A little bit of everything

Man, this little blog of mine gets harder and harder to update.  So I'm just going to jump right in with a lot of pictures.

I want to remember Aiden like this.  My adorable little helper who's been obsessed with his backpack.  That backpack contains every toy he doesn't want Patrick to steal/play with.

 And Patrick, my runner.  One day, I took him on a walk with one of his buddies and they both had bikes.  Patrick's bike was smaller and so he was having a hard time keeping up with his friend.  After a few minutes he ditched his bike and just took off running...passing his friend on the bike.

We've been getting a lot of boxes of fruit(for canning) and with those boxes came a lot of lady bugs.  Aiden has loved them.

Speaking of canning, I've been going all home-maker crazy.  Not my normal style.  And we don't actually have a garden yet but we live in the country and everyone within 5-10 miles of us has a huge garden...which means we have been getting their leftovers.  I took a picture of this shepard's pie in the making because those are garden green beans, made in a homemade/grown tomato sauce with potatoes grown just down the street and hamburger butchered practically next door(I try not to think about it).  I mean, pretty soon I'm going to be calling myself amish.  As I'm typing this, I just got done taking off a batch of dried apples for snacks and now I have homemade fruit leather in a dehydrator.  Like I said, not normally my thing but my desire for good, healthy food mixed with a kitchen that I love to cook in and neighbors with extra fruits and vegetables=a whole new side of me.  Not sure how I feel about it but I think it's good.:)  Anyway, that was a long tangent about a picture of food.

Also, good, quality time with a best friend from almost toddler-hood is always a good thing.  I love my kids but a day out is always nice.  A couple weeks ago, we went and did the whole massage thing(not a couple massage-although, maybe next time Lyndz ;)) and I would say that is completely my style.  Man, I've been totally missing out for all of you people who do the manicure, pedicure, massage thing once in a while.  A couple weeks later we went to the Playmill theatre and saw Mary Poppins.  Growing up, I remember going to musicals and plays all the time because I have siblings who were actively involved in the theatre.  But that's been quite a few years since I've been to a full, adult production and wow, I've missed it.  It was just fun.  

And since I'm being completely random today, Patrick started pre-school again!  Aiden had a little hard time knowing his brother was leaving without him so they kept hugging over and over again.  I have quite a few hugging pictures from that day because I thought it was so sweet.  

 So excited to go.

 And because I wanted a picture with my sweet boys.  For awhile there, I felt a little(a lot) bipolar in motherhood with my emotions but lately we're finding a really great place.  And that feels so nice.  I know a lot of it has to do with establishing ourselves in a solid place, developing solid schedules and routines and the fact that the boys are just getting a little bit older...mixed with us trying and trying and trying so hard over and over again to understand our kids. It's oh so nice and the question of when we'll have babies again has started coming up and right now, I'm really not sure. I will never ever say that I had my first child and I've loved motherhood ever since because motherhood, mixed with other trials(some major) in between have dropped me farther than I thought I could manage.  But, oh, I love my boys more than I even can comprehend and I'm so grateful for their patience with me.  I couldn't have asked for better little men, and a husband, who have been so patient with me.  I just really love them all.

And back to the pre-school topic, Patrick left and I thought with all the hugging going on, that Aiden would have a hard time being without his best friend but it took him all of 1 minute to realize that the toy room was his and no one was going to take his toys.  So, yeah, he's doing just fine during pre-school hours. :)

And lastly, we took a lovely, much needed, family trip together.  So, if there haven't been enough pictures yet...there will be a lot more.

Patrick is one of those little people in the background, playing his heart out in the water, and Aiden was more content to just sit and watch.

 We met up with Uncle Derek for one of the days and took the boys to the Loveland Living Center Aquarium.  They were pretty much obsessed with looking for the penguins the whole time but they thought the little interactive 3D movie was pretty cool.

 And they thought this bridge in the South America section was one of the greatest things ever.

 The beloved penguins

 And they soon realized that there were a lot of cool things at the aquarium.

 Can't forget IKEA.  New homeowner's paradise.  We made sure to plan something for everyone. ;)  Although, if Aiden were potty trained, we could have dropped the boys off at their play center for kids while the parents shop...genius.

 And we fit in Hogle Zoo because it just sounded fun.  And it was.

 These dinosaurs...Patrick couldn't decide if they were his favorite part of the zoo or if he was terrified of them.  He was ok with taking a picture by them as long as we said the dinosaur was one of the plant eater ones.  The t-rex was at the entrance and it took a few times of the dinosaurs growling for him to get more and more scared.

