Flashback Friday

I tried to come up with a cute idea for flashback friday today and had no luck. So I decided to shut my eyes and click on random folders and photos. Well, then I got an loading error and had to start over. So I started randomly clicking and then found some funny ones, some long forgotten ones, etc. So here's my hodge-podge of random flashbacks for today.

I love this photo because I have all 3 of my babies cuddled up in my bed. What's better than that?? This was from early 2006

Sept 2005. Todd tried taking a bunch of pregnancy photos with me and the boys....and the belly. This was one of my favorites. Aiden came just a few weeks later.....

Colorado Vacation 2007. One of our favorite vacations with my whole family. That backpack to carry Aiden in was sooo nice on those long hikes. I think Aiden and Daddy look so cute here.

These next few pictures will leave you thinking that we are crazy. We are just goofy around here and love to have fun. We do silly things to our children and laugh at them. C'mon, you know you're guilty of it.

When Aiden was a baby we were being silly and put Noah's Spongebob underwear on him. Doesn't it look like Aiden is thinking..."What are they doing to me?"

Ok, I did NOT do this. When Noah was three, I went to check on him during his nap and he had fallen asleep with two Little People sticking out of his underwear. I think it's one of the funniest pictures I have.
Here's a close-up. If only those toys could talk......

Have you ever heard the song "Suds in the Bucket"? How about Buds in the Bucket?
My two cute little punkin's in the Pumpkin Patch. I'm guessing this is October 2004.

This cracks me up. We were at the zoo and I asked the boys to pose and simultaneously, they both tilted their heads. I was cracking up.

Have a great weekend. I'm going out for the evening with the girls and then the rest of the weekend is open. It's been awhile since that has happened and I'm looking forward to it.

This Kid

This is the kid that wouldn't let me take his picture. This is the kid that would duck and run when a camera came his way. This is the kid that would get pissed if you actually DID take a picture of him......and then when we would sit and look through our pictures, he would ask why there weren't any of him. Arrrrrgh! One day I got really upset and told him that 20 years from now I wanted to look at my pictures and know what all 3 of my kids looked like and that it made me sad that I didn't have any pictures of him. Thankfully he has since changed his mind about pictures and is back to being a total ham. We got our new camera a couple of weeks ago and have been playing around with all of the settings. This kid jumps into one of his favorite standard poses and asks us to take his picture. Photogenic little booger.

Sweetest Words

I got home from my soccer game tonight (We won!! Woohoo!) and flopped on the couch. Aiden comes running over and climbs into my lap. He says "Mom, your little lion cub missed you" and gave me a hug and kiss.

Can't beat that---and I was only gone an hour!

Flashback Friday

I am so over my funk from yesterday. It probably didn't help that I missed a dose of Lexapro and have PMS, but whatever. It's all good. When Todd got home, I got some much needed time in my craft room and made a few goodies. Then we all went out to eat at Ruby Tuesdays and used our gift certificate that Noah won at our Mother/Son Date night. The boys were so well behaved and it was such a nice relaxing meal. We then headed over to my mom and dads to see them. They had just gotten home from a celebratory meal--that day they signed the closing papers on their old house and it marked the halfway point through my dad's radiation. Both good things to celebrate. The house closing was very bittersweet for me though. I hate the thought of never being able to go in my childhood home again. (hmmm, unless I become friends with the girl that bought the house....) It's kind of like losing a dear friend. I know I will still make random drive bys once in awhile though.

So for flashback friday, I decided I'd post some pictures of Drew and Noah's 1st days of preschool. It's so hard not to get in a sentimental funk when looking at old pictures though. You just don't realize how fast it goes by till you look at those sweet chubby cheeks and realize that it's hard to remember those.

Drew's 1st day of preschool Fall 2002

Such a cute picture of him, I just wish there wasn't a shadow on his face.

He got his nametag and went to the dress up box. I think he's going on safari.

Noah's 1st Day of Preschool Fall 2005

The lovely squinty smile because "mom it's too sunny". He still does that too.

Picture in front of preschool.

1st day of school and he's already a princess. I'm so proud.

