Summer FuN!!!!

Chicago...

We set out a few weeks ago for Chicago on the South Shore Train hoping to spend the day at Shedd Aquarium. For the most part, all went as planned...James enjoyed the train ride (although it was long!) and he enjoyed the animals at Shedd (for about 30 minutes...yep...you read that correctly...but we know James' attention span is short, so we weren't too shocked), ate at McDonald's, fed the ducks, rode the water taxi, skipped a nap, and had some of his favorite people with him for the entire day: Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa Carpenter, and uncle Andrew. It was a really fun, exhausting day! We hope to take James back to the aquarium when he's a little older and when there aren't hundreds of people there.

Here we are on the water taxi...we WALKED to Navy Pier from Shedd (about 4 miles) and it was good exercise, but we opted to take the water taxi back...Thank the Lord because I might have gone into labor... ;)

One of James' favorites parts of the day was feeding the ducks all of his snacks ;) Of course we needed to go to Chicago to do that! ;)

He finally fell asleep about 10 minutes from home. It was sweet. I'm not going to lie...I enjoyed every second of my sleeping "baby."
*******

Imagination Running WILD

So, we have had the joy of seeing and hearing James' imagination run wild these days...and it is SO much fun. Here is just one of the many pictures I have of James letting his mind run wild...Here is the scenario, so please let yourself imagine with him...

Here he is on his motorcycle (a.k.a. hot wheels) with his helmet (a.k.a. gas mask) on...on his way to work. He has on his work jeans (it was 90 degrees that day) and his work shoes. After work he was going to give plasma and then he said he would be home. Usually he rides with the gas make covering his face and I literally cannot stop laughing. You should see people looking at him as they drive past...PRICELESS! He tells me all about what he does at work all day and that he will be home later. One day I said, "I'm going to miss you after you are at work all day. When are you going to see me?" He said, "I will see you for 2-5 minutes mom..." So precious...

********

Keeping Cool in this Heat....

So the last few weeks have been HOT and you all know how much my kiddos LOVE to be outside and how easily I get warm and sweat, so the fact that it was 85 degrees by 10:00 a.m. , I have raging hormones and am carrying about 18 extra pounds has been tough for me. I run through the sprinkler and sit in the kiddie pool (sorry....no pics of that..hee hee). We have been trying to do things that involve allowing me to fully immerse my preggo body in the water. Last week we spent a few hours at the lake with some friends and it was p-e-r-f-e-c-t! Lauren loved it! She just floated in this the entire time! And James enjoyed every second of the water...I was a bit unsure how he'd do, but he loved it. He has told me many times since then that he wants a lake! :) We will get right on that James!

My water babies...

*********

Last, but not least...my ever growing belly....

Here is a picture of me at 28 weeks! I am getting BIG!

I'm getting to that uncomfortable stage where it's tough to get off the couch quite as easily or bend down quickly and I have found my belly running into things that I "think" I can squeeze through. I haven't been sleeping real well at night either...it is coming quickly....James asks frequently when the baby is going to be here and has been taking care of his "own" baby. One night he stayed up til 11:15 "feeding" the baby. He is going to be such a big help! Right now we are trying to finalize a vehicle... (which I think will end of being a minivan) Yes, laugh at me all of you who know me so well...I said it... a MINIVAN!!!! It's a tough decision....

**

I have beautiful pictures of the kiddos that my friend Darcy took, but I am not sure how to get them off of my computer where they are at now and onto my blog, so I will post again soon...PROMISE ...and with that I will update you on my sweet little 19 month old fireball, Lauren.

Don't give up on my blog readers! ;)

I have failed as a blogger....

I know I'm failing miserably as a blogger...why do I wait SO long to blog? I always have too many pictures and I never want to put them all on, but I still have L.O.N.G. posts every time. Again...this is just a random assortment of a few things we have been doing over the last few weeks.

We are outside....ALL THE TIME...no really. We head out about 8:45 after breakfast and usually don't come back in until it's time for lunch and then we head back out until nap time, again after nap time until dinner, and after dinner until bath and bedtime. Really....we are NEVER inside. The kids love being outside and I do too. Unfortunately, my housework takes a major back seat during the warm weather months. Oh well...I'm enjoying time with the kiddos. Here is one of their new toys thanks to their Great Aunt Karlo. Matching cow bouncers. The kids enjoy them and Lauren especially likes when James falls off his. She laughs hysterically almost falling off herself.

