Happy 7th Birthday Nick

 Look how much Nick has changed in 7 years!  How has 7 years gone by so quickly?  Nick is the  entertainer in our house.  He makes us all laugh on a daily basis.  And certainly some of the conversations I have with him are let's just say "interesting."  Last night he asked me what kind of music I wanted him to play at my funeral.

                                           Nick's breakfast birthday request - monkey bread!

 Jay took this picture of us.  It's actually pretty good minus the shadow.  Poor Nick, he really is my mini me.

 Don't you dig Nick's T-shirt?  Jay got him the shirt for his birthday.  Nick proudly wore it all day and apparently Jay decided to take a day off from torturing his brother.  Jay was nothing was nice to him today and Nick was thrilled.  I made Nick's bed for him this morning (since it was his birthday and all) and Jay was so ridiculously nice to Nick that Nick surprised Jay and made his bed for him while Jay was showering this morning.  Wonders never cease.

 Since retiring my sweet mom makes her grand kids their birthday cake.  Nick choose a penguin.  Isn't it cute?  And it was good and moist too.  Thanks mom.

 My sister and the kiddos.  Luke is petrified of Copper.  Notice Copper's head off to the left and notice Luke doesn't take his eyes off her!  

Happy Birthday sweet Nick!  I can't wait to see what this year has in store for you!

The weekend......

Last night I went out to dinner with Jenny and Sarah - love those girls.  Sarah has 3 boys and we both said how much we look forward to getting out with girls.  It is nice for me to get away from all the mud, four wheels, farting, pooping and burping - sorry but it's true.  It has been a terribly wet spring.  It was pouring last night when we went for dinner.  We are winding down the school year and Jay is involved (which means I'm heavily involved) in a big 12 paragraph essay about Alaska.  He has no motivation to do it and it's proving to be quite a challenge.

 Here is part of the problem with finishing the Alaska essay.  Jay just wants to live in his waders catching bull frogs!

 And he has a little brother who entices him to do so.  In all seriousness I am so thankful the boys love to do these things together.  Their personalities are so different that getting dirty is what they both have in common.

Even dad got some laughs with the bull frog!  As I'm blogging now the boys are fishing - something they do frequently these days.  It is overcast and rainy today - not that you need an excuse to go fishing!

Fun times at Froggie island..........

We have this place in our subdivision which is affectionately referred to as Froggie island.  Hence the big frog one of the neighbor boys is holding.  All of the boys congregate at this island.  There is mud to be played in, water to swim in and frogs to be caught.......all a little piece of heaven to every little boy.  Notice my older son.....the biggest redneck in the group!

15 years..........

Today Mike and I celebrate being married (relatively happy I might add) for 15 years.  When I look at the above picture I think we sure looked young.  Mike was 25 and I was almost 24.  Of course Nick had to comment that we both look bigger now than we did then.  That's what a mortgage, full time jobs and two very active boys will do to you......gain weight and in Mike's case hair loss.  Our first year of marriage we lived in the same apartment building as Mike and Jenny and boy did we have a good time.  It was a great first year of marriage.  Since that time we bought our first house, remodeled it from top to bottom, built our current house.......and yes we're still finishing that too.  I have changed jobs and of course we've had two very adventurous little boys.  Mike likes to say we were both just plain stupid until we turned about 30 and had two kids and then we all of the sudden got wiser.  Ha!  I do think there is some truth to that though.  Mike and I are different in many ways but where it counts we stand shoulder to shoulder.  My mom has always said we bring out the best in each other (thanks mom).  Life with Mike is never boring.  He can make me laugh like no other.  We've had some stretches when married life wasn't so jolly but even during those times I always knew his love was steadfast and solid.  And as we parent together I am in awe of the father that he is.  So here's to another 15 (plus) years..........

Fishing Derby & other things.......

