Fun on the Farm

This past weekend we were invited to a friend's farm for a fish fry.  They have the most perfect place out in the country.  Aaron also claims that they have the big workshop every man dreams of having.  It is also a great place to put up some chairs and pig out!!  The guys fried up some catfish and cod.  And, we all brought sides.  They also put up a huge inflatible waterslide that my boys LOVED!!  We got there around 4:00 and Connor played on that slide from 4:00 until around 8:00 only to break for a quick supper and time to ride on one of the electric vehicles they also had.  It took Blake almost the entire time to get comfortable enough to go down the slide.  Here are some great pictures from that night. 

Connor making his way up

Blake preparing to squirt Connor with water

Down he comes

Blake and Connor "discussing" the trip down together

Blake's first trip down

Blake's second trip down

Blake also loved digging in the dirt with this little sandbox toy.

We had such a great time that night.  The temperature was perfect, kids played perfect together and we were able to just sit, relax, socialize and watch the kids play.

Friday Night Fun

Aaron has been working very long hours the past 2 weeks trying to complete a very big project for work.  So, our poor little guys really haven't seen Aaron a whole lot lately.  He'd get up early and leave and get home only to see the boys for an hour or so.  So, Friday Aaron was able to come home early.  On his way home, he called and said he wanted to do something fun with the boys.  After throwing a couple of ideas around, we finally decided to head to the next town about 30 minutes away to a "Chuck E. Cheese" type of place.  By the time we got there we were all about to starve.  We ordered a pizza and played a few games while waiting for our pizza.  We had been there once before and had the pizza, but we didn't remember it being so good the last time.  Maybe it was because we were all so hungry?!?!?!  Blake is still at the age where you really don't have to give him any tokens to work the games because he thinks he's playing while the machines are just in demo mode!  But, when he started seeing Connor ask for tokens, he thought he needed some too.  Here are a few pictures from the night.

Blake was very content to just sit on the merry-go-round without it being on.  In fact, he didn't want it on.  He wanted off as soon as it would start.

Connor trying to get the bees in the net as Blake peeks through the little window.

Blake helping Aaron on Deal or No Deal.

Trying to figure out what he wants to get with all the tickets he won.

We had a great time.  The kids were worn out when we got home.

Geocaching

Our family has a new hobby...geocaching.  I had been hearing several different people from here talking about geocaching but I had no idea what in the world it was.  So, one night after our Wednesday night class (Bringing Up Boys) was over, one of the moms started talking about geocaching.  So, I was finally able to find out some good information on it.  Once she started talking about it, I KNEW this was right up Aaron and Connor's alley!!!  Basically, it is a worldwide treasure hunt.  Different people hide different things, post it on geocaching.com with the coordinates of the location and then people take that information and go looking for whatever happens to be hidden.  Some of the people give good hints, others none at all.

I'd say we have it a little easier than some people because we have a iPad.  So, we log into geocaching, find what we want to find and take the iPad with us.  It can put us within 30 feet of the "treasure" with the GPS that is built into the iPad.  We went to our first excursion last weekend.  The first one we went looking for we figured would be really easy to find.  But, it was located on a fairly busy 4 lane highway here, and although there was a great parking area (In fact it is located right next to the interstate, so it really is a parking area for people carpooling) for us to park and be safe, we felt really weird looking in the wooded area with all these people watching us.  So, we said "forget this" to that one.  Then we headed to a local water area that has waterfalls.  We had to do some hiking (which we wish we had known we were going to do so we would have worn tennis shoes instead of flip flops), but it was so much fun.  I wanted to look over at the falls, but if something would have happened and I would have slipped, well, you wouldn't be reading this post.  So, I stayed very, very far away with the kiddos.  We looked and looked for the split hemlock tree.  Finally, Aaron found it.  And, there attached to it was this little cylinder looking thing that had several sheets of paper in it with tons of people's names and where they were from located on it.  There were people from our town, of course, but then there was even one from as far away as Seattle!  Here are some pictures of us on our first excursion.

What and where is that hemlock???  Neither one of us really knew what a hemlock looked like, so we just used process of elimination!

Connor getting the geocache!

Aaron putting it back where we found it.

The hike back up the trail

After this find, we headed over to the local university where there were many geocaches hidden.  The first one over there took us a while.  And, Blake and I finally found that one.  After this, we were HUNGRY!  So, we headed over and ate some yummy Mexican food.  While we were there, Connor talked us into doing "just 1 more, please!"  So, we went to find "just one more" and ended up getting talked into 2 more. 