I LOVE this picture of the two of them looking at each other....they truly are great buds!

Lauren enjoys being outside and following James around doing many of the things he does. One thing she especially enjoys is playing in the wagon. She climbs in and out, buckling the buckles, and putting the seats up and down.

This guy is just happy he's outside...nothing else matters to him!

******

And...I turned the big 2-9 on the 21st. My girl friends took me out for a night of fun and pampering. We got pedicures, Italian food, and they took me to the most AMAZING scrapbooking store! It was a perfect night! They're the BEST!

Then a couple nights later, my sisters and mom took me out for a great birthday dinner and gifts without kids...this is a first....and we really enjoyed a dinner where we got to be completely selfish and do nothing for anyone except ourselves. I think I eat more when I don't have kids with me ;) We had a fantastic time. I have had a blessed 29 years on this earth!

*******
Memorial Day Weekend
at Grandma and Grandpa Carpenters We began the hunt for critters. Luke and his brother used to look in ponds by their

house for critters...crawdads, turtles, frogs, etc....Luke thought James would enjoy it too,

so Andrew, Luke, James and I begun our hunt....it was LOTS of fun. I enjoyed watching

James' enthusiasm as they spotted and captured many critters. We walked away

with 9 crawdads, 2 turtles, and a clam. What an adventure it was! We brought them home

with us and they are in an aquarium. And one of our crawdads had babies...lots of them! James has asked if they could take a bath

with him...funny boy...He loves them and checks on them frequently. He has already talked

about going back. I'm sure we will make a trip to the ponds and creek each time we visit

Grandma and Grandpa Carpenter.

Here he is bravely on a rock looking for crawdads. (yes, that is a pool skimmer) ;)

I love how patient Luke is with James...
My heart always swells with love and excitement when I see James and Luke doing these fun

father-son adventures. I just LOVE it! (I'm sure you couldn't tell by this post)

Here is one of the little turtles...it's so cute...James is learning to be very gentle with it.

*************

Our Lu-Lu

Our precious girl is officially one and a half years old! WOW!!! I will say what I always

say too...she continues to fill our hearts and home with joy and lots of laughter. The girl just wants to laugh....all the time....life is a big party to her!

We are enjoying her fun personality and how she interacts with us and James. She is a little social bug. If she's sees kids out in the neighborhood, she brings us her shoes, sits down, and begins squealing with delight. She is just precious! We can't get enough of her....

Checking In...

Hello family and friends...it's me again...we are continuing to keep very busy and are enjoying the nice weather daily. Here are a few family updates. Enjoy!

James has started swim lessonsand hated them...he cried the entire 45 minute session during the first week and hated when they forced his underwater. They had me go upstairs to watch so he wouldn't make a mad dash for me. For all of you moms, you know how difficult it is to watch your child MISERABLE while doing anything. This is the look of one very exhausted little boy...mostly from crying (hard) for an entire 45 minute swim class. He just wanted to get home!
This is the face of my brave little guy at week 2...somehow...miraculously...he was "happy" the entire class even when he had to go underwater. He was so proud of himself and asked to get McDonald's afterwards to which I promptly replied, "You bet. Anything you want." ;) I hope that tonight and the rest of his lessons go this smoothly. It was nice getting to watch him poolside. Things like this can be really scary and difficult for James and I am so proud of him for persevering! This is the first of many for the rest of his life...
****
Our 17 month old Sweetie Pie

Yep, here she is....getting bigger and better! She loves to do everything James does including ride his go cart, so Luke fixed this little motorized 4 wheeler and yep...she rides it...and loves it! She seems so big to me when she does these kinds of things! She has continued to be such a joy...feisty, but with LOTS of personality and we LOVE it!

She loves to laugh, loves to be outside, is a picky eater, HATES when I leave her, loves

her daddy, loves her brother a lot, loves animals and books, and loves playing in the

sandbox. She is continuing to say and repeat a lot of words and we're enjoying that

a lot.

****
And... here is my 21 week belly....

It's betting big...quickly...I have an ultrasound on Friday and we are very excited. I just want to know everything is ok...you mamas can relate...we ARE going to be SURPRISED this time with the sex of the baby and that is exciting for me! I feel great...big already...but great! James hugs my belly all the time and tells me he is going to take care of me. So sweet. The baby is moving a lot and James got to feel it last night which he thought was pretty cool. It's such an incredible reminder of the life that is growing inside of me...so incredible!
****

Luke's job is going well...I know I don't update on him too much. He has beeen
supervising and enjoying it a lot. I'm so happy for him.