Preschool Open House

We had Aiden's Open House to sign up for preschool next year. I was happy to see such a great turnout but the one thing happened that I was afraid of happening......we were the oldest parents there. I guess that happens by the time you get around to putting your 3rd child in school. What was really wierd was my 23 year old brother's friend and his wife have their little girl going there. *Insert Twilight Zone music.* Later in the evening there were a couple more parents that came that appeared older. Whew, we aren't the only old geezers. Aiden was excited, he's spent so much time at school with his brothers that it didn't even phase him. He walked in, took his coat off, and started playing with the other kids. I guess next fall it will once again be me in tears as I leave my last baby at school. I guess it's a good thing that my boys have all been so excited for school, it's always been harder for ME to separate than them. Even though Aiden will only be gone 6 hours per week next year, I am already worrying about that empty nest feeling. Sure, I look forward to 6 glorious hours to myself to do whatever I want....or nothing!! But as time continues to fly by, I know in a blink he will be entering kindergarten just as his brothers did and life will never be the same. I will then no long have little guys home with me, I will miss them like crazy, and I will eventually need to go back to working full time. I have loved every age and stage with my 3 and I look forward to the rest of the journey with them but I wish it would stop going by so quickly. I can remember sending Drew and Noah off to preschool like it was yesterday.....it was yesterday wasn't it?? I can't help but get a little.....well, okay, a LOT sentimental when we hit these milestones. I think that's why the baby fever has been getting me lately. I know we aren't having anymore, I just miss that baby stage. I can't help but be a little unsure of the future also. I work outside of the home but very part time, what will I do when I go back full time?? I've been an at home mom for so long that I feel like I sometimes don't know how to be anything else. We've hit a rough stage with Drew lately too and if hitting age 10 is like this, I'm scared of the teen years with my boys. It will make me miss the younger years even more. My feelings are just all over the place today so I apologize for jumping from one thing to the next. With having a couple of rough days with Drew and Aiden with behavior issues, I'm back to questioning myself and them and everything in between. But the bottom line is, I love my boys more than anything in the world and while sometimes that means they may break my heart a little at times, I just keep plodding along, trying to do my best, and hope they turn out ok. The damndest thing is, the traits they have that are driving me nuts.....they inherited from me! What do I do about THAT?? :) I'm trying to change but they make it hard some days.

Bendables

You know you've bought generic Q-tips when you go to clean your son's ear and it bends completely in half.

Glow Stick Experiment

Glow sticks. Kids love em'. It's pretty cool that by bending and cracking a piece of plastic, you can get it to glow all night. Did you know they are non-toxic?? (Thank God!) Did you also know that if you chew on them, they will crack open and spill onto your PJ's, your sheets, and yes, even your carpet? You and your bedroom can look radioactive all night long. Well, unless your mom is paranoid of it bleaching out your sheets, PJ's and carpet and gets everything changed and thrown into the laundry immediately. And now glow sticks will no longer be used as lightsabers and especially not be taken to bed with little ones.

Oh, and my cat has a problem. We can't get him to stop eating cardboard. Yes, we do feed him but I'm guessing he needs the extra fiber??? The bad part is, the boxes I brought home from work to pack things in are all chewed up and look like a large family of mice lived in them (minus the mouse turds). He will also hide out in it and when you walk by the box he will leap out like a maniac and cause you to almost pee your pants.

Life is always interesting.

Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Our weekend was chock full of fun so we kept busy. Friday night we went to my Aunt Jer's house for a Mardi Gras party and had a lot of fun (and good food!!!) there. My Valentine's Day started off bright and early....Drew had a soccer game at 8am and Noah had one on the next field over at 8:30. Drew scored an amazing goal that just sailed into the net...it was awesome and Noah's team finished their last game of the season with a bang. They won by a large margin and finished the season with only one loss!! Their team did great.

We came home and I had to jump in the shower so I could get dressed and ready to attend a distant cousin's wedding. Todd and the boys had some Valentine surprises in store for me and I received them in true mom fashion......I was sitting on the toilet before my shower, the door bursts open and the boys come running in bearing gifts and yelling "Happy Valentines' Day Mom". Such is my life. I asked if they minded waiting for me in the living room so I finished my business and headed out. They had some flowers for me, homemade truffles and a beautiful card. I'm such a lucky mom and I have to say, being the only female in the house has it's advantages sometimes!!! (and I must learn to lock the bathroom door!)

