Buddies and Birthdays

a little taste of what my sweet sweet Nolan has been up to:

{Sharing a snack at the nearby Sensory Park with two of his best buddies}

{Peace Out! He learned this from the school cafeteria since all the kids have to do this when it gets too loud during lunch}

{Building his bird feeder at home depot with his very pregnant Mom}

{It took us three tries, but we finally got it soundly constructed and were ready to paint it.}

{Playing hard at the indoor soccer complex.}

{Whoa, that's a new soccer move!}

{Helping Mama construct Warren's treat to bring to school for his birthday to share with his class.}

{Ended up deciding on these two color schemes, losing the "antenna jewelry," and opting for a MUCH less healthy treat of candy and marshmallows.  Oh well, they still turned out super cute and fun. 

We love crafts!

I finished Warren's annual birthday letter and went ahead and printed a couple pictures to send too...already, even though his birthday is June 1.  I just feel this urgent need to minimize my workload in May and I want Warren's even year birthday celebration to be extra special this year and not at all overshadowed by the birth of his youngest brother.  His party is mostly planned and it is gonna be killer ;)

Dirt Bikes

Can you guess where we went yesterday?

Here this might help.

The boys each picked out the dirt bike of their dreams.

Jack is SO serious!

And then we hashed out a plan for them to earn their dirt bikes over the course of the next year or so.  It is a bit of a financial investment to get set up to be able to partake in this kind of activity, but Bryan had one when he was a boy and he loved it.  Boys NEED to ride and be outside and learn about engines, etc.  It is going to be quite the adventure for them when the time actually comes!  There are lots of dirt bike trails in our metro area for them to use.  Could it be that the time is actually coming soon that Warren and Jack will be drawing nearer to Daddy?  I think so...

Little League Opening Day

a few posed pics before the days' festivities:

awwww...

then we scarfed Santiago's breakfast burritos and glazed donuts and went on the parade:

before going back to the ball fields for introductions and baseball:

We love baseball!  What a fun Saturday morning and that was only the beginning of our fun day... part 2 up next!

Go Mud Dogs!

Easter 2012 and more!

Did things a little different this year and had a castle instead of Easter baskets.  The actual castle is way more of a hit with the boys than any of the wrapped gifts that were inside.

Warren is so proud of the eggs he dyed! In fact this one is still sitting in the fridge -- he won't let us touch it.

I happened to miss out on the messy job of coloring eggs, since Bryan did that with Warren and Jack while I took Nolan to Home Depot for a kiddie thing to make this bird feeder.  So cute!  He looks every day multiple times to check for any action.

Speaking of action, we took these three to the "bmx dirtbike arena" by our neighborhood last night.  What a riot!  They had SO much fun.  We will be back often!

Oh how I love Kindergarten crafts!  They make me smile and make me miss being 6.

Baseball continues to go well, another scrimmage this week before the official "opening day" this Saturday!  Nolan loves to go to practice.  Here he is getting ready...clearly...he has a baseball hat on so that's all you need right? :)

He is into all kinds of head gear lately.  Like winter hats in 70+ degree weather. 

Not that any of his older brothers are qualified to tell him what is appropriate gear...this is what Warren regularly wears when he rides his bike.  Hilarious.  We are gonna order him some actual bmx goggles soon!

Warren is such a neat kid, we took him on a real date to a nice restaurant only to find this scene when we arrived in Boulder.  He did wake up nicely and enjoyed some time alone with Mom and Dad.

Tearing it up at the dirtbike trail!

The End.

Just Sharin'

Haven't shared pictures for a while...mostly because I haven't taken any for a few months! Here are a few from Easter morning with two little brothers:

Such cuties!

Anyhow, look for another post later containing the Easter goings-on from the Lawson household :)

Way to go Jack!!

Jack is hitting all kinds of milestones lately. Reading like a champ, losing a tooth, and now, starting Saturday March 31st, 2012, riding a NO TRAINING WHEELS BIKE!

We had planned to take off his training wheels this Summer like we did with Warren the Summer after Kindergarten, but Jack asked for them off and was adament that he was ready. The boys have been watching the movie Rad on continuous loop, so that might have had something to do with Jack's enthusiasm.

Turns out it was well warranted whatever the cause, because the second Bryan took them off he was off...didn't even look back.

He hasn't even taken a spill yet and has the hand brakes and pedal brake mastered. What a little stud! He is so proud of himself and has told absolutely everyone he has come in contact with about how it all went down.

We are so very proud of you, Jack! Way to go!

Moab 2012

So much I could say about this trip. So much I probably should say. I'm sure I'll find the right perspective and words at some point, but for now I will just share the handful of pictures from our first (and incidentally only) day in Moab.

{Captain cool in his drug store kiddie sunglasses with Mr. Dorito and the youngest bandit driving the wagon at the Red Cliffs Lodge, where we all lunched half way through their rafting trip.}

{Oh yeah, Jack got some new shades too!}

{Hmmm.  Looking a bit less that thrilled to be doing such a treat as going rafting...a little hint as to the entitled, disrespectful attitudes that followed.}

{Jack acting like a daredevil.}

{Moab is beautiful, you could point your camera randomly into the landscape and capture something special.}

And a few iPhone pictures too...

{I'll always love Moab.  It holds a special place since that is where Bryan and I fell in love.  We went there a couple months into dating and hiked in the Fiery Furnace and I just knew...}

{Mama and sleeping baby in the shade along the CO river.}

{Nolan and I walked all the way across this bridge to the other side of the river from where we parked and he got to swim (completely nude) in the Colorado River.  No pictures since he was determined to drown himself, but it was quite the scene and really reminded me of pictures of myself at his age swimming naked at Big Lake, Alaska.}

It was a short trip unfortunately.  But we had to follow through and our kids' behavior did not warrant them being lavished with any more fun adventures or gift store treats.  We've shaken up their world a bit since returning home too.  Chores! No Apple devices! No movies in the car! Very limited Wii!  Absolutely no tolerance for backtalk or any kind of disrespect!  Hopefully this memory is etched into their memories...and hopefully we return to Moab again sooner than 9 years from now!

Boys here lately.

Ahh some of the stuff that happens on a daily basis with a brood of boys...

{Nap mutiny results in eventually crashing on the floor}

{Nolan is so skinny his pants fell down while he did the monkey bars yesterday at the school.}

What else have we been up to?  Hanging out at The Children's Museum as per usual.

Finding cool new toys at the preschool playground.

Jack made this perfectly arranged and symmetrical pizza at the museum. Yum!

Warren comes right home from school and gets into an activity.  He is a busy body for sure!  Have to force a snack in him and get him ready for baseball practice most days.

We recently got updated pictures done so I have been busy updating my photo wall in our loft and making my Easter mailers.  I LOVE pictures.

It was fun to put the new images in and see how their faces have changed.  Little Nolan at 6 months and at 2.5 years!

The Summer of 2012 is finally coming together!  Enrolling Warren and Jack at Camp Primrose for 3 days per week half days.  They will be there for 15 hours per week going on field trips and having a blast.  Also decided on golf lessons for them at our nearby course.  Nolan and Luke will be my home buddies and I will make sure we have lots of fun stuff going on here for them.  Of course we will have our usual stomps like the Children's Museum and our favorite bounce house. 

And I already got the boys' Summer workbooks at our local OfficeMax since it is closing and selling everything for great prices.  Thinking to have T and Thu be "school" and golf lesson days since they won't have camp.  Everything always goes so much smoother in my head, so we'll see how it all works out :)