summertime

FINALLY!  After the winter we had here in Michigan, I have such a great appreciation for the beautiful weather we've been having.  Last Saturday we made our first trip to the cottage for the summer, and it was PERFECT.  Caleb and Logan were so excited!  (Levi was excited, too, but he didn't really know why. :) )

The boys played great almost the entire day - later on in the day (as tiredness was setting in) there were only a few small issues.  Levi pretty much just played in the sand by himself all day, other than a waverunner ride with me (for which we put his ever present hat backwards, and he still ride with one hand on his hat and one on the handle).

Monday we were able to help with baling hay behind our house.  Each of the boys got to ride one round with my Dad while he was raking.  Then, in the evening, they rode along while I drove and Mike loaded bales on a wagon (the baler didn't have a kicker!); and then we went over to my parent's and I unloaded bales while Mike stacked them in the hay loft.  Definitely would have gone better if the boys were old enough to throw bales around, but it didn't go TOO bad.  :)

On Tuesday Mike unexpectedly pulled in the driveway with a dump truck and dropped off some extra dirt from work.  Yay for the garden!  Not so good for keeping little boys out of trouble.  I had enough patience in me to let them play and get dirty once, but after that it was trying.  This isn't any ol' dirt - it's black muck.  It's gets in clothes and skin and doesn't just easily wash out.  I've got black hand prints on various doors and walls.  Thankfully it was rainy Wednesday so we weren't really outside much, and then last night we let them get dirty again while we worked on getting the dirt into the garden, and now the pile in the driveway is gone so that temptation is gone.  :)  As long as they don't go play in the pile of extra by the woods...  Last night while working with the dirt Mike and I enjoyed observing Levi.  He was so determined to pull the wagon OVER the dirt pile.  He tried for several minutes going around the pile before Mike stepped in and helped him push the wagon over.  He didn't whine, complain or get frustrated - he just kept working at it.

Wednesday evening we paid a visit to Grandma Krol at Sunset Manor.  It works out pretty nice to visit her there as there is a large bird "cage" (not even sure if that's what you call it) near her room that the boys enjoy looking at, and then we can go for a walk down various halls - it's a nice way to visit with Grandma and not have to try and make three little boys sit still in a small room.  :)  Levi especially enjoys getting a ride on Grandma's walker.  :)

Yesterday was Mike's 38th birthday!  The boys and I were able to visit him at lunchtime, and in the evening we had a nice steak dinner and birthday cake that the boys helped me decorate.  Caleb and Logan colored papers for Mike, and I'm still amazed at how much they've grown intellectually over the last several months!  It's really fun to watch how they improve at things.  I write "Happy Birthday!" on a whiteboard for them to look at, and then they wrote it on their papers themselves with just a little intervention from me.  They still need to work on the size and spacing of their letters, but the fact that they can even write the letters and will do it without a bunch of whiny, "I can'ts!" is neat to see.

big shot

On Tuesday Caleb learned how to ride his bike without training wheels!  He'd been practicing alot on Levi's balance bike and decided to take the plunge.  I told him to wait until Mike got home from work, but he went and got the wrench himself to take the training wheels off.  :)  Then he was just going to park it and wait until later, but next thing, he was on his bike.  I first had him go off the south side of the driveway - small hill to get momentum, soft grass in case of a fall.  :)  He went across the yard several times and then later was tearing around the driveway like nobody's business.  He has plenty of confidence.  :)

That evening after supper we loaded up the bikes in the truck and headed to Georgetown Forest for a little family ride.   Mike has told the boys lots of stories from his boyhood, so he had to point out where lots of things happened.  :)  I was able to borrow Kara's bike with a seat on the back, so that Levi and I were able to go as well.

Here's a couple videos for your viewing pleasure:

slacker

So, I've really been putting off updating the blog, because I JUST DON'T FEEL LIKE IT!  But, unfortunately, this is one of those jobs that gets worse the longer you let it go...  Ugh, my kids better be grateful someday that I'm doing this!!

Let's see if I can do a quick recap of the last few weeks.  Pixie was spayed a few weeks ago.  Took her a bit to get used to her cone, and we were very happy to take it off a week later.  Our household is still adjusting to having an inside dog.  She is great, but the boys just can't seem to leave her alone.