Whew.....it's been awhile since I've blogged.  We are busy, busy, busy.  I knew April would be super busy but then I've finally realized this season in my life will be busy for the next 15 years.  The boys are 11 and almost 7 and things are HOPPING!  Nick is tutoring at least once a week (after school) with our dear friend, Leslie.  Neither of the boys are involved with sports right now so I thought things would slow down - not so much.  This past week Mike had another clear colonoscopy - Praise the Lord!  We attended a spring fling at school.  And as the school year wraps up we are trying to stay on top of homework and projects.  Next week we have Jay's middle school orientation.......be still my beating heart.  Yesterday we had the fishing derby, hence the pictures above and today Mike and Jay have a class they are attending together.  We are also attending a new church with the Ausili's and it's been a really good fit for us.  It's about a 30 minute drive for us one way but it's worth it.  Mike and I joke we have full time jobs we are trying to maintain on top of two very FULL TIME boys!
Shifting back to Jay.  A few things about him this week.  Mike had to report nice and early for his procedure last Monday so the boys spent the night with his parents.  That night Jay called us and in this little voice he asks, "Mom, how is dad doing?"  I could tell he was worried.  Then the next morning he was up at 4:00 and calling me by 6:45 to check on his dad again.  Meanwhile in the background I could hear Nick yelling....."Hey Mom, has dad had that camera stuck up his butt yet?"  And there folks is the big difference between my two boys.  Then Jay lost his Kindle all week due to some grades he had that were not acceptable.  I so enjoyed him this week.  He crawled in bed with me every night and we watched Downton Abbey together.  By Friday he got his grades back up so he earned his Kindle back but it was nice to see him "unplugged" all week and he still watched Downton Abbey with me last night.  Ha!
As far as the fishing derby goes it was fun and low key this year.  Only eight boys fished.  I love the picture of Mike and Jay.  Nick was off fishing elsewhere so I didn't get him in the pic.......Nick takes his fishing very seriously (notice his boonie/fishing hat he wears).  The Lord sure knew what he was doing when he gave Mike two boys!
This week Mike and I will celebrate our 15 year wedding anniversary.........seriously has it been 15 years already?  I'll say this it's been a good and solid 15 years and I am so very thankful.  Next week we celebrate Nick's 7th birthday!!!  Then we go right into my birthday!  I love April and May.

Jay's "new" room

 Jay is headed into middle school in the fall.  He wanted to re-do his room and Mike and I knew it was important we get him a desk, where he can work quietly on his school work.  Jay played a huge part in redecorating his room.  It's been about a year in the making.  All that is left his his log bed.  Mike has actual logs in his shop which Jay has shaved all the bark off.  Next project on Mike's never ending to do list is Jay's log bed so stay tuned for pictures of that.  It should turn out really cool.  Anyway, Jay really went with an outdoor/hunting theme.  In my opinion the room fits Jay's personality perfectly.

His lamp by his bed is in the shape of a boat motor.  We found it at Bass Pro Shop.

Mud, Mud, Mud

 I bet if I looked through my blog I would find I have used the word MUD in my title more than any other word!  Ha.  I know a muddy four wheeler is quite boring.  I blog about this stuff so I don't forget it, although I find it hard to believe I will ever forget about how much mud my boys could find and get into.  All of these pictures is just to prove just how muddy Jay can get.  Nick is no angel in the mud department either but his four wheeler has been broken for months.  Mike and Jay had to take the four wheeler to the car wash to get it clean.  The amusing part of this is the fact that the four wheeler sits in Mike's garage.  One has to really know (and love) Mike to truly appreciate this.  He is a neat freak but kids have settled him down (somewhat) in the neat department.  Actually Mike says they haven't "settled him" down, rather he's given up.  However, after Jay's four wheeler ended up looking like this, Mike decided it's time to invest in a shed all for the boys!  No more parking this hot, muddy mess in daddy's garage.

They don't love me for my cooking.......

Duck Dynasty fans will know what I mean when I say I am no Miss Kay in the kitchen.  Here's the honest truth.  I am a lousy cook.  I enjoy baking more and I'm much better at it.  Truthfully I wish I were a better cook but I'm just not.  To give you an idea of how my cooking is viewed by my family, here is the conversation that took place over dinner tonight (and tonight's dinner was truly horrible.  Even I can't deny it).
Jay, "Wouldn't it be great if we had a robot who made great dinners, snacks, lunches and breakfasts?"
(As a side note I was a bit offended at the breakfast jibe).
Nick, "Ahhhh, Jay you are being unkind."
Jay, "Oh sorry, mom.  But if the robot broke down then I would gladly eat your food."

The first "outing"

Well it has happened, Jay requested to go to the movies with a girl!  This Monday he got off the bus with a smile on his face and asked me what we were doing on Friday night. He said he wanted to take K. to the movies.  I wish I could say I was surprised but I wasn't.  I knew this day was coming.  I told Jay I would need to discuss it with his dad and even if we let him go I would insist on being the adult chaperon.  I called K's mom and we agreed on the plans so tonight Mike and I took Jay and K. to the movies  - "The Great & Powerful Oz."  Mike and I sat in a different spot in the theatre, of course (ha).  I was so proud of Jay.  He was a gentleman and just acted like himself and I found K. to be a delightful girl.

