It's been a while!

It has been forever since I have updated the blog.  Life has just been busy.  We have moved our office so I no longer have a computer at home and since it is spring, and a very early warm one at that, we have been extremely busy at Hackmann Lawn leaving me no time for personal matters!  The boys and I have been enjoying our extra time together though.  We have gone to the library for the first time.  It was a disaster just like I expected, but we got some books and they each got to pick a movie.  (They chose Johne Deere for Kids part 2, 3, and 4!  I tried getting them to get other movies, but nope they each had to have a JD movie!  You can quiz me on JD's history now!!!)  I took the boys to get their haircut by my friend Hanna and they thought they were hot stuff!  We have been playing outside a ton.  We have been sick.  My mom and I took the boys to see their first movie in the theatre, The Lorax!  And finally my cousin Ashley took new family pictures since the boys will soon be 3!  You can check out our pics at http://ashleysportraits.com/2012/03/21/hackmann-family/  Needless to say we have been staying busy at the Hackmann's!  Here are some random pictures from my phone from the past few weeks.

Levi, Will and Max enjoying the banana pancakes we made! 

Levi's new haircut! 

Will's new haircut! 

Max's new haircut! 

Max, Levi and Will enjoying their time outside! 

All sick and pathetic!  Will and Levi on the couch and Max on the floor.   

At the arcade before seeing The Lorax!

Max riding a jet ski! 

Will riding a 4-wheeler! 

Levi riding a race car! 

And finally, the boys got Cardinals shirts this morning from Uncle Orville that they just had to wear today!

Crappy Parent!

I wrote this a while back, but just remembered I didn't post it.  A gross story, but I thought it deserved to go into the boys book!  So here it is!

I am literally a Crappy Parent! There are many other stories posted on my blog about poop incidents that have happened in this house. On one occasion a “poop incident” happened to our old Nanny, Kristen, but for every other incident I have been the lucky recipient. So here is the latest two “poop incidents”.

We have been trying to figure out good sleeping situations for the boys for months. We put one child in their own room while the other two shared. We switched it up a couple of times only to once again have them all in the same room. About a month ago it was nap time. I could tell the boys were very tired and were ready to go down. I brought them to their room, gave them each 2 books to look at and left. I heard them talking, but they weren’t wild or loud by any means. After about 20 minutes I went to see why they weren’t sleeping yet. I opened their door and saw three naked boys, poop was everywhere, and Will was literally in squatting position working on his business as I walked in. I was furious! They are nearly 3 and this should not be happening. If someone even mentions the word poop when they are in the bath they scramble to get out as quick as possible so it completely boggles my mind that they would enjoy pooping on the floor and spreading it everywhere in their room. And I mean everywhere! I made all the boys sit on Will’s bed while I tried to think where to begin with this mess. They were laughing and saying “taking on the poopies” (Like from Finding Nemo where Crush says “Taking on the Jellies”). As if that statement didn’t tick me off enough, Max was still trying to get poop out and managed to get it in his hair. By this point I was yelling very loudly and crying hysterically. Yes, I was livid! I got a hold of myself and cleaned off two beds, made them sit in the bathroom on top of the poopy linens while I cleaned of the third bed. I even turned the beds to face the wall so they were like cribs again. Next I gave them a shower and put them in their beds. While they lay in their beds I cleaned the poop spots off the floor. It had been nearly two hours now and thank goodness they finally fell asleep because I really needed a break!

My next poopy story is not as dramatic, but still very gross. We were playing in the yard one day. The boys were running around pointing out Huck poop for me so I could clean it up. We got the yard all cleaned up and I was sure they had it on their boots. We went back to the driveway so they could ride their bikes. I snuck inside for literally 30 seconds so I could go to the bathroom. When I came out, all three boys managed to open my car doors and climb in, poopy boots and all! I could not believe this was happening. I know it was not the boys fault, they didn’t know they had poopy on their shoe, but why would they climb in my car on this particular day and not any other day? Seriously I have a target on my back!

Playing in the snow!

The boys LOVE the snow.  This winter has not brought many good snow days, but last night the boys could not wait until morning to go play in it.  Dale promised them a snowman and a snowman was what they were going to get.  Levi came in our room at 6:30 a.m. ready to build a snowman.  However, he had to wait until Will and Max were up and after they ate breakfast.  They were on a time schedule because they had school today, but they made use of every minute they could.  They helped Dale build a snowman, they had a snowball fight, they rolled in the snow, and they chased Dale in the snow.  If it weren’t their Valentine’s party at school I’m not sure we could have convinced them to go.  I am very glad we made time to play in the snow before it melted away. 

