Birthdays!

We have 4 birthdays all from Aug 11 to Sept 2nd (within 22 days).  It's kind of like Christmas right before school starts around here.  I'm really glad they are summer birthdays because we all enjoy doing out-door things.  However, I say this and Drake chose an in-door party.  This is Drake picking up his Army transporter tank cake.  He's excited to be 5!

 We had his birthday at BouncU...his request, I would have preferred having it outside, but he and his preschool buddies had fun.  And Dane got to invite one of his friends as well.

And now....Funny Faces!

Dane was really involved in Drake's party and making sure he sat in front of the cake and that he got the 1st piece.

Dane seems more excited than Drake here!  I will say, this wasn't just to get the 2nd piece of cake, Dane offered to do all his chores for him too since it was his special day.  He's a sweet brother when they aren't fighting. :)

And then it was Andy's birthday...not quite 50...yet  *wink*

But HOLY COW...is it really taking 3 people to light his candles?

Don't worry Andy, I dig older men :)

Finally, we had Dane's 7th birthday.  Here he is before school. They each get 1 present on the other's birthday that kind of goes with the "theme" presents. Dane got mostly horse stuff and a big barn and Drake got a couple horses and colts as well so they could play together.  For Drake's birthday he wanted all military men and equipment, so Dane got some fighter jets and tanks to play along with Drake.

They each get to pick their cake also,  Dane chose horses...he is really throwing himself into the horse stuff.  Now that we have our BullsEye at our house he goes to the barn every day with me and waters, brushes and gives her snacks....that's my Dane.

  Drake plays on the playground....that's my Drakie :)

We hosted Dane's party at our house and hired a magician.  We had 28 (26 other kids) at our house...yes that is more than the teacher-student ratio allowed at schools with a trained professional.  And then yes, I gave them cake, icecream and kool aide.  Nothing like a sugar high at the end of the night.

But before the presents and cake we had the magician perform for an hour.  He asked Dane to pick one friend to serve as his assistant.  He chose Drake...again the sweet big brother always thinking of the little guy.

And then Dane was the assistant in helping bake a cake.  It's magic!

The next day we put together the final birthday presents.  One of the big hits was the barn from Grandma.  They both play with it almost daily. 

BIG HIT!

And I'd like to say I'm caught up...but I'm already behind again.  Last week Dane and I went on our 1st real horse back riding trip with our neighbor. And today we went to Forest Park to see the hot air balloon races and stopped by the memorial of 9/11 set up on Art Hill.  There were nearly 3,000 large flags set up to represent each person that lost their life on 9/11.  It's really touching.  I just wish the boys understood how much that attack has changed things, still even a decade later.

On a slightly lighter note, I'm 2 weeks into my 2nd to last class and then I'm done with this MBA.  I'm also volunteering at Dane's class every Monday afternoon and if I can I'll be chaperoning Drake's field trips in preschool again this year.  Soccer continues every Saturday though the end of October and then Halloween!  Oh, and I'm on that committe at our church for Trunk or Treat; it's going to be fun!  Next week Andy and I will be gone from our boys for 4 days at a conference at the Lake...it's a 2 day conference, but since I'm on the board for the Missouri Mental Health Counselor Assoc. and it's their annual conference, I'll be there a day prior and after.  It's okay, though the boys love it when Amanda stays with them.  Oh, and speaking of Amanda...she's getting married and they are in her and Ryan's wedding...so more pictures for sure to come!

Till then, thanks...again...for checking in with us.  We're sending lots of love from St. Louis to our friends and family near and far.

2nd part of summer 2011

My Uncle Kenneth (my dad's oldest brother) visited and stayed with us for about a week.  It was awesome having him with us.  He looks so much like my dad; both boys called him grandpa many times.  I quit correcting them and he said, "Well, I can be their grandpa too."  :)

One day we made a trip to the little town of Morgan, that the Indermuehle family settled...way back when.  Here we are visiting the Indermuehle cemetary where his dad and 4 brothers and 2 sisters are buried, as well as some of his cousins.  It's neat to see a whole generation of my grandfather and his siblings there.  Indermuehle is not a common name, but it is there.  When we paid at the hotel, the lady asked which son was his father....that was neat!

