Just me, myself and I!!!!!

I have been super busy this week trying to get all laundry done and food made for all the boys (even the 6'4" one!) so they will at least have food while I am in Chicago over the weekend, YIPPEE!!!!

One of my best friends lives there and we have been so busy having babies that we haven't seen each other in almost 3 years....isn't that sad? :-( when I think about it, it makes me sad. We still talk all the time so it doesn't seem like long and it has flown by! She has an older son Gavin's age and also a younger son who I have been asked to be his Godmother :-D I finally get to meet the cute little guy, I can't wait!!! We met in college, worked together, went on a life changing spring break cruise (where she met her hubby and why she now lives in Chicago, hehe) and two months later I met Marcin. Who would have thought?! hehe

So I am super excited to finally get to see her!!! And I get to go by myself =0 I have not flown by myself in at least 4 years. The last time I flew by myself I was pregnant with Gavin. We flew a couple of times with Gavin. I am not going to know what to do with myself. I think I just need a suitcase to carry on and my purse. This is strange to me....I am rarely out of the house with a big ole bag to contain all the boys stuff :-) I haven't gone anywhere overnight by myself since Gavin was born. Marcin and I haven't gone anywhere together overnight since Gavin was born....I know, I know it is high time for us to do that. We are going to in June :-) Just an overnight at the beach to celebrated our 10 year meeting anniversary! We also have 2 weddings this year that we will be staying overnight! EK!

Anyway, back to my fun weekend....Marcin will have the boys all by himself for the first time ever....well overnight at least. I am sure his parents will be here to help :-D I can't blame him there.....our 3 sweet little angels are alot of work and well he is not used to it like I am :-) I mean no one can do it like I can, right?! (answer: right!) I know they will have alot of fun....as long as Marcin has plenty of patience juice (beer...once they are asleep of course!) and the boys all sleep well for him. here's hoping because I will be in Chicago, hehe! (Love you honey!)

Life at our house is crazy as ever! I took Gavin to ENT after Easter, he is going to have his adenoids removed and tubes placed on May 4. I hope this helps him feel better and gets rid of all the congestion, constant ear and sinus infections :/ He also starts speech next week, I think he is at the age where he will really enjoy that! Just 30 minutes once a week.

Jakob is doing great since his adenoids were removed. His breathing sounds much better! However he has had an ongoing cough the past couple of weeks. When we were seeing the specialist before his surgery, the allergist did suggest he had mild asthma symptoms and for us to keep an eye on it. I know nothing about asthma....I took him into pediatrician today to make sure his ears were ok since he was pulling on his left ear yesterday and crying. The pedi suggested it could be the asthma and/or some environmental allergies. She suggested a steroid nasal spray...I just didn't feel comfortable with a daily steroid 2/x day. She then suggested singulair...this sounded good to me because I take that for my allergies and it is also a asthma medication, so we shall see if that helps him out a little :-)

Kaleb is just silly and loves to eat!! It is so much having a kid who will eat or at least try just about anything! I love it! He loves to try new things and this makes my life much easier! Jakob is a little picky but not as bad as Gavin :-P We still battle with him to try new things *sigh* Kaleb also likes to yell....alot. Even if you answer him the first time, he still yells! He doesn't quite grasp the whole 'inside voice' thing. He also likes to throw and take things from Jakob, just to be spiteful. He just wants it to make Jakob upset. He will take it, run away with it, then come back with a big grin on his face and give it back. Of course, by then Jakob is over it and has moved onto to something else...the cycle then repeats itself. I figure this is a teachable moment and they can learn some problem solving techniques on their own because let's be honest...I cannot possibly follow them around all day long and watch every single move they make. it is impossible!!!

We are having fun! I am not so stressed when we all go outside. My heart stops when I can't see someone immediately but they are good at climbing the playset, learning to stay in the back yard and if we are out front they are pretty good at staying out of the street (HEART ATTACK!). J&K are becoming more independent and also listening better which is a huge help! So we won't be getting a fence after all... I can manage one summer. By next summer, they will be fine for the most part when they decide to listen :-P

Must finish my cooking!!!

hehe we got a fun car today!!!

 We have been talking about this for a loooonnngggg time! We sold Marcin's 4-Runner because I think he may have put 1k miles on it last year. He has a car for work that he drives during week. If you know my hubby, he takes meticulous care of his cars. The Runner was a 2004 or 2005...I can't remember which but it looked brand new! So we knew once the 4 Runner was gone, we would need another car to have when we needed it if someone was gone with the van, we we are going out, taking one kid some place and another somewhere else, etc.

We have the big ole family car, the swagger wagon and we decided it would be fun to have a small car....you know, now...while we are young instead when we are retired ( I am sure we will get another fun car then also unless we are broke from 3 kids in college, oh vey!). We didn't want another family size car...we wanted something smaller that would be fun for us to take out and also has a backseat for the kiddos should we need to load it up with carseats :-P So Marcin has looked and looked for months. He was on some car website just about everyday going from one car to another that he liked. This was more or less his pick, I gave my two cents but ultimately I said my only requirement was it have a backseat and be within the budget we set for a car. He brought an Audi A4 home a couple weeks ago but it wasn't in the best shape. However, my friend and I got to take it out the night we borrowed it to have mechanic look at it and it drove really well. It was sturdy...I expected it to feel light while driving it. I was driving around yesterday after dropping Gavin off at school because J&K needed a quick car cat nap and drove by this...I stopped, checked it out and spoke with car salesman. Marcin went to look at it and here we are!

