MIA

I know. I've neglected this poor blog for a bit. There really is no excuse other than the fact that I have posted a few things about the boys (all three) on the other blog (Pure and Noble.)

This guy is turning 2 - 2! - in just a couple of days. Where did my baby go?

He even has facial hair! Ha ha ha! (Liam likes to eat cupcakes face first.)

This guy (the smaller one) is turning 5, just like it says on his shirt!

Jude also starts a new school (just for the summer) tomorrow and T-ball.  Both are with his best buddy James. We'll see if the friendship survives! Ha! The T-ball team is the Co-op Kangaroos. Jude is super excited about it.

The boys are officially settled into their "big boy" room. Jude sleeps on the top bunk, his choice, and Liam sleeps in his crib. It's working out pretty good. Only a few kinks to work out - Liam keeps Jude up late talking at night and Jude wakes Liam up in the morning. There is definitely a difference in personalities. Jude is such a lover and so sensitive. Oh, and a big pleaser.  Liam is a joker that loves breaking the rules. Lord, help me!

We went to a concert at the Arboretum today with some neighbors and had a blast.  It was a kids' singer and both boys danced and acted silly. Liam was dancing like a crazy man while Jude rolled down the hills. Adam and I watched dotingly and both admitted we are blessed beyond belief. Our boys are amazing! Liam's head was drenched about halfway into the event. It's only May and he sweats like a little pig. I can only imagine what August will bring. Ugghhh. We have been cooling off the past few days with a sprinkler and the kiddie pool that Gramma bought us last year. Liam loves to get in with his brother butt naked! I'm not gonna lie, I love it too.  They are so cute.

There's no telling what this Summer will bring. Lots of silliness and excitement I am sure. I am gonna try my best to cultivate the love of art this summer with fun crafts like the one we did above. Maybe we'll make mud pies, collect and paint rocks and do some watercolor with popsicles. Not sure. 

Maybe a little of this to kill some time...

Jude had on his Spidey costume and Liam attacked!

Spidey didn't stand a chance!

Whatever we end up doing, Summer is sure to bring more of this:

friends and popsicles

Easy Rider type outings (can't you see their rebellious spirits?!)

hot, sweaty days

miniature golf!

jam sessions with friends!

Here is to an exciting Summer adventure with two amazing boys!

It's been a while...Sorry!

I thought I'd catch you up on things with us at the Fish house via images...

Not only is Liam a total ham, he's a true Texan too.  ha ha ha.  He had such a hard time getting those  boots on!  In the end, I had to  help him out. He's got some growing to do before he can walk in them!  Ha ha ha. Pudding: I gave Liam and Jude a treat, turned my back for a second and turned back around to find more on him than in his mouth!

Liam is also a dare devil. I am sure I will be a frequent customer of the ER with this one.  He was helping with the dishes the other day and while I turned my back to get the dishwashing soap, he got a knife out of the dishwasher and was licking it - sharp side.  I screamed in complete terror and then the three of us (me, Liam and Jude) began to cry as Daddy remained calm to make sure Liam still had his tongue and I had my wits about me.  Uggghhh...that was a tough one.  Don't get me started on how I had to run and get him out of the middle of the street the other day!

As for Jude - he's working on his soccer and basketball skillz and seems to be getting better everyday.  he LOVES sports and Bear Grylles and his Daddy and brother.  He has also been doing a lot of Big Wheel riding lately!

I don't have pictures of this for fear that the boys would fall into the water, but I took Jude, James and Liam fishing with Pop and Ma.  They had so much fun.  They caught 5 fish - kept 2 and 3 got away.

Liam has learned to chew gum without swallowing it.  He and Jude are definitely brothers!

lots of tears over this

It is with much joy and sadness that I share the photo above. We moved Liam's crib into Jude's room.  They love sharing a room.  All Liam did in his other room was sleep anyway. It makes me sad to think that all this baby stuff will be painted over and packed up. They grow up WAY too fast.  i love them both very much and blessed beyond all measure to be their Mommy!

Feeding the Ducks

Wanting to do something fun outside yesterday, I decided to take the boys to the pond by the old apartment and feed the duckies. On the way we stopped and got ice cream at Harry's. It was so fun and such a beautiful day. Until...

