Our new favorite breakfast

Every Saturday, Daddy fixes pancakes for the boys. Nana & Grandpa Sam know this, so when they found some REALLY cool pancake molds while shopping recently, Nana HAD to pick them up to send to the boys. Needless to say, they were super-duper excited over their way-more-exciting-than-round pancakes!! Daddy said there is a learning curve to them, so it looks like Mommy will have to figure it out. I'll bet I'll be making LOTS of pancakes in the weeks to come.

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

(They were purchased at Williams' Sonoma if anyone is interested ;) )

Random summer fun

My boys went to a party recently where there was a slip 'n slide and a water table. By the time we left, they were insisting we get a "wet slide", and the baby was so enamored with the water table that I literally had to wring his outfit out before we could go home. Can you say "drowned rat"?? Of course, this necessitated a trip to Toys R Us for both of the above-mentioned items & we've been outside playing in the water as much as the weather will permit! Just a bunch of snaps of the kids and their buddies enjoying their summer before it gets too hot!

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

And, the crazy, crawling, climbing baby who refuses to walk:

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

And, me trying to get a picture with the crazy, crawling, climbing baby. Note his hand extended. I guarantee, he was saying "Gaw, gaw, gaw", which is his way of saying, "go, go, go". When accompanied by the random hand pointing, it means, "I want to go THAT way!" No time for a picture with Mommy--too much outside ground to cover before you make me go inside!

From Big kid pics

And, just because I could eat up his dimples, a close up of "Lukey" (aka Luke) Bautz! Note his brother smiling cutely, too, in the background!

From Big kid pics

Cardinals vs. Marlins

Once we got the news that Scott was going to deploy in a matter of weeks instead of months, we made a list of everything we'd wanted to do with the boys this summer. Seeing a Cardinals' game was at the top of the list. My friend Lea agreed to keep Colin for the day (we REALLY wanted to cure her of any baby fever she might be experiencing ;) ), so the big boys & Mommy and Daddy headed off to see some baseball!

In our house, a large part of experiencing a game over in St. Louis is riding the Metro train over there. Here are my very excited boys awaiting our ride:

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

Mommy & William:

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

And, cutie-pie Daniel being silly on the train:

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

Here we are at the stadium, posing under the photo-op arch they have inside:

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

The boys in their Cardinals' hats. William got one at his first game last year, but Daniel was still in-need. He was sooo excited to get his new hat!!

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

And, once we found our seats:

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

As you can see, it wasn't too crowded in the section we were in--probably due to the rainy, chilly weather. It drizzled a little, but we were under an overhang so we didn't get wet at all.

Daniel INSISTED on posing with his pizza:

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

And, the boys had to get big red cupcakes. Grandpa Sam apparently bought William one at the last game they went to, so it appears to be a tradition in our house now!

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

Two tired little boys waiting in the line to get on the Metro back home!

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

And, Daniel had to turn his hat backwards on the train ride home. When I asked him why he'd turned it around, he pointed at one of the guys in the front of the train and said, "That's how HE has it on. It looks cool!" And, the urban fashion influence has started :) (He's eating his leftover cotton candy!)

From Cardinals vs. Marlins

The Cardinals won, so we got to see some fireworks, which just made the day for my boys! Great time, even with the unseasonably cold weather.

Froggie Zoo trip

Back in March, Scott & I "won" a zoo trip for William to take with his teachers. We went in with Corey & Dawn, so Shelby got to go, too. Back in April, the teachers took them to the zoo for the day--they ran around, had lunch, and then came back home. William initially was NOT keen on going. I have to say, I was surprised he was having a hard time with it. He's pretty adventurous these days, but he did NOT want to go without Mommy this time. It took some convincing & I had to assure him that if he got there & he wasn't having a good time, I'd drive over there & get him. Needless to say, I'm glad I didn't have to live up to that one! PHEW! Anyway, they seemed to have a great time. Here are some pictures the teachers took:

Mrs. McCrave, William, Shelby, and Mrs. Stricklin

From William and Shelby zoo trip

A couple of Frogs being silly in front of a frog:

From William and Shelby zoo trip

"Hanging out with Stalactites" (or is it Stalagmites??):

From William and Shelby zoo trip

Best buddies:

From William and Shelby zoo trip

Seems like a good day was had by all :)

William's pre-K graduation

My baby is all done with preschool! I'm not sure exactly where the past 5 years have gone, but kindergarden, here he comes!! This is a pic in front of the church doors at their school, before everyone became untucked & sloppy:

From End of year program

William & Shelby Grace before the program:

From End of year program

Daniel with a few of his buddies before: (Will Bautz, one of his best friends is on the left--we couldn't get his twin, Luke, to cooperate!; Keenan is to the right of Daniel; and Brendan is all the way to the right.)

