Another Excuse

I am in the season of my life where I feel bone tired pretty much all of the time. Ragged, how-am-I -going-to-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-day. Eyes burning, exhausted.
I used to be so good about writing in my journal every night. Then I was really good updating my blog every Monday. Now that has fallen by the wayside. Soon as the kids go to bed, that's also all I want to do. During the day there are little demands tugging on my hems all day long. No time to sit down and be thoughtful and reminisce. So, there's another excuse of why I can't keep up. But, I really want to record these memories for my posterity. Here's our month thus far ... you might want to sit down, it's going to be a long post:
In no particular order:
Breahna is 11 months old

It's finally summer. And I think this is how most of our summer is going to look:

Chubby legs in a swimsuit and popsicle mustaches:

Not to mention, lots of playing at the park:
This girl really likes her Lorna Doon Cookies (everyone needs four at once, right?)

The boys recently discovered that milk and straws make a great combination. Best bubbles, ever!

The story of a cow named Phil:
There once was a cow who came to a little boy on the first day of this little boys life. The cow came to be known as Phil. Phil and this little boy had many grand adventures together. Phil was squeezed, dragged through the mud, chewed on and cried on. Phil was truly loved. He spent his nights clutched tightly in the warm embrace of this little boy. He never left the boys side and quickly became a companion like no other. Nights became unbearable if Phil was not found. Tears were quickly wiped away and a smile replaced the frown when Phil was around to hug. Phil was washed, and washed, and washed. Time and again he was dragged warm from the dryer, "oh, I missed you Phil!" Many holes were patched, the fill beads had all leaked out. Phil was even missing a nostril. Phil had been through a lot in almost 5 years. The little boys mom knew Phil would not last much longer. Even clean he smelled dirty. She could not bear the thought of her little man without his most precious companion. This mom began a frantic search to replace the irreplaceable. One day, she spied him staring out a cow starting out at her from the computer screen. No bid was too high, her little guy needed his Phil. It wasn't many more days before Phil arrived on the doorstep. With fondness the mom took away the bedraggled, tired out Phil. She gave him one more hug and kiss as she whispered, "thank you for taking such good care of my boy". As night time rolled around the little boy went on the hunt for his partner in crime. Finding him in the dryer he stared at this shiny white Phil with a rather confused expression. Then kissing his nose declared, "I missed you Phil! You are so clean and white. I'm glad you had a bath. Now it's time for bed." The little boy tucked Phil up close under his chin and whispered as he began to fall asleep, "goodnight Phil, I love you".

We have also been attending birthday parties. We went to a friends Hello Kitty party. She had neon frosting colored cupcakes:

One of our neighbors has this little ride on truck. The boys would watch the kids riding up and down the street. The boys would squeal with delight as they would zoom past. Alexander really wanted a ride. I told him he had to ask. He finally sucked up his courage and knocked on the door. All the kids climbed in for a short ride. I was thankful it was slow enough so I could walk alongside and steer. This would be a fun toy for the whole family!

Alexander really likes guns. Everything is turned into a gun. His lightsaber, a bathtub foam number 1, straws, etc. The other day he comes to tell me, "you have to come see what I made! Wow!" I follow this giddy, bouncing boy and he spreads his arms wide "ta-da!" he declares with an ear-to-ear grin, "I made a gun tower!"

 sharing as they clean out the whip cream bowl:

 Jake celebrated his 34th birthday! It was a quiet day with the family. He had school all day so we didn't get to do much. I made his requested dinner, something cheesy with beef. It was harder than I thought to fulfill! I finally decided blu-cheese counted and made a sauce to go on steak.
Thank you to my bestest friend for helping me buy Jake's present. I needed someone else to buy it and I pay through another source. If Jake saw the company name on our bank statement  he would have known right away what I had bought. The week before Jake's birthday I began the hunt for a floral box. The morning of I started calling. Finally, one floral shop said they were just unloading a box, I could come and pick it up. All that for a box to wrap a machete! He're a joke that's probably only funny between me and Jake but I'll let you in on the secret. Shortly after we were married Jake had secretly ordered me flowers online. He told me I needed to be home a certain day to accept a package. I of course asked, "what did you buy?" He was not expecting me to ask so he said the first thing that came out of his mouth, "a machete". What? You've never wanted a machete! I decided for his birthday he needed a machete, lovingly wrapped in a flower box of course.
He got his favorite pie for dessert, pumpkin. I personally can't stand pumpkin pie, but, that's how much I love him. I even put all 34 candles on it. I had to scrape off half the whip cream since the black candles melted all over the top.

Some of my favorite Alexander pictures:

 And a few other random things:

I have been loving cloth diapering (Jake, not so much). Seeing all the diapers hanging in a row drying in the sun makes me happy.

These boys have some favorite friends that always sleep with them. It is kind of cute.
Here we have Howard the duck and Phil the cow:

 Kaleb finished his last day of preschool. He is growing up so fast! He's all registered for Kindergarten. We have Alexander on the waiting list for the same preschool Kaleb attended. Praying he gets in. It was such a great program:

"You're gonna miss this,

You're gonna want this back,

You're gonna wish these days

Hadn't gone by so fast.

These are some good times,

So take a good look around,

You may not know it now,

But you're gonna miss This"

I love this little man. He has grown so much this past year. I am so proud of him and all he has accomplished.

Bring on summer! Jake is really busy at school so we won't be able to do much. I've created a list of things I can do with the kids by myself. Should be fun. I love living in this area. There are so many things to do right in our backyard:
I know we will be enjoying many more sunny days and picnics outdoors: