Family Time

First things first. Get a load of the sweetest little angel-baby you ever saw. I know it's a sin to be prideful, but I just think my little Landon is the cutest, most lovable little guy. He is such a good baby and I feel so lucky to be his mom!

Okay, enough of that for right now. I didn't make anybody sick with all of that gushing, did I? We had a great weekend, but it went SO fast! We started the weekend off with dinner at the home of some good friends. They have a set of twins who are Tanner's age and an infant who is just a few months ahead of Landon. It was a GREAT time. The boys played nicely together (even the dads ... haha) and all of us really enjoyed ourselves. We got home WAY past Tanner's bedtime, but that was just fine, because he slept in until almost 9:00 the following morning, and we all woke up rather cheerful, ready to be outside and tackle our lawn and landscaping.

Jon did an excellent job mowing as I started pulling weeds, but after two hours, I was OVER IT and quit. I HATE LANDSCAPING. Truly. I feel like I don't know how to do any of it. I don't know what are weeds and what aren't. I feel like all of our plants are overgrown and don't know what to do about it. And mostly, I hate that it's neverending. I couldn've pulled weeds ALL WEEKEND, and still, there would be more to pull by next week. Someday, maybe we can pay to have someone do all of this for us. But for now ... it's Jon's job. I quit.

Anyways, after lunch and naps, we headed out to pick up some ice cream and play at a nearby park. Jon and Tanner played around on all of the playground equipment. I had to leave after just a few minutes and stop watching them. They make me too nervous! Tanner is just like Jon with his desire to constantly be a daredevil. And Jon, of course, nurtures that desire. I just couldn't watch him continue to go down the slide that I knew was meant for kids much older. So ... I retreated to a park bench, pulled my sweet baby out of his stroller, cuddled him, talked to him, and reveled in all of his smiles until my big boys were ready to go. Well, actually, Tanner wasn't quite ready (see pics below), but we had to go anyways.

Right after I took this picture, Tanner flipped over the little fence he was leaning on and got a nasty bump on his head. I felt like such a rotten mom!

Tanner didn't want to hold hands in the parking lot and this is what happened. I was hiding behind the car, just dying laughing as I watched Jon try to deal with this little struggle for independence (i.e. stubborn tantrum). I couldn't help but snap a few pictures. :)

Today was spent mostly juggling the kids between to two of us so we could both get a few things done. Jon went wakeboarding this morning while I took the boys to church. Then, I handed Tanner over and went to Target with just a sleeping baby. I actually got to mosey through the dollar aisle without someone in my cart pointing to every item and saying "Mine!!" It was a very peaceful trip and I loved every minute of it! When I got home, I took the boys while Jon went for a run, and then we switched so that I could go for a little jog. Thanks to Mr. Mary Alice over at Building Cathedrals, I was inspired to try the Couch to 5K program to get back into shape after almost a year of no running. After Tanner it took me almost a year to run 3 miles again. But according to this program, I should be back to 3 miles in just 2 more weeks. I would highly recommend it for anyone who needs a little motivation! I've really enjoyed it so far!

The best thing about this weekend was the time we spent together as a family. Sometimes I think we get so busy with our own personal things that we forget to take time to just spend together as a whole family. Even when we are home in Michigan, most of the time the men are doing something together and the women are doing something separately. It was nice this weekend for the four of us to just be together and enjoy one anothers' company. I'm hoping we can make more of an effort to make this happen on a more regular basis. I just love my boys so very much ... all three of them!