Haircuts, sucker, and school update

Yesterday evening I took both boys to get haircuts. I think they both look so handsome (thanks Dayna!) Hunter really needed one and Jack could have held out another week or so, but I'd rather take them both at the same time and be on the same schedule. They give out suckers at the salon, so Jack had his first one (only b/c he really noticed Hunter getting one and was very upset). I ended up taking it away half way through b/c I was about to get on the freeway and was nervous about him having it in the backseat when I couldn't get it if needed. He loved it though...I mean who wouldn't?

Also, this morning, Nick and I had a conference with Hunter's teacher. She seems to really enjoy having him in her class. She says she loves the strong willed children, which is Hunter for sure. She would like him to stay for recess and lunch from now until the end of the year, so that will start next week. Currently, he gets picked up at 11:30 am and comes home for lunch. Now he will stay until 1pm and when I told him, he seemed very excited. We'll see how it goes on Tuesday. The hardest part is that I will have to start making his lunch every night! They are strict about what the kids eat too, so I have to follow their rules. Basically, a sandwich (no peanut butter, which will for sure make Hunter mad), fruit, veggie, and dairy (yogurt, cheese, etc). No snacks/sweets. Not too hard, but I think I'll email the teacher over the weekend to let her know Hunter is a picky eater....maybe that will change? A mom can hope.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Visit to Gammy Dori and Big D's house

Last week Nick had to go to Caro, MI (thumb area) to meet several clients. His mom and stepdad live there and have referred lots of people to him, so he goes once or twice a year and has meetings for two days. This year Gammy Dori invited Hunter to come and stay the night with Nick so they could spend time together while Nick was at his meetings. They had a great time and I also had a great time at home with Jack. It was so nice to have a peaceful and quiet evening at home with Jack. He got some one-on-one mommy time and we both loved it...it doesn't happen that often, so I just am thrilled when I get to devote all my attention to him. Of course I love Hunter, but he demands so much of our attention, that I sometimes feel guilty that Jack tags along so much.

Pictures that Gammy Dori sent to me from their day...

They went to the park...
They made these bird nest dessert things...
Hmmm....Lets just say it was a good thing I wasn't there. I feel like I struggle with all of the grandparents not to give him candy and junk food. I'm not saying I'm perfect or don't ever give them treats, but certainly in moderation. I couldn't believe the huge easter candy items some of his other grandparents gave him and Jack for Easter. Thankfully I don't feel badly about throwing candy in the trash when people bring stuff to the kids. I don't really let the kids eat it and I don't want to eat it, so I have to pitch it after they leave (hopefully they aren't reading this...haha). I mean, this child has so much energy as it is...I am not up for giving him any more sugar or I would go insane.

I think this is one of their neigbors...
Hunter must have gotten a turn at driving. I am considering getting him one of these for his 4th birthday, but we'll see (probably a Hummer or something...not a pink one!)

On Big D's golf cart. Hunter talked for days about riding the golf cart.

Gammy Dori and Hunter on the golf cart.
Helping out Big D.

Thanks Gammy Dori and Big D for letting Hunter come visit with Nick. He came home with some bad allergies and sick, so that was not good, but he said he had a lot of fun. I realized we haven't been to their house since Hunter was a little over one year old. The drive is just too hard with the kids--and sleeping somehwere new, etc. I hope when they are older we can go visit them more often rather than them always coming to our house.

Random stuff from the last few days

1) Jack loves to "help". Hunter knocked all the shoes off the shelf and Jack spent 30 minutes putting them back...and I got some work done in the kitchen! There were a lot of shoes to be picked up.

2) Jack also loves to help with laundry. I always bring him with me when I need to move clothes from the washer to the dryer b/c he'll push them all in for me. He also likes to help pull them out of the dryer and put in baskets. So cute!

He takes this very seriously.

3)What a gorgeous weekend!?!?! We spent tons of time on the deck, especially yesterday. Hunter kept saying, "I love to be totally naked". I think he only had clothes on at church and during nap yesterday. Yes, he even ate his dinner naked on the deck. I kept trying to get him to put underwear on and he refused. Yikes. We were playing in the water on the deck, so I got him undressed on purpose, but didn't think he'd never want to put his clothes back on!

4) Jack spent a lot of time naked or in a diaper too...it was just so nice out. He loved eating at the "big boy picnic table" with Hunter, rather than the high chair. Although he kept coming to me with ketchup all over his hands and I had to keep jumping out of my chair so he didn't get it on me. We had lots of fruit, salmon, and hot dogs for dinner. 5) Before bed last night...it's so darn cute--Jack will see me sitting down and back up to me and plop down in my lap...we'll hold hands and cuddle and it's just the sweetest thing!

6) This was Hunter Friday at the dr office (below)...I hope he doesn't have allergies, but he has had trouble breathing since mid-week last week. They did a breathing treatment at the dr office on Friday. Now he's on Claritin and has an inhaler that we have to use every 4-5 hours until this gets cleared up. I hate seeing him struggling to breathe. Nick has bad allergies, but we've never had an issue in the past with Hunter, so who knows...I'm blaming Nick b/c he took him up to the thumb area and I guess the pollen is super bad there and he came home a mess. I was not happy especially b/c I was the one who had to take off work to get him to the dr b/c Nick didn't think it was serious. Grrrr.

