Happy Birthday Nolan!

Wow I totally forgot Nolan's birthday was at the start of the week. Typically, I do a post honoring the birthday boy as we look back over the last 3 years. I might pull the he's the 3rd and if he wants to look back he can click back through the blogs! Maybe I will do a special post later this week. For now I'm trying to unwind and get organized after being gone all weekend.

I may not have time to write a special blog but we made sure the day was all about him. What Nolan wanted Nolan got! He is such a cute 3 year old!

Nolan: Mom I want a smoothie! 

Culver's it was for lunch….

The best part was getting to eat with friends….

Followed by a play date in the park. This was Easton's hiding spot during hide and go seek...

Later that night we talked to Grandpa John and Grandma Julie while he opened their present.

JB called and helped sing him happy birthday when it was cake time.

Nolan is one lucky little boy...

This week the older boys had half day bible camp. This seriously seemed like the best camp ever. It was so colorful and the kids seemed to have a blast whenever we got there to pick them up. They did a big group gathering and invited all the parents to come watch at the end of each day. Nolan thought this was great and joined Spencer's group each day to sing and dance with them.

 After camp this week we went to the MN Zoo.

Spencer really wanted his picture taken with this fox. That also meant the other two had to have their pictures taken.

The boys did well listening and they enjoyed seeing all the different animals.

Since we have a membership now I didn't feel so rushed and actually allowed them to play in the park area.

One of their favorite things. The bubbling mud puddle...

The dinosaurs are gone and now they have bugs. I miss the dinosaurs!

Thanks dude for photo bombing the one picture I got of all the kids looking!

Before heading home we enjoyed an ice cream treat.

 We also had a picnic in the park that night with some of Easton and Nolan's friends from school.

I caught the boys taking turns peeing behind a tree and made them sit in a time out together. I could tell Easton and Spencer were up to something but they were being sneaky. I knew what was going on when Nolan stood out in the open and pulled down his pants and pull up to pee! Ugh boys!

Every summer I look forward to one weekend slightly more than others. It's a chance for me to get away and hang out with some friends. I like to call them my summer family. Finally, it was Country Jam  weekend.

This year my cousin's Tanner and Conner where there. Only I didn't get a picture with Conner!

Not many people  can say they are still friends with people they've known pretty much since birth. Jenny was my babysitter and we always shared a special bond growing up.

This year even my parents joined in on the fun. Only while their daughter was slumming it in the back in general admission they were sitting up close in VIP. I'm going to vote though I had more fun!

My dad was asked if he wanted to meet Jennifer Nettles. Thankfully I had been talking about her earlier that day and he knew how much I liked her and offered the passes to me! AHHH I was so excited. I had never really met anyone that famous before.

Jenny and I waited patiently until it was our turn. 

She was super friendly and nice to meet. Even though you really don't get to talk much I was still excited!

Things always get a little crazy towards the evening. It makes for some great memories and laughs in the years to come.

Thanks Paula, Kari and Jenny for putting up with me and allowing me to tag a long year after year.

Nolan came with me to Grandma's house and got to spend some alone time with them. My mom said a few times how easy it is to have just him. I would agree… Nolan is easy to have around. The big boys got to spend some time with Ryan. He took them to the park...

They played some football...

and they even had a camp out in the backyard. I was impressed when Ryan told me his plan. Spencer has been asking the last few summers. Ryan said Easton got scared and cried when it was time to go to bed but both slept hard and even slept in late the next morning until almost 9:30!

Ok the mom guilt is setting in so check back later this week and I will update you on our little 3 year old. There probably won't be a post next Sunday because Ryan's little sister Renee is getting married!

Summer Camp!

It was a big week for Easton. He got to go to his first all week, all day out door summer camp. He was excited to be like his older brother and head off to camp. Overall camp went great. They had 2 rainy days forcing them to play in their big barns. Easton told me there were things he liked about camp and things he didn't (he didn't like when they sprayed him with a hose). He's excited he gets to go back at the end of the summer. 

While Easton was at the traditional day camp Spencer attended their version of Sports camp.

