I mean, really?   These kids are mine?  Sometimes I can hardly believe this is my life.  I love the kids so much it takes my breath away.

In some ways, today felt like the first day of summer.  Logan and Camryn are done with school.  It felt so weird to not take them to the preschool this morning.  Instead, we went to Sam’s and the grocery store.  I’ve gotten used to doing those kind of errands on my own, so it was definitely different to have 2/3 of my kids along for the ride.  By the time we got home from swim team practice at 6:30 p.m. and I was scrambling around to get dinner on the table and still get Connor to bed at a decent hour, I had that familiar “it’s summer” feeling.  It’s that tiredness that comes from being with kids all day.  It’s that feeling in my chest that feels like I might burst if I have to keep on with my “mommy” roll for much longer.  It’s the sheer exhaustion, the checking of the clock, and the nicely asking (okay, pleading) with Derek to please put the baby to bed so I can have just a moment alone at the kitchen table.

Lately, Camryn hasn’t been wanting to go to bed at night.  Who can blame her, really?  Usually her brothers, her most favorite people in the world, are still up and she knows it.  Derek and I both give her “nuddles” and sing her the bedtime song (you are my sunshine).  I lay my head down with her, and then sit for several minutes with my hand on the small of her back while she whispers toddler sweet nothings to me.  Tonight, it wasn’t working.  I had to leave to give Logan and Connor their tuck in time, and I was hopeful that she would just fuss for a moment before drifting off.  But, tonight, that was not the case.  As I was tucking in Logan, he heard her crying and wanted to go give her snuggles.  “but mom!”  he said, “I didn’t give her any hugs and kisses tonight!”  Who could resist that.  The next thing I knew, Connor had joined us and they were asking me to take a picture of them.

Be still my heart.

I love these guys so much.  And you know what?  After 10 minutes of snuggles and laughs and hugs and kisses, all three drifted off to dreamland.

Everyone needs to meet their daily quotient of snuggle time.  My thanks goes out to Logan for realizing what Camryn needed tonight was just a few more minutes loving on her brothers.

Today was Logan and Camryn’s last day of school.  It was Logan’s last day of preschool ever.  To say it’s bittersweet is an understatement!  I just can’t believe I will never walk through those doors to pick up Logan again.  He’s been there for 3 years, learning, playing, growing, and being loved on by some amazing teachers.

Look at my babies back on the first day of school in August…

And here they are today.

While the kids enjoyed their last day of school, I enjoyed my last day of mommy time.  First, I met some friends at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  Those blueberry pancakes and hash brown casserole complete me.  The company was nice, too.   After breakfast, I headed to the mall.  I wanted to find a new dress that I could wear to my sister’s wedding and also wear in Hawaii.  During the hunt for the perfect summer sundress, I also found 5 new shirts.  Score!  I did find a dress, and I’ve been trying to find a picture of it to post, but I can’t find it.  I got it at Francesca’s, and I think it’s so cute.  Very sassy, very summery, and sort of un-Meganish.  But I like it.  It sort of makes me want to twirl.  I was hoping to post a picture of it because I really need some shoe advice!  I did take a picture of myself with my phone to get my bff’s opinion, so maybe I’ll just post that.  I’m rambling.  My point is, I found a dress and some other things and I had a great time shopping for what will probably be the last time until September.  Shopping with 3 kids?  Not so fun.

Okay, I’ve seriously been debating for the last 20 minutes about whether or not I should post these pictures, but I am just going to.  Should I just go with brown shoes?  Flats?  Heels?  Go with pink to match the pink the in dress?  I am NOT good at shoes.  Seriously, I wear my teva flip flops every single day.  Or my converse if it’s raining.  I need help!

Since I’m sharing what I bought, I’ll go ahead and show what else I picked up.  I got a few of these tanks from American Eagle:

I give up.  I can’t find pictures of the rest of the things.  Oh well.  The bottom line is, it was a fun shopping trip.  I feel like it’s been a long time since I really shopped for myself, and I’ve been having fun with it over the past few weeks!

And I guess that’s all I have to say today.  I have other topics floating around in my head, but I’ve gone on long enough for tonight. Good night.

We have another graduate in the family.  A preschool graduate, that is.

Along with the graduation ceremony is the requisite preschool program.  I love a good preschool program.  I love when they get so jumbled that I can’t even understand what they are saying.  I love watching to see who is going to be the most animated, who is going to yell “hi mom!” the loudest, or who will need a potty break in the middle of it all.   They are just so. darn. cute!

After all the festivities, it’s time to throw the hats off and party!  Which, in the preschool world means drinking some red punch that leaves a mustache and getting all sugared up on cake and cookies.  Good times, good times.  Don’t forget about acting all goofy with your friends!  Noah, Gabriel, and Logan are pros at that.  Man, we are going to miss these boys next year.  I can’t even think about it without getting sad.

