adventures with 3 boys

Napping on the porch

2012-07-19T21:25:00.000-04:00

Noah found a great spot to take a nap.

I think you might agree...

Dear Doctor (an open letter)

2012-07-17T17:30:00.001-04:00

Dear Doctor,

I am a good mommy. I love my children. They are kind, gentle and loving. They are well behaved.

Sometimes they get sick.

When they get sick I seek help for them.

When I bring them to you, I expect kindness and respect.

I expect you to speak to me and to them.

I expect you to be calm.

I expect you to show compassion.

I expect you to be patient.

I expect you to connect to them.

I expect to have a conversation about the level of care they need.

Sincerely,

Is that too much to ask?

Cruisin'...

2012-07-16T20:38:00.001-04:00

This summer for our road trip I carefully chose and packed activities that would keep everyone busy.

For our two year old, we packed Buzz, Woody, Jessie and some Dinosaur Train characters. He also played "Old MacDonald" on the iPad a few times.

For our almost four year old and seven year old we packed legos. I bought $0.97 shoeboxes from Target. Packed some favorite lego characters and lego mobiles and away we went! The shoeboxes were a HUGE hit! They played with them for the entire trip!

A free photo book from Anderson Cooper!

2012-07-16T20:31:00.002-04:00

Hey guys!

I found a great deal today! Shutterfly and Anderson Cooper have teamed up to offer one free 8 x 8 photo book this summer! Be sure to click the link to redeem your free book...

http://www.andersoncooper.com/page/shutterfly

Daddy's dancin' feet

2012-07-05T14:46:00.002-04:00

Here is a video of daddy dancing with his boys!

Fourth of July

2012-07-05T12:57:00.004-04:00

Fourth of July in a small town...

Murphy, NC

First you need to stretch your muscles...

Then, swing it out...

Next, check out the yard

Have a pear or two

Blow some bubbles

Make some noise

Then there is the twist (Tyler won first place in the dance contest)

Noah won first place for Jail house Rock

Hula hoop contest

Parent Dance Contest (Daddy wins!)

Wear your prizes proudly!

Bounce, and play and giggle

It's almost time for the fireworks!

Happy, happy Fourth of July to all!

fishing and four wheelers

2012-07-03T23:58:00.001-04:00

Tonight they used two poles and fished with less assistance.

Uncle Harold dug up some worms, baited their poles and off they went.

Tyler caught three fish (one was orange).

Noah caught one orange fish and one trout.

Mommy caught one orange fish and everyone petted it.

Trey tried to play with it.

Ew!!

Uncle Harold took Noah on a ride to the mailbox tonight.

Then he took Tyler on a ride on the beginners trail. It was fun ride and they made it back just before a storm rolled in!

Fun times for all and homemade ice cream for dessert!! Thank you, Aunt Sheri!

PS Sorry for the lack of pictures, the cameras were in the house!

Deep Creek, Bryson City, NC

2012-07-03T23:55:00.002-04:00

Today we ventured into Bryson City for some tubing in Deep Creek.

Before we headed down to the creek, we checked out the train depot!

Beginning July 20th, the train will be Dinosaur Train! That is Trey's favorite!

Wave to the conductor!

Here we are playing in the creek.

It's a fun place!

We spent $7 to rent two tubes.

Tyler is posing. The others were too busy to pose.

A family photo! (Thank you Trey for hiding my bathing suit!)

Before returning our tubes, Noah wanted to check out the goats.

Just in case you were wondering...

Daddy liked this sign.

Trey fell asleep in the car before I even started it!

Next time, we'll need some buckets, water shoes, a sifter and something to scare away the SNAKES!!

Swinging

2012-07-03T23:28:00.000-04:00

Last night the boys tried something new.

There are two swings here to hang from.

Noah can't reach it without help.

The boys love them.

We also caught three lightening bugs!

(not pictured Trey's face plant courtesy of me)

1st night of fishing

2012-07-03T23:24:00.001-04:00

For their first venture at fishing in the pond, they shared a pole and had some help.

Tyler caught a trout, Noah caught an "orange" fish.

(not pictured: Trey pretending to use a fly swatter as a pole)

Our first adventures in Murphy, NC

2012-07-02T16:44:00.003-04:00

Last night we arrived! Just after we put our groceries away and unpacked the car, the power went out! Oops! Luckily I packed glow sticks and their favorite flashlights. Everyone fell asleep with no trouble and the power was restored pretty quickly.

This morning, we ventured out to the pond and the barn.

Trey is trying to get by me to feed more fish.

