You Never Forget

Everyone says that once you learn to ride a bike you never forget. Well then, today was a day that Wyatt and Sam will never forget. They both learned to ride their bikes without training wheels today. It was so easy for them! I am sure that they could have done it years ago of we didn't live around so many hills, but they achieved this milestone on Drummond Island. They had plenty of support with both Mom and Dad running along side them, cheering each other on, Grandma and Grandpa watching, and even a little encouragement from some neighbors! It was exciting and we are so proud of our little cyclists!

Rock Hunting

We finally got some warm weather the past few days. It has been so nice to spend time down by the lake swimming and playing by the water. The sandy beach on the right side of our little island is ok, but there is still a big step down into the water and Shane has trouble maneuvering himself there. Yesterday we took a little rubber row raft and filled it up with lake water right next to the edge of the lake and gave Shane a few toys and he played there for a couple of hours and really enjoyed himself.

The other boys jumped on and off the rafts and threw buckets of dirt and water at each other all afternoon. Then they took a bar of soap that they found in the back of the golfcart and gave each other baths in the lake “just like grandpa”. They had to go underwater to rinse themselves off and at night they insisted that they didn’t need to take a shower because they took a lake bath!

Today John and I took the boys on a boat ride to harbor island to look for pudding stones. They each brought a bucket and walked all over the shoreline. We found a lot of pudding stones in the water just about a foot into the water. Sam was actually the best at finding pudding stones without help. He got so excited every time that he found one and wanted to know if he could bring it home!

When we got home the boys spent a long time washing and scrubbing their rocks clean! I am going to have to come up with some crafts using our pudding stones so that we can continue to funnel that energy into something productive and fun!

Daddy's Here!!!

We were so excited to see Daddy today after a week without him. He drove up here with a car jammed packed with groceries. We were pretty excited about that too because the boys normally big appetites are intensified by all of the activity! We are running low on food. We go through an entire loaf of bread a day! Seriously!


The thermometer hit 80 degrees today! We spent most of the day down at the lake. It was so nice to swim and enjoy all of the water toys. The kids were exhausted!


In typical Michigan fashion the weather cooled right off and we are sleeping with a nice cool breeze outside. Tomorrow's agenda: Fishing, strawberry picking, butterfly catching, some lake time, and a campfire!

Warmin Up!

Today we finally got a taste of summer on Drummond Island! We spent some time down by the lake and it was so much fun!

Sam-isms

Sam is enjoying every single moment on Drummond Island! He absolutely loves waking up here. Yesterday he woke up from his nap and gave me a huge hug and said "I love Up North Mom". It is so much fun watching him having such a great time. Yesterday Sam wanted to go down to the lake and check for turtles. I walked down with him and when we got to the dock Sam looked at a patch of lily pads and said "Mom, look at all of the froggy mats!"

Drummond island 2011

The boys and I are on Drummond island. We left on Sunday morning and met my parents half way and followed them the rest of the way here. It was a 10 hour trip and we only stopped 2 times... Once for lunch and once for gas! As soon as we got on the ferry to Drummond the kids got out of the van and went up to the observation deck with grandpa. They were so thrilled to be on vacation that they literally danced around the ferry deck shouting and cheering.

Then when we drove off the ferry the kids started screaming "yay we are up north!" they are so fun to be around because they truly enjoy everything about Drummond.
The kids have checked out the new four wheelers. Grandpa has 2 big ones and a little kid one. The kids took turns riding around the big garage for a long time yesterday and never got bored. They are having fun checking out all of the things to see up here.
So far the weather has been chilly and we have had to wear long pants and sweatshirts every day. It is irritating to me but the kids sure don't mind. They are finding plenty to do. Yesterday we went through three outfits for each kid because the kids were do dirty! When i gave them a shower at the end of the day the water in the bottom of the shower was literally black! They are living fully in the moment!

John will be up here at the end of the week and we are really looking forward to seeing daddy! Luckily we are able to webcam with him and can tell him all about our day, so he doesn't feel like he is missing so much! So far our vacation is off to a great start.

