They've taken flight!

My sister gave Connor 5 live caterpillars for his birthday. We have watched them crawl around, slow and cocoon, wait while they changed, hatched, gained their color over days and days, fed them and are now watching all 5 fly all over the cage. We let 2 go tonight, Connor was sobbing because he would miss them so much, and they stayed in the yard long enough for us to follow them around and take pictures before venturing off. Amazing gift Knutsons!! Thank you so much :)

We're adjusting to the schedule of school. I posted some 'first day of school' pics. Connor is settling in and Liam and Novak are enjoying the individual time with me.
Our quick trip to Omaha was fabulous. We said our sad goodbyes to my best friend, and Connor's godmother, Erin who will be leaving for Afghanistan in a few weeks. We will miss her terribly! We also spent tons of time snuggling our newest neice Claire. Connor was a big helper; feeding her, holding her, watching diaper changes...hope this babe in belly is a girl bc it looks like I'll have a helper :) We also went bowling and played arcade games, attended the "loud, Jesus church" as the boys called it, shopped for clothes, and spent time with the cousins. Dan won the tourney he was playing in with my dad. The long drive home(we got home at 4am on Sunday night) was tough but worth every minute!! Can't wait to go back :)

CHEERS!

Heres to our best summer to date!! We had so much fun laughing, splashing, chasing, tickling, tubing, golfing with, sunning, pitching to, traveling with and making sweet memories with our three boys this summer. Their willingness to try new things made each new adventure that much more enjoyable. They are becoming the best of friends and its amazing to think in a few months we will be blessed with another giggling bundle of Doyleness! A few pics from the past few weeks of summer:

Our mental health week...

I love Liam's poses in this one!!!

Rockin' the aviators!

IPad obsessed :)

With the van packed full last Saturday we headed South in anticipation of house swapping with friends for the weekend in the cities. We were heading on to Okoboji late Sunday afternoon. Plans quickly changed when we realized my newest neice, whom I hadn't met, would be in Albert Lea for the evening. SOLD! We drove all afternoon and arrived in time to snuggle on her before bed. After the quick visit we continued the trip onto Okoboji, IA to stay in a relatives cabin for the night. Arriving at 11:30pm to a less than 400 sq. ft. "cabin", with my sister, her husband and their three kids already sleeping, made that night not too restful.

We caffeine blasted the no-sleep induced "hangover" and took the kids to Arnold's Park amusement park all afternoon. Things started out slow, not knowing the kids daredevil tolerance, but they quickly rose the bar by riding rides even I would not go on....over and over again! We finally peeled them away before supper to officially check into the Mansion(as it was titled) at the Village West resort on Okoboji's west lake.

The first half the week was spent with Claussens(3 boys), Wellwoods(newborn), my parents, my neice(12) and nephew(10), and our family in a large cabin(the Mansion!). We rented boats and jet skis each day, played putt putt to our heart content, made quick visit back to Arnold's for a few missed rides, spent hours on the beach making sand castles and swimming, took walks, played yard games, played at the park, swam in the pools....it was glorious! Each night we feasted on deliciously prepared meals then stayed up late chatting and playing cards.

Thursday the Claussens and Wellwoods left and the Knutsons(4 kids) and my brother Daniel arrived. Those days were filled with fishing(my sister caught a 36 in. Northern Pike!!), smores making, driving range visits, more putt putt, another visit to Arnold's Park, even more hours on the beach(I read while Dan played with the boys, bless his heart!) and the notorious visit to Rocket Park.

It was incredible to be staying with so many people in one cabin but have things run so smoothly. The kids were great, making memories with their cousins all week, and soaking up the "no schedule" lifestyle. It was fabulous to be completely in the moment the whole week, not worrying about anything but relaxing and enjoying my family!

We hope this trip makes the books next year. Dan and I have said several times, "That was the best vacation!" and we hope to do it again!

WHOA....new camera!!

I recently splurged huge and bought myself a new digital camera with digital video! It has been amazing taking pictures, at speeds I never imagined, and capturing sunny summer memories. No more guilt about forgetting to take video of Novak....it's too easy now. I have taken almost 1000 pictures in the past three weeks....so here are a bunch of my favorite :)

Happy Birthday Novak!!!

Novak turns 2 today and we can hardly believe it. Some days he acts and talks like the big boys playing star wars characters to a T and saying things like, "oh my goodness mommy" or his classic, "mommy, liam hit me." He's full of bubbly energy, loves to climb to daring heights, enjoys watching his namesake on tv!, adores his brothers and has the most gorgeous hair of any 2 year old we know. :)
Happy Birthday Novak!!

Fairy Dust

Silly tub time

Our GORGEOUS hotel room view

Movie time(yes the lymph node on Connor's neck is extra large....it's not strep, just gets that big when he gets sick-strange i know!)

my attempt at a family picture in the lakefront hot tub

park time!!

Connor with his teachers Ms. Emily and Mr. Alex

SO CUTE! His new Vadar toy he got with the gift card he won at the school carnival

Novak shooting pucks with the Bulldogs.

Dan and I concur our Fairy Godmother stopped by and sprinkled all our children with fairy dust because the past few weeks have been incredible.

The phenomenon began at a school carnival a few weeks back where the kids played games and ate candy for 2 hours while we chased them around different stations. Connor won a gift card in the raffle then Novak ended up winning the ever sought after Bauer hockey stick signed by the UMD Hockey National Champions($200 stick!). The last prize of the night, and the one Dan wanted more than anything!, and Novak wins it!!

It got better on Mother's Day: we had a wonderful morning together then after the boys naps we spent the afternoon at the waterpark with Dan's parents. All the kids had a great time climbing, splashing, jumping in, riding the lazy river, going down the waterslides and eating pizza. We spent 4 hours there with no whining, fits or bad attitudes....possibly the first totally enjoyable family outings! They can't wait to go back :)

Our week was chaotic preparing for our huge garage sale and celebrating Connor's last day of Pre-K. Connor had a wonderful time and will miss his freinds and teachers. The sale went fantatic, getting rid of tons of stuff from the house, and selling over $1200 total between the 3 of us.
We shifted gears quickly and packed up Monday for three days in Bemidji, MN with Dan. The kids and I hung out while Dan worked; playing in the sand and water, drawing with chalk, visiting the parks, and rockin' the waterpark. The boys went nuts! Going down the slide head first, jumping off the edge of the pool alone, dunking....it was so fun to watch them develop so much in just three days. All three learned new tricks and are eager, "to get to Jonan and Dillon's(their cousins)to jump in the pool!".

We arrived home mid-week exhausted but still smiling :) Not sure how long this "funk" will last. Everyone is enjoyable and family outings and adventures are going smoothly so we plan to take full advantage!! Thank you Fairy Godmother!!

Home update!!

House projects are finally getting crossed off....after 3 years! Black Mesabi Granite was installed in the kitchen and bathroom, new sinks in all too(went from 1 to 2 in the bath!), new beautiful faucets, pendent light above the kitchen sink, kitchen hardwood floors and trim...hmmm, and the new tub, tile floors, light fixtures and tile surround are due in next week. Phew! This all happened over the past month and it's been so fun to see the transformation finally taking place. I love it, so does Dan and the boys can't wait to brush their teeth "...without spitting on each other!" Cute!

Oh ya, and I finally bought our family a gorgeous, HUGE dining room table with room enough for all those hockey little players I'm sure we'll be having over someday!!