I can’t believe that Logan is 5 and starting kindergarten in just a few months.  Do you realize I started this blog when I was still pregnant with him?  Crazy!  It’s flown by.  I love this kid so much.

For Mother’s Day, Connor wrote me a poem.  His teacher typed it up, and put it in a frame along with a picture of him holding a rose.  It’s so cute!  Probably one of my favorite presents ever.  Here is what he wrote:

Roses are red.  Violets are blue.
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
You love me, and I love you.
Thank you for my brother.
You are such a good mother.
I can’t wait ’till you turn thirty-one.
I love you!
I really, really do.
I really do!

I don’t even know if I can pick my favorite part, but I definitely love the line about his brother.

I’d like to say that this is how they always are, but c’mon.  They are brothers and they are as different as night and day, and they fight with the best of them.  But they love each other, and I’m so thankful they have each other.  They are actually in a really good getting along phase right now.  It ebbs and flows with them…can we all just say a prayer right now that this good phase lasts through the summer?

It’s not too hot yet, not too humid yet, the days are a little longer, it’s almost summer, but not fully summer because the mosquitoes are not out in full force.  This is the time of year where we go out in the backyard after dinner and the kids play and eat ice cream and I take pictures until I force everyone inside for baths, stories, and bedtime.  Because, it’s not really summer yet and it’s a school night.  Everyone trudges inside with a chorus of awww, mom!  Just a few more minutes?  Please?  It’s not even dark yet!

I love this time of year.  It’s perfect.

My garden is growing!  Check out my little tomatoes and our first cucumber!

A few pictures from our evenings outside last week…

And a few of Camryn that are just so her.  Loud and sweet and sassy and fun.

On a completely different note, today is new carpet day!  Yay!  We’ve needed new carpet since, well, since we moved in 4 years ago.  The day has finally arrived!  It’s looking great, and I can’t get over how much I love the new carpet smell.  I also finished painting Connor’s room over the weekend, so I’ll try to get some pictures of those things soon!

Because I have these three.  I am one lucky mama.

In just about 2 months, my baby girl will be 2.

Two years old…seriously, where has the time gone?  Suddenly she seems so big.  She repeats  everything we say (well, tries to repeat it at least!)  She throws all out temper tantrums and has become acquainted with our time out spot.  She’s opinionated as all get out.

I did a little shopping today and bought her size 3/3T clothes for her.  The one shirt I got in a 2T I am exchanging for a bigger size because it’s not going to fit through the summer.  (Little confession that only another gymbo loving mom would understand…hello kid girl clothes!  And still baby girl!  I feel like I am probably getting into my Gymboree prime.!

Our neighborhood pool opened last weekend.  Summer is officially around the corner!  I took the kids swimming after school today for the first time of the season.  The water is a little cold for Camryn and I.  We were perfectly content to sit in a chair or just dangle our feet in the water.

(like her goggles?  She did that all by herself.  And she made sure to pick the pink ones from the 5 pairs in the swim bag.  that’s my girl!)

The boys only swam for about 45 minutes and then they wanted to go play on the playground.  As if buying my baby 3T clothes and getting her a real haircut (bangs or no bangs?! It’s my biggest dilemma lately. Her hair grows straight down into her eyes. I had some bangs trimmed today. Luckily hair grows and I still don’t know if it was the right choice!) Anyway, as if that wasn’t enough proof that she is getting so big, check out this video of her playing on the big kid slide!

In other news, I registered my middle monkey for kindergarten today.  That’s another “hard to believe my kid is growing up” moment!  He’s going to do great and is so ready to be a big kid like Connor.  But I sure am going to miss him being home with me most of the time.  He’s a total mama’s boy, and I don’t mean in a sissy boy kind of way.  He just loves his mama!  And his mama loves him.

My new baby camera arrived today!  So exciting.  I’ve been saving just about every penny from all my photo shoots, the spring consignment sale, and my garage sale.  I can’t even tell you how good it felt to finally submit that order!  There is something really fun about saving up for something big the old fashioned way (and by old fashioned, I mean actual dollar bills in an envelope).  I know I could have used a bank account, but it was way too fun to count the money.  I’m such a dork!

So of course, as soon as the battery was charged, I headed out to the backyard to snap a few pictures.  This camera has very different controls from my old camera. It’s a little intimidating!  There is definitely going to be a learning curve.  But, man, it is FAST!  And heavy.  And the lcd screen is awesome!  And my files are gigantic!  I can’t wait to get out and play with it some more.

