Crazy Boys

Life with two boys is soooo much fun and it is crazy around here-- I fully realize that it is fun and crazy with girls too.... but I am talking about my crazy boys right now...

Here some of the latest pictures...

I had to take my car in to get a tire fixed and we had (a lot of) time to kill so we walked over to University Mall to explore.  I am obsessed with these shades for them.... I didn't buy them because they would be broken within seconds of signing my name on the credit card line, but still... pretty cute.....

Can't believe we are almost to the last day of school....! I love his class so much this year-- I am sure we will be sad on the actual last day.  And, also...when did he get to be so old?

This potato has a mickey mouse themed party this weekend and his Mimi sent him some Mickey crocks to wear to it! (Cal is sporting a pair too, in the above pic).  He is SO proud of these shoes-- he shows them to everyone!

Last soccer practice of the season was rainy and kinda cold.  Cal was thrilled to be running around getting dirty-- such a boy! (the mud didn't come out of this shirt...and I pretreated it and everything! UGH!)

I had all three boys on me for story time one night.  Hank's head was on my lap, which made Andy furious, so he sat there, then Cal wedged his way in... this is what it's all about....

Since I have come to the realization that I am just going to have to accept the fact that my two year old STINKS at running errands, I have decided to do all my errand running on days he's in school.  That means he got some good coloring time in while his big brother was in school.  He was so happy to color away!

The other night, Cal insisted on wearing his slippers to bed.  He was exhausted and we didn't feel like arguing it, so he crashed with McQueen on his feet (I could go on here about how he woke up every time the slipper fell off, screaming "oh no, my slipper!" until we came in and fished it out from the depths of his bed.....but I won't.....)  :)

This little guy has more personality in his pinky finger than a lot of adults I know have in their entire bodies.  He is just full of fun...and yes, he is naughty, but holy cow, he is so so so cute.

The weather this spring has been so.....WEIRD! This was a rainy cold Sunday and the boys stayed in their jammies the entire day.  And we all loved it! Eddie was power washing the porch and the boys went to the window to watch... I absolutely love this picture.  Eddie is begging me for haircuts for the boys-- and I will admit that Cal needs his cut...but I am kinda holding off....I just hate when they butcher his hair!!!! hahaha-- plus, Cal says he really likes it the way it is... and who are we to argue?? (editors note: we will get it cut after this weekend...)

Typical day with Nug... he is just trying to figure out how to climb the ceiling fan...while standing on the table...

Eating some poppyseed chicken spinach salad with my referee friend...

Family night at the club... pretty positive this isn't country club etiquette.  

 or this...

I saved some old diaper boxes to use to store all of our cars-- I just wrapped some bright duct tape around them to make them prettier and more durable.  Cal dumped the cars out of one and was super comfy watching a show....

Andy loves to sing....apparently he loves to sing in a bath tub.  He was belting out Happy Birthday (or parts to it) and fully cracking himself up.  

These are my super heroes.  

Cal's new "thing" is to redress himself during his quiet time.  I will hear his little footsteps down the hall and then hear all of his drawers open and shut and he literally rearranges everything in his drawers looking for something.  Then I will hear his closet open and clothes being thrown out.  On this day, he did this to Eddie's drawers and found his sweat socks-- he said he had to wear them since they made him run so so fast.  

 Then he insisted on sleeping in them that night.... how funny is this kid?? He just cracks us up!

On Tuesday, we took Cal to school, went to the gym for a quick workout and then Andy and I took Hank to the vet for his follow up visit.  Let me tell you the arm workout I got trying to just get in the door! I had Andy who was in a new place and was nervous, holding my hand and his dog, and Hank, who weighs 100 pounds and is STRONG going bananas and pulling the leash all over the place and wrapping it around me and Andy.  I was in a full blown sweat by the time we got into the exam room!

The GREAT news is that Hank's levels are all back to normal again! YAY!  And the also great news is that Andy was really good at the appointment.  The vet took Hank back to get his blood and when she came back without him, Andy touched her arm and got right in her face and said, "ere ank go??" He was so concerned-- it was really sweet. 

