If toddlers ruled the world...

Noah & I took our first road trip together and ventured to Mount Dora for a quick stay with my dear friend, Rachel.  Rach's husband was working a 24 hour shift at the fire station & loves company.  I am missing my Connor horribly as he's gone for 10 days, so needed to stay busy.  We thought it was the best time to get together!  

The car ride was close to four hours of kid music and hunting for alphabet letters on road signs, but it actually was a very enjoyable ride together!  

I didn't know what to expect with Noah sleeping away from home, but he went to sleep fine in a Pack N Play (after going all day without a nap & being exhausted).  He was asleep by about 9:15pm and I fell asleep in the same room shortly after.  I received a phone call from my homesick Connor at 10pm, so I tried to wake myself quickly, talk quietly enough to not wake Noah next to me & help make Connor feel comfort.  I was mentally prepared for loading up & driving all the way to him the moment Connor said he needed me, but we were able to talk & he settled for bed that night okay.  From that phone call on, I was now awake & my mind was all over the place.  Noah woke about a half hour later, so I plopped him on the air mattress with me and he snoozed the rest of the night.  I survived on caffeinated beverages the next day!

It was a trip all about toddler fun & it was great to see our boys interact with one another.  With two moms and two toddlers, it was a great dynamic where we both understood each other & worked as a team to corral the beasts when needed!

The boys are a year apart in age, but are basically the same size!

Although it's nice to see Noah enjoy his regular 3 hour naps in his crib at home again, we are SO glad we made the mini trip!  We ventured all over in a small amount of time & the kids had such a great time together.

Now, hurry the heck up, Monday.  I need my Connor home again!

And just like that, 1st grade is almost over. Why is it that I vividly remember being in Mrs. Van Cleve's 2nd grade class & now MY baby is going to be in 2nd grade?!

Big awards this morning~ Connor racked up the citizenship award (behavior/manners), AR award (reached his reading goal all year), PE award (top athlete in class), Sight Words award (100's all year on sight words), Straight A's all year award, and Team Player award just to name a few. I am SO SO proud of my sweet boy! Noah did really well sitting through the whole ceremony, although he exclaimed, "All done now! Are those cookies?!" numerous times throughout as he anxiously awaited the post-ceremony refreshments.

Summer time is just around the corner! 

 Here's to later bedtimes and less routine!

Stepping outside of routine

So I'm trying to get myself to step out of our normal weekly routine.  Many look forward to the weekends.  With Connor gone 3 out of 4 weeks a month, I am always praying for the weekend to be over.  It's a very wrong way to live!  With that said, I'm trying to teach myself we can do fun things after school before bedtime.  

Last night we loaded up after supper & headed to the pool for an evening swim.  It was a beautiful change of pace.

Connor and Matt played catch, while I tried to keep up with Noah.  Swimmers noted what a great arm Connor has.  Noah got a thrill out of finding a millipede, poked it to death with his water toy, then randomly walked over to it throughout the hour to say, "Sowwy miwwipede."

Noah was kicking & making his way around the pool really well, so I said, "Look at you, you little fish!"

Noah then quickly responded in the same high pitched mom voice, "Look at you, you little...cow?!"

Thanks dude. Thanks.

Here's to more nights like this soon.

Daddy's work trip

While Matt's been in Ohio for work this week, it's just been me and my crazy monsters!

Noah's been nothing short of a hoot.

*big head problems

And my freckled, big boy has been my slumber buddy.  When Matt's on work trips, we like to extend bedtime by about 20 minutes, lay in bed once Noah is tucked into his bed, and watch whatever sports games are on.  This week we were into watching the Stanley Cup Finals.  We have to force each other to go to sleep, since it's so fun to stay up together!

In our house...

When the boys aren't bickering over who had what toy first, or when Noah isn't exclaiming "MINE" over anything Connor is holding, they're being all cute like this together.

When Seuss isn't sneaking out the door courtesy of one pokey Noah, or stalking anyone with a chicken or turkey sandwich, he's all cute like this.

