It's been a (long) while

I thought I should post something since this space has been neglected for far too long so here's a nice photo dump for those who might still manage to look at this blog.

Alex turned three! (all the way back in September)

Halloween happened. The boys were Jedi's and I managed to make their costumes (and their trick-or-treat bags) from scratch. I don't know if I'd undertake this again- it was a lot of work and their robes ended up covering up everything else.

We took photobooth with Halloween props for playgroup and this kid was adorable.

Christmas came and went in a blur.

This gem was courtesy of our church Christmas party. I laughed so hard when I saw it.

Alex found a girl friend- (this was totally staged but still the cutest thing I've ever seen!).

And a new best friend- (I love this picture so much). It was only natural that these two loved playing together since their moms are BFF's!

Chris and John rocked an original song for their dad's 60th birthday.

 And we all had a big celebration for Grandpa. You only turn 60 once!

Brendan turned 7! And I tried my hardest not to cry about it but I hate how fast he is growing up. He's so big! For his birthday dinner, he requested Chuck-A-Rama so we obliged him and had a giant feast there.

This big kid lost his first tooth this past week! He has been scared to death about this but it turned out to be a very undramatic event. He lost it at some point during school- he doesn't know when or how it happened because he never felt it fall out. Ha!

And I chopped off all my hair. I needed a change and it feels so good!

So that's about it, in a nutshell. Maybe I'll be a more regular blogger? Only time will tell.

The Lubniewski's visit Utah! (some of them anyways)

I noticed just now that for some unknown reason, Blogger cut off my last post but I'm too lazy to fix it. Don't worry, all the pictures made it through- just not what I had typed. Oh well, you're probably not missing much.

Last weekend my parents came out to visit us and to see our new house, and it was pure bliss for me! I miss them and wish we were closer but I'm so grateful that they flew out to see us and got to spend time with the boys.


I snapped a few pictures outside on our porch after dinner one night and I love how they turned out.

Brendan and his Grandma have a special bond and I just love seeing them together.

Alex is definitely a Grandpa boy! If Grandpa was ever out of sight, you could count on hearing Alex asking "Where Grandpa? Where Grandpa?" over and over until he found him.

This boy and his dimples! They kill me. Seriously, he's quite the naughty boy but he just looks at me and smiles with those dimples and my heart melts and he gets out of trouble. He knows how to work it.

The boys went through serious withdrawals after they left and Brendan shed some big tears. He's my sensitive guy and he definitely loves having family around so he felt their absence strongly. Come back soon, Grandpa and Grandma!

A short weekend in Colorado

 A couple weeks ago, we spent a weekend in Colorado to visit Chris's parents and also his Grandma who was in town from Michigan. We hadn't seen her in several years and this was Alex's first time meeting her so I'm so glad that we got a chance to go out.

(I think this is my favorite picture from the entire weekend. My Alex is such a sweet boy and he just loved being at Grandma and Grandpa's.)

While there, we got to do all sorts of fun things but I only have a pictures of a few things because I was mostly enjoying myself and didn't have my camera out. We visited the Denver Aquarium, which was a first for me. It was amazing and the boys loved it (including Chris)!

I love them all holding hands. So cute.

My boys were so into the fish. Basically 98% of my pictures from our visit are like this- the two of them smushed up against the glass, trying to get as close as possible.

 This fish was cool because he only had one eye. The left one was missing and they were fascinated by this.

This picture just cracks me up because Brendan so did not want his picture taken as evidenced by his pouty face. That lip!

We went to a nearby park to feed the ducks, something that Alex was asking to do every time we drove by. Grandpa was nice enough to indulge him and the boys loved it. And so did the ducks.

But this was what Brendan was really looking forward to-

The famed slip-n-slide at Grandma's house. He could have spent all day out there on that thing.

What we've been doing this summer... told through cell phone pictures

Because I hardly take photos with my real camera anymore. These photos will be familiar to you if you follow me on Instagram so feel free to skip this if you'd like. I tell you, Instagram has killed my blog.

So here's what we've been up to:

I chopped off half of my hair. It was time for a change. Now, I can't decide- go even shorter (I love short-short hair) or do I grow it out again (I really miss the versatility of long hair). Decisions, decisions.

I ran a 5K in Logan with my sister-in-law and her friend. It was fun!

Chris and I went to see a favorite band of mine play in SLC. The whole experience made me feel really old- gone are the days when being around sweaty, smelly boys was appealing-  but it was awesome anyways.

We bought passes to Seven Peaks this year and while we have only gone to the waterpark once, we mostly use it for taking the boys mini-golfing or bowling. It's been such a great way to have some fun family time without spending a lot of money.

 Brendan also learned to ride his bike without training wheels finally! I was so proud of him! It was a big, scary thing for him but he faced his fears, never gave up and is now able to ride like a pro. He seems so big.

