Weekend Update

Nick had never been to the circus in his life so Saturday I spent the afternoon talking it up before taking the family that night to watch it. When we arrived it wasn't exactly as I remembered it...

It was different, no motorcycles in circular cages, no trapeze people... But after that first act (the one pictured above) it was AMAZING. The boys didn't know what ring to watch, they kept grabbing my head and pointing it towards what they were watching.

On Sunday we attended my cousin Michael's Graduation Party.

It also was my Grandpa Bob's 83rd Birthday.

Bob is so stinkin' cute!

The boys had fun jumping on the trampoline and playing with their cousins...
I had a good time seeing family...

And hogging Charlie...

Then this morning we got up and attended our local Memorial Day Parade.

Afterwards we headed to the park to play.

Then came home and Nick's mother came to spend some time with the family. It was a fun, relaxing weekend!

I just can't keep...

our windows clean! Between one of my sons licking the windows clean and the other one spraying the windows clean you would think they would be sparkling.

They really do think they are helping. Um, not so much...

The boys have been enjoying the beautiful weather and each others company. Tonight they wanted to "camp out",
I love that they have each other to do fun stuff together!

Quotes from my Boys

Tonight I said to Cullen, "Gosh Cullen, you are looking tan." To which he responded, "it's because I eat a lot of fruit." I laughed because I realized he doesn't know what tan means and he said, "Are you doubting me?"

Geremu has been asking me lately if, "Mom, you busy being beautiful?" I'm not sure what this means but I've been assuming it's a compliment. Frankly, "I'm always busy being beautiful."

Cullen got the fun task of reseeding the lawn today. He was loving every second of it. I was afraid Geremu was going to tip the spreader when he realized what Cullen was doing, he was a little jealous. Geremu however got the difficult task of directing the spreader, picture the people on the airport runways directing the planes. That was Geremu on our lawn directing the spreader, he was however missing the glow sticks and orange vest.

Beautiful Weather= Yard Work

I don't have pictures to share but we have been busy with yard work. We have taken down 20 lilac bushes (we still have about 10 left) and are having fun figuring out where to go from here. The garden is almost completely planted, I'll finish it tomorrow. We are enjoying just being around the house as a family. The boys have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather, they have kept themselves busy entertaining both us and the neighbors with the crazy things boys do.

Thought I'd share a website that somehow makes me feel really good about my own kids, click here to see it.

Zoo Trip

Amanda (our sitter) took the boys to the zoo today.

They had a LOT to tell me when I got home. Apparently the peacocks hang out with the penguins- this was WAY beyond Cullen.

The highlight of the trip was feeding the giraffes, Geremu dropped the cracker he was feeding the giraffe and the giraffe bend down and "picked up the cracker with his great big chubby tongue. Can you believe that MOM?"

Tonight was the city track meet. We ended up staying for the entire thing so the boys could ride the bus back to school with Nick. Between riding the train at the zoo and the bus after the track meet I'm pretty sure all of Geremu's dreams came true!

The End is Near...

That's right people, I've only got 10 and a half more days of school left this year. Woooo-hooooo, I LOVE summer vacation! I haven't been a good blogger because we have been busy. Nick has been CrAzY busy with school, graduation stuff and track all of which will also be over soon.

Here's a quick update on our family:

• My sister Colleen graduated last weekend from college so we headed to the other side of the state (without Nick, I'll explain later) to help celebrate. We had a wonderful time. I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures to show.
• Yesterday our sitter had a funeral to attend so Nick stayed home with the boys. He didn't see them much this weekend because he went "up north" with some of his friends. Anyways, when I got home from school I asked the boys what they did today and Cullen told me, "We had a water fight and I squirted Geremu in the face with the hose." I asked Geremu if he had fun in the fight and he told me, "No, Cullen get me all wet." I asked both boys where Nick was during this and they said, "Dad was sleeping in the house." WHAT? Nick you are fired from watching our kids during the day, you better keep your day job!
• Today I went to Cullen's school for "Muffin's with Mom". It was a good time, he has been looking forward to this day for a few weeks. When he woke up this morning he said, "Mom, today is our big day."

That's about all the news I've got.

Mother's Day

I often feel like I should share more about what is going through my head but I don't/won't publicly. So instead I'll leave you with this excellent read and tell you a few things about the day I don't want to forget.

I got LOTS of homemade gifts from my boys for Mother's Day. Cullen is WAY into the day, he has been mentioning it for some time so I was pretty sure they had been talking it about in school for a while. He came home on Friday with a flower he planted for me as well as an envelope with some goodies he made. One of the gifts was a flower (made out of a paper plate) there was a poem in the middle of the flower explaining how it worked. All of the pedals on the flower were coupons that I can redeem from Cullen. I told him I couldn't wait to redeem the coupons to which he replied, "What's a coupon and what does redeem mean?" After I explained how it all worked he asked me to read what the pedals said, so I started reading them off to him. He was smiling and nodding most of the time until I came to one that said, "I will pick up my toys." As soon as I read it he said, "Oh no, not that!" A gift straight from the heart, I'm pretty sure my flower would have had less pedals if he could read- LOL.