Nick hearts God/Jesus

Lately, Nick's mind is centered around God and Jesus.  He has been asking me a dozen questions lately and some questions are hard!  Today on our drive to school he asked me how God keeps his eyes on everyone and how does he know everyone?  He asks a ton of questions about Heaven.  He asked me just today, "Mom, in heaven, can you four wheel with Jesus?"  Tonight when I was putting him to bed he told me he is ready to go to Heaven.  Wow, right out of the mouth of a six year old.  I hugged him and told him Jesus loves him so much but Mommy is not ready for him to go to Heaven.  I like him on earth with me.  I started reading him Todd Burpo's book, "Heaven is for real."  Nick is fascinated!  I'm sure the book will bring more questions..........I love how his little mind thinks. 

Da boys...............

 These days the boys are busy outside.  The weather is starting to get nicer and both boys spend their time outside, in the mud.  It makes for some very dirty laundry but they love it.  We've recently redone Jay's room.  He picked a hunting theme.  All that is left is to make his log bed.  He has a desk now so he's officially ready to start middle school (even if mom is not ready).  I so enjoy Jay's sense of humor.  The other morning as we were leaving for school I told Jay I had to go to a factory to inspect a machine (for a claim I have).  Jay didn't miss a beat and said, "Good luck with that, mom," knowing full well that inspecting a machine is way out of my comfort zone.  Ha!  He's funny, bright, athletic and I'm slowly starting to see him apply some of his dad's problem solving skills.  However, Jay still has a lot of his mother's "good enough" attitude.  He loves the outdoors and anything that has to do with guns or hunting.  He, Mike and Nick will spend hours at a gun range.  Another outdoor favorite for both boys is to get their chest waders on and head to the lake.  Jay comes home muddy.  Nick comes home soaked.  It doesn't seem to matter that it's April and it's cold!  Jay spends a lot of time with his brother and I really try to point out to both boys that although they are very different personality wise, they enjoy the same things and they need to learn to appreciate their personality differences.  I pray their interests will forever keep them close.

Nick is my silly boy!  He produces huge belly laughs from us as a family on a daily basis.  His one-liners are hysterical.  He's pretty much a happy go lucky child but the kid can complain like no body's business.  Mike says he gets that from me.  He has a hunger to learn and he catches onto things fairly quickly.  School does not appear to be quite as challenging for him as it has been for Jay but time will tell on that.  Nick too loves hunting, guns and anything that has to do with outdoors.  He has shown an interest in drawing but that's kind of taken a back seat since the weather has gotten nicer.  Nick is organized and has a good attention to detail - probably something he gets from Mike.  Ha!
Both my boys are the light of my life.  I'm very blessed that God choose Mike and I to raise them.  When I think of how my life has turned out thus far I am amazed and know God had a hand in everything.  I almost see it like a domino effect.  I was blessed with an amazing mother who I have learned so much from.  I went off to college and Mary Fox landed right in my lap (almost literally).  Mary introduced me to Mike.  Mike introduced me to Mike and Jenny Ausili.  Mary Fox, my husband and Mike and Jenny Ausili are four  pivotal people who has helped shape me in my adult life.  If I hadn't of married Mike I doubt very much that I would be living in the country.  I absolutely love living in the country and I know this is exactly where God intended me and the boys (all 3 of them) to be.  I'm very thankful.

Conversations with Nick

Since Easter was yesterday - Happy Resurrection Day - death has been on Nick's mind.  Tonight as I was putting him to bed he asked me point blank, "So Mom when you die, do you want us to bury you or burn you?"  I told him I would be dead, that he and his brother should do whatever they want with me and whatever makes sense and is the least expensive (see my good enough personality coming through even in death conversations).  Nick thought about it for a minute and then said, "Well if we bury you I would get you a big headstone (knowing Nick probably the biggest one in the cemetery, something so eye catching that it would prompt conversations with people passing by) and I'd visit you but if I burn you I'd place you in a bucket on top of the fireplace so I could always talk to you."  Despite the morbid conversation, it provided some good entertainment and Mike and I were "dying" laughing about it later.  Leave it to my 6 year old little Nick to be thinking about these things!