Summer’s in Full Swing

Where has a month gone? I realized today that I had a post in my drafts folder waiting for pictures to be added and I guess I never got to that! So…I’m way behind!

We had a great weekend. Nice & quiet with no projects going on. Friday night we took Jack with us to dinner at Sumo, a hibachi grill. He loves it. When I told him we were going he asked if he could have “Shrtrimp”!  Our neighbor who is 17 came over to watch Carson for the few minutes before his bedtime. He’s pretty much like clockwork with a 7pm bedtime. And he loves his bed!

Saturday Jack asked if he could buy a toy at the toy store. He had some birthday money left over so we took them to McDonald’s for lunch, which they both LOVE. Carson can devour a cheeseburger! They got to play in the play center and then we hit Toys R Us next door. They both had a blast! Jack picked out a toy crocodile and a “viking chopper singy <thingy>” which is a foam toy.

Hopefully Paul will agree that he had a great Father’s Day. We went to church and then did our usual Sunday grocery shopping then home for lunch & naps.  Yesterday afternoon we pulled out the slip-n-slide that Jack got for his birthday. Let me just reiterate-Carson has no fear. He LOVED the slip-n-slide. Here are some pictures for proof!

Notice the dirt all over his face!

One other quick thing I wanted to show you …I know I’m always talking about the mischief that Carson gets into. Paul and I just have to laugh at the things he does! We typically keep the pantry door closed because if not, there is SOMETHING he will drag out. This is what I caught him doing most recently…

At this point he’s been busy putting hard cat food into the water bowl. That’s a plastic dinosaur he’s dipping in the water…

And that’s him sucking the water off the dino’s head. That’s my boy!

So there’s my quick update. Today I woke up with the dreaded stomach bug that Carson had on Friday so I have been home in bed all day. Not fun!

We are super excited about our upcoming trip to home to Canada in a matter of days! I know the boys are going to have a BLAST and we can’t wait to see our family & friends!

Adios for now!

Jack turns 4…

My little Jackie Smackie, Boogie Woogies, turned 4 on Saturday. It’s really hard for me to imagine that 4 years have passed. I remember like it was yesterday bringing him home from the hospital. He has brought an immense amount of joy to our lives…more than I can squeeze into a blog post. Here’s a picture from his 2nd day in this world:

 

So this weekend we celebrated Jack’s 4th at the Fire Station! The kids had a blast and we had a great time as well. Since I’m short on time, I’ll finish this with some pictures:

 

The guys at Hoover Fire Station 7 were great!!

Mom & Dad were so great to keep up with Carson…that’s a feat!

Happy  Birthday  big Brother!

And just a few things about the mischievous boy above:

He’s SUPER independent now when eating and wants to use his fork/spoon on his own. He’s actually really good at it too!

And… have I mentioned…       the        boy       loves         dirt…

 

  That’s all for now!

Thanks to EVERYONE for making his day so special…Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles, Friends, cousins…we appreciate all the thoughtful gifts and the love you show to us!

~so blessed

Jill

Happy {Early} Mother’s Day to me…

Greetings on this Sunday night, which happens to be my brother’s Birthday. Happy Birthday Kenny Pooh! And I’ll go ahead and give a shout to my sister-in-law, Anissa, too. Her birthday is tomorrow! Love you both! So back to my news…I got a new camera! Unfortunately both of our point-and-shoot cameras have died and I’ve LONG wanted a “fancy” camera. I found a deal at Sam’s that included the camera, 2 lenses, the memory card and a bag so Paul agreed that it would be my mother’s day gift. This might be the best gift I’ve gotten so far! {Don’t worry Hon, I won’t expect something this nice every year!!}.

I’ve got LOTS to learn in regards to how to operate it outside of the manual setting but I plan to either take a class or do some online tutorials. Here are a few pics we snapped this weekend.

We’ve had a nice and very quiet/low key weekend. The weather yesterday was less than desirable so we were in doors a bunch but the kids kept us entertained! Today was the complete opposite of yesterday and was a BEAUTIFUL day! I finished two painting projects and Paul got lots done in our back yard. We’re in the process of getting quotes to level it out so the kids have a place to play. Hope everyone had a great night!

And last thing…I finally painted an accent wall in the kitchen. It’s bold and I love it!

(Excuse that the table is not centered under the light. I moved everything to mop today!

And I repainted the half bath last weekend. It was too dark in there! I love the new color, which I also used in our bathroom but it was too messy to photograph!

 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
~Jill

What the boys are doing…

I started this blog to keep family & friends updated…especially since most of our family lives so far away! And sometimes I take for granted the “little” things. So before I forget, I thought I’d tell you some of the cute things the boys are doing these days.

Jack…well he’s as funny as ever.

