Party Time

We celebrated birthdays for Reese, Grace, Uncle Nate, and Aunt Michelle a couple weekends ago. It was nice to get the whole family together - it's always fun to watch the cousins play together!

Gracie in her "Dora" chair.

Jacob and Papa.

Guess who?!?!

Big Brothers are Fun

This video is Drew hitting Claire on the head with a balloon:

Claire loves her brothers. They both do a great job at making her smile - and laugh. Drew is constantly walking up to her & saying "Boo!". He has scared me several times so I naturally tell him not to scare his sister only to find out she is cracking up! She will pretty much laugh at ANYTHING her brothers do. I am thankful Claire has such a pleasant, laid back nature. It has made life a lot easier to handle with three little ones.

Parenting is work...but also fun

As the boys have gotten a little older we are able to do more fun things with them. Swimming at the neighborhood pool is always fun. The boys can be independent at the pool (as long as they have their life jackets on).

Plus the pool does wonders to wear them out!

Just recently I took the kids, along with two gals from the neighborhood (Emily & Sara), to an open gym at a local gymnastics facility. We were the only ones there and got to use all the fun equipment. Emily and Sara were great with the boys. Drew and Reese loved having their own "buddy" there to play with.

Amidst the daily trials of parenting it is easy to loose sight of what a joy our children are and what a true blessing it is to raise a family. It is good for me to be reminded of the "fun" parts of parenting in addition to, what seems like, never ending moments of doubt and exhaustion. Thank you to our family and friends for all of your support - we couldn't do this job without your words of encouragement and prayers.

Jetsetters...

Well, I usually feel like I'm at a time in my life when my days are pretty much the same. Not true these last two weeks. The boys were in Ohio at "Grandma Camp" for a week. They had a wonderful time and I truly enjoyed the freedom of taking care of only one child. A BIG "Thank You!" to Grandma Gheen for entertaining the boys at her house for a week (without a car!).



Last Monday (6-16-08) Bev and I took the kids to a splash park here in town. It was cold outside but the boys, especially Drew, didn't let that stop them from having fun.















Tuesday was Reese's 3rd birthday. We celebrated Monday night since I had to leave for New York on Tuesday morning. He got a camera, bike and helmet (among other things). He even blew out his birthday candles with his helmet on. What a goof!


















Bev then took care of the boys here while my mom, Claire and I traveled to New York City. My mom was a huge help! I think she appreciated the chance to bond with Claire since whenever she's around the boys usually want her to themselves. My college roommate, Kira, traveled up from Baltimore to show us around NYC for a day. It was a great trip. Now I'm home... and it's like I never left :)


My mom, Claire and I in Central Park. This is one of three lakes within the park.











On the train from Long Island into Manhattan.

Kira and I on the train

The Reality of Raising Boys

A word of caution to those of you with a distaste for "potty talk"... stop reading! You think I'm kidding - but I'm not :)

Family time at our dinner table usually includes some burping, farting, and muscle flexing (and that's just Tom). So I am constantly reminded that, as females, Claire & I are a minority in our household (and probably always will be). With that in mind, I shouldn't have been surprise with the conversation I had with Reese today. Let me set the scene: I had to pee. And, as any mother would tell you, at least one of my kids has to follow me into the bathroom anytime I try to go in there - for any reason. We are still working on potty training Reese so we're having lots of "potty-type" conversations lately, and today was no different. Here's how it went down:

Reese: "Are you going potty out of your wiener?" His word, not mine! I prefer more scientific terminology like "wee wee" or "pee pee".
Me: "No. Girls don't have wieners." I cringe using his word choice.
Reese: "Girls don't have wieners?! Do girls have a butt?"
Me: "Yes."
Reese: "Do you have a butt?"
Me: "Yes." Thinking to myself that's it's kind-of hard to miss...
Reese: "Are you going potty out of your butt?"
Me: "Not technically..."

And you can see how this conversation went. I really thought I'd have more time before having to answer some of these questions. Thankfully, Drew takes a lot of pride in "educating" Reese on some of these issues... and that's an even funnier conversation!!

This is Reese flexing his muscles in Tom's paintball mask. Men/boys are so wonderfully different than girls - no matter what their age.

I love my boys, but I'm also thankful to have a beautiful little girl!