Memorial Day Weekend!

Well you can tell we've been a bit busy since this blog hasn't been updated in over 2 weeks! Such is our life with me back at work and our crazy spring-time fun!

Memorial Day Weekend is one of my favorite weekends!!! I LOVE that it's a three day weekend, but it also kicks off the summer and we have so many fun things always planned!  I also love what it stands for- a day/weekend to recognize all those who have given their lives for our country and our freedom.

We started our weekend off with an very fun dinner out with friends, WITHOUT KIDS!!! It's always harder to go out on the weekends when I'm at work since my time with the boys is so limited anyways, but this was definitely a good night out and a much needed one! I felt like I'd gotten on a treadmill for the three weeks prior and hadn't gotten off yet.  Work was busy as it always is at the end of the year, but Max was also away for a week and the morning after we had to be up early and out the door for the day for another busy weekend.  We were FINALLY able to relax by ourselves! It was so nice!

Saturday Max took Tucker to Stepping Stones and I hung with Brayden and got some errands done.  Only having one kid is like being on vacation!  Saturday afternoon was Addie's birthday party. Addie is Tucker's best friend.  He LOVES her and is not going to know what to do with himself when I am home from work again (he's with her three days a week) and especially when she goes to school next year.  I have big shoes to fill:) He was the youngest kid there by a few years, but I thought he did pretty well hanging with the big kids.  He wasn't sure what to do with the critters from the Critter Caravan, but he enjoyed petting some. He held the bearded dragon/lizard on his leg and then he randomly picked it up and threw it back at the lady...so funny!

Some of the kids all set and ready to see the critters. Tucker is next to Addie, of course!

 He loved petting the rabbit and the chinchilla-they were very soft!

I was surprised he wanted to feed the guinea pig! So brave. He wasn't interested in the snake, which I found out later would have been a bad idea...Max was ready to kill me for even being willing to let him hold the snake! Oops!

 The kids made ice cream sundaes-he devoured his of course:)

Sunday we had a somewhat mellow day, but had a very fun BBQ with family:) Tucker had a blast with Papa and Baba....he saw my parents pull up from our room, and went FLYING out of my room to the front door screaming, "Papa" and then blew past my mom to give my dad a hug...so cute! Good thing mom isn't sensitive:)

Monday was one of my favorite traditions-the Memorial Day parade. It just wasn't the same without my sister there...she usually walks with the Pirates and gets them to shoot the cannon right near us...we did Facetime her so that she could experience them. That's right, I ran down the street, barefoot, with my sister in Africa on Facetime so she could see the pirates shoot the canon at the Memorial Day parade...that's love people!

This was the first year where Tucker actually sat still and enjoyed the parade. He loved sitting in his little chair my mom got him and watching all of the bands (he would clap when they came by), cars, and fire trucks. Brayden didn't seem to like the sirens (but he was going on a 15 minute nap-oops!) but Tucker loved them!

Enjoying his chair and checking out what's coming next

 The Zietz Boys:)

 There were 4 bands...he clapped for all of them!

 There were a lot of fun cars in the parade this year.

Thumbs up!

Hanging with Papa

 The Rushin Russian II and it's predecessor have always been a part of the parade!

So have these guys...MRT and MRT Jr.....at least that's what we call them:)

 The Pirates!!!!

 Brayden had a lot of cuddle time with Nana. He was such a trooper going on barely any sleep! He always surprises us:)

We had so much fun with Matt, Sarah, and William! Love how this tradition keeps expanding!

This car was fun...it welcomed the Shriners!

 It will always be a mystery to me how grown men fit in these little cars...especially this guy!

 We spent the rest of the day relaxing at home. It was such a fun weekend! Tucker wrapped it up by picking up rocks and checking out the new barrel fountain Max got. 

 And it was too nice out to pass up Go Greenly!

Bring on the summer!

Oh Thursday...

Max has been away for the past week, and overall we have had a pretty great week! Boys were good, I survived on multiple cups of coffee and my parents were saints! It is most definitely not easy to be a single working mom!  Tonight Tucker had a big melt down because I locked his ATV in the bathroom until he would eat his dinner...he never ate dinner, but he never got his ATV either...it was a draw I guess. Besides that, the only issue we had was last night...it was pretty funny though.

First, Brayden managed to get his first scootches in, and I even caught them on camera...hopefully this video works!

