Bear Down!

Are you ready for some football?

A Monday night party!

The boys and I are gearing up for the Bears-Lions game tonight! As everyone knows...I'm not the BIGGEST sports fan, but I will always cheer for my Chi-town teams! And I LOVE seeing my boys sport their Chicago gear! Although, they are playing the Lions, and having lived in Michigan for 4 years, I also pull for their teams to win. And the Lions are undefeated this year, so we'll see how it goes tonight for the Bears!

This isn't the best photo, but I love how Nolan put his arm around Heath! Heath kept trying to push it down! Ha! He does not like to be held back!

Nolan was in such a silly mood when I was taking these! He was posing so nicely and saying the funniest things, like, "piglets!!!!" and laughing hysterically! He thinks he is quite funny sometimes!

After an unexpectedly snowy Saturday, since then we've had perfect Autumn weather...finally!

We are enjoying Nolan's first day of Fall Break- sleeping in, an Ear Check for Heath (which by the way, his tubes look great!), the gym, and a little play time outside! We are looking forward to the next 2 weeks of no preschool and to some relaxation and doing some fun Fall activities together on my days off!

A quick get-away!

This past weekend we escaped up to our favorite little spot in the foothills: Bo-Zo Farms! We drove up Friday after work with our good pals, the Leensvaarts. We love that this family cabin is just a quick 45 minutes away but when you're there you feel like you're a million miles from the city!

We ordered some Beau Jo's pizza for dinner and enjoyed stuffing our faces and sharing lots of laughs amidst the retro decor!

After dinner we built a campfire...

The boys thought it was pretty cool to snuggle up by the flames!

Heath was mesmerized by the fire! He cuddled up with Mandy and even ended up falling asleep on my lap! It was so warm and cozy!

Mark roasted us some marshmallows!

And we made Smores! Nolan actually liked just the marshmallows the best! Heath was only interested in the chocolate...typical! Myself- I ate 2 whole Smores! Yum! One for me and one for baby, right?!

Nolan showing off his chipmunk cheeks {FULL} of marshmallows!

This is a blurry shot, but Nolan enjoyed snuggling up with his Daddy by the fire, and laughing with the adults! But at one point he said, "Daddy, I'm tired, I think it's time for bed!" He was so excited to spend the night at the cabin for the first time that he even suggested it was bedtime! It was 10 o'clock at this point, so I'm sure he was really exhausted!

The boys slept in the same room, right next door to us. A good test for what's coming next month when we switch Heath into Nolan's room and they share the bunk bed! They both slept great! They woke up about a half an hour earlier than usual, but they woke up laughing and playing together! It was the best sound to wake up to! When I went in to get them up, Nolan was laying in bed belly laughing and Heath was jumping up and down in the Pack 'n Play. I opened the door and Nolan jumped up and said, "Good morning Mommy!" So sweet!

We got up slowly, played some games and trucks, and then ventured outside into the crisp morning air to do a little exploring!

We cooked up a {BIG} delicious breakfast!

And enjoyed eating our pancakes, eggs, bacon, and fruit out in the fresh mountain air!

Heath LOVED climbing all over and showing off his Mountain Man skills! He also LOVED playing with Moose and Murphy, the Leensvaart's dogs! He LOVES their licks and kisses and patting them!

My handsome guy, with just a {little} dirt on his face!

Lots of Sandbox time!

Silly boy!

And we took our usual "Circle" hike in the afternoon! Nolan loves leading the way!

Running through the meadow!

Looking for the "perfect rock" with Auntie Mandy!

Tired out by the end of the hike...both boys ended up on shoulders! I guess going during nap time wasn't the smartest idea on my part, but they still had a BLAST!

When we got back to the cabin we were {ALL} tuckered out: 2 pregnant women, 2 little boys, 2 pups, and even the 2 big boys! We ate some yummy sandwiches and snacks for lunch and watched a little college football before it was time to head back home!

We drove back in the early evening because Mark had a Bachelor Party to go to. We unpacked and then it was an early bedtime for all...including me! (Well, except for Mark, he was busy winning us some money in Blackhawk and didn't stroll into bed until 2 a.m.! But at least he came home a WINNER, and had fun celebrating D.J. as well!)

