Josh and Zach's Big Accomplishment!

Josh is on the left and Zach is on the right.

One thing that completely amazes me is how strong of a bond Josh and Zach have. I remember being pregnant and worried that someone is going to feel left out. With a group of three someone is always the odd man out. Right? And honestly I thought that someone would probably be Alex because Josh and Zach are identical. Knowing what I know now-I didn't need to worry about that AT ALL!!! Alex strives to be different and on his own. He will wait to see what Josh and Zach do and then choose something different. Yet at the same time is completely included when he wants to be. Its a very interesting dynamic. One that fascinates me!! Its awesome!!

Josh and Zach have this incredible bond that has been there since they were born. Its like they wait for each other to do something. When they were babies when one of them rolled over they wouldn't do it again until the other one did. Then they both rolled around like crazy. Same thing happened when they learned to crawl, go up stairs, walk, etc. The list is endless. So this should be no surprise that when Josh decided that his training wheels needed to come off, Zach followed suit.

Josh was the first one to want the training wheels off.

He did exactly what Alex had done. Practiced going down the grassy hill. He did that over and over till his confidence was there then off he went riding around the sidewalks and streets.

Here is a short video of him riding without training wheels:

Zach watched him for a little while and then decided that it was his turn to have the training wheels taken off his bike.

Matt and I both expected that he would go to the grass hill and do what Josh and Alex did. But he didn't. He just got on his bike and rode off down the driveway like he had done it millions of times before. It was crazy!

Here is a short video of Zach:

They are so proud of themselves. And we are proud of them!! Its so fun to watch them grow and learn new things!!

Zach has the red helmet and Josh has the dark green helmet.

Summer has Begun!!

So summer has officially begun. School is out! The weather is nice and sunny and warm-for the most part anyway. We have had a storm or two. But that has been in the evening or at night. Overall, I have to say its been a great start to the summer! So far its been almost perfect!! [It would be completely perfect if our house will sell. But don't worry I won't rant on and on about that....in this post anyway. :)]

So far, I think the majority of my summer has been spent out in our driveway watching the boys ride their bikes. This has been their favorite thing to do this summer. And I don't mind one bit! They are having great fun! Much better than watching TV and playing video games. I love it too because I am able to read books while sitting in the sun! Alex is starting to become a little bit of a dare devil on his bike. He likes to stand up on the bar while whizzing down the street. He is very proud!!

We have also been doing sidewalk chalk. We meaning Zach mostly, Josh quite a bit and Alex NONE. :) Zach created a Spongebob scene of Gary the snail, Spongebob, Patrick and a fish. I think he is so creative!!

We've also had some family in town. Matt's aunt and uncle from Seattle were here and we had a BBQ here with them. It was really great to see them. We wish we could see them more often!

Josh discovered his love of black olives. I am not sure if he loved eating them more or playing with them.

We got out a kids table for the first time and that was AWESOME!! Matt and I decided we should do that more often- even when we don't have company! :) It was a really nice evening!

We have started to let the boys stay up a little later since its summer. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. I suppose when you run hard all day you eventually just drop. Now if we can just teach them that if they do stay up late, they should sleep in and not get up early!!

We have also gone swimming a couple of times. I blogged about going to the lake HERE. But we have also gone swimming at Prairie Life. Josh, Zach, and Alex are in the hot pool in the picture above. They want to do this after we are done swimming each time. Even when its almost 90 outside. Weird! Although I do see the appeal. Its a "deep" pool their size that is nice and warm.

Katie and Andi even went with us one time. That was fun! Isn't she the cutest?!?!? She had fun in the water and loved watching Josh. Its always more fun swimming with friends!

So far the summer is off to a great start!! Can't wait to see what else is in store for us!

A Bunch of Randomness

So it seems that I have lots of random things to write about. You know...just stuff that is going on in our lives. And instead of making them into separate blogs I am just going to blog about all the random stuff going on in our lives lately.

