whobody is so tough?

Can I just tell you how CUTE Cruz is right now?

He is just melting my heart lately.

He is getting SO big.

He is starting to say words.

He is WINKING!

He says "bi-per" when he needs a new diaper.

He is getting such a personality.

But...the reason I took these pictures is because I think he looks adorable in his new necklace!! 

 (It is an amber necklace that is supposed to help with teething pain and eczema.)

Seriously. The necklace makes him look like a tough surfer boy. 

And I LOVE that the weather is nice....for today at least!

I could just EAT this kid up. Love him!

whobody built a fort?

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Lynn came to visit with her kids Lilly and Fletcher.

They are about the same age as my kids...and they all play SO well together.

(I think I have mentioned this before.)

Lynn and I sat, drank coffee, and chatted in front of the fireplace while the kids built forts... (rough day for me ;)) after awhile they invited us in to check out their progress.

I was impressed....

below is the girls' fort....Lola and Lilly worked hard building it, and then set up a hanging flashlight and played My Little Ponies and Littlest Pet Shops inside.... 

They had SO much fun.

The boys' fort seemed to be a little more chaotic than the girls...

they just kept on building it...

tools and all...and never really played in it. 

But they still had a blast!

I truly HATE it 

(and I know that hate is a strong word), 

but I HATE it when the cushions are off of the couch and the pillows are all messed up. It drives me insane!!! 

So, it pains me to leave these forts up for too long...but, I actually let them leave these up for a few days..... (I was proud of myself).

I remember how much fun I used to have building forts...in the house and the hay barn! This is one of those battles...

the battle of the couch cushions in place....

that I just have to force myself to wave the white flag. 

 They have too much fun for me to try to enforce that rule....

Bottom line: I love it when my kids play SO nice with others and when they play without direction....just with their imaginations!!!

(even if it does make a huge mess.)

whobody hates to come inside?

These pictures were actually taken a couple of weeks ago...you know, back when the sun was shining and it felt like it might be Spring soon....

Cruz LOVES to be outside.  Loves it so much, in fact, 

that he wakes up saying 'bye bye'....

He just can't wait to get out of our house! 

He loves to play outside, and has finally figured out that he CAN walk in shoes... he plays basketball and follows the kids around.  

He seriously picks up Keaton's full size basketball, looks up at the hoop, and drops it....usually disappointed it didn't go in.

Wow...looking at these pictures...and looking out my window....our grass is MUCH greener now...even if the sun isn't shining!!!

Here is Cruz with Fluffy!!!

 He just loves to feel her....he giggles when he pets her....and she LOVES it!  

Here she was very pregnant....she actually just had her FIVE kitties on Tuesday. 

Very exciting....we have not told Nash yet, for obvious reasons....

The worst part about going outside....

well, it is that you have to come back INSIDE. 

And THAT, my friends, is traumatic for one 18 month old in our house. 

He is seriously heartbroken....and I mean 

crying-so-hard-can't-breathe-tears-running-down-cheeks-arms-flailing-need-a-binky-and-blankie-and-possibly-a-milkie heartbroken 

every time we walk inside.  

I am hoping this gets better soon...because we do a lot of 'running' in the summer....and we can't handle that caliber of a fit every time we come home!

Ahhh...soon we can go outside without those hats!!!

whobody is mr. personality?

Check out this cutie.....

and this one too....

"mom, meashure how big is my's brain."

(he is really into numbers lately)

When keaton and lola discuss 

what time they read til, 

what time they went to bed, 

and what time they woke up, 

nash will pipe in with 

"I shlept til 

shixty-five sheventy-two, 

are you sho proud of me?"

yes. yes I am.

This kid is SO lovable...but sometimes SO much work...and hard to keep up with!

He is at the age where he is saying so many things wrong, but just starting to correct them.

(Which I hate AND love.)

Example: he says "about" instead of "forgot"

"Mom, you about to give me my m&m's"

other examples of Nash-talk:

"I got to tell you 2 questions"

"and see how much minutes is it...."

"got a wittle accshident here"

(he seriously just said these to me while I am sitting here typing this....)

We have also had a lot of conversations about teeth around here lately...

SO...since Keaton and Lola have been losing teeth, Nash is convinced he has lost a tooth....right in the middle of his 2 front teeth...

"Wook. I wosht a toof! Right here...shee it? The toof fairy took it while I was sweeping!"

(so he thinks that the gap between his teeth is a lost tooth....) 

We have since corrected him, and he knows now...

but still says it, because he knows we think it is cute. 

He also always comes around when I am putting wax on Keaton's braces...and wants me to put wax on his too...so I pretend...and he LOVES it.

