Great Grandpa Norbert

We were very sad to learn of the passing of Scott's grandpa on his dad's side. Here's a picture of Grandma Rita and Grandpa Norbert from a few years ago.

Four generations, clockwise from top: Marvin, Norbert, baby Joseph, and Scott.

Boys of K4

Just a little shot of Joe with some classmates. From left to right, Tyler, Avery, Joe, Matthew and Matthew. They're such good little boys!

32 years young

Happy Birthday, Scott! We celebrated with pizza and birthday blueberry pie - Daddy's favorite.

.

Note the extremely artistic "D" inside the heart. We love Daddy!

A New Dog

....in the neighborhood. Oh please, if any of you thought I had lost my mind and added one more living thing to this house that needed my attention, you're crazy. She belongs to our neighbors across the street, and her name is Summer.

But, really, isn't she cute? Andrew just loves her. Probably because they're the same size. He sticks his hand out for her to lick (of course, she obliges every time - it's probably like a lollipop for her with all of the sticky stuff he gets into) Every day at 10:30, I head across the street to let her out for a few minutes to go potty. Now, when she hears me coming to let her out of her crate, she rolls over for a tummy scratch. We've become buddies.

Now, don't think I'm becoming a softie and am ready to buy a dog for our boys. No, sir! Nothing else that needs food and poops. Okay, maybe a fish someday, but everyone knows how plants go in my house. It'd just be an unnecessary death. Besides, the rest of the boys are terrified of Summer, and Luke can hardly bring himself to walk across her yard he's so afraid of stepping in doggy doo. That a boy!

The last skinny dip of the season

Andrew just loves the water!

We only let him do this when everyone else is done swimming!

So, our pool is kind of pathetic. They are getting way to big for it, but it still provides hours of fun. They make a "water slide" which makes the pool even more pathetic because they bang their legs on the other side of the pool when they slide down. Here is a rare moment of cooperation between the twins - one holds the hose to make the slide more slippery for his brother. This scenario frequently and quickly breaks down to a screaming match of whose turn it is, how much water should be coming out of the hose, where it should be held... you know, all of the important stuff.

Luke ready to brave the chilly waters. In case I haven't ever mentioned it, the water that comes out of our tap is FREEZING. This is wonderful for drinking, but not so much fun on a breezy and mild sunny day.

Kidathlon

Our old neighbors' new neighborhood is just full of kids and young families always looking for an excuse to get together and have fun. This activity is one of my favorites: The Kidathlon. For the big kids, it's two laps around their neighborhood - about a mile, a few laps in someone's backyard pool and a sprint back to the finish line. They go in 14 waves depending on age and ability. (Wave one is in the picture above - the big boys) The little kids have a tiny triathlon - a short ride on trikes, little bikes with training wheels, big wheels, whatever, a sprint back and fishing around in baby pools until they collect ten pennies.

Waiting in the wings in wave 14 (water wings... get it? I'm so lame.)

This was the first year we participated in the actual athletic event (they have lunch, beer and volleyball in the backyard afterward - we hit that part last year!) so we thought Joe should try out the big kid race just to see if he could do it. Scott went with him in case he got lost, couldn't finish, gave up, forgot what he was doing... you know. He was in the last wave of kiddos and he actually did great. He finished dead last, of course, and swam the short length of the pool, but he finished! We were so proud of him.

The best part was that he didn't really know he was dead last. By the time he finally came through (a good 4 or 5 minutes after the last runner was in) everyone else knew who we were waiting for and was cheering wildly for our Joe. He ran full force once he heard everyone. Two moms held up the streamer for each kid crossing the finish line, and Joe just ate it up.

He was so proud of himself. I was so proud that he finished the whole race!

The twins were next for the little kid race. Not being the competitive type at all, Patrick didn't even pedal his big wheel for the first leg. He just scooted it along.

They made up some time running back, but got a little confused with the pennies. All in all, they had a great time, and this event will hopefully promote some healthy living habits!

Of course, everyone got a medal at the end and lots of lemonade.

The toughest stage

Happy birthday to my mom and happy anniversary to Brian and Kelli. During the time our computer was out, we celebrated Grammie and Granddad's birthdays and anniversary, too. Sorry we missed noting it on the blog.

Andrew is growing so quickly. I've always thought that the year between one and two was the toughest stage for me. It's totally hands-on. You have to be quick and alert at all times, no rest unless the toddler is asleep. Andrew is such a climber. He loves climbing on top of the dining room table and onto the couch. He runs from one arm of the couch to the other laughing uncontrollably. It's non-stop.

On the other hand, it's the most fascinating year of growth. Andrew's vocabulary had tripled - from "Mama" and "no" to "schock (sock)" "soo (shoe)" "Aye (hi)" and "Cheese" He is imitating like crazy - from trying to comb his hair, to 'clipping' his toenails to drinking from a big boy cup. He hates being left out of the things his brothers are doing. If they are all running outside, he will bring me his shoes and grunt at me until I put them on him.

Today, when he heard Scott's car driving up, he immediately ran to the back door and tried to open it. He waited patiently for Scott to walk in a few minutes later and could hardly contain his excitement. He loves giving 'five' and smooches for kisses.

He is still a wonderful little boy, but he's gotten much feistier in the past few weeks. He's really into screaming every few minutes when we are on long car rides. (boo to that!) If we can't guess what he wants (water, reading a book, a new diaper...) he screams then, too. He's just learning how books get read. He likes looking at the book but gets mad when anyone tries to turn the page. He'll even grab the book and fling it if he gets too irritated!

We just got our computer restored so I will be posting pictures soon. Sorry for the huge delay. Thanks for still reading!