Three Means ...

Three boys means 30 toenails to keep trimmed.

Drawings

I found this drawing this morning. Maddeck is ALWAYS writing and drawing pictures. I don't see many of them until I am cleaning up the house and looking through papers. I know he doesn't know how to spell Jesus so I am sure he was copying it from a book or Sunday school project.

Chicken, dog, tortoise, horse, cat, pig, frog, goat!! He took a picture book and started writing the names of the animals by copying the letters. I am so proud of him. He comes up with all this stuff on his own. I think reading may be right around the corner for him. He is showing so much interest and is always asking how to spell things and write words. Just yesterday we were at the FedEx in Wenatchee and he told me that he has seen FedEx trucks before that match the sign on the outside of the building. He is so excited to start school in the fall.

Leap

Here some pictures of the cousins playing this past weekend!! They were in only their undies so we could cover them in sunscreen before going swimming.

Love You

Evan tells us he loves us. Pure joy.

Three Means ...

Three boys means hearing "I am hungry" every 30 minutes. All. Day. Long. Growing, thriving, busy, little boys means the need to fuel up quite often.

Evan's Late Night Project

Maddeck went right to sleep last night (about 7:30 PM). Evan got up two or three times and stayed awake until 9:45 PM. I heard him banging around in his room but I didn't know what he was doing until I went in to check on him. Maddeck slept right through his playing.

Three Means ...

Three boys means having more Legos then we can count and finding them all over the house for the next 10+ years.

Miles Rocks

An update is needed for our little tiny one. He rocks. That about sums it up. He takes all of his naps during the day consistently. His wake times are happy and interactive. I wish I had more time to spend with him while he is awake, but I am normally busy with so many things I don't have time to just sit and stare at him. He gets plenty of stimulation from his brothers throughout the day! He sleeps awesome at night. I have not nursed him in the night for ... I don't even know ... at least 2 or 3 weeks now. He still wakes up and needs his pacifier or to be snuggled up with his blankets but he always goes right back to sleep. I am so blessed to have such an easy third. We praise the Lord for all three of our sweet boys every. single. day. Not sure if this is a big deal at all, (I don't really remember with the other two) but Miles was having tummy time and he turned himself around 180 degrees on his play mat. He doesn't like to roll, but he will pivot around on his tummy.

More sleep talking ...

Evan is talking some more in his sleep. Yesterday I had to sneak into the boys room to grab something and Evan rolled over in his bed and said "Shoe ... Shoes!" He sounded pretty excited as he said it. It was so cute. Maybe Maddeck and Evan will have conversation with each other in their sleep like Brian and I used to do.

Man Cave -- Joy

Last night we spent time in the man cave for the first time! I made popcorn and we watched some Office and Kyle worked out with his new weight system. The bench is perfect for doing all types of sit-ups, which is great for me since I haven't done sit ups for a least four years : )

Fun dart board! Kyle has had this since before we were married and it has never been used. I have insisted on moving it from place to place over the years and it will be nice to finally play it.

'Happy Birthday Kyle 2010 Papa Jim'

My Dad used old boards from our basement and framed this mirror. The mirror was from Pete and Sarah and had a chipped corner. My Dad cut the mirror and framed it for Kyle's Birthday. It turned out so cool. Thank You!!!!!!

My next project is painting the laundry area and under the stairs. I will post some before and after pictures when it is complete.

Man Cave -- Part 2

Here is part 2 of the transformation. I still have several more projects in mind for the space. Since it is a "man cave" I would like to find some comfortable seating or table and chairs. The treadmill needs to be moved downstairs to complete the home gym area. I would like to paint the floors and get another area rug. Some outlets, light switch, and additional light fixtures are also on the list of things to do at some point. My parents tore out the cannery area in the corner of the room and after a full truck load of old boards and junk, the area was cleared out. My parents even took everything to the dump for me!! Here is Kyle's early Birthday/Father's Day gift. I found this on craigslist after MONTHS of looking for something. This is far beyond what I thought I could afford. This was selling for $700 at Costco and $500 on Ebay. I got it for $100!!!!!! Kyle has been using free weights our entire marriage and it was time for him to have some nicer equipment with an actual weight bench and squat rack. My parents are the reason this project turned out so great. They canceled plans to go to Seattle to pick up the weight system for me. They delivered it and assembled it in the corner of the the room where they tore out the cannery.

There is a little area for the boys with a chalk board and table and chairs.

The other side of the "man cave" is the laundry room area. I have a laundry folding table and may even use it now that the basement is clean and tidy.

