Pardon Me, Have You Any Grey Poupon

They say that kids will eat nearly anything if you put ketchup on it.  Not so in this house.  Our boys have a taste for the finer things in life.
This evening we had chicken and apple sausages for dinner.  Jack and Ewan requested some dijon mustard to dip their sausages in since Josh and I put some on our buns.  Not a big surprise since they do like mustard.  Then Sean asked for some too; after all, he has to do everything his brothers do!

This was a big hit.  Sean LOVED the dijon mustard.  He gobbled up his sausage, sometimes double dipping it just to lick some mustard.  When his sausage was gone he asked for more mustard.  Nothing to dip in his, he just wanted it straight up.  I tried to get him to eat his baked beans, no luck of course.  So I poured some mustard on each bite and he ate it right up!

I guess we'll have to start sharing our love of mustards with the boys now.  Will they like wasabi mustard??

Baked beans with dijon mustard, YUMMY!!

Flashback Friday - August 2011

OK, so it's Saturday and I'm a day late...

Jack's camp graduation last year.

Jack graduated to the kindergarten camp class.  We just signed up for three weeks this summer (one in June, one in July and one in August).  We are all looking forward to it!!

Fashion Drama

Seems Jack is determined to be my fashionista.  We frequently have battles about what he is going to wear.  For some time he was fine with me picking out his clothes.  Now, however, he has an opinion of his own and he is not afraid to let me know!

If I let him pick out his clothes he would wear the same few things every day.  Eventually he gives in and will wear what I give him.  He even says how much he loves it and how handsome he looks.  Maybe it is just the idea that I picked it out for him that disturbs him!

I am at least wise.  I almost NEVER take him shopping with me.  I certainly don't want him picking things out from the store.  He would pick some nice things, but then he would go for all the crap I cannot stand!  He already asks for light up shoes like his friends at school have.  We refuse do get them.  He gets over it quickly. 

Jack is not my only boy interested in fashion.  Ewan and Sean are quite into their looks too.  As we started pulling out all the spring/summer clothes everyone got excited to wear "new" clothes.  Sean would point to his shirt and let me know he liked what was on it!  Ewan even likes having Jack's old clothes (for now anyway). 

Oma brought back some cool socks from her trip to Seattle.  Not many kids would be thrilled to get socks, mine, however, were thrilled to death.  They walked all over the house holding their socks and talking about them!!!  Thank goodness, I would much rather they get clothes or socks  as gifts instead of toys.

An then of course there is me!  I'm working on replacing my wardrobe.  Obviously my pre-baby clothes don't fit, or if they do they just are not my style anymore.  So I am tortured by every catalog that comes my way now.  I want so much!!!  At least I have a birthday coming soon  (what else do I need anyway, well besides a case or two of stain remover)!  I have also gotten some new cute kiddo clothing catalogs too.....so much temptation!!  The boys don't even have any reasons for gifts or clothes.  Oh well!

Today was a nice day.  Absolutely no complaints when the boys got dressed this morning.  They were actually excited to wear jeans since it was a little cooler.  Jack  has been quite upset lately that it has been too hot for jeans!  And don't even get me started on shoes!!!

Boys Will Be Boys

I've had several post ideas...but this one needs to be posted pronto!!  This is how we spent our play time after lunch today.  We were in the backyard, and of course boys will be boys.  It took no time at all for Ewan to find the dirt.  We have a huge pile in the back which usually has a wheelbarrow on it.  Well the wheelbarrow is gone so that gave Sean access to the entire pile of dirt.

He rolled in the dirt, threw the dirt down his own back.  He was beside himself with excitement.  Then his brothers came to join in the action.  They dug and threw dirt.  They made castles.  And as you can imagine they were DIRTY.  Sean was indeed the dirtiest of them all. 

So they stripped on the porch and we headed in for a bath.  The dust/dirt flew around as I took off Sean's clothes.  I hardly wanted to touch him to get him upstairs for the bath!!

We managed to get clean; it took two baths but they made it out clean!!!  You would think I would learn.....I forgot to put Sean in some "play" clothes before we went out.  So now I have the fun job of getting all these clothes clean.  So if you ever wonder how I spend my time, I spend it cleaning the boys and trying to get dirt out of their clothes!!!

