My 3-year old the GROWN UP

This morning, after a late night, Cameron let me sleep in and got Landon ready for school and took him to the bus stop. So at 8:30 when Austin came into my room and climbed in bed with me I was really surprised that he had slept in so late. Apparently, though, he had been awake for quite a while. He got out the step stool and got the cereal and a bowl down and poured his cereal and milk. Then he "just walked around the house quiet so I didn't wake you up". He came in my room and told me all about his morning and said, "I was really careful Mom. I told myself, 'be careful and don't spill 'cause Moms not here'." And he didn't spill a drop. As soon as I got out of bed, though, he was pouring himself another bowl and spilled it all over the floor - guess he's not growing up too fast!

The Happiest Kid on the Block

I used to read a book to my kids called "The Happiest Kid on the Block". Well I think that Austin now deserves the title. Last week Cameron took Austin's training wheels off his bike. This kid is a dare devil to the core and the training wheels were becoming more dangerous than helpful. It took Austin (no exaggeration) exactly two minutes to ride on his own.
The pictures say it all - he is the happiest boy on the block. That night he checked on his bike twice before bed to make sure the training wheels were still off, and at 6:30 the next morning the garage door opened so he could check on his bike again. Seriously, this kid's bike is his prized possession. I think we may be in for some trips to the ER soon. Watch the video and see what I mean. If you listen closely you can even hear him PANTING because he's riding so fast. Crazy kid!

I know you can't help but notice his purple soccer socks, khakis, and crocs - well that's his own creation. Austin loves to mis-match his clothes and he really likes to find the oddest things to wear. Our deal is that I get to help him choose his clothes before we go somewhere but he can wear whatever he wants while we're at home. Who am I to stand in the way of happiness by purple socks?

A little of this and that

Well I've been spending my days running my kids around, working out, playing outside, running errands, and being a soccer mom - literally - the kids have sports four nights a week so by the time we make dinner rush through eating it, go to t-ball, hockey, or soccer, and then come home, clean up, get the kids in bed, I am exhausted. So blogging has been put on the back burner lately. Here's a few things we've been doing:

I went to Colorado last weekend and leased this:

The picture is one off the internet - I wish you could see it closer but by the time I had made my decision for sure on this house I ran out of time to take my own pictures. But it shows the yard which is really pretty too. The house is just over 2900 square feet with five bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. Anyone that wants to come visit can have their own bathroom, bedroom and family room! It has a fenced backyard which I'm happy about - "go play outside, while I make dinner". I'm really excited about the house - FINALLY, we'll have SPACE and a place for everything, say good bye to clutter!!!

Austin gave me a butterfly magnent for Mother's Day and in true Austin fashion took it back from me when I told him how much I loved it. "Actually, Mom it's mine because I want to fly it and it's going to bite you!"


Austin also had his preschool end of the year celebration. We had to go straight from his soccer game and he wouldn't change his clothes. All the kids were dressed up and Austin was in his soccer gear. Gotta love the kid - he's one of a kind and if he wants to show off his soccer uniform then he's going to do it. (I actually could have MADE him change his clothes but why? It made him SO happy to show everyone his shin guards and soccer shirt). This is Austin with his teacher Miss Sabrina.


Landon had his last hockey game yesterday. He loves it. He's made me promise to find out if I can sign him up in Colorado.

Austin and Zac and I went to Landon's "all sports" day. Landon was muddy, wet, and having a blast. He has absolutely loved Kindergarten and I love seeing him there. It's fun to watch him with the kids in his class. He says the funniest things sometimes. Last night he told me I was a "special woman because womans with brown hair and blue eyes are hard to find"!

And here's little Zac. He is just starting to try to crawl. As soon as I sit him on the floor he plops himself onto his tummy and "swims". That's what it looks like he's doing. I'm sure he'll be crawling within the next weeks. He is getting funner and funner all the time. When he doesn't have an ear infection or bronchitis he is the happiest kid I know.
His new favorite food is tomatoes but he only likes them when they're sliced in circles. He holds them like a cracker and sucks out all the insides. He gives me skin only if I give him another tomato slice. It's pretty funny.