Noah wanted me to take a picture of this pose.

And also this pose.

Tyler and Noah decided to climb this incline to take pictures by the bigger tractor.

And then they posed together.

And Noah again asked that I get "this" pose.

Trey wanted to climb to the roof of the barn.

(We didn't let him)

Here is the breathtaking view.

Another shot of the view.

From the house toward the pond.

Trey's thinking pose...

Hummingbird feeder

And so we continue....

Tonight we'll be hoping to find some lightening bugs...

Georgia Aquarium

2012-07-02T14:59:00.004-04:00

Friends,

The Georgia Aquarium is AMAZING! There is so much to see!

This sea turtle was fun to watch. Very playful!

We are in a tunnel...Mike is taking a picture from the other side of the tank.

It wasn't easy to get them all in one picture together. They wanted to watch the fish!

Harbor Seal in the Beluga Whale tank.

Posing in the window with a penguin. He liked looking at the penguins eyes, mouth and feet.

The RAYS were SO BIG!

Whale Sharks

What an amazing place!

A visit to Atlanta...specifically to The Varsity

2012-07-02T14:45:00.002-04:00

while in Atlanta we stopped in at The Varsity...

cute photo ops with their food and hats!

(daddy wore a hat too!)

A quick trip before vacation...

2012-07-02T14:26:00.002-04:00

A few days before vacation we drove to Brooker Creek Preserve for a picnic lunch and walk in the park! Lucky for us, we brought a nature loving friend with us!

She found a family of armadillos close enough to touch.

The view of the preserve is breathtaking!

Dancing Machines!

2012-07-02T14:15:00.002-04:00

this year both boys danced.

this was noah's first dance recital and tyler's third dance recital.

tyler danced to "teach me how to shimmy"

little brother thinks they did a great job!

noah danced to "in his kiss"

(he has finished his dance and is hanging out backstage)

both were adorable!

#3 turn 2 years old!

2012-06-29T15:51:00.001-04:00

Our baby (that's what we call him) turned two!

So we celebrated with dinos (thanks, Gramps!)

And water play, and sliding, and blasting water!

And friends and cousins...

and cakes

our five

he practiced blowing out candles for weeks ahead of time (thanks, Mimi!)

yum

he ate his cake this year!

and opened lots of presents!

"wow!" he said

our little ROCKSTAR!

We love you little man!

Mommy, Daddy, T and Doah

A visit to Busch Gardens...

2012-06-29T15:41:00.002-04:00

So far, we've taken two trips to Busch Gardens to play and have fun!

Check out the things we've done so far:

sleeping gorillas

pretty flamingos

a nice train ride on a hot day

(until it broke down in Congo)

zebras

a huge ostrich

the train ride was up close and personal!

boys are pretending to be attacked!

and now they roar!

so close!

just relaxin'

What a nice visit!

More to come...

Happy Easter!

2012-06-29T15:07:00.005-04:00

Happy Easter to all!

Saturday we visited our church for their annual egg hunt! What fun we had!

#3 had no trouble figuring out what to do...he even climbed the slide to collect more eggs...

#2 loved his egg hunt as well!

#1 was able to join some long-time friends for his hunt!'

P.S. I didn't realize I hadn't finished publishing this one!

The Fresh Beat Band!!

2012-06-29T15:04:00.003-04:00

On April 19th, we took the boys to a special concert! The Fresh Beat Band was in visiting Ruth Eckerd Hall.

For weeks before the big trip, the kids counted down the days, cheered me on as I sewed their jackets, and helped me make their Twist T-shirts! I used a link from Nick Jr for the iron-on.

I bought yellow shirts at Wal-Mart and Michaels. Michaels did not carry small enough yellow shirts for my toddler. The yellow shirt I bought at Wal-Mart had a pocket, but I was able to use a seam ripper to fix that. I think the shirts came out great! The boys thought they were cool! My oldest even asked to wear his to school!

The Rock Star jackets were a bit tricky. I bought shiny material at Wal-Mart. Little did I know the material I bought would be a challenge to sew. It was slippery!

Then I purchased Tulip Glitter Fashion Transfer Sheets for the stars. I ended up ironing them on. If I had to do it all over again, I would run a stitch around the edge to prevent them from falling off!

No matter what, the boys had a most excellent time! The jackets were a success and the Fresh Beat Band was rocking!

PS My niece even had the chance to be ON STAGE with the beats! How cool is that!

Mosquito Research

2012-03-31T11:28:00.001-04:00

Our oldest recently completed an insect project for school. As part of the project he needed to choose an insect, research important information regarding the insect and produce a cereal box to display the information he gathered.