The dirtiest of them all!!

Jack and Ewan at the scene of the crime.

Sean is proud of his dirty face!!!!

I think the only clean part is his eyes.

Somehow I'm not sure this is a model look....unless it's for a stain remover!!

The laundry awaiting my attention.

That is a huge dirt stain on Sean's changing table from where he laid his

head when I changed his diaper!

Jack in the tub.

Sean getting all the dirt out of his hair.

Notice how dirty the water is??!!

A new batch of soapy water.

Finally we have three clean boys!!

They are clean for now.  After dinner we'll head outside again and I'm sure the fun will begin again!!  Ah, the fun never ends here....



Flashback Friday - July 2011, NC Mountains

All this warm weather has us thinking about all the fun we have in the mountains in the summer!!!  Looking forward to some good hikes this summer too.

Outdoorsmen

This past weekend was another one filled with outdoor activities for the gang.  It started Saturday with the St. Pat's parade in Five Points.  It was another year of truly gorgeous weather!  It started out in the 70s and ended up around 80 and sunny by the time we headed home after 2PM. 

We enjoyed the parade with our friends.  This gave Jack and Ewan a chance to run around with their dear friend...and now Sean has to get in on the action.  Ewan is no longer the slowest one, Sean is!  It is so cute watching him try to keep up with his brothers and buddy!

After the parade we all had a yummy pizza lunch together at Za's.  Then it was off to the family fun area at the park.  Jack and Ewan enjoyed some fun rides and Sean was thrilled to ride a little train!  Needless to say after all this fun in the sun they were tired.  Time to head home for naps.

Then Saturday evening we went for a walk and rode bikes.  Ewan can now power up some of the big hills in our neighborhood, something Jack can't even do!  Ewan has stamina and power, Jack goes for speed.

We also worked in the garden (or should I say the boys playing with hoses), flew rc planes, had some yummy meals and just had fun!  That sums up our weekend.  Unfortunately I forgot the camera for the parade so I'm limited to the pics I took with my phone.  But I do have some fun ones from the garden/playing with hoses.....

Sean enjoyed getting wet!  He stood where the two hoses were connected

because it had a spraying leak there.  He would get wet and try to lick

the water falling off the tree!!

Jack filling the bucket with water.  Jack and Ewan had a bucket

brigade going!  They would fill buckets and then "wash" things like

their bikes and the Stick of Butter.

Hard work filling buckets.

"Washing" the Stick of Butter!

Needless to say after this weekend's adventures I have a lot of muddy laundry to wash!!  Ah, boys and their mud and dirt.....

Flashback Friday - March 2011

St. Pat's in Five Points last year...

Economies of Scale

Having three boys is absolutely wonderful!  Not only are they fun and energetic (ok, sometimes too wild), but since we have all boys we get to enjoy handing things down.  Yeah for the wallet!  They were all born in the late summer/fall and were all big.  Thus, handing clothes down has been great, so far.

As they get bigger, there is less to hand down.  Remember, they are boys.  That now means we are starting to see a lot more jeans with holes in the knees, mud and paint stains etc.  We will continue to do it as long as we can. 

We are also running into "fashionista" problems at times too.  Jack and Ewan used to love a button down shirt.  Jack recently decided he does not like them anymore.  That means Ewan decided he does not like them either.  So every now and then we have a fashion meltdown when I make them wear something they don't want to wear!  At least I can still dress Sean and he does not complain!!!

Toys are also an easy issue.  They all like the same thing so no need to get a ton of different toys.  It really is working out well having three boys.  We will not have any proms, weddings or such things to pay for.  No major female teenage drama.

BUT.....I'm starting to think we will lose all economies of scale when it comes to feeding the boys.  The oldest is not even five years old yet and sometimes they can really pack away the food.  And when one is eating all day it is usually all three.  They eat well, so of course that is even more expensive.  Good food costs more than processed junk food.

When they hit a growth spurt or "I'm hungry" phase it seems as if I do nothing but feed them all day.  They will finish a meal or snack and say "I'm still hungry" again!  It truly is an all day ordeal, not ending until they are asleep (even after being put to bed they will come down and say "I'm hungry").  I truly cannot imagine how bad it will get when they are teenagers.  I am going to need to add on to the house to have a full room to serve as a pantry!

