Happy Birthday Grandma R!!

Yesterday was my sweet Grandma's birthday.  I would love to share just how "young" she is but I didn't get permission so I won't do that.  Let's just say I hope that I can be as young as you someday Grandma!!  Sending you lots of love and hugs from our whole family.  Hope you had a special day because you are so special!

Summer Moments

I have so many pictures from this summer that I just haven't had time to post. We've been very busy playing at home, at the pool, and at various parks around the area. Here is a collection of what most of our days looked like during the summer of 2011.

One of our first trips to Iowa this summer.  Grandpa and Uncle Matt wanted to take Jackson to his first Iowa Cubs game.

Trying out Grandpa's binoculars.

Hanging out with the statue outside Principal Park.

My mom and I took the boys to the Des Moines Zoo to see the dinosaur exhibit.

Checking out the amazing giraffes.

One of many mornings at the park.

We spent a lot of hours going to the library and reading books.

Grant showing off his injury.
We were in the ER three times this summer!

Jackson became a little fish in the water this summer.  He loves to go all the way under the water now and hold his breath. We are proud of all that he learned this summer!

One of my favorite pictures of the summer.

The boys spent a lot of time sitting up in our tree pretending to be monkeys.

Another favorite picture. I love this sweet boy!

Eating cupcakes for Mom and Dad's anniversary.

Playing in the water table on a hot day.

Watching the dogs next door, one of which is a puppy that the boys love!

Calvin, the puppy, just licked Jackson's hand and he's laughing hysterically!

The boys spent a lot of time pretending to be firefighters this summer.  They loved to spray Daddy.

We also spent time playing in our sandbox.

We've had a full summer but it is time to go back to reality. Jeff starts school tomorrow morning and grad school starts up again next week. We've enjoyed some great family time this summer and hopefully we've created some fun memories for the boys.

First Day of School

Today was Jackson's first day of preschool!   Yes it's only mid-August but believe it or not the school year is off and running.  Jackson has new teachers this year and a new classroom, which he was very excited about.  He is going to school three mornings a week, but he has informed me he wants to go five days a week!  I think he is ready for kindergarten, but thankfully that will have to wait for next year.

He had a great day today, although he was so tired when I picked him up he wasn't able to fill me in on much.  He told me he played with new friends today, girls and boys, but everything else he says is a secret.  Jackson is so curious right now about EVERYTHING!  I hope that this school year is filled with lots of learning because he is ready to soak up anything you can teach him.  He asked me the other night what "Google" was.   We have to use that word a lot because most of his questions I don't know the answers to and have to say, "Let's google that."  :)

First day of preschool 2011

Silly Monkeys

This afternoon I was excited to hopefully have a quiet house and get some of my items checked off of my "To-Do" list.  Jeff was taking Jackson to a birthday party and Grant and Cooper were suppose to take their afternoon nap.  I settled the boys into their cribs precisely at 1:00 and headed to the computer to start tackling my list.  About 15 minutes later, the boys were giggling and talking loudly to each other so I went upstairs to quiet them down again.  A half hour later, the giggling and loud talking continued, so of course I went upstairs and this time had to threaten to take away their lovies if they didn't quiet down.  This typically works everytime, but not today!  Another 20 minutes later and now the boys are yelling jokes back and forth to each other, which is really somewhat funny, but as their mommy, I know they need to rest.  So I go upstairs once again and take away their lovies, which of course was followed by loud cries.  They laid down in their beds, I closed their door and thought for sure I might get an hour of quiet time.  No such luck.  The giggling, joke telling, and silliness continued but I decided to let it go at that point.   I figured they would eventually get quiet, and if not they would just have to go to bed early tonight.  Well the giggling escalated to crying and whining, so I went upstairs one final time to discipline them and finally get them out of their beds (enough was enough) and this is what I found...

Those two little stinkers had figured out how to scoot Grant's crib over (his crib is on wheels) and proceed to unload Grant's crib, including Grant, into Cooper's crib. They had been wrestling in Cooper's crib, thus the scratch on Grant's neck and the crying I had heard. I did everything I could to not burst out laughing when I walked into their room. Of course they still had to suffer a punishment for not obeying mommy and resting like they were suppose to, but I thought this was hilarious!!  Can you tell by the look on their faces that they know they're in trouble?!

Two Peas in a Pod

Catch Up

The last weekend of July we made another tip back to Iowa for a family reunion.  We spent the weekend with Jeff's family and got to meet some Great Aunts/Uncles and cousins we had not met before.  The boys loved playing with cousins they don't see very often, and of course they loved eating Grandma Lori's famous homemade ice cream!  Believe it or not I don't have a single picture from our reunion.  We had 37 people inside Grandma's house so it was a little congested and chaotic.  There was no time for snapping pictures.

Jeff and I headed back home with Grant and Cooper on Monday evening, and Jackson got to stay with my parents and have some special one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa.  The first night he was there, they went to the Balloon Classic in Indianola.  It was a super hot night, but Jackson didn't mind the heat.  He loved watching the hot air balloons go up in the sky.  He announced to everyone around him every time he saw a new balloon.  What Grandma reported is that he would stand up and say, "Look everyone, here comes another one!"

He's been begging to go to Grandma and Grandpa's lake house for months now, so of course that's where they went for the week.  And they had a BLAST!!

At the dock

Grandma, Jackson, and Great Grandpa Ozzie went into town for a festival where Jackson got to enjoy ice cream...

...and check out the fire truck!  Here's my little fireman...

He even got to spray the hose!

To top the night off he got to go for a ride on the old fashioned fire truck around town.

Even Great Grandpa Ozzie (in the blue shirt) went for a ride!

The next day was filled with playtime with Grandma, Great Grandpa Ozzie, Great Grandma Muriel, Aunt Becky, and cousin Landon, followed by s'mores and camping.

Landon and Jackson watching videos of trucks and excavators!

Time for s'mores, woo hoo!

Neighbor friends came over for s'mores too.

Let's just say Jackson has his Grandpa and Grandma wrapped around his little finger.  He wanted to go camping, so Grandpa went and got a tent, and Grandma, bless her heart, stayed in the tent with Jackson all night.  Jackson slept great all night...Grandma stared at the stars and watched Jackson sleep all night!  Poor Grandma!  Here are Jackson and Grandpa setting up the tent.

Grandma and Jackson settled in the tent.

While Jack was in Iowa, Jeff and I were able to focus on the little boys.  We both commented right away how different it felt just having the twins.  The dynamics between the boys change dramatically when you remove one of them from the mix.  Of course, Grant and Cooper missed their big brother and asked where he was many times a day.

We were able to take Grant and Cooper back to the zoo and see the dolphin show.  The boys were amazed at how the dolphins could jump so high.  But I think the highlight for them was actually getting to see the lions and tigers up close!  We got to the zoo early enough in the morning that they were awake and moving around so we could really see them.

The lions look far away but it was plenty close for this mommy!

The tiger was up and walking around. Look at those teeth!

Being silly.

Watching the seals and sea lions.

Waiting for the dolphin show and eating our lunch.

The boys were intently watching as the dolphins "warmed up."