May Photos

Lego Creationary with Wyatt- Catching frogs in the pool- FINALLY got the hall bath finished

Pool is open for business- Popsicles almost at the pool- Secret messages from Daddy

Wyatt met Wyatt the goat- Knife skills at Chick Fil A- Foxy boy 

We were the recipient of a MAJOR Act of Kindness- Brother Selfie- Lots of rain means worms!

Wyatt at school with Grant- Swinging in Grinnell- Floating!

Rain in the gutters- Newly remoldeded fairy garden at Mimi's- Grant's box fort

Mimi and PawPaw's Boys

Without Levi here this past year, my parents have been a HUGE help!! They are always will to take the boys to give me a breather. And its not only nice for me, but the boys would spend every second with them if I said it was ok! I know I would miss them at some point!!! I try and take the boys alone once in a while, and that always means the other gets a date with Mimi as well. And they have a sleepover there once a month or so as well! Lots of fun is always had with Mimi and PawPaw! These pictures just prove it!

 While Grant and I were at Kaleidoscope, Wyatt went to work with Mimi and then to the children's museum. 

 When Wyatt and I had our long date night/day, Grant went to work with Mimi and they played with Power Rangers, ate a Sonic picnic in the car, and Grant almost fell asleep watching Netflix.

 One sleepover night, they went to the nursery the next morning, but had to buy new hoodies because it was only 50 degrees!

I am so thankful for my parents, who take care of my kids like their own. Or actually, better when they were taking care of me, because isn't that what grandparents are supposed to do?  We love you Mimi and PawPaw!!

Date Night with Wyatt

After having a date night with Grant a few weeks prior, Wyatt was not-so-patiently waiting his turn for our next date! Wyatt got to spend the night at Mimi's house and go to work with her the next day back when I went to Kaleidoscope for Grant's field trip. Grant had been begging for his turn to go to work with Mimi, so that left Wyatt and I to have almost 24 hours together! 

We started with dinner by the fire at Panera, one of his favorite places. He has to get mac and cheese, a pumpkin muffin, and a bagel with veggie cream cheese! We usually share all three and it works out perfectly!!! 

Then, as with all our other typical dates, we ended up at Toys R Us! Wyatt made a beeline to the Legos and picked out a small set to bring home to Grant. I tell ya, the kid has a heart of gold!!!! I told him he could pick something out for him too, he had no idea what to get! I just love that he thought of Grant first!! Love that sweet guy!! So after wandering up and down about every aisle, he finally decided on something that he'd had his eye on for over a year now! 

 And then we came home to play with it of course!!

 And since this little guy doesn't remember what its like to sleep in a room alone, he didn't want to attempt! Thankful for this little toddler bed that still fits him so perfectly!!

 The next morning, we snuggled and watched some TV. Cleaned the pool- he makes an adorable pool boys- ran a few errands, and then hit up open gym!

 Shortly after, we met back up at Mimi's and our duo became a trio once again!! I love our special times alone together!!

Rolling Hills Zoo

For Barb's birthday, she wanted all the grand kids to get together for a fun afternoon at the zoo in Salina. We picked the most perfect day to go- sunny, but not hot, and not crowded one bit!! You can tell by looking at these adorable faces that they were quite excited for the zoo!!!

 The only problem was the animals didn't seem excited to see us!! We dubbed this zoo the "retirement home" for animals who had lived their lives at the Kansas City Zoo or Denver Zoo and came here to sleep and relax in their old age. Pretty sure every animal that we were able to see was asleep!!! But the kiddos still enjoyed walking all around seeing what they could see! They got to see the snakes, which was #1 on Haylie's list. We literally saw a bear sitting in a chair- well, more like a hammock, but we all got a good laugh!! I think the thing they liked most was running around together!! 

 Grant kept Collins on track when she was able to get out of the stroller! He just adores her! And most of the time, she adores him too. That is, unless he's trying to tell her not to do something, then she's not a fan!

After a few hours of walking the zoo, we ate a yummy lunch at Freddy's before we all parted ways! It was a great day, with all the kiddos in one place, just as Grandma likes it!

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's

The majority of our weekend out west was ridiculously rainy. Like, so rainy I couldn't even drive out to their house all the way. My father-in-law had to pick us up in town so we wouldn't get stuck in the mud! But, the rain was definitely a blessing since they had been drought stricken for quite some time. Although we could've done without some of that rain :)  Oh well, we managed to still have fun and the sun even made a beautiful appearance on Memorial Day!

During the rainy days, we did things like...

...make slime! The boys also played Outburst Jr, ate lots of chicken sandwiches (well, Grant did!), watched a lot of episodes of Power Rangers on the iPad, and even slept in, which is a rarity at the farm! And when the sun came out, you better believe we headed outside!

The morning of Memorial Day, we went to the Grinnell cemetery for the Memorial Day ceremony. We got to see where Great-Mom was laid to rest and honor all those who had fallen before us.

Grant set out the flags for Grandma! Oh, how we love USA flags!!!

 And when we got back from lunch, the sun was shining, the weather was warm, and the boys were magnetized to the huge puddle outside the building. Good thing I packed the rain boots!! They played in this puddle a good two hours!! They would've played longer I'm sure, but Haylie came over and didn't have any play clothes or shoes, so they moved on to something else. But oh, the fun they had!!

