Tons of Travel...too much fun!

Tubby in Tulsa Ya, not much to say here :) The boys are interested in all things mammals these days, buffalo being at the top. We had to stop and get out for this picture. Enjoying a popsicle at Target one afternoon. The boys and I have been in Omaha for 19 days....and we will be here for 16 more!!! It's been quite a trip with birthday parties, a first communion, extravagent outings, a trip to Tulsa(yes, OK!) and so many more wonderful things. Originally the trip was scheduled to be here while Dan was out of town but we came down early and are staying three weeks later to take advantage of the boys being young enough to "skip school" for a month and allow Dan and his uncle to finish our major house projects. Easter, bowling, Family Fun Night Carnival and Les Miserables play are also on the calendar. I can honestly say this is the first trip to Omaha with the kids that I am truly enjoying myself. They have better than normal behavior, the weather has been awesome, great trips, friends and family and knowing I have managed the kids while on the road for 30+ days all by myself has put a smile on my face!! I hope we get another amazing trip like this someday!!!

"cheese"....'click'

Just a bunch of pictures this time. Update soon with how much the boys are changing. :)

Spring, are you there?

LOVE his hat hair!!!

King of the mountain

LOVE!!!!

Puddle boot fun :)

A few days ago the weather was so nice we had to get outside with the bikes. We rode down to the circle and found a 20 foot snow hill in the middle. The boys took no time getting to the top and spent 30 minutes sliding down and climbing back up, without snow pants on! It was fun to get the legs moving again and be outside...how I've missed that :)

Our Oasis

Our boat on the left :)

Formal night

Our favorite hot tubbin' spot

Catamaran in St. Maarten

By far the best trip we've ever been on....and we can't wait to do it again!

We spent a week on the "biggest ship in the world" with my sister Cristen and her hubby Kurt. This marks our 5th trip together over the past 7 years...and this one tops them all! My only complaint was the nervous moments at check-in(update your passport after you get married, enough said!!). We had several gorgeous days, but welcomed the windy cool days to ease our sunburns. We rock climbed, did the zip line, boogie boarded/surfed on the Flowrider, rode the carousel, attended comedy shows, musicals and water shows...hmm, played bingo, scavenger hunts, drank nummy drinks!!, ate tons of food, hot tubbed whenever we wanted, and slept in every morning!! We also did land excursions at each stop: catamaran with snorkeling, ride to the top of St. Thomas and a bus tour in the Bahama.

It was great having a couple that had been on a cruise and knew the ins and outs of it all. It's amazing how well we all got along the whole trip...spending virtually every minute together. Where are we going next?!

So thankful to all those that helped watch the kids so we could go on this beautiful cruise. We appreciate it!!

Hope the snow melts soon and summer comes...my "sunny weather" hangover from the cruise is bad :)

Connor's Camera Day

Jammie Day

Harvey, the plant we are plant-sitting :)

Liam giving the V for 'Vector'!

"Mommy smile"

Such a cutie!

Connor enjoys using my phone, video camera, his camera and our digital camera to take pictures whenever he can. These are a few from one of the many days last week we were "stuck inside" due to negative degrees outside.

A Grand Slam

Such a goof ball!


On the pond with the boys

We spent countless hours(yes, hours and hours!!) watching the Australian Open over the past 2 weeks and it all was worth it when Sunday morning we witnessed Novak Djokovic win it all. Amazing tennis, awesome atmosphere and best of all, his name rocks! It was 2 years ago this spring, while watching the French Open, we discovered and fell in love with the name Novak. And now we have one :)

Speaking of Novak, I finally took him in for his 18 month check and he's right on schedule.

Weight : 24.7 (25%)

Height : 33in. (50%)

All else went great. He is changing so much and it's been amazing to do this again, for a third time, and still revel in every milestone!

On a side note, my parents SkateAThon was a HUGE success this past weekend raising over $40,000!! We participated by taking pictues to post in the 'Skate Across the States' section and I also did an hour of skating here at 6am Saturday morning. Such a fun, inspiring, incredible event. Hope you can make it next year!!!

"They look like Lightsabars!!"

In the bear's den.

Last week we went to the Aquarium to celebrate

our friend Rhea's birthday. Novak gave her that

"love" puppy-awww!

With nothing too exciting going on here recently(I'm a bit thankful for that!) there isn't much to blog about. I guess I'll give you a quick run down on the boys.

Connor is still very inquisitive, asking intellegent questions all day long. He and Liam are in love with all things Star Wars since they watched the movies last week with Dan. They play Luke, Darth Vadar, storm troopers and R2D2 all the live long day! He is also beginning to read. We bought some of the "early reader" books and have a day by day lessons book that helps him learn the sounds of letters and how to put them together. Very exciting!! He still enjoys school 3 half days a week...we have yet to go a week or two without a color change(figures!). He recently passed into the second level at skating class and can't wait to "get paid to play hockey so I don't have to work all day"(Connor). Ha, daddy's dream!!

We can't believe Liam is only 3! He is such a fun-loving, intense, creative, independent, adventurous kid. He still loves reading and looking at books and now tries to "read" them himself. He walks around with a cape on, breathing and talking like Darth Vadar, demanding we call him "Vadar"! He is doing fantastic in school. Mastered his letters, numbers 1-15, colors, shapes, and he is doing well with writing. The teachers have nothing but praise for him every day and they love having him there. He will graduate to the next class up in March. He idolizes his big brother and does so much of what Connor is doing that we forget he is so much younger. He is also doing great in skating class. He seems more coordinated on skates then Connor was at that age and faster too. Little brotherly competition brewing for the future!

Novak continues to amaze us every day. His vocabulary is through the roof. We understand most words he is saying, "help me", "open", "cracker", "blankie", "juice", "Vadar"(lol, he said that tonight!). He is discovering how to play with toys, like the car garage, on his own. He dumps every toy basket, bin or box out daily(Ugh!!). There isn't much he won't eat but getting him to sit long enough to eat is tough. He wants to be doing just what the older two are doing; running around with a cape on, swinging a lightsabar, crashing cars or working on a puzzle. He adores his little g-friend Rhea, calling her name the whole time they're together. I love the time he and I get alone together, T/Th morings, when we hit the Aquarium, play at friend's houses, take walks or just hang out at home and play. He is growing up way too fast!

Tonight before Connor and Liam jumped in the tub they were both peeing into the toilet at the same time. Liam says, "Daddy, they look like lightsabers!" about their pee streams! LOL...such Star Wars nerds already!!!