Some fun at the park

I can't write long today, but I wanted to show some great pictures that we took at Kickapoo State Park last Saturday. It was a beautiful day, and was the first Saturday in a long time that Shane didn't have something going! So we decided to head out relatively early and do some hiking (or, walking slowly would probably be a better term to use, since the boys stopped at nearly everything they saw to examine it closer !) and playing. We had a ton of fun, they boys really enjoyed themselves and so did we. Ethan was so good in the snuggli! He is almost 4 months now, and starting to really be able to look around and observe his surroundings. It was about halfway thru our "hike" thru the woods when Shane started smelling something stinky coming from Ethan...sure enough, he had decided that it was time to go to the bathroom, and the way he was positioned in the snuggli must have been just the right way, because everything just shot straight up his back. And here we were in the middle of the forest! So, I headed on with Ethan in my arms, and walked the boys to a nearby play area, and Shane headed back for the car. He brought the car around to where we were, and I got Ethan all cleaned up. :-) His diaper was practically DRY (I am not kidding on that)--however, he was a mess clear up to his shoulderblades, and his clothes were covered as well. Good thing I always keep an extra outfit with me...I learned my lesson on that one long ago! Anyway, Ethan seemed to feel much better after that, I can't imagine why! We stayed at the park area for a long time. Colin and Cameron LOVED the swings, but mostly loved going down the slides with Daddy! We had such a great time, even saw a few deer and one tatoo, as Colin used to call the racoons. Shane and I have been coming to this park for years now....we used to walk our dogs on the trails. It is so great now to be able to share in the fun with the boys!

Cameron LOVED the slides and got really brave at the end....he started going down HEAD first, just like his big brother was doing!

There's a WHAT in my wall?!?

So, Shane has begun our kitchen/dining room remodeling project. For the last several days, he has come home after work and has been ripping out panelling, walls, studs, carpet....and then putting up studs for new walls....etc.

Yesterday, he was taking out a piece of panelling from one of the exterior walls in our back room (the one that is being used for storage right now) and all of a sudden, I hear...."Oh boy....I'm scared! I'm scared!" in this weird voice that Shane doesn't use very often. I didn't really know WHAT was going on, but thought he was joking or something....so I went around the corner and asked him what was wrong. Of course, who follows me? Colin, with Cameron right behind him. (Ethan was in my arms.)

When I get to Shane, he had this horrified look on his face, and I immediately knew at that point that something was REALLY wrong. I said to him, "What's the matter?" And he said, "Get the kids back!" I looked around the corner into the back room, and looked up (in the direction that he was already looking) to find what was almost the unthinkable--a SNAKE had made it's home in our wall!!

No, I am not kidding.

We apparently have been housing a giant (by my terms, anyway) snake inside our wall for who knows how long! He was just sitting up there, all comfy cozy, right on top of the insulation in the wall, not seemingly bothered at all that we had just torn into his home.

Talk about grossed out.

Neither one of us knew WHAT on earth to do. I ran down with the boys and put them in their room, and told them not to come out until I said that it was okay...and then proceeded to call animal control (however, it was past their hours, and I got the answering machine, with a message saying they do not pick up stray animals after hours. Great.)

I had no clue what to do from there, so I called across the street to my neighbor, hoping that she would be able to tell me who to call. Instead, she says to me, "Tom's afraid of snakes....I'll be right over." She proceeded to grab some gardening tools, and came right over to help with the process of getting rid of this snake. She said that it was a black king snake, and not poisonous, but it could still bite.

So, for the next several minutes, she and Shane devised a plan, and they were able to get the snake onto the ground. Sherry held the snake down with a garden hoe while Shane chopped it's head off (or tried--apparently, snake skin is pretty thick and tough.)

He never got the head really off, however. Once the snake was "dead", Sherry picked it up and carried it into the field behind our house to dispose of it, saying an animal would eat it in the next couple of days.

After a few minutes, Sherry left, and Shane went to check on the snake...to find it still very much alive. So, he really did chop the head off of it that time, and then measured (as you can see in the photos.) It was over 4 ft. long, without the head!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT??

I mean, seriously, I never would have thought in a million years that something like that would happen! But, that's our story of our most eventful remodeling incident to date!!

