Life this moment in pictures

I'm diggin life.   A lot.   So is my family.

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Babies and bikes

Ryk needs a new bike, so bad.   J needs to stop hitting.  Little lady has such a temperament!

he says he needs "a two wheeler," and I've promised him as soon as we move into our new house we'll make it happen.  Oh how we can't wait.  J also needs a bike, her size, cause little lady is bound to end up with stitches or something this summer playing on this one.  Her expressive little face, oh she is a gem.

She seems to get into trouble on this bike, always climbing in the back trying to hitch a ride.  Not to worry I snatched that peanut right outta that seat before this ride was in motion.  Big brother is much to wild to take her on a ride just yet.

 But with a face as cute as she's got, goodness it is so hard to pull her away from this darn bike every two seconds.  I adore this picture so much, and while my sweet girl appears to be stealing this shot, it is the little boys in the background that complete it for me - big brother helping little brother to get his helmet on.  Moments like that make me melt.  Such a treasure.

Another mama moment - when Kip says "I do it mom, I buckle Jovie in, Piplin did it!"  I still can't believe my 14 month old rides in an infant carseat...pipsqueak!

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 Just being kids

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Popsicle dates with my littles, will never get old, ever. 

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Soccer practice with R is a family event.  K gets so excited to go he loves exploring the huge park.  Even better when my Mr. shows up in his work clothes and joins in on the fun. 

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Morning goodbyes to Daddy

This moment is bliss.  The smile of my Mr.'s face as he soaks in the attention that three littles give when he heads out for work in the morning.  "BYE dada" in a girly little screech, giving away her sweet kisses.  "Daddy's gotta go to wooooorrrrkkk" says Kip.  Ryk's little "see you later, have a good day at your work!"  Kisses are blown, and they watch his car drive away, then continue on with the chaos.

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Day at Daddy's work
On the weekends we go to daddy's work to play.  My kids must think he has the coolest job ever!  They all run around like the wild kids they are, and wrestle with P.  I'm sure our family gives the security guards some entertainment as they watch on camera the chaos that the Loprinzi family brings to the building each weekend.  Last weekend - they played with cars, kicked soccer balls up and down the halls, and finished off with a wrestling match.

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Sister adores being outside, always.  When she doesn't get to come this is what happens.

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Headbands

Ryk loves to help do J's hair, he is the only one she doesn't put up a fuss for.  If only she'd let her mama help.  At least the headband helped keep the peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of her hair during lunch time.  Girlfriend is so cute she can rock any hairstyle that her brothers give her.

Nike headband...

They were gearing up to go on a run together.  Goodness, if Ryk's eyes weren't the same color as mine, these two would look identical, same cheeseball smile :).

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Sibling love

We have grown up together.  Seriously.

I was 15 when he swooped in and made me melt.  By the time I was 18 we were already talking about life moments we couldn't wait to experience together.  Marriage, babies, family, careers, first home.

We dreamed about conquering the world, working our hardest to get everything we wanted in life, even the freaking white picket fence.

And now just 8 short years later, we are here, the moment of our dreams.

and it is even more lovely than we thought up. 

Our plans are falling into place, and well we are this.close to "having it all," well excluding a white picket fence, but who really wants an enclosing fence when you can have an entire acre of green, open grass...

I am feeling just so over the moon blessed lately.

A dreamy husband, rowdy-fun loving kids, my favorite job I've ever had, beginning grad school this month, and now...our first home.

Our hard work has finally paid off, and goodness it feels so rewarding.

The last 8 months of adjustment, and now we are finally starting to feel...settled.

and darn it, it feels good.

2 boys and a wagon

Don't question the helmets.  They were absolutely necessary for this stunt my lovely duo of boys were taking part in.  If I wasn't such an overbearing, overprotective mama I'd of run inside so I could capture this on video...but something about two maniacs and a crazy wagon ride paired with a newly walking little lady on a concrete patio kept me put. 

I should also add in, that this little wagon was technically recalled in 2009, probably because of this exact reason.  But goodness, watching these two make trouble together, it is just what makes my mama heart so full.

