Bowling Fun

While E was out of school for Thanksgiving Break, he and I took advantage of Mom/Kid bowling at a very cool venue, Pinstripes, in South Barrington.  Yes, you'll have to turn your head to see some of the pics, this laptop is too slow to rotate them.  We bowled 6 games in 2 hours (E with a purple ball of course) and below is his make-your-own sundae at our lunch out.  I always savor my time with my guys one-on-one and E is such an amazing kid and he says the best stuff....here are a few recent ones....

*"Is this how it worked mom?  Aiden was in your tummy, Beckham was in Aiden's, Liam was in Beckham's, and Griffin was in Liam's?  (so cute)... "Do you really think Griffin could have fit in Liam's tummy?"  ;)

*"I am going to have 6,000 children mom...whoa E well you'll have to find a good Mom for them...I'll find you Mom, you are the best at taking care of the babies and me...and even my friends that come over."  God love him!

*"Mom (insert brother's name here) said my name.  Isn't that just the sweetest?"

I am amazed by his level of patience.  We all have our moments, believe me, and who wouldn't?  But in the times I expect him to be frustrated or annoyed, he isn't, he is kind and gentle, he cares if his brothers are upset, he loves when they learn new things, he is such a good big brother.  From him, and his innocence, I learn a lesson, to slow down, take it in, a just be in the moment, the rest will work itself out and in that moment, it doesn't matter anyway.  

Mommy refuses to call us the t-word

So, what is that t-word?  TODDLERS!  Yikes!  I love when I buy something online and they qualify newborns as 0-24 months.  I mean, do we only get 12 months to be considered new to life?  I know my babies have so many firsts left in them, so I refuse to call them toddlers...yet.  This is my last go at it all, the babyhood, and it has gone so fast, four times as fast, so I will relish my babies for another year and then when they are 2, I will call them toddlers...maybe....

I have been behind on writing, I know it's ok, but I love writing and need to keep track for my boys, so trying to start up again.  We'll see how it goes through the Christmas Season ;)  I keep trying to go back and post, missed a first birthday post, but hey that's what January is for and why I was never good at journaling.  Summer and Fall were amazing and so full, too hard to keep up....

*an incredible 4-year-old turning the big FIVE!..and that 5-year-old learning to swim, ride a bike, complete a set of monkey bars, continue his amazing gift of learning and reading 2 grades ahead
*four babies turning the BIG ONE! pulling up, taking first steps, words, eating table food, becoming real little people...still not saying toddlers...they still sleep with their little butts in the air so that qualifies them as babies :)

I am overwhelmed with pride and love, and always amazed to be a mom of 5 boys!

Summer Ridin'

E progressed from his cool Razor scooter to riding his bike without training wheels by August!  So proud of him for being so determined.  Now we're on to look mom, one hand, no hands, no feet...and this is just the beginning! ;)

More Summer Highlights

4th of July

my patriotic little men!

A trip to the rock park and these shots were quite the feat to manage, but we did get them yeah!!

Little Fishies

Another highlight of summer, some pool time!  Thanks to Tia Irene and Tio Greg for inviting us over, our boys love the water, and Ethan made some serious progress this summer with his swim lessons.  He can swim underwater!! 

Rollercoasters baby!!

Summer birthdays are super fun, Ethan woke on his actual birthday to open gifts from mom, dad, and his brothers…a new helmet, skateboard, roller skates, Wii game, and remote control air plane.  Then we moved it on out to spend an entire day at Great America opening up the park and shutting it down with a funnel cake birthday cake, complete with a smuggled in candle for E.  It was such a full, amazing day!!!  We are so proud of you E and had the absolute most incredible day with you sweetheart!!  Thank you for being so fun-loving, sweet, wonderful, we are so blessed to be your parents!!!

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E, "this is the bestest, most awesome day ever!!"

Hello Again, Hello…

We have had quite the summer and early fall.  While I have missed blogging, I wanted to soak in absorb every moment of this summer with my boys.  Last summer was spent in a bed for me, so it was so worth it to just focus on and live it!!  Our summer began with Ethan’s 5th birthday and ended with Aiden, Beckham, Liam, and Griffin turning the big 1!!  What amazing memories we made! 

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Ethan Turns 5!
Ethan’s fifth birthday turned out to be a couple days before the much anticipated (at least in this household) Toy Story 3, 3D was released.  We do birthdays big since we don’t do trips, vacation, dinners out, big purchases, etc., so birthdays are our thing for now at least.  We celebrated with a 3D IMAX party for Ethan and his friends and it was just such a fun, memorable day! 

Ethan’s party cakes! 
*5 is the rite of passage in our home for gum so this gumball cake perfectly commemorated that, and then the little green aliens from Toy Story were sooooo cute, Ethan fell in love with them.  The popcorn cupcakes were just too cool and we thought they were really fun to make too. 


The party!!  The pictures speak for themselves!