THREE: such a joyful age, 

but oh, so challenging! 

Nash truly is a BALL of fun!

(which I constantly need to remind myself when I am getting so frustrated!!!)

whobody has braces?

Keaton had BRACES put on yesterday. 

We started at the ortho a month or so ago because his 6 year molars were coming in way too far forward ..and therefore, weren't able to come in.  

They first tried to fix this by putting in spacers to push them back, but the 6 year molar did so much damage to the root of the next baby tooth on his right side...that it BROKE....and I mean crumbled, when he was eating a Starburst at the first UNI tournament game. (That turned out to be the most expensive bag of Starbursts we have ever bought....including a trip to the dentist, and an extraction....) 

The kids' dentist cringes when I say the word "starburst".

So....braces turned into our only option.  The good things: 

Keaton wanted braces

...so isn't too upset emotionally about having them... and he should 

 only have to have them on for about 6 months or so. He did great when they put them on yesterday, and hasn't complained too much about the discomfort...yet.  Hopefully they are easy on him.

When I look at him with braces it just makes my heart skip a beat. 

WHY? 

because he looks. so. old! 

Crazy stuff.  He does look super cute in them AND he is so pumped that he got to choose a color for his bands!  

He is already trying to decide between UNI Panthers colors and 

CR Eagles colors for next time....

whobody got some great birthday gifts?

So, my birthday was a couple of weeks ago...and I wanted to share (and save) the things that Keaton and Lola made for me for birthday gifts....

First, Keaton said he wrote this list of good jokes for me:

I was laughing SO hard because 2 of them were funny, and 2 of them were actually inappropriate  :) but he had NO idea. He just searched "good kid jokes" and then searched "cheetah" on the jokes website. FUNNY!

And then Lola made me this beautiful picture! 

It is so special for me when they make me things...especially unprompted. 

Now, if only our weather would start looking a little more like the picture above.....

whobody's heart is melted?

There are some moments in my days that seem to make this whole

parenting gig

totally and completely worth it.

(there are actually LOTS of those moments, but they just don't seem to 

be the ones that I tend to catch on camera.)

The first picture is of Cruz and Nash PLAYING. 

(I know, it may seem as if Cruz is actually beating up on Nash....

but they really are playing.)

I know this picture doesn't look super sweet or anything, 

but it makes my heart smile.

I love it when my kids are playing together and developing their own relationships

(even if their relationship may be a little "rougher" than I would like.)

RIght now Nash is going through a 'tough' phase where he is a little 

tough on all of his siblings

than I would like...he is physically rough, and just not very NICE all of the time.  It seems to be that Cruz is the only one trying to stand up to Nash and put him in his place.....

Another thing that I LOVE is when Nash really gets playing....

and I mean, really playing.  

His favorite toys are his tools...he loves to dress up and 'fix things'.  

I love it when he does this! 

He gets totally lost in his "work" and enjoys some alone time (and so do I).

(I should mention that he doesn't do this very often....)

The goggles are TOO much. :)

Here is the kicker for me.  The kids each have their own room, but sometimes on weekends we let them have "sleepovers"....

Nash and Lola had a sleepover last weekend, and when I was in there telling them goodnight, this is what I saw.

Usually Lola uses her flashlight to read at bedtime every night....

so, this night instead of chatting, 

Nash asked Lola to read to him from her new Junie B Jones book from the library.  

I got a little choked up when I saw him snuggled into her. 

I let them read for about 30 minutes, 

and then went in and told them it was time to sleep....

and then they shut the light off 

THEN Lola put her arm over Nash 

JUST like I snuggle the kids when I lay with them.  

I LOVE it when I see my kids nurture each other.

Now, this next picture isn't really that sweet...

because, of course, it is a picture of a broken curtain rod in Nash's room.

This was how I found his room when Nash was 

supposed

to be taking his afternoon nap.

When I asked him what happened, he just said that he was 

trying to look out the window to see when Keaton and Lola got home from school on the bus.

(I don't really know how that made the curtain rod bend like that....

and pretty much snap in half.)

I was glad that it wasn't one of those times that I lost my temper with him....

(as I sometimes don't even give the kids a chance to explain before I flip out)

I took a picture of this...because I wanted to remember him loving them.

Don't get me wrong... my kids DO NOT always show love towards each other.

Not at all...there are so many times that there are 

unloving things said and done....

so, when Nash tells me how he can't wait for the older 2 to get home from school "because I love them."  

Well, my heart melts, and I take a picture to remember the moment. 

(of course, soon after they got home, they were all fighting....)

During that same week...(nap time is becoming a bit of a struggle)....

I asked Nash to go and put his pull-up on to get ready for his nap.  

