Wheels and Squeals

As I look through the pictures from the past few weeks, I realize these days are so precious. Watching my sons become friends is a wonderful thing. Sometimes it takes pictures to remember all of the good times that come out of our daily ups and downs. Maybe that is why people tend to look back and say, "those were the good days"...because we tend to photograph good times and it takes more effort to remember the rest of the story!

May has been a fairly typical month, mostly highlighted by Mother's Day, Graduation, and two weekends of garage saling. The boys have been busy as ever, so I guess they are the highlight of this post!

Warm weather had us outside a little more, though it quickly became HOT weather with lots of bugs which has brought us back inside a little more. The best solution for the boys who don't care about heat and bugs is the deck right off the kitchen. I can work in the kitchen and they can play out there.

We picked up this basketball hoop at a garage sale and it has been a very worthwhile addition to the deck! 

Micah was very confused when he found this scene after his nap one day. 

Matt bought me an ice cream maker at Orscheln's closing sale, so we made some ice cream one morning. It was a healthy recipe I had been wanting to try. The machine didn't work real well on its first use, but Handyman Matt made some adjustments to it that night so it performed beautifully a couple days later when we hosted my family for Mother's Day. 

The boys loved participating!!  

Micah and David watching the cows. Micah got to spend a day with the Steiners while I took Levi to an eye appointment in Iowa City. He loved all the attention! 

One morning I watched in horror as my boys both climbed into the Gator AND got it started all by themselves. They were just gonna go for a little drive. A few more minutes to themselves and it probably would have been in gear!! The Gator key is now in hiding... 

This is a typical scene of the boys helping Daddy. In case anyone ever wonders why he only accomplished one little thing  all day...it wasn't a little thing. 

They love anything that has wheels and a motor! Levi has been very interested in driving the van lately. I told him he can't drive it until he is sixteen. He accepted that for awhile, but then the other day he came up and informed me, "Mommy, I'm sixteen!" and ran out to drive the van. We may be hiding those keys, too. 

Since we will not be making it on a family vacation this year (due mostly to baby's pending arrival), we took a day trip up to Moline and visited the John Deere Pavilion. The boys had a great time climbing on all of the big machines! 

Ever since, Levi keeps saying, "Mommy, let's talk about tractors..." and then goes on to tell me all about the tractor place. 

We do keep busy inside the house. I have taken great interest in cooking lately - healthy foods that fit into the THM diet. I've been enjoying the thrill of making food that is completely healthy, and then feeling good about eating it and feeding it to my family! It is such a fun learning process; my goal the past several weeks has been to find ways to simplify the healthy meal prep and make it a more budget-friendly and practical lifestyle. 

So, hey, I guess I have a "hobby" now. Must be about time to have another baby to put me back in my place... :)

Dessert for supper, anyone? Matt must have been impressed this night because he even took a picture of his plate! :) This meal does not totally fit into the "budget-friendly" category I was just discussing because it used quite a bit of natural sweetener. But for special occasions, it was super yummy! 

Mommy cooks, the boys do the dishes...I've got it made! Where they lack in productivity, they at least have enthusiasm!   

Happy Mother's Day! I am so blessed to have three babies to hold! (For once, my hands are really starting to look full...)

Micah thinks he has figured out what going potty is all about: Playing on his phone! 

Just doing some climbing... (childcare and photography courtesy of Daddy)

This video has no special significance, but kind of captures a glance at the lives of these two brothers. (Childcare and videography courtesy of Daddy...) 

Baby Joy at the nursing home involved Twister this month! 

Matt is still spending his days at work supervising a big power line project. 

Matt saw a rainbow around the sun one day at work! 

A beautiful double rainbow filled our sky last weekend! Levi looked up and exclaimed over and over, "God put a rainbow in the sky! God put a rainbow in the sky, Mommy!" He sure did! What a precious reminder that the Wonderful God who created Heaven and Earth is still watching over us today!