Birthday #11

I've decided to no longer have anymore birthdays for my boys. 11 for Nathan is enough. No more getting older, no more getting bigger, no more growing is allowed.
I really don't think that is going to fly, but it was worth a shot.
Nathan had an amazing birthday yesterday. He wanted an ice cream cake full of dark chocolate brownies, vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and caramel sauce. It was rich and gooey and simply delicious! He got some amazing gifts, hung out with lots of people who love him dearly and got to go to his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class. He went to bed exhausted with a huge smile on his face.
Birthday #11 was a success.

I wanna play in the snooooooooooooooooooowwww

That is all I heard for 3 straight days. It's colder than cold outside but when there is snow on the ground, the temperature no longer matters. So, I bundled the boys up and tossed them outside.

They pelted each other with snowballs, made snow angels and ran around the yard like fools until they could no longer feel their faces. Then when they could no longer take the frigid weather, I unbundled them and thawed them out with hot cocoa. Now they are wrapped up in blankets watching football. What a life!

A day late...

We had some nasty weather on Halloween night, so our trick-or-treating was postponed to the day after Halloween. That was just fine with the boys. A day late is better than no trick-or-treating at all!
They had a great time.
Nathan was a death lord. I don't exactly know what that means but he was pretty freakin' excited about his costume.

Brandon was Captain America. He loves super heroes and Captain America is one of his absolute favorites!

So after filling their buckets to the very top, they helped me hand out some candy. There were some really great costumes this year. But none of them looked as good as my two boys!

Fall Fun

We had some fun while doing our chores this weekend...
Who could resist jumping into a big pile of crunchy leaves?

Smarty Pants

We are wrapping up a two week fall break extravaganza. They've been to the zoo, the library (multiple times), the movies, the pumpkin patch, the Cincinnati Museum Center, IKEA (my favorite outing!) and visited family. And the best part was Brian being able to take some time off and spending loads of time with us! Nothing makes the boys happier than daddy spending the day with them.
Before fall break started, the boys brought their report cards home. Can I just say that we have two of the smartest little men in the whole wide world! I'm so proud of them both. Nathan is getting straight A's and his teachers were very impressed with the progress he has made so far this year. And since Brandon is in 1st grade, they don't get a letter grade but his reading and math are at a 2nd grade level. His teacher says he's such a character. He never whines about the work they do, but when they do something he doesn't like, he wrinkles up his nose and huffs. But he does his work and always tries his best. I'm so happy they are doing this well so far. Hopefully they don't get burnt out and keep up the good work.
Ok, enough of my bragging...
Nathan also started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu earlier this month. It's so much fun to watch, although a little nerve racking at times. There have been a few classes where his feet are above his head more than they are on the ground. And watching some other kid put your kid in a choke hold, isn't cool, but he loves every single minute of it. I think we are going to have Brandon join (if he still wants to) when he turns 8. I'm sure once they both know what they're doing, it's going to be like the UFC in our house. I already hear "I bet I can make you tap out first!" too much. I may have to start taking some classes too just to keep them in line.

Little man's reward wall

Not to be out done by his big brother, Brandon had to make a reward wall. I had been keeping all his little awards from school and certificates from the library in a folder but that was not good enough. They needed to be taped to the wall for all to see! And he couldn't be happier.

The awards/certs that he has up there now are for finishing all his 1st grade vocab words, being an excellent reader, and a certificate for participating in a read-athon. He and Nathan read for over an hour and won a gift card to Half Price Book store. Plus they got to read to these two huge dogs that were just as sweet as could be.
I'm sure we'll have more awards to add to the wall of fame as the year progresses. But for now, this isn't too bad a start.

Nathan's week

Nathan has had a pretty big week.
He turned in a science project that he worked pretty hard on.

 

Which he got an A and his teacher chose his to be displayed in the library for the whole school to see. He was pretty excited! And I'm pretty proud!

 

Then....he ran and ran and ran and ran some more in a cross country challenge and got 18th place.

Look at that smile. He's pretty cute, isn't he? I think so!

Nathan loves the 5th grade. He's becoming such a fine young man, so responsible and smart. He has such a bright future ahead of him. I wish he would slow down a little and stay my little boy for a while longer, but it's fun watching him grow and imaging all the amazing things he'll accomplish.

 



Ending the summer

 

We decided to end the summer with a fishing trip. We didn't catch anything, Brandon was bored two minutes into it and I grossed Nathan out again by pretending I was going to eat the worms, but we still had some fun.

