Ten on Tuesday {Summer Style}

Welcome back, folks! Let's see if I can update you on our recent summer fun. Although we didn't make an official "Summer 2014 Bucket List", it seems that with each week we've been checking off some fun activities.

{1}

Family Hike at Elk Creek Falls

This was actually over Memorial Day weekend; although the calendar would say otherwise, I consider Memorial Day the official start of summertime.

{2}

Jack took his first steps last Sunday evening. 

He hasn't attempted any since. I have reason to believe he will be the more cautious one of the three boys.

{3}

With the temperature on the rise a little beach time is a necessity.

{4}

We got this "new to us" wood furniture from Justin's parents a few months ago. Believe it or not, this set is older than Justin - and still in great shape! Although it is indoor furniture, we had the idea to use it on the patio. Justin has been painting it this week. I can't wait to show you how it turns out.

{5}

We attended the annual Dru Gimlin 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament in mid-June, where Justin opted to lace up his shoes and play again this year - a decision that resulted in a week of ice and elevation after he developed turf toe. These 30's are a little tougher on the joints than the 20's ever were.

Kendry is quickly mastering his dribbling skills.

We love you, #21!

{6}

Bike Ride on the Levee

Although we have a wonderful path along the Snake River in our valley, we live a few miles away and at a higher elevation, thus making bike rides on the levee a little more challenging. For this ride we opted to just haul the bikes and trailer down to the river in the old pickup.

Jack appears a little skeptical here; he must have suspected Daddy had some swing shenanigans planned for the playground.

Sure enough!

{7}

Last week I took the three boys up to Spokane for a quick over-nighter with Justin's sister and her family. We visited Trader Joe's (a huge highlight for Mommy, not so much for the boys) and walked to the splash pad park.

{8}

We had a wonderful 4th of July, starting with what has become a traditional July 4th morning run, and ending with firework fun and great friends. In between we attended a community Old Fashioned 4th of July where Kendry and I got to ride an old fire engine.

{9}

Now, lest you think our days of summer are all sunshine, fun and smiles - as one might incorrectly infer from the above photos - let me assure you that in reality most of our days look like this:

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

Between church and the grocery store on Sunday morning, we misplaced Jack's lovie, Mr. Frog. I fretted the whole drive home, sure I was going to have to fork out the money for a replacement, and do it quick so it would arrive prior to our flight. We pulled into our drive and were elated to find Mr. Frog propped up against the door, as though he had hitchhiked home and was just waiting for us to unlock the door for him. As it turns out, some friends from church found Mr. Frog in the parking lot and recognized him as belonging to our boys. They drove him all the way across town so he would be home for afternoon nap time. Thank you so much, Misty and Matt!

Jack with Mr. Frog at 6 months:

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

The Alaska vacation countdown chain is complete!

{2}

This kiddo has a new carry-on for our trip. If it were up to him he would have it packed already.

Thanks, Grandpa Jack and Grandma Linda!

{3}

Its time to up the running intensity; I'm doing another half-marathon in September.

There is a 5k and 10k as well, so let me know if you want to do the race with me.

{4}

While crawling under our back porch yesterday I found this little surprise:

I've been loved by the best!

{5}

All three boys have little animal blankets that they snuggle and sleep with; we call them 'lovies'. Lately, however, Kendry has gotten confused over the proper terminology.

"No Jack, you cannot steal Cohen's lover!"

Try correcting that one with a serious face.

{6}

Loved every single minute of this movie!

{7}

How much swallowed sand is too much?

{8}

On that note, how much sand down the tub drain is too much?

Its gonna be a messy summer, folks.

{9}

The boys and I ran in the Superhero Fun Run on Saturday, a fundraiser for a local boy battling cancer. Kendry was Dash and did a great job running. The babies don't have superhero costumes yet, so I did the best with what I had to work with.

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

Three healthy and (mostly) happy blue-eyed boys.

Jack cut two new teeth this week so his smile was a little hard to come by.

Party Central

Whew! April and May are always a crazy time of year for our family; when June hits I feel like I can finally take a deep breath, poor myself a big glass of iced tea, lounge with my feet up out on the patio, and enjoy the 80 degree afternoon sunshine.

Buahaahaha!

Get real.

At the present moment I'm trading the patio for the indoors because I have 10 loads of laundry to tackle. When one load is done I hop right up and get the next one going. So if my thoughts appear scattered in this post (squirrel!) its because I was interrupted by the dryer finishing its cycle. I have this silly fantasy that one day I will have ALL of our laundry clean at the same time. Just let a girl have her dreams, okay?

And I'm swapping the 80+ degree sunshine for a spot right next to my A/C vent, a mighty strategic location since I'm drinking my second cup of hot coffee for the day. The kids will be awake and on the move again in one hour so I'll take all the caffeine I can get. Oh sure, I should probably opt for a iced coffee since its such a hot day, but that would require using the blender. Did I mention all three kids are asleep?

And since the gutter guys are here as well, drilling and pounding on the house outside of Kendry's windows, I had better cut to the chase and share what I intend to share today:

BIRTHDAYS!

Several of you have asked about the boys' birthdays. But first, a disclaimer: if you can avoid having three kiddos' birthdays in the span of three days, DO IT!

Okay, moving right along....

On Kendry's birthday we did a mini-celebration with cupcakes and presents.

