these days...

- cash's favorite color is green. he believes all green things belong to him. he named his stuffed animal green. if you ask him what kind of food he wants, he says green food (but he doesn't truly want green food).

- since turning 5, jagger has twice tried to convince me that he is now old enough to drive.

- slade sings songs to himself throughout the day. sometimes it's just sounds and other times it's words, but it's always cute.

- jagger comes up with a "good idea" or a "plan" for me several times a day. the good idea or plan ALWAYS ends in him riding his bike. example of a proposed plan: "mama, i have a good idea! how 'bout we go to the library, get some lunch, go home, brothers take a nap, and i ride my bike?"

- the boys love riding their bikes. they will ride happily for hours, even if it's just up and down the sidewalk.

- their favorite movie right now is the iron giant, and no matter how many times i watch it with them, i still tear up at the end.
- nothing is safe from destruction by these boys, as evidenced by this:what am i looking at, you say? oh, let me get you a bigger view:

that's right, the back of my car. where sweet innocent slade tried to climb up using the windshield wiper, which can't support his weight and therefore broke right off. good times!
so i'm looking forward to the day when i can have nice things again. it may not be for another 15 years, but boy, i can't wait!

i want to remember...

- that my boys are completely and 100% obsessed with superheroes.

- the costumes are worn on a DAILY basis.

- slade generally refuses to answer to his name. he will tell you which superhero he is for the day (or hour, or minute...) and you absolutely must call him by that name.

- we have costumes for batman, the flash, and spiderman, and they rotate through them regularly. one exception to the list is astroboy, which only slade will be, and of which the outfit consists of just his pullup and his "rocket boots" (otherwise known as rain boots)

5 years

5 years old. how is this possible??

we celebrated jagger's 5th birthday in ohio @ the grandparent's house among family & friends.

i don't think i've ever seen a more happy & excited little boy :)

for months now, jagger has been saying that when the big jagger inside him reached the top of his head, then he would be 5. i'm not sure where he got this idea from, be he stuck to it and if anyone asked him where it was at, he would point to where on his body it had grown. so of course i asked him on his birthday, and it was right on top of his head. i guess he really is 5 :)after cupcakes and presents, it was time to work off some energy running around the yard.

grandpa hooked a trailer to the mower and gave the kids rides.then tire swinging time & playing some catch...

bang! he got me while i was trying to take some pics :)

and then bonfire time, complete with smores

both cash & slade were not so sure bout that big fire :)

cash gives the day two thumbs up

all in all the day was a huge success. jagger was truly beyond happy and he kept saying that it was the best day of his life :)

and of course we couldn't let the opportunity pass of getting a picture of the boys with their boys. the group has grown by one since the last pic in 2008, congrats to jon :)

looking good guys :)