New York

We decided to take BigBoy to New York with us a few weeks ago.  He is the perfect age to do this trip.  He was amazing and I loved having a few days alone with my oldest.  We rarely get that time alone.
We went to the Museum of Natural History and spent almost 6 hours there.  We both loved it!  Dinos, butterfly house, ocean life, planetarium, african animals - we saw it all!

 We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.  It was a beautiful day for the walk (a mile across it) and we had lunch in Brooklyn at Grimaldi's pizza, which was amazing!

 We took the ferry out to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. 

BigBoy had his first time to ice skate in Central Park.  We stayed about 3 hours, saw a gorgeous sunset and enjoyed seeing the lights on the buildings surrounding the park.

 The fall colors were breathtaking and BigBoy loved playing in the leaves.

We climbed the rocks in Central Park several days.

We visited ground zero and tried to explain things we still cannot wrap our brain around.  It's hard to explain that kind of evil to an innocent, precious 6-year old.

We saw Times Square; had a hot dog from a vendor, rode an airplane, taxi and subway; went to the top of Rockefeller Center to see the lights of Times Square and the Empire State Building.

We were sad that the fun had to end.  But, there were two boys at home that missed their mommy, daddy and big brother. 

Just wondering....

......If anyone knows when this phase of total and absolute exhaustion will end?
I would love to know.  It is getting really old to feel like my 90-year-old Nennie and either fall asleep on the couch before 9pm or flat out be in my bed asleep by 9pm.
Anyone?  Please?  Tell me it ends at some point.  Some point soon.

What happens when....

What happens when you tell a 1-year old that no, he cannot play with a chainsaw?
This.....

Well hello, terrible 2's.... thanks for showing up a bit early.
He is still pretty cute though! :)

Back to school

BigBoy started first grade today.
I think I had a harder time today than I did when he started Kinder last year.  It feels so much more grown up now.  He did great though! :)

This little dude is going to be so lost without his partner in crime big brother.

I truly think he gets more handsome each year!

These boys are my world.  I am so very blessed!

Soaking it in!

We have 5 more sleeps until school starts for BigBoy.  I can hardly believe he is about to be a first grader!  And, BooBear is about to turn 2!  I can't even think about it.

So, we are just soaking in the remaining moments of freedom, no schedules, late bedtimes and togetherness.  Oh for the beauty of togetherness!  It has been awesome in so many ways.  And as much as I am ready for school to start, I am NOT looking forward to getting everyone up early in the mornings!  I am not ready for the rush out the door, finding shoes, backpacks and lunches.

A few tidbits I don't want to forget....
BigBoy is the hoarder saver.  We counted up all his quarters and other change last night and little dude has $86.  I have a feeling a trip to the bank (to get it changed to dollars) and then the Leg0 store is in our very near future.  Where did he get all that money is my question.  He just spent about $60 on a lego in March.

In the car the other day......
BigBoy:  Curly, can you please be quiet?  You're giving my ears a headache.

Curly is still curly.  I just asked him to pick up the sticker he peeled off his apple and his response?  "I'm too busy."  That is a pretty good representation of most of his days.  Busy busy busy.  He has no worries and nothing stresses him out (except when BooBear pulls those beautiful sun-highlighted curls).

BooBear is finally starting to have a few words.  His first few were "mine", "no" and "stop".  Awesome, huh?  He also says juice, cheese, shoes, please (he likes the shhhhh and chhhhh sounds).  He finally says daddy but it sounds like "aaaaaaa-eeee".  He has also turned into a gorgeous bleached-blonde this summer.

Book Review -- Heaven is For Real

I recently read my second book from booksneeze.com.  I chose “Heaven is For Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back” by Todd Burpo.  The title had me hooked.  A little boy goes to heaven and tells us about it?  Great!  The author’s four-year old son, Colton, was very sick and nearly died before they figured out what was wrong with him.  The story is told by Todd Burpo and often includes quotes from the son. 

I am torn about how I feel about this book.  Much of it is just telling the story that leads up to Colton getting sick and going into emergency surgery.  There seems to only be a few pages of Colton describing what he saw while in heaven.  I did find it interesting that he saw his dad crying and praying.  He gives details that are scripturally based.  They did make me wonder if Mr. Burpo influenced his son in any way or helped him by supplying details or information. 

I was raised in church and I don’t want to be skeptical.  However, I think that part of the reason that the Bible is vague about heaven is that he doesn’t want us to know about it.  We probably cannot comprehend the amazingness of heaven.  The story told by Mr. Burpo gives few details not found in the Bible.  It was interesting but I am glad that I did not pay for the book.  I probably won’t loan this one out to friends.

Vacation!!!

We just got back from a little summer vacation.
Let me caveat that vacation is a loose term.  It was a fun, summer, family trip.  There was no lounging on the beach or sleeping in until I naturally woke up.  3 little boys still wake early (and even earlier than normal in a strange house) and demand to be fed 3+ times a day.  They need lots of activities to wear them out so that they will fall asleep peacefully at a decent time and give mommy and daddy a bit of quiet and rest.
We also had no internet all week.  I admit that it took me a couple of days to stop trying to upload pics to FB or send a quick status update.  It was nice to just unplug, read (finished 2 books this week!), and enjoy being together as a family.
With all of that said, it was a great trip!!!
We rented a house in Wimber1ey, Texas.  Such a cute little town in the beautiful hill country.
We drove (and some napped).

We took walks.  BigBoy thinks he is strong enough to carry BooBear!

We played in the treehouse behind the house we stayed in.

We had yummy sno-cones!

 "Batman" flavored sno cone.  He said he liked it. 

 Puppy wanted a bite too!

We visited the capitol.  They just had to climb on the cannon.  Boys!

We saw amazing sunsets!

We had a picnic and lots of fun as a family!

We spent a day at SeaWorld.  BooBear especially loved the Sesame Street 4D theater.  :)

Check out Shamu and Baby Shamu below (yes, I got a little weepy seeing them jump together).

 BigBoy and E rode this.....

Why, yes, my heart did stop a bit and I might have giggled nervously while waiting with Curly and BooBear.  So proud that BigBoy conquered his fears and nervousness and went for it!  I see many, many more rollercoaster rides for those two!

We stayed near the Blanc0 river.  The boys found a rope swing and of course had to try it out too!  E, BigBoy and Curly all went in and had a blast!  Curly was so funny - he couldn't figure out when to let go of the rope, so E had to help him out by grabbing his legs and pulling him into the river!

 We got to see lots of animals, but I took this especially for my dear (deer???) brother!  We were so close to them and they just looked at us for a few seconds and then went on about finding their dinner.

We had a great time and made lots and lots of memories!

LOVE these boys!  BigBoy (6 1/2), Curly (4) and BooBear (22 mo)

Good Bye W1mberley.  Hope to see you again very soon!