Flashback

We made a trip across Michigan and stopped in lansing to give the kids a little history lesson. This is where'd your daddy and I lived for 10 years. We met in our dorm Holmes hall. See the top floor? We both lived on the 6th floor.
Here is the bike path. We spent a lot of time trying to survive on that bike path... It is not as easy as it looks when there are thousands of kids all trying to get to class at the same time.
Here is the food science building. 10 years later we still can't find a parking space to let you walk in and see it.
Here is the garden where your daddy and I used to go all of the time. We got engaged on that bridge right there thirteen years ago.

When did i get so old? It is truly amazing to see my kids standing right there on that bridge! We would have never imagined how happy we would be together. I hope that my kids have such wonderful memories of their college days someday too!

Camping

We got back from Grand Haven on Tuesday and on Wednesday I left with the kids to go camping with a girlfriend and her kids. She has 4 kids too and they are all about the same ages as ours! We rented cabins at a state park in Pennsylvania. The cabins had 2 bedrooms, a family room, kitchen, and bathroom. Then it had a porch and fire pit outside. There were 10 cabins in a loop with a paved road connecting them all together. It was so great because we brought the kids bikes and they could ride around the loop over and over again without us having to worry about them getting hit by cars. We went hiking each morning and then ate lunch, let the kids nap, and then went swimming at the park beach until dinner. Then we ate and had a campfire until dark. We roasted marshmallows, hot dogs, and made smores and sat around the fire and relaxed. The kids all had flashlights and ran all over the place having a great time. John drove up after work and visited us at the campfire before driving home for work the next morning. As soon as we left the kids asked when we were going back, so I guess that means that they had a great time!

The Pick Up Man

This trailer was the best Christmas present ever! Sam is always driving somebody or something around in the trailer. He has learned to back it up really well and has almost earned his CDL license. His Daddy had a tractor and trailer that he loved to drive around as a kid too! Grandma Kathie and Grandpa Bill still have it at their house and the kids love playing with it when we visit. I will be shocked if Sam doesn't end up owning a tractor someday!

Who Needs a Bed?

John and I are constantly asking ourselves why we bothered to buy these two a bed in the first place! This is how they sleep 99% of the time!

Power Washing

John taught the boys how to use the power washer to clean their bikes!

He even taught Wyatt how to clean his tires!

Heavy Fish

When we were in Grand Haven over Memorial Day Jonah and Sam caught a bunch of salmon with John and Grandpa Bill. The kids were super excited to show us all of the fish in the cooler. We took a bunch of pictures and dumped the fish onto the grass. Then John moved the cooler out of the way and got everything ready to start cleaning the fish. We told the boys to put the fish back into the cooler so that they could get rinsed off.

Sam worked his little butt off and carried the salmon across the yard to put into the cooler. He sweated and grunted and used up every ounce of energy he had. Jonah just watched. Then John asked Jonah to help Sam and Jonah went right over to the other side of the yard and dragged the cooler over so that it was right next to the fish.

That story perfectly demonstrates the personalities of Jonah and Sam. Sam is a hard worker, but does not necessarily do things the easy way. Jonah never does more than he needs to and is always looking for ways to simplify things. Together they make a perfect pair.

This video is so funny. I laugh every time that I watch it!

John Deere Gang

Check out the gang.....

Looking Up

Yesterday turned out to be a much better day. The weather was hot, the fishing was great, and everybody is on the road to recovery!

Memorial Day 2011

We are in grand haven for the weekend. Our trip has had a rocky start.....

The weather is NOT warm here in Michigan
Grandpa bill and john have taken the boys salmon fishing two days in a row and the boat broke down both times before they could even get their poles in the water
Great grandma Rodgers was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia yesterday
Triston came down with strep throat this morning

So... We are hoping that tomorrow will be a new fresh start for us.

Terrible Two's????

