Chow down

There are days I can't get my kids to eat a thing (except donuts and Pop-Tarts). Then there are days I worry they might explode if they eat another bite. Lately, Nick has been chowing down whenever we get McDonalds. He has consumed 3 chicken nuggets, an entire cheeseburger, a handful of fries and about half of a second cheeseburger. Yes, this was a super rare occasion, but a cheeseburger, a couple of nuggets, half a small fry and 3/4 the bag of apples is becoming the norm for this kid. I'm thinking I could be in trouble in just a few more years.


Then there is this kid. Most days I worry he isn't getting enough food. But, that swollen belly and his endless energy supplies tell me I probably shouldn't worry too much.

Ice cream sundaes

The boys are always begging to get ice cream cones everytime we go get milk. Tonight, I finally held strong and said no. Instead, I promised Nick a homemade sundae with chocolate and sprinkles and he seemed satisfied. The little single serve treat cups are the perfect size for my little guys, though it does make it kind of hard to add chocolate syrup and sprinkles.

Zander had just taken a bath so Mike decided it would probably be a good idea to leave him naked for this treat. Good call -- within two bites he had ice cream running down his belly and into his diaper.

New friends

My college friend Kati was in town visiting her in-laws and managed to squeeze in a little extra time for a playdate. They brought the kids lunch and then we let them run wild play while we chatted. I was absolutely amazed at how well everyone got along, especially considering my kids were both in dire need of a nap. Can't wait 'til they are in town and we can get together again.

As always, Nick felt more comfortable playing with the little girls. He's got a thing for the ladies already. I think this one might be trouble (my kid, that is, not the little girl).




Our living room transformed into a toy war zone.

The whole crew!


And this is Kati's adorable baby girl Ashlee. Unfortunately, everytime I tried to get a picture of her smiling face Zander decided he needed to love on her. It would have been frustrating if it hadn't been so dang adorable.




Here's one cute one, though. Would have been cuter if the bright red shopping cart wasn't right behind her head!!

Fast asleep

Nick loves to stay up late, especially to watch his Black Hawk play a little hockey. Unfortunately, there are some night he just can't make it to the end of the first period.


Maybe next year, kid.

Build and Grow

Every Saturday Lowe's has a new Build and Grow project at their store. It's truly marketing genius. We aren't really partial to one hardware store, but we get in the habit of frequenting one over another and then continue with that store until something pulls us to another. This might just be that something.

We needed supplies for the mailbox. Normally, we would just pop on into Menards and call it a day. But, I saw this race car project on the Lowe's site and decided maybe we would head over there instead. Gives the kids incentive for being good and hopefully makes the trip more enjoyable for everyone. It definitely worked this time. We helped the boys make the race cars in about 10 minutes.

Even though the project is for kids a little older both boys had fun. Nick did a good job with just a little help from Dad. I had to help Zander quite a bit, but it was still a good time.






Doesn't he look so proud?


Nick loved his new little race car so much he drove it all around the store. I didn't even mind that he was on the floor.


Zander was a little sleepy and plenty content to just sit in the cart and play.

Working hard

Mike spent Memorial Day weekend working outside. Of course Nick had to get in the way help. Part of helping was doing everything just like Dad. So, when Mike took off his shirt Nick had to follow suit.




Seriously, that is some bright white skin. Zander got in on this too, but I had already put the camera away. He looked so cute with his big ol' belly hanging out for the world to see.

And Nick must have done something right. Our new mailbox looks absolutely wonderful.

Sand castles

Most people go to our local arboretum to enjoy the beautiful flowers that volunteers work so hard to keep growing year after year. And my boys looked at those -- for about 30 seconds. They searched for fish in the two little pond areas and walked the paths looking for an adventure. But mostly, they just wanted to sit with their dad in the gigantic sandbox and dig a hole to China. It was Mike's personal mission to find the bottom of the sandbox (he claimed it was for the 'good' sand, but I think he just wanted to prove that he could).