Oh Noah... you kill me :)

This one is really for Noah's family! I was looking through the pictures from the birthday party and about died laughing when I saw...

He LOVES this little gorilla... and I mean LOVES it!!!! Over the years, he's tried to hide it in his pocket, backpack, and various other places (in hopes that I won't notice and he can take it home). Here we are at the birthday party with a new play area and tons of new toys and what does Noah have... the gorilla!

and... it's outside. I'm probably the only mom on the planet that has this crazy outside toy/inside toy rule (the inside toys stay inside and the outside toys stay outside -- it seems even more ridiculous when I type it out)... Noah knew I was too busy to notice... he's too darn smart! and so stinkin' in love with this gorilla...

Noah, Noah, Noah... I love you to pieces!

If you build it...

Here are a few more pictures of the (never-ending) building process... if we had known before hand how much time and effort this would take, we would have settled for a smaller and cheaper option!

Grandpa and Grandad hard at work (and loving every minute of it - we think)!

Grandad... still working!

making progress... slowly but surely!

Construction and Building

Ok.... here's a few more... the boys got a new swingset (more like PLAYGROUND equipment) from us... Grandpa and Daddy started the work today and we can't wait for Grandad to get here and help!

And... our neighbors had their driveway replaced today... Carter thought he should help (Hey, Uncle Al, I've got 2 boys who want to come work for you ASAP!!!)

Carter - ready to do his part in the process!

Watching the BIG truck... he could have watched all day!

Catching up... part one

So.... we haven't been around the blog world much lately. I was sick with allergies, Grandma came into town, and Uncle Bug (my youngest brother) came into town for the birthday weekend - He and Riley have the same birthday thanks to the science of induced labor! Then... Carter had an ear infection and Grandpa got into town... and that is all in the past week.
I'll write more later but here are a couple pictures!

Uncle Bug... aka Jon... and Carter! We love Uncle Bug!

Checking the dino's teeth for bones... wouldn't want T-Rex to get a cavity!

Birthday Buddies!

Uncle Bug's gifts were a HIT! A Transformer for Riley and a new GeoTrax train for Carter...

oh.. and Keith... no need for the bail money... but I'll keep you in mind next time :)

"Awww, Man!"

The following story happened in our car this morning.

Me - "Hey boys, I talked to Gram last night and she and Grandad are going to be here for BOTH of your birthday parties."

Carter - "Awwww, man"

Me - "Carter, are you excited that Gram and Grandad can come?"

Carter - "YES!!!"

Riley - "Carter, you don't say 'awww, man' when you are excited, you say 'YEAH!'"

A Buffalo named....

Our sweet friend Skyler gave Carter this buffalo. The boys are very creative with the names of their animals (ie - a duck named quack, a frog named ribbit, you get the idea..) but this about killed me I laughed so hard. Here is how the conversation went:

"Hey Carter, does your bison have a name?"

"Yep."

"What is it?"

"His name is Donkey."

"Your bison's name is Donkey?"

"Yep, but he's a buffalo."

Anyone for Rollerderby???

So, I ran to the airport to save Ashley (since her flight was cancelled) and came home to find this:

WOW... I leave for maybe an hour and come home to find my sweet 4 year old ready for the roller derby. As soon as I walked in the door I was greeted by the disclaimer from daddy "he dressed himself..."
my reply: "well, I hope so!"

Carter tries Capoeira

Riley & Noah attempt to show Carter the kick they are waiting to do!

The teacher was AMAZING!!!! He is GREAT with these kiddos...

Carter was pretty excited about kicking the blue thing (Mr. Zach would make it hit the ground when they kicked it which was very entertaining)

Capoeira uniforms... they were SO excited! we later found the drawstring so Riley can keep his pants on!

HA!

This one is for Grandpa!

Background info - I often tease the boys... telling them they can't grow up. And, my dad retired last year to go back to school... and get his doctorate. So... it's not really retirement as much as a career change... Don't ask what it's in... he will have to post that in the comments since I can't remember (sorry Padre).

Me: "So I made a decision. There will not be any growing up in this house."

Riley: "But I want to go to college. I want to go to Texas Tech college" (sorry babe, that's what he called it)

Me: "You don't want to do that... it's a long way from Gram & Grandad's house. And, when you were little Grandpa agreed to pay for college if you went to the U-Dub (University of Washington)."

Riley: "When I grow up I want to live in Seattle so I can see Grandma all the time and go to college and graduate with Grandpa.... and you can come visit"

Me: "Well, you won't be able to graduate with Grandpa because he will be done by the time you get to college."


note... this is the same child who just a few weeks ago told me he wanted to live with me forever... I should have known that you throw Grandma in the mix and I quickly become CHOPPED LIVER!