Summer Haircuts!

Before...

After...



I'm not gonna lie.. there were some tears... ... ... and yes, they were mine...  I love their long hair, but summer is here and the way that our guys sweat, short hair is essential!  So I gave in tonight and allowed Nick to cut their hair, and after I trimmed up a few spots, Conner and Ben were looking pretty good.  They love their new haircuts and I am going to just ignore the fact that they look older now!!!!

Musical Morning...

It all started when Ben wanted to play marching band....

Then Ben decided that he needed to bring all of the drums into the kitchen... we have FIVE different drums... I have no idea why...  Conner's instrument of choice is usually his guitar!  The kid really gets into it!

In addition to the wonderful musical assortments, we also fit in a Curious George movie, while I tried to get some random stuff packed up around the house.  We are trying to get back on track with getting the house ready to sell!  We also have vacation coming up in less than 2 weeks!  Lots to do around here and now that Nick is better (he still technically has pneumonia, but he feels much better) hopefully we can get a lot done around here in the next 2 weeks!



Morning Project!

For our first summer craft project, we made Handy Manny tool boxes!  My voice is a little hoarse from repeating directions over and over and over.... but we successfully made two tool boxes complete with their own sets of tools.  Ben has already claimed most of the tools for himself.  So far, Conner doesn't seem to care but I fully expect a little drama fest later!!!

Conner was very patient while I cut out some of the little pieces and he loved the finished product!

Ben thought it turned out pretty cool and he is running around here saying "I love my tools, I'm gonna fix somethin!"

It was a good morning project.  Sure wish the sun would come out for the afternoon but that would just be too easy now wouldn't it?!

Join Me!

 Join me... I am trapped on Memory Lane...

Graduation Day!

Daddy and Conner wait for graduation to begin!

Conner gets his diploma!  (Ben gets a little ahead of himself!)

Ben walks across the stage!

The classes sang several songs together!  I have a few pictures, but I have lots of good videos!  When the kids got up to sing the last couple of songs, the boys kept disappearing behind other kids.  The first picture has Conner in it and the second one shows Ben.  The video I'm putting on here is of one of the last songs they sang while they were sitting down!  I have better videos but they are also longer so I'm having trouble loading them on here!!!



Con with his teacher, Miss Cyndi!

Ben with his teacher, Miss Amy!

Cookies and punch (complete with red mustaches!)

I remember taking their pictures when school started back in August in front of the school, so I tried to get them to stand with their diplomas in front of the building...

My Ben and Conner in front of our house...  just like their first day...

I looked at them up on that stage today and remembered that not so long ago, they couldn't speak a word, couldn't walk, couldn't do a thing for themselves.  How quickly things change!  It has been a great year.  I am a very proud mama today... 

School is over.  Graduation is over.  Summer has officially begun...

Night Fishing...

I got this magnetic fishing pole game this morning and the boys loved fishing in the driveway.  I did have to convince Conner that we didn't need to get the boat out to go fishing.  The guys really enjoyed trying to catch the fish.  Ben kept saying "I got me somethin!"  It was very cute to watch them!

Ben got one!

So did Conner!

We had a very fun time night fishing!  Unfortunately I don't think the poles will make it too much longer since the guys have already broken pieces off of them, but we will enjoy them while we can!  (And just in case you are wondering if I have gotten over my obsession with dressing them in very precise similar outfits, I have not... Ben fell into a puddle at school this morning so he has on some loaner clothes... not the first time it has happened!)

Ready or Not...

I have no idea where the last year has gone, but this morning when I woke up (at 7am with the boys still sleeping!) I had to remind myself that today is the last day of preschool for my babies.  I don't know how it happened but we made it through their first year of preschool!  I'm still shaking my head in disbelief and remembering what their first day was like...

So when I looked at them today...

... all dressed and ready to go to school, I remembered how hard it was that first day I had to leave them.  I realized that today is just as hard.  Their first year of preschool is over.  Tomorrow is their graduation.  I'm already crying just thinking about it!  How far my little men have come.  The things they have accomplished, the goals they have met, the progress they have made, and their many strengths overwhelm me.  This morning as I grabbed Conner's backpack to put it on him, he took it from me and said "I do it myself, Mommy!"  As we got into the van to go to school, I reached down to get Ben and he shrugged my hands away saying "No, Mom, I do myself!"  They love reminding me of how capable they are!  Just proof, I suppose, that a whole school year actually has come and gone...