****

I have kept very busy tutoring this school year and those of you who know me well know that I have been looking forward to the break of the summer... Well....that's not going to happen. Although I'm grateful for the opportunities... I had 2 phone calls over the weekend in a matter of 20 minutes and added 4-6 hours a week of tutoring this summer. That puts me right around 8-10 hours a week this summer...That's a lot! A lot of lesson planning and prepping. Thankfully some of that is going to be done during the kids' nap time so I won't be missing out on time with them...that's VERY important to me. I have had several people that have said they passed on my information to others, so I guess I just have to decide what my limit is of kids. When I started tutoring, I never dreamed it would become this "big." Again, I feel very grateful especially in this difficult economic time.

Easter Weekend

What a fun weekend! The kids have been fighting a sinus infection that has lasted FOREVER...but in the midst of that we had some fun events... Here is the trip to Lowe's for the craft on Saturday morning. Lauren and I went this week and that was fun to watch and to snap some pictures of the boys hard at work...here is the birdhouse. (I don't have a picture of the finished product because James wanted to move on to bigger and better things i.e. shop vacs, mowers and chain saws before he was finished). Any of you surprised??? Me either... :)

Safety is #1

Hard at work

Thank you Daddy!!!!

*********Easter 2009

James wanted to get down and play with his cousins...NOT take a picture...

My parents with all 8 grandchildren...I can't believe they are sitting THIS well...

You can imagine how CRAZY things were!

Lauren enjoyed breaking open the easter eggs and finding jellybeans. In fact, she LOVED them!

James didn't really "get" or care about the whole easter egg hunt. He just meandered around looking at the eggs. I had to tell him to pick them up. Sometimes he would pick up eggs and put them in his cousins' basket...uhhh hello??? We decided to do it inside since it was a bit chilly and windy so it was tough to get pictures. There were A LOT of excited kids looking for eggs. He did manage to get some and was excited to see what was inside. He especially enjoyed the gum. This kid LOVES gum!

We had a great evening with family and enjoyed great food! Now I need to go on a post Easter/Easter candy diet! :0

I love the look on her face when she pulled easter eggs out of the basket we gave her. It was priceless. She just likes shaking them and gets a pleasant surprise when they break open and spill jellybeans....oh happy day!!!

James enjoyed his Easter basket from us. He found his "big" gift...a basketball a few days earlier and I just couldn't tell him to wait...he has thoroughly enjoyed that!

We are trying to ration out the many pounds of candy we have. James asked for it the second he got up this morning....Crazy kid...I told him he could have a piece after he ate his oatmeal and yep, it was gone in record time!



I hope you all had a Happy Easter and enjoyed time with family celebrating our risen Saviour!

A Tag....and an Update...

I've been tagged by my lovely friend Darcy and I was "supposed" to look a bit more stay-at-home-momish.....but I had been visiting a possible preschool for James earlier that day. So, I did put a bit of effort in to trying to make myself look like a presentable, put together mom! :) Hey, first impressions are important.

Here were the rules:
1. Take a picture of yourself right now. No primping or preparing. Just snap a picture.
2. Load the picture onto your blog.
3. Tag three people to play. Remember, if you are tagged on another blog, we will all be heading to yours to see if you played along.

**I don't know that many people who blog, so I'm not sure how successful this will be,

but I will try! If you read my blog...PLEASE comment so I know who you are!!!

I'm tagging Sara, Elizabeth, and Nichole. Good luck ladies!!!

****

And of course a little bit of us...

Lauren turned 16 months on Friday (can hardly believe it) and here are some fun facts about her.

This is the face she ALWAYS has when she recognizes something or someone or is watching something intently. She usually starts babbling uncontrollably once this face appears.

-She is saying a lot of words like....dog, dadda, mom, dink (drink), bball, bubbles, ball, bye-bye, mama cat, bike...

Luke hears more words that she says that I do...I'm not sure why that is

-She is such a daddy's girl. She often times crawls up in Luke's lap and snuggles in with him for a while. It's the sweetest.

-She loves pizza, Popsicles, and pink lemonade.

-She LOVES to laugh...She'll do anything for a good laugh. Which also means she's a bit antagonistic.

-She pushes, pushes, and pushes...We just keep telling her we're going to keep pushing back. Yes, we are already having these conversations with our 16 month old! :/

Her new favorite "toy" is the mirror. She loves to just look at herself and make funny faces.
Then she laughs uncontrollably. It's just hilarious to watch.

