I love my kids. I love my kids. That's why I am up at this time of night creating 100 mini-models of Thor's hammer out of a block of cheddar cheese.  I'm not kidding.  Yes, I've gone off the deep end.  #superherobirthdayparty #turning5and7 #birthdaysareabigdeal

Pics of the party to come :)

In the mean time, here are a few more summer tidbits I dug up :)

Caleb finished up his baseball season, complete with a trophy!  We (and our family and friends) had so much fun watching him this year!

We took a little trip to Disney on Ice again this year- so fun!

 Here is Ellie, waving her bracelet in the air.  This was after a meltdown because we wouldn't buy her a $20 light-up stick from the guy walking up and down the aisles.  Because, we totally need more plastic trinkets at our house- haha.  She eventually gave up and decided to wave her bracelet instead:

Dan and I got to sneak in a few dates, too :)

A little group date to Pinot's Palette to get our artistic juices flowing....

Yes, we painted a picture together.  Although we look super happy in the pic above, it was definitely a "growing experience"...it turns out I'm a little bit of a perfectionist (shock!) and I like things my own way (hmmm...), and Dan is a little more 'free flowing" when it comes to his art (and his life for that matter).  So we had like 3 fights in the first 5 minutes- luckily, it got better :) I have a lot to learn from this guy! He balances out my crazy.

Oh, and a little fun with our friends, too: (there MAY have been wine involved)

Date night at Cinetopia- our first 3D movie ever!

We also had a getaway to the LAKE! Our community group had a great time, kid-free (7th annual trip!), and the kids had a blast with their grandparents.

 I was so blessed by the sunshine, sleeping in, and time with these lovelies!

Around my birthday, we took our annual trip to Washington DC.  I was a part of the ARDMS item development workshop again (for ultrasound), which was amazing!  And we got to do some more exploring in DC.

The cherry blossoms were in PEAK BLOOM the weekend we were there!!

We headed to Mount Vernon (George and Martha Washington's estate) for the day, and it was AMAZING.  It was so awesome to walk the same grounds that they lived on and hear all the rich history. It was amazing and humbling to hear how self-sufficient they were, and hospitable to the max!

 We listened to Martha Washington tell stories!

The mansion: 

 Meet the longest escalator EVER-

Overall, an awesome trip and I can't wait to bring the kids to DC someday.  Traveling was fun, but we were both ready to get back to our wild and crazy reality!

Oh, and in case I haven't bragged on my husband enough lately, I'll do it some more.

There really is nothing sweeter than hearing him sing "Amazing Grace" with William at bedtime.

And check out this sweet note in Caleb's bathroom...

Oh, and the time when the kids (purposely) spilled an entire mega-sized box of Kix (the ones they begged for at the store...you know, the only kind that wasn't on sale) all over the kitchen floor and then started eating them like little puppies.  It had been along day already.  So I just took one look, and walked myself upstairs, and literally went to bed.  Yes, for the night...haha.  And instead of coming up and asking me what the heck I was thinking and asking me to come down and help get things in order, what did he do?  He proceeded to do the dishes, get supper cleaned up, and didn't even give me a hard time for escaping.  Ah, I can't say I would have done the same in that situation- he's a keeper :)

 And is there really any sweeter sight than dad and son doing a little landscaping?

Oh, and he fixes stuff :)

(with his helpers)

Yeah, he's the best.


I'll share a few of our latest "kids say the darnedest things" moments:

1)
So here's a little conversation I overheard a while back between Caleb and his classmate.
Caleb: So, my dad has been teasing me a lot about Angela.  Saying she is my girlfriend!! I really don't like it.
Keegan: Oh man.  But Angela already has a boyfriend.
Caleb: Yeah, Justin Beiber.  But he is in jail for making bad choices.


2)
Caleb told me recently, "Mom, if you were a momzilla, you would be a pretty momzilla".  Um..thanks!?


3)
We had a repairman come and look at our fridge a few weeks ago.  The kids were supposed to be "resting" but the thought of having someone new in our house was just too much to handle.  So it was only a matter of minutes before they were all up in his business, unloading the toolbox ("What's this?? What's this for?? What does this tool do??"), and asking a million other questions.  Luckily he was super patient and so nice to the kids (turns out he was a dad to a little one, so that helped!)  Here were a few tidbits:

Caleb: Do you work alone or with other people?
Repairman: I usually work alone.
Caleb: Cool, so you are like batman!

Caleb: Do you like to wear athletic shorts?
Repairman: Yes, but not to work.  I wear my uniform.
Caleb: I always wear athletic shorts. You should wear athletic shorts.

(and the most embarrassing moment)
Ellie, to the repairman: Cool! Did you lose a tooth?

At that point, I mean, what do you even say? I scooted the kids into another room...haha

4)
The other day we were watching home videos from when the kids were babies.  He asked (again), "so how did I come out of your tummy?"

Usually the standard answer, "Dr. Peck helped get you out" will suffice, but not today.  He kept pressing, so I told him.....and his face says it all:

Growing up is hard to do! haha.

On a lighter note, we've had lots of fun playdates lately.

Cousin time at Monkey Bizness!  The kids had a blast-

But Will's favorite part was hugging the bounce house..hmmm...


One of our other favorite things:

That's all for now...I've got to get back to Thor's hammers and Wonder Woman Lassos and Kryptonite Krispies for tomorrow's superhero party!