Hot Summer!

It has been one hot July!! Luckily the boys have enjoyed lots of pool time to stay cool! They are both really comfortable in the water and enjoy playing together when we go. They are also big fans of the "big" pool and enjoy jumping off the side into the deeper water to Joel or I.

This month has also been somewhat accident prone for the Caruth's! Shocking I know! Owen received quite a shiner last week after tripping into a dining room chair leg. He has been practicing his tough guy faces and flexing his muscle to pull off the look! However, when Grandpa Mike told him to say "You should see the other guy" Owen's response was, "I'm too shy to say that". Too funny! Gavin also has a stubbed toe that will not heal because he continues to re-stub it every week. Doesn't help that he insists on being barefoot all the time!

Owen started T-ball this month. He is enjoying it for the most part, but it has been harder to keep him motivated during the warm temperatures. He does have a great coach and is learning some new skills that are making it more fun to practice. His favorite part is running the bases. He also gets so excited and proud when he fields a ball during the games. Gavin can't wait until next summer when he is old enough to play. He says "I play wittle weague t-ball too mom? Next year when I'm bigger?" I will try and post some videos next week.

Enjoy the photos!

                             

                             

4th of July!

Happy 4th! What a great long weekend! The boys kept busy with lots of activities including watching fireworks, boating, and participating in a parade! We started out the weekend at Grandpa Mike and Grandma Jeanie's. Owen was excited to be reunited with the red mustang power wheel! Gavin enjoyed playing catch with Uncle Daniel and Grandpa. We brought the boys to a firework show that night and while Owen was beyond excited, Gavin was not a fan. He didn't completely loose it but sat on my clap completely wrapped around me and asked to go to the car several times. :( The next day we had fantastic weather and took advantage of it by heading out on Grandpa's boat. The boys BOTH enjoyed this activity! The lake was "no wake" so it was perfect for doing some age appropriate tubing. :)The next day we got a lucky opportunity to meet the Jungman's for coffee. It was a short visit, but delightful nonetheless! We then headed to Grandma Theresie's for the remainder of the weekend. Owen helped Grandma make muffins and she helped him make a cool fort out of a giant box. Joel and I headed to Story City that afternoon for his Aunt Clela's funeral. She lost her battle with cancer last week, but we know she is at peace now. Joel and brother Jennon sang several beautiful songs during the service and even got some claps! Seemed both strange and fitting. It's just the effect their talent has on people. That night we brought Grandma Great (my Grandma Finnegan) to dinner and enjoyed hearing the story of how she met my Grandpa Finnegan. Monday morning we had a blast preparing for the 50th annual Waterbury Circle 4th of July celebration. We decorated a wagon for the boys to ride in and gathered with the neighbors for the short but sweet parade around the circle. The boys had fun riding in the parade and checking out the classic firetruck that followed behind them. We spent the rest of the morning enjoying the brunch, playing outside and enjoying the day. We hit the road in the early afternoon and were able to meet Grandma Cyndie and Grandpa Carroll for ice cream at Coldstone. Gavin loved watching the kids toss the ice cream in the air when they mixed it with the toppings. We made it home in time to grill for dinner and hang with our next door neighbors. Owen got to stay up for more fireworks. Poor Gavin retreated to the house after hearing a few rockets the neighbors lit, but luckily he was able to fall right to sleep. All in all a great weekend!
PS-I realized that an error occurred with the last slideshow of their swimming lessons. It was only showing 5 of the photos. Problem is resolved and all of the photos are there now.

               

These are a couple of little videos from the weekend. The first is Owen & Uncle Daniel getting silly in the tube. The second is the boys riding in the wagon during the Waterbury parade. Enjoy!

2011

Swimming Lessons!

I realized today that I forgot to post photos of the boys from there last session of swim lessons. They both really enjoyed the pool time and made progress on their skills. Owen passed 6 out of 8 skills which is excellent, but needs to pass all 8 to move on. So he will continue in the pike level when he takes his next round (probably in the fall). Gavin is ready to move on to the sea horse level which transitions the parent component out. Yeah me!

