Favorite FIVE of the Week!

This week was all about SURVIVAL! Steve and I had a grueling summer class that we needed to take and it required us to sit in a classroom everyday for 6-7 hours (minus Tuesday that we took off for Conner's birthday-don't think we got out of the homework assignments though)! I'm gonna have to chat with that principal of mine and ask him about all these classes and trainings I've been having to participate in this summer! MAN! Talk about a ton of work! Actually, Steve had to take this one too, so I'm sure there was nothing that could have been done! It better be worth it though! Thank heavens we are done! Here are some of the highlights from our week that made it all bearable:

5- Family, Friends and BOOKS! Thanks to all of our awesome family members and friends who were willing to let our boys hang out with them this week while Steve and I had our noses to the books. Our kids had a blast swimming, riding bikes, playing video games and basically hanging out with all of you! Thanks for showing them such a great time! Also, can I just mention that my husband is a genius! He set up the best "Summer Book Program" for our boys. It has been coming in especially handy with me being on the computer so much, typing papers for my classes (Steve only had to take the one class, I have two). The kids just "hang out" behind me reading books and checking them off their lists while I slave away. Steve challenged the boys to read 50 books this summer. Lewis actually wanted to do 100 so we typed up his list with 100 books on it, but a lot of them are chapter books, so we'll see. He is totally motivated to do it though, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually makes it there. Anyway, this was so easy to set up and our boys love it. We just went around the house and let the boys choose any books they wanted to and put them in a tote. We typed up the list and as they finish a book, they have Steve or me sign it off. They put their finished books in another tote and the goal is to fill it up each week. We have emptied it a couple of times already and they are reading through their books pretty steadily. It's been especially great since Steve and I have had to do so much reading of our own lately! I guess it's like they say, the family that reads together. . .



4- Conner's Baseball Party! Seriously. My boys have the most AWESOME baseball coach EVER! He arranged for the team to walk on to the field with the Roadrunner's (our local baseball team) during their game Monday night as part of their season finale party! They had a cute little awards ceremony at Coach Todd's house first (where Conner received a trophy and the award for "fastest runner") and then met at the field to line up with the pros! Conner (#11) walked on with his buddy Hayden and the center field guy #29. It was darling to watch and the kids had a blast! They spent the rest of the night running around the stadium, chasing Reggy the Roadrunner and driving him completely batty I'm sure! I'm not sure if the Roadrunners won the game (we left around the fourth inning -umm, homework!) but it was an absolute GREAT time! Also, come July 4th, we get to do it all over again for Lewis! WOO HOO! Coach Todd Rocks!

3- Father and Son Home Run Challenge! During the baseball game, Lewis and Steve were chosen to do the "Father and Son Home Run Challenge" which was essentially, Lewis hitting the ball off of the T and then wherever it landed, Steve hat to hit from that point and try to knock it out of the field. I think they both did a fine job. It really did look as though it might go over the wall, only about two feet short actually. What would they have won if it did? Apparently, a signed baseball from the team. Instead, we got two free passes to the cheap seats next time we're up for a game of baseball! Maybe my men will get a chance to redeem themselves!

2- Lewis' first Pack Meeting. I am proud of "Lew Dog" for making it to Bobcat rank so quickly! He learned all his stuff this week with Steve and was ready for his award by Thursday night. The pack meeting was fun (minus all the kooky cheers and salutes they made us do) and we all got to take home a raffle prize! Woo Hoo! So far, Scouts has been great for Lewis and he is excited to work on his goals every day!

1- Craw Fish Boil Part 2- Steve had been wanting to take the boys crawdad fishing for awhile. Finally he just dropped everything and loaded the boys up and headed out to the lake yesterday. They were gone for a few hours and as soon as they got home they started boiling the poor things up! Steve ate them all, Conner was actually more scared of them cooked then when they were alive! Maybe he was afraid Steve would make him eat them! No chance! Steve ate them all and surprisingly enough, he is still alive! From the looks of the pictures, I guess they had a good time!

Bonus Fave:
Click HERE to see the "So You Think You can Dance" Dance of the Week!

Happy Birthday to Conner!

Conner's birthday was yesterday and boy was it a DAY! I've decided there is one good thing about having the boys' birthdays so close together, that is, the chance for us as parents to redeem ourselves if the first party doesn't turn out quite as planned (scroll down to the post that I did 9 days ago). Usually, Conner likes to do the SAME party that his brother did (so it can be equal I guess) with the small change of the theme. For example, two years ago, Lewis had a party at our house complete with water balloons, slip and slide and two or three homemade games. His theme was Star Wars! 8 days later, we reenacted the same party with all the same games and activities, only with the Scooby Doo theme. This is how we've always done it (minus last year when we had a Disneyland party for both of them). So, when last week's party turned out to be so exhausting and crazy, I was dreading Conner's big day. Luckily my husband is a genius and enlightened me to the fact that we don't have to reenact the same party every time! He suggested a bowling party and Conner was ALL over it! It turned out to be the most low stress, fun, and easy going party imaginable! The kids had such a good time and the people at Dixie Bowl were so accommodating and really went all out for my boy! It turned out to be a really fun day. Here are some highlights (just move the cursor across each picture to view the whole thing and read the caption)! The only thing that could have made it more perfect is if I could have found a way to make my baby shrink backwards a few years instead of turn SIX!!! If anyone ever figures out a way to do that, let me know. Until then, H.B. Conner Boy!

Take Me Back Tuesday

Ahhhh! The good ol' days when both boys were young enough to appreciate a good old fashioned "family" party minus the "friends", invitations, party bags, gift requests and general-all the way around-hoopla. Take me back to this party, staged at grandma's house, with a few cousins and a cake for both boys to share! This was the year Lewis turned three and Conner turned one. I remember how scared Conner was of the candle and how uninterested he was in his presents (so totally opposite of today)! I remember how cute and grown up Lewis seemed in that cowboy hat given to him by Aunt Kristin, but compared to now he still had plenty of "baby" left in him! Oh this seems like so long ago! Yeah, if I had to choose one birthday to go back to, this would be a good pick. It was fun, low maintenance and low stress! I mean both boys having ONE party, talk about killing two birds with one stone. How smart were we as parents, to take advantage of that?! I wonder if I could talk them into sharing their birthday party again? I doubt Conner would go for it. Well, ya never know. Maybe one year he'll surprise me!