He's a genius!!!

kidding;) but it WAS pretty exciting to turn around and my little monster is writing his name on the side of the tub! I didn't even have to tell him what came next! These are the moments of being a parent that nothing can top. I love watching them grow up- I get so excited for everything else I get to see- and a little bit sad that the baby part of them goes away...

Welcome autumn...(pretend its still thanksgiving)

Ahhh.. christmastime:) Too busy! I have much to catch up on before the year is over. My boys are crazier than ever and getting bigger and mouthier by the minute! I am consta ntly amused with the things they come up with. I got soooooo mad the other day and I had asked them a million times to stop what they were doing- I had already counted to three like ten times...just to have them start up again after two minutes- so I said (in my very sweetest voice, i can assure you) Do NOT make me count to three again! Pierce:"I have an idea. why don't you count to five?". then cash starts laughing...

Always in costume this one....

oh this is his "cheese" stance. I had been telling the other boys to say 'cheese' and this is what he does in front of the camera. lets hope he grows out of it

My two spideys. you can just imagine when they have these on how softly and quietly they play together.

His majesty...

For the record...

It was never my wish to have my boys photographed wearing sleeveless superhero shirts that are five sizes too big. But in the interest of full disclosure (since I believe this would be the second time you see these shirts) there is no way they cannot be seen in these since they wear them all the time. And for that matter there is no way i can actually feel ashamed because I am the one that purchases things like this every chance I get. To be honest I kind of get a little giddy when I get to the sale section of a store (to my credit there is no WAY I would spend full price on these things) and lo and behold there are some awful, colorful, anything with superheros on them, shirts. I snap them all up and get excited for the debut and for the sheer joy they will feel everytime I say "look what you get to wear!":) I know they border on white trash...(border?) but the damage is done. I was hooked the first time I saw them flying around the couch after the shirts transformed them into superheros:)

My little Raptor

I can't help it- look at the socks! Once again, who knew what joy I would get out of just seeing him on the field?! He still doesn't really do anything...but it will come- i just know it! in the mean time I will take pleasure in seeing him in this little uniform. This middle picture is him making his raptor claws for the coach- something he does on the field quite a bit...:)

ahhhh, cash:)

halloween fun

So this year I did not get to pick their costumes. A sure sign that I am losing all control for good:( I tried for weeks to ask them what they wanted to be.. see if they would waiver at all- in vain. Spidey and Iron man. They made a cute superhero pair though! We gave them the costumes like it was christmas- instead of santa the 'halloween ghost' visited:) There really is nothing like watching your kids get excited. I can't WAIT for christmas!!!!! We had three opportunities to dress up this year- yay for facepaint. and one was my mom's famous halloween party. I did not get a picture of the table:( my favorite part always...and there was a pinata and games galore and a hayride- fun was had by all. good job marmi- and good job abby- the special surprise guest we had to sing our songs! She was really getting into it- some of the best pics I couldn't post because they were too blurry because of all the thrusting! Love the enthusiasm sister big... I also appreciate my baby Lex who got the shaft with the halloween costume this year. A dragon one night, superman the next- hand me downs until he has a voice...but he WORKED the dragon..we have officially decided that he will be known as 'sexy dragon'.

sister big :) they love it- my mom's nickname for them

sister great big:) ha!

sexy dragon

he really thinks he is iron man. rarely broke character

Pumpkins!

I realize it is november- but we DID go to a pumpkin patch at the arboretum before halloween:). We decided last minute to head down there so there will be no pictures of mauri or myself who were in sweats/ workout attire. The boys loved it- so many things to climb up on and jump off of- what more could they ask for? We brought lunch and had a little picnic, too. It is so fun to watch them get older and see their little personalities start to form. Pierce runs into everything with guns blazing- anything he is involved in is AWESOME for him- he'll run right in to any group of kids and just go. Cash is my thinker. He watches and analyzes situations before he decides how he wants to proceed (funny, my mom says i was like that when I was little). And then there is Lex- who has lots of personality still to show; but you wouldn't know it- I tell the boys to get their shoes on and before they have stopped what they are doing Lex comes to me with his shoes saying 'jew, jew' (thats 'shoe', folks;) and then he sits down to allow me to put them on. turn on music and he is dancing WITH hip thrusts. and as a side note his favorite thing to eat is a 'mamoe'- an apple- don't ask me how he came up with that one- but he walks over to the fruit basket and yells it at the top of his lungs. I have even tried hiding them with a dishtowel because he doesn't eat all of it he just spits it all over the house...but he won't be fooled. and i continue to buy apples just for the 10 minutes it buys me that he isn't walking around saying 'mameeeeee':)

he's MINE:)

