Happy Birthday!!

Brett,
I cannot believe that 3 years have gone by since you made your entrance into this world. You've changed my life forever and I'm am so grateful to have you part of my world. I thought I would capture some of your favorite things at this age:

• You love to be outside. You would stay out there all day and all night if I didn't make you come in.
• You are stubborn.
• You love to eat yogurt. As a matter of fact, you love to snack. Quite frequently I hear the pantry doors squeak open then the tupperware cupboard - 99.9% of the time this is you grabbing a box of crackers to dump into a bowl. For some reason, you require all your snacks to be poured into a bowl before eating.
• You adore your brother, but you love to tease him. Instead of playing with his toys quietly when he isn't looking, you make sure he knows that you are into his stuff, which turns into a big chasing game and you laughing.
• You have a great sense of humor and say the wildest things that just crack us all up.
• You have amazing blue eyes the sparkle.
• You love music and the louder, the better.
• You are a momma's boy (thank you thank you thank you)
• You are so very loved!

Happy 3rd Birthday Brett ~ July 3, 2009.

A couple of months ago, Mike noticed that Colton was growing a permanent tooth right behind a baby tooth. We took him to the dentist who told us it really wasn't a big deal and that everything would work it's way to where it needed to go.
On Monday when I picked the boys up from daycare, Colton came running up and told me that he had something hard and crunchy in is PB&J and then he started laughing hysterically. Come to find out, the kid bit into his sandwich, his tooth came out and he ate it.
Here he is without his baby tooth. I have to laugh because normally, you can get a picture of a toothless grin when they lose their first tooth/teeth. Not my kid. His is 75% of the way in already!

Is this thing on?

I keep thinking that it's time for a new post on this thing. Then I can't think of anything to blog about or if I do come up with something, I end up forgetting what it was. So, here's just an update - bullet style - of what the days in my life have been filled with.

• Baseball, baseball and more baseball. Every Tuesday and Thursday have been like this: hurry home from work, figure out what to have for dinner that involves minimum prep, tie up some cleats, trade off with dear husband around who gets to watch Colton play ball and who gets to watch Brett play at the playground by the field. Colton loves baseball and I really enjoy watching him, but I have to be honest ~ I'm so happy that the season is over.
• Swimming lessons. Colton has been going to Foss Swim School since January. He's made HUGE improvements so we're keeping him enrolled there. Those are Wednesday nights. Mike has softball Wednesday nights. Guess what that means? Me with two boys in a hot room watching kids swim while trying to entertain Brett for 30 minutes. Brett started swimming lessons last week. His are through community ed and he's in the Parent/Tot class. This involves either Mike or me getting in the freezing cold water, singing some songs and teaching the little ones how to scoop and kick. Just thinking about that water gives me goosebumps. Why do they have to keep that water so damn cold?!
• Planning a family reunion. This is fun. This is my escape. With the help of my cousin, we took the bull by the horns and are just about ready for the Ward Reunion. I'm really looking forward to this. I have cousins whose children I have never met. Crazy I tell you.
• I had a successful garage sale last weekend. Tons of stuff gone and cash in my pockets. Got to love that.
• I posted and sold my first items on Craig's List. I have never really even gone to the website, but when I had my garage sale, people kept commenting on how they never have garage sales, they are too much work, I just sell things on craigslist. So, Sunday night I took some pictures and posted a few items and had them sold by Wednesday. Awesome! I of course ended up digging around and posting more items, hope to have those sold soon.
• Planning Brett's Golden Birthday. I can't believe that my baby is going to be 3!!!!

Silly Boy.....

Both my boys are crazy sleepers. My youngest though tends to do the same thing every night. Check out how relaxed he is. Hands up behind the head and ankles crossed....not a care in the world. He's done this ever since he transitioned to his bed. I'm not sure if he's doing this to create a barrier or to it's just something he does when he's bored and attempting to fall asleep.

He picks out enough books to line the entire length of his bed.

Recap.....

What a wonderful weekend we had at our house! Here's what we did....

We avoided baths:

We played/watched baseball:

We fished and ate Gummi Worms:

We caught fish:

We took in the Twins vs. Red Sox game:

We made friends with the lady sitting next to us so that when somebody (aka Brett) got antsy in the 7th inning, she took over and entertained him.

A HUGE thank you to all those that have served and are serving our Country! God Bless!

Life's Lessons.....

This past week has been a bit challenging. See, we have this seven year old boy that has been forgetting a lot of the rules around this place. You know, don't lie, don't hit your brother, you don't get to tell your mom or dad "no" when asked/told to do something. Nor do you get to make a barbaric grunt and huff off when told to go clean your room or wash your hands. Seriously. I have no idea what is going on. The kid is so smart, but man!
This brings me to this evening. It was a baseball practice night. I read the schedule wrong thinking that he had practice at 6:00. So, Mike and Colton took off and then Brett and I were going to walk there since it was so nice out and heck, I could use the physical activity. Well, I get a call at 5:50 by my dear husband asking if I read the schedule correctly. What? Of course I did! Well, turns out I didn't. He didn't practice until 7:15. I felt just a little bad since I rushed everybody through dinner, but whatever. I make a deal with Mike and I end up bringing both boys to practice because of a couple factors with one main one being that Mike had about had it up to here with Colton's antics for the day.
At 7:00 we leave the house. Get a mile down the road and Colton realizes he forgot his hat. It's sunny out and a hat is pretty much a neccessity. The following conversation occurs:
Me: Seriously Colton, you are 7 years old - you know what you need for baseball practice, that is your responsibility. (Now if you didn't read that in an annoyed voice with a hint of anger to it, go back and reread it that way to get the full effect.)
Colton: Geez Mom. Sorry. Um, I think my hat is in dad's truck.
Me: Well you have 206 other hats, run inside grab the first one you see and let's go.
Colton: Will you?
Me: Thinking silently - are you freaking nuts kid? Said out loud - No, you are the one who forgot it, you go in and get it.
Colton got a hat and we were off. I start driving to the field that they have practiced at for the past 4 weeks knowing earlier that they were at a different field tonight. We get close to said field and the conversation picks back up:
Colton: Uh mom, we're not at this field tonight.
Me: Oh, that's right. I totally forgot.
Colton: You know, you shouldn't get mad at people for forgetting things.
Me: What do you mean?
Colton: You got mad at me for forgetting my hat and I'm not mad at you for forgetting what field I'm supposed to be at.

And to that I say....touche my dear child. Touche.

Mother's Day.....

I received my Mother's Day gift on Wednesday. What can I say, my oldest is just like me. As soon as I have a gift for somebody, I want them to open it immediately! He made me this sweet card.... and he also made me this sign. It's on ready to hang canvas so I told him I would put it up at work for everybody to see. Here's how our conversation went:
C: Mom, don't you want to open your gift?
M: Right now? Don't you want me to wait until Mother's Day?
C: No.
M: Ok.
C: See how it says "mommy" I know you always tell me that you want me to stay your little boy forever, so I left it "mommy". I could have cut off the last M and Y, but I knew you would like it this way.
He's so sweet!