First day of 3K

My baby started 3K today. He is getting so big, I can hardly stand it. I decided to send him 5 mornings a week this year, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I know that he will love it, and will thrive...but I'm not sure I want to be giving up all my time with my sweet little boy so soon! Here is our annual first day of school picture...couldn't you just eat him up?

Walking in like a big boyFinding his name all by himself
Hanging up his bag

Giving Mrs. Williams a run-by hug on his way to the puzzles

We have had a LOT going on during these last couple weeks of summer, so I have a lot of catching up to do. Check back soon to see our adventures at The Aquarium and our week at the beach.

*I did put a little teaser in the header of my little beach bums, because I know Derek can hardly stand the wait ;)

Beach bound!

We are leaving for the beach house early tomorrow.
Very early.
5 am.
Mmmmmm....good idea/bad idea? We will see.
Nonetheless, we are SO excited for a last little family vacation time at the beach. And we are even more excited to be able to share this special time with both sets of grandparents...our boys will be in hog heaven :)
See you when we return......

Game Ranch

On Monday I took the boys on our annual trip to the Yellow River Game Ranch. This was Luke's first time going, and I was a little worried about how he would react to the animals....he loved it! We got off to a bit of a rough start though. As I was loading the stroller into the car, the boys managed to basically roll in dog poop, and Jackson fell down the driveway scraping his leg, arm, and face. So once I finally got everyone cleaned up and in the car, this is what kind of mood they were in.


But not to worry. They quickly cheered up once we got there and were greeted by some friendly deer.

Feeding the bears...

...and the cows

....and the sheep
...and the goats


Jackson, doing his best pig impression

Luke was not afraid of anything

Wanting to be just like his big brother

Jackson loved the bunnies...I even caught him kissing one on the back...gross.

These last pictures are of Jackson and what he kept calling "My Buddy"

With their dear love for animals, there is no doubting that Jackson and Luke are their Mama's boys :)

Blocks

Blocks are the latest thing in the Dennis house. It changes from week to week, day to day, hour to hour, sometimes even minute to minute (you moms know what I'm talking about). But lately, for the most part, it's been blocks. So this morning Jackson insisted that Mommy help him build a castle with all of the blocks...ALL of them...every last one. So this is what we created...in spite of Luke :)

Very enthusiastic, don't you think?

This is what I got when I asked for a smile

And here's a little glimpse into my daily life :)

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Happiness

New, on sale, matching shoes for my boys... ...happiness for Mama.

Train Expo

A few weeks ago we went to a model train expo at my parents' church. My boy loves a good model train expo...shocking, I know.

Here he is all dressed up and getting ready to go inside.This was the look I got when I asked if I could take a picture...it's better than his usual "NOOO!"

The view from the balcony

He had a hard time not touching everything
Cool bridge


He got a chance to drive one of the trains...he thought he was AWESOME!


Here's a video clip...notice at the end when we all freak out when he tries to touch the train.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

What 3 year old doesn't enjoy reading the latest issue of The Model Railroader?

15 months

Little man is 15 months old (gasp!). I know...he's growing so fast. But while he may be growing in days and months, he's still staying little in terms of his size. Here are the stats:

22 lbs 10 oz- 25 %

32" long- 75%

18.25 HC- 25%

That's a lot of cute in a little package :)

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY TO GRANDPA TODAY!

(Or "Pa" as Luke calls him)

"Will you assepp this wose?"

What is a mom to do when she wants to host a party for the season finale of the Bachelorette? Why, make her 3 1/2 year old greet guests at the door with a tray of roses like a mini Chris Harrison, of course!

I love any reason to throw a party, so I decided what better occasion than the finale of The Bachelorette. I had the guests dress up in their best Jillian costume, they were greeted by my super cute, mini Chris Harrison, and were treated to a yummy spread of Rose Ceremony Punch, Kiptyn's Key Lime Dip, Reid's Ravioli, Jilly Beans, and of course, Ed's Limp Cocktail Weenies ;)

The show didn't turn out as I had hoped, but the party sure was fun! Thanks to everyone who came...and a special thanks to my little cutie for handing out roses...what a great way to earn 5 marbles for your jar :)

At it again

I am in the kitchen doing something the other day (probably laundry...it's a pretty safe bet to go with laundry) when I hear Jackson say, quite calmly, from the den

"Mommy, Luke is on his tables."

????

"What did you say?"

"I said Luke is on his tables, and I don't think it's a very good idea."

Apparently, Lightning McQueen just needed to do a lap on the printer :)

Mischievous little boy

To say that Luke gets into things is a gross understatement. It's no wonder he's so lean, because he NEVER stops. He goes from one thing to another, like a tiny little tornado wreaking havoc on a mobile home park. All I do all day is chase him around trying to keep the wreckage somewhat to a minimum, and keep the little munchkin out of harms way. His daily favorites include: dumping the dog's water bowl, emptying the tupperware cabinet, getting all 100+ cookie cutters out of the drawer, taking all the magnets off of the frig, playing in the toilet (gross), taking various things such as the remotes, coasters, phones, shoes, magazines, etc. and hiding them in the various trash cans around the house...I could go on and on.... I'm sure Jackson went through the same stage, but somehow, I don't remember him being THIS destructive and mischievous :)

Now let me preface the following pictures with a little background info. Jackson has a marble jar that we use for rewards/consequences. He gets to put marbles in the jar as rewards for good behavior, helping Mommy, etc., and he has to take marbles out as consequences for bad behavior, not obeying, etc. There are small, medium, and big marbles that correlate with the rewards, consequences (bigger rewards/consequences=bigger marbles going in or coming out...oh, and the entire jar can be dumped if he has a giant infraction...this has happened twice). Once his marbles reach the line at the top, he gets a large reward....in this case, it is a trip to Chuck E Cheese.

So this is where I found little one the other day....getting into his brother's coveted, and much protected, marble jar. (Jackson was, thankfully, outside in the sandbox at the time)

Notice, he went for the big one :)

Happy Birthday Uncle D!

Happy Birthday, Derek! Hope it's a great one. Your little boys are sending hugs and kisses your way. Make sure to check your mailbox :) We love you!

Sweet Summer Saturday

We have not been able to spend much time together as a family this month due to Brad's schedule. I think there was a point last week where he went several days without even seeing the boys, and I only saw him for a few hours at night. So we were excited to have some much needed family time together this Saturday afternoon when he got home from work. We ordered pizza, filled up the pool, turned on the sprinklers, cranked up some music, and spent it realxing outside as our happy little family of 4 (well, 6, if you count the furry babies). Here are some pics from our fun, relaxing, much needed, lazy Saturday afternoon....these simple moments are so few and far in between at this point in our lives, that we treasure them, and are thankful when they come around :)