SpinSwords!

Austin and Logan have been moaning for weeks about

some PowerRanger SpinSword they want.

It just so happens to cost $15!

Which is about $14 over our 

"We'll buy it for you just because" budget 

we may occasionally spend on the boys.

It's even about $6 over Nonnie's 

"I'll buy it for you cuz I love you" splurge purchases.

So, after exhausting the list of household chores:

dishes, extra cleaning

 and some yardwork:

picking up acorns, bagging leaves

And one entire day spent "being good boys for Nonnie."

They've got about $5.00 each.

;-(

Yet - they have not forgotten how badly they want that SpinSword.

After being told, once again, that

they don't have enough money to buy it yet,

They came up with a solution:

"Mommy, can we PLEEZE sell Lemon-lade? Puh-LEEZE?"

 

Great concept, boys!

But they picked a cold, windy day

at about 3:00pm -

So, not a lot of traffic.

Between Mommy and their best friend neighbor, Sarah -

they each earned another $1!

A++ for effort!

And with their drive and determination,

I have a feeling that SpinSword will be making a presence in my house real soon!

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Road Trip!

 We went to COLLEGE!

Nonnie and I took the boys to Radford University to see 

Evan play in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament.

 Austin traveling in style!

 Logan chillaxin'!

5 minutes into the trip, Logan began his "How much longer, Mommy?"

And he pretty much kept it up the whole 3.5 hours!

Everytime we stopped to pee or eat, 

Austin and Logan introduced themselves (to anyone within ear shot)

and told EVERYONE they were on vacation and were going to COLLEGE!  

 Luckily Evan and Amanda met us at the hotel -

so that the boys could JUMP right into the POOL!

 (Austin)

(Logan)

Then, we headed to the park for more playtime, dinner out and then back to the pool!

The next morning, Austin woke up, sat up in bed and said, "Pool, Momma?"

So, one more quick dip and then we headed off to campus!

 Austin, Amanda, Logan and Evan

 Nonnie and Evan!

 Me, Evan and Logan

Me and Austin!

The boys loved cheering for Evan!

It was the first time I had watched an Ultimate Frisbee game 

and it was pretty darn entertaining!

Our visit was over WAY too soon,

but we had SOOOO much fun!

On the way back, Nonnie and I started planning a FALL trip! 

;-)

Rock Star!

Well, it took me 2 1/2 weeks to recover from running the twins' energy into the ground in that last post!

Just kiddin'!

We have been thoroughly busy and entertained by our beloved ROCK STAR of a brother, Evan!

Sure - he could have spent his Spring Break on the sandy shores of some beach,

but instead, he chose to lavish his brothers in 

some unforgettable one-on-one time!

In anticipation of the BIG ARRIVAL,

Nonnie helped us create a Countdown to Evan calendar!

But, Surprise! Surprise! He rang the doorbell two days early...
...and that set the tone for 10 day party right off the bat!

While Evan was home, there was lots of trampoline time:

Some advanced mathwork:

Some special storytime readings:

Evan and his girlfriend, Amanda took the boys to their first evah- big ticket event:

The Harlem Globetrotters!

(Inadvertently, this trip may have also sunk
any hope I ever had of future grandchildren from Evan.)

Evan also stood side-by-side his brothers and joined rank among them as the head leader

Red Samurai Power Ranger!
(An honor, indeed!)

He invented cool games like, Wipe Out  Trampoline:

and 

Sumo Wrestling Trampoline:

Alas, Sunday arrived, and it was time for Evan and Amanda to return to college.

Imagine my shock, when the boys told me they were going to college with Evan.

No amount of talking or rationalizing could persuade them.

"But, you're going to miss your birthday."

That's okay, Mom.  Maybe you could just wait and have it when we get home.

"But you'll miss soccer.."

That's okay - we can play frisbee and basketball with Evan.

"But you'll be all alone when Evan goes to class."

That's okay - we can take care of ourselves and Evan says we can eat water and noodles.
We LOVE water and noodles!

Yeah, and we can just sit outside his class in the hallway.
We'll go get some quiet toys to take to occupy us.

It wasn't until I refused to talk to them anymore that they finally felt enough guilt to stay home.

Nice, huh?

Lucky for all of us, we'll be re-uniting very, very soon 

as Nonnie and I will be taking a roadtrip with the boys to  Evan's college!

 

(Austin, Amanda, Logan, Lory, and Evan)

(Mason, Lory, Austin, Amanda, Logan and Evan)

Eureka!

Cue the choir of heavenly angels! 

For years, I have waited for this moment in time

when I finally, finally find a way to exhaust the twins' never-ending supply of energy.

I've tried before.

Like during our first snowsotrm

when they were 1.5 years old

I made them carry their own sleds UP the HILL

EVERY. TIME.

Results: Still no nap that day.

We threw them in the ocean and pool when they were 2 years old

for HOURS

of play in the HEAT.

Nope.  Didn't seem to even touch their reserves!

Two straight hours of hard core gymnastics.

Nope.

A day at the amusement park?

Nope.

You get the picture.

So, imagine my surprise today when I seem to have stumbled upon a potential solution.

Sit back and watch, "How to run my twins into the ground."

Start them off with less than 10 hours of sleep.

Fill em up with lots of food for breakfast and lunch.

Suggest a bike ride at the park.

Key point: Bring their neighborhood 10 year old friend along.

Bike ride on a really cool never been on before trail.

Stumble upon a rope swing!?

 And let the fun begin!

(Austin above, Logan below)

  Logan doing some crazy death defying crawl across a log, above the creek!?!

After 40 or so minutes, continue on path until we stumble upon a baseball field!

 Imaginary pitch from Logan.

 Imaginary hit from Austin!

 Logan heading to catch imaginary ball.

 Austin mad and walking off the field because of his imaginary out!

 Logan slid into home base, but wonders where the other "team" is!

40 or so minutes later, leave the ball field.

Hit some incredibly scarey hills on the bikes!

(No pictures of this!)

And then spend another hour or more on the playground.

Come home, spend yet another hour on the trampoline and playing basketball.

Boys were so tired they cried and blubbered their way through the rest of the day.

Dinner at 6:00pm.

Bath at 6:30pm.

In bed and ASLEEP by 7:15pm!!

A NEW world record for US!!

Unfortunately, I too won't be far behind them!

YAY for warm weather,

children who can run harder than ever before

and for precious 10 year old neighbors who help out!

{Copy} {Paste} for the next 10,000 weekends!

You didn't really think...

....that just because the last three (and a half) posts
(I'm counting the picture of the picture included in the Vday post!)
showed my children wearing normal, 

nay, ADORABLE outfits - 

you didn't think they had given up their autonomy in making their own clothing choices did you?

  Here is proof that they are still making me take them out in public lookin' like fools!

(FYI - we got quite a warm front in last week!)
(It's gone now.)

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