We are very proud of his work!

My favorite is the section on protection. What can we use to protect against mosquitoes?

birds, citronella, marigolds and slapping

Have a great day!

Gardening with my boys...

2012-03-31T11:08:00.003-04:00

This year we started our own vegetable garden at home. My oldest has been motivated to eat home-grown veggies thanks in part to the vegetables growing at his school.

Our first step was getting our garden ready for planting. Our old square foot garden had rotten wood and lots of overgrown grass and weeds. We found a great starter kit at Home Depot. My husband said it was so easy to put together our three year old did one side!

Next we mixed up our soil and then we got to planting. This year we planted romaine lettuce, Roma tomatoes, green peppers and cucumbers. We were able to buy most of our vegetables from Willow Tree. They sell four packs of vegetables for $1.49. The veggies look small but they've grown really fast! The employees there are very helpful as well.

While we waited for our veggies to grow, we decided to shop for some u-pick veggies. We checked out a "new-to-us" place. It's so close to home! Less than 10 minutes away! First fruit hydroponics has lots to choose from. We bought kale, squash, and some romaine.

After our trip to u-pick, we expanded our garden. Now we've got kale, squash, broccoli, two kinds of peppers and eggplant growing! Yum, yum!

This is the original garden...look how much it's grown!

This is garden #2...still growing...

Best of all, my kids have slowly started eating vegetables

and

a certain seven-year old tends the garden every day!

Spring Stay-cation

2012-03-31T00:50:00.001-04:00

Our facebook pages show a well-documented love of "The Mouse" and all that our BFF has to offer. We have spent many vacations driving the beloved I4 route between our home and his. This spring however, we vowed to avoid all theme parks. We vowed to spend our days relaxing in our own city! We succeed and had the BEST time!

Our first stop was The Grand Prix, with some complimentary tickets! We wore our headphones, sunscreen and hats and had the best time together.

(Sadly #3 couldn't join us...too loud for him!)

We had never been to the St. Pete Grand Prix, but we loved every minute of it. The cars were fast and loud. The crowd was subdued...we went the day before the "big race". There was a lot to see including our fantastic city!

Our complimentary tickets had a great view of the straight-away!

Sunday was spent at church.

The kids enjoyed Sunday school and we enjoyed the sermon.

Monday we spent at the beach. We were lucky enough to run into three other families at the beach. It was nice to catch up with friends. It was also nice to see nine kids play together spontaneously!

Making memories...

Tuesday we spent loading up our bikes and heading to Lake Seminole Park. They have a two mile trail in the back of the park perfect for a novice bicyclist. Or a toddler who is still not too fond of being in a bicycle seat!

We stayed for a picnic lunch and played in the park!

Wednesday was spent doing necessary spring cleaning.

We had to do it.

And we didn't enjoy it.

Thursday we spent at the beach again. Ran into some great friends again!

Trying out a skin board...

Using a kick board as skin board

Lots and lots of digging

Afterwards, #1 spent some time reading to #3. I love that they all want to play together and share together...What great boys we have!

Once naps were finished we took off for a movie. The boys decided they really wanted to see The Lorax. I'm so glad we took the time to see it.

For some time now, I've enjoyed the following quote:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” -Mahatma Gandhi

Now, I'd like to add a second quote to that:

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

Nothing is going to get better. It's

not." Dr. Seuss~The Lorax

Finally Friday! Today we took a trip to The Pier. I should rewind just a smidge. On Tuesday I checked out a bicycle rental place at Lake Seminole Park. A Surrey sufficient for my family of five rents for $20. That would have saved a LOT of grief vs. loading up our ridiculously huge bikes with toddler seats! It gave me the idea for today's adventure!

At The Pier we rented a surrey for our family. The boys were so excited. Well, mostly excited. #1 wanted to pedal but is not quite tall enough. #2 was nervous because each time we hit a bump he bumped his arm. #3 giggled and waved at everyone we passed.

After the surrey adventure, we stopped in at Jonny Reno's for something to eat. We were able to enjoy outdoor seating without the worry about smelling cigarette smoke. Without knowing it, we went on the same night as the celebration for the start of soccer season. The entire Rowdies team was there along with their season ticket holders. Live music played and the kids danced and danced!

Daddy and two boys...

Mommy is getting spoiled with kisses...

Dancing machines

More dancing...

I think 6 out of 7 is pretty awesome for a stay-cation! I hope you enjoyed spring break as much as we did! Our batteries are charged to make it through the end of the school year!

Much love to all!