That was the end for that day.  We haven't had a chance to go again as Aaron has been working late and I worked Saturday morning.  Hopefully next weekend we'll be able to get a few more.  What a great family outing.  Lots of heart smiling moments!!!

Beware of Old Sippies!!

Okay, so I've learned that I MUST look under the couch every day for any sippy cups that my children unknowingly have pushed under the couch!  Blake found one Thursday night and took a drink before I could grab it from him!  I grabbed it from him, opened it and smelled it!  Yep, pretty sure that is what made him sick Friday morning for about 2 hours.  Missed my last boot camp day, but at least he's fine now.  It seriously only lasted about 2 hours.  And, he just laid on my arms, completely still, had 2 bad diapers and then asked for "Wunch, Wunch!" which translates into "LUNCH!! LUNCH!!".  I got him his breakfast he didn't eat, he got choked on a piece of his breakfast, threw up and was perfect from then on.  Jumped up, played, played and played some more.  He's been perfectly fine since then.  Oh the things that we learn.  Glad I water down the kids' juice a lot or it might have been worse!

Precious in HIS Sight

Okay, so everybody thinks their children are just so precious.  Well, mine are the most precious ever!  A couple of days ago Connor was singing a song off of his Vacation Bible School CD, which I happen to think is one of the best little kid CDs ever!  If you drive around our town and drive past me, you'll probably see me singing to the top of my lungs to this CD as well and possibly see me doing the actions for the H-A-P-P-Y song.  Well, I digress yet again.  So, anyways, he's singing, gets to the end of the song and says "I bet Jesus is smiling down on me, don't you?"  So, sweet!!  Yes, I do believe Jesus was looking down on him and just smiling!

Then tonight, we all went out for my birthday...Mexican of course!  The kids always want the candy that they have up at the register.  So, Aaron bought 6 Andy's mints.  By the time we got to the car, Blake, Connor and I had eaten one.  Aaron asked if we wanted another one.  We all said yes (yes, including Blake).  Well, Aaron was a little bummed because that meant he didn't get one.  But, he gave the remaining 3 to us.  Aaron was in his car because he met us there from work.  So, Connor and I are discussing our candy in the car.  Connor told me I could just share 1/2 of mine with Daddy.  I told him I'd rather Daddy just have the whole thing instead of just 1/2.  Well, Connor then said "No, I want you to have the whole thing.  I'll just eat 1/2 and let Daddy have the other 1/2 when we get home."  Is that not the sweetest?  Gotta love those guys!  What heart-smiling times!

Later tonight Aaron had started working out and hadn't gotten a sweat towel yet.  He had not mentioned it at all.  Next thing we know Blake walks in with a towel (from his and Connor's bathroom -- where Aaron always gets them from) and says "heeah, Daddy, heeah" and hands him the towel.  So stinkin' cute!

Two by Two

Several years before Aaron's grandma died she started making quilts for the great-grandkids.  She was still alive when Connor was born, but she died a year before Blake was born.  But, while she was still able, she went ahead and made us another one in hopes that we'd some day have another little guy. 

When Connor was born I had purchased a little blanket with a rabbit head on it with his name on it.  Connor never really snuggled with it that much.  I did the same thing for Blake.  I ended up getting Blake the exact same one.  Boy was that a good idea (getting the exact one, that is). 

I said all of that to tell this story.  Blake has been very attached his little rabbit for a long time now.  When he was really small, I was able to switch out his rabbit with Connor's rabbit if his was dirty or I couldn't find his.  Or, I could switch it out with another one that has a little Winnie the Pooh face on it.  Well, no longer can I trick him with the Winnie the Pooh.  So, it's a good thing I have Connor's.  At Christmas, I forgot the rabbit!!!  The first night we were back home for Christmas, Blake did not sleep well at all!!  He insisted on sleeping in the bed with Aaron and myself.  He cried until he went to sleep.  None of this is very typical of Blake at all.  The next morning I asked Aaron's mom if she happened to have another one of the "rabbits".  We buy them at a big Christmas Village type thing.  Yes!!  She did.  It was the same color, only had a lamb head.  I was so thankful she had bought ahead just to have a baby gift on hand!!  Thankfully, Blake didn't realize it wasn't a rabbit, and he slept so much better the rest of the trip.