It's Austin's Turn

There's the boy!! After two years of watching Landon play sports it's finally Austin's turn. He's been talking about soccer for at least a month. He puts his soccer "gear" on at least once a day and asks to wear his cleats everywhere he goes. He even sleeps in his soccer socks. When he got his shirt he put it on and modeled it. You should have seen him jumping around; so proud of himself.

He's a pretty great player too. He told me he does everything his coaches tell him so he will have skills - pretty funny. I'm glad he finally has a sport to play. This kid has needed something to call his own. Hopefully soccer will help calm the middle child syndrome we've been experiencing lately.

The Spectators:



And...

Isaac's been doing some funny stuff lately.

This is how I find him every time I check on him in his crib I find him with his blanket over his head. I move it and come back to check on him and there it is again - back over his face. He also loves my lip gloss. He got a hold of it the other day and held on for dear life. By the time I took this picture he had been holding for literally an hour. He had an iron grip on it and finally let go sometime during his nap.

Spring is Here

In Iowa you know it's spring when the tornado sirens start ringing and the ground turns to MUD. Seriously, if we're not in the basement "hiding from the tornado" (like Austin says) we're playing outside and that means lots of cleaning up mud for me.

I took the kids on a bike ride yesterday and Landon decided to go "mountain" biking. Before I could stop him he was off in the mud. His bike got stuck and his shoes sunk 2 inches into the ground. I had to go in after him and dig out his bike and help pull his feet out. It was T H I C K! Luckily, we had a long walk home, dragging the bike (he couldn't ride it because the front tire was stuck with mud), for Landon to stomp the mud off his feet and tires.

(click to enlarge and check out the mud over the front tire)

and isn't he cute?!!

Friends

I've been thinking about moving lately, obviously. It seems the closer it gets the closer I get to my friends. I'm going to miss them. From the day we moved here I had great friends. Two girls brought me dinner, when they found out I had moved here with a four-day old baby, and told me about a playgroup they had started and instantly I had made wonderful friends. When our family moved out of the University Ward I made even more friends and they have become my serogate family.

Today we went to Bluestem, a campground by Coralville Lake, and all I could think was how much I'm going to miss my friends, my house, and even Iowa itself. I've really loved it here. I couldn't have asked for a better place to have spent the last four years.

Last weekend I went to Chicago with some of my friends and I had so much fun. It was a well deserved break, I must say. What girl wouldn't love a weekend of shopping, makeup, late-night girl talk, Wicked, Cheesecake Factory, birthday celebrations, and even a trip to the temple?

We stayed at the Drake Hotel

We spent a LOT of time getting our makeup done and went to a Mac makeup class

I took my first Taxi Ride

We did a little haircut in the bathtub
We were just a "little" silly!!
And just for fun here's a picture from St. Patty's Day. We had a green party at the church. (just pretend the picture says 2008 - oops!)

When it Rains it Pours

Seriously! I spent last week with Austin sick as a dog and late this afternoon I found out that Land-o has pnemonia. Why are they always sick???? I'm not kidding - I have been to the doctor at least once a week for the past month. I am so tired of it. Poor Landon. The doctor said that when she listened to the bottom of his lungs she couldn't even tell he was breathing. He's had a fever of 101-103 since Sat. He looks horrible, even the doctor said she hadn't seen a kid that looked that sick in a while.
The amazing thing, though is Landon's worst complaint has been that his tummy was hurting. He's been pretty lathargic and tired so he's spent most of the past few days on the couch with good ol' Scooby Doo. He has had a great attitude. He must be really tough to not be complaining very much.
No parent likes seeing their kids sick but I am definitely TIRED of sick kiddos. Please summer come and take all the yucky germs away...oh wait then we'll move to Colorado and be exposed to a whole new set of germs... wish us luck!!