Dentist appointments

This week the boys are going to the dentist. Ethan and Logan will go tommorow and today was Christian's day to go. Christian goes to a pediatric dental specialist because his teeth are very crowded. He use to go to our family dentist until last year when we discovered he had an abcess tooth. Our family dentist was dead set against pulling it. When I went to get a second opinion at the pediatric dental specialist his thinking was more in line with our thinking and we decided to have it pulled. Actually we had both of his top front teeth pulled to make room for his permanent teeth.

Today at our visit I had a feeling that we would be discussing extraction but only expected to discuss having maybe one tooth pulled. Instead he is recommending that we have three teeth pulled! Two on the top to make room for the permanent teeth and one on the bottom to make room for the bottom teeth. He said while this is not going to make his teeth straight and he will definitely need braces down the road it *could* lessen the severity of the orthodontic work he will eventually need. It *could* also lessen the pain of the orthodontic work because his teeth wouldn't be as crooked thus needing more work to be straightened. He said he can't guarantee that it will help but our odds are definitely better if we chose to extract the teeth. I hope tommorow's dentist appointments bring better news!

In regards to the last post I have decided that tonight while Ethan is at soccer practice and Logan is at football practice that Christian and I are going to do his school supply shopping. I decided I am going to take each of the boys individually to do their shopping. It will give us some one on one time together and will be less stressful!

Preparing to switch gears

This week is the official start to the boys' football and soccer season. Don't get me wrong I love to see them play but this marks the begining to the end of summer for us. Not that there aren't a few weeks of carefree summer days left before the boys start school (school starts on August 2o~grrr!) but with the fall sports season begining it is a reminder that for us a new routine must begin. I love not having a routine in the summer! We sleep in a little later, play outside longer, stay at the pool and swim all day, and NO HOMEWORK! I am not ready to say goodbye to my "laid back" summer days. After all I am still sitting in my pjs and it is 11:00am!

I am unmotivated to think about buying school supplies and getting back into a school routine. I haven't even looked at their supply lists for this year and with three of them going all day I should probably get started on that. Usually at the begining of August I start school supply shopping and have it all done with the bookbags packed. I have a couple days left before August 1 so maybe I will find the motivation by then. On a positive note, I have done some back to school clothes shopping for them but only because I have stumbled upon a few good sales. I am moving in the right direction. At least they will look good going back to school even if they are missing a few supplies!

We are planning a couple fun activities in the next couple weeks to wind down summer vacation. If my blogging is sparse you can assume that we are soaking up the sun and enjoying the end of our carefree summer days!

Pontoon boat and fishing

Last Thursday my dad, my brother Chris (who was in from California for the wedding), my grandma, and Dan and I and the boys went out on a pontoon boat on the lake to do some fishing. I have to admit that this was the first time my boys have ever been fishing. It is kind of pathetic for a mom of 3 boys! I struggle with doing outdoorsy things (again pathetic) because I am a indoors type of girl. Not that I don't like being outside but camping, fishing, swimming in a lake, and bugs are not my thing. I kind of worried about how my boys would do fishing. They are pretty active (aren't most boys?) and from what I have heard fishing requires patience. Ethan and Logan did really well and enjoyed it despite not catching a thing. Christian on the other hand had no interest! I followed his lack of interest when it came to baiting the hook. There was no way I was going to put a worm on the hook and toss it out into the water so I left the baiting to the experts!

I loved riding on the boat and that is my type of "outdoor" activity! Lunch on the lake~yep I am all for that! Fishing was peaceful but I can't imagine spending an entire day sitting waiting for a bite! What I loved most about that day is the memories that my boys will have of fishing with their grandpa and Uncle Chris.

Wedding Day!

Here are the wedding day pictures~finally! I was waiting for others to post their pictures to Danielle and Brian's website. It was a beautiful day! Congratulations Danielle and Brian! We love you and hope you are having a wonderful time in Hawaii!

