"The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Spring Pictures!

Spring pictures came home today!  I'm not going to buy any, but it's fun to see them. Ben's picture turned out great...


I'm not sure what look Conner was going for, but he has definitely been wrinkling his nose at me more lately, so I guess it turned out perfect for him!  He didn't see any problem with it!


Saturday, March 26, 2016

Happy Easter!

We went to Bettendorf to celebrate Easter this weekend.  We also got to meet our newest niece Adeline!  The kids all had a great time coloring eggs and Nana made a tremendous feast for us all.  Thank you to Nana and Gramps for everything on Saturday and Sunday!!!









The Easter Bunny made it to Nana and Gramps' house and when we got home, we discovered he had also made a trip to our house, so the boys were pretty happy!  Happy Easter!




Saturday, March 19, 2016

Haircuts!

Haircuts is on our list of things to do today so I thought I would get a "before" picture! Conner is pouting because he says he doesn't want a haircut, but he's also the one that screams every morning as I'm combing the snarls out of his hair!

















"After!"


Needed...

My mom shared this picture with me and what's funny is that I had seen it earlier in the morning and immediately thought of Ben and Conner!  In addition to my boys needing me, I also thought that this is why my husband needs his wife as well!!!


Thursday, March 17, 2016

Dinner Conversations...

Today, we had a nice relaxing morning at home!  This afternoon, the boys had a checkup with their neurologist.  We knew this visit would probably result in blood work, as it usually does. So, we tried to prep the boys (as we always do) by talking about how important the blood tests are to make sure their medicine is working and all that good stuff.  They were both very nervous, but they did so fabulous!  No tears, no running out of the office, no kicking, no screaming.... it was awesome!  They were very proud of themselves!  We had promised them ice cream and since it was getting close to dinner by the time we were done at the lab, we just decided to run over to Culvers and have some dinner and ice cream.  We had one of my favorite kinds of dinners where the boys just talk and talk!  Here are just a few of the highlights...  Conner had me laughing because at one point, he had a french fry drenched in ketchup in his hand and I could just see his little mind going... he was sitting next to Nick and he got that fry as close to Nick as he could without Nick noticing.  He got a little ketchup on Nick's arm hair, threw the fry in his mouth and began laughing hysterically like he had just accomplished something really cool!  Later Conner started flipping his hair out of his face (the boys' hair is really long right now!) Ben joined in and we had two boys pretty obsessed with their hair for a few minutes.  Then, just because, Ben burped so loud it vibrated the table and every head in the restaurant slowly turned toward us.  We were ready to go after that... Before we got out the door, Conner asked us if he could have his own room in the basement.  Apparently we have had a little too much time together lately and Conner needs some space...  I just love these people who make sure we never have a dull moment!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Bowling and Dessert...

The boys always want to go bowling, so we decided we would go today!  They are both getting much better at rolling the ball down the lane!  We didn't have any bowling balls go onto other lanes and Conner only fell once, so that is what I call a successful bowling trip!  After bowling we went to Zoey's pizza in Marion for their famous pizza!  It was amazing... we also tried the zookie, which is a huge chocolate chip cookie (fresh out of the oven and piping hot) covered with ice cream, whipped cream, and hot fudge.  That was also amazing and the only thing better than the actual zookie, was the scene between my 3 guys who were shoveling dessert into their mouths as quickly as they could!  Conner kept trying to box Nick out and was even trying to take ice cream off of Nick's spoon before it reached his mouth!  Next time, we may have to get 2 to share!  We had a fun afternoon! 



Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Tuesday...

I woke up (late) to Nick cooking us a huge breakfast and flowers that Ben and Conner had picked out earlier in the morning.  That was a great way to start the morning...


This afternoon, Ben and Conner requested an art project! So, this is what we came up with!



Monday, March 14, 2016

Big Bikes!

Ben and Conner got the chance to try out their new bikes today!  The weather forecast doesn't look great for this week, so when we saw that sun peek through today, we knew the boys would want to get out their new bikes they got for Christmas.  They both did so great riding them! I am so glad they were finally able to try them out! Great way to spend part of the afternoon!







New Toy!

We made a deal with Conner and Ben that began at least two weeks ago.  They were having a little trouble focusing in school, with Spring Break coming, so we came up with a system where they could earn a new toy on Spring Break if they were able to do a few specific things at school everyday. Today they collected!


Sunday, March 13, 2016

Owatonna!

We started Spring Break right after school on Friday with a trip to Owatonna to meet our friends, the Beeghlys and Abels.  We stayed at the water park hotel so the kids could all enjoy some swimming and water slides. The boys fit in some game room time, too!





We all had such a great time! We visited Cabelas and the outlet mall before we left on Sunday.  It was nice to get away for a couple of days.  It is always fun to watch the boys explore a new place.  They really liked the fact that they could do the water slides all by themselves.  It was a nice place and I am glad we got to go!  Our only tense moment was when Conner locked us all out of our hotel room, right before we were going to check out!  We were standing in the hall, talking to our friends and Conner shut the door that we had propped open.  He walked with Dad to get another key and all was well!  The boys had so much fun playing with the other kids and Nick and I enjoyed some adult time with friends that we don't get to see near as often as we would like. We are planning on staying home for the rest of the week and doing some fun things at home!


Saturday, March 5, 2016

Getting Better...

Ben and Conner are loving Guitar Hero right now.  They have still only played a few times, but they are both picking it up pretty fast!  They really get into it!  It's pretty fun to watch!


Tooth Obessession...

Last night, Conner was obsessing about a loose tooth.  He would not stop talking about it, touching it, and complaining that it had to come out NOW.  We put him to bed, telling him to leave it alone and we would look at it again tomorrow.  At 6:00 this morning, Conner came running into my room, tooth in hand, proudly declaring that he pulled it out!  I just knew he would do that...


Friday, March 4, 2016

"Think Summer"

Today was "Think Summer" day at school!  We opted out of the sandals and shorts, but the boys were very excited to wear their summer hats and shirts!