Mama said there'd be days like this.

Today I was determined to get to Target for some much needed household items.  Unfortunately the trip had to include all 3 boys.  My guys don't do well on errands.  Okay-- maybe it's me who doesn't do that well in getting anything accomplished when I have all three in tow.  Today was no exception.  What would have been a 15 minute trip through Target by myself took over an hour and involved plenty of "Get over here, put that down and stop hitting your brother."  Before I had children I used to look at all those pitiful moms in the store and think- No way, never, ever will my children act like that.  Well, guess what-- now I have those children and the other PC (pre-children) women are pitying me.  
Anyway, in the first five minutes of our trip Connor sprayed mens cologne in his eye and wet his pants.  Fortunately the smell of CK1 was more pungent than the pee smell so no one really noticed.  They probably just thought my 3 year old had expensive taste and had thrown aside his J&J bodywash for something more exotic.  By the time we finally checked out I was beyond done,  however my kids quickly reminded me that we ALWAYS get a soft pretzel and drink at Target.   It was lunchtime by then so I thought---what the heck lets make this misery last a bit longer.  After enjoying our cinnamon sugar pretzels and fruit punch (a truly nutritious lunch), Luke started crying a bit and then proceeded to throw up all over himself, the highchair and the floor.  I simply stood there stunned thinking how am I going to get this kid back to the car covered in puke.  Another sweet Mom (God bless you nice lady) saw what happened and brought as many paper towels as she could find.  All I could do was quickly put Luke back in the cart, apologize to every employee and patron in the area for our mess and hightail it out of there.  It may be awhile before I venture into that Target again---especially with all 3 boys.  You know my Mom said there'd be days like this but I didn't think she was actually serious.

Joshua turns 5

My how the years fly by!  My little boy is already 5 and I feel like it was just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital.  He had a very exciting birthday.  He went to school today and brought a big cookie cake to share with all his friends.  I picked him up early from school so he could get home and ride his new "green machine."  It's a monster big wheel that you steer using levers instead of a steering wheel.  He has had a great time with it so far and it's definitely something he can grow into since his feet just barely reach the pedals now.  Nana and Pops came over with cupcakes that the boys got to ice and decorate.  They did a terrific job as you can see by Joshua's finished product.
This year Josh chose Chick-Fil-A for his birthday meal so we all hopped in the van and headed there for dinner.  Whew- turning 5 is hectic!

Josh having lunch at school with his friends Hannah & Avery.

The Green Machine!

Every year I am determined to get a picture of us with the birthday boy holding up whatever number they are turning.  This is what it usually looks like in trying to get that picture.  I was so happy Janey caught the craziness.  You can tell Paul really loves the photo ops I'm always trying to orchestrate.

Yippee!!!  We finally got the shot with all of us doing a "5" for Josh's birthday.  Miraculously, no one is screaming in this picture.

Our fun day in the snow!

The snow started last evening and went through the night.  We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland.  The boys were very excited to get out and make snow angels, snowballs and anything else in the snow.  What fun we had!  I was thankful I had just bought snow boots for myself earlier this week.  Although the temperature registered somewhere around 12 degrees Josh and Connor didn't seem to notice. I did have them in about ten layers of clothing.  We played for over an hour, came in for hot chocolate and then out again.  After awhile the wind got so gusty we had to call it quits.  The boys cheeks were bright red and my toes had since frozen even with my new snow boots on.  Of course I had my camera and it's quite hard to snap pictures with giant gloves on.  I had to take those off just to capture a few shots.  I do love the snow and would love it more if it weren't so darn cold.   Thank you Lord for a warm house to retreat to!

Baking with Nana

What a fun day we had making pumpkin bread with Nana! At first it was just me and Janey baking away but soon enough the boys wanted to get involved with all the excitement. They are actually great helpers in the kitchen and Josh especially seems to love to cook. Maybe he can get good enough that I could leave all the cooking to him. I'm sure he might do a better job than his Mom. I, as usual, had my handy dandy camera so I had to document the whole process. I think by the end of our baking even the pumpkin bread was tired of me taking pictures.

Here's some of the fun we had getting from this:

To this:



The boys love to use Nana's sifter!

Loving Photoshop

Playing with Photoshop can consume a lot of time but when you learn something really cool ya just have to play some more. After finally writing my most recent blog I got on MckMama's site and got a great tip on making a collage in Photoshop. Well here it is. That MCKMama is a wealth of information.

Things I am not good at

Okay- so here it is folks. I have found just one more thing in life that I am not very good at----BLOGGING. I may place my blogging abilities down in the basement with my other tried and quickly left behind hobbies such as scuba diving, guitar playing, scrapbooking and sewing. I'm not sure why it's so easy for me to find so many things I am terrible at but not so many that I am excellent at. In any case, I'll just keep trying. For now I'm onto something new and exciting. PHOTOGRAPHY!!! Yes I do love it. It seems to satisfy all the facets of the perfect hobby for me. I can do it right here at home, quickly download pics, edit and print them all in the span of the same day. AHHHH----immediate satisfaction-now that's my kind of hobby. Who needs years of guitar lessons only to be able to strum out Mary Had a Little Lamb. Not me , no sir, I got me a camera and clicka, click, click --- immediate gratification in the form of 500 pictures of my kids. Well, and my neighbors kids and any other person or animal that may come around the cul-de-sac. Anyway, here are a few of my latest snapshots. Hopefully my blogging, along with my photography will get better.

All the boys playing
Luke in the leavesThis is my cute neighbor Lydia

Harvest Time!

Today we made our 2nd annual visit to the "Simply A-maize-ing" corn maze with our friends the Junks. The kids had a blast! There was so much to do they just ran from one end of the farm to the other. Sarah and I could barely keep up. Of course how could two adults possibly keep up with 5 children all under the age of 5. Not easy in any case but especially since Sarah is due with her 3rd little one in just a few weeks and we had to take turns holding Luke so we could each get some pictures. It was all worth it though! The kiddos got to feed chickens, collect eggs, see pigs, cows, geese and all kinds of random yard animals- namely cats and dogs. I think they all want to move to the farm now. The greatest thing is it's only five minutes from our house. What a fantastic way to start off the fall season. I love this time of year!