Weekend with friends

Oh boy it's been a while since I blogged.  Life is busy and by the time we put the boys to bed at night I'm just too tired to open my computer.

We had a really nice weekend.  Friday we met up with friends for dinner, Saturday morning Owen had a soccer game, we went out to lunch with my family, and then the boys headed over to Papa and Finney's house for a sleepover.

Katie, Joel, and Delia were in town and Katie had an Oktoberfest Birthday party for Joel.  It was a lot of fun.

I loved catching up with friends we haven't seen in a while.  One of the people at the party was from the Jersey Shore and very interested in all the cornfields and manure smell (which I could barely smell- guess I'm that used to it).  We decided to take a little fieldtrip into the cornfield.  Lots of laughs for sure!!!

Our sweet neighbors gave us Hershey Park tickets and they expired today so I decided to take the boys.  Mike was going to be away and I thought it would be fun for the 3 of us to do together.  Mike isn't a big fan of Hershey Park.  He has a weak stomach and gets sick on the rides and even looking at some of them makes him sick.

Last year I planned to get the boys (and I) season passes to the park for their Christmas gift.  However, with moving and our trip to California, we never ended up getting them.  I figured if today went well and the boys had fun I would get them season passes for their Christmas gift this year.  You have to purchase the tickets before October 1st to get a discount.  Boy am I glad we tested it out first.

Skyline selfie- all smiles at this point.

After only being there for a little over an hour and going on 5 rides, Owen was ready to throw up.  He was so pale and sick and just wanted to go home.  Poor guy has his dad's weak stomach.  Adam said he didn't feel well either, but I think he may have been copying his brother. 

It sort of made me laugh.  As the large crowd of people were heading into the park we were already heading out.  We were also the only people on the tram heading back to the parking lot.  Owen said, "Why do people go there?"  He doesn't understand that not everyone feels as sick as he does after going on rides.  He also said he'd rather go to computer class than go back to Hershey Park.  That says a lot.

The highlight of our trip there was giving our two extra tickets (thanks to the Szajdas) to random people that were going to have to pay for a ticket.  They were so appreciative.  I love doing things like that.  

So now I'm wondering if Disney World is for us.  I know the boys would love the shows, but is there a lot to do for kids that don't enjoy rides?  I'm going to have to find that out. 

Loving Fall

I have 5 baskets full of laundry that needs to be folded so this will be short, but sweet :)

Last weekend we had some friends over for dinner.  It was raining out so we had dinner in our dining room.  Only the second time we had ever eaten in there so I wanted to take a picture.  I made a cookie dough dip for dessert and it made the kids (and adults) bonkers!!!  This is right before the dessert craziness happened...

On Monday Owen fell and cut his head open.  It was awful.  I took a picture, but it's too gory so I'll spare you.  He ended up getting three stitches, however I think he needed more than that.  The stitches came out Friday and the kind doctor that saw Owen offered to glue it to help minimize the scaring should he go bald one day.  He was so tough and brave and earned himself a new Lego set after it was all over.  My nerves were shot and I just wanted to cry seeing him in pain when they put the needed in his wound to numb it before they stitched him up.  There's nothing worse than seeing your child in pain (emotional or physical pain).  Luckily heads can be stitched back up so I know it wasn't a big deal, but it still was no fun at all. 

 Owen had a soccer game in the cold rain on Saturday and then we went to an outdoor picnic to celebrate Bea's birthday and her new baby sister.

 

 Louisa Button is just as cute as can be!

After we got home I was so cold from being out in the rain I couldn't wait to put on my jammies and drink a hot pumpkin spice latte.  Adam loves my jammies and told me I looked "beautiful".  Bless his heart. 

 He spent a good part of our rainy Saturday curled up in a box with a blanket, pillow, and the iPad.  I was tempted to crawl in there myself and take a nap!

 Today we face timed Caleb for a few minutes.  The boys just LOVE him to bits and he thinks they are pretty entertaining.

 You would not believe how excited Adam was when I came home from the grocery store with pumpkin cookies today!  Both boys look forward to these cookies all year and couldn't wait for them to arrive in the store.  They are already gone.

 I made my favorite soup- Zuppa Toscana (just like they have at the Olive Garden).  I ate WAY too much of this today. 

 Loved looking outside and seeing all our boys playing flag football on this beautiful fall day.

Adam's First Soccer Game

Yesterday Adam had his first soccer game.  He was so excited he could hardly contain himself!

 An after-game hug for his cousin, Caleb.

First week of second grade

Owen started second grade last week.  Second.  How in the world did that happen?!

He was more relaxed at the start of this year than kindergarten or first grade.  In fact, he told me we didn't need to go find out which teacher he was going to have, he would just check on Monday (the first day of school).  He also said we didn't need to go walk around the school a few days before it started (like we usually do to relieve some anxiety) because he already knew where all the second grade classrooms were located.  He's growing up, slowly but surely.

Despite seeming much more relaxed this year, he still had to force a smile for his pictures.  He's a lot like me.  I REALLY dislike the first day of school.  Make that the first week.  Once we get into a good routine we all feel much better.

 Next year Adam will be off to kindergarten.  That will be very hard for me.

 Here are my sweet boys before our first day of school.

The first week was looooooooong.  By the time Friday rolled around we were all exhausted.

The boys had soccer pictures.  Adam loves that he is on a soccer team this year.

Our butterfly emerged and we set it free.

Saturday we spent the entire day at the Zac Brown band concert.
Tailgating for 7 hours before the concert.  Fun times!  A few hours were spent playing hammerschlagen. All you need is a hammer, tree stump, some nails and a group of friends.  Lots of fun!


We spent today playing with our boys and our neighbors. We really do hate to see summer end.

 Adam's face cracks me up in these two pictures.

So Long Sweet Summer

It's first day of school eve.  If I'm being honest, the first day of school is my least favorite day out of the entire year.  I'll be happy to get it over with and get into a routine!

I've been horrible about blogging so here's a little iPhone catch up...

The boys have been having a blast hanging out with our neighbor friends.  I love watching them play together.  

Growing up, I was my dad's crab eating buddy.  Now, Owen is mine.  He just needs to learn to pick his own crabs. 

 We had a chance to go to a Senators baseball game (thanks to the Szajda's).

 I got to babysit my nephew for two days last week.  It was so much fun!  I'm trying to convince Mike that I really should quit my job to be a stay-at-home aunt :)  It's especially easy when I have such good helpers.  Owen and Adam are so good with Caleb and are eager to help however they can.

We took Owen shopping for some back-to-school clothes.  Clothes shopping isn't one of Owen's strengths.  He's completely uninterested.  He's so skinny that he needed size 4-5 shorts (same size as his brother).  He's our healthy eater.

 Mike gave both boys their back-to-school haircuts.

 Another sweet baby came into our family this past week.  Meet Louisa Button.  Isn't she precious?  Button is a family name and it fits her so well. 

 As part of our school's inservice we spent the day doing team building at a high ropes course.  It was soooooooooo much fun and I can not wait to go back!  This picture of my second grade team was taken AFTER we all climbed insane heights, walked across wires very high in the air, and tackled the Flying Squirrel challenge. 

 Despite being a little under the weather due to 5th Disease, Adam has been making us laugh with his wild outfits.  On this day he fell asleep with a hat on and sock on his hand. 

And tomorrow beings a new adventure in second grade.  I really look forward to watching Owen learn and grow in 2nd grade, especially because I teach the same grade.  I think it will give me a new perspective.