After saying goodbye to my beloved 4Runner, we went and bought ourselves a swagger wagon. Meet our 2016 Toyota Sienna minivan! I never thought I could love a car so much but this is a fantastic car and is proving to be perfect for our family.

"Look mommy, I'm doing a hand stand!"

Our rhubarb keeps getting bigger and bigger!

Will was picking "flowers" for me today. Look at the size of that dandelion!

We really stress the importance of safety in our house and make sure the kids know that they need to wear their bike helmets whenever they want to ride their bikes or scooters. John has picked up on this and has become very good at putting his helmet on all by himself. Or maybe not.

This little genius used the magnets to spell his name on the fridge. And no his name is not Xyfnth. Ha ha!

Preschool orientation day: May 6, 2016. He picked out his clothes all by himself... his Mickey Mouse shirt, pants with the "special" snapper that he can do all by himself and his crocs. Mommy was a hot mess when she got back to the car after dropping him off at the classroom but this little man didn't shed a single tear. He was brave, played with toys, ate his snack, told the teachers he had to go potty and watched a movie about the ABCs. I have no doubt that he will do great when he starts going 3 days a week in the fall. John and I stopped at Walmart while Will was at school and picked up some special donuts for our big boy for doing so great at his first unofficial day of school. 

We had a new fire door and threshold installed going from the garage into the house. It was part of our siding project and looks so much better than the plain, beat up one we used to have! Yes, the deadbolt has been installed since then, although the blue shop towel sure has a nice look to it.

It's no fun when babies wake up sad from their naps. But the snuggles are pretty awesome. Snuggles are so few and far between with my little guys because they are always on the move. I take them when I can get them.

John likes to reorganize my pantry and kitchen drawers. It is so incredibly helpful. Especially when he leaves snacks behind for me in case I am hungry the next time I go to empty the dishwasher or cook.

"No John, these tools are only for grown ups. These tools are dangerous. They're not for babies"

-Will, age 3

There is nothing better in the world to them than when they see daddy is home.

It was finally time to harvest the rhubarb. No joke, some of these stalks were 3 feet tall. I know because I put them next to my growth chart in the kitchen. I made a rhubarb upside down cake and a rhubarb custard crisp. The cake was ok. The crisp was delicious, as always.

John John loves the cozy coupe at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

The first piece of siding went up onto our house on May 16, 2016!!!!

Will thought watching the workers outside was pretty cool. Tom was his favorite.

With all the work going on at our house we thought it was best to go hang out at Grandma & Grandpa's house in Mukwonago. We did a lot of bike riding, playing in the yard and walks around the block. I set up a barricade to keep the kids from rolling down the driveway and into the road on their bikes. We came home hat afternoon to a good portion of the back of the house with our new siding. Hello blue house! It's amazing how quickly it goes up once everything is prepped and ready.

Will and John received a special delivery that day too. The Collier Family sent the boys' Christmas gift - they got passes to a local petting farm! Along with it came a book for Will and some animal flash cards for John. As you can see, Will loves his new book! I was very confused when the package arrived and I saw Christmas wrapping paper - but since the farm was closed for the season beginning in October they couldn't order any passes until it reopened. Auntie Kari is very on top of things and called right away once it was open and now we just need to get some visits on our calendar!

Our house progress a couple of days later - they are all the way around to the side already!

John thought it would be fun to remove his shirt. There was a no pants incident that I walked into last month  in the pack n play. Let's just say the visual on that one was not appropriate for the internet. This boy. He's too smart already learning to take his clothes off.

And Will is seriously handsome, indeed with his haircut. He let mommy use Grandma & Grandpa's cool new buzzer from Costco. He told me after that we really need to buy a new buzzer from Costco just like theirs.

Doing what they do best... wrestling!

This is what the house looked like when I left on this particular morning. Getting closer!

We went to hang out in Mukwonago. Again. The boys really don't have any fun there at all. They  never get to do what they want, including sitting in the living room for lunch (complete with a potty stool for John because that's all mommy could find). If only Grandma & Grandpa's house was more fun...

Wednesday, May 20: The siding is just about complete! There was a snafu with some paint being spilled on our brand new roof which is why there's a piece of fascia missing in this picture. But, it looks great overall and we are so happy with the color! It's quite a big change from what we started with and we are in love with the color of our house.

"Sit down, John. Will, look at mommy."

"Good smile, buddy. John, be careful!"

"John, don't fall off the couch." (While Will looks at me like I'm crazy)

"Good boy, John. Be careful."

Ah, the climbing phase has gotten to be so much fun!

In an effort to prevent Stella from getting hotspots this summer (which she just developed last year for the first time) I decided to buy a home clipping set and bathe, brush and clip her at home. She did really great and this was after her first home haircut. Granted, all my steps did nothing to help and she still ended up with a really bad hotspot while we were up north for memorial day that would have paid for numerous bathing and clipping appointments at the doggy salon... but hey, I tried.

There was something very interesting going on outside this particular morning, at least from what I can tell. I had to put a gate up on the new screen door because one of them has pushed on it and loosened the screen just a bit. Oops!

This face is covered in yogurt and syrup. And I love this kid in all of his sticky glory.

I had these handsome boys all dressed up and matching. I got a great photo of the 2 of them together. And a bunch of hilarious photos of the 2 of them together. Man I love these boys.

Speaking of hilarious, John at meal time these days is a very good test of just how far I can be pushed until I start laughing. In this particular instance he was using his food as a hat. Nothing quite like having a little honeydew and macaroni & cheese on your head.

We packed up the minivan and headed north to my parent's cabin for Memorial Day Weekend. It was rainy but that didn't stop us from having a great time. Between fishing, boat rides, "swimming" in the hot tub and eating a lot it was a fun, busy and exhausting weekend.

Will helped me do some gardening. Such a good helper he is!

Erik and Will went on a father son outing to a Brewers game so John John and mom hung out at home. John played trucks and made a mess. Just another day in paradise :)