Camryn could feel the excitement and was so happy for me.  Or, maybe she was just happy to be eating some candy.

She was also happy to give Logan bug some kisses.  Man, she loves these boys!

And then she was a little less happy. I think she was thinking something like “man, I wish my mom would just stop with this picture taking thing and change my diaper already.”  Sorry, girl.  Thanks for being such a good sport.

The title has nothing at all to do with this post.  I’m just sitting here in bed (when I should really be asleep) and I keep thinking I hear mice in the attic.  Oh, and today I stepped on a gecko inside my house and felt it wiggle under my bare foot.  Of course, when I stepped on it, I had no idea what it was.  I just knew I felt a tickle under my foot and prayed it wasn’t a roach.  Upon closer inspection, the writhing, wiggling object was only part of the gecko.  Did you know that a gecko’s tail continue to squirm for quite some time after becoming removed from the body?  Yeah.  They do.  I really could have done without first hand experience of that little fun fact.

Have I mentioned yet that I drank coke with dinner tonight?  Let me give you a little equation.  Megan+caffeine after 5:00 p.m=no sleeping.  There are other factors in that equation like the ever growing to-do list that’s racing through my mind and the fact that I think I hear little creatures in the attic and that I stepped on a gecko tonight and I have no idea where the rest of the little guy is or if he is plotting his revenge by climbing into my bed or maybe into my nose or ear.  Oh, and there is a wasp that has been trying desperately to get out of my dining room by flying repeatedly into the window.  But I don’t know where it is now.  I just know it’s inside my house.

God loves all creatures, big and small.  And it is spring time which I guess means they are out in full force.

I just wish they would leave my house.

So, since my last blog post (10 days ago!  So sorry, grandparents!), we’ve been up to lots of fun things.

Camryn is officially in a big girl bed.  No reason to move her out of the crib (i.e. no more little Thurman’s expected any time in the near future!), but no reason to keep her in the crib, either.  A friend of ours gave us the bed and so I thought I would let her try it out.  She has done amazing with it.  Stays in it all night, at nap time, but loves to climb in and out the rest of the day and smiles so big when you talk about her big girl bed.   She is really growing up!

She loves my phone.  Loves to listen to “mumic” and loves to talk to daddy.  And as you can see from her knee, she is busy trying to keep up with her boys.  She is pretty rough and tumble, which I guess it to be expected with 2 big brothers!

She is still my most willing subject as I practice, practice,and practice some more.

With the gorgeous weather we’ve had lately, we’ve been busy playing in the backyard…making mud…playing in the sprinkler…eating ice cream…I can’t believe how much the boys still play with this tiny swing set.  The swings are long gone, but the bar is perfect for acrobatics!

Want some hairstyling tips?  Need a little extra oomph?  Just add a little ice cream to your locks, and you’re guaranteed to get that bed head look.   It also helps if you wear a super high pony tail for part of the day.  Oh, and also get your bangs to that awkward growing out stage.   Girlfriend is a mess!

I planted a small container garden this year.  Our tomatoes and cucumbers are growing brilliantly and I can’t wait to see if it actually produces some vegetables!

Life is just sweet right now.  Busy….but so sweet.  I love these days, this season of life.  Even when I feel like I might lose it if I have to break up one more argument, pour one more glass of milk, get one more snack, wipe one more bottom or nose, or listen to one more story about Star Wars.  Even when all I can think about is getting to those precious hours after bedtime.  Even in the middle of Derek’s busy travel season and single mom-hood more weeks that I care to count, this life is so sweet and I wouldn’t trade these crazy years for anything in the world.

Now to try to sleep.  Wish me luck.  And pray the critters stay away from my bed!

Last weekend, I offered bluebonnet mini sessions, and I had 6 families come out and let me take pictures of them.  It was great!  I love the bluebonnets.

That being said, I have never even taken pictures of my own kids in the bluebonnets!  I decided to take them out on Wednesday night with the promise of Sprinkles frozen yogurt afterward.  (random sidenote…did you know that afterwards is not a word according to spell check?  I guess afterward is the correct way to say it.  Weird.  I always add an “s”!)

I didn’t get any pictures of the three of them together.  Typical.  I can get other kids to laugh and look at me and smile, but my own kids are so much harder.  I did get some good individual ones at least.

This one is so Connor.  He is big time in that awkward, closed-lip smile phase.   I could not crack him. He always buttons the top button on his shirt.  Always.

Logan, on the other hand, is all smiles.  Even with the attitude he’s had lately (we are in one of those testing the boundaries phases with him…), it’s still so easy to get him to break into that famous Logan smile.

And Miss Cami J.  Full of personality.  I couldn’t pick just one of her, so she gets a collage.

We had a really fun night.  I love these three munchkins!