11

At the end of May we celebrated 11 years of marriage. Something feels extra exciting about this upcoming year. I'm not normally a huge numbers person but Mark's birthday is 11/11 and so this 11th year has to rock, no?! 

We got a swanky little hotel room in the Old.Market in Omaha and settled in at our favorite joint, Blue Sushi. Add in outdoor dining (our absolute fave) and the night was off to a perfect start.

We walked around a bit and saw this ice cream shop with a line out the door. Must be delish! It was!

We LOVE Vegas. No secret if you read this blog. We crossed over the boarder to Iowa to play some slots and it was short lived. Good people watching but I was sure I was getting lung cancer and I lost $20 in record time. Wah wah. 

On our way back to our hotel it was getting super late and I remembered this cute little place called Nosh. We went for drinks and got sucked in by the cheap "reverse happy hour" food. I realize we ate our whole trip. Ha! 

We picked up the littles from respite and Decs from the grandparents and headed home to meet "the real world" head on. Have I mentioned on here little boys get dirty a lot and my laundry duties are out.of.control?! Regardless, amazing anniversary. So grateful that I get to do life with my best friend. 

Radio Silence

I have not given up on my little spot in the world wide web. Life has just been busy. In true summer fashion we have things going on every weekend. Speaking of fashion, the above picture is from Easter. We did not get to take the boys to church with us because J had croup and K had strep. #goodtimes At least they looked cute at home! As long as those 3 little men let me dress them alike, I will. Love these boys.

Happy Place

Easily, all 3 of my boys are most happy when they are outside. They ride their bikes down the street and slow down seconds before a crash seems probable. They run through sprinklers when it's borderline chilly. They create secret existences with neighbor friends and take turn after turn on our two {beat up} motorized toys. "The bears are chasing us...change to speed zappo."

Daddy takes them on Burley rides even though his legs burn carrying 100+ lbs up and down hills in our area. 

It's.just.chaotic.bliss.

After a long weekend of constant outdoor play, the boys ditched their toys proclaiming they had "nothing to do" and took off for the neighbor's house to play basketball. Not too long after, it became another sprinkler day...

After a year+ of begging, my husband finally gave in. A boy's dream right there in the backyard. Love you, babe!

I love to watch Decs and J together. They will go off on a little adventure and the gator gets stuck but they just figure out a way to get it free. Little problem solvers. Such good buddies.

For so many years Declan prayed for a brother. God is so good. These two are best friends (and sometimes enemies). True brotherhood. 

Moving up...to kindergarten...

Declan is sooo excited for kindergarten. We attended Kindergarten Round Up at his school recently. Silly boy...always making me smile:

Decs will only be attending Humann for one year because they are building a new elementary school a block away. Basically, we'll be staring at it from our deck. This mama is SUPER thrilled about it. I've always wanted to walk my kids to school and it will be our reality soon enough. 

My Little Graduate

We are so incredibly proud of Declan. This past year he has grown in every area....listening, academically and socially. We are confident he is ready for kindergarten. Now, are we on the other hand?! #i'llmissmybaby

Watching Decs walk across that stage made me cry! He looks so grown up all of a sudden...

 

 Preschool and Academy flew by in blink. I'm sure we'll be planning his high school graduation party before we know it. Such a sweet boy. We are so very lucky. 

Zoo Days

The local children's zoo has always been a big part of our lives since Declan was little. We didn't hesitate to get a membership this year as well even though jumping from 1 to 3 kids to run around after is no small task. After two hours, I want to collapse. Ha! But the boys love it so it will likely be part of our weekly routine as long as it's not 100 degrees. 

One week the boy's grandma (bio dad's stepmom) joined us. It's always fun to have Grandma J over as she is so playful with the boys and was the same at the zoo. Climb the spider web? No prob! ;)

Oh the train. Always a fave. We do it first and everyone loves it.

Leo the paper eating lion is an icon at the zoo. I remember feeding him when I was a little girl. Declan was teaching J bad habits in this pic. ;)

Chaos and Laughter

Life marches on and the chaos is feeling more normal. Legally, the waves are getting smaller and we see the shore of permanency way, way in the distance. Regardless how difficult this journey has been (and will be), the blessings are impossible to ignore.

I told Mark the other day that I've never heard Declan laugh more than he laughs now. He and J are best friends and define brotherhood: fight hard, play hard, love hard.