A couple weeks ago I was able to go with some girls from church to see the movie "Mom's Night Out".  So funny!  I had had a rough afternoon with the kids and then was in tears just a few minutes into the movie when the dad found the mom hiding in the closet after the kids were in bed and the house was a disaster - supposed to be over-the-top, but that's REAL LIFE!  I went again with Amy last week since I enjoyed it so much and she had wanted to see it.

We survived one night of camping Memorial Day weekend!  This was actually a first since before Levi - last year Mike stayed the night with Caleb and Logan (Levi and I went for the day.), and the year before Levi was a new newborn (plus Caleb and Logan were only 2 1/2 - what fun would that be??), so we all just went for the day.  We didn't go down (Van Buren State Park) until Saturday since it's hard for us to make it at a decent time on Friday evening, and Mike ended up doing some planting for my dad.

The weather was GREAT for camping!  Not too hot, not too cold (which is surprising considering the winter and spring we've had here).  Sunday morning was perfect for hanging on the beach.  The water is still way too cold for the kids to be tempted by swimming, so I didn't have to worry about that.  We found a nice spot by a small pool of water in the sand, and they just played in the sand for a long time.

We came back home on Sunday afternoon so that we could be around for the Jenison Memorial Day parade Monday morning.  (Tradition!)  The boys enjoyed the parade.  Levi was a little scared of some of the horns and sirens on the fire trucks.  Logan especially was really good at getting candy (we ended up with SO much).  They enjoyed seeing people they knew from our church that were in the parade, and seeing some of the old cars, and there were a few planes that did a fly over that we all really enjoyed.

The rest of Monday was spent working on our 2014 garden!  We decided to expand it just a little this year, mostly to make it easier for mowing the grass.  We got everything planted, fence put up, and gate put in.  The gate was a new addition this year - I "want" the boys to be able to get in and help some this year.  Well, there's the part of me that wants to do the garden myself and not let anyone else touch it (especially little boys that aren't real great at the whole concept of being careful yet), but there's also the part of me that knows their involvement in the garden could be a valuable learning experience.  :)  So, I've yet another area in which to practice patience!

This past weekend felt somewhat nonexistent as Mike had to work late on Friday night, most of the day Saturday, and he was Deacon on duty at church yesterday.

Let's see if I can remember what all the boys have been up to.  Caleb and Logan are both good at writing their first names.  They have done some practicing with middle and last names.  Caleb especially also likes to write "Mom" and "Dad".  Logan seems to enjoy thinking through addition problems, "Hey, Mom! 5 + 2 = 7!"  :)  So fun to see them learning this stuff.  Crazy to think that last fall when they were starting Gopher's at church they couldn't write their names or draw a square or things like that.  They definitely have LOTS and LOTS of questions.  How things work, how things are made, why things are the way they are, etc., etc....  On one hand it seems like a LONG ways away that they will be starting school (fall of 2015), but on the other hand it seems like they are growing up fast.

Levi has gotten through his initial "terrible two's" phase, and is back in sweetie-pie mode most of the time.  I say "initial" because I'm trying to stay prepared for more to come...  I still hear alot of "I can do it myself, Mommy.", but then in the next breath it's, "Help!  I need help, Mommy!"  :)  He talks so much and you can have actual conversations with him.  Not only does he have certain ideas/opinions/plans about things, he can actually express himself, too.  I'm really trying to savor the sweetness of this age!  Levi wears a hat most of the time.  Actually, I hardly recognize him when he doesn't have it on he wears it so much!  Levi has become quite the ham.  This is especially at the dinner table.  He knows he can get his brothers laughing, and he really does it up good for them being silly.  He's also become scared of flies that last few days thinking they're bees.  He likes to ride in Mike's truck, drink from my water bottle, ride on Caleb or Logan's bike, and play with the hose outside.  He has to have his blanket from Grammy put on him in bed, and lay on his Thomas the Tank Engine pillow pet (used to be Caleb's).  He pretends and uses his imagination during playtime.

We've been struggling with bedtime for Caleb and Logan.  They stay up SO late!  I'm pretty sure part of the problem is Logan napping at quiet time, so one of these days I've got to suck it up and do what it takes to keep him awake for the afternoon and hopefully break the vicious cycle!  He naps then isn't tired at bedtime, keeps Caleb up, they wake up early because it gets light so early, then he's tired in the afternoon at quiet time and naps...

We have Emmy for the summer again.  The boys do alot better with her than with Pixie.  I suppose it's because she's outside and a bigger dog?  Anywho, life sure stays interesting with three little boys and two dogs!