Tie and shoes

I took photographs of the boys wearing their Daddy's tie and trying on his shoes.

I really love this series.

I believe this is the last series I have of the boys as babies.

It makes me sad that they grow up so quickly!

I cherish these photographs.

It keeps each age and stage fresh in my mind.

I love these little people more than words can ever say...

Griffin 16 months

Griffin

Roman 17 months

Cohen 18 months

Mischief has a face...

Hey Ma.  Enough with the pictures.

Farewell summer...

And just like that summer is over.  

I expected to scale back in the summer.

Have some down time and recharge our batteries after the daily hustle of the school year.

Summer did not turn out as I envisioned.

Our schedule stayed pretty full and it was anything but laid back!

Such is life...

We had fun, ate snowballs, swam, mini vacationed, lived off of our usual schedule, had a few incidents that involved blood, and blew off school work.

On the boys last official day of summer I took them to the new playground to enjoy the last few moments of unscheduled freedom.

The boys really enjoyed the park, especially baby long legs.

Big boys tried to protect baby brother.

Baby brother wanted to know who are you calling "baby?!?"

Their smiles and belly laughs light up my world.

  

Big boys trying to protect baby brother from the big slide.

Brother sandwich!

Keeps up with the big boys every step of the way.  (except that baby long legs doesn't
exactly walk yet!)

Oh how I adore that smile!

5 years in the blink of an eye.  This guy is starting Kindergarten.  EEKK!

**I took a blogging break during the summer.  Now that school is back in I plan to resume my regular blogging routine.  A goal of at least 1 post a week**

This afternoon we had a fast and fierce afternoon shower.  After the rain stopped the boys opened the front door.  My natural inclination would be to come up with tons of reasons why they shouldn't get all wet, muddy, and dirty, but this quote popped into my head. 

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." — Anonymous.

The big boys looked at me and I gave them the nod to go for it.  I love the days when I just tell them yes.  They will only be young, wild, and free for such a short period of time.  Get out there and have fun!

The big boys tried so hard to hold baby brother back.

 Umm, yeah, not a chance.

The joys of being the 3rd boy!

Brothers

As a mother there is nothing more precious than watching your children play together.

I pray that over the years my boys develop an inseparable bond of brothers and a deep friendship.  

Here are a few moments that were recently captured of 2 boys.

2 boys enjoying breakfast together. Gotta love a beach towel table cloth.
Nothing but the finest for my boys!

A certain someone Baby Bear has decided that he is too big for the high chair.
Monkey see monkey do!

2 boys playing together at the indoor playground.

2 boys bonding over a Happy Meal.  This was Griff's reward for a good
week of swimming lessons.  Baby Bear was just along for the ride. :)

2 boys playing.  Baby Bear watches every move that big bro makes
and is only 1/2 a step behind.

2 boys shopping in the playroom.
The shopping cart is the favorite toy of the moment.

2 boys cooking us up a little lunch.

I am excited about the future.  I can't wait to watch these boys grow into men.

2 boys...

All for one and one for all!

Swim time

No reason to state the obvious, 

but it is

H-O-T

outside right now.

The only way to enjoy some outdoor fun is with

a little splash time!

We put water in the pool

for a little skinny dipping.

Or shall I say chunky dunking this afternoon.

Baby Bear is a tad excited to ditch the diaper for the afternoon.

Griff showing off his swimming skills.

The boys had tons of fun with their water park.
Thanks Emma! We love our birthday present. :)

Sno-balls at the park

While Satch was at school 

I took the boys out for sno-balls

and fun at our local park.

Baby Bear swinging with Momma.

I was able to kick my feet up for a second.

Yummy.

Hey Bubba what about me?

Baby Bear found his tongue.

Monkey see, monkey do. 

I can do it too Momma!

This is fun!

2 boys

They were so dirty I took off Ro-ski's clothes for the ride home.
Home and straight to the tub!

A "Walk" in the Park...

Okay, well not exactly a walk.  Anyone who

A. knows us 

or 

B. has encountered us on the street

knows that it is much more like a run.  

Satch had class today.  This morning we had our girl Emma and her Momma over to play.  Once they left I dug deep and found some super human Momma courage.  The day was much too pretty to stay inside.  After a quick pep talk of "I think I can, I think I can" I loaded up the boys to play at the park.

I have learned in my limited outings as a single parent (single as in for the day while Daddy is away) it is best to put Roman in a carrier and wear him so I can be a little quicker on my feet to run after play with G.  As we were exiting the car I explained to G the importance of listening to Mommy. 

Me: got it?

G: I pomise Mommy. (I promise Mommy)

I think he may have had his fingers crossed behind his back.  

Ahhhh, such an angel!  

Here we are.

So far so good.  

I knew I could do it...

We are off to a great start.

(okay so what if we were only 15 feet from the vehicle that we just exited)

G had a ball playing on the playground.

My plan was to let him run...

and run in hopes of wearing him out.

Naps are gooooddd!

Okay so I may have chased him once.

Across the park.

Use your imagination here and visualize this.

G running and laughing hysterically 

while mother with a 25 lb baby strapped to her RUNNING to catch him and not laughing hysterically.

You can laugh....

everyone else did.

Okay here we are again 

after we regrouped.

I had to give a firm reminder of our earlier "pomise."

G asked for a snack.

Note to self: next time get into car and give snack on ride home.

I guess I was now a little overconfident of my super mother abilities.

I thought it would be lovely to eat a snack on a bench while watching the ducks.

We went to the car pulled out the stroller,

loaded the boys

with snacks ready to go!

Here we are just as I imagined

having a fun snack 

on the bench.

I stopped to snap a picture 

of this monumental day.

All.Under.Control.

Here is Ro

snacking in the sunshine.

We couldn't exactly feed the ducks today

due to the fact that there is neither

hyde nor hair 

of a remnant of a carb 

within a 100 foot radius of our home.  

All good things must eventually come to an end

This is the exact moment that I lost control.

G ditched the stroller and wanted to guide the way.

He insisted that we go, "dat way."

Unfortunately, "dat way" was the wrong way.

I was unable to capture pictures of the way back to the car

due to the fact that I was pushing Ro in the stroller

while carrying G 

kicking and screaming the entire way.

I stopped to discuss the situation with him 3 times, 

but he was beyond the point.

Over stimulated and past the point of needing a nap.

FINALLY he zonked out in the car 

after about 30 more minutes of whining singing 

non-stop. 

Satch came home to my rescue.

After a hot bubble bath

and a self-pedicure

I think back on the afternoon and smile.

How can you stay mad at a kid who handed you a roll of toilet paper and says, 

"here Mommy poo-poo paper."  

Gotta love him...

Today wasn't that bad.

All in all it was actually pretty good.

The even better news is that

tomorrow is a new day...