summer haircuts

Dad always insists that the boys get a nice short haircut for the summer.  I am not one to love really long locks on boys, but I ,like it a little long.  However, I am pretty lousy at cutting hair and hate to pay for it to get cut.  Also since I figure Dad really know better on the matter, I have to let him to do it.  

Here they are BEFORE:

 Unlike his brother, Jimmy is not a fan of the buzzing process, but he did let me snap a shot with his hair half done which he thought was funny.

 Here is how they felt about the cuts:

 Okay, not really.  Sometime they just don't like to smile when I ask.  They actually were pleased.  

Gus said it looked "so beautiful."

Heck, they are cute no matter what their hair looks like.  Why do I even worry?

theatre fun with mom

Rather last minute, my sister remembered her family was supposed to go see Beauty and the Beast at Gammage Auditorium.  

The older kiddos had a birthday party to attend as well, so I got the privilege of taking Finn, Jimmy, and their neighbor Isaac.  

The whole experience with three little boys was entertaining to me.  Jimmy had seen Shrek here when he was only three and fell asleep for the second half (he did love the Dragon though) so I was anxious for him to see this (one of my personal favorites) now that he is old enough to appreciate it.  He said he liked "Be Our Guest" the best because they shot streamers at us out of cannons.  He and Finn both seemed interested through most of the show, but not enthralled.  Isaac on the other hand (who is hilarious in general) LOVED it!  He already has the acting bug so he loved when I told him that he would make a good Lumier and now has future plans to do so.  Somehow I don't see my kids being on the stage anytime soon, but maybe they will blossom a little later like their mom.  You wouldn't have pegged me as a theatre kid when I was five.  My first performance in the Girl Scout International Dinner was supposed to be my troop singing "Frere Jacques," but I faced my back to the audience the entire time.  My troop leader (and best friend's mom) still likes to remind me of that and say she never would have guessed for me to choose theatre as my career.  So who really knows, right?  I would still put my money on Jimmy being an engineer... but maybe he could combine his love of building with his artist ability and be a scenic designer like his mom.  He would probably end up being way better than me at it.  He was very impressed when I took him to my school and the boys got to stand on the stage and go backstage, too.  I didn't design this set, but they still thought my job must be pretty cool.  Jimmy couldn't believe we managed to fit a whole gym onto the stage. (FYI: It was for Reefer Madness: The Musical which they are NEVER allowed to see).  I can't wait until I can take them to see a play that I design or direct someday.  Then they will really know how cool I am.

preschool rocket day

A guy came to Jimmy's Preschool from the Arizona Science Center to help the kids build and launch rockets.  

Even though it wasn't our regular school day we got to come for the event which meant Gus and I got to be there, too.... which obviously meant I took lots of pictures.

Gus was pretty good and was excited to walk in the back of the line and hold Miss Ilda's hand. He loves her.

I love getting to watch Jimmy play at school.  

He has loved his school and is always excited to go every day.

All the rockets got filled up with the fuel and the kids patiently waited for their turns.

Jimmy was pretty excited for his turn and we were all impressed by how high they actually go.

I have videos that Jimmy loves to watch, but posting them is too much trouble.  Basically they went higher than the trees.

Our friend Ann took her turn, too.

I love their expressions as they watch the rockets go up.

Yay, Rockets!

t-ball 2013

We did our second year of t-ball this spring through the St. Francis-Xavier Athletic Association.  

We didn't get on the same team as last year, but we did get to be on the same team as our friend Ruby McHale.   

She cracked me up at the first game in her string of pearls.

Jimmy is always very excited and enthusiastic about playing sports, which is really what counts.

He tries hard and sometimes really does well.  He has never gotten discouraged or been a bad sport and I am so proud of him for that.  

I am sure the day will come when his parents competitive genes kick in, but for now we are doing well, at least where sports are concerned.

 Dad usually took on the responsibility of being third base coach.

 Jimmy made some good plays from the field and always did well when the coach put him at first base.

 His coach was a really nice guy who was very patient with a large team of kids.

I even have to admit I like waking up early on Saturday to go to the games.  It is a pleasant way to start the day and got us all up and moving instead of lounging around for hours trying to make a plan as we usually do.  I am sure I will tire of going to games at some point in my career as a mom, but the novelty hasn't worn off yet.  Gus was usually entertained by Ruby's brother Declan who has become a good buddy lately.  Good thing they would find rocks and other random items on the ground to keep them entertained.

I didn't take nearly as many pictures as last year and only brought my camera to the first game and the last....

The kids all got trophies after the last game (which some may find silly but it makes to kids happy).  I can imagine at this rate we are going to run out of room for the all future trophies in our house pretty fast.  Jimmy said since he already had one, he would let Gus have his old one, which Gus was thrilled about.

They also got their team pictures which Jimmy immediately wanted to put on his bulletin board when we got home.

The snack afterwords are always a highlight as well.

These kiddos were pretty cute and excited. Glad they had so much fun with it.

weisses from wisconsin

Back in April we were blessed enough to have a visit from some of our favorite cousins from Wisconsin.  Zach's cousin, Brian, and his wife, Shelly, decided to spend their spring break away from the cold and come to Phoenix.  Fortunately, that meant their two boys Owen and Ben would also be coming which made our two boys pretty excited.  They got in on Easter so we got to spend the holiday with them and the boys had fun running around the house and being goofy together.  Zach didn't have his spring break that week so he had to miss out on some of the fun, but the boys and I had quite an event filled week.  First stop was the Phoenix Zoo.

I think some of the monkeys escaped from their cages while we were there...

Next stop was McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park for train rides, carousel rides, playgrounds, and kites.

All the boys took a crack at the kite despite the lack of wind, but poor Gus just couldn't get it up.

It was fun to watch him try though.

What cute buddies these guys are:

We also got to go swimming at their hotel pool.  It was our first dip of the year and it was still a bit chilly, but the boys loved it.

One evening we took them to Pizzeria Bianco because apparently that is what we like to do with out of town guests.

Despite the build-up no one was disappointed in the pizza.

Last stop: Los Olivos.  We couldn't let them leave AZ without some great Mexican food, too.

We miss you guys already and the boys are already asking when we will see you again.  Not soon enough surely.