dance hour

music: you are the best thing -- ray lamontagne

sometimes you just gotta dance :)

3 boys + 1 mama + cars 2 = fail

before we get to the whole theater debacle, let's start out this post with what went well today.
safety town!first time visiting. boys loved it. they did really well with the red & green lights. right after that last picture, cash wiped out pretty good. nice big road rash right above his elbow. cleaned that up and he kept on riding :) they lasted a half hour before declaring it was "too hot!" (it is crazy hot today). we stopped to bandage cash up and jagger said "you look handsome cash, the girls are gonna love you now." ha!

so then i thought it would feel good to cool down in a nice air conditioned movie theater. cars 2 is still playing. perfect! they sit just fine through a movie @ home, so this should be even better. we get there, i buy tickets and a small popcorn for each of them, find seats, and we're good to go.make it halfway through previews before there is an explosion of popcorn, like a small bomb went off in jagger's lap. don't even know what or how it happened but popcorn is flying and his drink spilled. awesome. clean up and move down a seat. make it through the rest of the previews and the first hour into the film. they start getting antsy. musical chairs starts. that's ok, i can handle that. then shoes come off. more, smaller popcorn explosions occur. the boys start getting braver in venturing farther away from me. the mama fingersnap is going crazy. slade has to go the the bathroom. no wait, cash does now too. then jagger. instead of waiting for me and the twins, jagger starts to take off down the aisle, trips and slams his face on a step. screaming and crying ensues. pick him up and examine while trying to get the other two to follow me. they are not following me. grumble, grumble. finally get everyone out and to the car. sheesh! jagger has a bump by his eye, but we're all alive. hooray!truthfully, i didn't realize cars 2 was so long, so that was definitely my bad. i'll be sure to look into movie running times next attempt :)

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 :)

rite of passage

so...those of you who know my boys know they are a wild pack. always on the move, making a racket, and generally be boys. extremely rambunctious boys. which is why it is so disconcerting when there is quiet. quiet means trouble is brewing.

today there was quiet...

it seems cash & slade had found the scissors and decided to test their barbering skills. feast your eyes on the awesomeness.
let me just say, these two were so pleased with their handiwork. slade had created some really nice edgy bangs and cash, well cash had just gone to town on the top of his head.

oh lord. it's a good look, no?

now, i'm not sure how much help jagger was to the whole production. his hair does not seem to be cut, but he was in the bedroom with the other two. for all i know, he may have been the main stylist. but for the time being, he is off the hook.
i just had to laugh when i saw them, especially because they were so proud (though we had a very serious discussion about not doing this ever again). it's just hair and it will grow back. thankfully there were no scissor injuries! corey was particularly sad about slade's hack job. he has such nice straight hair & it's the first time we've ever cut it short. thank goodness i have boys. we just buzz cut their hair, no big deal.
so, a rite a passage down, right? i mean, all kids cut their own hair. or at least some do. or at the very least, i should not be surprised that mine did :)

two funny videos