Museum of Flight

We live in a great city that provides tons of fun things for us to do - and lots of them for free! Today our local art museum had free day in celebration of "Japanese Culture Day". We walked around and looked at all the art, did some crafts and even had dragons painted on their arms (they weren't too crazy about having their faces painted). I know they are a little young to appreciate all the art right now, but I look forward to being able to take them there as they get older and we begin to learn about different time periods, people, and places. There's really a lot to learn there! They still enjoyed just walking around and looking at everything. They did a great job at "looking with their eyes" and not touching anything - I was very proud :)
Last week we had the opportunity to go to a local Flight Museum - it was also free in celebration of National Flight day (or something like that) - anyhoo, it's not someplace I think I would have taken the boys at this age had it not been free but I'm so glad we did! They provided lots of activities for the kids (even a jumpy house) plus several planes they were actually able to climb in and "drive" - what more could a boy ask for! :) This is another place that will be a great resource as they get older and we begin to learn about our country's history.

With our friend Beau in front of a WW II planeIn the cockpitDouble Trouble :)

More flying :)

Little boy in a big plane :)

They had a great activity room for the kids with lots of play planes for them - this wasn't as cool as the real planes but it was still pretty fun!

Of course our sisser girl was with us - just as happy as she can be - just glad to be with those boys! I could just smother her with kisses! One of my favorite things she is doing right now is she laughs whenever anyone else does - it's so cute. If me or one of the boys starts laughing she will just crack up. She's really starting to "act" more like a girl than my boys - she likes to be a part of whatever is going on. Sometimes when I'm holding her, if I am looking away from her she will reach up and pull my head to face her and just look me in the eyes and smile, like, "hey, I'm over here!"
Also, since her 9 month post she has gotten mobile - but not crawling yet. She literally just uses her arms to reach and drag the rest of her body across the floor. Who knows when she's going to stick that hiney up in the air and pull up those knees - but this is working for her for now - there's not too many places she can't pull/drag herself to now :)

Here are just two silly pics from the past week. My dad got the boys a little mini trampoline/jumpy house and they love it - I love it too because they burn a good bit of energy in it. Here they wanted to wear their swim goggles - and they were running around the house in their underwear - they just crack me up!

Really, the cutest 2 year old EVER:)!

The Birthday Party!

This past Saturday we had the boys 2nd and 3rd birthday party. The plan was baby pools and slip n' slides and fun in the sun. We hadn't had rain in almost 2 weeks so of course it decided to rain on the morning of our party. At 9 am it was like a monsoon outside and I was about to cry! All my party plans were for outside - down to watermelon and popsicles to eat outside. The party started at 10 am and it was still raining as everyone started to arrive. There was no thunder or lightening so finally around 10:30 we decided to just to let them go out and see what would happen. Well, as you'll see from the pics it ended up being probably more fun because of the rain! I think most of the kids had a good time. The daddy's were awesome - they all stood out in the rain and helped the kids figure out the slip n' slide (which didn't take too long - after a few times you couldn't drag them away!)
Sis is ready for the party :)
Both boys had a great time at their party - but this little guy was a wild man!!
James was most excited about having all of his friends over. After his nap he kept asking where they were - he wanted to play more!

Oh, and he loved the party favors - water guns and sun glasses :)

And of course, they were both excited about more cake :)


There were way too many great pics to just pick a few so here is a slide show of pics my great friend Anne-Michelle took

After everyone left my mom and Papa Steve pulled out their gift for the boys:

Some serious driving going on!

Gracie Belle in her party dress :) No swimming for her this year -but I'm sure next year she'll be out in the middle of it with the boys!

We are so thankful for all of our family and friends that made it out (even in the rain) for the boys party. They had a great time and are already asking when their next birthday will be :)

My baby boy is 2!

Sniff, Sniff - these babies just keep growing up!! Today was John-Mark's birthday and lucky for him his birthday party actually fell on his birthday so it was a day full of fun and friends! We started the morning with Happy Birthday singing in bed and he got to open his special presents from mommy and daddy - his favorite was what I expected - flip flops! He has been coveting his brothers ever since he got them as a "poop" present so we decided to get him his own pair - He put them on immediately and wore them all day! Then we had planned a fun pool and slip n slide party - which it rained through. At first I was a little discouraged but I think the boys had more fun BECAUSE of the rain! (A full party post soon to come)

brand new :)

1st Birthday

Two!

Ready for the party! Cutest little brothers I know!

Sneak peak of the birthday party - pools and slip n slides in the rain - what more could a boy ask for!

