My new best friend

I've been wanting a steam cleaner for a while now, but Selena's post on her Hill Family of 4 blog convinced me to break down and order one. In case you're wondering, steam cleaners allow you to clean & sanitize without the use of chemicals and can be used for 1001 different things. Let me tell you, I'm impressed!!! It arrived last night as we were walking out the door to swim lessons so I didn't really get to play with it much. I did use it on our shower before bed and was completely disgusted. I'd scrubbed the shower per my usual routine yesterday morning, and last night with minimal work with the steamer dirt & grime just dripped everywhere. Ick!

Needless to say I was steaming first thing this morning. My victim today: the kitchen floor. The grout in our kitchen has been black since we moved in 4 years ago. Several times over the years I've spent hours on my hands & knees with a grout brush & grout cleaner trying to revive it with no luck at all. As soon as the steam hit the grout this morning dirt starting pouring out of the grout lines. Again, ICK!!! The process is a little time consuming, but it's definitely not hard & it requires very little elbow grease. I've managed to clean most of the grout in our kitchen before lunch today, including taking several breaks to play with the kids, make snacks & refill the steamer. Here's photo proof:



See the difference in the color of the grout in the back of the photo?!?! Obviously that's the section I haven't cleaned yet. Yeah, gross. It's making me regret that we ever allowed the 5-second rule w/ all that dirt, food and other disgustingness ground into the grout.

So there you have it. I'm now madly in love with my steam cleaner, and replacing the kitchen floor is not quite as high on the priority list anymore!

Swim time!

Here are a few short videos of Owen & Jacob showing off the skills they've been learning at swimming lessons. Cole opted out of swimming today, but he does a great job, too!

Please excuse my commentary in these. ;-)

(the random streaks in this one are sun flare that I just couldn't get rid of and still get the video.)









They don't wear any type of floaties or life vests at swimming lessons, but we put them on Jacob & Cole at home for our own peace of mind. With 2 adults & 3 kids we just can't be too safe!

Oh, and here's a shot of all 3 boys in their swim goggles. They love these things!

Just a few

Yesterday morning we took Owen out to get some pictures of him. Five is a big year for kiddos, so we wanted to capture him at this age before he starts to look even more like a "big kid". You know, with missing teeth & bored expressions.





And here's one of all 3 kids (kind of).


As usual if you visit the actual blog & click the photos you can see them bigger and clearer. Obviously the effects of Blogger's photo compression drives me crazy. ;-)

Summer Vacation | Part 1

I'm finally starting to sort through the photos from our vacation to Savannah. We had so much fun and the car ride wasn't nearly as bad as we expected. We rented a cabin instead of staying in a hotel. It was fantastic since we had a lot more space and Dub, Megan & Harleigh were in the cabin next door. Our plans for a campfire & s'mores were rained out, but we figured out a way to make s'mores in the microwave (have you ever seen how big a marshmallow will swell when heated in the microwave????) and keep ourselves busy with other activities.

This is probably one of my favorite photos from the trip. We pushed the 2 double beds together in the kids' room so they could all sleep together without us worring about someone falling off. Y'all know how much I love photos of my kids sleeping, but I love them even more when they're all sleeping together.We spent one day touring downtown Savannah. After a carriage ride and some yummy food we ended the day at a train museum. Of course we drove across the country and the most exciting thing for our kids was playing with the Thomas the Tank Engine toys in the gift shop.

Here's Harleigh hanging out in the train shed.

Doesn't Owen look thrilled to be taking photos with us??




Here are the boys checking out the model trains:



Unfortunately Katelyn & Landon had school that day so they couldn't come along. :-(

More to come soon!!

Oh, and if you're reading this via e-mail or Google Reader you may want to click through to the actual blog so you can click on the photos to see them bigger.

Jackson Pollock watch out!

The kids needed a project and our wall needed some art, so Saturday we got some canvases, paint & brushes and let them have some fun.



The aftermath:
The finished paintings:

We just love them & they're the perfect addition to our playroom. And they're all so proud to see their work on the wall. :-)

A big day for our big guy!

