Superhero Story Time

The boys love to tell stories. Their stories are almost always about Superheroes and their story-lines are quite predictable....adorable but predictable:) A bad guy comes to town and steals all of something...all the cars, all the pizza, etc. Then the Superheroes save the day and put the bad guy in jail. The End! 

Mr. Expressive

Crosby loves to climb up on things and jump off. He usually realizes that he needs help or he will get hurt. Usually. Lately he will climb up on the window sill and then yell until one of us comes to hold his hands and let him "jump" down. 

 You can tell he is loving it! "Ohhhhhh!!" 

 Such great expressions!

In case you wondered where he gets so much of his personality from:)

Man Caves

We didn't get outside much this winter. It was really cold and it seems like it takes about as long to get everybody ready as they end up lasting outside. However, we did have some fun when we ventured out. Tim made the big boys "man caves" one day. They each had their own and they loved it! I'm not sure what is so fun about sitting in a snow hole but that is just me:) 

 Crosby prefers to shovel:) 

Weekend at the Cabin

 We spent a long weekend at the Carroll cabin over UND's spring break. Our friends, the Joneses joined us for part of the time. Of course I didn't any pics of all of us together. They have a 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son. The kids all played so well together which made the time even more fun!

A quick stop at McD's on the way. The boys LOVE play lands, and now Crosby can get around pretty well too! 

We spent a lot of the weekend outside. It snowed a ton and so we did some sledding and built a snow fort.

 Poor Cros couldn't walk very well through the deep snow and when he would fall, he couldn't get up! He was such a good sport though. 

 Inside we played games, legos, ate great food, and "relaxed"...as much as we could with three little ones:) All around it was a great vacation weekend!

Assortment of Pics

 Cros went into the garage the other day and got the scooter out. He must also be DONE with winter! You can sort of see the height of the snow in our backyard in the 2nd pic. Carter is at the top of the "hill".

 Kimmy found us matching Avengers sweatshirts. Can you believe they were only $3 at Kohls?:) The boys LOVE them too!

 The boys thought it would be fun to put tattoos on Tim, Cros and me. We didn't really fight them.

 Go Sioux! We do get out for a date night once in a while. Especially when we get free hockey tickets! 

 I've loved working at Awana this year. Carter is in Cubbies. The other boys are in the nursery and I get to work with 5th and 6th grade girls. They are CRAZY!! I fit right in:) 

 The boys like to play a game called "Sock Wars". Pretty sure Tim made it up. They other day they got out all of their socks and underwear and decided to play "Undies Sock Wars". Good times. 

 Ahhhh nap time! 

 Peanut butter play doh. The boys really love it. I just wish they didn't eat it soooo fast! 

 Muscle shirts. They just make little boys flex. I really love Carter's "flex face". So great! 

 Tim was out shoveling the other day (again). Not sure why they were cuddling but it was sweet. For 5 seconds. I'll take it!

Crosby is 1 Year + 5 Months!

Crosby is getting to be such a big boy!

 I love putting him in his boat shoes...he looks like such a little stud! (Thanks Mike and Sherah!)

 Mr. Mohawk

Cros always tries to keep up with his brothers! Not sure who decided it was "hat day" but Cros joined in. 

 At the mall playland and McD's playland...just surviving a long ND winter!

 I discovered this past month that I could shower while all 3 boys are awake. All I need to do is find something to entertain Carts and Coops and then strap Cros down in the bathroom with some food! 

 Cros loves playing outside. We've been using long socks over his gloves so they stay on. 

Also, Crosby LOVES his daily vitamin. He starts freaking out with joy when he sees me getting them in the morning. Just one more sweet moment in the day!

A Day in the Life

I thought it would be fun to be able to look back in a couple of years and remember how we spent the crazy days with 3 toddlers at home.

Most mornings start around 7-7:30am with some good cuddle time:) 

Unless of course I set an alarm and get up to read my Bible and/or work out. In that case, they always seem to get up earlier! Here they are watching me work out. Carter loves to critique me and point out when I don't kick high enough or when I quit early. Gotta love a cheering section so early in the  morning.

Also in the morning we usually read. Crosby is in that stage where he wants to be a part of everything but really doesn't have the patience to sit through a whole book so it gets crazy and complicated at times:)

 We are on the go a lot in the mornings but I do love the days when we stay in our pjs and just read and play! In the winter though, we get so stir crazy that we usually go to the library one morning and the gymnastics center another morning. Wednesday's I have Bible study at church so they kids play in the nursery/gym. Also on Friday's we have staff meeting here and a babysitter comes and watches the boys in the basement. I didn't realize we had such a routine until the librarian commented that she was surprised to see us on Thursday because we usually come on Mondays. Hahaha! I guess we make a memorable, crazy impression when we head out in public:)

 After lunch the boys all still nap! Cros usually goes down first a little before 1. Then Cooper gets tired close after. I usually hang out with Carter and work on his Awana verses or let him play some Angry Birds on my phone before he lays down around 1:45. He still naps around 5 days a week and on the other days will just read books quietly. I can't even tell you what a blessing this is! 

After nap it is more play time, books and usually a short video. Every other Monday night we host a small group Bible study and 11 or so other kids join ours in the basement while the adults get in the Word upstairs. Chaos! But so great! Wednesdays we do dinner and Awana at church. Otherwise we are just home in the evenings. Tim finds time to wrestle with the kids most nights. And we usually end the evening with...can you guess...more books! We try to have them in bed around 8. Sometimes that is more for my sanity and Carter and Cooper will just talk for a while but 8 it is!

 We are REALLY looking forward to the spring where we can go to the park and take walks and just get outside. But somehow, the Lord has sustained us through the winter and provided lots to do and some good friends to share life with! And although it is crazy and I spend most of my time working through toddler conflict, these three are the greatest blessings and bring us so much joy!

Wrestling with Dad

The boys LOVE wrestling with Tim. It is usually our post-dinner nightly activity. They get all their energy out in this crazy, loud, bonding man-fest. I just stay clear away! Seriously, Carter wrestles so hard now that it hurts me. But Tim loves it and they love it so good for them!

 They scream but then come back for more! 

 Cros sometimes joins in on the fun but he quickly flees to safety:) 

 Carter is the most aggressive of the boys by far at the point. Maybe it is just because of his age...time will tell!