Here Lizzzard, Lizzzard, Lizzzard!

We have lizards all over our back yard... Lately the boys have plotted out to catch one for their own pet.  While there have been numerous attempts to chase down these quick little reptiles, it wasn't until we found one inside our house that we were able to actually do it.  I think the boys may have given this poor little critter a heart attack as they hovered around it screaming and pointing "MOMMY- THERE IS A LIZARD BY THE BATHROOM".  Mike and I ran quickly and sure enough inside our boy huddle there was a tiny blue belly facing us looking like a paralyzed lizard!  The boys had fun having their own pet for a day, but we had to let it go in the evening so it could find bugs to eat and 'be with his family because they missed him'. 

Kyle is our true blue animal/nature lover!  He didn't have an ounce of jitters about touching or holding this little guy (or gal!). 

 Jakey on the other hand was super excited about the lizard, but jumped with just the gentle touch of the scaly skin (he must get that from his mama!).

 K was so interested in every part of the lizard... He felt his heart beat, looked at all the details of his stripes and feet & gently stroked his body and tail. 

 Closer view of lizzie... we think it might be a New Mexico Blue Tail Whipper (our state reptile, which honestly I didn't know there was such a thing before googling it!).

 I think the lizard liked Kyle too!

 After seeing K have such confidence in handling lizzie, big J gave it a try and thought it was pretty cool!

 What a pretty lizard!

 The boys had to invite the neighbor over to see!

 Carter wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

 Mom, don't you want to hold it?!!  No thank you!

 I can climb on the table to see!

 Watch me!

The Camp Out

All summer long the kids have been asking Mike to take them 'camping' in the back yard...  He finally gave in and had a back to school camp out.  The kids were beaming from ear to ear to get to sleep outside with the stars and use flashlights!  Oh and you can't forget the popcorn & microwave s'mores... We were really roughing it ;). 

Spiderman was helping dad pitch the tent.



 The tent was an instant hit!

 I think he tripped every time he got out of it!

 The sun went down and the flashlights came out!  Spiderman magically turned into batman...

 Black Batman, Peter Pan & Blue Batman had to help dad set up his reading lamp!

 There were lots of stories to be told!

 ...and cuddle time!

 Books to be read!

 Later that night I enjoyed the comfort of a king sized bed to myself, but the tent sleepers woke up to the sound of a hot air balloon. 

 Morning excitement of yet another day to play in the tent... Only Joshua, Kyle and Daddy made it all night sleeping in the tent (good thing we weren't really in the woods!).

 Good morning boys!

 We had an afternoon rainstorm and K & J were stuck inside the tent weathering the storm...

 I am sure they had a great adventure in there!

First Days of School

 Summer is over and our schedules have started... I am a bit sad but also ready for some structure!  We stumbled across a friend of mine who happens to teaches preschool out of her house, who happened to have 2 openings, who happens to live 2 streets down from us, who happens to hold her preschool during our home school days, who happens to have 3 boys of her own (so she knows how boys act and how brothers act) and who happens to take 3 & 4 year olds!  What a perfect match...  K & J already knew her because she was the assistant coach for Joshua's soccer team last year so they were excited to go to Ms. Kerri's house for preschool!  Carter takes early naps, so I am hoping for some easier home school days with Josh this year :).  Josh had his first day of school a week before the preschoolers began and Kyle was sick on his first day, so we had 3 first days of school. 

Josh is a pretty confident first grader, can you tell? He has already been there, done that in Kinder!  He also has a lot of books and a new rollie pack to tote them all with!

 

 So far, J has loved 1st grade and looking at the schedule it looks like it will be a good challenge for him.



 Jacob was brave to go to preschool without Kyle taking the lead, but he was honored to be a 'big boy going to school', can you tell by his look?! 

 A little shy, but more excited!

 Finding out where his cubby is.

 The next preschool morning Kyle told me, "I am not sick anymore, I am ready for preschool!". 

 I think he has been ready for preschool since he was born ;). 

Running to knock on the door, no looking back for them!

Mike's Birthday 34

Another year, another child on the way... Happy birthday to my wonderful husband and father of my boys!  While we were all a bit distracted with morning sickness or the first day of school, we enjoyed our evening celebrating Mike & during that day Mike took Joshua to his first day of school and then went to his grandma's house to spend some quality time with her.  He has always been a grandma's boy... In high school when I was dating him, he frequently would go visit her on his own time, would always call her and even now will take any chance he can to go see her on his lunch break.  They have a great bond :).  She holds a very special place in his heart!  He had  a wonderful day driving her around town as she showed him all the different places that she lived since she came to Albuquerque in her early 20's.  Mike loved seeing all that with her telling the stories of what it was like then.  Back at home he was greeted with hand made cards from the kids and then we all loaded up the car to pick Joshua up from his first day of first grade.  It was a simple, wonderful family day for all of us--- Funny how the idea of celebrating changes!  Happy Birthday honey!

All my boys!

 most of the eyes were on the cake!

 Mike and his grandma!!!

