The Field Museum

These pics are from Trey's b-day weekend. We took everyone to the Field Museum, Trey's choice of course:) The Field Museum is mostly full of every kind of animal, bird, dinosaur etc. Seeing the man-eating lions and the huge silver back gorilla were 2 favorites. Of course all massive dinosaur bone replicas left each boy with his mouth completely open in awe. As a result the boys have been playing silver back gorillas vs. lions vs. cheetahs ever since(cheetahs must be involved because as Trey and Taatjes tell me several times each day cheetahs can run 70 miles per hour and I can not). Oh how they love finding any piece of information that can beat mom or dad. Anyways here are a few pics of us!

Watch out for the ferocious lions.

The real Man-Eating Lion!!!

Teague's picture face again.

I love it:)

Yesterday Trey asked me; "Mom can we go visit Humpty Dumpty?"
Me: "Why do you want to do that?"
Trey: "I want to see if he really has a crack in his shell."
Me: "Well I am not sure how to find Humpty Dumpty to go visit him." (I am trying to keep the conversation going)
Trey: (mom you are gonna love this) "Well if we can go find Mary Poppins she will know where to find Humpty Dumpty. She can take us to any Nursery Rhyme we want."
In my head: "Well of course that makes perfect sense! Onward to Mary Poppins!"
Believe me there are days even I dream of Mary Poppins swooping in to entertain my kids:)
Unfortunately I had to tell him I have no idea where Mary Poppins lives, somewhere in England!?! Trey is not one to be stopped when his mind is set on something. He calmly explains to me that if we write her a letter she will come to us. I then told him it has to be written by him only (just like the kids the movie). His response was a large scowl face and off he went. Probably to rethink his plans.
I can't get enough of conversations like this.

Super Hero's To The Rescue

The boys love playing super hero's.

They always argue for a bit about who is superman and who is batman. Luckily Teague has no idea right now but they "lovingly" assign him to the Wonder woman role. The boys tell me, "She is the only other super hero that wears a cape." (Don't worry I am working on it)

Teague was standing and jumping around but, each time I took out the camera to take a quick pic he sat right down to pose with his picture face on (face all scrunched up). He has such a fun life with 2 older brothers. Scary at times but fun.

Happy St. Pat's Day

Funny Memories

Yesterday Trey thought he heard something out the front door. So he threw it open and saw nothing. I asked, "why did you just open the door." Trey said "I thought I heard my dad coming to the door wearing a spider man mask dressed in his regular clothes." Me, "what are you talking about dad does not wear spider man masks." Trey, "yes, that is what he did for Taatjes' birthday party. He was pretending to be spider man but he forgot to put on the whole costume." Me, "OH really?" (you got us!) When I told Justin we just laughed thinking of our future...good try dad but that is sooo lame. Well it worked for Taatjes he still thinks spider man came to wish him a happy birthday:) Note: when Taatjes and Teague turn 5 throw away spider man mask.

P-A-R-T-Y!

Happy Birthday Trey! He had asked me if he could have a cake with spider man and sand man and candy on it. His eyes lit up when he saw the cake placed in front of him. He couldn't bring himself to eat a piece before he took spider man and sand man off to play with:) Cake, dance party, and gifts made for a great family party.

Trey woke up nice and early today. He was crazy excited to begin playing with his new stuff!

"Enjoy it the time will fly by"

This is exactly what my parents said to me a few years ago during Trey's second birthday and the arrival of baby #2 (when life gets hectic). It is only too true. It is hard to believe that my first baby is now turning 5! The time is flying by and it has been so awesome to watch Trey grow in so many aspects of life. To have him go from completely dependent to so independent blows me away. He throws spirals, scores goals, shoots baskets, and basically no longer needs us to pretend he is beating us. He is also learning to spell (we are no longer able to get away with spelling out things we do not want him to know) and read. I used to sit with Trey and read and read, now I look over at him and see him sitting all by himself trying to figure out the words in the book. He is a huge help to me with his brothers! He serves as entertainer, toy finder (really anything finder), and hand holder in times of comfort or for safety. Just yesterday when we picked him up from school he made pretzels and saved 2 for each of his brothers because, "I knew they would love some pretzels".

We all love him and are excited to celebrate his 5th birthday!!!

Shedd's Aquarium

Dad took all 3 boys to Shedd's Aquarium (by himself). Thank You Thank You Thank You!!! He left me at home to get in a work out, shopping, and see a movie all by myself = happy.

They had a great time together here are a few pics. I think any fish or lizard pics you see Trey took, not bad. The rest are dad's. Teague went crazy over the sting rays and made everybody smile. Trey loves the sharks and Taatjes the big beluga whales. Oh and of course the boys are crazy about any and all lizards. Really dad is the avid fan teaching them a plethora of knowledge in regards to their scaly friends. The kimono dragon was huge and Trey made sure to get a pic of him. They all returned home talking circles around me with excitement over everything they saw and did. I was informed that the snapping turtle could snap my arm off if he wanted to. A bald eagle could beat a hawk in a fight. And, whales can eat the seals whenever they want. That is what sticks in the brains of little boys minds.

Snow Man and Sledding w/Grandpa

Flying w/3 Boys

What an adventure. Flying with all 3 boys has given me many stories. For the most part the boys did great and most people were kind to us. There are always a few who simply do not understand.

We did not get off to the best start with missing our flight out because of baggage check-in policies by 3 minutes. Yes literally 3 minutes is what the lady told me from behind the counter as she ripped up my tickets immediately (she meant business). Even though we did not miss the flight we missed the time limit by 3 minutes to check your bags therefore we would not be allowed to take the flight out. It was a 6:30am flight. We had been up since 4am. She could not get us on another flight until noon! Justin had to leave to catch his own flight out of the country, so we had no choice but to be stuck in the airport. Oh well we would have to find things to do to pass the time in the airport. Multiple runs across the moving walk ways, watching the airplanes take off, and many trips to the bathroom to use the hand dryers! Oh and a lot of explaining why each plane we saw take off was not ours. I do not have pics of this part because I was just trying to make sure I did not lose anyone.

Anyways, both flights there and back went as best as I could hope for. One bloody nose, a few angry stares from Teague's screeching, and a few attempted escapes from our seats...not bad. I did tell one man in front of Trey a little piece of my mind. Trey did kick his seat at the beginning and I quickly told him not to and he would not receive his prize if he did this again (on purpose) the man saw this. Well he is 4 and his feet come right to the back of the chair. So again by accident this next time he hit the chair. The man became very upset turned around and looked at me saying he is kicking my seat again. Here we go, "yes I understand and I have no problem telling him not to you saw that before, it was an accident, he is 4 you know and his feet are at that level unlike your own, besides if you did not have your chair reclined strait back into his feet further it probably would not have happened. I can only do so much trying to keep 3 little ones happy and respectful in this tight space." Wow, I was clearly steaming because if you know me I am so non-confrontational but mess with my kids and I will speak up. Trey already felt bad enough and said sorry before he turned around to warn me. He was the exception, most people are very kind to them.

Really the success of both trips is due to one entire carry-on full of food and the philosphy of just kept it coming the whole time. You want it you got it and there is plenty more! Also, the flight attendants were great to us. The boys got to go into the cock pit meet the pilots, pretend to drive the air plane, and help the flight attendant with her clean up. (That was one brave flight attendant to take them on to help her. I did tell her repeatedly that she did not have to do this but she insisted.) They did great and felt very special.
It is all over now and it was worth the visit with Grandma and Grandpa:)

(Of course no one wanted to watch the movies we brought???)