Three Things

Happy March!

Three things (ok, more than three things...it's been a while!) about....

Drew:
1. Recently found out about maiden names when it came up in a random conversation. The look on his face when I told him my last name was different before I married Daddy was priceless. You would have thought I just told him I was formerly from another planet.

2. Is reading like a champ. My days of spelling words out in an effort to talk with Nathan without the boys understanding are officially, officially over.

3. Can officially tie his own shoes...and yours if you're not careful! A new sneaky favorite of his is to hide under the dining room table and tie your shoes together without you knowing. Its a charming new trick.

4. Loves to invent/create things. His most recent thing was to turn our office into a room filled with zip lines for his lego men and all their adventures. String, tape, staples, etc don't last long in our house these days.

Collin:
1. Will look at me or smile or open his eyes for a picture these days, but never ever all three at once....goodness, these days I'm lucky if I get two of those things in the same photo (unless of course, you catch him off guard).

2. Chatty, chatty, chaaaaaaatty. Man, can this kid talk right now!

3. Majorly into Legos right now. They are the very first thing he is playing when he hops out of bed and the very last thing he's playing with before hopping into bed, with little else in between.

4. Can count to 35 with no help.

5. Still sticks his tongue out whenever he's concentrating on something important to him.

6. Loves his puppy, but breaks out in this splotchy rash anywhere his skin touches Brucey. Fortunately it doesn't seem to bother him too much, but it bothers me, so we're trying to figure out if Collin is allergic (since Brucey simply being inside doesn't bother him at all), or if it is something Brucey is touching since its only by touch that Coll gets the rash.

7. Loves temporary tattoos...and putting them in oh so creative places, 'cause you know, who wouldn't love an Elsa tattoo right down the center of their nose??

8. Has the best little drawings right now! He has trouble drawing hearts but almost always wants at least one in every picture he draws, so my job right now is "heart drawer". I draw them, he fills them in.

Tanner:
1. Is officially paci free! (Ok, he's been paci free for a long while now, but somehow that never made it into the 3 things, so it should be noted, right?).

2. Is officially potty trained! Happy dance, happy dance!

3. Does his own stunts. He loves to keep up with the big kids and refuses to let his age or size slow him down from competing with them (and he has quite a few bruises and bumps to show for it).

4. Wipes off each and every kiss you give him these days with a big dramatic sweep of his arm across his lips. If he's feeling extra feisty, he adds a "BLECK!" to the end of that swipe.

5. Favorite accessory? A pair of swim goggles....and maybe a cape or a mask, depending on the morning.

6. Hides whenever he thinks he's in trouble...and by "hides", I mean he covers his eyes.

7. Loves any and all costumes right now.

Recognize this costume, Auntie Pam?

"Hi, my name's Olaf..."

..."and I like warm hugs."

8. Loves to "read" and be read to.

Brucey:

And since I have so many of them, I figured I'd share a few photos of my "fourth child" as well (why not?).

This dog is beyond spoiled. In order to get his face resting on the desk...

...he has to squish his hiney into the chair behind me. This happens each and every time I sit down to work at the computer. He also has to balance precariously to be there because he's big and no longer fits very well on the chair when there are two of us sitting in it.

He's also carried to bed every night from the living room. Ridiculous. Nathan started this when he was a puppy and now he refuses to get up and move to the bedroom when its time for bed. Since I still don't trust him enough to sleep out there and not to be kenneled at night, Nathan ends up just scooping him up and bringing him into the bedroom. I'm convinced he purposely waits for Nathan at this point.

Spoiled. That's the only fact I have about Brucey. Spooooooiled.

The Duck Club

I have all of January to post on, but the highlight of the month was the big boys heading out to Kids' Weekend out at the Duck Club with Grandpa and Daddy. This was the second year the boys have gone, but if it's even possible, I think they were more excited to go this year than they were last (maybe because they knew the fun that was in store for them this time around). Nathan had gone into work for the morning and planned to come home around three when they were set to leave, but the boys were all dressed, packed and ready to go about five minutes after he had left for the office that morning...you know, just in case he came home early and they needed to leave then. 

I took advantage of all the free time they had being dressed and waiting and pulled out my camera to grab a few pictures.

The boys helped with their packing and by the time they were finished, their backpacks were just about as big and as heavy as they were!

Only a slight bit excited

Eventually, when Nathan did get back home, I convinced them all to sit still for what would only take a minute (I had to promise it would take no longer than that) to grab a picture of all the camo clad boys in my life.

Tanner and Collin before Tanny realized he wasn't going...

...Tanner after he realized he wasn't going. Oye. I had been saying it the entire time the big boys were getting ready to go, but I don't think Tanny understood that he wasn't going until everyone loaded up to leave and he didn't get to hop in the car. I felt bad, but there was no way, whether or not someone had approved it, that our two year old was headed out to a Duck Club. Sorry Tan Tan.

He spent some time pouting about it for an hour or so after everyone left...

...but warmed up quickly when he realized the big boys being gone meant that he had all of my attention all to himself. We spent lots of time snuggling and giggling. I'd like to say he ate it up (which he did), but I think I savored the snuggles more. ;)

My contribution of camo for the weekend.

Like last year, once all of the junior hunters had finished hunting for the morning, the boys were able to go sit in the blinds (they're not old enough to actually hunt yet, they just get to go hang out with everyone).

Just because they're not old enough to hunt though, doesn't mean that they are lacking in having fun while they are there. Grandpa always makes sure to get them all set up with duck calls and hunting gadgets that they play with out in the blinds and around the property. When they're all good and practiced up, they then come home to show me all the calls they learned. *Such* sweet sounds up and down our hallways. 

Eventually, Coll's four year old attention span was tired of sitting out in the blinds. Nathan said he started asking to go back to the clubhouse, but they managed to hold him off a bit more with someone's phone and some photos to look through.

Remember those waders Drew got for Christmas? He finally got to try them out and was so excited about it. He came home telling me it was his favorite part of the trip.

A worn out Collin and Daddy. Five am is awfully early when you're little.

More time testing out those waders.

And finally, what boys' trip would be complete without loading up on all the junk food they rarely get at home? Its no wonder the boys love their weekend out at the club! Thank you Grandpa for taking the boys and for always making it such a fun experience for them! They loved it!