The Big 12

 

An Official Teen

It really happened, Sam turned 13!!!
As the oldest, Sam is such a good big brother,
he is very responsible and a hard worker. 
He has a good sense of humor and he is also a very BIG tease.
With three younger targets at home,
I can only imagine how much worse that is going to get
as we head in to the teenage years.
 

Over the last few months, he and his friends have had numerous airsoft battles,

so for his birthday, that is what he asked for.

He was pretty darn excited.

 

 

 

This was Sam's year to have a birthday party.

I gave him a budget and let him plan the details. 

He wanted to do something with the boys from church,

and there are a lot of them, but he didn't want anyone to be left out.

After looking at his first and second party choices and realizing

he wouldn't be able to invite all of his friends,

he decided to have a swimming party at the community pool.

That way all of his church friends could come. 

I love that he put so much effort into planning a party that was inclusive.

But I wasn't surprised.  That is very much the type of guy that Sam is.

 

After swimming, we had pizza and cake at the park outside

 

 Sam has some great friends and I am so grateful for that.

some of them have really great taste too :)

 

April Happenings

This kid loves hats & yogurt

Every rockstar needs her own studio

 

Decorating Easter eggs

"mmm, Good"

"Aha" as if the Easter Bunny could keep this boy from his candy

Is she really smiling this early in the morning?

That alone is picture worthy

This poor kid thought the Easter Bunny must have forgotten him,

it took him a while to find his goods

Trying to charm his way into more good stuff

Washi tape from the Easter Bunny

 

Happy Easter!

 

One morning, Drew decided to move all the dishes

from the top shelf to the bottom so he could move in

Selfie....from Jeremy's son

Getting a little too competitive in gym class,

we thought it was broken, but thank goodness it wasn't,

just a boot and crutches for two weeks.

They also discovered some inflammation

that if not treated could lead to an Achilles rupture like dads.

It's been bugging him for a while, so I'm glad they found the cause.

 

And one rainy day, we lost our tree

(it was a Tuesday, dad's lawn day

which was cancelled due to rain)

It was almost scary how easily it fell.

A few other neighbors have lost trees too

We think it might have been due to the extreme cold we had this winter

 

The city came and cleaned it up for us which was a huge blessing.

Although I think Nate would have liked to have played on it a bit longer.

 

Drew Boo turns 2!

For Drew's 2nd Birthday, why not go to the zoo with some good friends
even if the big kids were bored, Drew loved every minute of it

 

 

 Drew's actual birthday was the next day,

so we ate his favorite foods, mac-n-cheese, "cheeken" and beans

(yes, he really loves beans and had seconds)

 

 After dinner, we opened presents...

Nana & Papa, I don't think he was impressed

 

Grandma & Grandpa gave him "foo fats"

He loves them

His new truck

 

 

Then we finished the night with cake

in a bowl with milk of course,

just cuz that's how we roll around here

 

We also finally turned Drew's carseat around so he could look out the front. 

For the first few days, he was so excited at every truck he saw

it was "Truck.....Truck....that's a big truck....

bye truck....truck...there's another one..."

 

Drew loves to get into Sam & Liv's things of course,

and he has always been a bit of a monkey. 

so the kids started calling him "Abu"

like the monkey from Aladdin. 

Somewhere along the line it just turned into Boo

I also call him my Drewberries

cuz he loves strawberries and he has yummy cheeks.

 

Here Comes the Sun...

And I thought it would never warm up

 

This boy is talking a lot these days. 

He refuses to call Sam by his name, but instead calls him "Bubbies"

Olivia is his "Ol-ee-a"

and Nate is a mix between "Nat" & "Nate"

 

But my favorite word is Mama.

The way he says it is so clear and deliberate.

He says it after every word and it kind of melts my heart

If he is spoiled it will be his own fault, I just can't say no when he does that

"Trucks Mama"

"Micky Mama"

"Booberry Mama"

"Go outside Mama"

"Mo cheez Mama"

"Yes, Mama"

It is one of those mommy things that I wish he would never grow out of.

These two are special brothers.

They are 5 years apart in age, but

I can't believe how much they are alike

 

Monkey See

Monkey Do

 

Nate can be a very sweet and thoughtful child,

but he has a very energetic side

(Nato the tornado as we call him),

bouncing off walls is no exaggeration.

And he never really walks,

running is more his speed.

This winter we were indoors more than usual,

and stir crazy boys running everywhere became the norm.

Drew keeps up pretty well,

trying everything he sees his big brother doing. 

When Nate falls on the floor to play dead,

Drew drops right next to him.

When Nate somersaults across the room,

Drew rolls right behind him.

If Nate jumps off the couch,

Drew has to follow

And when the landing is rough,

Nate is there for his little brother.

These two melt my heart.

I hope they always love each other this much.

 

Flat Stanley came to visit, courtesy of cousin Lexi.

We took him to the zoo to see the albino alligator, King Louie

 

 Kiss me....

 

And that naughty little leprechaun made a reappearance

The pink cage in the corner was a trap set by Nate

but the leprechaun was just too clever and somehow

managed to escape and made a big huge mess of things.

He turned the milk green, the applesauce green,

even the toilet water was green.

 In Drew's words, "Mess, Mama" :)

 

 

At least he left a few treats behind.

St. Patrick's Day Dinner - Cheese & Broccoli soup,

Pistachio Fluff Salad, Green Limeade and Mint Brownies

The missionaries were supposed to come for dinner,

but they had to cancel at the last minute.

 

  Hide

 

and seek...

"Pee-boo"