Will 

Max 

Levi 

Will, Levi and Max 

Levi 

Max 

Will 

Levi and Max 

Will 

"Mr. Snowman"

Levi named him!

Will and Mr. Snowman 

Max and Mr. Snowman 

Levi and Mr. Snowman 

Levi, Will, Dale and Max 

The boys knocking Dale over.

I can't tell who is who in this pile!

The Boat Show!

Last Thursday Dale, the boys and I went to the boat show.  In particular we were hoping to find a place with extended swim platforms with boat show specials, but we didn't have such luck.  We still had fun though.  The boys loved the Dock Dogs competition and going fishing.  Levi caught a fish (thanks to the help of one of the employees) and he thought he was pretty hot stuff.  Will came over to see it so he thought he caught a fish too.  Max knew he didn't catch a fish, but he was okay about it.  He says he will go fishing again on the river!  The boys also enjoyed seeing all the boats and jet ski's and of course were particularly excited anytime there was an orange one!  It was a nice evening out of the house and now we are anxious for boating season!

Dale and Levi

Max

Will

Levi

Will

Max

Levi, Max and Will posing next to the shark boat. 

(I didn't bring my good camera which is why the pictures aren't very clear!)

Snow day project!

Yesterday morning the boys were so excited about the snow outside!  They ran into our room in the morning screaming "Mom, there's snow outside!"  Too bad it didn't amount to much, but the kids were still super excited.  Since it was a cold dreary morning we decided to make chocolate dipped pretzels with sprinkles for Grandma and Papa and Mama Weber and Papa Great for Valentine's Day!  At first Max was the only one to participate because Levi and Will made a mess with their cereal and wouldn't pick it up.  But once they saw what Max was doing they quickly changed their minds and picked up the mess.  They had fun dipping the pretzels in brown, pink and red chocolate then putting sprinkles on them.  They then had fun stirring all of the chocolates and sprinkles together.  Then they had fun eating them!  I was glad I thought ahead and covered the table with wax paper, otherwise I would still be scrubbing chocolate off the table!

Max

(Look how clean the table was when he was the only one!) 

Will and Levi decided to join in! 

Max 

Max, Levi and Will 

Will, Levi and Max 

Levi 

Max 

Will 

The completed project!

After making pretzels the boys took a much needed bath.  Finally, around 11:00 a.m. I decided to bundle the boys up and send them outside to play in the little bit of snow we had before it was all gone.  They were very busy "making a snowman"!  They love the snow.  I really hope we get at least one good snow before winter is over so they can really enjoy it!

Levi, Max and Will 

Will, Levi and Max

Will, Max and Levi 

Levi 

Will 

Max

A fun-filled weekend!

Last weekend we had lots of fun!  On Friday night we went to my parents for pizza.  The boys had fun playing while Mama Weber and Papa Great talked to Dale about some landscaping.  On Saturday we went to our friends Jeff and Becky’s.  There were lots of people there and the boys especially loved playing with Macie, Gavin and Keegan, although the boys really didn’t understand that they were bigger than them!  Levi had a cracker and Keegan, who just turned 1, was eyeing it up.  Levi said to Keegan “There’s deer sausage in the garage.”  They all played so well.  I can’t wait until we can all get together again!  Finally on Sunday we went to Nick and Ashley’s annual Super Bowl Party.  The boys had a blast playing with their cousins and eating, eating and eating some more.  They were constantly at the food table.  My family probably thinks we don’t feed them, and sometimes we think about not, only because they never eat it.  But they really loved the variety at the party and sure got their fill!  And since Monday was Dale’s birthday I made him a cake.  Once the cake was cut the boys stayed away from the food table and ate cake the rest of the night!  Here are a few pictures from the weekend!

Max, Levi, Will, Macie, Gavin and Keegan!

Dale's Birthday cake. 

I walked into the room and Caiden and Max were rocking out in a band!  Here's Caiden! 

Max playing the guitar! 

All the boys with Dale for his birthday!

Caiden, Hunter, Colton, Baylen, Dale, Levi, Will and Max 

Happy Birthday Dale!