Awwww!

Sorry to Nathan, Aaron, Landon, Micah, Caleb, Luke, Travis, Brandon, Hayden, Bubba, and Hunter. But this guy is so cute! :)

I think he could be the Coolest Nephew Ever, what do you think?!

Two for Tuesday

Zachy had a blast standing on the luggage cart as I pushed it along through the hotel. He thought it was great!

5/27/16

With cousins in South Dakota

It's hard to believe it had been a year since we were with Jeremy & Lindsey in Sioux Falls. It was so fun to be with them.

Huntsville Fun

I don't know how I did it, but we spent time with Nana and Papa and got no pictures with them. :(

We decided to meet up after church on Sunday and ate lunch at a neat taco place. Then we went back and checked into a hotel and went swimming. Well, it was frigid! They had rain the night before and the pool was in the shade so we only stayed out for a short time. Nana had researched a hot air balloon festival that was in the next town over so we drove out there to see it. Thankfully it didn't rain, but it was too windy for the balloons to go up. We walked around a little bit and Nathan decided he needed to do an inflatable.

 Couldn't resist snapping this one as we were driving... :)

We headed back to the hotel and hung out. Zachy had difficulties with napping during the day and ended up staying awake until 10ish. It was a long night. Nana and Papa had to leave early on Monday, but we were glad to see them and hang out together.

Super Brothers

Aren't they so cute?!

Look at this fast-growing plant! This is the two seeds that Nathan got on Easter that we planted... Remember?

4/16/17

We replanted it to this bigger pot when we did the planting on May 14 and Barry thinks we need to find a place in the yard to replant it. It'll be interesting to see if the sunflowers really grow.

Bike Horn

Nathan's had his eye on a bike horn since he started riding his bike this spring. We told him he'd have to save his own money so when we found a great deal at Aldi's for $5, he jumped on it! He and I went for a ride on Sunday and it was so cute to hear him honking his horn as he rode along. He got stuck a few times, but he's figuring it out.

Family Bike Ride

With Daddy's bike fixed, we can now go on a bike ride all together!

Nathan has a ways to go yet with riding on his own, but he did a great job most of the way. We've got to work on going down the hill.

Other Uses for

... a bike tire tube!

Barry's bike has not been ride-able for quite a while because the tires kept going flat. With the points I've been earning with the health program at work, I redeemed them for Amazon gift cards so that we could order new tires and tire tubes. Barry switched out the old with new so that we can go for a bike ride as a family. The boys found the tire tube and decided it was the best thing ever.

Can you hear Zachy giggling?! It's so cute.

Even when Zachy would fall down, he'd get back up and continue playing.

Hawaiian Wednesday

Barry's work is doing Spirit Week as a way to encourage their employees. Each day they're supposed to dress a certain way. Today was Hawaiian shirt day. We went to Good Will and found this awesome shirt. Barry also has a necklace that's from Hawaii (given to him by someone who vacationed there) but it didn't make it in the picture. For someone who doesn't usually want to do these "crazy" activities, he has been all in. Each day he has his appropriate clothing picked out. Go, Daddy!

Two for Tuesday

The same outfit (sized 18 months) worn by both boys. It's crazy how different in size they are!

Zachy, 5/16/17

22 Months old

Nathan, 6/12/13

15 Months old

Front Flower Bed Transformation

It has been YEARS. Yes, YEARS since we have done any sort of work on the flower beds on the front and side of the house. I mow or weed whip around them to knock down the worst of the weeds that have grown there, but that has been it. With a work wellness thing that we're doing, I get "bucks" to spend and one of the places to redeem them was Lowes. We decided to purchase some items to beautify the front. What do you think?!

Before

 All the weeds are up and Barry is raking out the soil to make it level.

 Cute helper! :)

 AFTER

(Papa -- Nathan picked out the flag to hang on the holder you got us!)

 He was saying "cheese"

Watering the plants in the evening

Nathan was a trooper! I wished that I had taken pictures of him pulling the wagon full of weeds. He worked very hard to help get this project done. It took about 4 1/2 hours from start to finish.

Thankful

What more could you be thankful for than for the family God has blessed you with?

Sure, we have our struggles that you can't see in this picture. We have the daily frustrations that pull us down. However, we have a hope. We know that the trials of this life are temporary and our future is with God. Yes, the daily grind can be taxing and the worries can pull us down, but God's got this all under control.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 

Romans 8:28

Project for Grandmas

The other crafty project that we worked on this week was for Nana and Grandma.

Nathan had the hardest time with it because he hates the paint on his feet. After a bunch of tears and a practice run, many wipes in between feet, we accomplished four footprints. I found the saying on other footprint crafts on Pinterest.

