Workin' For the Weekend

Every night Kade asks us, "What's after this nap?", which means, "What are we doing tomorrow?".  It's a great way to go over the days of the week with him but our schedule is always the same and he knows it:

Mon- Chelle's (daycare)
Tues- Chelle's
Wed- I'm home or in Kade's terms:  "Me, Mom and Mase"
Thurs- Me, Mom and Mase
Fri- Chelle's

He'll keep asking, "What's after that?" until we get to Saturday, which is what he's really getting at in the first place anyway.  He already knows the answer but he likes to hear it from us--DAD STAYS HOME!  Or, in Kade's terms, "Me, You, Dad and Mase!!".

If you really want to get him excited tell him we have plans to get together with someone.  Anyone.  The kid LOVES to have plans because that means he's going to have someone to play with him and will give him their undivided attention.  Which is why he loves the weekends because Erik and I take turns giving the boys our undivided attention while the other one tries to accomplish a task.  Someday we'll both be able to accomplish a task at the same time but Mason isn't quite there yet (see my March Came In Like a Lion post).  Until then, one of us is in charge of keeping an eye on the boys!

The best weekends are when we throw our To Do lists in the garbage and we both give the boys our undivided attention at the same time!  The past 2 weekends we've done just that.  Warning: picture overload!

Mason loves the outside, 4 wheeler and lawn mower rides just as much as Kade.  Erik's cheeks hurt from smiling so much--his dream came true with not 1 but 2 country boys.

There's a wet area, that gets a little water flow after snow melt or a lot of rain, about half way down our driveway.  Erik whipped up some paper boats for us to race a couple weekends ago.  Who knew he was so crafty?!

Erik's handiwork

The launch site.

So far, so good!

Is it coming??

Success!!!

Mason, you're looking the wrong way!!

Not sure if he's watching for the next boat or if he just thinks it's pretty cool standing in a pool of water.

My handsome boys!

I just love these next 2 pictures.  Is there anything sweeter than a dad walking with his son?

The following weekend it was decided that the boys needed a sandbox.  Before we moved in last August the septic tank needed to be replaced.  So there's a pile of dirt and rocks in our front yard from  that and that's what they've been playing in.  I know, classy.

Mason supervised the construction workers while enjoying his favorite snack--graham crackers.  Molly was his clean up crew.

Kade was in charge of drilling.

Someone's pretty proud of himself!

Just a few pictures that didn't make it into previous posts this week.

I love this picture because both boys have such great smiles on their faces.

I love this picture because Mason has an even greater smile and he's using Kade's ears as handles :-)

For the past couple months we've been having Wednesday afternoon playdates with Kourtney, a great friend of mine that I've had since elementary school.  She's got 3 boys, 2 of which are literally weeks apart in age from Kade and Mason.  I'm not sure why it took us so long to realize that we were sitting on a gold mine.  5 boys with endless energy, why haven't we combined forces sooner?!

Kade and Kellan, the two 4 year olds.

Kadin holding Kollin, Kade holding Mason, and Kellan.  

Yes, it is not lost on us that our names are Kourtney, Kadin, Kellan, Kollin, Kristi, Kade and….Mason.  Poor Mase, the only non-K name.

The boys checking out their handsome faces after their picture was taken.

This barn is pretty special because Great Grandpa H made it about 30 years for his great nephew.  Recently, we got a call from the nephew's mom asking us if we wanted it since they don't have any use for it and it had been sitting in storage for a long time.  Of course we said "YES!!".  The boys love it!

The story behind this photo just needs to be documented for memories.  

One evening Erik was pulling into the driveway and saw this old guy sitting on our deck.  He tried to get rid of it by throwing snow at it but the raccoon just ran up a tree and stayed there til it got dark.  

A few days later it came back looking even worse so it was time for it to go on to the Great Unknown:  Raccoon Afterlife.  

We called our Man With a Gun (my dad, who we affectionately call Ranger). Ranger wasn't home so we had to call in Plan B (Erik's dad Bill, who we affectionately call Barney Fife--at least when it comes to his gun skills, or lack thereof).  

Bill came out with his 22 and a bullet.  He shot?  He missed?  Did a bullet come out?  Did anyone hear anything that remotely sounded like a gun going off?  Has the gun been cleaned in the past decade?  All great questions that no one has the answer to.  

However, 30 seconds after the trigger was pulled the raccoon tipped over.  Erik and Bill went to inspect it.  Nope, definitely no blood and definitely no gun shot wound.  He was just that withered that he randomly tipped over.  Erik said it's breathing was pretty ragged but they didn't have any bullets left and the gun didn't work anyway.  

