Keeping Busy

It hasn't been even a week since I last posted, but I found that I had lots of pics and video to share already!! This is us just keepin busy! :)

RAIN!

We had a bit of a cool down here this week. To start it off we had a bit of rain.... emphasis on the bit! It dribbled for about 3 minutes, but JT took full advantage of it! Poor desert kids don't even know what rain is!!

Mother Goose Games

On Thursday Sam had his Mother Goose Games at his school. It was like a relay day based on Mother Goose rhymes. So they had Jack Be Nimble jumping over candle sticks and Jack and Jill running up a hill to fetch a pail of water (Sam's FAVORITE), and Humpty Dumpty egg race and putting Humpty back together puzzle. It was really cute and the kids really enjoyed it. My little competitor was very into every challenge even though none of it was really a race. The pics below show his intensity!

Matt complained about the quality of the collages so I added a few stand alone pics. I am not sure why he has a say in it since I am the one who takes the time to post this... but I am trying to please him!

Eli enjoyed being there too. Always a smile!

Our New Favorite Place

USA GYM

It is a gymnastics gym but they have open gym a few times a week. We have caught a couple of open gyms and I finally brought my camera to this one.

Eli loves the bouncy gymnastics floor and watching his brothers be crazy!

The Rope swing into a large foam pit.

Plenty of springs and large mats to jump and roll around on!

The rings... I don't really think this is the intended use, but it works!

Silly Boys!

JT's tumbling skills. :)

Some video of it.

Sam LOVES the trampolines. He gets some great height!

JT too, of course!

And this is why I love it... can you say, TIRED!!?

JT is jumping on the first one and Sam is behind him in the red shirt.

Saturday Morning TBall game.

Sammy is still playing Tball and doing really well.

Here he is fielding a grounder.

Great Hit!!

And of course, JT wants in on the action. After the game Daddy had to pitch a couple to him. He is getting pretty good at it!

Eli taking it all in...

Spring Fling.

After the Tball Game we picked up Sammy's buddy Brian and headed over to his school's Spring Fling Carnival.

This was the jousting game. Sam, always the competitor, refused to fall!

JT... the stick is bigger and heavier than he is, but if Sam can do it, so can he!

Brotherly Love.

Me taking the easy way out...

Sam and his buddy, Brian.

Finally, JT has been practicing and practicing his name. He always writes it with his J backwards. Just recently it clicked and he has been writing the "right J" as he says. So I had to include one of his pieces of artwork. He asked me to write my name on it because on Sammy's homework from school there is always a spot for parent signature. So, he wanted me to sign his paper too. :)

JT's "Share Friend" playdate and a dog update.

First, a dog update... After 13 years, Murph finally got his own dog pillow. It is from Costco so it is HUGE! and he loves it! Poor old guy weighs next to nothing now, but he is still getting around slowly! I had to grab this for him!

Next... Otis... This dog is a maniac on most occasions, but over the weekend Matt put on this mini Bills helmet on him and the boys got the biggest kick out of it! Here is Sam with his best buddy Otis...

This dog is an idiot, really... but he lets us do this to him, so I guess he isn't all that bad!

Video of the torture! Yes, that high pitched laugh in the background is Matt! ;)

Today JT had his "Share Friend," Ella, come for a playdate. Beside his best buddies Jordan and Owen, she is his favorite friend. If you don't already know what I mean about "share friend" it came about when Sam the big brother was teasing JT about Ella and saying she was his girlfriend... JT replied, "Noooo she is my Share Friend." The name stuck!

He was all smiles and showing off. It was really so cute. When her mom came to pick her up, she said Ella told her, "JT only talks to me at school... no one else!"

They played with toys, in the sand, with chalk and he even watched the Princess and the Frog with her! Sam was a good big brother and joined in too. He said, "Don't worry Mom, I will be cool."

Big Boy Eli... He enjoyed sitting outside with the boys played with Ella.

The fresh air made him a little sleepy, so he had to take a nap on my bed because I didn't want the kids to wake him up while they were playing upstairs. He was holding his little Chick he got from Ya-Ya and Poppy while he slept. So sweet.

Could this pic BE any cuter?

Watching The Princess and the Frog. He even got her Princess and the Frog fruit snacks.

Here is a video of JT and Ella talking... I started taping too late. I heard him saying something about her not being his girlfriend, but his share friend and she replied, "Well, I am your friend and I am a girl." Then I started taping. I think he says something about being friends and then gets silly. That is pretty much how the whole playdate went! ;)

Its a long one... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

Disclaimer...It has been a while, so this will be a long post!

First, we want to wish Poppy a very Happy 70th Birthday! We wish we were there to celebrate with you! We miss you so much! Here is a clip from the boys!

We were very busy over the last month. That is part of the reason I never got to post anything.

We did some more wrestling...

Sam did 2 more tournaments. He lost a heartbreaker in the 2nd tournament to take 2nd place but came back to claim the first place spot again in the third. Here is a collage of pics from the tournaments. You can see even Eli got his first taste of the mat! :)

I love this picture of Matt in his corner.