Last weekend, Josh declared that he wanted his training wheels off too. Alex told him he would teach him how to ride his bike. What a nice brother!!

It was so sweet watching Alex try to teach him. But eventually it turned into Matt helping Josh.

And then that turned into tears and the training wheels went back on. Evidently Josh wasn't ready after all. Oh well. They will come off sooner or later right? No big deal.

Last weekend was also Mother's Day. It was a nice day. I got to do what I wanted....for the most part. I wanted donuts for breakfast but I decided to not do that as its against boot camp rules. And I am really trying to be good. So other than making that good food choice the day was great! I slept in. Spent time with my awesome kids. That's what the day is all about right?

We also had an open house that day. I was shocked that three people came to see the house. Better than none. Right? Since the tax credit incentive is over things are REALLY SLOW now. We went from 15 in a week....to 0 this week. However I do have to admit that I am a little happy about that. I haven't cleaned all week and its been heavenly!! But now I am ready to go again- let's get this house sold!! Such a hard process!!

Mother's Day evening Ronna and Larry came over to have a mom's day BBQ. We grilled out hot dogs and spent time together. I think we played a lot of UNO and UNO attack.

It was a really nice way to end the day! Even if we had to take the van into the shop. The handle on the trunk broke. Can you believe that cost over $500 to fix?!?! Crazy. Still mad about the cost...but we need to get into the back of the van so what else can you do?

Let's see.....what else is going on? Saturday morning (yesterday) I went for a walk/run and took Alex along with me. He rode his bike and I ran/walked. He did great. I was a little worried about some of the hills. But when it got too steep for him he just jumped right off and walked the rest of the way up-no complaints. I will invite him along again! It was fun!! I LOVE spending one on one time with my boys. Its a rare thing for us and I cherish the times we do. I can't imagine doing that with Josh or Zach at this point.

Saturday Alex got a new bike. He outgrew the last one. So Matt took him out and picked out a bike that wasn't half broken and his size.

Yesterday I spent more than half the day sitting in our driveway so the boys could ride their bikes. I allow them to go across the street if I am out with them. They think that is SO COOL!! It was gorgeous out!! I really had no problem sitting out there. I just took my crochet stuff out with me and finished Allison and Wade's baby blanket!!

I feel I can post the finished blanket without ruining the surprise because I had already shown it to Wade and Allison while I was working on it. I like how it turned out- even if it looked NOTHING like the pattern. :)

Matt's birthday is on Tuesday so we decided to celebrate it Saturday night.

Why so early you ask? Well, Matt is starting the P90X program today (and boy is he hurting!! I will take boot camp over that torture any day!!) and wants to stick to it. Tuesday he doesn't want cake, ice cream, and dinner out. So we did that last night. Ronna and Larry joined us for PF Changs/Burger King take out. I will let you decided who chose Burger King and who chose PF Changs. Then we sang, ate cake and Matt opened presents. It was a great evening!

Yesterday (Sunday) Zach and I went to the movies. YEA more one on one time!! We wet to see How to Train Your Dragon. It was pretty cute. It was the best movie experience I have had with my kid yet. Usually Zach (and Josh) HATE movies. They complain constantly- its too loud, its too dark, its too long, etc. Remember THIS? So I went into this with the attitude that we may leave right after the previews. But none of that happened! He ate his popcorn and watched the movie. It was great!! Although the last half hour of the movie he kept asking me when it would be over. But this is a HUGE improvement from anything before!! YEA!!! In case you are wondering Matt, Alex and Josh went to see Iron Man. Zach and I didn't want to see that so we chose something else. :)

I think that covers all of our random events for now. :) Hope things are good for you too!!

GO ALEX!!

Last night the weather was awesome so we took the boys to the church parking lot by our house to let them ride their bikes. Look how far Alex has come!!



And because I am such a proud mama- I am posting 2 videos of Alex whizzing by! :) The second video also has Josh riding around. Zach was there too, just didn't make it into the videos.

