Headstands in the living room. Monkey see, monkey do is the motto of our household.

When battling a cold, John thinks its important to always be prepared. #johnwashere

We have 3 birthdays just within our family of 4 to celebrate in September. First up: Erik! I made him a traditional German meal for his birthday. A german pork roast in the slow cooker and a Bienenstich Kuchen (Bee sting cake). 

As far as the boys are concerned, they'd wear party hats every day, birthday or not!

My handsome husband and his mini me.

The birthday boy and his boys :)

Photos by Will! 

Will got hurt on his finger and he was showing me his "ouchie"... the placement is very unfortunate. Ha!

We continued Erik's birthday celebration with a Friday Fish Fry at Lakefront Brewery. It was a blast. The food was delicious. The boys did not sit well for their meals but only because the polka band had their complete attention while we were there. My parents and Pat & Amy took turns with us going out on the dance floor. If you've never been to Lakefront before... go! Their tours are so much fun (lots of beer) and the food was very good. 

John is checking out the huge beer stein. "Hmmm, how do I climb up there?"

There's not another birthday in this house for 11 days. But that is of no concern to John John.

Our basement needs a good cleaning. I took these photos to inspire myself to finally get 'er done. Just wait... afters are coming!

I really think it's the hat that makes the outfit, John. Nicely done.

Snuggling my sweeties.

We went shopping with Grandma and he picked out a lot of the clothes he liked this time. Here he is showing off one of his new outfits that he put together. I'd say he's pretty proud! And handsome.

 There is no better way to start the day than with a little milk, some toys and your puppy slippers.

Or in Will's case, some green monster slippers.

Our apple harvest this year. We missed the best picking time because we were in South Carolina. Hoping for a better crop next year!

We remind Will often that some day John will be bigger than him so he better watch out. Some day came much sooner than he thought! We were getting ready to head to the pumpkin farm and I ran upstairs to put on shorts. Will was in the midst of changing into his downstairs and John saw an opportunity for weakness when Will had his pants half off in the midst of changing. Needless to say, John saw an opportunity and took it. There will be many more days like this in their future!

It's time for those deck railings to be updated. Not pictured (well) are the ends where we have no railings at all since we had our siding installed. I've had many neighbors tell me how nervous our deck makes them since they know we have 2 small boys. We don't let them in the room with the patio doors in order to prevent falls and have a very good safety lock on said doors. Even still, I definitely agree and it's on our short list of things to complete soon!

Showing off his cool stamps on his hand and face!

Why wouldn't John be sitting in an old diaper box while his brother builds a train right next to him?

Erik had a work trip and he was scheduled to leave on my birthday. He and the boys took me out for breakfast the weekend before so that we could celebrate as a family. We went to Kat's Cafe in New Berlin. The food was pretty good. The service was slooowwwwwww. We still had a great time!

He colored a rainbow on this piece of paper and wanted me to send it to Grandma and Grandpa.

He also arranged his crayons in the order of a rainbow. This kid makes me so happy.

Another day, another run to Costco. John is saying "cheese" but really just looks like Chandler Bing when he smiles.

 I told you I'd get that basement cleaned up! I did the cleaning, Erik did the shelf assembly, boys do the playing. It was a win win win for everyone.

 The "jump jump" trampoline has been unearthed from a pile of garbage. We put it down there initially because John was way too little for it and we wanted to avoid injury as much as possible. We told Will it was broken and that daddy needed to fix it. He was very happy that after a long long long time it was finally "fixed" and he is now able to use it.

I moved a bunch of toy overflow downstairs as well and it's like a whole new world to them! Can't you just see the excitement on John's face?

When you go into the kitchen for coffee and you come back to your 2 year old undressing himself in a very unconventional way. John always look at a situation and finds an alternate way of accomplishing his goals. In this case it was taking his shirt off over his waist rather than over his head. Keep being you, John John.

Erik left the morning of my birthday for his Las Vegas work trip. The boys and I headed into Mukwonago to visit with my parents, check out Fall Fest in Mukwonago and then stay for dinner and cake.

Will & John really enjoyed feeding the goats.

Will wanted to try the bouncy house slide. He needed just a little bit of help from the big kid helpers to climb up.

 "Look out below!"

Chicken Nancy for dinner and carrot cake for dessert. Yummo.

While I was half asleep on the couch in WI, Erik was out celebrating my birthday with Maggie and Kelsey, who were also in Vegas for the weekend seeing Mumford & Sons. It was really funny when we found out they'd all be there at the same time!

One of my awesome birthday gifts: a Yoda coffee mug. "Drink Coffee, you must" That Yoda, he is very wise. Especially when your husband is out of town for a week. My other gifts? Another Star Wars coffee mug and my new leather "mom bag" that replaced my diaper bag. I was ready for an upgrade and Erik and the boys delivered!

I always love to see what Will, Bear and Catnap will be up to after naptime. That Bear sure is a silly guy.

We like to send good morning pictures to daddy when he travels so that he can see his boys.

 I bought this birthday card for John. It was after his birthday but there is not a picture or caption that describes our little man better than this.

Hanging out on the futon on a beautiful, sunny morning in their jammies.

I dropped Will off at school this morning but they sent me home with this little green owl instead.

Erik didn't get his face painted but he was having an equally good day at his trade show in Vegas!

Getting the deck fixed! Thanks JR Handyman! 

I took the boys to the petting farm on a chilly, rainy day. 

Sadly we were not there very long due to some tantrums and not listening on both accounts. I'm glad we have a pass so that we can come back on a day when they are in better spirits because we really do love the petting farm!

I used an old shelf and painted this "Welcome" sign using a homemade stencil I created in InDesign. It is the perfect addition to my front porch and the ribbon can be changed out seasonally! This is the scare crow that Will made with Grandma Karen at Fall Fest on my birthday, complete with a hat I made out of old fabric and batting. I have way too many craft items on hand in my house but in these cases it works out to my benefit!

Erik hard at work again! Or is he getting eaten by that truck?

Will has been in school a little less than a month and came home with a Super Student award. This means he did something helpful or kind in school and he gets to pick out a prize or treat from the Super Student Award cart that comes around on Fridays. He was very excited and we were very proud!

My birthday booties! This is my attempt at being a cool fashion blogger with my downward selfie to show off my outfit. Or maybe it was just me sending a picture to my mom of my awesome birthday gift from her and my dad :)