Eli is getting bigger and bigger. He has really been trying to figure out Daddy. He even reached for him first! That kid pretends to be a Mama's boy, but he reached for Daddy and has been saying, "da da da da da da." The life of a mother of 3 boys!

Got some shots of him after a bath one day. He loves the camera just like Sam and JT!

Sam is getting bigger too! He wants to be a big boy so much and he takes every opportunity to prove just how big he is! Here he is with Dad mowing the lawn. Matt even let him push it alone. He thought he was so cool! I had some video, but I realized that video of a lawn mower is actually quite loud! So here are the pics...

I love this shot of his grassy feet. He was so proud of himself! Good thing I have this blog to show him when he is 16 and doesn't want to mow the lawn anymore!

Some candids of the boys.
Eli loves his Jumperoo. He really gets going in it!

Here is a video clip of him jumping. :)

Brothers.

JT blowing a bubble.
Eli hangin out on his play mat.

John Thomas... I wish I could say this is a pose for the camera, but I have to admit we have been finding my boy with the binkie in his mouth quite often lately! Sometimes he takes it right out of Eli's mouth! Good thing Eli thinks JT can do no wrong!

Legoland!

A spur of the moment decision to get out of town over spring break lead us to San Diego and Legoland. We have been wanting to try it out. The boys really enjoyed the park. It was pretty cool... of course, I am partial to Disney, but it was a much more relaxing park!

Below is a slideshow of the pics from the park/vacation. I hope it works? If not, let me know!

The Beach.

We were enjoying ourselves so much in San Diego that we decided to stay an extra day and hit the beach. The boys loved it.

It was definitely a great time. I think the boys enjoyed the hotel just as much as the beach and Legoland!

T-Ball!

Sam has been playing T-ball for the past couple of weeks and he is really loving it! He is doing really well. I was not sure I was going to enjoy sitting there for a baseball game, especially one that included a bunch of 5 year olds with no outs, but I guess if Sam is doing it, then I enjoy it!

Sam's first At Bat

Of course JT has even gotten in the spirit of TBall. Monkey See Monkey Do! I had to cut this video down A LOT to fit it on the blog, but here he is hitting off the Tee in our backyard. I cut out probably 5 more balls!

EASTER

We started with coloring eggs. 5 dozen eggs. Yes, I am crazy, but the kids loved it! It actually went by pretty fast!

Easter Morning. The boys forgot about the Easter Bunny coming. JT woke up to go to the bathroom and I heard him coming down the stairs. I rushed to get to him but he didn't even notice the "bunny fur" all over the floor. Then I pointed it out and he ran to wake up Sam. Sam was kinda grogy, but as soon as JT said, "Bunny" Sam sprung up and said, "I FORGOT!" They came down to find their baskets. The bunny was very good to them and they Chocolate for breakfast!

I just love how both Sam and JT are looking at Eli in this picture with such adoration. My wish for them is to always enjoy each other.

We spent the day enjoying our weather and good friends. The boys opened their baskets then headed for the pool with their new swim toys. Yes, the pool! It was cold (Eli and I watched from the deck!) but they loved it. We missed our family, though. Holidays always remind us of how much we miss everyone.

Some more candids of the boys.

The weather has been beautiful here lately. Nice and warm in the sun, but perfect with a breeze in the shade. We have been spending a lot of time outside. Eli loves to hang out in his exersaucer while the boys play outside.

His little chubby feet. :)
Watching his brothers.

Sammy.

John Thomas.
He also loves the swing. They all do actually. Sam, JT and Eli all take turns!

The other night the boys went to wrestling with Dad and it was just Eli and I. I put on a Baby Einstein video and he loved it. Sam was the same way! He watched the whole thing!

On Thursday JT and I (Eli too) went to Marley Farms for his preschool field trip. There was a petting zoo and a bouncer. He even got to bring a lunch to eat with his friends. He had a great time. He is getting too big!

A video of him feeding a goat (i think!)

He even got to ride a horse!

Eli didn't mind going a long for the field trip. He even fell asleep for a while. He just likes being out and about!

Finally... over the weekend.
Sam and Daddy went golfing on a real course for the first time! He was very excited. They went with his best buddy, Jackson and his dad. Matt didn't take the camera of course, but he told me that Sam was so excited. He came home and has been practicing ever since. He woke up before all of us this morning and went outside to practice his swing... he came up after and told us he had been out in the back! JT however, was not happy that he couldn't join in. He had a really hard time with it. So Daddy and Sam brought back a ball marker. A Steelers one! He has NO idea what it is for, but he likes to wear it on his hat like Daddy! Sam was in the market for some new clubs (the kid is growing like a weed) so he passed on his clubs to JT. JT couldn't be happier!

Here are pics of their ball makers.

Notice JT is in a collared shirt... he had to wear one to the driving range because Sam and Daddy wore one golfing yesterday. He got dressed himself. :) so cute.
Sam has a Colts maker (of course!) And all 3 of the boys are really into baseball caps right now!

That brings us up to date. :)