Friday Funday!

Fridays are arguably my favorite day of the week! I get the kids all to myself, we usually see Justin for lunch, and we still have the entire weekend ahead of us. It's a day I can spoil them, have fun, and not feel pressured to get a single thing accomplished if I don't want to! A few weeks ago, we had a birthday party to go to. Owen turned three! First, we had to go to Toys R Us to buy him a train. We got there before it opened so we had to kill some time waiting in the care. We watched the little mermaid. Below Jack is zoned in to the TV and Ella is putting on sunscreen.

My sweet girl was doling out the kisses too!

Jack was in hog heaven! He had a grin on his face through the entire store! Especially down the Thomas isle.

 You think they're playing the grass together? Nope, tandem pooping.

 But Jack did let me rock him to sleep that nap. He's been doing so well going to bed like a big boy but he and I both needed some snuggle time!

 And the Frozen fever continues in our house!

Elsa has to watch a small part every day and she yells, "song! song! daddy song!" when Let It Go comes on :)

Then at some point she crawled in Sadie'd kennel. She pretends to be puppy Ella, just like Jack used to, with panting and all.

 Hope everyone is off to a good school year! We're looking forward to some cooler weather!

Summertime Living

Summer is wrapping up in Charleston, it's back to school next week. And even though the heat will linger for probably another two months, the easy morning commutes will not, sadly. It has been a really fun summer. I wish we could have made it to the beach more, but there is still plenty of time to do that. The child care was pretty inconsistent over the last several weeks, but God provided for us and now we have, what we think, is a permanent solution, Amber. Fingers crossed, but this was her first week and so far it's going great!

Above, Ella is in her giraffe ears and tail, and tutu. A ballerina giraffe! :) They're all watching Polar Express (shocker). Below Jack is giving me props for dinner with Dr. Mooney's pesto! We made a pesto chicken ravioli with it...divine!

 This sweet boy still finds his way to our bed almost every night. Or should I say, wakes up at midnight and Justin goes to get him. He did well for almost two weeks there, but it didn't last. Last night, Justin didn't sleep well because he was getting kicked all night as he reported, so I think tonight is the night we keep him in his crib even if he wakes up.

And I managed to bring my hydrangea back from the brink of death! Woohoo! Coffee grinds, epsom salt, and a kitchen concoction for bugs.

The kids have been to the water park several times.

 And monkey joes!

Jack looks so mischievous in the picture above. Below, they're taking a morning ride to the park. I want to be my kids!

Pool time! It took Ella some time to warm up to the pool. Jack didn't care for it much last summer but this summer, he LOVED it! He's been wearing his swimmies, jumping off the side, putting his head underwater, and just all around being a fish! I hope we can get him swim lessons. I loved the pool as a kid too.

 Picnic in the park...

 In the pics below, Ella was being so cute, asking me what I wanted to eat. I would pretend order food, and she would run to another part of the play equipment to "fix" it and then come running back with my order. This lasted a long time.

And went to the mall to ride rides. Again Ella is pretending to serve me ice cream :)

And we played with lots of Play Doh!

We also had some movie days!

This is when Jack told me I could put my head on his arm while we watched a movie! Love that boy!

And if there was any doubt that Ella is my child, here she is drinking her buttermilk ranch dressing. I mean, I get it, I struggle not to drink my ranch on a daily basis. I hope she gains more self control with age ;)

 Jack also liked the ranch. Making it yourself is the way to go!

We hope your summer was as much fun as this diaper clad baby's!

Tidbits

I like posting pics but sometimes I just want to write down stories so I don't forget and they don't have pics to go along. So I think I'll try that on occasion. For starters,

Yesterday, Jack put on rubber name bands (for sippy cups) around his arm and came into the bathroom to tell me..."I put on my bracelet like dis on my arm like daddy because it help me exercise." Justin got a Mio or whatever they're called, a heart rate monitor.

Justin got home a few days ago and asked Jack what he did today. "We watch Fwosted Fyakes." Justin looked at me confused. "He means Frosty the Snowman" I clarified. :)

Today Jack told Justin at dinner that he wanted "Rolley." We didn't understand what he meant and asked him to repeat himself several times, but were getting no where. Justin was trying his best though. "You want pizza buddy? Okay? A piece of? Piece of what?" "No" Jack said looking at me, "I don't tink he know what I talkin' about." We laughed and finally he said "you no eat it, I roll choo-choo." You're saying ROSIE!!! You want ROSIE (the girl train on Thomas)!! I get it! Sometimes we feel like we're playing charades but it's fun :)

Today, Justin and I met for a lunch date. He was telling me about his morning saying that Ella was running around like a wild banshee. He asked her for kisses and she said no. Then he went walking to the door to leave and she said, "WAIT!" and came running to him. He was so happy that she wanted to give him a kiss after all. To his surprise and probably disappointment, when she got to the door she grabbed his lunch box and said, "BNANA!" "Oh" he says, "you want my banana." "Yeah" she grinned and ran off with it. Laughing he tells me, "she terrifies me a little." LOL, me too!

Ella has recently started blaming Jack for things. The funniest is when I say, "Ella I smell poop. Did you poop?" "NO, Jack!" She exclaims before moving quickly away from me.

Other fun expressions:
Ella will tell Jack "NOOOooooo" exaggerating the O and puckering her lips, shaking her finger. It makes me crack up every time.
When Ella goes to smell something, she'll wrinkle up her whole face and nose. Its the cutest face.
"Where it went" (Ella)
"Dat make sense" or "Dat no make sense" (Jack)
"How bout dat" is especially hilarious when Jack is trying to negotiate something

Pretend

As we all well know, Jack is a train enthusiast. In fact, he told me today he wants to go as Thomas for Halloween again this year. Glad I kept the costume Daddy made last year ;) And, he wants a Thomas the train birthday party again this year. Unfortunately, I didn't keep ANY of the decorations. He said he wants to have bounce castles like Owen did at his party :) Sure thing buddy. 

Well, recently we've been watching Polar Express almost nonstop and he has been doing some pretty cute pretend play as a result. He reenacts a lot of the movie and his facial expressions have really gotten expressive. He'll pull a pretend whistle and exclaim, "I want do dat my whole life!" Just like in the movie. And he'll pretend that the train car he's in has become "uncupple" (uncoupled) and he'll begin to fall all around the house, bouncing off furniture, grabbing onto things and insisting that you either join in or save him. So funny! We pretend we are uncoupled at least six times a week. A few pictures below of the conductor in his hat being uncoupled :) 

And a few more of them being generally sweet.

Look at this button nosed angel!

Playing in their fort. 

Then sitting on the couch together. Can you believe it?!? They're less than 6 inches from one another and their not poking, hitting, snatching, pestering one another!! A Christmas Miracle!

Then it was movie time!

I could get love all day everyday from this boy. I'll be sad when he no longer wants to smooch his mama! XOXO