Joshua's 5th birthday party

Yes, Joshua is now 5!  (that's five, not five factorial ;)

Unlike last year, when he didn't seem to care, Joshua has been asking for a party for months.  He decided on a dinosaur theme, but the only really dinosaur things about the party were: a dino cake (bought, not made, I cannot draw!), and a guess how many dinos are in the jar game.  Mostly, we had a few friends over, played some fun outdoor games, ate lunch and cake, and celebrated the big boy.  A special bonus was that my dad functioned as the party photographer and got some great shots of all the silliness!


Our first game was "Mr. Fox, what time is it?".  These kids look like I am REALLY going to eat them!


Next up, balloon pop.  Here is W getting in on the action!


Friends waiting for the next game!


Jumping race!


What's a party without the "Hokey Pokey"?


Cake time!

Two cute recent photos of the boys

I haven't posted in a while and just wanted to get these two cute photos of the boys up!  W is taking a marathon nap today so I actually have time to play around on the computer :)

The honeybee

Our new "no-no" removal  strategy

Highlights of my day

Joshua has finally gotten over much of his fear of water!  We spent part of the morning at the pool and he was tooling around with a noodle around his waist by himself!  I was so proud of him :)

Wesley was off most of the day and after his nap, I found out why.  Poor little bugger was sick and threw up red,white, and blue smoothie (he drank at the pool earlier in the day) all over himself, the bathroom, and me.  Happy 4th of July everyone!  No worries, though, Wesley fans. He was feeling much better by dinner time and was chipper enough to chase and tackle Dad and JP for a long time.  I love my boys!

A good photo of Mr. and Mrs. (Finally!)

We are back from Africa. It was an amazing trip.  I will probably never get around to blogging about it, as my blogging habits are few and far between and I don't often share my thoughts except in one-on-one situations...  However, Roxanne and our group did blog so you can see more pictures and read stories there.  This post is to put up an actual recent photo that contains JUST Andy and I.  I think we look good, no?  Thanks for taking it, Rox! Oh and yes, my husband wears button-down shirts EVERYWHERE.  One of the many reasons to love him!

Adorable boys and new projects?

Here are the cuties in a daffodil patch they stopped at while visiting Grandma Donna and Grandpa Chuck the weekend of the half-marathon.

Baseball dirt

I love baseball.  (Well, not Chicago baseball this year as both teams are pretty sorry.)  I hope my boys play baseball, however, something has to be done about infield dirt.  Yesterday, after Joshua's t-ball class (where he picked dandelions instead of doing drills), we walked across the infield of the other diamond to our car.  Little did I know that it was a HUGE mudpit.  Poor Wesley got his feet stuck in a mud puddle and fell over :(. I was slightly stuck as well, and had to run and pick up Wesley and try to get him cleaned up using a reusable grocery bag I keep in my car for trips to the store.  Fun times :).  Joshua managed to avoid the giant mud pit and taunt his brother.  Ah, boys.

I am remembering how tough it is to get infield dirt off of shoes, clothes, bodies, etc.  Yikes!!

Wisconsin half marathon

On Saturday, May 7th, Andy and I ran the Wisconsin half-marathon together.  I am so proud of Andy for really working hard to get in shape, as an aside.  Running is something we do together now, which is really wonderful!  Anyway, I had a great running day.  It was a beautiful course along Lake Michigan in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and very flat.  Yay!  Andy and I had a great time and are looking forward to our next race together this fall (another half-marathon, which will be hilly, oh no!)

For my personal information, my time was 2:10:07 for a pace of 9:56 min/mile.  I am so geeked I averaged under 10 minute miles for this!  Yes, I know it is still slow, but fast for me!