Everything is coming out all wrong. Hopefully my next post will look right...

Daddy goes to college

We went to visit Brock and his team on his lunch break at school last weekend. The boys wanted to wear their fancy shirts to impress daddy's friends. Brock had to actually "meet" with his team during lunch so the boys chatted up one of the team members wives the entire time we ate. After lunch we walked around Winter Park and had some frozen yogurt while we watched the beautiful people and beautiful cars go by :)

Kindergarten! Holy crap

Ok I know I have three months to catch up on prior to Kindergarten but I feel like I need to start with this and work my way backwards... Being a stay at home mom is a struggle. For obvious (I think) reasons. This summer I devoted my time to the boys dedicated to make it a great summer together before they went off to Kindergarten. It was a loooooooong summer and though we stayed pretty busy, we were ALL ready to be done with it. But nothing could have prepared me for the heartbreak of their first day of school. Sure I figured I'd cry, just as I did every other first day of school for them since they were 2.5, but as the first day approached and nerves crept in and just the thought of it made me cry, I feared the actual first day would be a doozy. And man was it ever. I sat at my kitchen table and sobbed like someone had just died. It was kind of ridiculous. My heart was completley broken! As a SAHM mom I DREAMED of breaks and alone time and quiet. I thought Kindergarten would be my medal for surviving it all. I earned it. But no. It was more like a punch to the stomach. My babies were gone. Away from me. All day. Without ME!!!! How can that be?? It's not right!! They're MINE!!! I grew them. And they're supposed to be with ME! And five days later as I sit here writing this, tears still drip off my chin because it just feels STRANGE. Did I spend enough time with them? Did i do a good enough job? Do they know how much I love them? Will they be ok without me? Could I have done anything different? Better? The babies that I wanted more than anything...that I prayed wouldn't die inside my belly...that i was fortunate enough to stay home with every single day...did I take them for granted? Did I complain too much...yell at them too often? Well. We have made it through our first week. Day 1 - The above picture is where Parker started to cry for the first time of the day. The teachers instructions to put their backpacks, lunchboxes and water bottles away were too quick for him and he couldn't keep up. How I didnt run over and grab everything and do it all for him I don't know. Their teacher said they're very eager to please and Jake wears his heart on his sleeve. They've cried every day for one reason or another and that about rips my heart out. (sigh)

Not so identical

I looooooooove Parker with these spikes. He refuses to let us do it again though

Pre-k Graduation

My Pig 1 and Wolf/Papa Bear I can't believe they will start Kindergarten next year!!!

All the grandsons

Such a great picture. Grammy and Grampy and all their boys