Dear John-Mark,
My precious, handsome BIG boy. I almost feel like I have two boys turning three instead of you turning 2. It seems like from the time you started crawling you have been in a hurry to catch up to your big brother and be able to do everything that he can do – and it appears that is the case. I can’t think of much that he can do that you’re not able to do as well. From knowing your ABC’s and numbers, to swimming without a life jacket, climbing our rock wall and on and on. You are so smart and honestly amaze me everyday with how quickly you have grown up over the last year! Other people comment all the time as well at how surprised they are at all you can do at such a young age and I always tell them that you really think you’re 3! There is nothing James is going to do that you’re not going to conquer as well.
You are the one every one thinks looks like your mommy and you probably have a bit of my personality as well. You are very determined when trying to do something and will get quite frustrated if things don’t go as you would like. However, when you finally figure out what you’ve been working on (like putting your shoes on by yourself) you are so proud and will beam “I did it, I did it!” On many occasions I have watched you figure out how to do something difficult if I just leave you alone and let you go to it. Just a few weeks ago you wanted to swing and I was inside and I looked out and you had pulled a small plastic wagon over to the baby swing, dumped it over, then stood on it and pulled yourself up in to the swing. Then you had your big brother come over and push you – so smart!
While you love to be around people like your brother you also enjoy your alone time. It’s not uncommon at some point in the day to find you in your room, by yourself, looking through books or playing with toys. Sometimes when you and James are watching cartoons you’ll just get up and go to your room. When I go to check on how you’re doing you’ll be playing with some toy that James was playing with earlier and have it all to yourself  You also are a little reserved when you first go someplace new. It usually takes you a minute to check everything out -you can just tell you are always soaking in everything around you and thinking. You usually have a very serious face until you feel comfortable with someone new or someplace new but then you get the biggest grin and have big fun! You seriously love to have fun! While you often show caution you are not fearful at all. You will try just about anything – like being pulled behind a jet ski at 20 mph!
You also love to be a helper with your baby sister and are always taking her toys or talking to her. You love to tell people, “that my sisser”. It’s crazy to me that you are a big brother too – my baby boy! I look forward to watching you boys look out for your sister for years to come.
It makes my heart hurt a little to see how fast you are growing up! I honestly feel like we just brought you home from the hospital and I blinked and you’re 2! I wouldn’t mind it if we could just slow things down a little bit!
I love you soooo much and can’t imagine our family without you! I have a feeling you are going to keep us on our toes and keep us laughing! Happy 2nd birthday to my big, baby boy!

Guess who's 3!?!

Can you believe it? I barely can! At 6:44 pm on this day 3 years ago I met my sweet baby james for the first time and became a mommy. It feels like just yesterday he was like this

brand new :)

One

Two

James was greeted this morning with mommy and daddy singing happy birthday and then opened his special birthday presents. The $5 plastic golf club set was his favorite (not what I expected) and he's been playing golf all day! Then it was a special breakfast kicked off by a yummy birthday cupcake - how fun is cake for breakfast! I had planned a full day of "james-a-palooza" with a visit to I-jump in the morning and swimming in the afternoon but John-Mark is getting those terrible 2 year molars and isn't really up for too much fun right now. But we were able to get out of the house and meet daddy for lunch at one of James' favorite places - Moe's. He loves some chips and salsa:)

My sweet, sweet first born. You are truly the sweetest boy I know. In almost every way you are cut from the same cloth as your daddy. You LOVE LOVE LOVE to be with your friends and you talk about them all the time. You ask when they are coming to see you and you tell me that you love them. You’ll often call them yours, like “my beau” or “my john-mark”. You love to be around people and rarely choose to spend time alone. You never meet a stranger and talk to everyone everywhere we go from people opening the door for us at the gym to check out clerks at the grocery store. You tell them all about you, how old you are, where your daddy is (at work, making money you say) who your friends are, where you’ve been, where you’re going and on and on. As of late you’ve been telling everyone “I be 3 on August the 11^th”. You also pay a lot of attention and will say things to people like “I like your haircut” or if someone has a blanket you’ll ask if they are cold or tired.

You have an unending love for learning and you are always asking questions and figuring things out and telling me things that I didn’t even know you knew. Every night when your daddy comes home from work you tell him all about your day, and much like your mommy you rarely leave any little detail out (that you do get from me).

This summer you have shown us your adventurous side as we have gone swimming lots and you have no fear. You love to jump in the water and don’t mind going under at all. In fact, we went to the lake not long ago and you were jumping off your daddy’s shoulders (who was standing on the pier) in to the water and LOVING it. As soon as you came up you would say “one more time daddy!”
I love to hear you laugh with your brother or your friends. Your laugh is so contagious and a real belly laugh. When you crack up it is just too cute! You also love to be silly and try to make everyone else laugh as well.

