Recent Happenings...

I've been pretty busy lately, I'm currently coaching cross country (which I love) and I took a new job for this school year (which I think I will love when I get in the swing of things).

The kids are currently enjoying their last days of summer. Last week we took another trip to Bay Beach and the Bird Sanctuary...

Cullen created his own mud run... It kept the boys busy for a long time and they seemed to enjoy running laps around the house while spraying each other in the face with the hose. The yard didn't fair so well, we have now replaced grass with mud patches, don't even ask me how.
Nick took the boys out hiking with two of their good friends...

Cullen had his "Meet & Greet" today. When he woke up this morning he told me it was his "Most favorite day of the year!" He got to find out who his teacher(s) are going to be this next school year...

We will miss summer but it will be nice getting back on some sort of schedule.

Recent Happenings

Earlier this month I celebrated a birthday, it was a GREAT day thanks to my boys. Not only did I have a candy trail leading to my birthday cupcakes but I scored big in the gift department.

Last week Cullen and Maddie had a Lemonade Stand, this was a first for Cullen. Unfortunately we live on a street that cars really don't drive down unless they live on it.
After two hours without any business they took their warm lemonade on the road. They were only allowed to knock on houses of people we know.

Our neighbors (who are awesome) supported their business. They had so much fun and seriously how could anyone turn these cute kids down?

We are also still in the middle of home improvements... Several home improvements.

When the kids don't clean up their toys after being told several times and Nick or myself end up cleaning the toys up we put them into bins. They can earn the toys back by doing jobs. When they do extra jobs around the house we pull the toys out and they can choose what they want back. This last week the boys were on a kick to try and earn all of their toys back, some of the toys in the bin have been there since January (clearly not favorites). So they were looking for extra jobs. Since we were re-doing the porch we decided the best way for them to earn the toys back was to help out. The boys helped paint and pulled staples. It was so fun to work together and talk. The two days of working together just flew by. I can't believe how old and funny these two kids of mine are, they are capable of so much.

The porch is so close to being done, Nick and I put the screens on today and cleaned the mini-blinds. We just have the two doors left to paint and re-screen.

Last week I also got together with my two good friends, Michelle and Amy. The kids had a blast swimming while we enjoyed each others company!

Dirty Girl

This morning I woke up early to figure out where I had placed this lovely dress. I made a few alterations because the last time I wore it I felt like it really hindered my running.

Then off I headed with my good friend Katie to meet up with some Curtis family members to participate in the Dirty Girl. As you can see from the below picture we arrived clean.

Then it was off to the races...
We had so much fun...
And ended up pretty dirty too...
We attempted to clean-up a bit...

Once we found a clean water source it got a lot easier and colder...

I hope next year we can repeat the fun!

Beautiful Day

While Nick was busy roofing today the boys and I took full advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to an area water park. Here are a few pictures of our day...

After the water park the boys wanted to stop at the zoo on our way home.
The highlight of the zoo trip was when we were walking and Cullen accidentally hit his brother in the nose. Immediately Cullen apologized and began examining Geremu's nose... The good news is that according to Dr. Cullen, "All is see is a bunch of guts". Which translates to no damage.

Weekend of Races (Part 2)

This year I was able to talk my sister Colleen, Mom and Nick into doing the triathlon. After a night of restless sleep and thunderstorms we got up early to head over to set-up shop... Here my mother is pushing her arm up to show off her number to me:)The weather cleared up and the race went well. I don't really have many pictures of the race itself as I was a little busy during it. But I was able to snap a few pictures of my sister Colleen making her way to the finish line...
And my Mom!!!
We all survived and had fun!
It was great to have my Mom and sister come share in the fun. I should also mention it was my sister Colleen's first triathlon ever.

My Dad watched the boys for us. When they came Geremu's hair may or may not have looked a little Kramer like and Cullen had his shirt on backwards. Cullen had already polished off a ring pop before 10:00 in the morning. Pretty sure the boys are hoping Pop babysits more often!

In other news, Geremu has discovered how much fun swim caps can be...
Good Times!

Weekend of Races (Part 1)

The boys participated in a triathlon on Saturday. Last year Cullen did not have any interest in participating and preferred to watch Geremu. This year Cullen was excited to try it out. I wish I could have gotten a good picture of them pre-race together but this picture will have to do...

Geremu enjoyed testing the waters out prior to his wave starting.

Cullen was a little nervous during the wait.

It was a little nerve racking as a parent with kids in different waves. Nick was not able to watch Geremu's race because he stayed with Cullen waiting for his wave to start. I "helped" Geremu (he wanted NOTHING to do with me) by chasing him around trying to get a picture. Geremu wanted to do the entire race with bare feet, I insisted he at least wear crocs.

This is Geremu right after finishing, It was the first time I've ever heard Geremu out of breath, he was huffing and puffing after crossing the finish line.

Cullen was already out of the water by the time Geremu and I caught up with him.

Nick helped Cullen in the transition area...

I was cheering for Cullen during his race and he would look right at me and say "Thanks Mom!" He may not have been as winded as Geremu was:)

We are happy our boys had fun competing!

Geremu ended up placing in his age group and winning a backpack, he can't wait to use it!