Flashback to Easter egg coloring!

Devin Playing Soccer

Here is Devin's second year playing soccer in Independence. He is playing his last year of Itty Bitty Soccer. This year his team is Safety Orange. He averages about 1 goal per game and loves playing! It's so fun watching him in sports and I'm realizing that this is the beginning of many years of running to come! Next year we'll have both boys involved in soccer, but they'll be in different leagues. Let the craziness begin!

Devin's 5th Birthday Party

As usual, party pictures are scarce. :( Devin had his 5th birthday party at the Ash Youth Center swimming pool. We had a lot of fun and luckily didn't get TOO cold! I spent most of the time in the pool with the boys, which isn't too friendly of an environment for a camera!

A Day Visiting Family

My dad was in town as well as my brother, so we decided to head to my Tremain Grandparent's house for a visit with family. The boys always enjoy it there. My grandmother has a box full of trains and even though we have the SAME trains at our house, for some reason they are much more fun there.

The boy also played with my grandfather's hats that he still has from his time in the Navy, which I thought was so sweet to see them in those hats. My siblings and I used to play with those when we were small as well.

I also loaded the boys up and took them on a ride on the 4-wheeler. We had such a fun day raiding the cookie jar for cookies and the deep freezer for Schwan's ice cream treats!

A+ Supreme Slacker

Ok, all my friends are picking back up on their blogs....made me remember how much I actually liked doing one myself. Here is my attempt to pick back up where I left off, nearly 1.5 years after my last post.

What's new in the world of the Short Family you ask???

I have starting working part time again, which is a huge change for me, even just a few days a week. I don't mind the working part- but man....leaving these kiddos at a sitter never gets easier. I just don't think I'm cut out to be a working mom. I always thought I could never sit at home all day with my kiddos. I thought I'd really go crazy. Just another example of how children change EVERYTHING! On the bright side, I only have to leave them 2 days a week and I have a job that is perfect for me and work for one of the kindest people I've ever met. So, if I have to work, I guess I've found the best balance that I'm going to find for the time being.

As for Chris, all is the same. Thankfully he is still employed at Cessna, working as a Senior Buyer. I really thank God for blessing us with his job through these hard economic times. He works Monday-Thursday and is able to stay home with the kids and work from home on Friday while I work.

Devin is QUICKLY approaching 5 years old! Insane. Some days I'm pretty sure he thinks that he is about 45 sharing all his wisdom. His imagination amazes me and I love listening to toddler simple solutions for difficult problems. It's very entertaining. He is finishing up his LAST year of preschool and will attend kindergarten next year. Also insane. He's ready though. This little social bug can't get enough interaction with other children, always making new friends. (And also overwhelming others with his need to constantly socialize.) I fear he might just be the chatter bug in the classroom. Devin is also enjoying reading so much and is doing some simple reading on his own. We have some books that I LOVE that slowly teach them to read. In the series of 12 he has mastered about 6. I'm so proud of this little sponge. He is for sure our little brainiac. We had a 15 minute conversation about how a home alarm works the other day, he wanted to know what cancer looks like (what?) and I'm pretty sure he'll be teaching me how to use my own computer in the very near future. I better stay on my game or this little guy is going to pass me up!

As for Gavin, oh he's my little 3 year old sweetie! I just can't ever get mad at this kiddo. He has me wrapped around his little finger, and he knows it. He has the puppy dog eyes mastered and has the kindest, sweetest voice. He's mild mannered and a complete opposite of his big brother. He likes to snuggle, give hugs and kisses, and is ALWAYS the first to apologize- whether a problem is his fault or not. (He apologizes to his brother when Devin starts the fight!) He's my little artistic guy. He loves to color and create. He is constantly dressing up and pretend playing. Something his brother never really cared to do. He is also our little athlete. He loves to run and jump. He shows more interest in sports than Devin, even though he is too young to compete yet. These kids couldn't get any more different, let me tell ya! In the future I see Devin doing nuclear physics and Gavin being a cutting edge architect. (Well, those are probably extremes, but one can dream, right?) Another fun fact for Gavin, at his 3 year check-up the Dr. predicted him to be 6'2". That is gonna look really funny standing next to his 5'7" mother and father!

As for the family as a whole, things couldn't get better. We love our little lives and have become pretty active in our church. Another thing we just LOVE. It fits us perfect and we have made some great new friends there, and have rekindled some old friendships as well.

I really try to keep updating through here more often, it's just a little more personal than posting a mass amount of pictures on Facebook.

Until the next post my friends! (Hopefully to include some type of photos!)

Recent pics of the boys.....

Here are the most recent pictures that I have taken of the boys. I just decided to take the camera outside while the boys were playing one day last week and I was able to get a few decent ones. Still waiting on that great picture of them together! I'm starting to believe it may never happen. Gavin is 18 months and Devin is 3 years 3 months.

Just Paddlin' Along!