4th of July Weekend...

We had an absolutely wonderful time this last weekend. Other than Memorial Day, I have not had one day off of work since Christmas and so this long four day weekend was just blissful for me and the whole family.

Friday night, we let the boys swim in the pool a bit after their friends left. After washing up, we ordered pizza and just relaxed as we watched movies and a pretty big storm roll in.

On Saturday we had Jay's parents and his Grandmother over for a visit. I am so sad I didn't take any pictures. We had a great time outside grilling and just catching up.

On Sunday we went to Minnehaha Falls. ET was SO EXCITED to see the waterfall! I was really amazed with how much he enjoyed being there. I figured I would let ET lead the way and we would give him as much time as he wanted to look around and enjoy all that nature had to offer. I mean it was after all the weekend and we had no agenda, right? Well, we honestly would have been there all day if we had left it up to him. No matter how long we stayed at each point, he didn't want to leave. He just loved sitting and playing in the dirt and watching the waterfall or river. I loved just watching him. He is such a remarkable boy, and was so calm and relaxed in this environment! Nate too loved being there. He didn't fuss a bit and just enjoyed exploring when we let him out of his stroller.












Nate was a bit nervous of the water at first, but after a bit of time, he sat and played and ended up really enjoying himself. I cannot put into words how much I enjoyed this moment with my family. It was so relaxing, and so so peaceful.

Later on Saturday, we decided to go to Grand Ole Creamery to get Nate his first ice cream cone! :) We brought ET here for his first ice cream cone at the same age Nate is now. It is just eerie how much our boys look alike.
Here are Nate's pics...

Licking his lips. I think he had a hunch something tasty was coming. :)

Not so sure...

Mmmmmm!


That didn't last long. A little too cold and messy for his liking. :)


Here are ET's pics from August of 2008...




ET's didn't last very long either...whoops!


I would like to say that after four years, ET would have learned to be a little bit more neat while eating an ice cream cone. Here is proof that clearly I cannot say that anytime soon...

He enjoyed every last bit of it though. :)


Fourth of July weekend to be continued...

Some recent work...

Here is some recent work of Nate's. He is not even 18 months yet, but he includes himself in every project we do. It amazes me how much he loves to color, paint, glue or pretty much do any craft type thing. Isn't it impressive how much he actually colors each work of art? He nearly colors it all in! Pretty good for a young toddler!


Here is some recent work of ET's. In case you were wondering, the top left of this pic is a painting of the sunset at the beach, and the bottom right is a sand castle.

A musical shaker crab, a clip-on lizard, a fish book, and a noodle necklace.

Busy, busy...

Is doesn't get any cuter than this. Hanging out after a tubby one hot summer night in his diaper doing one of his favorite things...coloring!

Look at how long/tall he is getting!!!

Uh-Oh....

A couple weeks ago ET found a little red heart charm in the backyard. We have been learning about islands, pirates and treasures this month and so he honestly felt as though he found a real treasure. He held on to this charm all evening and then even went to bed with it. After he went down for the night I went to the grocery store and when I returned Jay told me I better go talk to ET. Apparently ET had accidentally swallowed the charm. When I opened the door to his bedroom to go talk with him, he looked two seconds at me and then sobbed harder than I have ever seen. He was crying so hard that he couldn't talk and wasn't even making a sound. At this point I knew he had already learned a lesson and a lecture was not exactly necessary. I sat with him and rubbed his forehead, and back and just reassured him that everything would be okay. After finally catching his breath, he told me that he might die and that he really, really, really wished he could get his heart back. After talking through things a bit he said, "It's okay if I die mommy because then Jesus will get the heart out of my body." I told him I don't want him to die, and he replied again with, "Well, your going to die someday too so we can see each other then." How exactly do you respond to that? We have talked about this in the past after he learned a bit at Sunday school, and he cried after he learned that everyone eventually dies. I mean I want him to understand the seriousness of death, but I don't want him scared that it is going to happen any time soon. It is all normal, but it shows his innocence and so I felt the need to blog about it. Can any moms out there relate to the death talks?