From End of year program

Colin & Daddy waiting on the program to begin:

From End of year program

And, we've come untucked!

From End of year program

Daniel getting his end-of-the-year certificate from Mrs. Evon:

From End of year program

The graduate on stage in his graduation cap:

From End of year program

And, getting his diploma from Mrs. McCrave:

From End of year program

So proud on stage with his diploma & a few of his buddies: (Hayden Evon is all the way to the left; Shelby Grace is next; Kaitlynn DeArmond is third; and my little graduate is all the way to the right)

From End of year program

William, with his teachers--Mrs. McCrave on left & Mrs. Stricklin on right:

From End of year program

Daniel with his--Mrs. Evon on left & Mrs. Smith on right:

From End of year program

Mommy with the big boys:

From End of year program

And, Daddy's turn:

From End of year program

The Sheas are here!

Phil & Katie got orders to New Jersey recently. During the course of their big move, we were lucky enough to have them stop in for a night. The Simmons crew came over for the evening, too, so the entirety of the Olympia "Southside Mafia" was reunited at last! I made crawfish etouffee & the pot was practically licked clean :) Unfortunately, we were so busy catching up that no one thought to grab a camera. I took a few snaps the next morning, so this is the best I've got.

Colin with one of his godmothers:

From Big kid pics

"The other Colin", Katie & Phil's youngest. I tried to grab a cute picture of the two babies, but they were so enamored with each other that all I could get was a lot of eye-poking and hair-pulling! Isn't this little guys adorable?!?!

From Big kid pics

And, the four big ones posing nicely for an obligatory pic:

From Big kid pics

It was great to see everyone! Just wish we could do it more often :)

My Little Sweetheart!

So, as anyone who has kiddos knows, they can be a challenge to raise. Some definitely more than others. But, I'll bet they can also tell you that the ones who can be the biggest stinkers can also be the biggest sweethearts! Such is the case in my house :) My William-man is the one who tests my Mommy-patience more than the other two. He's the one who's sent me to Amazon.com the most often in desperate search of parenting books. BUT, he's also the one who makes my heart swell the most often! He's like the little girl in the nursery rhyme--when he's good, he's very, very good, but when he's bad, he's horrid ;) (Minus the curl in the middle of the forehead, of course!) No in-betweens for us.

His latest sweet story happened because of Facebook. That networking website has an application that tells you all of your "friends" birthdays & when they're coming. I am "Facebook friends" with both of William's teachers. Mrs. Stricklin's birthday is today, so a couple of days before when Facebook put her notification on my home page, I mentioned it to William. He was very concerned about whether or not she would have a party. When I explained to him that grown-ups don't usually have parties for their birthdays, he wasn't happy. His response was, "Well, Mommy, she should at least have a cupcake!" I promised that we would bring her a cupcake to school on her birthday & he insisted on making her a card. Here is my little sweetie-pie with his homemade birthday card. On the front is a cake that he drew & colored all by himself. It's even got a candle on it.

From Big kid pics

From Big kid pics

And, a close-up of the inside, which he wrote all by himself with a little spelling help from Mommy:

From Big kid pics

It says, "Happy Birthday Mrs. Stricklin. From William"

And, one snap of him giving it to her and explaining what he'd written:

From Big kid pics

He told me when he got home from school that he'd made her birthday soooo special for her. And, he was so proud of himself. I was proud of him, too!

Park Day

Today was supposed to be the boys' park day at preschool, but it decided to rain, so they scheduled an indoors playday & picnic. There was a clown making balloons & the kids got to request their favorites when it was their turn. Daniel, of course, picked a ladybug:

From Big kid pics

William picked a Spiderman "sword":

From Big kid pics

Will chose a bunny hat:

From Big kid pics

And, Luke chose an alien:

From Big kid pics

Colin spent the entire time trying to eat everyone's balloon creations!! Overall, it was a fun morning!