Muffins with Mom

This morning we had muffins together at daycare.

It was a great time!

Nathan's Growing Up!

Today was a big day for Nathan. We signed him up for Kindergarten. He has been talking and talking about going to school and what it'll be like to be a "schooler" (the big kids at daycare). Although I had called and asked what the setup would be, we still weren't too sure and had a hard time knowing what to say to help prepare Nathan.

The first person we talked to was the mother of a little girl that's 3 days difference in age from Nathan and has been with him since they were teeny tiny. He talked with her and we found out that he'll be at her school. It was a good start and we only were there about an hour. The next step is to start buying school supplies and be ready for the official school registration the end of July.

  We were done early enough to have a little fun. Nathan's been riding so well that I got out my bike and Zachy and I went along. Nathan didn't like that I went faster than him, but he is getting so quick that we have to come up with something. :)

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

I already told you about the first two days...

Monday - chocolate covered strawberries

Tuesday - fun candy sayings

Here's what we've got planned for the rest of the week:

Wednesday - Hands Down with scented hand soap [Pinterest pic]

I didn't get a picture of these, but basically I traced each of the boy's hands and wrote "Hands down you're the best!" and signed it from either Nathan or Zach. We have a Bath & Body Works outlet so I got a good deal on some good smelling soap.

Thursday - Super Teacher (go here)

The picture I posted on Sunday was Nathan and I working on these fun treats. I had Nathan draw in the eyes, nose, and mouth. We had black yarn for hair and decorated with Paw Patrol stickers. I got a pack of Hershey bars and we made them up.

Friday - Appreciation Gift Cards

The last day we planned for gift cards (see here) and did some Sonic cards since it's close to the daycare. For the main teachers, we did an additional gift for a final shebang.

Day 2 - Candy

The boys are eating breakfast.

For the second day of gifts, I found fun sayings that go with candy to give the boys' teachers.

I used ideas from this site.

I did the EXTRA gum - You're an extra amazing teacher;

STARBURST - Bursting to tell you you're an amazing teacher; and

1000 GRAND - Teacher, You're worth 1000 Grand. It was easy enough and not very expensive.

Day 1 of Teacher Appreciation

"Being in your class is sweet!"

I made chocolate covered strawberries for the teachers to have today. It was an interesting process with 30 minutes spent in the freezer before dipping them in the chocolate. I'm not sure that made it any better, but it's something different, right?!

Super Brothers to the rescue!

Crafting

Whew! This has been a busy crafting weekend. We worked on Mother's Day gifts for the grandmas, and a week's worth of teacher appreciation gifts. Nathan helped to make the super teacher chocolates so we'd be ready later in the week.

In addition to these two events, we also have 3 birthdays and a graduation party to plan for. Then Nathan has a birthday party on Saturday. It's going to be a busy week!

Nathan the Bike Rider

We had taken a break from bike riding for a bit because Nathan was getting frustrated and thinking he couldn't do it. But, Tuesday we tried again and he did awesome! So today it wasn't hard to convince him to try again and go for a walk/ride.

Isn't he doing so awesome?! He was going so fast that it was hard for the "helper" to stay up with him. We might be able to start doing some short bike rides soon!

[Another cold snap hit after a week's worth of 80's! Maybe Locust Winter? The Farmer's Almanac says there should be one more cold snap - Blackberry Winter.]

Cutey Boy

I had wanted to catch Zach with overalls on and then he was holding his truck too. But, it was too good to be true. He wouldn't stand still so I had to move quick and then he wasn't showing the truck. Ah well.

Zachy has been loving trucks and pointing them out wherever we go. He has been saying "Gaw" a bunch and I'm not sure if it's "Go" or gobbly-gook. He frequently says "all done" and a couple other things.

He's almost 22 months... Terrible twos seem to be flaring.

Outside Fun

The evenings have been so beautiful and the boys have been playing outside each night. Last night, we went for a walk and had Nathan practice his bike riding. He was doing really well and peddling without us having to help. Tonight we stayed in the yard.

 Zach played in the sand.

Nathan decided to try hitting the baseball without the tee. He was somewhat successful -- hitting several of them.

Yay, Nathan!

Two for Tuesday

There's been a couple pictures over the last week or so that I haven't shared but they're cute and I wanted to let you see them!

Where's Zachy? For Easter, he got a dollar. Can you believe this dump truck was just $1?! What a great yard sale deal.

 Look at these boys reading together!

This was one morning as we were getting ready. Nathan was reading a story to Zach. They both had stuffed animals along for the ride.