Grandpa, Grampy & Mimi Visit

We have been enjoying a weekend of grandparents, family fun & NO WORK!  Mimi, Grampy and my Grandpa Ted drove out for our family reunion and spent some extra time at our house.  This was Grandpa Ted's first time to our house and he reported sleeping better in Carter's robot room than he does at his own house!  Sounds like we might have a repeat visitor...  

Mimi kicked off the visit with some new beach towels for the pool.  Then she & the boys played "beach" on the floor of the family room.  

Grampy found his biggest fan in Davis.  Davis loved sitting on "Drampy's" lap.. 

 ...following him from chair to chair!

Grandpa Ted watching the boys do puzzles...

 Grampy was hitting it pretty hard on the front porch, just making sure the patio furniture didn't blow away I guess.  

Happy Independence Day!

We had a great Fourth and hope you did, too!  Davis is finally better after eight days of vomiting, diarrhea and Strep--that in and of itself is something to celebrate!  Sean had the day off, so we tackled some yard work, took naps (well, Sean didn't) and had a lot of fun hanging out with our neighbors and their kids...it seems everyone was doing a low-key July 4th this year, due to the lack of fireworks.  

Sean hung our new flag outside and I LOVE it.  My Grandma Shirley would be so proud at our patriotic-ness.  Happy Birthday, America!  Let the celebration continue as Mimi, Grampy & Great-Grandpa Ted arrive tonight for our family reunion.

That's My Boy!

Carter made these two drawings the other day and we thought they were hilarious.  The first picture is a side view of our house, back yard and fence.  Carter pointed out to us that the house is empty, because...

...we are all at Olive Garden!  See the person in the window on the right? That's Carter. Those lines below are the parking spaces and our car is parked on the far right.  Guess he's been craving some salad & bread sticks!  I couldn't be more proud...those boys really are mine, even if they don't look a thing like me.

Robot Room

After living here for 13 months, Carter's robot room is finally coming together.  I'm not finished with it, but finding robot decor is proving to be pretty difficult, so this will just be a constant work in progress.  

Here's the "before", in all of its boring white glory:

And now:

 There's that stainless table that Sean refurbished for me a while back.  Doesn't it look great in here?

 This picture is my favorite.  The photograph above the vintage robot poster is of Sean (on the right) and two of his engineering school buddies in college.  Zach (the guy in the robot suit) built that costume & they walked around campus one day "controlling" the robot.  Ahh, engineers.  Their sense of humor is, well, unique.  Anyway, this photo was the inspiration for the room.  I love it & so does Carter.  

The Boys

Couldn't resist these pics of the boys playing on the stairs last night.  They look so sweet, but so OLD!  Summer 2012 is in full-swing...Carter & Davis have been passing the time by playing with their neighborhood friends and making frequent trips to the pool.  We have been down this week with a little GI bug, but hopefully that is on it's way out and we will be 100% soon.  Hope everyone is having a good Summer!  

We are looking forward to having Mimi, Grampy & Grandpa Ted visit us next week for the Myers Family Reunion!  Stay tuned for photos of that and other July 4th adventures...

Grandparents to the Rescue!

We were so fortunate to have my dad and Nancy come stay with the boys while Sean was in Texas last weekend.  They took good care of the boys while I was working and we are most grateful for their help!  Thank you both!

 Going to the pool to cool off in this triple-digit heat wave we've been having in Colorado.  

 Playing at the park!

 Reading books with Grandad & Mommy.

We love you!!

KC Day #3: Science City

Day #3 of the trip was Father's Day!  The boys had cards ready for Sean, then after breakfast they headed to Union Station for Science City with Grandpa Dan and Grandma Pat!

 Happy Father's Day to the most amazing husband.  You are such a good role model for our boys and for that, I feel so blessed.  Love you, babe!

 Trick table at Science City.

 Fun with fans and sand...

 Grandma Pat lending a helping hand

 Four Beilmans in a helicopter.  Carter is ready for take-off!

 The water table--a big favorite with the boys.

 Indoor tree house--how cool!

 Two boys on a train.

KC Day #2: Beilman Family Reunion

The main reason for the trip: The Beilman Family reunion!  Sean really enjoyed getting to see everyone and the boys loved playing with their cousins!

 Sean with his parents, his brothers Mike and Todd, and their families. 

 Cousin Olivia pushing the boys on the tire swing.

 Grandpa Dan with his siblings and Aunt.  

 Father's Day was also Grandpa Dan's 70th Birthday, so they celebrated with a big cake!  Mom B & Kristine also had the cool idea to send out prepaid postcards to 70 people, asking them to write their favorite memory/story of Grandpa Dan and mail them to him for his birthday week surprise.  Love that idea! Hope you had a Happy Bithday!!

 Carter took this one of Sean. 

 Carter with cousin Samantha. (She just got a full ride scholarship to Rockhurst University in Kansas City--way to go, Samantha!!!)

Cousins Hannah & Samantha keeping the boys entertained.  Sean was most grateful for your help!

Too Good Not to Share

A friend posted this on Facebook today & I thought it was well worth sharing.  The five days I had without my kids and husband around gave me a rare opportunity to live my former life for a while (the only responsibility I had was myself...remember those days?).  I enjoyed the peace & quiet for about 24 hours, then I was ready for all of them to come back!  I missed the chaos and mostly, I missed my boys and the love they share with me on a daily basis.  Can't imagine not having them!  Like Lisa says below, one day I'll blink and they'll be in college...I'll have all the free time I want.  Just thinking about that makes me sad, so today I'll let the house go and enjoy the happy chaos that is my wonderful, blessed life.

http://lisajobaker.com/2012/06/encouragement-for-tired-moms/