Andrew's Official Birthday Party!

Playing with his dozer from Kent & Dee

Mom & her boys!  We were getting the party started with some snacks.

Seriously cute!  Tiptyn was such a good snuggler with everyone!

Of course Gabe wasn't forgotten... he was THRILLED with his new transformer!  In fact it is on his pillow right next to his head right now while he sleeps.

Singing happy birthday.  We had to do it twice because he wanted to blow out the candle again... He wouldn't blow out the candle unless we were singing!

Family pic... missing Aaron and Jim.

One last gift before bed.... a pedal loader tractor!  He loved it and brought it to bed with him.  It's parked right by his bed.

"pike my hair" and push-ups

Andrew likes to have his hair "piked" aka spiked.  He asked me to spike his hair while he was in the bathtub dumping water on his head.  I told him to wait until he got out of the tub.  So of course we had to "pike" his hair before he was dressed.

CHEESE!

Gabe came in the bathroom and got a spike too.  Then we proceeded to take pics in the mirror.  The silly picture was actually the best one we took!

Gabe has been focused on "getting strong" lately.  I told him to do pull-ups on the monkey bars, which he does but always calls them push-ups.  So I figured I better show him what an actual push-up looks like.  ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND since I can't do a "real" push-up I enlisted Aaron's help.  So here is a pic of all my boys getting in a workout.

First Wrestling Camp!

Arriving at the high school for wrestling.

He got this cool t-shirt that says "Humboldt Wrestling Club, Dominating the Competition".

He really liked wrestling and learned a lot for the first day (3 hours).  He goes back for the last day tomorrow.  For some reason I didn't take any pictures while he was wrestling (doh!) but trust me it was VERY cute to see him down on his knees on the mat trying some moves on his partner!

Thanks Grandma Flatau!

The boys each got a package in the mail today with a coloring book and an art project.

They wanted to start painting RIGHT AWAY!

Gabe wanted his to look just like the sample on the package.

Andrew's blue paint was dried up so he only had red and yellow... which just became red.

Finished!

Tree Down

One of our few trees went down in the wind we had Tuesday night (see the post about camping below).  Not to surprising since the tree was half dead and cracked in the middle.

Gabe found this robin's egg under the tree.  He did find the nest later but no birds.

Maiden voyage...

We took our camper on it's first trip out of our yard on Tuesday.  We had fun and got some sleep..... until I woke up at 1:30am and could not get back to sleep because it was sooooooo windy.  Shaking the whole camper, sides flapping, etc.  I had to work in the morning so Andrew and I drove home at 2am (we were just camping on the other side of Humboldt at Sheldon Park) to get some real sleep.

Gabe and Aaron then moved the camper to a more sheltered spot and Aaron said it was much better there.  It was still fun and the boys loved it!  The only problem is that the cranking mechanism to raise and lower the top broke so we need to get that fixed before we can camp again.

Last Day of School!

Gabe successfully completed his last year of preschool and is now officially a kindergartener!  Here he is getting a hug from Mrs. Mueller on his last day.

He was so happy that both mom and dad brought him to school.  Before school started we took him out to lunch at the restaurant of his choice (Pizza Hut) and he thought the buffet (booffet as he called it) was cool!

It's hard to believe our boy is growing up so fast!  He LOVES school and does well... it will be fun to watch him grow!

Happy Birthday Aaron!

German Chocolate Cupcakes for the Birthday Boy...

Out for his favorite shrimp enchiladas at Cinco de Mayo in Algona.  Boys were belly up to the bar!

Snuggly Sneaky & Silly

I got a nice long snuggle on Mother's Day.

I made some banana bars that Andrew really liked.  He was sneaky and got into them... then covered them back up so no-one would know.

Always silly in the tub!

New Camper + Water Fight Aftermath!

 Here is one of our latest endeavors... the purchase of a pop-up camper.  We have been camping in the yard (me once, Gabe and Andrew twice, Aaron multiple times) and so far, so good!

 We got it from some friends and it is very nice!

 Easily sleeps 5.... could sleep 6 or 7 depending on how comfortable you want to be!

 A few evenings ago my boys got into a BIG water fight in the driveway.  They all had a great time and when they came in Andrew was shivering and shivering but SOOOO happy!  I am so glad that my boys have a dad who will do all these crazy, rough-housing sorts of things with them.  It is def. a boy thing but so important for their growth and identity.  LOVE MY HUSBAND!!!!

Had to post this pic due to the sheer SIZE of Andrew's smile!

Fishin' hole

We are so blessed to have permission to fish at an old quarry right in Humboldt!  There are nice spots, shallow water, and LOTS of biting fish for our boys.

Gabe getting his line wet.  He SO wants to catch a muskie (farm Grandpa) and just doesn't understand that there aren't going to be any around here.  So, farm Grandpa.... next time you visit with Gabe you'll have to tell him exactly how you "catch" a muskie!

This little stinker likes to flick sand around and play with sticks instead of fishing...

Tommy boating!

Our sweet nephew went on his first boat ride.  Knowing how much his mom and dad love boating it was a special time for their family!  I love this picture of them.....

Grandma and Grandpa got to share the special time with their 5th grandson!

Do you think Laura likes her baby much???  And Tommy looks so happy to be boating... look at that smile!

Rhett's Birthday Weekend!

Rhett turned 1 on Saturday and we had GREAT time celebrating!

We stayed at a nice hotel with a perfect pool.

Gabe getting ready for bed the first night.

This is how Andrew fell asleep.  Looks comfy?

Helping Rhett eat his lunch.

Auntie Holly made an awesome cake and cupcakes!

Face-first in the leftover cake...

Bringing Rhett his present.  Andrew insisted on carrying the bag.

Getting ready to slide!

Gabe swam the entire day Saturday.  He had so much fun and made some new friends.