It is so much fun to drive a smaller car! It was odd at first because in the van, I am used to being pretty level with the SUV's and trucks but I felt so small and low, hehe! Gavin is in awe of watching the top going up and down.....full out meltdown yesterday when we told him he could open/close it anymore, sheesh.

Could we have put this money towards something else? Sure but we do that all the time! We are careful with our spending, put away for savings and college so we wanted to do something fun for us :-) I am pretty sure this qualifies !! YAY!!!!

What a great way to end a fun week!!!! I just don't think it will fit in our Easter baskets :-)

This week has started off great!!!

 For one thing...it is a sunny day!! That alone makes me happy!!!

I have been looking at foyer lights for almost a year!!! we found one we liked at Home Depot but it was expensive and we didn't want to spend that much on a light :/ But I have a strong hatred for the one we currently have so something had to give! Being the bargain hunter that I am, I started searching Craigslist and Ebay for a light. I found this one on ebay,

Simple and not the right color but I can easily fix that for the cost I got it for :-) And again, a good deal!!!

We have also been looking for a new table for the kitchen area. Our current table has served us well. We bought it for our first home almost 9 years ago, from Ikea of course. Where else do you go to furnish your first home as a young couple?! lol It is becoming a little worn out and let's be honest, I could put a table cloth on it but with 3 boys....do you really think the tablecloth and whatever is on it will stay on the table? LOL absolutely not! We did not want to spend a lot of money on a new table. 3 young boys = destroy table. I just didn't think it would survive much longer and we needed something to get us through the next few years that we would allow the boys to eat on, hehe I was just perusing Craigslist earlier today and  stumbled across this table,

It's an 8 piece set for a great deal! The couple selling it are moving back to KOP and don't want to take the table! Only two out of the 6 chairs have been used and it has a leaf for holidays and other partay's we may have. So I called and crossed my fingers it wasn't some crazy person trying to sell this lol I got myself and the boys ready and in car in record time, ran over to check out the table and was back home all within 30 minutes and right in time for naps, whew! She was very nice and we are hopefully going to be able to pick it up tomorrow!

So very excited about these purchases!!!!! I guess it does pay to be patient but when I see something I like...I want to get it, like yesterday so I don't miss out on a good deal :-P

Our weekend was lots of fun despite the dreary, rainy weather. I really hope the weather is nice this weekend for Easter. The past 2 weekends have been cloudy and rainy, ew!

Saturday Gavin started swim lessons. Initially he was not crazy about it when he found out I wouldn't be going with him. Then he met his swim teacher and the 3 other children in the class and warmed up pretty quickly. So quickly that he felt comfy enough to get out of pool to check out the door...only gavin :-P

I also discovered while there that there is a Mommy & Me swim class going on at the same time as Gavin's swim class. Next session, I am hoping to alternate weeks with J&K while Gavin takes his class. I spoke with the manager there and she said it would be fine to do that, yippee!!! I know Jakob will love it...not so sure about Kaleb :-P

After swim Gavin and I ran home for lunch and then went to his school for an Easter Egg Hunt. Gavin has no clue how an Easter Egg hunt goes. Last year we attempted but he could have cared less. This year, he got ONE egg :-P He was much more interested in the "BIIIIIIIGGGG bounce castle" and " GIANT slide" than anything else. He had a blast and I went on the giant slide also, I have to say....it was fun! Then he finally warmed up to the fire truck. I do want to mention that it has been in my mind to do a fire truck party for Gavin's 4th birthday. After seeing him spend at least 30 minutes on this fire truck, I am thinking that is what we will do :-) He had so much fun exploring the fire truck. Not to mention the amount of doors on a fire truck....trust me, he found them all! The firemen thought it was great :-)

Love this pic, even his silly smile :-)

=0 A DOOR!!!!

He had such a great time!!! This also got me to thinking....a couple of years ago a neighbor had a fire truck come to their house for the kids to come see. And a friend had a similar party last year in chicago (hi keeley!).  I wondered if we did the fire truck party if I could get a fire truck here as a surprise for Gavin! So I called around this morning (yep....I am fully aware of my issues and the fact that it is only April and I am already thinking about July) to the fire houses to inquire about my idea. I ended up speaking with the Deputy Chief who said they would be happy to come to our house for 30 minutes or so, so the kids could see the fire truck! AWESOME! I am so excited!!! My dad was a fireman and I have such great memories when it comes to things like this:-) And yes, I will admit.....I will be starting on invites and all party related things soon. Don't judge....this is how I work :-P

yesterday i got my hair cut, highlights and i was talked into bangs! I havent had bangs since i was 14...15. my bangs were teased up really high and alot of hairspray ;-) After all that nervousness, I like them :-) I will definitely be keeping them for a bit. I posted pic on FB yesterday but for those of you not on FB, here ya go :-)

J&K are waking up from their naps but I'll leave you a couple more pics of J&K from this morning. Whenever Gavin is sitting with me watching a show, J&K spot us and instantly run over to sit with us too. so cute :-) Usually they will both try to sit on top of Gavin. Gavin sometimes tolerates this and other times, not so much. This morning he was not in the mood. Jakob picked up on this pretty quickly and decided it would be a better idea to tackle Kaleb, hehe!!! And the funniest part is that Jakob has done this for a few months.....Kaleb will run away after taking toy from Jakob, only for Jakob to catch him from behind and take him down to get his toy back. Kaleb is not a fan of Jakob doing this or sitting on him. Just recently Kaleb has started sitting on Jakob...Jakob also not a fan but so cute to watch them interact and snuggle with each other. So this morning, Jakob got Kaleb and being the awesome mom that I am, I had to snap some pics hehe