Summer Break is Around the Corner

Hopefully the weather will start to cooperate once we are our for summer break.  Being a teacher, I really don't mind the cool, rainy weather (however, it gets old on the weekends when the boys want to go outside and play).  With that being said, it is difficult to watch the lives of people being destroyed by the horific weather that is happening around our country.  May all of you find strength!

Summer breaks means trips to the park, gymnastic classes, spray park, camping trips, visits to see Nana and Papa and so much more....so bring on the sunshine and the beautiful weather!

Gotta love Fridays

Every Friday, the boys know they get jammie day because daddy doesn't work (won't next year be interesting as Eli will be in Kindergarten...will he try to fake being sick??) The second favorite item of clothing for the boys tends to be various costumes. Rob told me this morning that he was going to buy a sewing machine so he can make the boys crazy costumes!

Jace's First American Birthday....Happy 3rd Birthday!!

Jace was a very lucky boy! He was able to celebrate his birthday twice. Once while we were in South Carolina and again when we got home. Looking back (since we came home in August), Jace is still a little peanut. It doesn't matter what he eats, he just can't surpass the 26 pound marker. His diet drastically changed as we found out he is allergic to eggs, milk, and wheat. YIKES!!



Guns are in high demand in the Crosby household! Papa had fun squirting the boys with Jace's new water guns. Boy can the two of them get chuckling when they play. It melts your heart to see how happy they are!!



Eli and Jace were so excited to come home and have Nana & Papa waiting for them (I will have to post a better pic of the four of them later). Nana & Papa have a hard time finding a little peace and quiet when the boys are with them. It is just amazing how much they love each other!

Taking a Little Vacation....South Carolina Style

Eli has been asking forever how many "sleeps" do we have until we visit sister Amanda. Finally, the morning of the 5th came bright and early. Eli was very excited to board the plane..so much that he didn't even sleep on the ride to the airport or on the plane (and we left the house at 3am!). We had to fly from Denver to Chicago (pretty much walk the entire airport from one terminal to another...Mr. "Little Legs" Jace had no problem keeping up) then finally made it to Charlotte at 2pm. Eli turned into little shy man when he saw Amanda (this was hysterical). The weather was absolutely gorgeous while we were there. We spent as much time outside as we possibilty could! Amanda had fun showing us all around her new city (her and Jesse just recently moved there. We did so many cool things:
1) IKEA- We totally fell in love with this mammouth store.
2) Discovery Place- Hands on Science Museum The boys (and adults had a blast)They had a bed of nails that you could lay on and it would lift you up. They also had a kid discovery room that was to die for...we spent a lot of time there.
3) A Beautiful Park- It had an enormus play area then when you crossed one of the very old bridges you discovered a huge pond. We walked and walked while the kids had so much fun checking everything out.
4) Playplace-This was by far the largest indoor play area I have ever seen. Eli kept asking to go back :)

We had a lot of fun but the best part was being able to spend time with our daughter Amanda and her hubby Jesse. Family is a very precious thing to have and when you only see someone for a short time, it is important to cherish every moment...and that is what we did!

Our First Easter (as a Family of 4) 2011

The boys have discovered how much fun it is to play in the basement! They can find silly stuff to do for hours down there, which worked out fabulously when Rob was carpeting the stairs, hallway, and bedroom! This past weekend, Eli and Jace were very quiet (which is VERY unusual) while playing downstairs. Eli ran to the stairs and told us we needed to wait just a few more minutes before we went downstairs...natually, we obligued! THEN, (full of excitement) Eli tells Daddy to come downstairs. Eli told us that he and Jace had picked up ALL of the toys. To Rob's surprise, the boys did pick up the toys and placed ALL of them on the table. We are still not sure how they got them to stay but boy can we say TEAMWORK!!

