Saddle Ridge Ranch!

This past week the boys attended their first week of Vacation Bible School at our church.  Actually, they are too young to attend VBS but, since I volunteered to watch the younger children, I brought them along with me to get their feet wet.  Andrew spent his time in the nursery while Gavin was in my class. 

I was told that I would be watching a class of two and three year olds so I assumed that Gavin would fit in perfectly.  I was shocked when I saw how advanced the kids were.  They all went potty on their own, spoke in full sentences, played together nicely, listened to instructions ... I thought that there was something wrong with Gavin.  He was the same size as the kids but you could defnitely tell that the other kids had reached developmental milestones before him.  I came home on the second day worrying about Gavin's social development and wondering if it was a good idea for him to be bumped up a grade in school next year.  Later (on the last day of class!!!) I found out that the class was actually full of mostly three and four year olds since they were basing classes on the previous year of school.  A couple of boys were even about to turn five in the next month.  I can't even begin to write how relieved I was!!!  Poor Gavin, I was on the verge of getting him tested (just kidding - sort of).

Here are a few cute pictures of Gavin walking outside to see the real life cowboy at Saddle Ridge Ranch at First Baptist Church!

Mommy Saturdays

I have the most wonderful family!  Brett has been taking the boys on Saturday afternoons so that I can have a few hours of much needed "Mommy time".  I don't have to worry about diapers, sippy cups, picking the kids up on time, who hit who first, who's hungry, playing in the toilet, or writing in the wall - I just enjoy "me" for the afternoon.  It's a win-win situation.  The boys get to eat lunch and hang out with Daddy and I get to veg out and do whatever I want!

Today, the boys had a special surprise for me upon returning home.  My boys bought me flowers!  Gavin was so excited and ran into the house yelling, "Mommy!  Present!  Flowers! Take picture!"  Yes, he asked me to take pictures of him holding the flowers.  He was so proud.  Here are photos and video where you can hear him telling me he wants me to take more pictures.  He definitely didn't get that from his dad! 

We continued to take pictures and each time I snapped, he cocked his head to the side.  I guess this is his signature pose!

Here he is pretending that his finger is an F16.  He's making a jet noise which is why his mouth looks like that. 

Brett's been running around the neighborhood and I take the boys and walk behind.  Lately, Gavin and Andrew love to try and keep up with him so we thought it was time to purchase some high performance shoes.  The boys have matching pairs of Nike Air Max's.  I normally hate chunky shoes like this on kids but these will do.

Oh, Andrew!

Look who's trying to get out of their crib!!!  He's only 15 1/2 months and I am not ready to put him in a toddler bed.  So far he hasn't been able to get his leg over - hopefully that's a long time coming!

Look at my baby first thing in the morning.  His eyes always make me melt.  He's is so adorable!!!

Andrew loves his Fruitables.  I usually squeeze it into a sippy cup but decided to give him the box on our way home from church.  I learned very quickly that I will never do that again!

My babies. 

QBP 2010!

If you can all recall, every year our Dutch exchange pilot hosts a party in honor of the Dutch queen.  We get creative and call it a Queen's Birthday Party and sometimes we get all military and refer to it as the "QBP".  Whatever you call it, it's always a sea of orange and tons of fun!

 I love hanging out with my squadron girls. 

It's not a fighter pilot party unless someone gets thrown into the pool ...

Beer pongs are guzzled through a flight helmet ...

And "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" is sung in a drunken manner by all pilots that have been stationed in Korea.

(and their shoes magically come off during the song)

Brett was one of the last guys to get thrown into the pool.  He put up quite a fight and I even heard he gave someone a black eye!

We had so much fun and I'm so sad that this will be our last QBP with the squadron!

Rurka Boys in Bed

Yesterday we were playing in Gavin's room when I announced to the boys that it was time to go down for their afternoon naps.  I didn't expect it but Andrew jumped into Gavin's bed when I said, "Let's go night night!"  Just to see what would happen, I put Gavin down next to him and left them alone in his room.  Miraculously they stayed in bed but talked and giggled the entire time.  After about ten minutes I decided that they would never go to sleep so I separated them to their appropriate bedrooms but took these pictures before doing so.  They're so much fun! 

Pianists in the Making!

Many people don't know this but Brett loves classical music - so much so that his mom has told me stories of him asking her to purchase Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, etc. cd's when he was a teenager all while he waited in the car because he was too embarassed to be seen buying the music himself.  Lucky for him, I have played the piano (and a short, unsuccessful stint with the violin) my entire life and share his love for this music that never goes out of style. 

I started playing the piano at the age of three and Brett and I would like for the boys to learn to play at a similar age.  Since that age is quickly approching, we decided to purchase a piano!  We just recieved it today so I have some decorating to complete but I think it is gorgeous and the boys have so much fun requesting songs for me to play while they dance (Jesus Loves Me and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are crowd favorites). 

We were at Dick's Sporting Goods purchasing cleats for Brett (he recently joined a league lacrosse team) and we found a mini track located around the shoe display.  Gavin loved running laps and I loved that he was getting all of his energy out! 

Starter's position!  Where's his block?

And he's off with no scratch! (See Brett looking for cleats?)

Coming in for the finish!  My little trackstar following in Mommy's footsteps:).

Brett and I were at our friends' house and were having such a good time that we decided that we were going to stay longer - like past bedtime longer.  We didn't prepare to put the boys down at their house so we had to improvise.  We borrowed clothes for Gavin (his were soaked from the pool), threw Andrew in a pack n' play and hid him in a dark room, and put Gavin down on the couch.  I'm shocked that the boys were okay with this but I think an evening in the pool, followed by crazy playtime with the Caplinger kids pooped them out!

My crazy kids.  Recently they have been squinting their eyes really hard whenever I ask them to take a picture.  I think this is as Asian as they are going to get. 

Hahahaha.  Drew's eyes are bigger than Gavin's but his seem to disappear when he smiles. 

These are much better!  The handsome Rurka boys.