You have become such a great big brother. Of course you and John-Mark have your moments but for the most part you will help each other and share. You’re really a big help with Gracie and you love for us to set her in your lap so you can hold her and you like to tell me “take a picture mommy” You also will help and bring me diapers or burp clothes for her and you’re always bringing her toys. You love to help give her a bottle and now that she’s eating you like to try and help with that too.

It has been such a joy to get to spend every day with you and watch you grow from our first little baby in to such a sweet boy. We are so thankful for you and love you more than words can express. Happy 3^rd Birthday to my big boy!!!

Sisser is 9 months!

Sisser, as she is affectionately called by all of us it seems is 9 months old! What's new with Gracie? She is eating baby food 3 times a day and LOVES it. I've yet to find anything she doesn't like. She's also started snacking on Puffs between meals - especially when I drop her off in the gym playroom. Apparently she was giving them some little fits but once she had a bag of Puffs to snack on while I'm away she's been doing great. Another eater in the Allen crew - what a surprise :)
She's also been "swimming" quite a bit with the boys and seems to love the water. She loves to splash her mommy while I'm holding her and she thinks it's hysterical when the boys splash her. She's still not crawling, which doesn't surprise me. The boys bring her toys all the time so she really has no need to go mobile. She also isn't able to go from lying to sitting up on her own yet. It's funny how with James we were so anxious for him to do all these things, crawl, pull up, walk, talk. With Gracie I'm totally laid back and just loving right where she is. I know eventually she's going to do it all so what's the rush. Lately I've been sitting her in our garden tub with toys while I take a shower and it's perfect since she's not able to get into anything. Once she starts crawling and pulling up that will be all over.
We found out this month when we went to the lake for a couple of nights that while she is a great sleeper at home, not so good on the road :( I think she's really attached to her bed which we're going to have to work on. Maybe naps in the pack n play now and again?
She's still our happy smiley baby that is just so much fun! Her hair is getting a little longer and blonder it seems everyday. Everyone still thinks she looks just like James so we'll see how she changes as she grows. I don't "wish" for her to get bigger but I am excited about the day when she'll have enough hair to put in pig tails :)
Here's some pics of our bathing beauty:

A day at the lake!

In the past month we've been super blessed by getting to go to the lake with some of our friends that have family lake houses. It's so nice to be able to drive just a short little way and feel like you're on a little mini vacation. The boys have had an amazing time - swimming all day, boat rides, sea doo's, fishing and more - absolutely nothing not to love! We were pretty sure before but now we are 100% certain that both the boys are going to be huge water lovers! I didn't take any pictures of our first lake trip so I took a ton this past trip - get ready - I couldn't choose just a couple of favorites :)
The Day boys and the Allen boys - cutest boys EVER!! They are all very close in age. John-Mark is only 3 months older than John-Daniel. Those two had the best time running around together. It made me so happy to see John-Mark with his own friend that was his age - he's always running around with James' friends, which they're all friends but I like that there are some boys right there with John-Mark as well.

These boys have No Fear! They love to jump in to the water - but even better than that they like to stand on Jeremy's shoulders and jump in! Look at John-Mark loving watching his brother take the giant leap as he swims to the ladder.

He was ready to do it for himself!

Then it was time for a ride on the Sea-Doo to which James kept saying "faster daddy, faster!"

Then they each had to get in the drivers seat for themselves-

John-Mark probably sat here and "drove" for 30 minutes - just loving it!

Enjoying a nice ride on the boat - someone is getting very sleepy :)

Is this like a boys rite of passage - peeing off the dock - And very proud of himself :)Side note - James is almost swimming by himself with no life jacket! He can jump in and float to the top by himself and then tread water/swim his way over to you then turn around and swim his way back to the side of the pool. I'm so proud of him! Now we just have to get him comfortable with floating on his back!

Then it was time for some tubing!

I LOVE this pic! This is just after they finished tubing - they both look soooo happy - my heart could burst!

Then it was James and Jeremiah's turn to tube - all by themselves

Then, to my shock - my 23 month old baby grabbed on to the little ski board and was pulled behind the sea-doo - and LOVED it!

kicking those legs the whole way!

I have to remind myself that he's not even 2! James wouldn't even do this - my baby boy is such a big boy! He probably went like this for over 5 minutes. When his was finished he kept opening and closing his fists - probably because he was holding on so tightly the entire time :)

After all the water fun we decided to do a little fishing

Playing with the fish John-Mark caught - this is one thing about having boys that is icky to me - I stayed pretty far from the bucket with the fish in it - just in case it jumped out - ha!

Of course our sisser girl was there in her own little baby pool :)

One last run and jump before we had to leave!

We are so thankful for our wonderful friends the Nix's and Days that invited us to share such a wonderful time with them.