More fun!

Dad, me, Grandpa and Mom

Baby shower week-end for Seth and Nicky was much different that I anticipated. We were planning on going down as a whole family, which is always nice as the kids LOVE playing with their cousins. However, as part of this moving process, we are clearing out all of the baby stuff (clothes, gear, etc.) and has luck would have it, I have a lovely pregnant sister-in-law and a lovely pregnant sister who were both happy to take my 17 boxes of baby items. Whew! However, after loaded the car with the boxes, it was very clear that the rest of my family wouldn't fit in the vehicle. D.R. happily volunteered to have a daddy-week-end with the kiddos and I headed to Madison alone. It wound up being a really nice visit, with plenty of time to actually VISIT... something that doesn't always happen when the munchkins are along. :) Mom and I got a movie night, Sarah and I had morning coffee (with Indie!) and I got an afternoon at Grandpa's with Seth and Nicky and Mom and Dad. It was really special.
Nicky (and Selah) and Seth.... we are getting SO excited for this new niece to be born!
Indie and Christopher decorate the car-seat box. (And, yes, once again... I was remiss about taking photos at an important event. This is my ONLY shower photo!)
Seth, Nicky, Grandpa and me. What a great afternoon visit. Wish it could have been longer. It was also highly educational as, in describing the home we had put an offer on to Grandpa, I learned that an attic is also called a garret. We will now be calling our attic, the garret... and I'll think of Grandpa every time! On a side note, Shea saw our attic the other night (which, in my opinion, is a very large attic) and she was convinced it should be Daddy and Mommy's bedroom. Just made me giggle.


Shea, taking babysitting a little too literally.

Dear Dex and is most silly of camera smiles...

The boys insisted on signs for these creations.
Dex
A sleepy Shea... yes, this is happening more and more frequently. Yet, when I ask her to take a nap in her room, she will spend a full two hours talking and singing to herself in her bed, but NO SLEEPING. So strange! The boys never would have done this!
We spent one afternoon trying to break world records. I have to admit, it was pretty awesome to see what the boys would come up with for record-breaking feats. Here, Jax is trying to break the world record for balancing a rock on your head. I'm pretty sure he beat it.

Love these two playing together. LOVE IT. They're at VBS this week with D.R.'s parents and I can't help by miss them immensely. Yes, I have had two very productive days of packing and errand-running, but I'd honestly trade it in a heartbeat to have them back again. Sappy, yes. Slightly pathetic, maybe. But I miss my boys and I want them back, darn it! I can hardly walk past their empty bedroom without getting a little choked up. What am I going to do when they start kindergarten? Leave for summer camp? Go away to college? AAAGH. Can't even think about it. I'll just focus on how great it is to get stuff done and stay busy, busy, busy.
My dear Jax

Lego Kidsfest!

Jax
Dex

Lego Kidsfest was a total blast for us. I thought we would probably stay about an hour or two, but after four hours, the kiddos were still begging to stay longer. What a great chance for kids and grown-ups to play with legos for an afternoon. Highlights for us were the build-a-car challenge, the chance to sample the Lego Universe game and the giant mountains of legos found sporadically throughout the room. I highly recommend this event for any big lego fans out there.

Daddy helped the boys build monstrous lego lightsabers. A definite hit and a huge source of pride for both the boys AND Daddy. :)
Jaxon
Jaxon
Shea and Mommy. Even Shea had a blast. There was plenty to do for little tykes, as well. She loved the mountains of legos, found the duplo station to be a treat and twice enjoyed the bouncy house. This was one of the first things we've done as a family where there really was something for ALL of us to enjoy. Total fun.

Dex
Racing their lego cars
Dex


Shea BEGGED to have her photo taken by R2D2 and (as she calls him) CP2O. R2D2 is definitely at the top of her list of Star Wars characters, though. Love that she's a little super fan.
No, we're not scared!
The kids with Commander Fox!
Hard at work...

Lego!

More lego shots. I have no idea if it was Dex or Jax that took them... but here's Jax with his pretend camera... so it could be a clue.

In other news, WE ARE HOMEOWNERS!! There is much excitement in the air and we are enjoying this packing/organizing process tremendously. I know it should be stressful, but we're just so happy to finally be moving out of student housing. That being said, we've honestly loved it here and I've been experiencing my own bit of sadness at leaving this close-knit community. We will miss so many aspects of living here. That deserves a post of its own.

We were visiting our new home last night with Shea and she was having a blast running through the open spaces and exploring the back yard. However, when she needed to use the potty, she started to cry that she just wanted to go back to our apartment to her potty. I reminded her that this was going to be where we lived soon and that the potty in that house was her potty, too, and she cried even harder. "No, Mommy, this can be our house, but then we always go back to the other one." It was the first time it hit me that the transition may be a bit harder for the kids than I imagined. I'm hoping that once they're belongings are all in the house, they'll be okay with it. The boys will see the house tomorrow, so we'll see what they have to say about everything!

One phase I want to last

Despite the fact that I found myself exasperated with the 150 requests for "show me what comes next!" today, I'm glad that the boys are having fun with the piano. Mostly, I hope my own impatience and "maybe later's" don't thwart their growing interest. This is Dex playing his own rendition of Ben's Death/TIE Fighter Attack from Star Wars Episode IV (a tad shorter than the original :)).



And here is Jax playing Once Upon a Dream... well... most of it. :)

May Updates

I'm not going to lie, May was an unusual month for us. It was definitely the "house hunt" month... with every spare moment being thrown into this search for a place to live. Things are moving in a good direction, though, as we approach the closing on our first house (which is just oh-so exciting). If all goes as planned, we will close a week from today and move in two weeks. In my preoccupation with this impending change, the boys took over most of the camera work in the family, which explains the overabundance of lego shots. Dex has become quite keen on "customizing" his lego mini-figures. I don't know how many times I've heard, "Mommy, I promise, this will be the last guy I customize!" Now, when we walk through the toy aisle at Target, he is particularly drawn to the toys with the least amount of detail, as these might require the most about of customizing. I foresee a very interesting birthday wish-list in the near future.






Shea continues to crack us up with her funny little conversations and goofy expressions. Today, this was her little monologue that had me giggling:

"Mommy, the caterpillar is dead. I think the spider killed him. I'm going to scold that spider for killing the caterpillar. Or maybe I'll kill him. I'll kill that spider!!! Or maybe I'll tickle him. (picking up some pine needles)... Here spider! I'm going to tickle you! (A few moments later, she returned with a pouty face) Mommy, I tried tickling the spider, kissing the spider and giving the spider a hug, but it didn't work. I still think he killed that caterpillar. I don't think he's a very nice spider."

94 degrees tonight and the boys and D.R. have to brave an evening of t-ball. I'm sure they will return to us hot and thirsty... here, the boys practice their batting.

Since Shea is no longer napping, we've had one or two afternoons where I will find her asleep on the couch or the living room floor (she clearly still needs the nap occasionally!). On this particular afternoon, I found her buried in dolls and stuffed animals. Apparently, the boys got to her before I did!
After using the salt for an art project, the kids had even more fun swishing it around with their fingers.

Jaxon, Shea and Jonah
After delivering a few cupcakes to a neighbor, I happened upon three mysterious frosting-nabbers. Hmmm... caught completely red...er...um...yellow handed.
Our spring chick cupcakes
Dex and Maren