The wedding was beautiful, I'm always such a mushy sap at weddings, I can't help myself. Afterwards my parents, Todd, the boys and I met up with my cousin Kris and her fiance Brian at Kelly's for lunch. (or 'the restaurant with the rainbow' as Aiden calls it) That night the boys had a fun evening at Todd's parents while he and I attended the wedding reception by ourselves. It was fun to get dressed up and go out with the family and relax and have some fun.

Sunday my nephew Blake got to spend the night as part of his 5th birthday present. Drew and Noah each got that as a gift for their 5th birthdays from Matt and Beth so we thought we'd carry on the tradition. The 4 boys had a blast together and it gave me a small taste of what life with 4 boys would be like. Ya know, it's not any more chaotic than 3! That doesn't mean I'm going to rush out and have another one though!! I'll enjoy my niece and nephews!

For Valentine's Day I gave this to my mom and dad for their new house. My sister in law Beth took these awesome photos of the 6 grandkids (thanks Beth!!!) and I did the layout in the frame. I'm still feeling a little nitpicky about a couple of things but they are mostly things to do with the size of the layout. I wanted a bigger frame but completely fell in love with this one and bought in it's largest size---14x18. It looks awsome against their chocolate brown walls and I think my mom and dad loved it. How could they not when they can look at their 6 beautful grandkids every time they pass it???

Flashback Friday--Valentine Edition

I'm flashing back today on Valentine's of the past. I only have back to 2004 on my computer so we'll make do with that!





Valentine's Day 2004......the day my nephew Blake came home from Children's Hospital....a day to celebrate indeed. He was one week old. It was also the day that Todd's cousin Chad married Jessica, hence the fancy black dress.

Valentine's Day 2005. My two sweethearts. (I was pregnant with Aiden at the time and I remember being very nauseous that day)
Valentine's Day 2006. I tried getting pics of Aiden holding a heart shaped cookie cutter. I ended up making a cute card out of the second one, but I can't find it on my computer.

Valentine's Day 2008---we finished our kitchen remodel!

Valentine's Day 2008 The best part of last years' Valentine's Day.....we got our kitty Grayson. He was about 8-9 months old they were guessing at the shelter but we decided to celebrate his bday every year on Feb 14th. He has been such a joy.....he loves the kids, loves to sleep with them, is playful and funny, and is so warm and cuddly. I love curling up with him in bed. Love you Grayson!

Buzz Lightyear

TO INFINITY.......

AND....... TO SLEEP!

At naptime the other day, Aiden kept playing around. I guess getting into his Buzz Lightyear costume was exhausting because when I went in to check on him, he was sound asleep.

Mother/Son Date Night

Saturday night was the annual Mother/Son Date Night sponsored by the park district. This was my 3rd year attending. The two previous years Drew and Noah both went with me but Drew had no interest in it this year....he thought he was "too old" for it. You have to be 4 years old to attend so Aiden still didn't make the cut.....next year though. Here's my post from last years' date. I was excited to have this special date with Noah (Drew and I decided to have our own "date" another night) and this year was special because it was my nephew Blake's first time to go.....it was also his 5th birthday so what a cool way to celebrate!

Here's our picture together as we got ready to leave on our date.

When we arrived, the moms got a corsage and then we got our picture taken with our little guys. It kind of feels like homecoming. I thought this picture was cute but I was bummed because it turned out blurry.
They have a yummy buffet dinner every year with a sundae bar afterwards. Mmmm, very good, I always know the food will be delish!

Beth and Blake. Blake was being such a silly ham, it was cracking me up. I just love that kid.

Noah and I did one of our "self portraits". I wonder if Photoshop can erase that lovely 'shine' off of my face.

Noah's eyes are closed but still a cute pic of the cousins.

An accidental pic I managed to get of the two cousins dancing. Noah was so excited all day to dance but when it came time, he kind of hugged the wall. When I asked him why he wasn't dancing, he said "Mom, sometimes I just get a little embarrased". He finally came out of his shell more towards the end of the evening. Blake had no problem cutting a rug though. He was cute.