We are so incredibly blessed to have this little piece of heaven to escape to! And it was wonderful spending some family time together! We really want to be intentional about slowing down and just being together while we can over these next two months before things really get crazy with the birth of our 3rd boy! It will be here before we know it!

School Photos

Nolan got his school pictures back this week!

And I was very relieved and happy to see this smiling face looking back at me...

Nolan said the photographer said "BANANAS" and that this was really funny and made him smile and laugh! He also told me he got tickled by feathers too! Whatever they did, it worked, and I'm glad he posed nicely! They didn't take the pictures until after recess and snack time, so his hair is a little poofy, but at least his mouth is clean! I ordered this shot and his Class Photo. (On a side note: I DID NOT choose this school themed background! I checked the box for a grey background. But I actually think they turned out kind of funny and sweet like this! Perfect for 3 year old Preschool!)

And here's his class picture. He's got a half smile/half looking at the camera thing going on, but I still love it! How in the world to get 11, 3 and 4 year olds looking and smiling at the same time seems impossible to me! When we got home from school on Monday, Nolan sat down with me and pointed to each child and told me their names! He said, "This is my friend Sam, and this is my friend Quinn." And he did that for each kid! I love that he is having so much fun at school and making so many new friends!

Just for fun I'll include these 2 pics that I did not order! (Shh!) They start 'em young with Senior Portraits! Ha!

Goodbye Summer!

Today is the first day of Fall! And we are ready for all that it brings: mums, pumpkins, playing in the leaves, hoodies & jeans, football, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and so much more!

But to say goodbye to summer and to check off one more new experience for Nolan, Mark had a great idea the other night...

get a treat from the ICE CREAM TRUCK!

We heard it's music coming down the street and the boys literally RAN out the door to wave it down outside our house! (Yes, I was THAT mom snapping a picture from the front porch as they made their decision on what to buy!)

And the choice was...

This Spiderman popsicle with gumball eyes! (And let me tell you, have prices gone up since I was little! $3.25 for this bad boy!)

But, it was well worth it!

Nolan LOVED it and scarfed it down in no time!

We let him watch a show and eat his ice cream as a before bed treat!

Lick your lips good!

The ice cream man told us that this was probably his last night out for the season, so we were so glad that we caught him just in time! And that we chose to do this at the END of summer...I don't know if our wallets could have handled the $3 plus dollar goodie each night we heard the happy tunes strolling through our neighborhood! Ha!

Oops!

I completely forgot to post photos from our day up at the cabin on Labor Day! I tracked back on at school and have been super busy with teaching, dropping off/picking up Nolan from preschool, and doing some "nesting" as well, that these just totally slipped my mind!

We were out REALLY late the night before Labor Day at Rebecca's wedding so we decided to sleep in, relax at home, grab some coffee, and head up to Indian Hills around noon! It was a nice laid back family morning. For the second time in a row, I forgot to bring my camera with me for the day! So I snapped these pics on my MIL's camera.

The boys love playing with Sammi and Benji! They get their doggie fix this way!

This was pretty much Heath all day! Running and exploring in the open!

Nolan L-O-V-E-S the sandbox and old trucks and animals! He would stay here all day!

Pure joy!

Mark is just the best Daddy! The boys can't get enough of his fun!

Being with their cousins all day is pretty awesome too!

We took some time to rest, lounge around, chat with family, and play some games!

The weather was perfect!

The boys spent a lot of time playing with Auntie Sue! She is so much fun and really takes time to PLAY and show interest in what the boys are into!

She helped Nolan create these ramps along the wooden edging.

And she took the little ones for a ride in the wheelbarrow! We told Heath to hold onto Cohen and he really took us seriously! He would not let go! He was a very good protective older cousin!

And of course, it wouldn't be a day at the cabin without tractor rides!

We had so much fun in the Autumn mountain air that we actually decided to go back up again next weekend! We are going to bring the boys up and spend the night and play all day in God's beautiful creation! It feels so good to check out from t.v. and internet and my ever growing honey-do list at home! We can't wait!

Let's Go Broncos, Let's Go!