He comes out and says "i got my pull-up on!"  Little smarty!  My heart is melted when my kids are FUNNY!

Well, every day after lunch (before nap) the kids get to watch a cartoon. 

Cruz always used to just ignore the tv and just play while Nash sat on the couch in a "cartoon coma"

..but recently, Cruz started to pay attention....so I started to make a place for Cruzie with a pillow on the floor. (Since he just goes head first off of the couch...) Once I started having Cruz sit on the floor, Nash decided he wanted to join him.  (smile)....so I took this picture...and LOOK at Nash with his arm on Cruz....that is him snuggling Cruz! I love it!!!

This last picture is a great example of how

Keaton is a great big brother! 

He has really taken Cruz under his wing, and plays with him SO well. 

Here he has his cozy coupe hooked up to a big wheels! He pulled him around the garage for almost 30 minutes like this. Cruz LOVED it.  

Keaton also takes Cruz into his room all of the time to play basketball and listen to the radio.  Keaton moved his basketball hoop down so it is hooked on his dresser drawer....and the perfect height for a 1 year old to DUNK it! He actually has asked me if we could move Cruzie's crib into his room so that they can share. 

My heart melts when they LOVE each other.

Now the challenge of keeping them loving each other as they get older!

whobody loves the Pankers? (Panthers)

So. 

funny thing. 

Nash always refers to the Panthers as the "Pankers".

I am pretty sure this stems from  Keaton becoming a Packers fan in the fall...

and Nash just merged the two. 

Either way, he loves to say it Pankers...even when we correct him. 

(But, we love to hear him say it wrong too...that will be one of those things that when he starts to say it right...I might be sad!)

Anyway...here are the pictures from the UNI game the night before Easter!

 (Sadly, the night they lost.)

Again, Nash and his faces!

Keaton is really the one who loves these games the MOST!!! 

He is planning on playing basketball for the Panthers someday.

Nash is a little scared when the mascots come out.

They play a panther snarl over the loudspeaker....

so we have already had "the talk" with him:  

the "talk" about how the "panker" is really just someone in a costume like his dinosaur costume.  (but, shhhh....don't tell Keaton and Lola...)

Lola just makes herself at home!

AND the highlight of the night...the kids making it onto "the DANCE CAM!"

When the game was almost over, the girl panther 
(or as Nash calls her ,"the mommy Panker") 
was hanging out in the student section....so the kids went over to visit.

Nash was even brave enough to get a picture with her!

Lola LOVES the panther.....and tends to go a tad bit crazy around her. 

(The panther always plays with Lola's ponytail....so Lola whips it around!)

Then, as usual, the kids got to play down on the court after the game.  
You can see they are already changed into their jammies...
these tend to be late nights...but oh, so worth it!

(worth it most of the time anyway...)

Great family memories!

whobody wants a kiss?

Texy is one lucky dolly! 

(he also thinks it is awesome to kiss my mirrors...seems that there is an extremely cute, funny, smart, handsome, friendly baby in there.)

whobody had the COOLEST seats?

As I have said before...we are Panther's fans.

(I think deep down this is our tricky way of trying to get our kids to go to college close to home...)

Anyway, they did not make the BIG NCAA tourney, and they did not make the NIT, 

but they DID make the CIT and were able to host every game they played!

So, we took advantage of this, and went to some games! 

It is great entertainment, the kids LOVE it, and the tickets are dirt cheap. 

(However, this does not fit in with our parenting theory of 

setting the entertainment bar low for our kids....)

SO...the following are the pictures from the first game we went to. 

(Everyone except Cruz got to go...we left Cruz with a babysitter mainly because the games all started at SEVEN....and that is when he usually goes to bed!)

This first game, we somehow got seats in ROW A!!!

That meant we were d.i.r.e.c.t.l.y. behind the guy who did the announcing, the d.j., the guys running the scoreboard, and the radio announcers!

 Our seats were 

very cool.

(I must admit, I didn't watch the game at all...

mostly because I was so enamored by all of the behind the scenes stuff!)

Here are the pictures!!!

I am not kidding when I say that when I get my camera out, this is what Nash instantly does!!! 

I don't even share HALF of the 

pictures I have like this!

Keaton is always VERY into the game and very into looking at records and stats!

Seriously...this was our view the whole game!

I tried to take pictures of the kids doing the "Interlude"!

Keaton wanted a picture of him and Ben Jacobson (the coach).

I don't think I have to tell you this, 

but Nash really doesn't watch the game.

winner winner chicken dinner!!!

Now for the fun part....playing on the court after the game!!!

Go Panthers!

(next year at least....they are now out of the tourney :))