They really like casting their own lines out, over and over and over into the water. I tried to explain that's probably one of the reasons they're not catching anything, but what do I know.
So after a little time watching their bobbers not doing much of anything we headed back to my parents for a dip in the pool and some s'mores. You can never go wrong with s'mores!

A tasty end to the day

Nothings better than ending a great day with a nice cold one. When you're 10 and 6, a nice cold one means a tall, frothy root beer float. (In Mickey Mouse glasses, no less)

The boys had a wonderful first day. They both like their teachers (that's always a plus) and had fun catching up with their friends. Tomorrow they get down to the nitty-gritty of actual learning, we'll see how that goes. We may need another root beer float, possibly a double.

First day of school

Another school year started today. The boys were all smiles and nervous energy when I dropped them off at school this morning. I couldn't get a good picture of Nathan, he was literally vibrating with excitement. Every picture I took was blurry since he couldn't hold still. And Brandon couldn't smile any bigger if he tried.
Good luck boys, I know you'll do great!

Great days

We only have two more days until school starts. The boys know who their teachers are, they have their back packs ready and know exactly what they want to wear. I love that they're excited about school. Let's just hope this excitement last all year long!

It was absolutely gorgeous out today, so I sent Brian off to work and packed the kiddos up and we hit the ballpark. They ate hot dogs and nachos, spent their money at the gift shop on crap they couldn't live without and watched wide-eyed as the ball players worked their magic out on the field. We couldn't have asked for a better day. Well, if our team would have won that would have been great, but ya can't win them all I suppose.

We also just got back from Minnesota visiting family. It's a long drive there but worth the trip. We ate lots off good food, saw a movie with kick butt robots, had lots and lots of fun with all our crazy family up there. We laugh so much while we're there our sides hurts. The kids are always so sad when we have to leave grandpa but they are already looking forward to our next visit.

Ah...there I am

Summer's almost over

I feel like we didn't do much this summer. We visited a museum, saw some movies, played outside, went swimming, rode our bikes and we plan on going to Minnesota soon, but it just went by too fast. I'm going to try to squeeze in a baseball game before school starts and maybe an amusement park but I just don't know. I'm feeling cheated. This new school schedule where summer is cut shorter isn't working for me. I'm not ready to send them back to school yet. Well, some days I am. You know those days...they've been together so much one gets mad because the other is breathing to loudly. Those are the days I wish school was in session. But most days I like hanging out with them. They're pretty funny kids.

A day with R2D2 and C3PO

Last week we took the boys to see a Star Wars exhibit at a local museum. I do not like Star Wars...at all, never have, probably never will. But like many things, it's not all about me. (Sigh) 

Even though I'm not a fan, I have to admit it was pretty freakin' awesome! The boys were able to make robots and program them to go through obstacle courses, make magnetic pod racers, view costumes from the movies and pose with their favorite characters. There was also a Millennium Falcon simulator where C3PO took us on a tour of the galaxy. The boys loved every single minute of it.

After the museum we took they boys out for lunch and a little walk around the canal. It was a great afternoon. Hopefully we'll have many more of those this summer!

Well...I suck

I've been horrible at keeping this blog updated! I would say I've been busy, and I have been, but not that busy.
The kids are out of school for the summer now. They finished up last Thursday. Nathan finished out the year with all A's and is officially a big time 5th grader. He's practically a man!
Brandon had a very hard time leaving kindergarten behind. He absolutely loves his teacher and would be perfectly happy staying with her for the rest of his school career. There were lots and lots of tears shed in his classroom on the last day. By the kids, his teacher, the teachers aide and me. It was an emotional day!
Now that summer is here, we've been playing outside, riding our bikes, eating ice cream and planning adventures.
Summer adventures...I'll keep you updated.

Hi there

Hello!!
It's been a horrible couple of months for our immune systems but I think we are going to be ok. So now that we are feeling better, we are ready for spring! Easter was a lot of fun. Brandon decided he wanted to dress like a man so he picked out a lavender dress shirt, gray vest and tie to match. He was pretty proud of himself and I think he looked pretty stinkin' cute! Nathan was happy with just a t-shirt and jeans and some cool new shades. He's knows he's handsome no matter what he wears.

We also welcomed a new addition to our family.

 

 

This is Jax. He is a German Shepherd/Lab mix and is total terror! But we love him and I guess we'll keep him. Plus I can't imagine anyone else wanting him! I wanted another child but that's not going to happen so Brian brought home this little ball of fur. I should have just kept my mouth shut. I'll remember that next time.

 

 



Ladies man

The ladies love my little man. He's still not too sure about them though.

Psst...he's turning 6 yrs old tomorrow.