Vacation Bible School, pink eye, hair and super heros

What do these things have in common? Absolutely nothing except for the fact that those are the things that have occupied our life recently!
Last week was Vacation Bible School and though it was wonderful and a huge success...part of me is so relieved it is over! (is that bad to say?) I was in charge of the decorations which I was more than happy to do, but had no idea what a big deal it was going to be and how much time it would consume! I feel like I lived at church for days!!! I also volunteered to be a Shepherd for the week so I was in charge of 12, 4 year olds (none of which were my children) each day, so by the time it was over, I hardly had the energy to parent my own! 3 days last week I had to take the boys home from VBS to a babysitter and go work for my dad in the afternoon, so by the evening I was "kaput!"
Amidst all that , I had a every man in this house (including Kyle) got pink-eye. I have no idea how I avoided it, but I did. Must be mommy immunity:)
It always started in one eye and then went to the next...poor things!!!


Here are a few pictures of just some of the decorations at the church:
Sanctuary...the theme was the "Baobab Tree," and I will be singing those songs for a long long time now my friends...sorry, just cannot get them out of my head!


Hallways (after hallway after hallway. most of them had animal prints going down them too but towards then end we got tired)


Parlor going in to the sanctuary where the kiddos walked in

Hair:
So we told Drake one night last week that after he got his hair cut he could have his ice cream.
What we meant:" when daddy takes you outside and cuts your hair then you can eat your ice cream"
How Drake took it: "The sooner I get scissors and go outside and cut a chunk off the top of my head I can have ice cream."
This is what we found on the ground, along with a bald spot on the top of his head.

So he may be wearing hats more often now...

Which is good because Drake LOOOOOOOOVES to dress up! Always has but it has been amplified this summer!

nothing like a good kimono, alligator hat and purse. And Hunter does like to get in on the action too. Those 2 are just so silly!

Superheros:
The boys have recently really gotten in to superheros, in particular Drake and Spiderman. He either wants to be wearing his Spider man costume, spiderman t-shirt or spiderman pajamas...and that is IT! He sleeps in his costume sometimes too.




Lastly, this was my boys right before bedtime tonight...they are growing up so fast and I feel like even though the days seem long, the past few years have gone by so so fast. They look so big to me now and I just cannot believe how lucky and blessed we are to have these boys. I cannot imagine life without these 2!

New Freckles, New Friends and New Bikes

Well I have to start with my favorite of the new events in our lives: Hunter's freckles...Kyle had them as a child and I always look at his pictures from when he was a little boy and think how adorable he was and his freckles were. I have always hoped our boys would get that trait from him!!!! And though this picture is hard to see it, he is getting the cutest little sprinkles of freckles and cannot wait to see them in about a year! (he has a little patch of them under his left eye and on his nose...but again, I know they are hard to see in this picture, it was just the closest one I had of his face)

speaking of faces...this is what I usually get when I want to take his picture...


New Friends:
This is the newest addition to our family...meeeeet Howie!!!!!!!



We adore Howie and talk about him a lot actually. Though we have a small neighborhood, people fly down our tiny street! It is maddening and now I feel like one of those obnoxious parents, but I cannot tell you how many other parents on our street have stopped by to ask where we got it and tell us how much they like it. so I think Howie is here to stay. It is only confusing when we pass someone else's house and Howie is there too. hmmmmm...

New Bikes!
We finally went out and got another bike...well we got 2 bikes. We have had 1 but both boys ride it so well it was time to get another. And let me say this - I am not one for usually getting 2 of the exact same thing, because the boys do need to know how to share. But some things are just worth it to buy 2 of the EXACT SAME THING. It is just not worth fighting over who is riding the red bike, or the blue bike, or the bike with the tiny spec of paint that is chipped off or whatever the minor difference is that causes hours of fighting and tears.

Complete with matching helmets and elbow pads (and yes they both wear elbow pads and love them!!! Since they have both gotten boo boos on their elbows recently they enjoy being "protected")





And another fun time for the boys has been riding on the bike with daddy (and sometimes me, but mostly daddy). Kyle pulled out his old bike and boy has it been fun!



And Drakey was so cute when they would ride down the street...he would watch them take off

and then take Howie's flag and cheer them on.

Oh how sweet summer is!

The "Hairy" Details...

You know you need to go got your hair done again when your 2 year old looks at you, points to your head of hair (which is suppose to be blonde mind you) and says:
"Mommy, why is your hair black?"

Oh Sweet Innocent Drakey!!!! How could I possibly be upset with him!!!!
Thanks for the tip dude...calling Marci tomorrow!

Whats a girl gonna do...

