Father's Day 2014

I love these two fellas.

My Dad is just an all around good Dad. He works hard, he gives ALOT, and he loves his family :)

I feel blessed to call him my dad. And know that the boy's have a pretty awesome "papa" (as Noah calls him)...that they love and adore!

And Ben...well, I refer to him as "super dad" frequently. 

He is very patient, loving, and playful with the boys. I'm so glad they have a role model like him to look up to. His part in our everyday routine is SO appreciated! 

Noah recently started saying "Da-eeee" (daddy) so much lately...very excited about Daddy! And Christian loves to help him out with projects, to play with him, have him tuck him in and read him his Bible story at night, and listen to his stories. 

I'm definitely blessed to have him in this parenting role we share :)

For Father's Day, we went to church...and then had Mom, Dad, and Mitch over for lunch. We took naps, and then went over to Mom and Dad's house to swim in the late afternoon. Mitch made grilled chicken (SOOO good) for all of us. We were missing Carissa's family, and Maddox and Ava (they went to camp!). We played kick ball outside after supper, it was a gorgeous evening!

Ben is gifted in many areas...hula hooping, is not one of them :)

Happy Father's Day!

You are loved.

My little fish

Christian did swimming lessons this year, the first two weeks of June in the morning for 30-45 minutes. He absolutely LOVES the water. It didn't seem to bother him on the mornings that it was cloudy or even a little cool (low 70's)...he said, "No, Mommy, I don't mind. The water will be just perfect."

 And of course, Noah came along. I brought the little stroller, and Christian was adamant that HE push Noah. Everyday. He is quite the helper sometimes :)

My co-partner in watching swimming lessons needed plenty of snacks to keep him occupied. By the second week, he felt very comfortable wanting to roam and climb on the table. For this reason, I'm glad the lessons only lasted 30-45 minutes!

After his final lesson, we celebrated with Daddy at the park with a picnic!

Deck [part one]

Ben started on the deck the last week in May. 

He's been working on it in the evenings and weekends now.

Christian loves to be apart of the progress. This was when he was digging the holes for the footings.

They were left open, until he could fill them with cement. One morning, Christian had woken up and helped himself outside. I heard him screaming...so I ran out thinking he had fallen in one of the holes. 

Thankfully, no..he had not fallen. However, he had climbed down in one (which is as tall as he is), and there was a spider in there that he DID not like! He had placed a bunch of his toys to fill some of the other holes. As "fun" as this was, we ended the game of playing in and with these deep holes. He used the grabber toy to get the toys out of the bottom. He told me, "Mommy, I better do it. I don't want you to squish the baby." Right.....

The lumber arrived in our driveway. This is new favorite spot to just "hang out"..especially in the morning. He will ask for a snack of plain graham cracker and juice, then go outside and sit here to eat it.

The beginning. 

 This is the before picture...all sorts of classiness going on here!

 Mom and Dad stopped by Sunday afternoon to check on the progress.

They tried out my new hammock chair I got for my birthday!

Noah isn't the best person to have on the loose. He just really likes his Papa..and really likes to be where the action is :)

Dad stayed and helped Ben screw down some of the boards. I think he was a bit more effective at the job than I was.

It's pretty exciting....I'm looking forward to having picnics and people over to enjoy the new deck SOON! 

Another year older

It was my birthday..and a good day it was :)

We went to Sunday School, and then headed to Wichita. 

We went to Sedgwick County Park..stopped by Freddy's to grab some lunch..and then back to the park to enjoy some time outside!

We came back home for naps. Ben worked on the deck a bit..and then we went over to Mom and Dad's for a picnic by their pool. (They were gone...visiting Carissa & Tim) I made a fruit pizza when we got home..my own birthday "cake" :)

It was a good day. I am very blessed to have this boys that treat me so well.

Christian made me a sweet card..he had Ben write "surprise" on the inside, and on the back he drew red lines...that was supposed to be his lips giving me birthday kisses..and THAT he said was the surprise!

All in a day

This is an assortment of pictures throughout one day. 

These two..so typical. 

I don't know why Christian loves strings/ropes/anything he can "hook" things up to or connect things to...but he does. And Noah, well he's just himself...so proud to have climbed on his chair!

 While Ben and Christian were outside working, Noah and I stayed out of the way..and stayed inside.

His "job" was to rearrange any furniture possible (he will move these chairs ALL over the place) 

AND carry his Bible around. Both jobs he does with authority.

Meanwhile Ben and Christian were busy digging the holes for the beginning stage of the treehouse!

They both have quite the ideas they've been discussing about what this treehouse will entail. I am very curious how it will all come together. I LOVE how they can have these conversations..and then work together. It is so funny to watch how Christian takes this seriously. 

He would dig for awhile..then Ben would come over and they would switch holes. It was one of those moments I will have etched in my mind...just so sweet to watch them work together.

They also were working on the well for a bit. It had a leak in the pipe, so Ben dug out around it to fix it. This little baby bird had fallen down in the hole..and the mama bird was nowhere to be seen. They found a worm while they were digging the treehouse holes, so tried to feed it to the bird. It would chirp so loudly...and open its mouth, but everytime Ben tried to drop it in..it would miss. 

Noah, didn't want to watch from inside any longer..he needed to feel included. 

Although Ben is going to start working in June..he has lots of projects going before then..with just one week off from school in between jobs. He's painting a family friends' house in McPherson, he started the treehouse and the deck for our house, and he fixed the well (hallelujah!). He's just a handy hard-working fella..glad I can call him my husband for 6 whole years now!

Suds with my two best buds

I decided I need to be more intentional about doing "fun" things with the boys. 

So I looked no further than to pinterest for ideas.

Oh MAN did they love this. 

Suds, colored suds. That's really all it was.

2 T dish soap mixed with 1/4 c water....add some food coloring. BAM.

They started out all sweet and innocent. 

Christian gave me two thumbs up!

And it quickly deescalated to a very soapy mess...

Lots of suds..everywhere! Flinging bits of soap were all.over.the.place.

It sounds like an oxymoron for soap to be messy. It makes you clean, right?

Um....no. They were covered in soap...so we had mid morning baths.

Even if it only lasted 20 minutes, it was new fun = lots of smiles and laughter = totally worth it. 

So, one of the things on my list of things to do this summer...do at least one pinterest fun project with the boys a week.

Buddies

I love how these two can be the most loving brothers. 

(They have their moments of not..of course)

This was on our way back from Wichita one evening. We had gone to get things for a few projects..AND we ate at Olive Garden..AND they loved it. What? It somehow felt rewarding to be able to eat at an actual restaurant, just the 4 of us..and it went smooth..and everybody ate their food!

Walking on the Hesston College campus. 

Christian had a brief interview with a college student for her class. I love how he just took Noah's hand, like "I got this..I know where we're going."