Since he was having a minion birthday party the following week, I tried to make him a fancy-schmancy minion cupcake. Let me tell you, it was AWE (wait for it) SOME! Alas, the world will never know... because I put it outside in a tupperware the night before, which incidentally turned into a mini-greenhouse in the sunshine the following day when I forgot to bring it back inside.

(no actual minions were harmed in the creation and destruction of this cupcake)

For the twins' birthday two days later we did a similar cupcake celebration. Jack dove right into his, while Cohen repeatedly dipped a single finger and licked - over and over. We finally helped him shove the darn thing into his mouth so he could see that the entire cupcake was indeed edible. You can't blame the kid for being all about the frosting. Aren't they all?

I'm convinced this kiddo will always be a messy eater.

Now we're talking, Cohen!

I still cannot believe our littles are one year old!

Fast forward to the following week when we held Kendry's birthday party at our local gymnastics joint. Their staff did a fabulous job with the kiddos. 

Kendry loves the Despicable Me movies and requested a minion birthday months ago. This theme was actually a fairly easy one. We went with a blue and yellow color scheme and found a minion pinata:

Kendry picked out his minion tee at Walmart and we had a 5 screen-printed on the back. You may recall that he has a number shirt every birthday.

I found the helmet idea on Pinterest. I purchased two dozen yellow construction helmets on Amazon and then printed out several copies of minion eyes I found online. We just cut them out and pasted them on the helmets.

Not to be left out, the littlest members of our family dressed in character.

There are some pretty elaborate minion cupcakes to be made, but I went with an easier option. These are just regular cupcakes frosted yellow, then decorated with white, gray and black frosting. A few have licorice hair on their heads.

A big shout out to my Dad who helped do the yellow frosting (I can't believe I didn't get a picture of him in action), and another shout out to the hubs for making the gray and black frosting.

This birthday boy loved every minute!

The morning following Kendry's party we had a small birthday brunch for Jack and Cohen. We went with a 'little men' theme, making a mustache cake and a tie cake:

The boys also had matching onesies. (Thank you, Auntie Kathy and family!)

After some deliberation we opted not to repeat the cake scene with the twins at their brunch, because a momma should only have to drag the shopvac out once per birthday. 

Rest assured, the twins did get to 'blow out' the candles on their cute cakes - we just didn't feed them any.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our three precious boys!

About a Five Year Old Boy

 To our precious Kendry Dru:

You have been counting down to this day for months, so you would think Mommy and Daddy would be more prepared for this, your 5^th birthday. 

I must confess that as your Mommy, I still see the little boy inside – the way you still cuddle with your lovey bear when you sleep, the way you still get frustrated with buttons or snaps when you dress yourself. But with each day we see more young man characteristics emerging – when you cheerfully help clean the house or you talk gently to a crying little brother. 

Your career as a 4 year old has been a memorable one. Your big accomplishments this year include learning to ride your bike without training wheels, running your very first 5k, getting four more stitches in the head, taking your first ride on a motorcycle, and learning to read.

Two days after your 4^th birthday you excitedly welcomed Jack and Cohen, and immediately found your stride as a proud and doting big brother.

Sure, you play a little rough with the babies from time to time, and despite being told countless times not to, you still pester by poking their cheeks when you think we’re not looking. But the way your little brothers’ faces light up when you enter the room says it all: they adore their big brother.

Like a true firstborn, you police your younger siblings, notifying us of misbehavior (“Jack got the remotes again, Mom!”) or regulating injustices (“Cohen, its not nice to take your brother’s binky.”)  Those two little mischief-makers don’t get away with much on your watch, which makes Mommy and Daddy’s job a little easier.

I’m not sure what I would have done without your help this last year. You are Mommy’s right-hand man when it comes fetching diapers, taking items out of a baby’s reach, and entertaining one baby while Mommy is busy with the other. When I ponder all the time you’ve spent waiting patiently for me to finish feeding the babies, changing the babies, and loading the babies into the car, it makes me so proud I could cry. You are such a trooper, bud!

Your imagination, mile-a-minute conversation and endless energy continue to keep us on our toes. An average day for you includes several costume changes (from football player to ninja to cowboy to FBI agent) and at least three games of Uno.

This year you were Mr. Incredible. A lot.

You've hit another growth spurt and are now wearing 5-6 tops and 6 bottoms. We let you wear your size 5 bottoms a little too long this year and you now think that highwaters are the norm. We’re having a hard time convincing you that the size 6 jeans that actually cover your ankles are, in fact, not too long for you.

You are now into a size 13 / 1 shoe. As velcro shoes are getting harder and harder to find in your size, our new mission is to teach you to tie your own shoes…stat!

You still believe in Santa.

You think the lighted cross displayed on the hill every Easter is the cross, and that Jesus repeatedly dies on it every year.

You came up with “Cohings” as your own personal nickname for Cohen.

You are so excited to attend kindergarten, even if Mommy isn’t quite ready for you to go.

You have a deep love for flowers and ask to buy a bouquet every time we shop at Costco. Now that its spring we have to specify which flowers you are permitted to pick and which you are not - otherwise our yard would have no blooms.

You are our sunshine, bud. 

Never lose that sparkle in your eye or your enthusiasm for the little things, for those 'little things' (like finding a beautiful flower) are often reflections of God's incredible love for you.

Choose positive talk over negative, remembering that everything you say should be good and helpful.

Look after your little brothers. They will annoy you, wreck your block buildings and rip up your artwork, but they love you and they are watching how you behave.

Always be kind. Always.

We love you, 5 year old. Happy Birthday!

Love,

Daddy, Mommy, Jack and Cohen