So much for boys being cheaper than girls.  Maybe I should do a study....but that would be too depressing!

Productive AND Fun Weekend

This past weekend we worked on the garden.  The boys helped Daddy plant the pumpkin, gourd and peanut seeds as well as tape with lettuce seeds.  We'll just have to wait and see now how things grow.  Cross your fingers!!  The rest of the seedlings are still growing in the house on the kitchen table.

Josh got called into work Saturday at lunch time so ended up taking the boys myself to the road race.  We had a road race happening right near us and they just loved it.  Tour de France is their favorite thing to watch to see a race live was quite exciting.  The weather was absolutely beautiful too.  Then after naps we met Daddy for dinner and flew rc planes.  All in all a fun and busy day for the gang.

Sunday we finished working in the garden.  The boys also had fun playing out back and I planted my sunflowers at the edge of the garden.  I also did the usual cleaning and laundry.  After lunch we headed over to the road race again.  The boys were excited to take their Daddy to see the bikes too.  It was even warmer Sunday, just a beautiful day to spend outside.  After dinner we went to fly planes again.

So despite being called into work Josh got quite a bit done in the garden, as did the boys and I.  We thoroughly enjoyed playing outside.  We are also already enjoying the longer days thanks to daylight savings time.....time to take a walk or play outside after dinner!!

A Star is Born

Ok, so maybe that is an exaggeration!  At the gym  Thursday one of the women that works there was calling Jack's name.  She was letting him know he was "famous".  The local free paper has out their summer camp guide and Jack is in one of the pictures!  It is from camp last year and he is adorable as always.

Click below for the link to the paper.  If I had the time I would put a picture of the paper in, but somehow there is never enough time!!  Oh yeah, it's page 10.  If you actually have the paper it's page 39.

http://issuu.com/free_times/docs/summer_camps_guide_2012

Flashback Friday - May 2009

In honor of swim lessons commencing this week we have pictures from Jack's first "swim lessons" three years ago.  Swim lessons in this case meaning basically becoming familar with the water!  This is the same age Sean is now, notice the similarities?!

Great Day For All

Yesterday was a wonderful day for everyone.  It started out with Jack and Ewan's first swim lesson.  They were extremely excited!  The night before they were testing out their new goggles in the bath tub and practiced blowing bubbles. 

We got to the gym early and played in the gymnasium.  Then they changed into their swim trunks and had a snack in the lobby.  They were giddy with excitement!  They truly loved the pool.  Their instructor is fabulous and they did extremely well.  They bunny hopped in the water, blew bubbles and jumped into the pool from the edge and went under water.  My little water boys had so much fun!!!

After the gym we went to Moe's for lunch to celebrate.  That of course made all three boys extremely happy.  They do love their Moe's, especially the sour cream!!

That afternoon we got Sean's chaise lounge from Emmie M.  It arrived at Oma's house and she brought it over to us.  The boys were asleep at the time so it was timed well.  I put it in the family room and Jack was the first to come down and find it.  Jack's response was "awesome"!  Eventually everyone else woke up and fell in love with it too.

Once they were all up we took the chair up to Sean's room.  This was extremely exciting for the boys!  It is perfect...the rocket pattern fits in wonderfully with his space robot room.  Sean definitely knows it is his chair and isn't too keen on sharing it.  If somebody else is sitting in it he tries to climb over them to sit at the "head" seat!  They can all squeeze in, but it is a tight squeeze.  Thanks Emmie M and Mr. Dan for the most perfect gift ever!!!  Of course now we may have to find something for Jack and Ewan's room too....

And finally the day ended with good things for all....we had some of the asparagus from our garden in a mushroom asparagus risotto with London broil for dinner.  YUMMY!!  Sean in particular was chowing down on EVERYTHING!!

Good times had by all.

Waiting to start their lesson.

Practicing blowing bubbles.

Hopping in the water.

A man and his chair...don't mess with him!!

Making sure Ewan knows it is his chair!

Tight squeeze, but they all made it in the chair!

