Landon Looks Like Big Sister Brooke

I had to include these two pictures to show you all how much Landon looks like his big sister (at least I think there is quite a resemblance)! When I went in to check on him the other night, I couldn't resist taking his picture because I felt like I was looking at a bigger version of Brooke! Landon knows how to get his way like Brooke did, too!! :)

Our First Day of Summer Break!!!

Happy Summer!! Today was my first day off work for the summer, so the boys and I had a fun day today while Daddy still had to go to work! We slept in, ate lunch at McDonald's with Grandma Umscheid, played outside a ton, and after Landon went to bed, Logan got to help mow the lawn...one of his favorite things to do! We really have to compliment Logan. Last night I decided it was time for Logan to begin a potty training boot camp, so I put him in big boy underwear. While he had 2 accidents last night, he only had one today (early this morning) and has been doing GREAT the rest of the day!!!! We will keep our fingers crossed that he will continue to do so well!

Cool Dudes!

Happy Memorial Day weekend to everybody! The weather here is kind of crazy this weekend. Yesterday was rainy and very cold. Today is hot and humid. Who knows what tomorrow will be like?! Typical Memorial Day weather for Iowa.

I had to post some pictures of the boys trying to be cool dudes. Landon loves to wear Daddy's hat and Logan thinks he's tough stuff wearing the do-rag (I have no idea how to spell that)! Jeff got him hooked on wearing them because "motorcycle guys wear them." Oh my...like father, like son...kind of scary!

Bath Time Fun!

Bath time is always exciting at the Duvall house! I have to change my clothes when I'm done, because no one even near the bathroom can escape the water splashes made by these two boys! Of course then I also get the pleasure of cleaning up the puddles as well as all of the bathtub crayon written everywhere...at least they enjoy taking a bath! After bathtime, they both have a blast running around the house in their towels. Usually after a few minutes in the towels, they decide to just run naked until I MAKE them get their PJs on!

As far as the rest of our day goes, it was a pretty typical Saturday for me and the boys...lots of playing, a little shopping (time to buy flowers to plant...hope Landon doesn't pick them all), and out to eat. Landon got to try his first ice cream cone today when we ate at Dairy Queen with Grandma and Grandpa Umscheid...what a mess, but he loved it! He is our sweet-tooth child. Logan ate his ice cream cone, but was more interested in the french fries. Jeff has been busy all day with his motorcycle club. They went on a ride to who-knows-where and then had a benefit supper and activities for the Shayla Bee Foundation. I don't know a lot about the charity, but I know that when this little Shayla passed away, her parents couldn't afford a headstone, so these people with the foundation (I think her grandparents) raise money to help people, who can't afford headstones, with some of the expense involved in getting one. Being in the club keeps him busy, but it is a good group of guys!

Another Beautiful Day!

The weather has been wonderful today, so it was a great day to play outside! Logan figured out that our tree in the front yard is small enough for him to climb on and hang from and now he is giving little brother Landon ideas, too. I hope we don't have any broken bones in our near future! My mom and I also decided that beautiful flower gardens are out of the question this year too because Landon enjoys picking the flowers. Not that that will be a worry around my house (I can't keep any type of flower or plant alive), but my mom has tons of flowers....hopefully some firm "no-nos" will do the trick, but have I told you how stubborn my boys are? Anyhow, hope we have more of this nice weather in store so we can enjoy more time outside! I've decided, not only do I love being outside playing with the boys, but the more we can be outside, the less clean up work for me to do in the house...a win-win situation!

Happy Mother's Day!

After battling a kidney stone for a few days, I was able to have a great Mother's Day today! Logan and Landon actually started Mother's Day last night by calling Grandma Duvall to wish her a happy day (we hope to get to spend some time with her next weekend)! Then today, Uncle Ben and Grandma and Grandpa Umscheid came over for lunch. We (I should say Jeff and Ben) grilled some excellent steaks that Uncle Ben brought over. We ate ourselves silly and then topped the meal off with some Snickers cake! There's always room for cake, right?! The rest of the day was spent just hanging out together which was the best. We took the boys out to the cemetary to help get "Angel Brooke's place" looking good for Memorial Day and summer - I always like to go there on Mother's Day to feel like she's included. After a drive around the lake and some time spent playing outside, we're pretty much ready to call it a day...back to reality (work) tomorrow! The pictures included with this post are me with each of the boys, the pretty hanging flower basket Jeff and the boys got for me, and my mom with Landon (since Logan didn't cooperate for any of the pictures). We'd like to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers reading this, but especially to my mom and Jeff's mom for being so wonderful!

Training Him Early!

Do you think 3 is too young to make Logan mow the lawn? Jeff was brave and let Logan take the lawn mower for a spin around the back yard (don't worry, there was no blade) and he actually does really well. We don't think we'll make it his job just yet however, because we're not sure how straight the lines would be...I think Jeff or I will continue with the job for now!

Sleepy Heads

Aren't they sweet when they are asleep??

More Pictures of the Fun We Had Outside

The boys always enjoy riding their bikes whenever we're outside as well. Landon can go as fast as lightning on his scooter. Logan does well on his bike (with training wheels of course), but he gets side-tracked, steers the way he is looking (he gets this from his Grandpa Mick), and usually ends up wrecking...the steering on the bike is less forgiving than that on the 4-wheeler!

4-Wheelin'

It was such a beautiful day today that we couldn't resist spending as much time outside as possible. It was sunny, in the 70's, not too windy...just perfect. Today Landon got a rare chance to drive the 4-wheeler...usually Logan hogs it. As you can see in a couple of the pictures, Landon is a very inexperienced driver and wound up hitting the tree and the railroad ties around the bushes! Good thing he had big brother to bail him out! Logan, on the other hand, can drive the 4-wheeler like a pro! He can whiz between and around objects, back up in the direction he wants to go, the whole works! Sometimes it's amazing at what control he has when driving that thing. We can only hope we are that lucky years from now when he starts driving...I really don't want to think about that right now though!

Happy Saturday!

What a nice day we've had today! Daddy is walleye fishing for the great Walleye Weekend, so it's just been me and the boys! Logan got us off to a good start by dressing himself. He picked out his clothes and put them all on by himself, including his shoes...all I had to do was tie his shoes! As you can see in the picture, his clothes even matched! Then we went to Wal-Mart to get ready for summer...new sandals, new swim trunks, and new water shoes (I know...we're jumping the gun a little bit)! Then after naptime we got to play outside, go out for pizza, and go to the town park and play. What a day! The boys were unusually good today, full of smiles and giggles...it kind of worries me...what will tomorrow bring?

Wrestle Mania

Logan and Landon decided that, since it is a rainy evening and there is nothing better to do, they would have a little wrestling practice. I think they wrestle more like WWF wrestlers than traditional wrestlers. Usually, Logan ends up getting hurt by Landon, but tonight Logan won the match! They are definately both all-boy!!