Thats right, ladies...I'm the lucky lady:)

So many fun things to tell lately- I don't know why but men must be born with a fascination with poop, gas and bottoms. Pierce was blessing the food the other night and (he always gets this high-pitched voice; so sweet) it went something like this: "thank you for this food, thank you for our hearts:), bless that we can share, be careful with our owies.... help us to (and I can hear him start to smile) not toot,..then him and cash burst out into fits of laughter as cash starts to dance in his seat to his little 'my bootie' song- and don't worry, lex is right there with them fake laughing:) At the same dinner Cash was telling me about how he doesn't like girls - Pierce apparently doesn't either; and Pierce is going to start calling them jell-o; cuz they don't have any bones. You would not believe how those two laughed at that one...for like 10 minutes. aahhh, best friends...

I am glad I have a picture to document this. Cash and his 'green chips'. no more needs to be said.

SOCCER!! and thank you iron man..

I am officially 'that' mother. Just putting my boys in their uniform made me laugh and I could not and still can't wipe the smile off my face! It is too much joy! Pierce is actually a pretty good little player (not biased)(though I expect nothing less, given his blood:)- and I can't help but coach him constantly on the sidelines. I know how annoying it is, but when that little guy scores and turns to give us the thumbs up, you would think its the world cup. He loves to score, too-and heaven forbid he doesn't...gosh I wonder why he thinks its so important:)

Then we have Cash. He did not leave my lap for the first two practices and games. Then the third game he was sitting in my lap and I was resorting to bribery- I told him we could go pick out a big iron man toy if he played- still a no...but wait...a few minutes later he jumps up and says 'i wanna try!' and runs out there and plays the WHOLE Game!! Now to be fair I wouldn't really consider it playing- he was out there making raptor claws at the other team and running away from the ball at times...but he was out there and loving it- and has loved it ever since:) the skill level comes later, right? But don't worry, you wouldn't have known it from my screaming and taking pictures on the side:)

Exercise.

I am not worried about my childrens' cardiovascular health. I swear they do not sit down unless they are asleep or eating. its amazing that some girls sit and play polly pockets for hours- Now they will play cars, but it is only a matter of minutes before the cars are flying against a wall and then a few minutes more and they are playing dodgecar with eachother. I actually am not worried about my exercise most days either. I think I have a while before I sit down on the job...

have we noticed yet that he is never Not in costume?

I am laughing right now. This is how Cash and lex play while pierce is at school. They just laugh and laugh...He is going to be one tough little man.

How annoying do you think it might be to have this guy laying all over you trying to get you to play while you are just trying to watch your show and have a snack?

These moments are what I live for. I love them too much.

Boys.

So their new snacking spot is behind the couch. They think this is cooler than the table, maybe a little daring just because its not the table and how can I get angry when it brings them all together? - even if it is in mischief. Lex just follows these guys around everywhere- he is by far my most daring little one. If they climb up a chain ladder at the park you better believe this guy is not far behind- I feel like he is growing up so fast. It breaks my heart sometimes though because they will be playing cars or superheros and he walks up and they run as fast as they can into my room( with him hobbling behind) and shut the door in his face:( I am always having to step in and mediate...I know one day they will get it. The other day in the car we drove through a patch of skunks or something terrible- and Cash kept whining everytime he unplugged his nose because it stunk so bad and he finally yelled-'get the baby out!'...Cash, thats not the baby..'yes it is- he stinks (sob sob)...he's stinky(more sobs)...' gotta love him.

Quick lake trip

I'd like to thank papu for wearing this life jacket this way. You don't get laughs like this too often. Shameless:) We took them to the lakehouse when they were here just for the day- and aunt V and bobby, too. A good time was had by all- too bad Vanessa is such a wussy... I think she lasted one minute on the tube- sorry I don't have pictures- but she was off faster than i could have clicked one anyway:) Really- I don't even have pics of bobby and mauri.. which would have been good. One of the things I most enjoy in this life is watching people fly off the tube or hurt themselves while wakeboarding...
This picture of Cash while he is asleep- gosh he looks like such an angel- I need to take a mental picture of his sweet face to reference when he is telling me 'he doesnt like me and he doesn't like people':) I think little Cash must be very much like me- he knows just what to do when he is angry that will really get me..but then he knows how to squirm into my heart like no one else. I know I will hate the day that he gets too big to crawl into my lap and say "i wuv you, mom".