Summer Soccer and Fun Nights!

Today was MJ's last soccer game for the Summer 2008 Soccer Season. No worries....Fall Soccer starts in 2 weeks.

This was MJ's first organized team sport, and it was such a great experience. I was very proud of him. Today, after the game, they had an award ceremony and each team member received a trophy with there named engraved (very cool). This meant the world to MJ. He gave it a big kiss and his eyes lite up. Tonight before bed he gave it a kiss, then pushed it far back on his dresser (far so that CR couldn't reach it).

After soccer, playing at the park, playing at home, etc...the boys both took great naps. When they woke, we were outside until 8:30! The kids just raged all outside on a water slide and on the swing sets. Then we cooked dinner at our house and had a great time with friend.

Here is a pix of the children chillin' on our deck and having some dinner. Too bad the cake I made was a flop! CR has an entire hot dog bun in his mouth, and MJ is getting a nice hug from G!

Butterfly Morning

MJ was being so shy because he didn't know the mom who took the picture.

It doesn't look like a little boy who just puked, does it? Good thing you can't smell a picture!


A butterfly had just landed on MJ's head....but of course I missed it in the picture. They are fast!

There is a cool butterfly garden we like to visit. It is pretty large and there are tons of butterflies fluttering around in there. CR did not want them to land on him. Last night when I put him to bed, I told him we would go there today. As he was drifting into slumber, he woke up and said several time "I tell butterfly to shoo away butterfly". MJ on the other had, really wanted them to land on him. So of course, the opposite happened most of the time.

On the way to the butterfly house, we were driving in the car having casual conversation and hear some funny sounds coming out of CR. I look back and watch him puke all over himself!! Being me, I had a change of clothes in the car. SO, I pull over and ask him if he is ok. He and MJ start laughing and saying "gross" and "funny". I asked him if we want to go home and chill or go to the butterfly house....you can guess what he picked.

After the butterfly house we went to grandma and grandpa Troast's to give grandma some special butter Chad got for her special no iodine diet. The boys, of course, wanted to stay there. We chilled for a bit and the boys stayed there while I caught up on a few work calls and ran to get a new mirror for the bathroom.. Oh yeah, we are painting the bathroom tonight....not sure what color yet...I'll decide later.

So that is that. Happy Labor Day weekend all!

Summer B-day Celebrations

Gram and CR Swing..up to the sky!

Argh..cousin pirates!

Um...MJ, stop putting ice in Uncle Ronnie's shirt and pull your pants up son!

So after a long weekend of camping.....we headed over to Nisi's house on Sunday evening for a long night of summer Birthday celebrations. The boys had a great time playing with Desi. It was also great to see Ronnie. I can 't wait to hang with him more while he is in town. Thanks for everything guys! Happy birthday to me!

Camping

MJ lovin' Parachute time.
CR lovin' swimming time with mom.

MJ lovin'the Smore HE made and CR roasting marshmallows and being mesmerized by the fire.

Just enjoying the ride!

Silly Birds...I mean boys.

MJ with a "real" Yogi.

CR with a Yogi statue.

We took the boys camping (for the first time) this weekend. It was very fun and the boys want to go back! We didn't go remote backwoods camping...we went to Yogi Bear's Jellystone camping! It was full of fun things to do and the boys were exhausted and stayed up the latest they have ever been up! This was also the first time the boys ever slept in the same room, which was kind of cool. CR had a hard time falling asleep the first night, but he got use to it by the second night. The weekend was packed with going on the paddle boats, mini-golf, golf cart ride around the lake and thru the woods, making a pet rock (MJ named his Toad Hop), watching movies at the drive in under the stars, gazing at all the amazing starts, roasting marshmallows and making smores, swimming, parachute playing, baseball and soccer with the family, cooking yummy grilled cheeses on the camping stove, etc. etc. etc. It was very packed and the boys totally crashed on the way home. Funny things to note: 1) A 2-year old is dangerous with a golf club and is more interested in getting his picture taken with the large Yogi sculpture than golf. 2) MJ really really likes roasted marshmallows and picked up on how to make smores on the first try. CR did not like roasted marshmallows....too messy. 3) MJ held his poop the entire weekend. 4) CR was not a fan of the boat....a little too wobbly. MJ thought it was way cool, but didn't want to get too far away from shore. 5) Cooking and eating outside is awesome. 6) CR did not want those walking Yogi, Cindy, and Boo Boo bear anywhere near him (who can blame him). MJ liked them a lot. However, if you ask CR what his favorite part of camping was, he will tell you "Yogi the Bear"! 7) MJ caught 2 baseballs in his glove in a row and some guy went by and yelled "good catch" and he was beaming the rest of the day! 8) Chad and I like beer, but different kinds. I like to see through my beer and Chad doesn't. We accept this difference. 9) On Sat. night MJ was sooo tired. He asked me "mom, can we roast marshmallow at home sometime?" I said yes, then he said "OK, can I please go to bed now then."

Happy Nappy Boys.

CR - My determined crib-climber

I love this series of photos. This is 100 % CR. He is one of the most determined people I have ever met. He wants to do EVERYTHING by himself. It means so much to him, and he is so proud of himself. He wants to do everything from dressing himself, to climbing on the potty, to getting in and out of the crib, to pouring his own drink, to ...well, pretty much everything!
In this series, he is climbing into bed. Once he is in, he smiles real big...but then decides he needs to go give MJ one more kiss before bed, so he climbs back out (while I was still in the room).
Now, he still has not figured out that he can climb in or out of the crib if no one else is in the room. So, for now...if the house is quite, he stays in his crib. If he is awake, he will just look at books and wait patiently. Only time...... I guess he needs a big boy bed soon!
CLIMBING IN....



