Schools Out for the Summer

What a fun and very busy week we have had with multiple picnics and many days spent with friends and family. Last week our friends Sarah, Sean & Gracie invited us to go swimming with them at the hotel they were staying at in downtown Salt Lake City. Both Lucas and Landon had such a good time that I can not wait to get them to the outdoor pool just up the street from our house. Lucas will be taking swimming lessons for his 3rd year and Landon and I will be signing up for Mommy & Me lessons as well.

Landon seems to be growing by leaps and bounds - accomplishing tasks much sooner than his older brother ever did - or so it seems. I think Landon sees Lucas running around doing things and is just so eager to keep up. The older Landon gets the more Lucas and him are able to play and interact together - as well as fight. I never realized that a 16 month old would be instigating almost 1/2 the fights. Who knew "Brotherly Love" started so young?

Along with the nice weather comes the longer days and evenings - spent playing with the kids in the yard. It is always a tough transition trying to get the yard up to par while entertaining the boys and still getting them to bed by 8 pm. Lucas is so confused as to why he has to go to bed when it is still "day time" outside.

This last week we were able to get a lot of yard work done and I also managed to make some extra money at my annual yard sale with my best friend Kristin. It was so nice to get the baby stuff and the half dozen bags of clothes out of the garage. You know me - I love to clean and organize stuff and go crazy with any extra clutter. I managed to get my tomato plants in the ground as well as red & green bell peppers, banana peppers and jalapeno peppers (for Steve of course). I have only grown tomatoes in the past so it will be interesting to see how I do with the peppers. Maybe next year I will have to expand my garden.

If for some reason you did not believe that we had a very busy week then just look at the master piece that Steve and I assembled. This is the shed that we have been wanting to get for some time now so that the boys would have their own "garage". Yep that is pretty much what it is - a place to store all their outdoor toys and gear. For the past couple of years our covered patio kept getting smaller and smaller until finally there was no room for our patio furniture. There is still a little work to be done around the shed but for now I am just enjoying having our patio back!! :)

Another busy week has come and gone yet I feel like it was just yesterday that I sat down at the computer and wrote on my blog. Maybe one day when I really get the hang of this it will seem a lot easier. Last Thursday Lucas had his second T-Ball game and Steve and I volunteered to coach the game since the regular coaches were out of town. Originally I had hoped that someone else with more experience would volunteer but when no one else offered and I knew we were stuck I actually got pretty excited. We both ended up having a really good time and got a little extra help from Aunt Erin and Uncle Chris who were there to cheer Lucas on. We have both agreed that coaching might be something we would like to do in the future when Landon gets a little older.

Sunday was Mother's Day and I was able to sleep in and lay around and read for a couple of hours. The boys surprised me with presents which turned out to be two books and a new cd as well as a wonderful floral plaque that Lucas had made in school for me that he would not even let me touch until Mother's Day. We all went to the book store and then I bought some tomato plants and pepper plants for my garden. Dinner was homemade pizza at Judy's house that Steve and Chris prepared. They did a wonderful job.

Earlier this week the weather was finally warm enough for the kids to get to play outside in the water. We spent one afternoon at Sarah, Sean & Gracie's house with our other friends Angi and Mia where the kids got to run around half naked (fully naked for little Gracie) and play. We also spent a couple of evenings at home working in the yard until way past the kids bedtime. We are all very excited for the warm summer weather and all the fun activities that come with it!!

Spring Show & Super Hero's

This last week Lucas had his first Adventure Preschool Springtime show at Wheeler Farm. He was so excited to go and not once did he let me know what songs they would be singing or anything else they planned to do. I was pleasantly surprised with the entire performance and could not have been more proud of him. Since starting preschool in the fall Lucas has become much more outgoing and has learned to listen and take direction from other adults. All the kids in his class did such a wonderful job and after the show we celebrated by going to dinner with the Armstrong family and the Melchior family. Unfortunately as soon as we sat down at our table little Landon starting getting sick all over the place so Steve stayed at the restaurant with Lucas and everyone else while I rushed poor Landon home. The next day Landon seemed just fine and I'm not sure why he got sick in the first place - I was just thankful I was able to enjoy the show.

Above the 'Three Amigos" - Dylan Melchior, Lucas McCormack & Sean Armstrong (or the "Three Stooges"). I love that Lucas has become good friends with these boys and that Steve and I also get along really well with their parents. I just hope their preschool teacher is prepared for one more year of these little monsters in the same class. :)

Friday night for the first time in a long time we did not have any plans and even though Lucas kept asking which friend he was going to play with, his dad and I decided it was about time we spent a nice relaxing weekend at home. Lucas was so excited to wear his new Batman p.j.'s and wanted Landon to wear his Superman p.j.'s. As soon as they were dressed they became the good guys and mom and dad became the bad guys. We were human punching bags until the following day when it was finally time to get dressed.

Springtime: T-Ball & Trips to the Zoo

After being postponed for a week due to rainy weather, Lucas finally had his first T-Ball practice and a practice game last week. I was so worried that we would have a repeat performance of last year when we tried to get him to play soccer and all he wanted to do was cling to our sides and go home. That was definitely not the case with T-Ball - he was so excited to follow his coach and teammates on to the field and play ball. I was so happy I brought the camera as always but kept kicking myself over not bringing the video camera. I don't remember laughing so hard as I did while watching their practice game. The four year olds would hit the ball with the bat and then run into the field to retrieve their own ball (all while still holding the bat. :)) Once Lucas was up to bat he hit the ball and then proceeded to run a big circle in the outfield - without touching any bases - before returning to the home plate. TOO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We loved every minute of it. This week we just had team pictures and poor Lucas kept asking why he did not get to stay and play T-Ball. Needless to say we are all excited for him to get to play again next week.

This week brought with it plenty of nice weather and therefor allowed us a trip to the Utah Hogle Zoo. We had our sweet Gracie Girl with us this last Monday and decided to venture out to see the animals for the second time this year. This year we purchased a pass that allows us to visit the zoo as much as we want for an entire year and I plan to get my monies worth. :) We met up with my friend Sarah and her two kids Sean and Gracie and also with Angi and her daughter Mia. We were enjoying our picnic until Lucas fell and skinned both his knees and then became so upset that he threw up (which as most of you know he has the weakest stomach EVER so this is very common). After a quick cleanup we were still able to walk around the zoo and had a really fun afternoon.

The kids loved trying on these really cool Asian hats at the zoo but my friend Sarah thought I should pay a fee just to take their picture in the hat. Really I think we should have been paid to show people how good those silly looking hats look on really cute kids. :)