I'm not sure if we are ready to attend our first graduation ceremony, but we I better get prepared because here it comes...

Extra Sleeves...

We are starting to think ahead to our Minnesota vacation in June, and Nick always finds some old tee shirts that he can cut the sleeves off of and wear... he thinks it looks cool or something... Anyway, Ben and Conner made good use of the sleeves tonight!

Weekend Travels!

We had a very fun and busy weekend.  Luckily Nick is really starting to feel a lot better so we were able to get to Minnesota for his cousin's graduation party!  (Congratulations Austin!!!)  The boys loved spending the day outside with their cousins. 

Nick went inside to rest for a while and our niece Mikayla got to enjoy his company!

Ben enjoyed playing some football and Bean Bag toss with the big boys!  Conner joined in the game a little later!

When we got to our hotel Saturday night, we took the boys swimming for a little while!  After swimming, the boys pretty much fell right to sleep.  They were exhausted!

On Sunday morning, we drove to Charles City to celebrate our nieces' birthdays!  Jennifer is 6 and Mikayla will be 2!  We enjoyed celebrating with our family and planning for our vacation to Minnesota next month!  The guys always have fun with their cousins!  Conner even played a little piano while we were there!

We had a great weekend visiting family!  The boys were so tired last night, that while they were taking a bath Ben just kept whimpering and saying "night, night PLEASE!" 

Park Pay Off...

 We have stopped at the park almost everyday after school this week.  We have had lots of behavior issues there (running away from Mom, pushing our brother, and throwing rocks... just to name a few) but I have remained optimistic and it paid off today.  The boys were the best they've been all week!  Of course, they didn't actually want to play on most of the equipment today.  They opted for running circles around the basketball court and Conner enjoyed stomping on all the dandelions!  Ben busied himself with jumping off of the equipment... luckily it was the smaller equipment...

When I told them that it was time to go so we could make some lunch, Conner ran back over to the basketball court, laid on the ground, and started snoring... apparently he figured that if Mommy thought he was asleep, then I would just let him stay.  That's not how it works, but it was a pretty imaginative idea!  Ben ran over and joined in too! 

Bump...

 Ben had a little accident tonight... he was running around in the driveway and fell head first onto the cement.  After a few tears, he wanted to help hold the ice on his forehead and by bedtime, the injury was just a memory...  luckily his hair will cover the bump...

Conner was getting ready for bed and decided that he needed an apple so we hung out in the kitchen before bedtime eating apples! 

Still in There Somewhere...

Whew... It has been a rough few days.  The boys can sense that we still have one man down (Nick still has pneumonia) and they are taking full advantage of the situation.  Nick is frustrated with his illness and I am frustrated that the boys haven been so naughty active.  After many attempts to run the energy out of them at the park and outside, I have concluded that there is seemingly no end to their energy.  Tuesday night, I was visited by my sweet little boys (briefly) after I gave them some new sunglasses. It was nice to see them again... I just knew they were still in there somewhere... 

After a good game of bumper cars, Ben sat in the car pouting because he wanted the one that Conner was driving.  The fact that the two cars are identical did not phase him at all and he insisted on sitting here and refused to drive anymore.  "I pout" is all he would say...  He eventually got over it...

Back to Normal...

We got outside to play on Thursday night.  It was so nice to have the boys back and be able to watch them play!  We will be spending the next few days trying to get back to normal!

For some reason, Conner kept tipping his car onto its side and Ben kept trying to lift up his car as he was driving it! 

Ben had to get the bug nets out and search for bugs.  I'm afraid there may have been a couple of ants who lost their lives to Ben's net which he used as a fly swatter.  Then of course, Conner started putting the blue net on his head, so Ben had to do the same thing with his red one.  Conner just giggled hysterically.  Ben walked around saying "I'm a bug!"

Belated Mother's Day!

We waited to celebrate Mother's Day until the four of us were under the same roof again, so Thursday night we sat down and the guys gave me a few gifts!  In addition to the very thoughtful gifts that Nick had for me, the boys had made clay bowls at school that I got to open.  I loved seeing them get so excited about giving Mommy a gift that they had made "all by self!" 

(Ben had two because he had dropped his first one and it was thought to be beyond fixing, so he made a second one.  In the meantime, the first one survived the gluing back together process.)

Happy belated Mother's Day to all you moms... thanks to my guys for being you...  I  love being your Mom!!!