Onto Plan C:  a baseball bat.  Thank goodness for Bill because Erik could not take that final swing to send the raccoon packing so his dad did it for him.  

It should be noted that I'm telling this story this story second hand.  I was not there to witness this with my own eyes as the boys and I were tucked safely away in a locked house, in the boy's bedroom, behind it's locked door :-)

Needless to say, Erik and I are NOT great huntsmen.  Lesson of the story?  Ranger is never allowed to leave his house again--our Man With a Gun needs to be available at all times.   

Easter Weekend

It was a busy Easter weekend!  It started Friday after work when we hosted a pizza party with Owen, Ellie, Rylee, Braeden, Collin and their parents.  The kids had a blast tearing up the basement and playing basketball in the driveway.

Saturday, Erik played in the 7th annual high school alumni basketball tournament.  Amazingly his team once again took 1st place out of 8 teams!  I say it's amazing because most of his team graduated high school about 20 years ago and most of the teams they beat graduated high school within the last 5 years.  I'm not sure how long they'll be able to keep up their 1st or 2nd place streak.  These "boys" aren't getting any younger and it shows in the days following the tournament.  Who am I kidding, those aches and pains are showing up hours after the tournament and lasting for days!  Kade and Owen carried a basketball with them the entire day and shot baskets during time outs, half times and in between games.  Then they went home and shot more baskets!  Mason just moved around and constantly got into things he shouldn't have, such as random player's gym bags.  He had fun doing it though!

The winners with their biggest fans!  

Kade is on the far left (with Owen), sporting his "vintage" Kevin Love Timberwolves jersey.  Yep, he still dresses for what he's playing!

Easter Sunday the boys woke up to find Easter baskets full of goodies and eggs hidden all around the house.  We don't have the Easter bunny come because Kade still doesn't want a big, creepy bunny hopping around his house while we're sleeping.  Instead, mom and dad hide the eggs.  It works out well for us because we don't have to answer the 1 million, extremely detailed questions Kade would ask about the bunny.  We can't keep track of all the details we've shared about Santa, I can't imagine trying to remember the bunny too!  After the hunt we went to church, then to my parents and then to Erik's parents.  Needless to say, we all crashed early on Sunday night!!

I put money in some of the eggs.  Every time Kade found one he'd say, "UGH!!  More money?!?!"  Yeah, he obviously doesn't pay for anything yet :-)

Mason liked to throw the eggs on the floor as hard as he could then laugh when it broke open.

Once again it's handy having a super tall dad!  

KC Part 2

Saturday was Vivienne's 3rd birthday party.  It was a Doc McStuffins theme.  Vivi might just have been the cutest party girl there ever was in her adorable outfit.  I tried to get her to stand still for a picture but that's next to impossible.  It's hard to see in these pictures but her custom made outfit has her name embroidered under the number 3.  So stinkin' cute!!

Kade was not happy to pose for this picture.  Mainly because Vivi is holding a yard stick in her hand and no one was safe next to her.  Kade bolted as soon as the picture was snapped.

Kade was so happy there was a boy his age there so they could play bean bags together.

Mason loved Moxie and Mojo and they loved to lick his face.  This window was the perfect height for them to stare lovingly into each other's eyes but not have to deal with a face full of slobber.

My handsome little Mason with his heart shaped tongue.  I think we've decided we're going to get it snipped.  It really is tied tight and we don't want him to have any issues with his speech when it's such an easy correction.  We'll find out more information in a couple months.

And then there's this guy!  His tongue is the opposite of tied as he can lick his nose with that sucker.  He seems to stick it out more now that he knows Mason can't.  Isn't that what big brothers are for though?

And there's my cheesy grinner.

I had to bribe these 3 with food in order to get them to take this picture!

After a day full of partying on Saturday we got to do it all over again on Sunday!  This time Noella was the guest of honor.  She looked beautiful in her baptism dress.  She is part of the 4th generation to wear it!  It all started with her great grandma C (my grandma).

Noella and her mom, Evelyn.

Funny story about these pictures.  The pastor wanted big sister Vivi to be part of the service so he asked her to pour the water into the baptismal font when her baby sister came up.  You can sort of see the glass pitcher on the altar in the picture.  It was a somewhat successful endeavor, she at least put her hand on the glass while he poured.  Anyway, at one point during the service he backed up a little too far and bumped into it.  The pitcher started wobbling, luckily he caught it before it went crashing down.  It was completely silent in the church as everyone held their breath waiting for the crash.  Everyone except Mason that is.  He let out a very loud, very clear, "UH OH!!!".  The timing could not have been more perfect!!

Evelyn's sister, Robin and I are the lucky ladies who get to be Noella's Godmothers!

Mason hanging out with Evelyn's mom