My parents came last night to spend a bit of time with us this weekend. The boys each decorated cakes for them. Cullen was all serious saying, "Granny bird I made you this cake because I think you are soooooo special."
Geremu said, "Pop, I make cake for you with pink, purple and yellow frosting!" The next minute Geremu had his fingers in the cake eating the frosting off the cake, "I make Pop."

It was great to spend some time with my mom on Mother's Day.

Here are a few pictures from today.

All in a Days Work

This is what happened to my shoes when I chases Geremu down after he biked off the road into a culvert to go for a "swim". Cullen told me tonight to "take a picture of my beautiful hair to show to Granny Bird."

Hey Mom, I'm pretty sure he wants a comment:)

Geremu's Busy Day

I found him pulling a branch that fell during the storms yesterday with his jeep. I'm not sure where he was pulling it because he did at least one full loop around the house dragging it, I can tell by the mark it left in the grass.

While Nick was at track practice I took the boys on a bike ride to the park, we have been going on bike rides often because I'm trying to get Cullen less afraid of biking. Cullen is not a big bike fan and I'm pretty sure I have mentioned this before. He is just perfectly fine running along behind Geremu. It might have a little something to do with fearless Geremu trying to play chicken with him when he gets on a bike. We have one of those tag-along bikes that Cullen finally likes to ride along on. Geremu rides his bike next to us, and occasionally tries to grab Cullen's handlebars to hitch a ride too (not the safest idea).

When we got back from the park I decided to take the small bike out (this is the one no one really rides anymore) and take the training wheels off of it and lower the seat so Geremu can sit on the seat and touch the ground. Geremu watched with anticipation as I did this. He got on the bike and took off yelling at me, "you no help me." Geremu learned to ride a bike in roughly 5 minutes. Geremu also had his bike taken away from him about 7 minutes after getting on it because he wouldn't stop yelling at the bike or me. Every time he tried to stop he fell and it was always the bikes fault. When he finally earned his bike back when he would fall he would yell at his bike, "Geremu's fault." Which I guess is a step in the right direction.

Geremu was so excited to show Nick that he could ride a bike when Nick got back from practice.

Our kids are so different; one loves speed and is afraid of bugs, the other loves bugs and hates speed. Cullen is one of Geremu's biggest fans and Geremu is one of Cullen's biggest fans. Tonight Cullen chased after Geremu to cheering him on as he was riding the two wheeler. Geremu is often found carry around a whistle when he plays in the yard to alert Cullen of a bug to come and catch. Geremu typically stands back and lets Cullen do the catching and will only take/touch the bug if Cullen can successfully talk him into it. I tell you, these two are like Bert and Ernie.

Today I asked Cullen if he wanted to try riding the two wheel bike to which he replied, "I think I'll just let Geremu try today." Ya, maybe tomorrow kid?

We ate a late meal tonight because of all the excitement and Geremu not wanting to get off the bike. Geremu ate as quickly as he could so he could...

Get back outside in his pj's to bike some more.

Teacher E-mail

I got an e-mail from Cullen's teacher today. At the end she mentioned that Cullen was telling the class about the alien he saw in the water on Spring Break. He also told her that he really wants a hamster to cuddle with.

I did respond to let her know that the alien was probably just a jelly fish, so there is no need to worry about aliens. I also mentioned that it's probably not in our best interest to get a hamster since we can't even keep a fish alive. In the mean time Cullen can just snuggle with his brother.

Where does this kid come up with this stuff?

Sunday, Sunday

The beautiful weather got the boys up bright and early.

They tag teamed making pancakes and eating them...

An early morning fire took place burn up some of the dead shrubs in our yard.

What would a fire be without marshmallows?Apparently Geremu needed to wash his food down with a little drink, I didn't spot this until I zoomed in on this picture. I took the boys on a bike ride to a field and we brought along some equipment (nets and the bug habitat) and went crazy chasing grasshoppers and moths. Cullen was busy most of the time.

Geremu brought along a whistle and blew it every time he saw a bird because that was all he wanted to catch. He ended up getting mad at us because we were busy chasing our own finds and ignoring his whistle so he called it quits after a while...

Until I offered him the camera, he did take a lot of pictures. Most of which look like this

and this...

When we got home we decided it was time to make some experiments. Both boys decided to grow these little crystal balls (I really don't even know what they are) in different liquids. They got to pick their five liquids and see what would happen. They were amazed at the different results.

We have a tree in our yard that sheds a cotton like material in the spring. It's messy and it floats all over and sticks in various places: the screens of our windows, Geremu's hair, etc... I know I should just chop the tree down but I decided as a temporary fix I would instead cut Geremu's hair. While I was at it I also cut Nick and Cullen's hair too. The tree is not completely to blame they really all needed their haircut.

Afterwards they got to run through the sprinkler to clean off.