Camera Fun...

Waiting for Mom to make lunch sometimes can be awfully hard, so the boys decided they wanted to take turns with my camera...  Ben took some pictures of me and Conner.  This was the best one...

Then it was Conner's turn with the camera...  this was the only one where he managed to get both me and Ben in the frame!

Okay, my turn... the boys were both feeling very photogenic today...They took turns sitting on each other's laps!

Not Possible...

8 more days of preschool until summer vacation....  doesn't seem possible!

Happy Mothers Day!

We had a wonderful mother's day!  Nick kept the boys busy and happy outside for most of the day and I was able to join them for a while, do a little shopping, and even had some quiet time to myself.  Perfect... 

A little riding through the sprinkler to end the evening...  Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

Fire Station!

Today, Ben and Conner's preschool classes got to take a field trip to the fire station!  They were both really good there, considering how excited they were!  All they really cared about was being able to climb up in the truck!

They both enjoyed seeing the fireman get all of his gear on!

And then, of course, the bus ride was very fun too!  They had a great trip and I always love it when I can be a part of their school day, too, so it was an action packed morning!  They are definitely ready for a nap this afternoon!

The TV Has Arrived....

Whew.. what a day... we packed a lot into our Wednesday today!  Took kids to school, dropped car off at mechanic, raced to Menards to look at some retaining wall bricks, and went to Best Buy to do some serious shopping.  The first item on our list was an Ipad...  we have decided to get one, we just didn't know what one we wanted, so after some discussion, we let the salesperson know which one we wanted.  Off he went to go get it, but he returned with nothing, saying that they were out of the one that we wanted.  Grr...  Okay, we'll have to get that some other time.  The next thing on our list was a TV for the basement.  Nick and I have been going back and forth for a while about what kind to get (basically how big of one to get!)  We had seen one in the ad that we pretty much agreed on.  Nick likes to say that we compromised, but I think it was more of me just getting tired of hearing him whine, so I caved and he got the big TV that he wanted!  Anyway, in looking at the TVs, we realized that the one we wanted wasn't on display and I could just see that Nick might actually start throwing a fit... he confirmed this for me a minute later when he told me that if they didn't have it, he was going to throw himself on the floor and start pounding his fists into the ground...  Luckily, this time, after talking with the salesman, he returned with the TV that Nick wanted.  So, we loaded the TV up, went to pick up the car, and headed to school to get our kiddos.  Out to lunch and then back to school for two IEP meetings.  Home a little before 3, hoping the boys would lay down for an hour, but they are starting to build a house across the street from us and it was pretty noisy.  Ben informed me that boys can't sleep when it's noisy, so we opted for "quiet time" while we watched the Winnie the Pooh movie.

Nick told me he had some shopping to do, so he took off for a while and then returned ready to hook up his fabulous TV.  Unfortunately, after hooking everything up, our cable box still wasn't working so he spent some time on the phone with Mediacom... they decided it was a faulty box, so Nick raced over to the Mediacom office (arriving 5 minutes before they closed) and got a new box.  Then when he got that all hooked up, we finally sat down and enjoyed the new TV!  Nick is a pretty happy guy today!!!

Now we can start organizing the basement better and spending more time down there!  The little boys were pretty impressed with the new TV, but by the end of the day they were so tired... they went down without a fight... 

 

Grape Snatchers...

With no school today, that meant that Ben and Conner got to go shopping at Dad's store with Mom.  When we got home, they "helped" me put the groceries away.  I finished washing the grapes I bought and left them in a bowl in the sink while I went to load some laundry into the washing machine.  When I came back, this is what I found...

Grape snatchers....  they are getting to be really sneaky resourceful!

"Surprise!"

We got to surprise my mom this weekend with a secret trip to Bettendorf to attend a retirement party that her school was having for her.  She was definitely surprised to see us on Friday afternoon and we were very happy to be there to help her celebrate!  Can't wait to celebrate more this summer with Nana and Gramps!  The party was great, despite the heightened activity level of my two precious boys....  The boys loved the cake with Nana's picture on it.  The previously mentioned boys kept me pretty busy during the party so I didn't get a chance to take more photos....

On Saturday, the kids enjoyed a walk with Nana and Gramps and they even talked Gramps into letting them play in his car...  I think my sons and niece love it almost as much as I do...  All in all, it was great to be able to go to Nana's party and spend some time with Nana, Gramps, Cari, Marley, Josh, and Jenn!