This morning was Owen's preschool graduation! I cannot believe it's already time for summer vacation. This is our first summer to really experience that since he went to his school's summer camp last year and Jacob & Cole were still pretty small. We have some fun things planned for this summer...swimming lessons for all 3 boys, playdates, the zoo, Bible School, museums, another trip (or 2) to the beach. I'm just so thankful that we've worked things out so our kids can look forward to that each summer. I remember the excitement that came with those last few weeks of school every year, knowing we had 3 months to sleep late, watch too much tv, have sleepovers with friends during the week & just let our brains rot until August.

So back to today. This morning before school Owen's good buddy Tyler stopped by so we could get a picture of them together. These 2 are like 2 peas in a pod. They can play together all day & never get sick of each other. They can also each tell you more than you ever wanted to know about Star Wars.


Here is Owen receiving his diploma. He did great & looked so proud of himself. Check out the cute little guy eating his tassel in the background!

This is Tyler using his diploma as a telescope & Owen trying to decide if he should do it, too.

This is Owen's other good friend Hayden. I'm sure most of you have heard a few stories from Owen where his name came up a time or 2.

And I promise to sort through the pics from our recent vacation & share some soon!!

The Party

Owen turned 5 on May 3rd & we celebrated with a Star Wars party. When the kids arrived they each received a Jedi tunic and lightsaber, and Owen (with a little help from Marshall) had set up a Jedi training obstacle course that kept them all busy and entertained. We had to force them to come inside for cake & presents! Here are a few snapshots from the day.

Here they are fighting a Sith Lord (aka Tyler's dad):

A Jedi is defeated:

Time for cake! One of his friends brought him the Spongebob birthday cake, so the lucky boy had 2!

Jacob licking his finger after sneaking some icing:

Gearing Up

Tomorrow is the big day. We've had lots of excitement and a little stress as we get ready for O's party. Here's a pic of his invitation. Yep, we're doing Star Wars again this year. It won't surprise me if we have at least 1 Star Wars party per year for the next 16 years. What can I say...they love it!

More pics to come after the party. Oh, and if you're reading this through e-mail or Google reader you may want to visit the actual blog to hear a little music to set the mood for the party (or not). It was all selected by our resident Star Wars expert. :-)

Fun times!

We took the kids to a little outdoor museum in Baker last weekend. We've seen it a hundred times but have never stopped. I'm so glad we did because all the kids had a blast. Of course they love anything train-related so they were happy as soon as we drove up. One of their favorite things was the little wooden dog house. These are some of my favorite recent pictures of them. Dog houses apparently provide very beautiful lighting!

Jacob (panting like a dog)

Owen
Cole (barking like a dog)
goofing off
Simultaneous "choo-choo!!!"



And a funny little story from today:

Owen came home from school showing us his paper about the letter U.
Jacob: "what's that?"
Me: "that's the letter U"
Jacob: "the letter me?"
Me: "no, the letter U"
Jacob: "me?"
Me: "yes Jacob, the letter you."

How did I forget to post these???

These are from February I meant to post them but forgot...oops!

On a different note, Jacob & Cole wore big boy underpants all morning with no accidents! We even braved the trips to take Owen to school & pick him up in them. Maybe, just maybe, we're on the way to a diaper-free house (for now anyway).

Cole napping on the couch.



A typical lazy afternoon around our house.

Cousins

Owen, Jacob & Cole have been looking forward to meeting Anne Marie & Catherine all week. Thanks to some runny noses the introductions were delayed a few days, but it was worth the wait. Jacob & Cole loved "petting" their baby cousins and kissing their heads. Jacob was quite obsessed with Catherine's little toes and Cole was amazed that there are "2 of 'em". Owen was sweet and caring, of course. And you know we took some pictures. :-)

This is my favorite...I just adore everything about it. The way Jacob is peeking over Marshall's arm, the way Owen & Cole are looking at Marshall, the way Owen is holding Anne Marie & Catherine, the way Lee & Marshall are situating the babies. Everything.





And one from the hospital last week.

Obsessed much?

In case any of you guys were wondering, Owen's obsession with Star Wars has not diminished at all. It's still his favorite movies/toys/tv show by far, and we'll be having the 2nd Star Wars birthday party in a row in a few weeks. This is how I found him tonight...sleeping with Clone Trooper Rex (yes, he knows their names), a headless Boba Fett and Obi Wan Kenobi on his chest tucked safely under his sheet. We're gearing up for a future of Star Wars Conventions around here.