Even though he is 2 and a half, Shane still has a lot of baby fat.....especially in his face!


I can not explain how adorable this little guy is! He has the sweetest personality! He adores his brothers and follows them around like a little duckling. I have even started to let him walk around in stores by himself without a cart or stroller and he stays right with me! (His brothers would have never done that at his age!) He is the most easy-going kid that you have ever met.


How did we get so lucky? (well, other than the fact that Wyatt makes up for him 110%) The terrible two's haven't touched him at all.... yet!

Biggest Worm Award

Jonah has won the biggest worm of the year award. He grabbed this guy in the garden. Apparently there was a bit of a struggle as the worm tried to escape, but Jonah was able to block him and get him into the bucket.


When Jonah told Wyatt about this worm on the way back from preschool he described the worm as being as big as our van!!! Apparently exaggerating about size is just built into a boy's DNA! I guess that you can't fight nature!

p.s. Notice that Jonah has his shirt on backwards (happens fairly often). Anyways the pocket was in the back and Shane followed Jonah around all day putting his hand in Jonah's pocket! It drove Jonah crazy, but Shane thought that it was hilarious!

Preschool Graduation #1

Jonah and Sam graduated from 3-year-old preschool this week. Wyatt was at school so Shane and I went to watch. The class sang us a few songs and then their teacher presented each one of them with a flower and a diploma. Shane insisted on lining up with all of the classmates at the front of the classroom! He was really worked up that he didn't get a flower and a diploma either...next year little guy! They did not make a huge deal and go all-over-the-top with it. It was simple and sweet.


Then we went into the auditorium to watch the 4-year-old preschool graduation which WAS over the top. Pomp and circumstance, marching, diplomas, speeches, etc. My boys were literally bored to death! But we sat through it all and headed to the rec room to eat our picnic lunches. The kids really enjoyed eating together at their school.


They had a GREAT year at school! I can not believe how much they enjoy school and how much they have retained! We are going to miss their teacher next year tremendously! I hope that whoever ends up teaching their 4-year-old preschool class has just half of the talent that their teacher this year did!

My kindle

I got a smart phone last November. I absolutely love my phone. It is an motorola droid x by verizon. I can check email and the internet from anywhere. My phone has saved me so many times it is shocking.

I have received emails about canceled appointments while I was already out and about with the kids. I have been able to send John emails to pick somebody up from preschool because something has come up and I couldn't get back in time. I have emailed John that we were locked out of the van and received help when he wasn't at his desk to answer his phone. I have looked up directions and store hours countless times without having to go home. We even booked a hotel room once from my phone while on the road!


But my absolute most favorite thing about my phone is the Amazon Kindle app. I download books all of the time and read them on my phone. My mom has my amazon account on her phone too so we can share books. It is so wonderful. I never thought that I would be one of those people who enjoyed reading ebooks, but I am hooked!

I can even read something on my phone and come home and read where I left off on my Ipad! I still like non-electronic kids books because the pictures look better, but my little Kindle phone is amazing!

Tis The Season

Allergy season is upon us. It started a few weeks ago and we have been in trouble ever since. I've had the itchy eyes and throat but limited runny nose issues. Wyatt, on the other hand, seems to have inherited my terrible childhood hay fever allergies.

He can' stop sneezing and itching his eyes. He is absolutely miserable. Zyrtec helps him a lot, but it also makes him tired and cranky!

He was a wreck after we spent last weekend at the farm fishing!


I hope that this passes shortly and we can enjoy the summer weather without worrying about allergies!

Fishing on the Farm

We have been absolutely swamped with the end of the school year festivities! I have been going to bed exhausted every night.

Last week John took a rare day off work in the middle of the week to enjoy a beautiful sunny day fishing at our friend's farm. The night before John told the kids to find some worms in the yard. They were out digging in the garden for about 20 minutes. I was shocked when they came in and John told me that they had about 50 worms in the bucket! They should set up a roadside stand selling containers of worms! I am not going to suggest that to them because it will probably happen and my neighbors aren't really the needing-worms-for-fishing type of people. I'm just saying in the right location they could make a killing!


