Artsy Fartsy

Jared had the day off Saturday, yeah! (That's rare for us folks!) We went to the Art Museum for a cultural experience. Carter went with his school class a couple months ago so he was our official tour guide. We had so much fun! There were a lot of amazing pieces, Picasso, Monet, Warhol, and a lot of really fun modern and contemporary pieces. The boys wore out long before Jared and I . We managed to find enough fun stuff to keep them entertained, they lasted 3 hours... that's longer than we stay at the children's museum. (Probably because we have a pass and can go back anytime we like). My favorite part was when we were walking through one of the exhibits and this guy walks up to me, motions to my boys and says, "you have 3 beautiful pieces of art here." I think I was self conscious most of the time and interpreted the stares from fellow museum guests as, "why are you here with all these little boys!" Who knows, maybe they were just admiring the art. (ha ha) Needless to say it was a welcome compliment.

We got caught in the rain on the way into the museum, hence Cam is wearing my coat. You gotta love going to the museum on a rainy day. The architecture of the art museum is pretty spectacular, it is a piece of art in and of itself.

Gage thought this one looked like balloons. Once he got close enough to see that it was blown glass rather than balloons he took interest in the spider crawling on the floor rather than the art. Boys will be boys!

This was a fun piece titled "Overstimulated." The TV screens were changing so fast you couldn't see what was on them. I thought it was pretty creative. The picture doesn't do it much justice.

Carter says, "That's not art. It's just a shovel and some dirt!"

The boys had a lot of fun trying out all of the different chairs in this exhibit. They were all different and they really got a kick out of trying each one out. It was great because it was something they could touch!

Carter and Gage really liked the glass cases with armour in them. They even got to try on some of it, see the picture of Gagers below.

Playing "I Spy". Our tour guide (Carter) showed us some fun things hidden in this piece. The art docent even came by and played with us.

Staring contest.

One of the exhibits had a bunch of magnifying glasses so that you could really see all of the detail in the pieces of art (they were paintings of animals). It was pretty amazing but we found an alternate use for the magnifying glasses. We were pretty entertained. *keep in mind we were trying to keep two little boys engaged and out of trouble!

* You'll have to excuse the poor lighting on so many of our pictures... flash photography wasn't allowed. Hence the blurry pictures.

What do you do in the winter time...

...when you live in Wisconsin and it is nasty cold outside?? You go swimming! Last weekend we ventured up North to escape the cold. Up North you say? Of course... don't you usually head North in the winter to escape the cold??? Well you do when that is where you can find an indoor waterpark resort that maintains a balmy 84 degrees. It was just what we needed... a weekend of warmth. We pulled out the swimsuits, shorts and flip-flops and I felt like I was in Arizona once again. Saying that Carter and Gage were excited is a bit of an understatement. The boys dragged their dad from slide to slide to slide for hours upon end while I sat and enjoyed baby Cam and my book. Jared finally tag teamed me and although I was hesitant to reveal the amazing post baby body that was hiding under my swim cover I decided to let loose and have some fun. The resort is right on Lake Michigan and so we had a beautiful sunrise to wake up to... oh wait you don't really get a sunrise in Wisconsin most days with all the cloud cover, but the view of the Lake was still beautiful. The boys didn't get much sleep as they were eager to get back to the water park. They woke up before 7:00 and 9am couldn't come fast enough!

Side Liners.

I really enjoyed sitting on the side watching the boys play, reading my book, and enjoying the warmth.

Unsuspected knivery... Carter is a little monster! He led me right into the waterfall.

Cam content sleeping in the stroller - he slept the whole day.

Carter's fave... I think he lept across these lily pads at least 50 times... no joke.

This is how we do discipline at our house.

I think we wore them out!!

Par-Tay!!

Last weekend Janet (my cousin) came to visit from Arizona... Who in the world comes to Milwaukee from AZ in the winter??? "AUNT" JANET DOES! she's a super star if you ask me... She came to meet baby Cam and to be here for Gagers birthday. Carter and Gage were SUPER excited for her to come (probably because they knew they would be spoiled to death... AND because they love her dearly). They were counting down the days! (I was excited too :)

We went to Lake Michigan on a whim on the way home from the airport and went for a "walk on the beach" Wisconsin style. We saw the funniest sign while we were there...

A close up of the sign:

What in the world?!? We were seriously laughing so hard!!

Janet's modeling debut.

It was cold, and I don't think Janet thawed out until she returned home to Tucson but it was nice to get out of hibernation mode... I stay inside way too much lately!

We went to a pizza place to celebrate Gage's big day... It was like a Chuck E. Cheese on steroids.

Tickets anyone?

Um, is someone excited... I think Carter beat us all at air hockey. (I'm sure the competitive side of Jared would say he let Carter win.)

Meeting Aunt Janet... I think he likes her!

We woke up on Gage's birthday to 8 inches of freshly fallen snow. When Gage saw it he got so excited and exclaimed, "It's for my birthday!!" I'm sure Janet was ecstatic to go out into the blizzard to play in the snow... but you have to honor the birthday boys wishes!! (Actually I think she may have even had fun too.)




Gage's cake request... a fire truck...

Singing "Happy Birthday." I love how into it Carter gets...

Make a wish! ("I wish that Janet would come and visit us again!")

