The River and The 4th.

Our 4th of July didn't go as planned. 

My parents have a house in Arizona along the Colorado River and that is where we had planned to spend 6 whole, wonderful days. 

Turns out the boys got sick, the a/c was doing them no good, and we needed to come home early.

It was not one of our funnest (is that a word or not?) trips ever.

We did manage to have a little fun and I have pictures to prove it.

I seriously think my sisters and I have the cutest children ever. Sorry everyone.

They also happen to be very white, which means loads of covering up.

 It was my sister's birthday while were there, so of course we had to make a cake.

 

On the morning of the 4th we packed up and headed home. 

Jacob had been up all night and I knew we needed to go home.

As we were driving home I told Brett that we had to make the best out of the week. He had already taken off work and there was no point in wasting his time off by being bummed out over our canceled trip.

So when we got home Brett headed to the store for food and the nearby firework stand.

We're lucky to be able to do fireworks in our neighborhood and Brett put on a good show. 

This next photo is not the best picture I have ever taken, actually it's pretty horrible, but the expression on their faces is priceless.

I'm not sure how he did it but Jacob fell asleep right in the middle of all the noise.

Although our 4th didn't go as planned we had a great time.

The kids loved the fireworks and we wouldn't have been able to do them at the river. 

Things always seem to work out in the end, don't they?

I hope you had a wonderful 4th too.

Around Here {and some randomness}.

Here's what we've been up to and some random thoughts added in there for you.

We busted out the little pools and played in the water.

We started potty training Ethan.

Setting the timer and having him try to go every 10 minutes seems to be working the best so far. We're only on day 4, but it seems like forever. 

Why can't they just come out knowing how to do this already?

We've been eating a lot of fruit.

Jacob has always been strong, but lately he seems to have super-baby strength. 

Here's some action shots for you.

He gets so excited to climb in and then once up there he's so proud of his accomplishment.

Then he rests, for like one second.

I'm in love with this photo.

That's my grandpa in the back. 

Ethan adores him.

I love having fresh flowers in the house.

My nieces are the cutest.

This picture makes me laugh.

This one too.

This picture makes me want to cry.

When did he get so big?

I've got a busy weekend ahead of me.

I'm seeing U2 in concert tomorrow with my very good friend who will be leaving the country for 2 years. It's the last time we'll be spending quality time with one another before she leaves. I've got a mixture of emotions about the whole thing, but I know it will be a fantastic night.

And then Father's Day festivities for Sunday.

Have anything fun planned for yourself? I hope so.

Have a great and wonderful weekend!

Our Valentine's Day.

When I woke up in the morning I was grumpy.

Jacob had slept horribly and at 6am I had already declared Valentine's Day as ruined. 

I was being a grouch.

By 8am I decided I needed to change my attitude.

Sweet stuff always makes me feel better so when Ethan woke up we made these. 

I realized that I had never made blueberry pancakes before. It will definitely be happening more often. 

We then headed over to my sister's house for a Valentine's party with all the kids. 

 Trying to get a picture with all five kids is pretty much impossible right now.

I love having nieces because I get to buy them all the cute girlie stuff, especially at Valentine's day, that I don't get to buy for my boys.

My sister made edible play dough and finger paint which was obviously a hit.

 

Jacob slept most of the party but he sure did look cute in this Valentine's Day get-up. 

When we got home from my sister's we had no power. 

That meant I couldn't open the fridge so I wasn't able to make the dinner I had planned for the night.

So Brett had to get take-out...Bummer. 

After dinner the boys opened their gifts from me, we had ice cream sundaes, then watched a movie. I also tried to get a picture of the boys together. It was not happening.

Brett and I never really do much for one another on Valentine's Day but one thing is for sure, he knows the way to my heart is not through flowers, but through sweets. 

A nice way to end the evening.

It was a great first Valentine's Day with my all my boys.

It's Raining.

So naturally we go outside with bare feet, jump in the puddles and put rain water in eachother's hair.

Ok, I'll confess. 

We had no idea this was going on until they were soaking wet. But they were giggling uncontrollably and having such a great time that there was no way we were going to stop them.

Happy Rainy Wednesday To You!

Here and There.

I've decided that I can't blog that often. 

I just don't have the time. 

There's a lot that goes on around here daily and I'm finding that I have more and more to write about but I don't have time to post it.

I'll post as often as I can, and want to, but it will kind of be a mixture of happenings when I do.

Here's the first of what will probably be many ramblings. 

I don't have many pictures with my little man and I like this one, so I thought I'd share.

We went to Monster Truck Jam this past weekend. 

Ethan had a blast and of course his favorite was Grave Digger.

I love the big headphones and I love that he wanted to wear them the whole time. 

Ethan has formed quite an obsession with tongs lately. Yep, that's right, tongs of all things.

So we made up a new game.

Pick up all the play fruit and veggies with the tongs, put them in the basket, then dump it out again. 

 He's very serious about it.

Forget expensive toys that you can't afford, just get some tongs and play food. Hours of entertainment.

Ethan and his cousin JT are super cool.

I bought this camera strap the other day.

I've been looking for a strap for awhile but nothing had caught my eye until I saw this one. 

Plus the little stitched camera batch is too much fun.

If you want one go here to Knitty Bitties.

Her stuff is super cute. 

Jacob slept for 7 hours straight last night and woke up happy. 

This makes me one happy Mama. And he's got the cutest little face ever.

We went to the park today and fed the ducks.

I'm loving Abby's outfits of choice lately.

Jacob chilled and hung out with Great Grandma. 

 Baby Lucy slept.

And Ethan collected pine cones. 

It's been a good day. 

Actually it's been a good week.