FINALLY We Find the LeapPads

Friday night after our dinner out Josh and I stopped by Wal-Mart to do some Easter shopping.  While I was there earlier with Ewan and Sean I noticed they finally have LeapPads in stock.  I couldn't get them at the time since Ewan was with me...they are Easter presents for Jack and Ewan.  They were originally going to be Christmas presents but it was the hot item and out of stock until just now.

So we got our two LeapPads and one game for them to share.  FINALLY SUCCESS!!!  I cannot wait until the boys get them.  Something to occupy them, educate them, distract them, keep them out of trouble and stop them from fighting over cars!

I even remembered to take them off the Amazon wish list and added some games and books.  There will never be a shortage of gift ideas for the boys now!

Another Full Weekend

Our weekend started out wonderfully.  I dropped the kids off at Oma and Opa's and Josh met me there.  We left my car AND THE KIDS!!  We were off for date night.  Not just any date night, and entire night without the kids.  They had a pizza dinner, hot chocolate with marshmallows and spent the night!!

Josh and I enjoyed a nice adult dinner at Blue Marlin.  It had been far too long since we last went there!  The food was wonderful, as was the company of course.  Since we were off to a slightly late start though we decided not to do a movie too.  We were looking forward to a movie, but staying up until midnight just wasn't in the cards for us.

Saturday morning we started our movie (we've had this particular Netflix for nearly two months).  I checked my email and found an early morning message from Oma.  Seems she had been up with the boys since 3AM.  I gave her a call....Sean was congested but went back to sleep.  Ewan threw up (luckily he made it to the bathroom).  Then just as she was about to fall asleep again Jack told her Ewan got sick again, this time in bed.  Not such a good night for Oma!!

Needless to say we didn't watch our movie and went to rescue Oma and Opa.  Just before we got there Ewan threw up again.  Rough morning all around.  We took the gang home and stayed in all day (it was raining anyway).  Ewan did not get sick again, but he definitely was low in energy.  By lunch time I wasn't feeling so well either.  The guys FINALLY succeeded in getting me sick!!  They have been trying for weeks now. 

It took some time, but I finally got Ewan to nap.  He woke up hysterical so I had to lay down with him and he finally went back to sleep.  Then Sean started screaming.  Apparently he did not want to nap.  No rest for me either I guess.  We headed downstairs and kept it quiet.  Once again no chance to watch our movie!  The afternoon went on....I actually checked on Ewan at 6:20!!!  I had to wake him up since it was getting so late and he napped for over four hours!  Luckily he still went to bed pretty easily.

Sunday was finally a little better.  Sean was still a free flowing snot machine, thanks to teething.  We had bagels at Panera and then Josh and the guys flew airplanes.  We went to the grocery store and headed home.  I cleaned, did loads of laundry....  We had lunch and the boys got lots of outside play time. I sorted through baby clothes to send some with my uncle to take to my cousin.  It was slightly sad to see some of them go;  good memories of my handsome little hunks!!   Sean took a good nap, the big boys did not  nap at all.  I baked some banana bread and managed to rest a little. 

Sunday we had a wonderful dinner with Oma and Opa and my uncle visiting from Ohio.  It was nice to have somebody else cook!!  Thanks Oma!!  The boys enjoyed showing off for Uncle Jerry.  The salted caramel peanut banana bread was yummy.   The boys got to bed a little late and that was the end of our weekend.  BUSY and not all pleasant!!

Flashback Friday - August 2008

Jack "helping" Daddy work on his road bike!!

In Like a Lion??!!

Whoever came up with the saying "in like a lion, out like a lamb" must not have been thinking about the South!  Today is March and let me tell you, this is no lion like entrance.  Today we are enjoying a sunny 80 degree day!!

After the gym the boys and I headed to Sesqui park for a picnic lunch and play time.  The weather was absolutely beautiful.  The boys had a blast playing on the playground.  Sean was extremely proud of himself; he was able to climb the steps and go down the slide by himself.  Needless to say he did this countless times!

As we were headed home I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and detoured over to Yogen Fruz.  We enjoyed our frozen yogurt outside and had lots of fun. 

Here are a few pictures from out beautiful sunny day.