After our talk ET was pretty exhausted and so it wasn't too much longer after leaving his room and he was out like a light. I went in once more to check on him and this is how I found him. You can see he is holding tight to his favorite ducky. I love this sweet sweet boy!



Update: After a week of not seeing anything in his stools, the doctor asked him to come in for lead test. I received a call from the doctor today that everything seems normal, but they want him to retest again in 6 months.

Ice Skating Lessons...

Seems a little weird to be all bundled up and skating in the summer time, but that is just what ET did on Monday when he kicked off a new session of lessons. I really wanted to sign him up for T-ball for the summer, but he just missed the age cut off by a couple months. We figured ice skating is still good exercise and definitely a life skill he can build on. He enjoys himself a lot, but I am not sure if hockey is his future or not at this point. We definitely are excited to see him out on the baseball field at this time next year!

Father's Day Weekend...

Our weekend didn't go exactly as planned, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves quite a bit...

On Friday, we headed over to my parents house to enjoy a BBQ on the new deck. Unfortunately, it rained and we were not able to eat outside. No big deal - My dad still grilled and we had a nice time celebrating Father's Day and my mom's birthday inside.




On Saturday we had planned to watch the Cottage Grove parade with friends and then go to the annual Strawberry Festival. We picked up one of ET's friends in the neighborhood and headed over to catch a spot for the parade about an hour ahead of time. The moment the parade started (seriously, we saw the fire trucks and a couple princesses) the skies literally opened up and we were drenched with rain within seconds. We ran to the truck, but it still looked like we had taken showers with our clothes on. What a bummer it was! The kids missed the parade and the carnival because the rain never let up the entire afternoon. The hour before the parade started we still had a great time playing though. Here are the pics...


What a handsome guy!

We played a lot of baseball and even Nate wanted in on the action.





In case you didn't know, Nate loves to show off his belly button. :)








Just about every hour ET asked if the rained had stopped so we could go to the carnival. Unfortunately, it just wasn't letting up so we went out to eat at Las Margarita's and then stopped by a friends house for the remainder of the night. By then the rained had finally stopped so the kids finally got to play outside, but not without getting very wet and muddy. It was a great time.

On Sunday, we attended church and then went over to the carnival to catch a light lunch and let the boys go on a few rides.
This was Nate's first carnival ride. He really didn't get too excited, but at least he didn't scream. :)



The slide was ET's favorite. He chose to go on it twice; once with me and once with daddy.




ET also played at a park nearby.

Check out the size of that slide!

After the carnival, ET and I took a long bike ride to two of the neighborhood parks so that Jay could get a nap in. For the remainder of the day, we just hung out outside, grilled burgers for dinner and just enjoyed the sunny weather. Last weekend Jay got new cabinets and a fridge for the garage for his Father's Day gift. This was what the kids made at daycare for him...



ET said his picture was a "hooker machine." :)

ET answered questions about his daddy...
My Dad is special because...he loves me, and because he cares about me and he doesn't want me to be in trouble.
I like it when my Dad...tickles me, and when he makes funny noises. I also like it when he plays drums with me.
I like to make my Dad smile by...playing baseball.
My Dad's favorite thing to do is...eat broccoli and apples, and go to football games.
My Dad is smart! He even knows...how to play volleyball and the drums.
I think my Dad is...funny!

Root Beer Floats for Jay to share with the boys...





Opening gifts...

Dinner time!

Enjoying a root beer float for dessert. This was ET's first ever Root Beer float. He loved it so much he wanted a refill!

At the end of the night, I brought Nate in to give him a bath and expected ET to follow closely behind. Moments later ET came running in to the bathroom saying, "Mommy come quick, daddy is hurt really bad!!!!" I was terrified to what I might find as I went running to the garage. After opening the door, I saw Jay sitting on the floor of the garage. His head and hands were full of blood. He explained that he went to put the boys shoes away and hit his head on the new cabinets. The corner sliced his head pretty good and left a giant goose egg. He is fine, but the poor guy ended his Father's Day with a pretty bad headache. :(