Right before bed, I went to change Brayden's diaper and I came back out to this:

He had taken every pillow off the couch and was having fun diving etc. He had strategically placed the pillows to protect himself from hitting the table...he's learned well! That and that's probably where they fell when he flipped them off the couch. He seemed pretty safe so I went to put B to bed. Just as he was almost asleep, I hear a glass thud against wood. I then remembered that I had left my 1/4 full beer on the end table. I figured he'd just spilled it and I would clean it up later.  Then I had a moment of clarity-an "OH CRAP" moment-where I realized that he may be drinking the beer.  

Don't judge me. He totally was.

Most of it ended up all over the floor, couch, in my pump, and in his truck bin, but there was plenty on his shirt, and potentially in his belly.  He slept well last night.  Like I said, don't judge me.

As I'm sopping up the spilled Lagunitas Maximas (MAJOR party foul!), I hear Tucker yelling from down the hall, "I found baby". Over and over again. Loudly. Down the hall. In Brayden's room. Next to his crib. Loudly. Baby was sleeping. Not anymore. Tucker was very excited to find where Brayden went though! 

Yeah so that was fun.

Merry Go Round on Speed

This describes my life as of yet-but I'm not complaining.  I enjoy the crazy. I like the loud and nutty! I don't love that I can't always remember what day it is, but I like most of the craziness of a busy life.  And that is exactly what we have had lately. I went back to work May 1st-that's 2.5 weeks ago-but it feels like it was just yesterday.  We have had busy weeks, packed weekends, and this weekend will be no different.  All fun stuff!

Here's a recap of our last few weeks:

I came back right in the middle of projects being due for a few of my classes.  One 5th grade class had to create and execute a fitness goal for one week.  This was all done prior to my return, but I had to grade a few of the late projects.  This is what this student answered in response to how their goal was related to fitness and how they would change their goal:

Kids are cute:)

After my first few days back, we went to a Day out with Thomas.  There was a separate post about that:)  

After Thomas we had a family fun filled weekend.  We went to my cousin's first communion party that afternoon-Ashley was born the day after we were married so it's been SUPER fun to see her grow up-she's almost like a niece to us:)

 My cousin's wife and their two daughters spent the night with us that night because they were in town to go to another family member/friend's daughter's baptism.  Riley is just 6 weeks younger than Tucker and Charlotte is about 3.5 months younger than Brayden so the kids have a blast together-and I always LOVE hanging with Sue!

I went in to take a shower and come out the Sue doing this:

 Addie stopped over to play too and the kids had fun jumping off the lawnmower ramp

Tucker always makes us laugh-this is what happened when I asked him to put his crocs by the front door: right next to it!

he's been having a bit of an obsession with his "ankees hat"

Spring has FINALLY come-our favorite tree bloomed!

a little brother swing time!

 Tucker has rekindled his winter obsession with all things forts, pillow piles, fort diving, etc. 

He's mastered the "seat drop" off the couch lately.

 last friday night we went to Panchero's for burritos and then Wells Hollow Farm for petting zoo fun and ice cream!

 his first ice cream cone-he got bored of it quickly so max had to finish it:)

 Saturday night William (and Matt & Sarah) came to play.  He is on the move now and was having fun with Tucker's toys:)

 back to the pillow fun-he was off-roading! He just had to watch out for William wanting to play too:)

he built this one by himself...

'

 All spiffed up for church!

 the brothers are SO cute!

 We had a nice mother's day-church (an hour of kid-free time!) and long naps coupled with my relaxing on the deck, and then dinner with our family at my parents house.  Tucker showed us this new dance move on the way there-not sure where it came from, but it was funny.

 Nana LOVES to play and cuddle with Brayden:)

dudes on cleanup duty...Chris is mysteriously missing though...

 apparently Jim was on Tucker duty at that time too!  Giving him his first "ride" on a bike-no he didn't really take him anywhere.

 Photobomb from Lauren!

When we got home that night, Tucker did not want to come inside. So I told him he could stay outside by himself and sleep on the grass. I walked in to put my bags down and came back out to this: 

figures that he decides to listen to me when it doesn't matter or when I'm being sarcastic!

He found his "extra" lovie that I had hid in his closet...oops!

 more forts...it's a multiple times per day kind of thing

 he did this one all by himself too! he was very proud!

 a sweet moment on our walk yesterday

 we went to play at the TECEC park today! What a difference a year makes at this age. He was SO much taller and I didn't have to worry about him at all on this playground.  Certainly makes it easier when I have Brayden too!

 This is day 4 of 5 of Max being away so we were watching Curious George, the movie after dinner tonight.

These days are definitely packed, but we are loving every minute of them!