7) Overall we had a nice weekend...I threw my good friend Jacquelyn a baby shower at my house on Saturday. So fun and things went smoothly (pictures to come). She looks adorable pregnant! Saturday evening we just hung out around the house since the kids all took a late nap with the shower and all. Sunday we went to church which was a disaster. I went to lunch with my friend Amber...it was much needed girl time. I was just so thrilled about the weather and being outside a lot. I hope this long Memorial Day weekend is as nice.

Parker Mills Family Pictures

Last month we had Dayna take our family pictures at Parker Mills Park. It was cold and Jack was not happy...plus, it's just hard to get kids to cooperate at this age. We still managed to get some nice ones, so check them out. I would highly recommend Dayna...she's super sweet, gives you the pictures on a cd, and is great with kids. Our handsome little man Even though we're in the "7th year itch" year, things are going pretty well! I figure if we can get through these next few years with our kids at this difficult age, we might last a lifetime. Just joking. Daddy and Hunter...they look so cute together! He looks so innocent, but he's not!
How did I get so lucky with all these handsome boys in my family?!?!? I love the scowl and suspicious look on his face! Just hangin' out eating some fruit snacksJack is not happy about being here anymore.
The "Tickle Monster" is after Hunter.
Me and my buddy!

Seriously, my husband is hot! haha.

It looks romantic, but it wasn't. It was muddy and we're like "Hurry up and do this so our kids don't fall in the river while we're kissing!"

I've lost even more weight since these were done and cut my hair 6 inches, so I want to do pictures again late summer!

Mother's Day 2011--more pictures finally!

Mother's Day started off well b/c both kids slept in. Hunter came in our room at 6:15am, but we all managed to fall back asleep until 8am and then Jack didn't get up until almost 8:30am. We ended up going to this Green Street Fair (as in eco-friendly event) in downtown Plymouth for an hour or so before lunch. It was such a nice morning and we wanted to do something outdoors. We've gone before and it's fun to walk around in downtown Plymouth. The kids got some cupcakes and they were able to run and check out the fountain. We had a nice lunch out on the deck when we got home.

Trying to get a good picture with my boys in front of the fountain (they had colored the water green).

Eating his "green" cupcake. He loved it, but they weren't even good as far as I was concerned.

Me and my favorite 3 1/2 year old :)Around noon, I went up to Brighton to hang out with my mom, Gigi, and Emily. We played cards out on the deck and had some quiet girl time. Nick stayed home and put the kids down for naps. He came up around 4pm when they woke up. We did this last year and I really enjoyed it. My Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Joe, Connie, Joey, Heather, and Baby Tyler came over too. We all just hung out and had fun together! Next year Jack and Tyler will probably be running around acting like crazy boys. Joey caught a frog in my mom's pond and was showing it to Jack (above). No joke, she has at least 50 frogs in her pond...it's so fun to see them all lined up and swimming around. Joe caught two of them and I was impressed how quick he grabbed them!

Heather and Baby Tyler...he was a little fussy, but we had fun anyway. They are fortunate to have Connie there b/c she is a huge helper! I'm jealous (even though she helps me quite a bit too!)

I wish I would have gotten some more pictures of my mom and other family, but I'm always so busy chasing the kids around that I'm not able to. Overall, I had a nice day with my family. Nick made this blog into a "blog book" with all the 2010 posts--I LOVE IT. I also got two new pairs of shoes :) Nick and Hunter took over the bed on Mother's Day morning...I usually end up on my side with no room once Hunter is in there. The rule is only after 6am is he allowed to get in bed with us.

Hunter made this little pot with flower in it for me at school for Mother's Day. So sweet!

Friday night fun with the kids

Friday after work Connie and I took the kids to my aunt Rhonda's school. Nick was out of town, so it was nice to get the kids out and entertain them :) It was a school fundraiser and they had lots of activities for the kids. I didn't bring my camera, but got a few pictures with my phone. Joe, Heather, and Baby Tyler came too :)

I didn't understand this, but Hunter was begging to hit the car. They had hammers, bats, and other stuff and you could pay a dollar to hit this car 4 times or something like that. I told Nick later I thought it was silly and didn't get why Hunter would want to do it. Nick was like "I would have paid to do it too!"....boys I guess. It had the longest line, so I must be the weird one.
There he is taking his turn at it!
They also had a fire truck and were letting the kids climb the ladder. This was neat and the firemen were super nice to Hunter since he was a little on the young side. He did great, but I apologized to everyone in line since he took a long time!

He was brave and kept looking at me saying, "See me mommy!?!?" and I kept saying, "Yes, but keep your eyes on where you are stepping!"


That was Friday night. Saturday I had a shredding event thing at work and took Jack with me. Nick had a 5k run event for an organization that he serves on the board for, so he took Hunter. They had a 1k kids run, so Hunter did that. We met back at home at naptime. Then we had our date Saturday night, which was great. Sunday was a long and mentally exhausting day. The kids were just both rubbing us the wrong way. Hunter didn't want to go to church school, Jack was BUSY at church the entire time, Costco was a nightmare, Jack woke up fussy from his nap, and it just went on and on until bedtime! Jack didn't want to go to bed (I think he's teething), so I ended up rocking him to sleep. I actually fell asleep or over an hour holding him in his room...that tells you how tired I must have been b/c that never happens. I was whipped by 8pm.