Below: Drake, Uncle Kenneth and Dane behind my grandfather's stone.

Here's Dane watching morning cartoons at the hotel with Uncle Kenneth.

And Drake playing with his cars; he's rarely still.

Drake did sit for a minute with Uncle Kenneth in the morning before he got his jolt of energy.

My cousin Karen lives near Morgan and visited us before we headed back to my place.

Here's us three cousins:  me, Karen (Aunt Ramona's daughter) and Susie.

Susie came all the way from California with Uncle Kenneth so he wouldn't be traveling alone.

Santa gave us a fish tank for Christmas.  Andy finally got the table made the way he wanted it.  Here we are getting ready to put our first batch of fish in the tank.  They are so excited.

So excited, they had to watch the fish while they ate lunch. 

We started a Wednesday evening tradition - since T-Ball practice was in the evening, I would pack a picnic  and we would hang out at the park for a couple hours until practice.  It was a nice break in the routine.

We continue to enjoy having BullsEye close.  Here we are relaxing in our yard watching the horses eat.

There's no occassion to this...I just happened to walk in and see them watching tv like this after I got finished working out.

And another morning they were like this....

Here's a couple of nature pictures. One evening while eating dinner on the deck Andy spotted a doe and 2 fawns grazing; look close and you'll see them. It's the same place we let the horses graze, must be good stuff.

Here the boys are watching the humming birds eat.  We have 3 feeders that I fill daily.

Throughout the summer I do fun things that keep them busy doing school work.  This day they requested I draw pictures that they can color by number.  My creative side is still hidden, but they are happy with it.

Drake has a clown with balloons and Dane has a barn with stables.

We went on a camping/float trip with another family.  Here Dane and Drake are enjoying Smore's.  I love how they are sharing the chair and chatting.

Drake dressed in the giraffe costume, "See my little tail."

I finally took them to the Arch...it's about time they go up in it, we do live here after all!

And their 1st days of school.

Drake in preschool, Dane in 1st grade (all day school is hard on him).

So bedtime has been adjusted and all is much better.

The next post (I'm hoping will be soon) is going to be all about their birthdays.  Then I'll be caught up...hopefully.  Just in time for Halloween!
Thanks for checking in :)

Spring & Summer 2011

Here's 2nd my attempt at catching up with my pictures to atleast get us caught up to August before my next semester starts.  I say atleast to August because from Aug 11-Sept 2 we all four have birthdays...that will have to be a separate post:)  Til then...enjoy the many pictures and briefings about each.

Here are Dane and Drake during soccer.  It's been so long since the spring season that we actually had our first fall season practice a few days ago!  Whew, I am WAY behind!

 Dane and Drake enjoying an exceptionally warm spring day; notice the trees don't even have leaves yet.

Another family tradition...Breakfast with the Easter Bunny at the Zoo.  This day it was really nice and we hung out at the zoo for a few extra hours.  Dane wouldn't wear his bunny ears, even for the picture and even when bribed with extra chocolate; he's just too "old" for that silly stuff now:(

But he's not too old for crashing in uncomfortable positions on the way home from the zoo:)

I found an Easter Egg coloring kit in 3-D.  It came with glasses and the stickers were in 3-D.  It was a lot of fun and different from traditional egg colorings in our house.

We went over to Aspen and Mac's house to go hunting for Eggs, on another great spring afternoon.

A random picture from our "Orange" park; it's one of my favorite pictures.

Easter morning; they usually wake up early to see what was left for them, but this morning I had to wake them up so we could still get to church on time.  It's not as if I had to cook breakfast though, it was in the basket and ready to be unwrapped.

We spent a lot of days at Six Flags.  Those passes are so convenient and on hot days during the week when tourists are in smaller numbers we head to the water park as if it's our own subdivision pool.