Man Cave -- Part 1

I decided to convert our dark, dirty, and unorganized basement into a man cave for my sweet husband. First, my Mom came to our house and helped me clear out all the junk and organize stuff. I forgot to take pictures of the basement before organizing, which I am really bummed about (it was such a mess before). It looked completely different just by organizing. Here are the first pictures of the (believe it or not) much improved basement.

The table used to have all kinds of junk piled on it. Now it has only diapers, tools, paint, and flowers pots.

This area was full of furniture, carpet rolls, Christmas decorations, boxes, bins, toys, etc.

It is still dirty and dark, but cleared out for the future man cave.

That room was built for canning. It has lots of shelves inside and even more spiders. Scary!!

Who would want to hang out down here? We'll see if Kyle likes it when it is finished : )

Snacking

Evan would not try a sample of ice cream sandwich at Costco today. However, I did find him snacking on the kitten food yesterday afternoon. Crazy boy!!

Remington

We have an addition to the Strong household. Two nights ago we adopted a kitten from a kitty rescue in Wenatchee. Here are some pictures of Remington (aka Remi). He has a great disposition and is very social. He is doing surprisingly well with the boys and will even sit on Evan's lap!! We are looking forward to all the mice he will be leaving on our doorstep for years to come.

Go Fish

After our plans for the weekend were foiled by life and school, we decided to have some fun with the boys. We took a few hours on Saturday and went to the Entiat Fish Hatchery for a kid's fishing derby. The weather was awesome and it was great to have a change of scenery. Maddeck said, "We're going to the fishery hatcher today!"

The boys in their hats and ready to go fishing!

Evan kept his hat on all day. Woo Hoo!!

Maddeck always loves wearing hats and shades!

Casting practice.

Little trout that Maddeck reeled in.

Biggest trout of the day!

Here is a picture of Maddeck with his friend Elsey. Maddeck (or should I say Kyle?) caught the largest trout of day and won his very own fishing pole!! He was very excited.

Watching the fish get cleaned.

Catching the fish.

Another sleep talker ...

Evan is talking in his sleep. Last night Kyle was checking on the boys before we went to bed and he said "Home. Home." He normally says that when we are turning on Easy Street so he must of been dreaming about home.

Trace

Tracing is super cool. Here are a couple of Maddeck's first tracings with tracing paper. It is really fun for him. If you have young kids, I highly recommend trying it.

Pooh.

Sarah thinks Maddeck looks like Curious George : ) I think so too! They have the same smile.

Good Idea

We have a nice big deck. It is NEVER used. I was at my sister's house yesterday and she told me that Pete was going to make a gate for their deck so Grady can go in and out of the house and be safe on the deck. What a good idea! I think I forgot about using our deck or something. We don't have easy access to our deck (no idea why they didn't put a sliding door in when they built this house). I cleared out the hallway leading to the deck and put our BBQ at the top of the stairs (until I can figure out a gate that will work) so the boys stay on the deck. It is great. The boys have been running it and out of the house and playing outside on the deck for the first time. I can see the deck from the kitchen window so I can watch them while I make dinner. This is SOOOO cool.

Water Slides!

I think the boys are ready for summer. By the way, where is summer? The Strongs are ready for summer to start. Bring on the sunshine already! The picture that Maddeck drew is of the water slides in Chelan. Maddeck and I are going down the slide into the water at the bottom. The lights at the top tell people when the the slide is safe to go down.

Goodwill

We had a great visit with our friends the Gordons this past weekend. Beki and I ran some errands with the three little boys and Kyle and Max took the two older boys to the park. Beki was asking if the thrift stores here in Wenatchee are any good. I told her they are pretty pathetic most of the time. We stopped at the Goodwill to look for a few kitchen items to hold her over for the next three months until all her stuff is moved to Spokane from Grand Forks, ND. Well ... the Goodwill was not so pathetic this trip. I found a cute Homeschool Chess Team t-shirt for Maddeck. It is too big, but great for sleeping in for now. I also got a shirt with a longhorn on it that says STRONG STEER. It is always fun to have things with our last name on it. :)




I found two matching side tables that are perfect for our bedroom. It was time to replace the kid's stools that we have been using for almost nine years anyway. The wood was the wrong color for our house so I painted them black to match our dresser. I LOVE them, especially for the price of $6.50 each. Guess I need to browse the Goodwill a little more often. The best part was hanging out with Beki, since we don't get to see each other very often. It will be easier to see her now that she lives back in Washington though.