After one short errand (and Andy being really good...!), I decided to try lunch at Panera-- and he was SO good there too!  Maybe we are turning a corner...??? He sat in the regular chair-- no high chair!- and people watched the whole time.  He smiled at everyone and said, "Hi!" to any and every person who passed us.   He ate a great lunch and then he got a cookie because, it is his birthday week, after all... we ate the cookie outside since it was so gorgeous. He had a little impromptu dance while enjoying the cookie...

Then had some iPad time in the car while we went to get Cal-- see how chill he is back there??

Phew! A lot of pictures! I have been having issues with my computer and it wasn't letting me import pictures.  A trip to the apple store today resolved some of my issues-- but I still have work to do.  At least I was able to get some pics on here!

 

Back of the bus

So, I wrote before about Andy's LOVE of riding in the car (notice the sarcasm).  Well, back when my new niece was born and I got to pick up Jackson and Catherine from school, I moved two carseats into the third row of my car.  One day, my kids climbed back there and LOVED it. 

Cal rides in a booster seat and thinks he is such a big kid, and Andy actually likes it back there too.... go figure.  AND, if he does scream, he is far enough away that it isn't directly into my ear.  And, for whatever reason, he understands when I tell him that I can get something when we stop the car, but I can't reach him right now. 

I have no trunk space right now, and I have to climb all the way in to strap them in, but these boys make me smile all the way in the back. 

I have now removed the middle row carseats and folded up the middle row so that I can get in and out easier.  And when we have visitors, they can sit in the middle seats now!

 This may sound so stupid to so many people, but it if gives me two minutes without screaming, it's worth it...right???

 

Final Soccer Game

This Saturday, we had Cal's last game as a Heffalump! I can not say enough how thrilled we were to have Cal be a part of this team.  The coaches were just wonderful and so caring  and energetic.  We were truly blessed to be on this team.

Both coaches are moms to kids on the team, and the kids are "aging out" of this soccer league.  It makes me sad for Cal not to have them as coaches any more, but I know he will love whatever coaches he gets in the future.

He had a blast playing in his final game.  He is (finally) really starting to get the idea of it, and he hustles like no one's business.  He is still the littlest one on the team (he is the youngest too!), but he was in the middle of it all and would fight for the ball until he got it-- it was fun to watch him play and grow as a player.  Last year he didn't do much but run and pump his arms as fast as he could.  Now he is actually doing something.  And it was fun to watch him perform the skills the learned in practice.  I thought maybe everything the coaches were saying was going in one ear and out the other, but he actually listened...!

Here is Cal showing me how many goals he scored this game:

And at the end of the game, we got some Heffalump team pictures...

And, of course, we had to do a silly face one...

After some team pictures, just like last year, the kids all sat down and one by one, the coaches called the kids up and talked to them about what an asset they were to the team, what a joy they were to coach and how thankful they were to have them be on the team.

Last year, Cal went first and I had no idea what to expect.  I was totally taken aback at how kind and heartfelt each speech was.  This year, I was prepared, and I was still pretty shocked at the words they said about Cal.  I recorded it, but of course blogger won't let me upload the video.

In summary, they said that Cal might have been the littlest kid on the team, but he had the biggest heart and was always ready and excited to play (he seriously was the first kid back from water breaks and was always ready to run some more!), and how he was SO tough because every time he fell down, he would jump back up and get right back into the game.  They also said they other teams underestimated him because of his size, but Cal showed them by always stealing their ball....

Honestly-- my heart was so proud at that moment....to hear another adult say all these great things about how much they have enjoyed coaching your kid...it was awesome.

Each kid got a trophy and a medal and Cal was thrilled!

Cal and River are in the same class at school...

And this is Rylie-- he came over and said, "here, pose with me like this." And struck the most fabulous disco pose I have ever seen in my life.  Cal literally had no idea where to go with that or where to start...so he slowly raised up his trophy and stared.  Rylie never moved from this position.... it was hysterical.   Look at Cal's face! hahaha

My boy with his trophy...

The very second we walked in the door after the game, Cal went and got his trophy from last year... he played with them for a while and took them both to bed with him that night!

 

 After a full Saturday, we went over to Ava and Abigail's house for dinner.  I am not sure if I mentioned it already, but Andy has grown QUITE fond of Ava's little sister, Abigail.  It's borderline obsessed.  He says her name constantly.  Jill put Abigail down for bed and brought out the monitor to check on her.  Andy carried it around staring at her and saying" ab-i-gail" over and over and over again... so sweet...