Here's my little wallflower.

We had a nice time and I'm hoping next year I can talk Drew into going so I can have one date with all 3 of my boys! Drew, Aiden, and Todd went bowling that night and had a blast. Apparently Aiden even beat them one game, having 5 spares in a row. They weren't sure how he did it, especially since it seemed to take a year for his ball to get down the lane, but he pulled it off. I wish I had been there to see his first bowling experience but I'm glad they had a fun night out also.

Ready for My Close Up

Zoe from I've Come Undone took part in this question and answer post that originated with the Immoral Matriarch. Basically the person will give you 5 questions to answer about yourself on your blog and then anyone that reads your blog can volunteer and you come up with 5 questions for them. I figured, why not, I was hard up for something to blog about. Then I got busy and pushed it to the wayside. (Sorry Zoe). I'm getting to it now, better late than never right?? And Zoe was pretty easy on me, nothing too embarrassing will be coming out of my closet today! So here goes:

1.So you are a Twilight fan. Which character are you? This was easy....back in October I took a quiz to answer this very question. Here's the answer

2.Do you prefer digital or paper scrapbooking? Is there a supply or line you can't live without? I prefer paper scrabooking and paper crafting, something about the hands on process is very therapeutic for me. I enjoy digital too although haven't gotten a lot of experience with it yet. It's fun but I already spend too much time on the computer, ya know? As for supply lines, I love them all but REALLY love Cosmo Cricket and Basic Grey for their awesome papers.

3.As the only woman in a house full of men...how do you infuse a bit of estrogen into their lives? Hmmm, that's a good question, I was always a bit of a tomboy....never liked pink, lace, and all that frou-frou. But my oldest has a crafty passion too so we share that and I have all 3 of my boys in the kitchen cooking with me. They love it and I look at it as good husband training for them.

4.If you could get with any member of NKOTB who would it be (husband gives a free pass)? Oh Zoe, I love you for asking this question. Jordan baby! The sound of his voice still makes me weak in the knees. (and he's easy on the eyes too)

5.As a busy wife and mother how do you make time for yourself? I'm not very good at this one but I am getting better. My husband is VERY good about letting me lock myself in my craft room, go shopping, taking a walk, whatever. I just don't do it enough. I really need girl time and haven't gotten out with my girlfriends for awhile so that is one of my goals to work on. My girls keep me sane!

Want to be a part of it? Follow these instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someoneelse in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Flashback Friday

I spent quite a chunk of time the other night doing something I had procrastinated on for AGES!! Sorting all of my photos and putting them in chronological order to put in my albums. I used to be SO good about it, but got way behind. So behind, that my first batch of pictures were from January of 2007. So yes, I had two years worth of pictures....and did I take a lot! I feel like a huge weight is off of my chest now that that task is complete! I came across an old envelope of pictures and found these two that I absolutely love. The first is me and my baby brother Matt with our parents and the second is me holding Matt. I see so much of Noah in me in these two pictures. I know he looks a lot like my dad but never saw me in him until I looked at these pictures. It's nice to know a little bit of my genes got into my kids somewhere! My brother is stinkin' cute too....I can see a lot of his kiddos in his face in both of these pictures.

These pictures would have been from 1978.

Have a great weekend.

I See Beauty

I see beauty in my children every day, sometimes when I least expect it. And when I come across it, it humbles me. They open my eyes to things that I may never seen. They simply amaze me.

I see beauty in their sleep.

I see beauty in their art. (photo by Noah)I see beauty in their humble apologies. (Drew made this beautiful card for Todd one day after Todd got really upset with him over something he had done. It made me cry.)

A Finished Project

My SIL Beth gave me the "I Love Being Your Mom" stickers at Christmas and I knew right away which pictures I'd use with it. (it was also the inspiration for my new blog header) I also knew I wanted to do something that I could hang on my wall. This fits in a 11x14 dark gray frame that I have and I currently have it hanging at the bottom of my staircase. I had such a hard time coming up with the actual layout and getting all the right colors to work but I'm happy with the outcome. This picture isn't the greatest but at least you get the idea.