Janet we were all so excited to have you here to help celebrate Gage's birthday... we just wish you could have stayed longer!! Maybe once it warms up we can get you to come back!

Happy Birthday Goob!

Our little Gagers is three!! He is such an expressive little personality! He is so excitable and such a happy little guy but beware... when he is mad he is very, VERY mad. He LOVES being a big brother and has such a nurturing personality. He is such a little lovey with more than enough hugs and kisses to share. He keeps us laughing and has a smile that lights his eyes with a twinkle that I hope never dies. He's our little night owl and hates to go to bed... perhaps in an attempt to be able to spend a little extra one on one with daddy. He's been our kick back kid since day one, with such a laid back personality. Gage we love you to the moon and back! Happy Birthday Goob!!!

As Precious As Can Be

Camden is 4 weeks old and I couldn't ask for a sweeter baby. He is so easy... just what I need, after all he is the 3rd boy!! He is such a happy boy, a great sleeper... 6 hours straight last night (he ate and then slept for 4 more) and he has even started smiling at us in the last couple of days, showing off his cute little dimple. We all love him to pieces! Here are the latest pictures of our sweet baby boy.

Baby blue eyes

Is that a smile??
(I could not get him to look at me for a picture... he was fixated on his daddy!)

** If you click on the first picture you can see how hairy our little monkey is... seriously!?! I hope it's not an indicator of how hairy he'll be as a man, poor guy!

Warm Weekend...

We had some record breaking weather... and unlike December this was welcome record breaking weather. We broke the record high from the late 1800's. We loved being able to spend some time in the outdoors without our coats and without freezing! We went for several walks and spent some time at the park. With the warm weather came a lot of puddles from the snow melt off. It took all I had to keep the boys out of the puddles on the way to the park (and it still didn't work). I told them they could jump in the puddles all they wanted once we got closer to home... and that they did! They were soaked up to their waist. The following Monday when I picked Carter up from school he was literally covered in mud from head to toe (it's a good thing they require coats, snow boots, and snow pants!) It was hilarious because all of the little boys were filthy muddy and all of the little girls remained prim and proper and clean as a whistle! I love having little boys, even in all their dirty glory!


Well it didn't last long... but it sure made us anxious for Spring to really be here!!

Worth It...

Some days I have screaming, fighting, back talking, mess making, deaf little monsters that I feel like I am fighting with all day long and I find myself thinking, "I don't think I'm cut out to be a mom, especially a mom of 3 rambunctious boys!" But then there are those moments where they tell me how beautiful I am or they do a chore without being asked or they say something that is so stinkin' funny that I am reminded how great it is to be a mom and how blessed I am to have 3 amazingly beautiful, healthy little munchkins to love! Here are a few of our most recent moments:

The other night Gage woke up and came into my room. In my half awake, sleep deprived state I asked, "what's the matter baby?" Gage immediately burst into tears, crying, "I am NOT a baby! I am a BIG BROTHER!!"

Whenever we pass a cemetery as we are driving around town Gage gets so excited and boisterously shouts, "that is where people get buried when they die!" Well we were driving and as we passed a cemetery Gage saw a grave site that had a Christus statue on it. He got sooo excited and exclaimed, "Mom! That is where Jesus is buried!!"

Whenever I give Gage and Carter a bath they obsess about not getting soap or water in their eyes. I usually use a "no more tears" shampoo but we just ran out. As I was about to use the regular shampoo to wash Carter's hair he has a hysterical moment and insists that I can't use the shampoo because, "it's the hot kind." (translation: it will burn my eyes.) Trying to get through this bath I explain to him that it isn't hot, in fact it is orange shampoo - here smell it. He smells it and seems to be convinced by its citrus aroma that it's not hot. I start to wash his hair and he states, "Now if it were BBQ shampoo, then it would be hot!" BBQ shampoo? Hmmm, we may have something here.

These are those moments that make it all worth it!!

Photo caption - "WARNING: Do not leave two little boys unsupervised for any length of time! They may strip down naked and turn themselves into monsters via a box of lonely markers."

Happy Birthday Big Guy!!

My little C-Monster is not so little anymore. Carter turned six today, they grow up way too fast! He is such a fun kid to be around and is a great companion. He is very contemplative and is always thinking. He loves learning. He is very active and is always moving... (I'm not sure he knows how to sit still.) He loves to express his creative side and has quite an artistic flair. He is a big helper and absolutely adores his little brothers, he would do anything for them. He has a great sense of humor and keeps us laughing. His smile brightens a room... after all it is an award winning smile! We love you Carter... Happy Birthday!!

CrAZy MoNsTEr CuPcAKeS...and a SiLLy ROBOT cake

Yes I am slightly nuts... these are the cupcakes I made for Carter's Kindergarten class. They were a big hit! Believe it or not I even had fun making them...

And the much anticipated robot cake. Carter initially asked for a transformer cake... that really transformed! I wish I were that amazing! Ultimately we went for a robot. Don't look too close, I got tired toward the end and got a little sloppy but he still turned out alright...

It was crazy to have such a quiet birthday... we are used to lots of family to share our birthdays with (last year Carter had a family party and there were over 30 people there). Given the fact that we have a new baby I also opted to not have a party with friends this year. It was quiet but we had a good time... just the 5 of us!

Make a wish and BLOW!

I love how excited Gage was for Carter's birthday... maybe because he knows his is up next!