The next morning John and I headed out with the boys armed with fishing poles, worms, lunches, and a picnic blanket. My friend's pond is full of bluegills and bass and the fish bite as fast as you can get the pole in the water. The kids were so excited. I ended up helping bait and take fish off the hooks because John just could not keep up with the fishing frenzy.


Shane loved checking out the fish in the bucket!


Fishing in the morning and bluegills for dinner... a perfect summer day!

Mother's Day Fashion Show

Today Jonah and Sam had a Mother's Day Tea and fashion show at their preschool. A few weeks ago I had to send them to school wearing some of Daddy's clothes. They had to tell their class about their parent's clothes and then their teacher took notes on what each kid said. Then she read their description today while each kid modeled the clothes for all of the Moms. We had brunch with the kids and they each presented their mom with a flower in a pot that they had decorated themselves. It was very sweet!

For the record, I tried to prep the boys on the way to school to be sure what they were going to say. They were both wearing camouflage shirts and hats. They both said "Mom, I know what to say...you don't have to tell me".

So I was surprised to hear this from each of them....

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend my parents took all of the kids while John and I enjoyed a weekend alone. It was the first time that we have had a weekend alone since all four kids were born! It was wonderful! We are so thankful that Grandma and Grandpa were brave enough to help out... I'm sure that it wasn't easy. But based on this video it looks like they put everybody to work. Good thinking guys!

Happy Easter 2011

Grandma and Grandpa made the trip from Michigan to celebrate Easter with us. We had a fun-filled weekend with them. We were all sad to see them go!

The Easter bunny came last night and brought all of the boys a bucket filled with all kinds of goodies and toys. He also hid 12 Easter eggs for each boy all over the house! Luckily the eggs all had the boys names written on them so that there wasn't any fighting.

The boys all consumed about 3 pounds of sugar before 7:30am! Shane took a bucket full of jelly beans into the playroom to hide out. He sat in there eating them until somebody missed him and we all figured out where he was! His chubby little belly may actually be even a little bigger now!

I love watching the boys get so excited about such a simple tradition!

Celebrate

Today Wyatt asked me if it was April 22nd? He pronounced it "twenty tooth"!

All of the flowering trees around here are in full bloom. Sam is so impressed with them. He comments every time that we drive somewhere. "Mom, look at those bootiful trees!" Then yesterday he asked me "how they were so puffy? Was it magic?"


Today the kids used the new ipad to video call Grandpa on Skype without me knowing about it. I was fixing lunch in the kitchen when suddenly I heard my Dad's voice in the family room! That was a surprise! That ipad sure is kid friendly!

I can not believe that I am writing this, but I have parted ways with my caffeine habit. I gave up caffeine on Monday as part of my conversion to LDS (kidding). No coffee and no diet coke!! I have been addicted to caffeine since college. I have woken up to a Diet Coke every morning for the last 20 years!!!!! Shocking I know! So I expected the withdraw to be terrible. Monday was rough! I had a persistent headache and virtually no energy. But I was fine on Tuesday and today I think that I have completely recovered from the energy plunge. That's me turning over a new leaf for spring!

School Update

Since we had preschool conferences in winter we have been working with Sam on hammering down the three year old curriculum. His teacher thought that he was not ready to move up to the four year old class even though Jonah was.

What to do?!?! Twins progressing at different levels. Hold one back even though he is ready to move up? Force one kid to work above his level and move them both up? Split them?

Anyways, I met with the boys teacher on Friday to re-visit Sam's issues and address his improvement/ or lack of.

As it turns out she was AMAZED at how far he has come since we last talked. She said that his progress is remarkable. She could not believe how well his academics are coming along. She said that he is absolutely ready to move up to the 4's next year! Yipee!

She and I both agree that the help at home has improved his scores, but that the real progress is that Sam is INTERESTED in learning the academics now. It is almost like a switch flipped and he wants to learn about everything. I am so relieved... for him and Jonah. They will be together again next year both learning and enjoying school together!

