Wordless Wednesday

Status Report

One Happy Camper,

One Sick-y,

and 37,000 Mosquito Bites.

Summer Lovin'??

I know this is a bit sacrilegious for a northerner to say, but ... I think I'm ready for fall.

I know, I KNOW! How COULD I wish away these last weeks of summer? In a few months, I'll be dying for something fun to do that will get us out of the house. Then, I'll have to wrestle my kids into winter gear every time we leave. I'll be depressed that I haven't seen the sun in, well, MONTHS.

Okay, okay. I talked myself out of it. Maybe I'm not ready for a change of season just yet. Seriously, though, my mission this summer has been to wear out my kids each day. However, in the process, I think I've worn myself out, too! We have just been GOING-GOING-GOING all summer long. Spray parks, pools, playgrounds, fairs, farms, picnics, farmers markets, museums, zoos, trips to Grammy's ... Forget the backyard -- I put my kids out there and they look at me like, "Seriously, Mom? BORING!!!!"

I guess it's time to put my teacher cap on and think of some things to make the backyard fun again. That way, I could just pull a chair up somewhere in the shade, bring out a magazine and an iced coffee, and really relax. (Hey, a girl can dream, right?)

Here's the rundown on everyone:

TANNER

He's such a chatterbox at home these days -- constantly asking questions and telling me things -- I love it! His newest love is The Sound of Music. He knows all of the songs. It makes Jon crazy, but I am SO HAPPY about this! :)


He's been going to "camp" this summer (2 hrs, 2 days/week) and his last day is today. I am very excited for him to start preschool this fall. I think he is going to have so much fun learning new things -- I can't wait!
The boy DOES NOT SLEEP. Doesn't nap. We're having a REALLY hard time putting him to bed each night. Not sure what to do about it. I've learned to just expect a struggle with EVERYTHING we do. Meals, snacks, time to get dressed, time to brush teeth, turn off the TV, get shoes on, get in car, get out of car, take a bath, get out of the bath ... I'm really trying hard to be firm! I'm thinking of starting some sort of reward system to try and encourage him with some of these behaviors! Any suggestions?

And, because we need to end on a good note, he is back to riding his bike again. Jon taught him how to make skid marks with his tires, so he slams on the brakes every few feet, gets off his bike, and looks to see if he left his mark.



LANDON

Landon is pretty much perfect, except for the fact that he SCREAMS AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS about 70% of the day. No. Kidding. It's basically his way of communicating. He screams when he's happy. When he's mad, frustrated, angry, excited. It's the kind of blood-curdling scream that makes you want to crawl out of your skin. At this point, you'd think that I would be used to it, but no. It still gets me every time. BTW ... the other 30% of the time, he's usually laughing.


He has the best sense of humor. And the worst temper.



He loves his brother so much it kills me. His favorite thing is to hug him and wrestle around with him.


I love love love looking back at him in my rear-view mirror and seeing him smile back at me with those dimples. I'm so in love with this kid.



JON

Jon spent the first part of his summer going to class 3 nights/week. Now he's down to 1 night, and in a few weeks, he starts a month-long break and will be home EVERY night! I'm SOOOO excited for that!

I'd say he's had a pretty fun summer -- lots of golfing and wakeboarding.

He was pretty obsessed with watching The Bachelorette. I was worried about him for a second. Especially when he brought home PEOPLE magazine just to read about Ali and Roberto. I think he's back to normal now -- he had UFC on again last night :)

He told me this morning to order pizza for dinner tonight, which basically makes him a pretty awesome husband since it means I won't be cooking OR cleaning up. YAY!!



ME

A friend of mine convinced me to train for a half-marathon with her earlier this summer. Our race was about two weeks ago and I'm SO glad I did it! The train-up ended up being really fun and I feel like I really accomplished something.

I have about a million little projects floating around up in my head right now -- just some crafty things, home improvement, etc. If only I could find some time to actually DO them!! I DID make some CUTE slipcovers for my camera strap last week, though. So fun :)

I rarely miss working, but every year around this time, I miss my job just a little -- something about seeing brand new school supplies everywhere I look! I always end up stocking up ... but for what??


Okay, that's it for now! I can hear Landon waking up ... gotta think of something fun for the boys to do ... PRONTO!! Enjoy a few more random pics! (I KNOW -- Landon is quite the swimsuit model :)

Lately ...

We've been doing a lot more than just sitting around and picking our noses.

Although our pictures seem to tell another story.

Stay tuned. I promise an update on all that we've been up to tomorrow!

So Long

Farewell

Auf Weidersehen

Good-Bye

We bid Adieu to Landon's sweet baby curls this weekend.
And said Hello to our newest Big Boy.

I'm a bit partial, but I think he's so handsome!

Time to lock up your daughters!! :)

Little Rascals

Water, sand, pizza, and our best buddies.

What more could a little boy ask for?

Are You Serious?

We're done celebrating my birthday?

Catching Up

Well ...

Because we love our little guy so much ...

And because we love birthdays so much ...

We had a bit more celebrating to do in honor of Tanner's turning 3.

On his actual birthday, he got to open up his brand-new big-boy bike.

See how HAPPY he is??

And how much he ADORES his Daddy?

The two of them had a great ride that evening.

Unfortunately, the very next day, we had a MINOR spill on the way to the park. He's been scared to ride ever since, but we're working on that! So far, our "bike rides" have mainly consisted of him WALKING his bike from one point to another. :)


Little brother was extremely excited about all of the new toys Tanner got to open.

They've been fighting over them ever since. :)


Of course, no birthday is complete without a family celebration. So, we headed down to the beach over 4th of July to party with the people we love most.


Uncle Daniel was in town ...

and so was Aunt Lauren! (We love you!!!!)

Tanner had a BALL, of course.

And Landon did, too.

When it was time to open gifts, our birthday boy came a-runnin'!

I think it's safe to say he's a little spoiled.

Landon was just happy that we were going to be bringing all these cool new toys home with us!

Tanner was already thinking of good hiding places for them.

Tanner blew out a LOT of candles ...

... because it was Uncle Eric's birthday, too. And he was nice enough to let his "mini-me" have all the fun.

Landon enjoyed every last bite, finishing with a good plate-licking.

Later in the weekend, we went to pick some cherries.

It's a good thing we had our #1 picker with us!
That would be Poppy, of course, Tanner is still in training. :)

And finally, we headed home to enjoy all of our new birthday loot!

Daddy's birthday is next (end of October), and he likes to celebrate for an entire month! Oh boy!

(Actually, he just said to me this morning ... "someone's got a birthday coming up soon!" You know it's bad when the planning starts 4 mos. out!)