Alex's Awesome Accomplishment

A couple of days ago Alex announced that he no longer wants training wheels on his bike. I was a little shocked by this because he hasn't been on his bike this season yet. Also, I am REALLY bad about letting them ride their bikes. They hang on the wall in our garage and are hard for me to get down. So most of the time, they just hang. I need a solution for that. Anyway, after Alex's big announcement, Matt and I decided that we should encourage this and took his bike down and training wheels off.

He started off going down the grass and falling over just before he got to the sidewalk.

Checking for cuts, grass stains, and blood along the way. No serious injuries to report. Just some bruises.

He just kept getting back on the bike. It was great!! I was/am so proud of him. And if you are an observant person, you may have noticed that his helmet is too small. Not to worry, Matt took all 3 boys out to get new helmets. This particular day, we just figured that a too small helmet is better than no helmet.

Ta da!! The new Spideman helmet. Couldn't find a Batman one so he settled for Spiderman. Day 2 he woke up asking to ride his bike. So out we- scratch that- out Matt went...I was doing other stuff which I will blog about later. Matt said he did awesome. When I got home Alex was so excited to show me how much he improved! It was cute. I was amazed by how much better he was in less than 24 hours.

Sometimes he still favored the grass. Who wouldn't?

But is ok with the sidewalk too. I am just so impressed with how quickly he picked it up!

Porsches to Bikes

This weekend was a lot of fun. It started Saturday morning, as most weekends do, when my mom and I went to breakfast and to see a comedian. We both needed a little extra laughter in our lives right now, so it was the perfect way to start a Saturday. While I was doing that with my mom, Matt took Josh and Zach to "Touch a Truck." Its an event where there are lots of trucks AND you can touch them. Hence the name Touch a Truck. :) The boys got to get in and explore cement mixers, ambulances, semis, fire trucks, diggers, etc. They even got to see a helicopter take off. It is a little boys heaven!! Alex didn't go because he had a sleepover at Grandma and Granddad's. (Zach is in red and Josh is in blue)

That afternoon, I went to a craft fair where my friend Kassie was selling her jewelry. It was great to see both Kassie and Joe. Of course, I had to get a really cute pair of earrings! Kassie is quite talented! She has lots of really cool jewelry. After the show both Joe and Kassie came over to visit. Joe has a Porsche that he is driving right now. For a girl who isnt into cars, I have to admit it was pretty awesome. The boys are still young enough to not really understand the coolness factor, but the fact that it was a convertible was WAY COOL for them. Troy and Bethany- I promise the boys didn't hurt your car and I hope these next few photos don't give you a heart attack!! ;)


Alex in the driver seat. Josh standing nearby.


Alex and Joe


I love this picture. Notice Zach put his seatbelt on. :) I really hope this isn't a sign of times to come!!!

While Joe and Kassie were visiting, the boys had to show of their Halloween costumes. Joe got in on the fun too.


That night the boys went out for pizza, ice cream and a Ferris wheel ride with Bill and Linda while Matt and I went out to dinner and then helped Melani celebrate her college graduation!! GO MEL L!! By the end of the day, the Venns were beat!

Sunday we decided not to go anywhere. My goal was to stay in my pajamas as long as I could! :) It was nice to stay home. We got some yard work done and other odds and ends. That afternoon the boys rode their bikes. I have to admit, I feel a little guilty about the whole bike riding situation this year. We haven't done it much at all. Here the season is almost over and we have let them ride their bikes maybe 3-4 times....maybe! Its just so hard. They are still learning and Matt and I can't chase three learning bike riders in three different directions. Thus, the bikes don't get used much. We usually go to a church parking lot that is about a block away from us. Its a huge flat surface that they can ride all over the place. Perfect for learning. But today we stayed on our block and they did pretty good.


Alex loves his bike. He was up and down the street hundreds of times!! He really wore himself out!!


Zach and Josh got tired of it and started to play with water guns (without the water of course).

At the end of the day we were all beat and thought movie night sounded great! We had popcorn and teddy grahams and watched Madagascar. Perfect way to end the weekend.