 These pictures are sort of backwards by days but we went to the mall during the first night we got there, just to let the boys run around a bit.  So we took selfies and pictures of the boys by water.

Oh, that was such a great trip.  Other than our daily outings, we spent more time in the hotel pools than I ever have before.  The boys, and us, could not get enough.  Also, we stayed in Marriott hotel that has a living room, a separate bedroom, and a kitchen and I don't think I can go back to the old way of hotels.  It was so, so, so nice to put the kids down in the couch bed and then go in our separate bedroom to sleep.  Our boys are violent sleepers and sleeping with them is next to impossible.  So really, this vacation was practically picture perfect.  

And I know I said lastly, but I found these pictures on my phone.

 Look familiar?  We went to the splash park a few weeks ago and Patrick jumped right in and Aiden sat on the sidelines watching.  It's a common theme for us.

 And these two are the best of buds.  Patrick is so sweet to want to help with everything so when daddy goes out to pump the gas, he wants to go out as well.  He's a keeper.

Triathlon recap and everything else happening in life

This last Saturday, Karolyn and I participated in the Rush Triathlon for the 3rd year in a row.  Man, I have a love/hate relationship with triathlons.  Part of me really loves the feeling of accomplishment as soon as I cross the finish line but another big part of me just really hates to swim...competitively.  And I love being competitive but I also hate certain feelings that also arise when I'm competitive.  ANYWAY, time for a recap:

This was before the race and for some reason I was psyching myself out and telling myself I didn't know how to swim...or that I wouldn't be able to spot where I was going in the water.  Which did happen, by the way.  I forgot to defog my goggles and I couldn't see a thing.  I loved swimming into the bank...I'm still not sure how I got a pretty decent time because me and the bank were best friends and at one point I had to take off my goggles just so I could see where I was in the lake.

 Swimming around blindly...probably freaking out at this point.  Seriously, this isn't my first triathlon.  I don't know what my problem was this time around.

Smiling at my little cheer section by the side of the road.  It rained on and off throughout the tri. and the temperature was around 50 degrees so my legs might have been going numb at this point. 

I finished!

Finishing time at 1:33.  Honestly, not every goal was met with this race but I beat my last year time by almost 10 minutes and I'm proud of the accomplishment.  Something I really struggle with is accepting that I can still do a really great job without being the best.  I look at the times and think, "crap!  That five minutes I lost getting out of the banks during the swimming was the five minutes between me and first place," or other stupid thoughts that make me feel like my performance wasn't good enough but, dang it, I accomplished my time goals anyway and I finished the triathlon strong.  And that's something to be proud of.  And now I can "retire" for a few years. ;)  Not from being physically active, but training for swimming, running and biking while raising little boys and being a good spouse is a little overwhelming for me at times.  So I know it's time for me to enjoy fitness just for the sake of enjoying being fit, rather than being competitive.  And I'm good with that for awhile. :)

And just a couple more pictures from the day:

 Patrick took this picture. :)  And did I mention my sister got 3rd place for the olympic distance?  So stinkin' proud of her for just doing the distance.

In other news, Karolyn and I went to the Holi festival of Colors a couple weeks ago and I danced my heart out.  Which never happens.

And these two brothers are being the best of friends which is continually enjoyable to watch.

 Summer days really are just the best.

I really love these boys

And one last picture that defines each of them.

My climber and my runner.  All day long.

4 year old Patrick

Patrick,

A couple weeks ago you turned 4.  You're 4, bud!  You are my adorable, crazy little boy.

At 4 years old, you love Rescue Bots, riding your bike and running anywhere you can.  You love your little brother and constantly call him your best friend and you are more social than I ever have been in my life.  And how do you have so much energy!?  So. Much. Energy.  You are a strong, stubborn force and your dad and I are constantly figuring out how to keep our patience and sway your strength to be used for good.  Bud, I'm constantly worrying that I'm not the right mom for you.  In a lot of ways, we're completely opposite in our personalities but I can't say how much you're teaching me.  And I just pray everyday that I'm able to teach you something as well.  I love you.  I love you so much and some days I get a glimpse of why I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to be your mom.

For your birthday, we invited family over for a little dinner and lots of play time with cousins.  Playing with your cousins was the highlight of your day.

Rescue Bot themed food and a Rescue Bot craft table

Running around with Nerf guns is great at any age.

A little Pizza Pie Cafe for lunch before your party started.  Gotta get that "black pizza" you love so much

   One more year of pre-school and then you're going to be my little kindergartner.  I can't wait because I know you will be adorable walking up to those black doors with your backpack on, and I know you will be so excited but just thinking about it makes me want to cry.  Happy Birthday, bud.