falling behind

The only problem I see here is that we clearly need bigger hampers!

I have not been home as much as usual this week and apparently it shows. Just before bedtime Coby said, "Hey mommy, I know why my hamper fell over. It's because it is soooo full of clothes." Good observation Coby! From the looks and sounds of it, I think I might need to stay at home tomorrow and tackle the laundry. We don't want all of the hampers to fall over now do we?

At least the bathrooms are clean. Coby can't find any fault there. I couldn't believe it when I actually told Darren that I needed a break so I was going to lock myself in the bathrooms and clean them. Now you know it's been a bad day when you want to clean the bathroom and you consider it a break.

It's just been that kind of week (or two) around here. The boys have been very loud and energetic (as they should be) and I've been very irritable and impatient (as I should not be). Thankfully tomorrow is a new day and I hope to make the most of it. However, if I don't, I'm pretty sure Coby will keep me in check! :)

When I went to take a pic of Coby's overflowing hamper, I couldn't help but notice how sweet he looked sleeping next to his reindeer. I love looking in at the boys while they sleep.

{I realize that I've been blogging a lot more over the past few days. This is where I try to document at least a little piece of our lives together. I know it's not exciting for anyone but me (and maybe my mom), but I like to look back at old posts and see how the boys have changed over the past months or years. I had quit writing much since a lot of our day to day lives can be very boring and monotonous, but I'm going to try to write more even though it isn't exciting. I want to be able to look back one day and remember what it was like when the boys were growing up. I know that one day I'll miss these moments and I'll be so thankful that I documented this season of life.}

35

me and the bug on my 35th

It's official. I'm old. I'm in my mid-thirties as of today. It is amazing to think that I'm already 35. I'll be in the nursing home before I know it! I kid, sort of. I know thirty-five is not old, but I remember a time when I thought it was...and it hasn't been that long ago.

I had a great day. I woke up to each of the boys wishing me a happy birthday, a bag of Sour Patch Kids and a sweet card. :) I bought my own gift (from Darren) a bit early so I've been able to enjoy it for a while now. He is SO good to me. I know it's not romantic to buy my own gift, but that's just how we roll around here. It works for us.

The morning did get off to a bit of a rough start as I overslept, which in turn meant that the boys overslept. Luckily we made it to school with ONE minute to spare. Yikes, not a great way to start off the day. The funny thing is that I went to bed at 8:30 last night to watch a movie, so I actually fell asleep earlier than normal. I had rented the movie "The Switch" for myself and jokingly told Darren that since it was the eve of my birthday I was starting the celebration early. I crawled into bed as soon as Darren headed off to work and the boys fell asleep. It was the first time in a long time that I was able to sit and watch a movie without with just a few interruptions (from the dog, not the boys). It was a treat!

After picking Cale up from school we went to meet my mom at our favorite tea room (on the way there Cale asked if the tea room was pink. I told him it was. I was concerned about his response, but he said, "Oh good, that's my favorite color!"). Just as I was about to pull into the parking lot, mom called to tell me the tea room had closed. We ended up at Upper Crust which is a favorite of mine. I had a great lunch with my mom and Cale.

The day was full of phone calls, texts and cards from friends and family which made me feel so loved! Darren took me to Outback for a quick dinner. Unfortunately we had back to back parent/teacher conferences at the kids school starting at 7:15. This is the second year in a row that the conferences fell on my birthday. I learned long ago that birthdays just aren't the same when you are a grown-up with kids...and that's okay. It was perfect in every way (even with the cold and gloomy weather)!

{Oh...I don't want to forget this. Coby made me the cutest drawing, folded it up and put it in an envelope with 11 cents. He had me open it a day early because he was too excited to wait. He was so proud. He just melts my heart. Then when I dropped him off at school he turned back to the car, poked his head inside and told me that he hoped I'd have a great birthday. He is always thinking of me and wanting to make sure I'm happy. I just love him to pieces.}

it's that time again

Baseball season is upon us...and I'm loving it! We just finished up the round robins and the regular season games start in a week. If you had asked me pre-kids if I'd enjoy going to baseball games I'd have told you not a chance, I hate watching sports! But I do, I love watching Connor play...baseball is his passion and I just love watching him in his element. I had to miss a game last week because it was a late one (had to get the little ones to bed for school the next day). I made Darren text me with updates the entire time so I could be in the know! Who'd have thunk it!?! Certainly not me.