Sometimes, despite knowing the probable, and likely outcome, you just need to sit back as a parent and let them be...boys.  To just watch the smirks on their faces change from excitement to scared back to excitement.  To make memories, and laugh, and love this time of brotherhood.

There might have been a crash, or two, okay there was 4.  All minor "accidents" as they kept up with this wagon craziness for a full 45 minutes.  My abs hurt from laughing.  These wild, life loving little boys.

Just the start to the many years of brotherly chaos that awaits.

Besides, who makes it through childhood without a few skinned up knees, and rolled over toes.  Not these two apparently!

Happenings around here

We are still house hunting, and getting tired of it.  I want it to be in the perfect school district, and have a good yard, and 4 bedrooms, and a basement, and low crime rate, and access to EMS/police in a timely manner, and...I am asking for a lot, but I refuse to settle.  I guess that being a RN has ruined my sense of sanity a bit - in nursing school we had to do a community assessment, and now it has educated and instilled in me to go out and investigate every little detail of my future community.  Yes, I may seem extremely nuts, but I just want the best for my little loves.
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Yesterday J decided to officially join the bipedal club. 

While she took her first steps a month ago, I am never one to say that my baby officially "walks" until she walks more than she crawls.  I love this stuff so much, they way she wobbles, falls, gets back up to wobble around some more.  That little look on her face, as she flashes the "hey mom I'm doing it" smirk,  goodness it is sweetness bundled up.  Then she'll claps for herself when she masters an entire room without falling.
Speaking of praising a job well done...
When we were potty training R, he always earned a hot wheel car each time he would go in the toilet.  Not our little K, he just loves some praise.He even joins in and now does this half naked gallop paired with hand clapping and "yeah, I did it, look *Piplin peed in the toilet!"
(* he calls himself Piplin, and when he stops it will be a sad day)
I always ask him to try and go potty before bath time, that little sucker likes to ruin a nice tub of bath water the second he gets in.  He looked down and said "my wiener is broken" and I about died laughing.  Apparently he didn't need to pee.
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K has decided to finally be more verbal.  Like talks in sentences, and it is just mind-boggling how he just all the sudden picked up the English language.  He has slowly transitioned into saying "yes" instead of "sure" though, and that has me bummed.  His response of "sure," complete with a shoulder shrug, was so unique.
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In an effort to make homework not so dreary, I had to revisit the same handwriting sheet with R 5 times yesterday before he finally finished it.  So it begins, the next 13 years of homework yuck.  That little man of mine, he is just so cute the way he curls his tongue when he is really thinking about something.
Yesterday he randomly told me "I have the best parents ever" I thought for sure he had already picked up on the whole sweet talk your parents to try and get what you want scheme.  But no, he is 5 and lovely, and I want to package this age up and keep him this way forever (most days).
He told me he chased girls on the playground at school, his private catholic preschool...and that "none of them are girls to get married to though, but it is still fun to play!"
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I have a new job, I love my new job, and I am just so very thankful I made the tough decision to accept this job offer.  I am not sure if I will ever tire of caring for newborn babies.  It still seems unreal to me that I get paid RN salary to help new mamas learn to breast feed, or to give babies their first baths, or feed them bottles...LOVE this, so much! 

Wolverine

He drove through the McD's drive through, and the worker smiled in excitement and told him "you looks just like Wolverine!"  As if it wasn't hard enough to get him to cut his hair/shave his beard, now I'll never get him to do it.

 He somehow managed to bring up his McD's encounter to his students, and now he is all hyped up to get his "burns" grown out a bit longer.  This next week he has plans to grease his hair back so he can pull it off.

 

My Mr.  He is unique.  Now perhaps he can pick up on the weight lifting so he can mimic something a little less goofy...

He is also a perfect dad. He watched our kiddos the last 4 days as I oriented to my new job - which is amazing by the way.

I think the lack of sleep, and energy it takes to keep up with our rowdy crew has added more wrinkles to his eyes.