Jude got stuck in this tree. Do you see the look of fear on his face? I took this right as he was figuring out that he was stuck.  At first I thought he was just being dramatic. Not so much.  He was STUCK! Really stuck. I threw the camera down and went to help him out. As I tried to get his knee unstuck Liam ran over to the VERY edge of the water to see the duckies some more. Yikes!  I had to leave Jude in the tree screaming at the top of his lungs, go get Liam, put him in the stroller and go back to rescuing Jude. I really thought I was going to have to call 911. Finally Jude calmed down enough to listen to me and do as I asked him and the knee came out. (Poor little guy had bruises all over his knobby little knee.) We hugged for about 5 minutes after he was out of the tree and then went to see more ducks, waterfalls, and stone teddy bears. Whewww... what an adventure.

I snapped this photo after the tree incident. He looks much better, don't ya think?  The boys had so much fun until they began to meltdown from playing so hard!

The Closest I'll Get

to ever having a little girl! ha ha ha.  Don't worry, I just did this while Ma was here for a little entertainment and relief from the heat. I would never take Liam out in public like this!

Keeping them Occupied

Upon returning home from the grocery with a trunk load of groceries, I found a styrofoam bowl in my car. I HATE styrofoam anything.  It never goes away! So, instead of tossing it, I thought I would use it to keep the boys occupied while I unloaded the groceries.  I made a list of things for them to find in the backyard and put into the bowl. Once they found the objects, they got a sucker! It worked and I got all my groceries unload while they "played!" Win - Win!  

PS - the bugs were a bit of a challenge (go figure) but we went to the front yard together and found a TON of roly polies!

Farewell Old Friend

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we announce the death of our beloved Pinky Toe.  He was a good fish and we will miss him very much. Yesterday we saw the first signs of Pinky Toe and his demise. He wasn't swimming around happily like he usually did. He was just floating up to the top of the water for air and then going into his house.

When we told Jude that PT was sick and might not make it, he got very upset. He began to cry (pretty hard) poor little guy.  Jude has such a sweet and sensitive heart. It is a gift that allows him to love his brother and others so well and something that will probably cause him great pain in the future. We explained that PT would go to heaven to be with God and his other family members. Jude's response, "sniff, sniff..." Then I told Jude that Pinky Toe would probably be swimming in a HUGE bowl with gold pebbles and rubies and that all his food would probably taste like cupcakes. Jude looked up at me with big eyes and gave me a big chuckle! Then asked, "really?" "Sure" I said, "why not...it's heaven!"

After Jude settled down a bit, we said some prayers for God's will to be done and asked Him to take good care of PT if it was "his time to go." Then the doorbell rang. It was Miss Amanda, the boys' babysitter, and after a minute or so, all was right in the world again.

Today we said a few words, Adam did a mouth trumpet version of Taps and we flushed Pinky Toe (Spiderman Pinky Toe Fish) down the toilet. Farewell Old Friend...we will miss you.

Hip Hoppin' Fun

Easter - it's filled with so much more than it needs to be.  I am so glad we did the resurrection rolls this year.  That will be a tradition from this point forward.  Bunnies, baskets, candy, etc. Geeze - it's almost like another Christmas.

This year and last were so much fun. I am guessing it will get better with each year the boys age, until they outgrow it.  Last year we were with the Fishes on Easter. Missed them this year. This year, my family came over and spent the day with us.  I hope and pray the Rasmussens will join us next year. (I did a very poor job on invites this year - sorry Karen!)  So, since over  half of you missed out on the fun this year...thought I would do a recap through images and a few notes because there were some really notable moments!

We went to church Saturday night!  It was PACKED! This left Easter Sunday wide open - nice! We had family over for brunch, easter egg hunting and a movie.

Baskets: check

Shooting hoops to warm up for the hunt:

Found a beautiful robin's feather while warming up:

Hunting and helping hunt!:

The sweet scores:

Eating the found treasures:

Please note the blue drool that is forming on Liam's shirt and dripping out of his mouth. He opened about 4 eggs in a row shoving the contents of each directly into his mouth with minimal chewing! I had to pull a wad of jelly beans out of his mouth because it was stuck in his teeth and he couldn't swallow the wad was so big! See the photo above? I'm pretty sure he was about to choke!

Jude actually showed a little more reserve this year. He's getting so big.  He said, "I think I'll wait a little and eat more later so my tummy doesn't get sore." Good idea!

A movie (The Blind Side) and cupcakes took place for the "big kids" while Liam napped! (Jude surprised us by putting on his football jersey since the movie had a lot of football in it!)  My mom use to make us an Easter bunny cake every year with coconut, icing and jelly beans.  This is a treasured memory for me and below is my version for the boys. We will also include our resurrection rolls every year! I don't want them thinking that Easter is about eggs and bunnies. It is about new life, hope and the promise of a future with our King forever! Amen!