Sunday, May 29, 2011

Happy Birthday Grandpa Hallberg!

In honor of your birthday -


I updated my blog!!!


We hope you have a great day!

Pre-School Graduation & the Last T-ball Game

German with his teachers - this is probably the only picture I've ever been able to take of G-man with a real smile on his face! He loved pre-school - I'm sure glad that Ms. Christina only lives two doors down so we can see her all the time.


As t-ball team-mom I've learned that the most important day of the season is definitely 'Trophy Day!' These kids kept asking me, "Did you remember the trophies?" "Where are the trophies?" I love kids and their excitement for the little things!



Aren't these the cutest brothers?! They sure love each other. They learn so much from each other, but especially from their older brother(s). This new little #4 has got 3 great examples.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Fathers and Sons Campout







We told G & E last Sunday that they would be going camping with dad this weekend. I think German tried to convince us three times that Sunday the wisdom in packing the car that day, so that they would be ready for the next Friday! As far as I can tell, they had a blast and had a lot to talk about when they got home: forest golf, tug-of-war, Connect 4, and their early morning hike. These boys sure love their dad.


I think Joshua had a really hard time saying good-bye to Scotland. Scotie could tell something was going on and he went and got his shoes, kept trying to wear Eli's backpack, and then wouldn't go to me, but just wanted to stay in dad's arms. Poor boy! At the last minute Joshua was going to take him, but I reminded him that it would be no fun chasing Scotland around the forest and next year (I hope) he'll be able to follow directions a lot better!


So Scotie and I went to girl's night and he played with another left behind brother! S & Joshua got to hang out a lot Saturday afternoon at our friends' pool - Scotie loves to be with his dad! Scotland has taken a liking to the harmonica and walks around the house blowing his merry tune - he is quite the personality. I'm so glad he came to our family!

May

May is already flying by, which is making this pregnancy also fly by. I can't wait to have that little bundle join our family - I know he's just right for us and these boys are excited to have him here, but man am I not ready for those first few weeks - aah, don't think about that Julie!

A cute Eli-ism: He was patting my belly the other day and then asked me if he was making the baby cry. I love that Eli!

We don't think he's quite ready to play on an 'organized' team, but boy he sure wants to! Eli loves to help at practice and he knows all the names of the kids on the team, so the games just kill him when he can't be out playing with German or helping dad at third base. We keep telling him that his time will come, but I don't think that's much comfort to a 3 year old!


German is loving t-ball! Each game his confidence grows and he's able to perform up to the level we know he's capable of. His reserved nature makes it hard for him to go out in a crowd and perform, but when we play at home it is evident that he has a real talent and love for baseball.



These boys love them some corn on the cob! This was the last piece, so they were sharing!




This is me on Mother's Day. I don't normally post pictures of myself, but I want you to take special note of the STEAK there on my plate! As many pregnant women do, I wanted steak and I wanted it badly. Instead of hinting around to my husband, I went out and bought it - now, we probably haven't purchased steak in two years, because I try to be frugal, so I have no idea what is good steak and what isn't. But I knew if this wasn't good, I would be bummed, so I followed around a man in the meat department who looked like he had had a few steaks before and then chose what he chose. It was a great idea - I highly suggest this method for any first time purchases! Also, my husband is the great experimenter and this time he scored on the marinade! It was delicious!!! I made sure to eat sparingly, so that I could make this steak last for multiple lunches and I didn't even share on Tuesday at lunch when German asked for more of that 'beef stuff.' Is that bad parenting? I hope not, and I do justify my behavior with the fact that I was sharing it with one of my sons. YUM

April

Let's see...
April came and is now gone. I know we were busy and did lots of fun family things, but aside from celebrating Easter, I have no idea what else we did - so sad!




We give the kids a list of things to hunt for: a ring pop, a bag of cookies, one money egg, a capri sun, etc. It's fun because then it's not just candy and it spices things up a bit. I found these cheap video games at Target and they seem to have been the hit, at least with my kids.

Scotland finally got a minute in the bounce house alone! He's tough, but he's smart enough to stay away from the other 6 little boys who were pretty physical.


We have a three-year tradition now of celebrating Easter on Friday or Saturday with our 'AZ family', where we eat, play, and best of all - the egg hunt. We have church at 8:30am, so our Sunday basket fun was over very quickly and the only picture was blurry - oh well.