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

How a 5k Can Impact Your Parenting

Last month marked a milestone for our oldest kiddo: at a mere 4 years of age Kendry finished his first 5k on foot.

Kendry is no stranger to the running scene, having been my running partner (via jogging stroller) since he was just a wee lad.

A very cute running partner he is too, and so accommodating of my costume ideas.

Alas, pushing him in a jogger the two races previous to the March 5k brought me to a conclusion: he was just getting too darn big.

The time had come to give Kendry a little push out of the proverbial nest and see if he was ready to fly.

Fly he did.

My only regret is that I didn’t have a camera to catch the giant grin painted on his face as he took off from the starting line with all the other runners. He kept glancing up at the runners around him, beaming ever so proudly. He was finally one of the pack; he was finally a runner. Albeit a runner I had to keep reminding to pay attention so he didn’t run into a telephone pole, trip over a bump in the asphalt or collide with a jogging stroller. There were close calls with all three of those risks.

Kendry jogged the entire first mile on adrenaline and excitement, with me beside him. As the novelty and adrenaline wore off (and the two of us slowly fell to the back of the pack), he started taking little walking breaks in between spurts of running. But he was still motivated.

Daddy and little brothers passed by us going the other way, having already hit the halfway turnaround.

Auntie Angel passed by us too.

I reminded Kendry that we were almost to the halfway point ourselves and that we could stop and get a drink there. The incentive of a water break sparked his stride a little. But once the halfway point was reached and the water consumed, completing the race was suddenly the last thing Kendry wanted to do.

As the mom I found myself struggling as well. I wanted my kiddo to have fun, but obviously the fun was over. His legs were tired, his motivation was gone, and his spirits were down. Not to mention the finish line was still 1.5 miles away.

Was I tempted to swing him onto my back and let him piggyback for awhile? You betcha!

But I didn’t.

**********************

I heard a Chip Ingram message once that said:
“Our kids will encounter suffering in their lives. Teach them to suffer well.”

There is a lot of commentary lately about a generation of children growing up unequipped to deal with life’s disappointments and hurts because their well-meaning parents can’t stand to see their kids suffering. I’m sure these parents have the best of intentions – no one wants to see their kids suffer - but the truth is no matter how hard we try to protect our kids, they will be disappointed and they will get hurt. It is inevitable. Instead of overprotecting our kids we should let life struggles build their character; stand back, give them independence and let them fall, then come along side them and teach them how to suffer well. Let them see your failures. Let them see you apologize. Let them see you fall, dust yourself off and get back up.

Let them see you stick to your commitments, even when it gets tough.

**********************

With 1.5 looonng miles to go, I fought off the urge to rescue my kiddo or give him a way out; instead, I took his hand and we took it one step at a time. We walked and we talked. He complained a little; I countered with praise and optimism. I encouraged him to run when he could, and he did. I told him it didn’t matter if we walked the rest of the way, but that we were going to finish the whole race.

With about 200 yards to go I told Kendry we should try to beat the little girl and her daddy walking in front of us. He wasn’t interested.

At 100 yards to go we spotted Daddy, little brothers and Auntie Angel cheering us on. His spirits lifted.

At 50 yards Kendry took off running and didn’t stop until he crossed the finish line, where he promptly turned to me and exclaimed: “Mommy, I beat that girl!”

Who knew a family fun run could provide such a teachable moment, for both parent and child?

As we run, we become.

 ~Amby Burfoot~

Ten on Tuesday

 

 

 

{1}

Its been a month since our last post. Yeesh! And here I thought I was doing well on my 2014 goals...

 

(sigh)

 

Let's see if I can catch you up on some of our goings on.

 

 

 

{2}

This little mischief maker is pulling himself up on everything.

 

 

 

Now if he could just figure out how to get back down.

 

 

 

 

{3}

This little crack-up spends much of his day fending off attacks from his mischievous twin brother.

 

 

 

Incidentally, in the last two weeks Cohen has become a much more vocal baby. While his new screeching sound doesn't necessarily stop Jack from snatching the binky out of his mouth, Cohen has noticed that it alerts the proper authorities (aka Mom & Dad) to the offense.

 

 

 

 

{4}

This dapper little guy played his first T-ball game on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

He played catcher. The shin guards were a little big and made him resemble a young Forrest Gump in leg braces, but he was a good sport anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

{5}

This dapper BIG guy took on the position of T-ball coach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

{6}

A certain four year old has started reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

{7}

A certain mother has found a new pastime.

 

 

 

 

So there you have it, if we're behind on the blog its because I'm five seasons behind.

 

 

 

 

{8}

Baby leggings are adorable on all babies  - even boys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

{9}

Creativity currently in the works?

A minion 5th birthday party!

Pin

 

 

 

 

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

We're still basking in the joy of our visit from Momma B and GG last week.