One would think that after having 6 full days without kiddos that I would have had time to catch up on my posts with the 2 major trips that we have taken with the boys the past few months, my house would be spotless and I would be twiddling my thumbs in boredom. HOWEVER, that did not happen...not any of it...obviously.
I did get to catch up on a ton of quality time with my husband (like going to a double feature at the movies one night(yes one of those was Eclipse)...SO FUN!, going to restaraunts we love, hanging out by the pool with friends, going shopping with my mom, going to the Frist to look at the Fashion exhibit (which I HIGHLY recommend!!!...I would totally still wear most of the GORGEOUS suits and gowns we saw) and going to lunch with friends. And it was all fabulous.
I still want to kick myself in the shins for not getting my photo albums completed, or even started because that was my number one goal for the week, but what can you do now.
I missed the boys sooooo much and was so beyond happy to see them again. I swear they looked older and taller and I wanted to burst into tears when we pulled into Grammie and Pop's driveway. But we did not get there until after they were asleep Friday night so I had to just peak in at them and hold myself back from waking them up.
We had a wonderful 4th of July in Alabama but getting back into the swing of things at home.
I will end on this for the night...Drake is really in to "holding you" when we are laying down together. Normally with the boys they would lay on my chest with my arms around them, but Drake wants you to lay on his chest and put his arm underneath your head. It is the sweetest and funniest thing.
Tonight as Kyle was laying with him Drake was sliding his arm under Kyle's head and said "do you like that daddy?" I hope he never stops wanting to do that...

Sending the boys off to camp!

Well, yesterday morning we sent the boys to Camp-Wag-A-Tail at Grammie and Pop's house. The boys were so excited when they came into town on Thursday that Drake wanted to leave right then and there! But the bus rolled out at 11am Saturday morning and the boys were more than excited!

Pop painted the windows with shoe polish which added to the fun and made it extra special. Grammie and Pop have planned tons of fun activities for the boys and I know they are going to have the best time. This was Drake's face when I asked him to smile for me next to his name on the "bus" and hand prints.



Hunter was so excited about the shaving cream that Pop bought him for their shaving cream fight they are going to have. (Pop also bought them whistles to have at the lake and to wear around their necks which they had a blast with at the park on Friday...they are going to be in heaven!)

The boys giving us a thumbs up before rolling out


I had a lump in my throat as they pulled out of the driveway, but I know Grammie and Pop have planned so many fun things for the boys that they will have the best time!

As for Kyle and I, we are tremendously enjoying our "stay-ca-tion" but have already talked about how excited we are going to be to see the boys on Friday. But until then, I have so many projects I want to do that I know the time will fly!!!

Just to tempt you...

This is a preview of the next post I will do...from our mountain trip with my parents and my brother and his family. We got back last weekend but this week has just been a crazy one so this is a teaser:

YES...that is EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK IT IS!!! A spider that caught a fish (the fish was as long as my pinky to give you a little perspective on size)!!! Inches away from where my children were playing and wading in a creek...

Today was a good day

Well, I have to document this day. We were on our weekly Target run, we had finished shopping, had been there nearly an hour and the boys did pretty well so I was getting them icees and the woman standing behind me said,
"Your children are so well behaved."

WHAT? WAS SHE TALKING TO ME!?!?!? Dirt Diver (formerly known as Drake) and Red Lightning (formerly known as Hunter...I will get to that later) had done it!! I didn't know whether to grab the woman's face and smack a big kiss on her, or look at her and say, "your kidding right crazy?"
But I was able to pick up my jaw off the floor and squeak out "that is so gracious of you to say that...you just made me day." I think I was glowing when we walked out of Target. I really did feel like I was on top of a mountain.

I realize this is suppose to be a normalcy for us mothers, to expect our children to always be well behaved, especially in public. And I do expect them to mind me, behave and be polite, but I feel like it is not always a reality to expect a 2 yr old BOY and a 3 yr old BOY to sit quietly in a cart for an hour just looking around with their hands in their laps. So to say I was elated is beyond words.

You see, if you know me, or have read any of the posts before (which I don't blame you if you have not gotten all the way through any of them because they are always so long since I wait too long between each one to make them normal in length) then you know how silly my wild things are. The past few months in particular have been the most challenging.
I thought a 12 month old and a new baby was hard...RIGHT NOW IS WAAAAAAAAYYYYY HARDER!!!
And lately I have felt much more like the Big Bad Wolf

than a loving mother.

(sorry - that was a pretty weird picture I know)
Since I am alone with them 75% of the time, clearly the majority of the disciplining has to come from me, and recently, there has been A LOT of that. The boys have been out of preschool and Mothers Day Out for 3 weeks now and I think we all miss it a little (well maybe not Hunter. He is so happy to be in his pajamas 24 hours of the day)

I remember when little Drake would not let anyone but me hold him, and now he just seems to look at me as this stern teacher he has to look at all day every day. Did mention NEITHER ONE NAP ANYMORE ever since we gave up the pacie. WHATEVER YOU DO, LET YOUR CHILDREN HAVE THEIR PACIES UNTIL THEY ARE 30!!!!!!!!! IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!! So to say the days are long and exhausting really doesn't cover it, but they are wonderful as well...I don't think I will have too many more summers of being to be at home with my boys all day after this one.

Anyways, on Sunday I mentally had an inner pump up session. I realized I needed to make sure I spent more time praising them than telling them "No" or "Stop" or "don't do that" or "that was not nice" or "if you do that again you will be disciplined." Which is hard when all they want to do is be naked, crash things, wrestle, hurt each other and sling mud around. But I just had to make sure that was a priority. It always has been a priority for me but sometimes I get lost in the need to want to make sure my children are behaving and lose sight of how to really do it. I have noticed a big change in Hunter this week. He gives me hugs and kisses me all time. He tells me he loves me all the time. He seems to want to please a lot more now. It was weird, like a switch went off. Dont get me wrong, I am not painting a picture of perfection, but we all seem to be feeling a little better. And we somehow passed for being "well behaved" after an hour in Target.