The boys and I have had lots of lunch dates at McDonald's. There are just days when we had nothing planned and trip to McDonald's was the perfect thing to fill the boredom.

The place you could find us most this summer was definitely at our pool. I loved being able to have a (free) place to take my boys where they would have fun and get out some of their energy. Brendan's water skills have improved so much this summer- he can do backflips under the water, swim and float without plugging his nose, and even do a strange version of free-style stroke. All despite the fact that I was too lazy to sign him up for swim lessons this summer.

Me and Alex usually preferred to lounge and work on our tans while Brendan jumped into the water over and over and over. I was completely okay with that.

We had a fun and relaxing 4th of July too. We barbequed in our backyard and got together with neighbors in our cul de sac for s'mores and fireworks. We're lucky that we can watch the Thanksgiving Point fireworks show from our backyard so we avoided the traffic and general craziness.

We also took Alex to see his first movie, Despicable Me 2. Both the boys loved it and as we were leaving, Alex asked if we could see it again. I wasn't sure what his reaction would be to it since movie theaters have always been a bit overwhelming for Brendan, especially when he was young, but Alex loved everything about it from the minute we walked in the door. We saw an early show (I think it was 10:30) so I wasn't planning on getting popcorn for the kids but as soon as Alex saw the concession stand, he had to have some. And I'm a sucker for this little boy so of course I caved in and got him some. He seriously ate most of that big bucket all by himself.

We recently took a trip to Colorado to see Chris' parents and Grandma who was in town from Michigan and there will be more on that later. I actually took photos with my real camera for that trip!

The boys loved getting to visit their grandparents and great-grandma and they didn't want the trip to end. Alex woke up the morning after we got home asking, "Where Grandpa?". He just melts my heart.

We've also been doing some projects around the house- mostly painting and yard stuff- but it's satisfying to see our home slowing becoming how I picture it in my head. I plan to do a post about our house in the future... if I can make it through school starting this week and having to entertain my almost-three-year-old by myself now.

This is it

Today was the kindergarten graduation program at Brendan's school. It's a miracle I didn't cry.

They put on the cutest program where they sang songs and talked about all they learned. They even had a short video presentation about what they wanted to be when they grow up and it was the sweetest and funniest thing I've ever seen.

Brendan was front and center for the program, which was awesome and we got quite a few laughs over the faces he was making and the funny body movements he was doing (like lifting his shirt up and shrugging his shoulders in beat with the songs). I'm glad we could actually see all that.

We said goodbye to the world's best kindergarten teacher though, which did make me a little sad. Brendan has loved Mrs. Lo and I've really appreciated all her hard work and patience with my son. Alex loves "Mrs. Mo" too and was so excited that he got to see her again. I'm sad that we won't be at this school next year but so very grateful that our first experience was a good one.

In honor of the last day of school, I made a special cake for Brendan using my favorite cake recipe. And I recently made my own buttercream frosting with great success so I thought this time I'd try chocolate buttercream and I liked it even more. I never understood the appeal of frosting until I made my own. The first lick I took of it made me sigh in appreciation. So good.

And where there's frosting and there's a dirty Alex. Of course.

It was a fun way to end a big day in Brendan's life and I'm super excited for the summer to begin! And I'm glad I actually remembered my camera so I have photo documentation of it too. :)

We're officially in our new house and hopefully I'll have time to take photos and blog about it but things have been absolutely c-r-a-z-y around here this past week. I'm definitely ready for things to slow down a little bit so we can enjoy this new phase of our lives in this house.

The Golden Ninja Bees

I actually remembered to bring my camera to Brendan's soccer game this weekend and managed to get a few good shots.

Here he is getting ready for the kick-off. It's been so fun to see how excited he gets about soccer. This morning he woke up at 7:30 and got dressed in his soccer uniform before he came out of his room, shin guards and all. My heart melted at the sight.

Love my little #5. He got some really good kicks in this game.

Most of the time though, it was just a pack of 5 and 6 year olds around the ball. It's so funny and cute at the same time.

Towards the end, he was a little distracted though and was often seen picking handfuls of grass and throwing them at his friend. Or wiggling like crazy. I don't know if you can tell in the photos but he was wiggling his whole body while waiting for the other team to kick the ball. That's my Brendan.

He also got to thrown in the ball and made the perfect throw for his teammate. He's got a really good team and the Golden Ninja Bees won again!

Alex spent most of the time running up and down the big hill at the park. I don't know how he has so much energy.

And then he played with sticks.

And did some yoga. This boy cracks me up.

It was the most beautiful day today and there was nowhere else I'd rather have been Saturday morning. I'm loving this experience since this is the first time we've put Brendan in a sport. It's great to see him make friends, find new talents and enjoy trying something new. Alex is so jealous of Brendan so I think we've got another soccer fan in the works too.