I met with the boys teacher during their regular school day while they were in class. But I had Shane with me, so the classroom aide took Shane and let him go to school with the boys. OMG when I came out of the conference room Shane was sitting with all of the "big kids" in circle time with his little hands folded on his lap and Sam had his arm draped over Shane's shoulder. It was the CUTEST thing that I have EVER seen as a parent! He was watching the teacher talk to the kids about the weather and their classroom calendar.


I told him that it was time to go and Shane said goodbye to the teacher and other kids and happily skipped out of the school. When we got back in the van I said "Shane, did you get to go to school with the bog boys?" And he got the sweetest smile on his face like he knew exactly what I was saying! That boy can melt my heart! If I only had a camera... but then again I don't think that I will need a photo to remember Shane's first day of school! That one is in the memory bank for good!

Easter Eggs

I helped the boys color Easter eggs last Friday afternoon. It was nice and warm outside and is supposed to rain every day for the next week. So, I decided that it would be nice to color eggs outside and keep the mess out of the house.


Everybody got to pick three eggs and three colors. I was thrilled that the Paas company included only 2 wands in their egg dying kit. When you have 3 very anxious egg-colorers 1 wand is much better than 2! People fight when there is 2 of something instead of 3, but if there is only one of something they will readily take turns! Weird!


Anyways, I spilled a whole cup of blue dye all over Wyatt. It came out, but I sure was happy that we were out in the driveway!


It really ended up being a lot of fun! I enjoyed myself and the kids told everybody that walked by on their way to the bus stop what they were working on. I am not sure if the boys are at an age where they will start remembering their experiences forever, but I hope so. We sure have fun together!

New Ipad2 Lovin it!

This is why I love our new Ipad!

We Made It

Last week was a tough one. Shane started antibiotics last Saturday morning for a respiratory infection. He had been getting Motrin every 6 hours for a fever and we still had trouble keeping it down. But after the antibiotics he was feeling a lot better by Monday morning. Unfortunately, Jonah got a fever Sunday night and on Monday morning Sam was vomiting.

I loaded everybody up in the van to drop Wyatt off at preschool and Sam threw up the entire way there. Luckily we had a big towel for him and he did well keeping everything in the towel. I drove straight to the pediatrician's office after dropping Wyatt off at school. Even though they didn't open until 9am I figured that it would be harder to turn us down for a quick appointment if we were there in person rather than calling on the phone. I knew that strep throat was going around so I figured that Jonah and Sam would need a rapid strep culture and then we could be on our way.

Thankfully they fit us into the schedule right away and did rapid strep cultures on both boys. While we were waiting for the results the doctor came in and checked the boys noses, throats, and ears. When she looked in Sam's ears she said "Ummmm, wow! He has a fairly bad ear infection! He will definitely need antibiotics for this even if the strep test comes out negative." Then the doctor looked in Jonah's ears and said "Yeah, his ears look even worse than his brothers! He has a horrible ear infection! I am surprised that he hasn't said anything to you about his ear hurting!?!?!?" (insert shameful judgmental look of bad parenting here)

So I said "Jonah does your ear hurt?". He said "no." Then I said "Sam, does your ear hurt?" Sam said "Hmmm, no, but my leg hurts!" The doctor looked shocked.

So, feeling slightly vindicated I said "Well, there you have it!" And now we have three boys on antibiotics. Everybody is feeling better and things are almost back to normal. It literally takes almost a week to get back into the groove after illness and missed school, but we are back on track!

The Bait Man

How many times can I write a post about my funny man Sam? He is such a funny quirky little guy. Every day he comes up with something totally new and funny. I can't say how many times he is the comic relief of my day. Total strangers have come up to me to tell me how they noticed something about Sam.... He sure is a firecracker huh? That one has a lot of spunk I can see! He is so funny! What a sense of humor you have on that one.