People note I take great pictures or that my boys are always so cute, but truth is, I just don't post the non-cute stuff!  I choose to remember the good times only! Ha!

Mama's Day!

Confession: I'm not a big believer in "Hallmark Holidays." 

Valentine's Day, Mother's Day...they're days where expectations are high & rarely are they ever perfect no matter how hard you try. I mean let's face it- do your kids ever have the perfect little temperament all day long and can you ever repay a Mother for all she's ever done in one magical day?! 

Yesterday, our day had beautiful moments like a Lucky Charms breakfast made solely by my sweet 7 year old, handmade cards sprinkled with stick figures and glitter, and milkshakes after a bike ride on the beach, yet it had not-so-beautiful moments like moaning & groaning at the bike rental place when they didn't have the 'right bikes,' random 2 year old tantrums for the Lord only knows, and watching your child drop your sunglasses in a public restroom toilet while you're trying to clean a poopy Pull-Up off since you don't have your diaper bag with you on your bike ride--just to highlight some of the best.

 It's true life & no matter if the day is 'supposed to be' relaxing, it's Motherhood at its finest. I have the best job in the world and the fact that I was blessed with healthy, smart, well-behaved boys--I couldn't ask for much more than that. I am one kick butt Mom, because I learned from the best. 

Rock on, Mamas, rock on.

(Some photos to sum up our day)

Under 8 Soccer Champions!!!

They did it! Connor's team won the championship!  It was an exciting week to say the least, especially with Connor playing goalie quite a bit.  I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a 'goalie mom.'  I was up since 5am this morning with anxiety for today's big game.  

Connor made an AMAZING save during a penalty kick during their Playoff Game #2 on Thursday.  So grateful he had a great season, Matt got to assistant coach him, and he made some good soccer buddies.  Here's to hoping he sticks with soccer next season!

(Connor and his buddy, Meyer, pumped after a big win)

Waiting for trophies :)

The Thunder--U8 1st Place Champions!

My boys had a great season! Sad to see its over.

Thank you to all the family that came to cheer Connor on today.  He had quite the cheering section!

Now onto a fun post season soccer team pool party!

Boy adventures!

Confession: We have a 55 and over community across the street that I use for photo sessions.  They have fun nature trails, so Matt came home early & we went on a critter hunt!  Connor was under a 'lockdown' at school after there was a large bear sighted near his school campus earlier that day, so I was on alert as we went on our critter exploration in the rare event Mr. Bear crossed our path.

Confession #2: I tried the art of bribery to get my boys to pose.  Noah is finally at the point where he'll 'cheese' when asked, so I tried to get a few pictures of my little Loves together.  I promised them a jelly bean, Tic Tac, or Smartie after every smiley picture.  It worked like a charm!

We walked on over to the Butterfly Garden area that a neighbor told me about the last time I was doing a photo session there.  I didn't snap any pictures in there, but we got to see butterflies, a bunny, a koi pond with fish AND two water moccasin snakes in the pond (that sent this Mama into cardiac arrest).  All three of my boys thought the snakes were so cool, but they were a little too close for my comfort!

On our way to another trail, the boys both pointed out survey markers along the way.  Grandchildren of a Surveyor, for sure!

I asked for a photo of my boys in the middle of the bridge & this is the position they chose.  I love my people. :)

On our nature trail, we saw a duck mama and babies, a woodpecker, and random exciting splashes in the swamp area.  Exciting stuff! :)

Connor talked me into taking him through the Butterfly Garden once more, where we came across a third snake. Ick, ick, ick.  Connor just chuckled as I got all nervous around the snakes.

We ended the night on the playground before heading home.  It was such a refreshing change of pace & all the boys loved it.

The B boys are 2!

And just like that...all of the babies in the family are suddenly so big!  Brooks & Bennett are 2!

There were scooters, construction vehicles, toddler rollercoaster rides, pizza, and pool splashing!

All the boys had a blast & we had fun celebrating these sweet boys.