We celebrated Easter on Saturday this year as Rob had to work on Easter Sunday. So sometime on Friday night, the Easter Bunny came and hid lots of eggs for our little boys to find. Saturday morning, I heard the usually pitter-patter (can I say that I LOVE that sound!!!) of little man, Jace. One look at his nose and I knew he had found a couple of the eggs (he had chocolate streaming down his nose....yes, he still needs to get another surgery...maybe sometime this summer???). I laughed outloud so hard!!! He then wanted to continue the egg hunt has he kept finding more. I told him that he had to wake up Eli. He brought an egg into Eli's room and shook it once. Eli had NEVER gotten out of bed to fast!! Needless to say, they had a blast finding the eggs. Many thanks to my hubby for cooking a fabulous Easter dinner. I have been under the weather the past few days. The smell of food made me nausious. I don't think I have ever been sick for Easter. Justin came over for a little bit (the boys always love seeing him). The rest of the day was very uneventful for all of us. We just hung out and loved every minute of it!!

Great Weather

We have been blessed with some fabulous weather the past couple of weeks! The boys have taken advantage of all the nice weather. Every Friday, the boys get to have a jammie day...they LOVE their jammies! Whenever we get home from school, they run into their rooms and put them on. We use this to our advantage...let me explain. Eli and Jace love to get up and party in the middle of the night (they are very sneaky about this too). We have done everything you can imagine to stop this from happening. Now, if they get up in the middle of the night; they can't put their jammies on until bedtime (this just about sets them over the edge). So far, so good...score one for daddy's GREAT idea!

Grandparents are Amazing!!

An interesting conversation has been brewing within our house, with my brothers, and some co-workers. The topic was Grandparents and what makes "good" grandparents. At school, we have plenty of students that are being raised by their grandparents (God bless them for doing an amazing job) Anyway, getting back to my story. Growing up, I had two sets of grandparents that were unique in their own way. Gma and Gpa Beuschel had a huge apple orchard located in Sparta, Michigan. I can still see the huge blue sink , hear my gpa yelling at the tv, and boy so I remember the smell their house. Having thirty cousins on that side of the family kept things wild, so get togethers were CRAZY! Some of my favorite memories include:
1) Hanging out in the barn
2) Swinging on the wooden swings that were part of the apple trees
3) Camping with my grandparents and cousins Kelly and Kurt (still think of you...God took you way to early)
4) Playing the animal peanut game
Gma and Gpa Thayer lived on Happy End Trail in a small trailer park. They had one of the radio/tv combinations (it took up an entire wall!) On top of the television was one of the oil lamp of a naked lady...now that I am older, you have to ask why??? Outside, there was a river that my brothers and I would always hang out at. They also had a round stool that we would roll on which would always end up in a fight and my grandma would have to put in the backroom. One of the greatest memories was camping at Chicago Lake, which was in the middle of nowhere in the Upper Penisula of Michigan. We would play cards, build campfires, and take the canoe out to catch fish. Once, we headed to the general store where I made one of my first purchases...the gent told me it would be $3.75 plus tax. I kept repeating but I don't want to buy tax. My gpa had to leave the store as he was laughing so hard!! My grandma was one crafty woman (wish I would have inherited that). She used to make us the coolest Easter baskets. We used to make these mesh Easter balls to put on our front tree...looking back, my parents must have died looking at that tree but for the love of their daughter they kept allowing me to decorate it year after year. Boy, I sure wish I had a picture!!

Rob always has to say that Eli is his mother's revenage on him. Rob was quite the little boy growing up. Man, I would have loved to hear stories of him when he was little. Eli would have loved the heck out of Rob's mom!!!

Oh my, the list could go on and on! When I was growing up, I never knew how poor my grandparents were. They loved us for who we were. I couldn't tell you ten things that they bought me (likewise for my brothers) but boy can I remember the times they spent with us! Eli and Jace are very lucky to have amazing grandparents. When I asked Eli what is his favorite thing to do with Nana and Papa he always mentions getting roasty-toasty (they have an electric blanket) and having little snacks from papa! He loves when Nana and Papa do crazy things like make the big red car from chairs, pretend to drive their car (which always involves a little honking) and just plain being silly. We had the honor of having our grandson live by us for three short months until he moved to Michigan. He probabaly won't know us as the grandparents we could have been, but in words from my hubby, It is what it is!