His latest endeavor is being a worm collector. He spends every waking minute outside digging for worms. He plans on using them for fishing. Sam is either talking about worm collecting or fishing these days. It is like living with the crocodile hunter... Only the worm hunter. He lives and breathes worms.

The other day it was raining and I was backing out of the driveway in the van. Suddenly Sam yelled "mom, stop"!

I stopped and yelled "What? Why?"

Then Sam said "I need to get out and make sure that you don't run over any worms in the driveway and squish them"!!!!!

What a ham!

The boys have. trailer that hooks onto their ride on tractor and Sam has it full of dirt and worms parked in the garage. Every night before we come in the house for the night Sam will say "goodnight worms!!"



He enjoys life so much! My little bait man... we would be so bored without him around!

Sickie

My little Shane had a rough weekend. He has had a fever and cough since Friday and isn't eating with his usual gusto. This morning I took him to our Med Express and they did a strep test and checked out his ears. Both were fine, but based on his incredibly pathetic demeanor the doctor gave us a prescription for antibiotics. I am hoping that the meds will do the trick for my little guy. He has only been sick 1 other time since birth and I forgot how CLINGY he was then! I need to break out the baby bjorn...my arms are about to break!

I took the boys to the bank on Friday to deposit some checks and let them each get a "brand new golden dollar" coin from the teller. You would have thought that they just won the lottery! The boys spent hours planning what they were going to buy with all of that money.

So, John took the kids to Target Saturday morning and let them use their money (plus some of his own) to buy a soccer ball and a football. They spent the rest of the morning running around the yard chasing their new balls! Then at lunch time Wyatt asked John to build him a little box to kick the ball into. We said you mean a net? And he said yes, can you build that while I am taking my nap?



Maybe Wyatt is ready to start soccer as a team sport?!? Who knew?

And Then I Stopped Breathing....

We had a near death experience on Sunday night. I am still freaked out about it! It was after dinner and the kids were watching a show on tv before bed. John was upstairs and I went into the den for 5 minutes (or less). As I was sitting at the desk Shane came walking in carrying a bowl that had previously been full of cashews sitting on the kitchen counter. In a split second I realized that he ATE the cashews and started to panic. He is VERY allergic to milk and peanuts. His pediatric allergist never specifically tested him for tree nuts, but said that he was very likely allergic to those as well. When he eats milk or nut containing products he goes into respiratory distress very quickly. It is very scary. We have Benedryl and an epi pen in the house (and car) at all times. After learning about his allergies when he was 10 months old we have never given him any foods with tree nuts in them just to be safe.

I screamed for John and he started emptying the remaining cashews in Shane's mouth onto the floor while I raced to get the Benedryl and epi pen ready. Shane was standing with a big smile on his face and no sign of discomfort or distress. We stood and stared at him waiting. Waiting for the inevitable. It was then that John and I looked at each other and realized that Shane is actually NOT allergic to tree nuts. Milk- Yes Peanuts- Yes Tree Nuts- No. How lucky was that?

I, on the other hand, was feeling great discomfort and distress at what almost happened. I was ready to shoot myself up with the epi pen to help get myself breathing again. I am so grateful that we, once again, avoided catastrophe. There is always something worrisome going on over here with these boys. Somebody once told me that with boys you are just happy if they all survive to adulthood. At the rate we are going I should be completely gray by Christmas and I will most likely not remember my name!

My Favorite Cookie Recipe

I am posting my favorite cookie recipe because it is amazing and I can never find the recipe. This way I will always know where I can find it. I can not express how much I love these cookies! Yummy!

Flour-less Chocolate Cookies

1 and 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 300 F
2. Mix together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Gradually add egg whites and stir with spoon. Mix should be thick enough to form balls; if not add more powdered sugar and cocoa. Add nuts, mix well.
3. Form dough into 15 balls. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 16-19 minutes, until glossy and crackled. Cool completely. Makes 15 cookies

Jingle Bells

Christmas NEVER ends at our house. Never.