 

 

 

While we are hoping we don't have the rain during our next visit, they definitely wouldn't mind if that puddle would stick around!! Maybe that will have to be an added event to Cousin Camp?? Right Grandma :)

Layton's 1st Birthday

Our youngest, and probably last, sweet little nephew, Layton, turned 1!! We knew we couldn't miss this special event, so after the last day of school, we headed out west to celebrate!! Bre had planned a fun Baseball/Rookie/Royals theme and it was adorable!!! As in typical Broeckelman birthday fashion, the weather wasn't the best, but the kids definitely made due and had fun nonetheless!!!

He wasn't quite sure what to think of the birthday cake and candle...

 Luckily, big sister Haylie was there to help blow out the candle...

 He took a few nibbles to try and figure it all out... 

 And very quickly, got the hang of it!!

Happy Birthday Layton!! We love you little buddy and can't wait to see you grow!

Last Day of Kindergarten

 How can it be my biggest little boy is finished with Kindergarten??? I just don't know how time can really be going by this quickly!!! To say it was a great year is an understatement- more like a fantastic, awesome, wonderful, terrific, exceptional, blessed year!!! The amount of growing- and not just physically- this boy did was beyond my expectations!! He started off without being able to read, hated writing, and overall just could care less about school work. But now that he's an official kindergarten graduate, he is an amazing independent reader, draws and writes so well, and is a certified mathematician!!! He loved his teacher, he loved his friends, he loved going half day!! We couldn't have asked for a better school year! Well, maybe having his dad home for it would've made it 100% perfect! This guy is ready to take on first grade!! Well, after a few months of summer vacation at least!

 First Day vs. Last Day. He definitely matured in his looks. I feel like he looks 7 going on 10. I'm loving the missing front teeth and will be quite sad when his big teeth start coming in! I just love that gummy smile!

To celebrate the last day of school, Mrs. Rottinghaus had an awards ceremony where each child was recognized for certain achievements made throughout the year.  There were certain awards passed out to multiple kids for different things, but each child got a special individualized award.  Grant received the Super Reader award for turning in his reading log 8/8 months, the Awesome Author award, and his special award was the Super Hoppy Helper- which was chosen for one boy and for one girl- for being the most responsible classroom helper. He was pretty darn excited to see all his certificates!

After the awards were presented, we handed out snacks and watched a slideshow I made of all the fun activities they did throughout the year!! It made most of the mamas a little teary :) And then it was time to say "see ya next school year!"....

...or in our case, see ya in 10 minutes at Peachwave! 

 We might have been a little crazy taking 7 kindergarten families to Peachwave on the last day of school, but I have a feeling they will remember this outing for quite some time. At one point, they were all chanting, "One, two, three- FIRST GRADERS!!!!" Pretty sure everyone there knew what grade they were going to be in!! It was the perfect way to end a perfect school year!

We are so very proud of all your hardwork this year Grant! All you dedication and responsibility definitely paid off and I know great things lie ahead for you! Can't wait to see what your first grade year looks like!

Mommy Moments

Wyatt always wears a baseball hat when we play baseball. On this evening, as we were playing, Grant told Wyatt that real Royals players wear hats just like that. Wyatt said, "I think I know a Royals player who wears a hat like this...uh, Michael Jordan?"  Clearly, we have some learning about sports to do....

While shopping at Hobby Lobby for teacher gifts, we had to browse down the model aisle as usual. Wyatt blurts out, "Hey, its dad!"  Sure enough, the man on the box looks EXACTLY like him!!

Deanna Rose Family Day

A few days before school got out, Kindergarten celebrated with a family day at Deanna Rose. Once we dropped our kindie kids at school, they hopped in the bus and met us at Deanna Rose for a family day of fun!! All three kindergarten classes got to enjoy the morning playing and exploring with all of their friends! It was unseasonably cold, like most of May was. But the sun was shining and that was well appreciated! They all were running and chasing so much, they didn't even notice the cold!! Us parents though, brrrrrr!

While Deanna Rose has so many awesome things to explore, this group of crazy boys played in the play area for over an hour of our field trip!!! They said it was their "longest recess EVER!"

 By 11:00, we all met in the picnic area for a kindergarten lunch! And of course, a few more group pictures!! 

 Mrs. Rottinghaus, how we adore her!! She is moving up to first grade next year, so we are praying and keeping our fingers crossed we get another chance to be with her again!!

 It was a great day of family fun with all our kindie friends and families!!

Morning Snuggles

For as long as Wyatt has been out of his crib, going on three+ years now, he wakes up and comes to my bed and hops in. Most of the time, he's barely awake and stumbles under the covers. Some days he's been awake a while before he comes in and has some silly story or joke to tell me as he walks in my room. But what doesn't change is that he comes in bed, finds his little niche on my shoulder, sticks his lovey behind his head and his thumb in his mouth. Sometimes the snuggles last ten seconds as he proclaims, "I'm hungry," or "Can I watch a show now?" or Grant comes in and jumps on the bed and the calmness is gone. Some days they can last for 15-20 minutes. Obviously, most days I've been awake for quite a while, either laying in bed watching the news or taking a shower, but I always make sure to be laying in bed around 7:00, which is almost to the minute of when he wakes up, so we can start our morning off with snuggles. Because honestly, can you think of a better way to start your day??

 One morning, I got to snuggle BOTH boys!!!

I love these precious moments more than I can even describe. Wyatt has the most sensitive and nurturing little heart. He oftenntime strokes my cheek or pats my arm. And he has this way of "ooooohing," almost like a cat purring. I know one of these morning, it will just stop. He will head downstairs without even telling he's awake. I never know when this snuggle will be my last snuggle, so I'm soaking in every one I can!!!