We've also hit Lone Elk every couple of months.  It is rare not to so see atleast a few elk or buffalo.  This day we saw a new calf (baby elk) walking with and nursing on her mom.  It was so precious.

I chapperoned Dane's kindergarden class to Grant's Farm; and lucky me decided to ride the bus.  I forgot how 20 windows down and no air conditioning feels.

 All the kids wore their kindergarden memory shirts.  Another mom and I made them throughout the year.  There is a stamp for every month representing what they did and also a special stamp of them and their 3rd grade buddy.  It was worth the hard work.

Dane and Drake were in the late Spring production at church.  They have officially both told me they are done with Kidz Jam for a while.  I'm sad to hear it, but won't push it or they'll hate it and never consider it again.  At this time they just want a break.

On movie nights I make up treasure maps which leads them to snacks and clues to where the next map is which evenutally will lead them to the movie we are watching.  Here they have their lights on and are ready to search.  It's so fun to watch them get excited to walk 10 paces and turn right, etc. and find a treat and another map.  I don't draw well, but they figure it out!

This is truly our cowboy/girl picture.  We rode BullsEye and our friend's horse and it was super hot!  Here we are relaxing in front of the barn, dirty, hot, thirsty and hungry and sitting on whatever we could find.  And I wouldn't take that day away from my memory...ever.

At the beginning of the summer we brought BullsEye to our home.  It's so nice now to have her close; we can feed her snacks on the way to catch the bus and every night we water and brush her.  It really is a dream.

My three loves being lazy.

I don't think one can slouch anymore than they are.

Mother's Day gifts

And this was my chosen Mother's Day activity....loved it.

We made a heart-shaped cake for Father's Day.  It craked down the middle, which is just what our hearts would do without him....say it with me....awwwwwe:)

Friends from church gave us this Jeep.  They wouldn't get off of it, even when it started raining. 

Andy rigged it with an umbrella to keep them dry since it was chilly outside.

Our 1st Family 5K Run (at the Zoo)

Drake graduated preschool.

Here they are singing a song in Spanish with their teacher.

And Dane graduated Kindergarden.  Yes, I know the tie is short.

I bought him a new one the next time we went to the mall.  A real one, not

a clip on!

At the Science Center (again, membership is well-worth it).

Check-out Drake's shoes....again!

I chapperoned Drake's preschool class to Purina Farms.  So many kids are such city kids.

You should have seen them all jump when a cow mooed!

Of course we visited my Dad's site for Memorial Day and decorated it.

I miss him so much.

Our puppy, who at this point is now 1, is a water dog and we have trouble keeping her out of the pool.

Here she's grabbing a boat and running out; Drake is yelling at her,

"Hey you, that's MY BOAT!"

While Dane was in Kindergarden (1/2 day), Drake did his own homework with me

at home.  He's so proud when he does it, though sometimes it's like pulling teeth.

That's kind of a joke since he knocked out 3 back teeth and has 2 fake ones.

Dane on his 1st day of T-Ball

Drake on his 1st day of T-Ball

We raised 12 butterflies from caterpillars up and here we are releasing them.

They stuck around for a few days.

Marine week in St. Louis...every little (and Big) boy's dream day!

Andy took a picture of me with the boys and backed way up to get the helicopter in the picture.

We're there....look closely at the nose:)

We went to a Condo at the Lake of the Ozarks for a week. 

It was relaxing and we played non-stop.

In addition to swimming every day we played miniature golf....

and raced go-garts!

Dane had a very tight grip on my leg for the 1st lap, then he would tell me how to drive to beat them.

T-Ball has ended.  Here they are with their trophies....everyone wins!

Thanks for checking in....I will not promise to do this again soon, but I will try.  Atleast to get the birthday posts on here.  For school, I've got 16 more weeks (2 more 8-week, 4 credit classes) and then I'm finished with this degree.  My last final is on December 25, 2011.  So New Years will be surely a day of celebration!