Summer Days Are Ending...

Not that a summer day is drastically different for us, since we don't have kids in school yet...but still, summer allows for different types of activities...and as much as we have had fun this summer with 3 boys who all love being outside, I am SO looking forward to fall weather and activities!

What summer has been for us...
Better than words...

 Learning to play UNO

 A new train table (trying to squeeze out Isaiah)

 Stickers

 Too hot to be outside, but wanting to

 Walks to the park

 building forts

 Jumping

 jumping out of the picture

 short haircuts

 candy bracelets from Nicaragua

 shaving cream

 quiet reading time and lots of visits to the library with Daddy

 big muscles that build big towers

 playing Angry Birds

 learning letters

 "construction"

 cupcakes

 chocolate

 Chutes and Ladders

 "going to the beach"

 not feeling well

 sharing the "not feeling well"

 a "girlfriend" coming to visit

 sprinklers

 "water slide"

 "water slide"

 unsure of the "water slide"

 coloring with brothers

sneaking on top of the table...

Just a glimpse of the past few months around our house. We've also had trips out of town, camping, time at the lake, time at the pool, time with friends, and more. A good summer, to say the least, but we are looking forward to this next season now...FALL!!

Fireworks

The past couple of years, Micah and Judah have struggled some with 4th of July fireworks because of the noise level. We did not do a big show this year, but instead bought a couple small "fireworks" after the holiday to try at home with the boys. We happened to be out at the lake for "blackout camp" when we did this.
They were good. Not too much, not too loud. The funniest part for me was watching over the course of it, Micah and Judah's expressions. They are watching the same thing, Micah's expression changes over time, Judah's, doesn't.

I took a lot of pictures, very fast ones. If I scroll through them fast enough, it almost looks like video. It makes it more obvious that there is some change in Judah's expression. The change is subtle, and all in the eyebrows.

Sweetness

Photo courtesy of Crystal George Studios

I have 3 boys that I absolutely adore!
Mothers Day was such a blessing! I received a lovely rhyme from hubs about what an awesome mom I am! I can never be reminded enough about the positive things that I can do as a mother for my kids (because I have plenty of negative things going around and around in my head about myself as a mother)!
And my boys gave reasons for why they love me, in their own words. So Sweet!! I love that Micah and Judah are at the age where they can process and not just repeat.

The day after Mothers Day, my Dad came to visit. They have become Poppa Needim and Grandma Lyn. It's good that they know who is who, since they have 4 sets of grandparents (to spoil them!!).
It was a great visit and we had lots of quality time with grandparents and Uncle Chad and cousin Ava. And the boys each got a huge truck to play with.  A few pictures from the visit.

They are all growing up so fast! All 4 of them were slightly sick during the visit, but it didn't stop the fun or the smiles.

Focaness

Definition of the word focus: the center of interest or activity
Pronunciation of the word focus: |ˈfōkəs|
Use of the word around our house today:
"Micah, you need to focus on the ball with your eyes so you can hit it with the bat."
"Judah, you need to stay focused while you are trying to climb the climbing wall."
Normally when our boys can't quite pronounce a word, we work hard to get them to say it the right way (especially if it seems they aren't trying to say it right).
Today, on the other hand, it was just a little humorous to listen to their responses to the above statements, and I am not quite ready to teach them the right way to say this one yet.
Micah and Judah's responses were both, "I am focanessed."
HaHa. I kind of liked that one.

why oh why

Micah has fully entered the "why" stage of life. Everything I say is followed by "why?" I'm not a huge fan, but I'm getting better at helping him understand "why." The best part for me, though, is when I can make the conversation go in circles and then he starts to laugh and forgets to keep asking "why?"
For example:
Micah "Why do birds have wings?"
Me "So they can fly."
Micah "Why do they fly?"
Me "Because they have wings."
Micah "Why do they have wings?"
Me "So they can fly."
Micah (starting to laugh) "Why do they fly?" (laughs some more and gets distracted by laughing)
I win!

boys will be boys....

 Micah jumping

 Judah jumping

 Micah, tongue always out

 Judah having fun jumping

 Micah and Judah painting the floor

 Digging in the dirt

Judah learning to work hard

 Lots of playing in the dirt

 Micah with a worm

 playing barefoot and dirty feet

 Judah's first time with a roasted marshmallow

 Micah taking a "bath" outside

 Micah and Judah getting clean after playing hard outside

Dirty hands, but the marshmallows are still finger-licking good

I love these boys and I love that they love everything about being boys!