Last day of school

I know that this was several weeks ago, but I couldn't help but compare pictures of BigBoy from the first day of Kinder to the last day.

First day:

Last day:

He grew several inches and quite a few pounds.  He went up to size 6 clothes.  He also lost his first two teeth.
Curly also shot up in height.  He was several inches shorter than BigBoy's shoulder and is now as tall as BigBoy's chin!
Even crazier is how much BooBear has grown.
August '10:

May '11:

Happy 4th Birthday Curly!

Oh boy!  Where does time go?
How is it that my sweet Curly is 4 today?

Officially, you do not turn 4 until 10:53pm tonight.  But, your labor and birth went on for quite a while.  I fully believe that I get to celebrate and remember all 28 hours of that crazy experience!!!
I should have known right then and there that not only would you do things your own way your entire life, you would leave a lasting impressing on me and everyone that comes in contact with you.

Curly, you light up my days.  Your energy seems to never end.  Except when it finally (finally!) does and you C.R.A.S.H.  Hard.  You have your own brand of humor and the things you say and do keep your daddy and me laughing and guessing. 

You love with all that is in you.  You freely give hugs and kisses to everyone around you.  You come up to me many times each and every day and tell me "I love you so much mommy."  Is there really anything better in life?  You are loyal to a fault and your brothers (especially BigBoy) are your world.

Pretty much daily, I get a comment about your wonderful curly hair.  I also love your hair.  But, I really want to tell them they if they think your hair is great, they should see your heart.  You love to play with your brothers.  You love to run up and down the street with your daddy.  Our neighbors may think we are crazy, but at least once a week we have you run laps in the street so that you will go to bed at a reasonable hour.  (I have tried to run with you but you already outrun me, especially if I have BooBear in the jogging stroller!  That's just embarrassing!)

Oh Curly, we have had our challenges in the last year.  You have stretched me, grown me, challenged me and pushed me like BigBoy never did.  You reaffirmed in me that I truly know nothing about parenting, am totally out of my league, and have so much growth I need to do within me.  Thank you for growing with me and being patient as I learn how to be the best mommy to you. 

I love you so much!
Mommy

Field Day

BigBoy had Field Day at his school today.  It was a fun, cool and muddy day!  The kids were so cool after the water slides and games!  One word describes me now:  exhausted!

Mother's Day

Oh my little blog.  I am so behind that everytime I think about posting I get overwhelmed by how behind I am on it.    So, I am starting fresh.
Sunday was Mother's Day.  We had a wonderful day.  E (and his dad) surprised me (and his mom) by planning a trip for a brunch on a catamaran.  It was a beautiful day -- sunny, warm and great wind for the sails.  BigBoy and Curly love the water and enjoyed just staring out at the lake. BooBear liked being on the move and kept us on our toes! Here are a few pics to remember the day:

Spring Break

Because I want to remember this Spring Break trip..... here it is, a little late!

We came up with the brilliant idea to take a road trip. To Chicago.  With 3 very active, energetic little boys!
Ha!!  It actually went really well.  We bought a luggage box for the top of the car, loaded up and headed out bright and early!!!

We had our moments, but 17 hours after leaving home, we arrived in Chicago.

We went to the playground with cousins and Auntie Kim.

Played outside in the gorgeous weather!!!

Found the only snow pile around and kicked the snow around!

These two cousins???  Don't let those sweet smiles fool you.  They are TOTALLY up to something!

Two babysitters = adult dinner out.  We had yummy burgers and then went to "Hot chocolate" for dessert.  Unfortunately, our age is showing!  The waiter brought us a flashlight to see the menu with.  We are totally not as cool and young as we like to think we are! :)

Sweet snuggles between brothers in bed.

 I had some quality time with each of the boys.  Love the hugs that BooBear is giving me!

 We had more laughs (and baths) than I thought possible in a week!!!

 We had a blast at the zoo!

And the two oldest found a new favorite place at Leg0Land!  They even used their own money they had saved for months to buy some new Leg0 sets!

 More playground time was needed to wear out this crew!

We took a stroll down by the lake and tried to get a few cute family pictures.

 

The drive home was a bit quieter than the drive there.  It was still long, but our hearts were full of fun memories and stories to tell.

 Tomorrow, I will tell one of those stories about the littlest member of the fam!

Writers block

I have had a serious case of writer's block on the old blog. 
I want to write and record our life.  But then life gets in the way.
I have laundry, dishes, cleaning to do during nap time.  I don't have time to blog.
I want to blog after the boys are in bed but lately I am SO exhausted by the time they all get settled that there are no words left in me. 
I think about blog posts and stories I want to record all day long.  So few make it on here.
I haven't done a scrapbook page in months and months.  Poor Max doesn't even have his first year started.
I know that life will always be busy (and smelly) with 3 boys.
But, at some point it has to allow a tiny sliver of me-time, right????

Everyone says the days are long but the years are short.  I guess I agree, but it is so hard to see the years for the days right now.

These sweet faces do make it all worth every exhausted evening that I fall into bed though!