• He is in love with all things Dragon or Viking right now after seeing “How to Train  your Dragon” A super cute movie!
• He’s got quite the imagination. Today after church we ate lunch outside and then Paul and I went inside to put up the lunch things. As I headed back outside I noticed Jack having a wild conversation with himself so Paul and I had a great laugh watching him.
• We love to hear what he’s learned in school or Sunday School. Today he told us all about Jesus & the Leper and then stood up in his chair and said “and Jesus said I can do all things because he gives me strength!”  Just precious.
• He loves to pretend Carson is a monster and gets C to chase him.
• He tells me I am beautiful all the time. Now how sweet is that?
• He picks every weed-flower he see’s and gives it to me.
• He’s a HUGE staller at bedtime. I know this is common, but it cracks us up (and frustrates us!) that we’ll be settled downstairs thinking he’s asleep and then he requests for one of us to “cuddle” him.
• He’s a great helper with Carson…most of the time!
• And he loves to bargain with us…as I type he’s saying “Daddy…just FIVE more minutes…OK??”

I am amazed by how much Carson is learning and doing, especially since he transitioned to a “big boy” class last week.

• He LOVES to eat! He doesn’t care for potatoes or the breading on chicken fingers, but he eats just about everything else. And just like his brother he LOVES his fruit in the morning! Oh, and most nights he eats more than Jack. We realize it’s probably just a phase, but we love that he has a good appetite!
• Lately he loves to drag around the etch-a-sketch. He carries it around by the orange pen…but alas our camera is broken so no shot of it!
• He is signing a lot more. He signs “more” very well and “thank you”.
• He blows kisses…and it’s so cute because sometimes he confuses “thank you” with blowing a kiss.
• He waves bye bye.
• He’s trying very hard to repeat “uh-oh”. It’s so cute…it’s more like “oh oh”.
• He really can point to the cat in the book now.
• He knows what the “fishy” does and opens & closes his mouth.
• He loves to close doors.
• He’ll eat anything laying on the ground…sticks, mud, dirt, rocks…you name it.
• He likes to play “catch”. He’ll get the ball and throw it back….of course he can’t catch.
• He loves to climb! In & out of his push car or his fire truck.
• He LOVES to copy Jack. And Jack loves to get Carson to chase him.
• He brings us his shoes! It’s probably one of the cutest things he does. But I’m so impressed that he knows which ones are his and he sticks his foot out ready for us to put them on so he can go outside (which he adores)!
• He naps on a cot at school and he LOVES his napper.
• He sits a little table in a chair for lunch & snack…and he just looks like such a baby in his new room!

So that’s an update on our little blessings! We had a great time at the Botanical Gardens this afternoon getting Carson’s 1 year/Family photos taken. I can’t wait to see how they turned out!

And…because I don’t like to create a post without a picture…here you go!

Blurry…but he CRACKED us up with the sucker while he was getting his haircut. Check out that smirk!

Jack on his way to the river with Daddy!

so blessed~

Jill

Quick Beach Trip

Hey there…me again!

Last weekend we had the chance to take a quick trip to Ft. Walton Beach.  But…before we got to the beach, Carson got sick. He started in his new toddler class last Monday but the teacher called at 2pm to say he was running a fever. The doctor seemed to think it was just a cold but the fever continued so we ended up keeping him home through Wednesday.  At that point we decided we might as well take Friday off (instead of Monday as we’d planned)  and head on down to the beach in hopes that the fresh, less pollinated air would do Carson some good.  We arrived at Pat & Jeanie’s place (We love them for allowing us to use their house!!) around 11.  I’ll interject here that Carson is not the best car traveler as he’s WAY too light a sleeper!

We had a great time overall…it was just great for the four of us to get away. Carson was a trooper on the beach and we kept the time on the sand to a minimum.  Sweet hubby agreed to voyage to the outlets and then we had lunch at Fudpuckers and enjoyed the Alligator show!

Saturday we went to see the Thunderbirds at Eglin Air Force Base. It was a great show but we’ll definitely have to remember to pack ear gear for the next show!

So here are some pictures to recap:

Sweet CP, home sick. He’s maxin’ and relaxin’ in his ball pit.

Albino Alligator!

Look! The babes are checking him out already!

Aunt Amy-notice the shark! ;-)

Don’t leave the wipes out!

 

Sweet boy fell asleep on the way to the beach! He actually took a great nap there!

Tailgating at the outlets

 

 

And last but not least…

 

EAT HIM UP!!  We finally found a hat that he couldn’t pull off. I love this picture…not for the quality of my iPhone camera but for that sweet face, those cheeks and those legs!!!

 

So there you have it! I’m looking at the pictures as I upload and can’t believe how blessed I am to have these three handsome fellows in my life!

~Jill

Backing up- Easter 2010

I’m going to attempt to complete a few posts tonight to catch everyone up since my last post!

We had an excellent Easter weekend!  Paul’s Aunt Madeline & Uncle George arrived Wednesday (31st) so we had a great time having some family in town. We attended the Easter service on Good Friday and had a sitter here with the kids. We had a WONDERFUL dinner out, sans kids, after church and just really enjoyed the adult time!

Here are some pics:

Aunt Madeline!

 

Jack LOVED his Dragon pj’s & book and Carson was VERY upset that we wouldn’t let him eat the kit kat bars in Jack’s bucket!

 

We hunted eggs at Cate’s house! (Carson was asleep)

So blessed~

Jill