Embrace the Craziness

This needs to be my motto this summer.

At one point during the day today, I believe there were a total of 9 boys ages 8 months to 10 years old in and out of the house. There may have been more, there may have been less. I'm never quite sure who's staying and who's going.

All of my spare blankets have been pulled out of the closests to make a fort for a sleepover tonight.

Plastic cups, wet bathing suits, dirty socks and baseball uniforms are a dime a dozen around here.

My white kitchen floor...not so white anymore. I'm thinking about mopping it in September.

Two different neighbor boys told me how much stuff we have in our garage. They come from families of only 2 children.

Luke is learning to nap while the slam dunk contest takes place on the nerf hoop which hangs off the closet on the main floor.

Adam's been so tired he's fallen asleep on the couch the past two nights.

I escape to my bedroom amidst mountains of clean laundry...to pump.

Why Boys Need Moms

Even though I've seen most of these pictures before, they always make me laugh! A friend recently sent them to me, and I wanted to post them to forever document what it's like being a mom of boys!

Check Mate

I have never leaned to play chess. I tried a couple of times but found it terribly confusing, and I really didn't have the patience nor the interest to stick with it.

I'm slowly learning to change my attitude about it because Ben has been fascinated with it lately. He asked if Brian or I could teach him, and when neither of us could, he did what any kid of the 21st century would do...he YouTubed a chess tutorial and taught himself how to play. No kidding. Brian went out and picked up a chess board the other day since we didn't own one, and Ben has since been teaching Brian, myself and Matt how to play. Even Adam is starting to learn the terminology.

Who knows. Maybe this crazy family of 6 will have a little sophistication yet!

Happy Father's Day

Almost 13 years ago Brian and I got married. He's the youngest of 4 boys, and I bet he never thought he'd eventually have 4 boys of his own. Brian is a great dad. He's loving, playful, patient, willing to teach them whatever it is they what to learn, coaches their sports, cries at their poetry readings, buys them baseball cards and Blizzards, wrestle, hugs, and tells them he loves them.

Happy Father's Day to a great dad!

Ben

Matt
Adam
Luke


To my Dad,

You are a wonderful Dad and I love you very much! This is one of my favorite pictures of us together.

Brian's Dad, Mike, and the 4 boys

Would You Like to Play Some Badminton?

Say that title with a British accent, and you'll know what our house has sounded like lately. Ben started it. I'm not sure why. Matt and Adam, and of course Brian, have picked up on it and now all of them are saying it, British accents and all, all the time!

When Grandma was here Ben put together a badminton bracket and we had a great time playing. It really is a fun backyard game for summer.

The Brackets

#2 seed vs. #5 seed

#3 vs. #4 seed


Line Judge


Playing hard

Consolation matchup (Guess who won??)

Championship game

The Champion!

This & That

The first few days of summer have been fun and busy. Grandma was in town to help out with the boys while Brian and I wrapped up school things. Both Ben and Matt are busy with baseball games and practices. Ben's also busy with a morning basketball camp and today was his first official trombone lesson.

I'm trying to stay ahead of things with the house but not having much luck now that everyone is home all summer! It also doesn't help that I'm taking advantage of the ability to nap once in a while. I'm getting some good running in despite some annoying lower back pain. The half marathon is in 3 weeks! Sometimes I'm excited about it but other times I'm plain old freaked out by it!

We're still waiting for Luke's teeth to cut through. I think we're close. He drools buckets every day and he hasn't been sleeping the greatest. He spends much of his time sitting in the living room watching the action and playing with toys. He's not crawling yet but he's getting better about tolerating time on his tummy.

People often ask who I think he looks like. Honestly, I don't know. I feel like all 4 boys have had a very similar look. The other day I was amazed how much Adam and Luke looked alike while playing on the bed together.

Similar smirks

Same squinty eyes

Similar cute smiles when laughing

Summer Has Arrived!

Finally! Beautiful weather arrived just in time for the weekend. Windows open, shorts and short-sleeves on, a family bike ride, and the best part...4 days of school left! We don't have big plans for our summer, but we are ready to slow down, relax and enjoy the perks of having our summer off.

Quite the crew

Ben was excited to pull Luke in the Burley
This is how we rigged it up for him. He dozed during the 5 mile round trip ride.
The boy loves his daddy!
Having fun

If only they always got along like this!

Matt - almost a 3rd grader

Doesn't he act like an almost 5th grader??

We did some racing on the monkey bars. Boy do those things hurt!
These are harder than they look.