Enjoy the photos!


                                

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Gavin James is 2 years old! We celebrated his birthday over the weekend with friends and family. We were so thankful that the weather cleared up just in time for our BBQ. Gavin had a blast and was so excited to receive such wonderful gifts! He had his 2yr check-up on Friday and he is growing like crazy! He is now 31bs (83%) and 35 1/2 inches (80%). Joel and I joke that he is a little hulk, especially because he is now only 5lbs lighter than big brother Owen!! Now that Gavin is 2 he was able to try peanut butter for the first time and he loved it! He now asks for it regularly!

The other big news of the weekend is that Gavin is moving into his big boy bed. I am not sure who was more excited about this Owen or Gavin! Owen kept telling everyone the exciting news all weekend! He is so excited to have Gavin sleeping below him in their bunk bed. Tonight was the first night in the new bed and it was an amazing success! He only had to be put back in bed once before falling asleep!

Two weeks until summer break! We are really excited for some summer fun!

              

Easter!

The boys had a fantastic Easter weekend. Both boys had fun Easter parties at school and Jenny's on Friday morning. Then we hit the road for a weekend in Iowa. We saw lots of Grandparents and family. They enjoyed dying eggs, an easter egg hunt and playing with a new power wheel mustang that Grandpa Mike surprised them with. Owen especially loved the mustang and literally spent hours outside driving it around, "fixing the engine" and "air pump" and filling it with gas. Gavin intially got right in with Owen but was quick to realize Owen was not the safest driver around and said all done! After he had a good nap, and Owen got some much needed driving practice, Gavin gave it another go and they cruised around the neighborhood together. They also got some cool red shades in their Easter baskets. They looked quite studly wearing them while driving in the red mustang even if it wasn't sunny!

I can't believe that next month Gavin will be 2 yrs old! He has grown so fast and continues to entertain everyone around him. He has a great sense of humor and enjoys making others laugh. His Easter card from Grandma Cyndie and Grandpa Carroll was a knock, knock joke and Gavin loved it! He walked around telling it, or parts of it, to everyone all weekend. He would laugh and say, "That's funny!" Gavin is also enjoying the time we get to be outside. He likes playing soccer and catch with a ball. He is looking more and more like he will be if a lefty, but it's still pretty early so we have to wait and see!

Both boys started swimming lessons last week. They went well and they are both excited to go back tomorrow. Owen loved that they let him swim with a toy bus.We'll post some pictures soon! Enjoy the Easter pictures!


                                

Spring Break or so we thought...

    This past week was my week off for spring break. Unfortunately mother nature didn't cooperate and we spent all week indoors. Never the less we had a lot of fun and the boys stayed busy. We enjoyed lots of play dates with friends, had marathon play sessions with some of their favorite toys and of course lots of dance parties!
   Gavin is now 22 months and so much fun! He loves playing and laughing with Owen, Joel and I. He continues to enjoy puzzles, legos, trains and books. We had a full morning of building and playing with trains and geo tracks on Saturday. The little guy was in heaven! Gavin has become more of climber, if that is even possible. He regularly gets bruises on his forehead and body from jumping or falling off furniture. Warmer weather will hopefully help release some of this energy.
   Owen is all about being a 4 yr old. A lot of his sentences start out with, "Mom 4 yr olds get to...". We are convinced that Owen is in a growth spurt right now. His appetite has increased, he is sleeping a little bit more and we also had to move him into 5T pants. Owen has really been into making trailers for his trucks and cars. He is very creative using drum sticks and toy bins to connect his trucks together. Owen is also looking forward to more outside time. He is always looking for ways to get some "exercise". He even did a yoga with me the other day which was so funny! His favorite pose was the "up dog" pose and the savasana at the end!

We are looking forward to fun filled April! Enjoy the photos!


       

Owen's Dancersize class

Owen's Dancersize class had a performance day for parents last week. Joel was able to go and get it on camera.

dancersize