Here she is kissing/licking the mirror. If she's still doing this at 13 I'm going to be concerned for the boys...

James got in on the fun too. That was even more fun to watch, but she kept pushing him

out of the way. She wanted the ENTIRE mirror to herself. Get used to it James! :)

Lowe's Project #2

Here is James' second Lowes craft. It's a yard mobile. He enjoyed making another craft and

could hardly wait until 10:00 on Saturday morning (Lowes craft time). He is anxious to get it outside and use it. He has such a great time with daddy and enjoys his weekends when we are all home together. He just asked Luke if he would go fast to work tomorrow so he could see him soon. Sweet huh???

Hey! We're havin' a good time...

Ahhh....this weather is just spectacular! It gives me/us just a glimpse of what this summer is going to be like for us! It's going to be a fun one.../You are all aware of James' love for the outdoors and Lauren seems to be more in love with being outside. It's been a little rougher as far as the temper tantrums and melt-downs go...but totally worth it! They get to run and play and jump and walk and explore....I L.O.V.E. IT! Here are just a few pictures of some fun we've had.

Lauren loves walking up and down the driveway and finding things in the grass. She seems so big and independent as I watch her outside.


This is her favorite thing to do outside...the bubble car. She loves to get in it and just sit and every now and then she enjoys being pushed around. My favorite is when James gets in on the action.
Favorite picture right here....She loves to push him in the care which just looks so funny to me. Probably because she is the little one ya know?

The Hot Rod

He still loves his bike but enjoys it most if he's wearing my sunglasses. The funny thing is, they fit his head. I always knew I had a small head, but really...he's 3...

************

Fun with Daddy-doo

So, I think I'm a pretty laid back mom of a boy and I believe I let James to lots of fun things like

pick grass for his animal farm and then give him a trough of water for the animals to drink out

of (inside), let him bring in piles of wood to "start fires" and build things with...but when it comes to the fire...I'm a little more cautious. This is where Luke gets to come into the picture and be the HeRo....and quite frankly it's fun for me to sit back, watch, and smile. Although I do have moments where I have to bite my tongue because I think, "He's not really going to let him light it HIMSELF right? He's 3!?!?!?"
Here's a little fun they have been having indoors here the last several nights after Lauren

goes to bed. James thinks it just fantastic!!! They have also been cutting up wood with the chainsaw and having big fires in the garden. All of which James just lives for. Luke is a great dad for a little boy!



More Father-Son Time...

These are the days I felt like I was just waiting for as a mom. Watching Luke spend

incredible, quality time with James doing "guy stuff." And you all know James loves all the

rugged boy stuff so it works out really well! I love that James is getting the opportunity to

do some many fun, hands-on, crazy things.

Luke took James to Lowes on Saturday morning just to look around and there was a class going on for kids. So, Luke being the AMAZING father that he is, took James to it. He LOVED it (James) ! He

got a little apron, goggles, and his own hammer. All things James wears on a daily basis here anyway...now they're just his size! He loves it. He has several pieces of wood that we have always let him drill screws in or pound nails into, so having these props to go along with it was just icing on the cake.

He made a little NCAA March Madness basketball hoop which he loves because of his love

of sports and specifically basketball.Unfortunately he got so excited after showing me that as he tried to jump over it, landed on the rim and broke it. But...now it's being held together by black electrical tape. Hey, it still works!

Next weekend they will be make a mobile, so I'm sure James will just have a blast!

And just for laughs...here is a little conversation I had with James a few days ago.

James: "Can we go to Lowes?"

Me: "Why sure... I don't know why not."

James: "Oh, I just LOVE the smell of Lowes!"

Me: "Really, baby...why? What's it smell like?"

James: "It smells like shop vacs, lawn mowers, chainsaws, and snow blowers. That's what it smells like."

Me: Wow....really? Can't wait to smell that!

James: "I'm so excited to go to Lowes."

It was just priceless...really because we don't go to Lowes that often. The funny thing is when

I walked in I immediately noticed the distinct smell it does have...pretty much smells like wood to me...but bless his heart you know? He knew.....and to him it smelled like

all of his favorite things. I LOVE THAT CHILD!!!


At Work...

Still wearing the goggles upside down! :)



We are continuing to keep busy and enjoy each day and moment with our kids.
We have the same conversation almost every night...how blessed we feel for all

that we have been given...especially our kids!