Skate Park Day

Middle Brother realized that he can pick up Big Brother.  That show of strength deserved a trip to the skate park.  ;)

The Big Boy Suite

As I have mentioned, our boys are really into Legos right now.  I must admit, I love them too!  I feel like they are a toy that I don't mind spending money on.  They teach them how to construct things and encourage creativity.  The bricks themselves are pretty much indestructible, so I know that they will last through all 3 boys.

The only problem that we have had with Legos is that they have such tiny pieces.  It makes me nervous for Owen to play with them.  So... we decided that the Carpenter Legoland needed to be confined to the big boys' room where they could close the door while they were building.  :)

I found a really cool Lego table online, and my Hubby was kind enough to build it.  ;)  As is so often the case in our family, I had the vision and Wade had the skills to make it happen.  Love him for that!  We made a trip to IKEA (so fun!) and Wade built the table within an hour or so.

After much discussion/warning/threatening, we bunked the boys' beds that were previously two separate twin beds to make room for the Lego table.  They promised to abide by the rules of no jumping, grabbing fan blades, climbing down the ladder safely, etc. and have done really well for the last few weeks.

I'm so happy with their room!  I hope that they will love it for many years to come.  :)

 Carpenter Legoland  :)

 Wade mounted shelves to store their completed creations.  Clayton's side...

 Drew's side...

The boys made a little "zoo" as their first project on their new table - complete with mini figure zookeepers.  It's pretty cute...

Baby Brother tries to claim Drew's bed as his own.  Not so fast, Little Man!  You will remain in the nursery for as long as possible.  Mama is in no rush to vacate that room!  ;)

Surprisingly, Drew actually plays in there the most.  He loves the Lego City series and the Lego Dino series.  He still needs some help, but he does pretty well for a 4 year old!

I am so grateful that Clayton and Drew love sharing a room.  It is so fun to watch their relationship grow, and to see them enjoy a shared interest.  One of my biggest prayers in life is that my boys will all grow up to be best friends.  Lord, let it be so!

Costumes & Candy

My Pumpkins in Their Costumes

Cowboy Drew walked around saying "Yee-haw!!!" in his hat, vest, chaps, and boots.

Clayton has planned his scientist costume for months (complete with glasses, tie, lab coat, rubber frog, and test tubes). He was quick to correct those who assumed that he was a doctor by saying, "Well, actually, I am a scientist..." while pointing at the title on his lab coat.









Clayton dumped out his candy and Drew said, "WOW!!!" :)

Carpenter Costumes - the Next Generation

This morning, while I was getting ready, Clayton was "babysitting" Drew in the playroom. As I was putting on my makeup, they came downstairs. I could hear Clayton saying, "Come on, Drew, go show Mama." This is what Drew had on....

Drew's first dress up experience. :)

He was loving his hat. He said, "hat, hat" about a dozen times while patting his head. It was pretty cute.

Next up was the Buzz costume.

He wasn't as crazy about that one...

I have a feeling that our closet full of costumes will get a lot of use over the next couple of years. :)

Brothers...

We have been dog sitting for Teener the Weiner Dog for the past few days. The boys have loved having her!

I was cleaning up the breakfast dishes yesterday morning while the boys played with Teener in the living room. Clayton ran into the kitchen and said, "Mommy, Mommy, come quick! You have to see this!"

This is what I saw when I rounded the corner.

When questioned about how Drew got in that teeny tiny crate, Clayton responded with, "I just said, 'Drew go in Teener's bed and held the door open.'"

I'm not sure that I believe that story... I have a feeling that there was more pushing and shoving involved than just gentle coaxing. Ha ha! Drew seemed to think it was pretty funny, though.

Brothers, you gotta love 'em. ;)

While our Daddy was away...

we had LOTS of time to play. :)

While Wade was in China/Japan (see post below), we tried to stay really busy. Our sweet friends were kind to invite us on several fun outings. We had pool playdates, lots of lunches out with friends, went to the zoo, dog sat for a sweet little pooch, went to the Children's Museum, and had Vacation Bible School at church. Whew - it was a busy 2 weeks! All of those activities definitely helped the time pass quicker, though.

The zoo was a BIG hit, of course. There was a semi-cool front (the high was in the mid-80s) the day after Wade left, so Leah & I took advantage of the lower temps and took the munchkins to the zoo.

Drew really liked the flamingos. They came up so close to us.

This was our first visit since they opened the Museum of Living Art (MOLA) building. It is filled with reptiles and amphibians. Right up my biggest boy's alley. :)

He thought that the Burmese Python was pretty cool.

Drew liked the turtles

and the smaller snakes.

Clayton asked this poor guy approximately 1,278 questions about tarantulas. Bless his heart.

The Komodo dragon was the grand finale of the MOLA.

The birds were the biggest hit of the day, though.
Sweet Mags was lovin' life!

Two birds at one time. The boy's got mad bird skilz. ;-)

Drew preferred to feed them from afar. The first one that he held spooked him a bit.

Kelli & Doug got a new miniature Dachshund. Her name is Teener the Weiner Dog. Ha ha! They let us dog sit for them one night while Wade was away. Teener is a cute little pup, and the boys absolutely adored her. Clayton spent every waking moment snuggling with her or playing with her. He really enjoyed taking care of her. We had her from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning. Drew woke up that Sunday morning and the first words out of his mouth were, "Puppy! Puppy!" He remembered her from the night before and couldn't wait to play with her again. :) He was S.A.D. when Kelli picked her up. He stood at the door and cried big huge alligator tears. I'm sure that our neighbors could hear his wails of "Puuuuppppeeeee! Puuuuuppppeeeee!" three doors down. It was pitiful.

Clayton made a point of walking Kelli to her car and trying to get her to make a deal with him. He said, "Kelli, I have a deal for you. You can have Sydney and we will keep Teener." Ha! Needless to say, she didn't take him up on his offer. ;)

Sydney & Teener managed to get along with only a few small girl fights.

Can you tell that Clayton kinda liked her???

We ran a quick errand that didn't require getting out of the car, so we took Teener along for the ride. Clayton fell asleep petting her.

We went to the Children's Museum with the Brewers, too. It was fun to watch Drew & Luke really play together and get into all of the activities. They were very cute together!

Loaded up in the Burb

Last week we had Vacation Bible School at our church. I got to teach in a Kindergarten class and the boys each went to their own classes. It was so much fun! I loved our sweet little group of Kindergarteners. They got REALLY into all of the activities - recreation, snack, music, crafts. They were so excited to be there!

Clayton & Drew had lots of fun in their classes, too. The curriculum was called Saddle Ridge Ranch and was western themed. The boys brought home TONS of super cute crafts from the week. Picking them up and seeing everything that they had made was the highlight of my day. VBS made for a very long week, and the kids were all exhausted by Thursday. But, it was so much fun! I am already looking forward to serving again next year. :)

So, that's a little recap of our two weeks sans Daddy. We managed to survive and thrive while he was away, but we sure were glad to get him back!