Excuse the hodge podge uniform, we changed teams so he's wearing his old jersey and hat with the yellow socks for the new team. I can't wait til we get his new jersey so he'll match! Drives me (and Connor) crazy when he doesn't match the team!

Coby and Cale have fun hanging out with the other kids at the games. They're also really pumped up about the new snow cone truck that is at the ball field this year. :)

Cale is playing baseball this year too. He starts in a few weeks and I think it will be fun to watch him play. It will be interesting for me and Darren to try to juggle who is taking who to which game/practice. Hopefully most games will fall on different nights. I don't want to miss any of it!

it's a dogs boys life

Darren and I headed out to the backyard to play with wear Ellie out this afternoon. Cale quickly followed as he always does when we go outside. He was pantless and shoeless when he came out so he grabbed Coby's rainboots to keep the ONE sock he had on clean (he wouldn't ever think to grab pants too, going pantless is the norm for both Cale and Coby when at home). Cale never puts his shoes on the wrong feet, but somehow he did today and it was just adorable to us....actually the whole look was, hence all the pics...

I think his little legs are the cutest things I've ever seen

I'm not quite sure what he was about to do to Ellie with the golf club...thank goodness she's patient with him is all I have to say!

Cale decided we needed to play baseball while we were out :)

I just had to throw one in of Ellie on her 14 week birthday!

In case you couldn't tell, I love this kid!

it's been awhile

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. I can't believe it's been over a month! Honestly I just haven't been in the mood to post lately. I'm trying to think about what we've been up to and I'm not really sure! The few things that do come to mind are spending time outdoors enjoying the beautiful weather, shopping for spring clothes, getting old clothing ironed and priced to sell at the JBF sale (my first time to consign and it's been a GREAT success...it's paid for the boys new spring clothing already and it's only day 2!), baseball practices and now games have started, keeping Ellie out of trouble (that is a FULL time job in itself trust me...she is a MESS), and just trying to keep up with things around the house (which I've discovered is impossible to do).

Last week the boys were out for spring break and I had an activity planned for every day, but guess what? When it came down to it, we blew off our plans and ended up spending most days at home just enjoying the down time. The only activity we stuck to was our visit to the zoo, and even that was switched to another day. One of these days I'll learn not to try and plan anything! It was a great week though, we had such a relaxing time. Darren took three nights off which made me and the boys extremely happy! We went to the park, the boys played outside daily, we had friends over to play, sleepovers, and I took the week off from cooking! It was nice, but as I dropped the boys off to school yesterday morning I couldn't help but be glad to get back into a routine. The boys have quickly acclimated to going back to school, but I seem to be staying in spring break mode. I came home and crawled back into bed after dropping the boys off at school this morning. Yes, it's pathetic, but I am determined to be productive tomorrow...or not, we'll see.

Here are a couple of pics from the past few weeks....

Ellie is getting SO big. I think she's about 23 lbs now. She is going to be a BIG girl!

Ellie is always trying to get into whatever Cale is playing with. As I said before, she is a MESS!

All my fellas at the zoo.

We met up with two of Darren's police buddies and their families at the zoo on Wednesday (I didn't take pics until they left and it was just our family). One of Darren's co-workers/friends was beat up while off-duty last month and is now a paraplegic. It was his first time to spend outdoors with his family since his life was abruptly changed. We were so happy to be able to be a part of his first outing. His family is beautiful and we pray for them daily.

Cale checking out the lizards

Coby happily hanging out at home

Coby and Flat Stanley playing basketball (Flat Stanley was supposed to spend spring break with us for school, but oops, we forgot to take him on most outings. Uh oh!

Connor and Cameron being goobers!

That's it. That's all I've got. It's been too long...I've got to do better with my online scrapbook. I'm going to try...really, I am!