So, Proud!

Climbing Out!

Sick Boy

Poor MJ has a fever today and last night. He is staying home today with Daddy. I hope he gets better so we can still go camping! Feel better MJ!

Update:
By the time I got home at 1:30, MJ was already feeling better. Tonight he is raging again. A short-lived illness, thank goodness!

Pre-Kindergarten

Yes, that is what I said....Pre-Kindergarten. My baby (did I say baby, I mean my little man) ofically starts Pre-Kindergarten on Monday. He has been transitioning to the "big-kid" room over the past 2 weeks and he digs it. There is no struggle or outburst, he digs being a big kid and being with all the older kids. It probably helps that 8 kids from his pre-school class all transitioned to Pre-Kindergarten at the same time. He likes to tell us the "big-kid" stuff they do. Last week (transition week) he spent most of the time in the Pre-K room. They had the choice to go back to the pre-school room, but why? :-) He got a Star Student Award in his Pre-K class for last week for being "well behaved". Ummm, what! Wow, I mean! Yes, that is my little man! I love him and I know he will do well!

Sunny Soccer Super-Hero Spectacular Sleep-deprived Saturday!

Sunny. I love the summer. Life just seems happier when the sun is shining and days are long. The morning started at 6:30 am with MJ by the side of my bed (as he usually does). That was OK today, because we had a soccer game at 8:00 am. MJ loves loves loves soccer. He wanted me to sign him up for fall soccer....and so, it begins. He did awesome today. He kicked the ball a lot and he was the goalie for an entire quarter and saved a bunch of goals from being scored. He loves it and looks so forward to it. CR is such a great little brother. He goes to all the games and practices and cheers for MJ and all of Team United. He wants to be a soccer player like MJ someday too (in his words).

After the Soccer game, the team and all the kids play at the park by the soccer field for a long while. I think that the boys like that just as much as the game!

Then, the boys took some quick naps and we headed off to Eli's Super-hero party. It was very fun. Happy Birthday Eli! On the way to the party, out of the blue, MJ said "Mom, do you know what my super-power is going to be? I am going to be able to make things that are really big, become really small. " Chad said, really, that is interesting....can you give me an example? MJ said "Yeah, like I could make a really big tree really small." I think that is a very cool super-power.

Chad has a gig tonight, so I am just relaxing and enjoying the quite.

Yep!

Coconut

I bought a coconut and we cracked it open last night.
MJ said while holding the coconut for the first time and really looking at it hard, "Mom, I thought the coconut would be much smaller and less hairy." Right on.
Neither MJ or CR liked the coconut milk or the "meat" part.
It was a fun adventure....they did like hitting it with a hammer!

Not your Normal day...

Usually, what I post is a lot about the fun times I have with my family. Really, those are the things people want to read about and well, the things I want to think about. Reality.....things are not always perfect. MJ and CR are not always 100% perfect. We have our days that are challenging, however I don't lose my strength to remember that they are finding where they belong in this world and how to get along. I am lucky to be there mom and show them the way...the best I can.

When Chad and I lived in Chicago I commuted to work (the Hills) with Sarah, (another girl I work with). The commute to work was about 45 minutes there and who knows how long going home! So, that being said...Sarah and I had a lot of time in the car together. We usually talked about work, or the men in our lives, or our nephews and nieces, or what we are going to do this weekend, or something else like that. Looking back, life was simple. We both loved kids and knew we would be parents some day. We talked about where we would live when we raised our children, etc. One thing we never talked about...or even crossed our minds was.....what if our child was sick? What if our child at 9 months of age was diagnosed with infant leukemia? That is Sarah's reality. So, I guess this post is just to remind us to take advantage of what we have, show some extra patience with the ones we love...and even more with the ones we don't, and to help.
Please visit Abby's donation page. There is a Light the Night walk in Grant Park in Sept. and the money raised will go to research.

Help Abby: http://www.active.com/donate/ltnChicag/2402_happyabby
Now get off the computer and go kiss your children or spouse or call your mom or dad or sister or someone.
Thanks.

Happy Anniversary to Us...and, Cubs Win!

Yesterday was me and Chad's 9th wedding anniversary. 9 years, I can hardly believe it. I still feel like I was just in college drinking all night and sleeping all day (I mean...if mom is reading this), studying all night and working all day. Wasn't I just planning the wedding last week?

So, we decided to celebrate our anniversary by taking the day off and the 4 of us going to see the Cubs win! It was a fun day, but a long day. MJ got zero nap and CR got about 45 minutes. Oh my. But, the we all had fun. This was CR's first Cubs game, so it was extra special.

MJ like the cotton-candy the best. CR was not a fan of the cotton-candy at all. They both thought opening the peanuts and throwing the shells on the ground was way cool. They did that for 2 straight innings...looking up once or twice at the game! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CHAD!

Weekend Fun.

Has another week gone by? Wow. I can't believe it is August already. August is one of my favorite months of the year, so bring it on!

We have been the normal crazy summer busy still. Swimming, movies, playing outside, etc.... This past weekend the boys slept at G/G Troast's house and Chad and I went to Joel and Kellys wedding in the city. Fun times for all. The boys had a great time at G/G's and we had a great time too. Although, Sunday Chad and I had to recuperate and the boys we a little cranky.

So this morning, I let the boys sleep until the awoke and then we casually went over the Ms. Kims and the boys were then excited and raging.

I am off to go get some work done.

Kelly and Joel after the wedding!

The 2 members of BrownWig having a little "special" time! This also was later in the evening.

Chad and I at the J & K wedding. It was pretty early in the evening in this photo. :-)