2 man band

Our house is loud... Even if the kids are just playing normal, the volume is higher than the average household.  That means that everyone ends up talking, singing or just play pretending loud enough to get their point across.  This is my disclaimer before I show you the pictures and video in this blog.  We have a little bit of music talent in our home lately... It is a band and it was started by Kyle and Jacob quickly joined in.  They usually sing only original hits (words and sounds made up by them).  Their talent extends to being able to play various instruments at the same time as singing for the whole neighborhood. 



  

Now for the video of their version of the ABC's... We don't listen to heavy metal music, not sure where they get it from!



14 years!

We may have been young and naive when we got married at the ages of 18 and 19, but here we are 14 years later :).  Last week we celebrated our anniversary with 2 date nights... Thanks grandparents!  During our evenings out, we talked a lot about the past 14 years and how we got where we are now...

14-trips that we have taken together.
13-total combined years of going to college while married.
12-arguments that we have have since we have been married (ha, ha, maybe 12 a day?!!!!). 
11-states that we have visited together.
10-cars that we have bought.
9-pets (3 dogs and 6 fish!) that we have owned.
8-shows (plays, musicals, productions) that we have gone and seen together.
7-years without kids.
6-total homes that we have lived in.
5-babies made.
4-smiling kids talking our ears off day and night!
3-different cities that we have lived in.
2-houses that we bought.
1- Awesome husband that I wouldn't trade for the world!

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life!!

A minute in time

Anyone with kids knows how hard it can be to get out of the house in the morning...  Lately it seems extra hard-

As I am running around trying to make myself presentable (I didn't say showered or lovely, I said presentable-ha, ha!), Kyle is following me around telling me about every new feature of his Lego project.  Josh and Jacob are asking for more milk with their breakfast as soon as I put put it in the refrigerator, sigh.  And Carter is being his curious self wandering the house looking for something to get into as I look at all the emptied out cabinets on the kitchen floor that he has already gotten into.  I set out each of the boys outfits on the couch for easy dressing & turn Curious George on as we usually do at 8 o clock.  Things seem settled for a second, so I sneak away to get dressed... "SCREAMMMMMMM!!!!".  Kyle comes running in with tears running down his face to show me the few scattered pieces of Legos left from his project.  "Baby wrecked my project!".  As I go find Carter I notice he has shuffled all the outfits onto the floor and I find him standing on our 2.5 foot TV stand and I hear Jakey complain "I can't see the show, baby is in the way!!!!".   As I look closer I notice that he has Joshua's underwear on his head like a hat... I grab him, set him on the floor and proceed to help Kyle put some of his Lego project back together.  "Splash!!!!".  I turn around and Carter is standing on the Kitchen Table spilling the milk down his belly onto the table and dripping on the floor!  And that is just one minute in the morning... No time for morning sickness!

The turkey in action... Underwear on his head has become a fashion statement for him!

 It is hard to believe someone so cute can cause so much chaos!!!  Oh boy, it is going to be a long toddler hood for us!

When a girl comes over...

Leave it to me (a mom of 4 boys) to have saved a lot of my childhood toys.  I have 3 big bins in the boys closet full of Barbie dolls, My Little Ponies & Cabbage Patch Kid dolls... Josh helped me organize them a couple of years ago, but they have not seen the light of day since then!  Every time J's friend Mallory has come over she has spotted them and asked to open them, but it never seemed to be a good time.  That is until we had her over for a morning long play date.  Everyone was soooo excited (including myself :). 

Once the bin was dumped out, the treasure hunt began...



 Once they found what they wanted to play with, the big time gender differences came out!

 Josh found the toy that resembled a Transformer... He was more than over joyed to show me how it worked!

 Kyle was consumed with figuring out how the furniture is supposed to be put together.

 Jacob found all kids of new containers to stash his Trash Packs in.

 And Carter found the one and only ball from the bin!

 Quiet thinkers working independently!

 Kyle is explaining to me how to convert the couch into a bed. 

 Mallory on the other hand, was playing just as I remember... Dressing the Barbie up and getting the babies ready to go out to meet Ken! 

Swim Lessons

Everyone knows that Josh is one of the first kids to canon ball into the pool full of splashes when we get there, but Kyle has a different love for the water... He takes the time to learn the little details and explore the wonder under water.  The beginning of this summer he would spend all his time putting his head underwater, practiced kicking and somehow learned to maneuver his little body where he wanted to go.  When I would play with him, he had a certain calmness to him.  He essentially taught himself how to swim!  But all this determination called for a few private swim lessons to get the skills nailed down properly. 

Can't have a lesson without 'gloggles'!  He loved his lessons!

The first day he was jumping in and swimming to Ms. Jordan!

By the last lesson, she had him swimming freestyle... I didn't bring my camera that day, but it was pretty cute to see a 4 year old doing freestyle!

The lifeguard giving the lessons is actually the swim team coach and she told us that he has some great potiental at being a good swimmer... She thinks he is an amazing swimmer for only being 4! Our whole family has had fun watching the swimming races on the Olympics, who knows maybe we have a future Phelps or Locte on our hands ;).