Every other week I play in a golf league. The boys asked if they could get their clubs out and Ryan took them down to the baseball diamond and acted as though it was a mini driving range.

Ryan also took the boys to the store as he had a meeting that night. They must have brought the iPad with because I found all these random pictures….

It was Easton's turn to go with Ryan for his softball night. Ryan said he didn't take the job as serious as Spencer and even fell off the bleachers at one point and hit his head.

We had a pretty rough morning getting out of our house this week. I was having some mom guilt so I decided to stop at the beach for an hour or so with Nolan. He had a lot of fun and I think truly enjoyed spending time with just mom this week.

I always say it's a good thing I am Easton's mom and that he's so darn cute. Our kids are far from perfect, not every day is a fairy tale and I'm by far not a perfect mom. Easton and I had a rough morning towards the end of the week when I could tell he was tired from his week at camp. He wanted pancakes for breakfast and I put them on a green plate. Well he wanted the blue plate like Spencer. I wasn't willing to switch and told him just to eat the pancakes or he would go to camp hungry. Needless to say he threw about a 15 minute meltdown tantrum and took his fork to the top of our kitchen table and put some scratches in it. I lost my cool... I just get so tired of playing the little games. I know it would have been easier to switch the plate but then I'm giving into his whiney behavior. I just didn't think he would act out like that. I was hurt, upset and mad. When I dropped him off at camp I could tell he was still tired as he had tears in his eyes, hung onto my leg and asked me to take him home. Part of me wanted to stand there and hug/love him and part of me thought "I don't want to be around you after what you did this morning." Being a mom isn't easy. I hate that I always feel like I'm being judged by my kids behavior. Or my kids are always being watched to see how they will act in different situations. We have 3 incredible boys. They are not well behaved or good all of the time. They have a lot of energy and love to wrestle, tackle and be rough. As their mom it makes me cringe at times but yet no matter what I still love them. Easton is also the kid that will still curl up into my lap just to be held. He's the first one to tell me he loves me all the way to outer space. When you give him a task or really ask him to be a good brother/helper he will. In the car today I asked him if Nolan could help him carry something in and right away he says "Ya sure mom!" I just wish I had answers for what to do in the situations when he is throwing his tantrum or showing us just how strong willed he can be!

The table….

 Easton had to sit out the first 1/2 of practice for his behavior that day (it was the same day as the fork to to the table). He did fine just watching and when it was time to go in he was excited but I could tell he was still worn out from the day.

Nolan is wearing his new baseball shirt to cheer on his brothers.

Our neighbor Eli brought his 4 wheeler back from his cabin. The kids all got to go for a ride in it. I'm pretty sure they will want to ride in this instead of their little power cars from now on.

We had family pictures this weekend. We told the boys they needed to dress up. Right away Spencer was begging for the outfit he wore to his kindergarten concert and Easton wanted his tie dye YMCA shirt. We told them they could wear them at the end for a few pictures. Luckily I had the final say in their real outfits.

Here's one I took with my phone. I'm hoping we got a few good shots of all 3 of them smiling.

Our street is pretty great. The kids have other endless kids to play with. They all seem to get along well and we do a lot of fun things. Nic brought out the his movie screen on Saturday. While the kids watched a movie the adults sat around the fire and played bean bags. Doesn't get much better then that.

Easton had a friend's birthday party this weekend. Owen and Evan are two of Easton's buddies. The Giggle Factory was crazy with kids running around.

Neither of our kids would look and smile for me...

We finished our weekend off with a grill out at my old co-workers house. It was so great to see my friends again. The part I miss the most about not working are the friends I made while I was there. I love that we still stay connected and can get together.

Where has the time gone? I just can't believe this little boy will be 3 when we wake up tomorrow. I'm so excited to continue to watch him grow and learn but he's so darn cute the age he is right now that I want to freeze him in this moment. Love you Nolie!

I shared this video earlier this week but it makes me laugh every time I watch it. It's super annoying when he actually does it because it's usually when we are in a hurry or have a long ways to walk…..