Happy to you AnnMarie

Yesterday was my birthday and I LOVE a birthday! Nick is out of town so I didn't do a ton to celebrate but it wasn't a big deal because I had already celebrated the big day twice! Since I have a summer birthday we have celebrated my birthday up north and this year wasn't any different.

I hadn't really discussed my birthday celebration plans with my family. Since my sisters and myself each picks certain nights to cook I figured on the last night I was cooking I would plan a little party for myself. But that wasn't at all necessary because the family had planned a little celebration for me. Nick had taken me and the boys to town on a rainy day and when we came back I was instructed to go into the garage and put on everything that was in the bag my sister gave me. I did as I was told and BAM... I was dressed to PARTY and PARTY we did!

The look on my face screams surprise but I wasn't actually surprised (once I received the bag of clothing I knew what was going on) I was just practicing my surprise face.

The other celebration we had was on Sunday after the triathlon the crew went out to Red Robin and did a little birthday celebration. As you can see from the cute picture below I was not looking as fine at this party as I was at the previous one. I blame it on the fact that we hadn't even showered after sweating for so long.I feel the need to explain the title of this post. When Geremu sings Happy Birthday he never says the word birthday, never. He is a funny little singer often skipping important words and defiantly singing to a tune of his own. But his version of Happy Birthday is truly something special. When he sings this song to me he calls me AnnMarie, I'm pretty sure it's because that's how he hears everyone (except Cullen) singing it so he thinks it's just the way the song goes.

Lastly, let me introduce to the birthday present I bought myself tonight.

I'm in LOVE...

with my new clean carpets thanks to this little invention!

In the summer time when the weather is hot...

Today was a smokin' hot day. We started the day off with Beth (Erica's mother) coming to our house in the wee hours of the morning to watch the boys. Below is a picture of Beth and Cullen.

So that Patrick (Erica's Dad), Curtis (Erica's boyfriend), Erica, Nick and I could compete in a triathlon. Here is the crew with the boys included. It was really HOT but fun.

Afterwards we went out to eat before coming home and finally breaking down and turning on the air conditioning. We haven't had it on at all this summer, thank goodness it works:)

The boys spent some time playing outside in their pool.

Then tonight we headed to the "big" park to let the boys run off a little energy, a nearly impossible task for Geremu.

We have visitors, a BIG wasps nest in the backyard tree. It's not new but for some reason Nick didn't want to destroy it. Until Cullen was walking around the backyard yesterday with a boat paddle and let's just say one thing lead to another and Nick ended up stung.

I was sort of hoping for more of a show but apparently the spray works just not from 20 feet away like it claims to.

Family photo with Geremu showing a little enthusiasm and love for the triathlon. Actually he was mad we didn't bring his bike.

Snuggle Puppies

My little snuggle puppies wanted to sleep on the ground and "camp out".

The 'Hawk

So while enjoying the north woods Geremu received a new haircut we affectionately referred to as the 'hawk. As you can see he wore it like a bad a$$.

Two of Geremu's cousins tired talking their Dad into letting them get a similar haircut unsuccessfully. Cullen was so cute saying, "Geremu, cool hair."

Yesterday I walked into the garage to find Geremu holding a scissors to the top of his head. He asked me, "Mama, cut hair?", so I figured he was done with his hawk and cut it off. As soon as I was done he touched the top of his head and told me, "Mom, to little." The really short hair is going to take some getting use to for him but washing his hair has suddenly gotten really easy.

Cullen is also sporting a different look...

Nick is gone this week and next at MSOE. Nick has been gone quite a bit this summer, more then he ever has in the past and Geremu asks about him often. I'm trying to keep the boys busy so Geremu doesn't cry about missing him. This mostly happens when Geremu is going down to sleep, "Miss Dad" but it does happen randomly during the day too.

Geremu has been playing with the remote controlled car the boys got for Christmas the last two days. It's a miracle it hasn't been run over by a car yet, as Geremu really doesn't have much control with the remote. Okay, it's not really a miracle because hardly anyone ever drives on our street but I did find the car right behind the back van wheel today. The boys have these lunch boxes that they use to carry small plastic animals around in. Cullen has been asking to have food put in his. So today I made them a picnic lunch using the boxes. When I called the boys in for lunch after they washed their hand I handed them their lunchboxes and told them they could eat it out on the blanket in the backyard. I got a, "Thanks teacher!" from Cullen. Whenever he needed help with his lunch he would start with, "Teacher..." then ask the question. For example "Teacher can you open my string cheese?"

Cullen sportin' PBJ on his face!

This is Cullen's "tree house" where he worked on his "homework" aka sticker book during Geremu's attempted nap today.

I can only take so much of Geremu "missing Dad" before I give-up on the nap. Fortunately, when Geremu is tired he doesn't get crabby, just wild.

Here Geremu is up from his "nap", doesn't he look well rested?

and as usual Geremu does not stick his landing. In the words of Geremu, "Funny?"

One last story, yesterday my sister Colleen was in town for her summer job. The company she is working for puts her up in a hotel when she travels, so we picked her up at the hotel. Cullen could not understand why she was not staying at our house. I gave him a few different reasons why she was staying in the hotel and not at our house. One of those reasons was because the hotel has a swimming pool. So when Colleen got in the car Cullen said, "Hey Aunt Colleen, you can stay at our house we have a swimming pool!" I'm pretty sure the hotels swimming pool is deeper than 2".

Now for a fun game, guess what Colleen's summer internship/job is.

Here's a clue:

More from Up North

So as I mentioned yesterday frog catching was the activity of choice, perhaps because the boys had so much success at it. We have to go under the road to get to the "frog pond". The water level is low this year so we could float under the road without any problem. Here Cullen is on his way to the "pond" mentally preparing for a big catch.

The baby frogs require a different approach to catch because they tend to hang out in the shallower water where the canoe doesn't fit so well. We did still manage to sneak up on a few of the smaller frogs, here Johnny is demonstrating his technique.

Gere workin' the snorkel & mask look.

Baby Andy enjoying the water.

The boys also played a lot of hide and seek. Cullen and Johnny were usually a team while Curtis and Geremu paired up together. Here Cullen and Johnny are off to find a good place to hide.

Meredith added a bit of female fun to the week.
Pop taking the boys out fishing.

What would the week have been without any wrestling?

Here we are feeding the ducks with Geremu sporting his Mohawk.

Cullen and Johnny perfected paddling in circles. The Four Musketeers

Up North

I'm a bit tired so I'll write more tomorrow.

Here is a little something to wet your taste buds.

The favorite activity of the vacation was frog catching.

The water was colder than I ever remember it being this time of year. We swam anyways...

The cousins had non-stop fun together.

Hey, Hey, Hey, Good Bye

One of my favorite things to do to my boys is to threaten to tickle them. I don't actually even have to tickle them to get the laughter I desire because the threat of being tickled is just as effective. One usually tries to pull me off of whoever I have pinned down but at this point in their lives they just aren't strong enough to stand a chance. What are the chances in 10-14 years they will be getting me back for this?

On a more serious note, I'm sad to inform you that Gilbert passed away sometime last night. I will say this morning when we woke up and Gilbert was floating I was a little relieved because I imagine that he was in pain the past 24 hours. Cullen opted to dig a grave for him in the back yard as opposed to flush him. Some tears were shed and Cullen even said, "I'm sure going to miss him."

We are headed up north early tomorrow for a little while. I'm not sure quite yet if I will update while I'm up there. But if trends from the past summers continue there will be no update until I'm back. So for all you blog followers out there, don't be worried about me I'm just busy...