A funny thing Cameron does....

Those of you who know Cameron really well know that he absolute LOVES those flannel blankets (the kind that you cut and tie in knots all around the edges.) My Aunt Karen gave him his first one when he was 3 months old as a Christmas gift--and it was love at first site. We used it to cover him with at night in his bassinet, and then in his crib....and one night, when he was about 6 months old, we noticed that he had the ties in his mouth and was sucking on them! It was the funniest thing. Cameron never has used a pacifier (much to my dismay on some days), even though Colin LOVED his paci, and has never sucked his thumb, like Ethan now does. However, he has a complete obsession with sucking these blankets! We now have several around the house. The one that my Aunt Karen made for me, the Illini blanket that you see in these pictures, is for some reason his absolute favorite. I think that might be because we keep it in the living room, where we spend alot of our time....so it is always accessible! Well, the other day was wash day, and the blanket had been in Cameron's possession for a few days and needed it's semi-weekly wash, so I threw it in the laundry room in a basket. Our laundry room is right off the kitchen, and you can see right in the door, because I keep it open 90% of the time (isn't that how often I am actually DOING the laundry??) The boys were in the living room playing, and I ran down to put a basket full of clothes away in our bedroom. I came back a couple minutes later to find Colin playing all by himself. I knew Cameron couldn't have gone far, so I began looking around...not in the dining room, not in the kitchen....and then.....THERE he is! I found him in the laundry room, he had climbed inside the laundry basket containing the blanket, and was sitting in there sucking on the ties of my blanket! How funny is this kid? I quickly grabbed the camera and took a few shots of him before he actually saw me. He knew how funny it was too--he burst out laughing as soon as he saw me! I snapped another one of him laughing, and added yet another incredible "mommy memory" to the list. Thanks for the laugh Cameron!

Cameron's "big boy" bed

Well, there has been a new edition to Colin and Cameron's bedroom--a brand new big boy bed just for Cameron! Ethan has just about outgrown the bassinet--at almost 3 1/2 months old, his head is almost touching the top at the same time that his feet are almost hitting the bottom! So, we figured it is about time that he gets a little more room while he sleeps--which involves booting poor Cameron out of the crib, the only bed that he has ever known! So Shane spent a few hours and built a new bed for Cameron, just like he did for Colin last year. It is made like a trundle bed--on casters, so that when we are not using it at nap or bedtime, it slides right back up underneath Colin's bed. (Am I fortunate to have a carpenter for a hubby, or what??)

Cameron loves it!! We have had a few interesting nights so far (keeping him in the bed for the first few nights was quite fun!), but for the most part, he is adjusting like a champ. The bed is low to the floor, which I love (for safety reasons, of course) and the boys love that too--a new jumping platform! You should see Colin bounce from his bed, to Cameron's bed, to the floor in one fluid movement. As Lynette says, what one of them doesn't think of, the other one will!

Once playtime is over (on a good day, about 45 minutes--on an extremely bad day, upwards of 2 hours) and they finally do fall asleep, I think they look so adorable in these new beds. :-) Of course, a mother is ALWAYS partial to her own children! I am so thankful for my family, and my three wonderful sons.








Happy Belated Mother's day to all of you!

Working Out

I don't have long today, but I wanted to post some new pictures!

I have the greatest shots of Ethan working out with Daddy from the other night!

Ethan had the best time riding up and down on

the total gym.....

he was all smiles!

Biking Adventures

It has just been absolutely beautiful here the last several days, and of course, we have all been outside whenever possible taking advantage of it! For all of you who have EVER given the boys money as a Christmas or birthday gift and have heard me say the words--"they don't need anything right now, but when they do, this money will certainly go to that good cause!"--you can know that your money very recently went to purchase two items that the boys are all having a tremendous amount of fun with--BICYCLE GEAR!!








We bought a bike seat for Colin,







a bike trailor for Cameron and Ethan,







and they absolutely LOVE taking rides around the neighborhood!


"What's up, Ethan?? Isn't this the coolest?"








I take them whenever I can during the day (yes, I can pull all three by myself!) and Shane and I often take them again at night. We love the exercise and the boys love the rides!