It is worth noting that the air conditioning broke at the reception. It was HOT! I don't think it kept anyone from dancing because the dance floor was full the entire night!

More rehearsal dinner pics.....

More pictures were uploaded to the wedding website so I thought I would share a few more. I will spread the wedding photos out over the next week or so since there were ALOT of pictures and who doesn't love to look at wedding pictures? It is fun to relive last week and remember what we were doing at "this time" last week. Ahhh it was such a GREAT time!

Our immediate family including our spouses and kids~though we are the only ones with kids!

The groom's cake

Dinner on the boat!

My brother Chris, my sister Danielle, and me

Danielle and Brian

Ethan, Danielle, Christian, and Logan

Rehearsal dinner

We are back from the wedding! We actually got back on Monday but it has taken me a couple days to recover from the 4 day extravaganza! I will spend this week rewinding last week and sharing some of the wedding events. From all Danielle and Brian's family and friends I expect 1000+ pictures to be posted to their website.

The rehearsal dinner was on Thursday night. We had the rehearsal at the church and then we went on a dinner cruise. It was a perfect night for a cruise! The food was great and of course so was the company! Danielle and Brian presented gifts for their bridal party and parents. The girls were given earrings to wear on wedding day and a white robe with their initial on it. The guys were given a money clip. The parents were given a beautiful picture frame with one of their engagement pictures in it. It was the perfect start to the big event!

Packing stresses

We leave next Wednesday for my sister's wedding. Yesterday I started to get everything together and it was way more challenging than packing for vacations in the past. For the wedding festivities (which is more like a four day event) I am trying to pack for each day and remember exactly what needs to go. Yesterday I had Ethan and Logan try on their dress clothes because we bought them back in April and I vaguely remembered that Logan's pants needed altered (yes a remembered with a couple days to spare!). As soon as I pulled them from the closet and looked at them the stress of having to possibly trying to get them altered was upon me. Luckily when he tried them on and put his belt on they we just a tiny bit long so to save myself any additional stress we are leaving them as is. When Ethan tried his clothes on he was less than thrilled saying "I feel like a dork," "I am NOT wearing this shirt tucked in," and "how long are we going to have to wear this?" Maybe he will feel better when he sees all the "other dorks" dressed up. My boys seldom dress up. They are basketball shorts and tee shirt kids all the way.

Most of the clothes we are taking are set to the side so that the boys do not wear them before we leave. However I am thinking, "do we have suitcases big enough to fit all of this stuff?" Yet another stress but everything will work out in the end. There is no way I will allow this "stress" to take away the excitement and anticipation of this week!

Why?

~Why are my kids always bored? They are bored at school, they are bored at home.

~Why does everyday start with someone asking "where are we going today?" hoping that they will hear some place they like? Do we have to go somewhere everyday?

~ Why has this summer seemed extra "expensive"this year? No I am not talking about gas prices or food I am talking about entertaining my kids! Basketball camps, soccer camps, football sign ups, soccer sign ups, swimming lessons.

~Why does the laundy seem to pile up so fast even though I wash a couple loads almost everyday?

~Why does school start on August 20? Doesn't it make more sense to start after Labor Day?

~Why am I concerned about when school starts when we still have 1 1/2 months of summer left? Maybe it is because this summer has really flown by and I know it will be here before I know it or am ready for it.

~Why does my 11 year old now want to order off the adult menu because he is now "11." Is 11 the magic number?

~Why am I normally so good about watching what I eat but this week I could have cared less? Birthday cake on Sunday, leftover birthday cake on Monday, Buckeye Blitz ice cream on Tuesday, and Olive Garden tonight. Oh well tommorow is a new day and the cake and ice cream are gone and no I did not bring home any leftovers!

~Why does that ticker at the top of my blog seem to move ever so slowly? I feel like we have been at "waiting for 21 months" for 21 months!

Happy Birthday Dani!