Well, the rabbit situation and the blanket situation has gotten out of control.  Blake now thinks that he needs 2 rabbits to sleep with.  And, now that he has discovered we have 2 of the blankets that are the same except for the color on the back (because I had to get Connor's out when Blake's was dirty) he insists on 2 blankets at bed time.  One rabbit in each arm plus 2 blankets on him.  That's not that big of a deal except that I have to hold all of these in my arms as well as Blake when we rock.  I'm just about out of room in my arms.  For about a week, he also insisted on this bear that rattles in my arms as well.  Thankfully, I think the past 3 nights we've been able to ditch the bear.

two rabbits

Two blankets. 

Oh, how Aaron's grandma would just eat it up that Blake is so attached to her blankets.

Two rabbits and Two blankets

And, he knows when one is missing when he goes to bed.  He'll say "RaRa" if one rabbit is missing or blanket if we don't have two blankets. What a little mess! 

Both My Guys and Their Books

For the past several nights Blake has insisted on taking the book that we read at bedtime to bed with him.  I just kind of figured he put it next to him and went to sleep.  Last night I decided to go peek in to just see what he was doing with the book.  My goodness...he was actually looking at it!!  With him being such a little busy body, I never dreamed he'd love books so much already.  He says "book, book, book" all the time.  So, tonight I went back in after putting him to bed to find this...

reading Click, Take a Pic.

Connor is also loving reading books.  He helps me read now.  He knows 15 sight words, so I let him say those words when we get to them.  Here is Connor looking at our favorite book...Monster at the End of This Book.

I bet in the past 2 days I've read "Monster at the End of This Book"  20 times.  It makes my heart smile to know they love reading so much.  Hopefully they will enjoy leisure reading much more than Aaron or myself do.

Water! Water!

Connor started back with swimming lessons on Monday.  I left Blake up in Y Play to play while Connor was swimming.  When we went to get Blake after lessons, Blake took off towards the pool saying "Water, Water!".  When I rounded the corner, this is what I found...

Two little guys peeking into the pool.  My heart just smiled!

Holiday Weekend

My parents are in for the weekend for a little visit.  Friday night Aaron started prepping for ribs.  He has gotten a recipe from a friend for some great ribs.  But, you have to plan ahead a little.  Mom called Thursday night to see if I wanted her to bring anything.  Humm..funny I had been just thinking about that earlier in the evening.  I had been thinking about heavenly cupcakes that are too big to eat at one setting.  Cupcakes that I can't get around here.  Cupcakes for any taste....Gigi's Cupcakes!  The town where Mom lives has a Gigi's, so I thought it very fitting that she bring some of those.  So, she brought 3 strawberry shortcake, 1 chocolate malt, 2 Kiddie Kake (with a gummy worm on the top) 2 birthday surprise, 1 midnight magic, 2 Summer Fun and 1 Texas Milk Chocolate.  Here is a picture of the box, minus the one for Connor.  Aren't these HUGE?!?!?

This is a sideview of my cupcake.  Have you ever seen so much icing?

Blake eating on his cupcake he shared with Connor.

Connor showing off his gigantic cupcake!

Saturday afternoon Aaron continued on the ribs.  They had to bake in the over for 4 hours and then another hour on the grill.  Here is the grill master working his magic on the ribs.

The ribs were wonderful.  He did a great job.  This was only his second time to use this recipe.  He took out a couple of the ingredients that he used the last time, so this time they were much better than the last time.  We finished off the meal with corn on the cob and potato salad.  It was great.

Today we had church at a local park.  We took lawn chairs and a blanket and enjoyed the service.  After the service was over we had hamburgers, hotdogs and lots and lots of desserts.  Tonight we went to one of our friend's house.  We grilled yet again.  Aaron enjoyed a gigantic steak and I had my usual salmon.  We've had a great weekend.

The Results are In!!

Got a call early this morning from our wonderful doctor that we all LOVE.  Blake's blood tests came back much better.  Iron levels are higher!!  No need for worry now.  Thank you Jesus!!!

Dentist and Giving Blood

We started our day yesterday with a trip to the neighbor's pool for about an hour and a half.  It was the first time I'd taken Blake over there.  I knew that once he saw Connor go down the slide that I'd have trouble keeping Blake off the slide.  And, yes I did.  He just couldn't understand why he couldn't climb all the way up there too.  Maybe when there are two adults I can stand on the side and let him go down with someone to catch him. 

Connor had a dentist appointment in the afternoon.  He is always so great at his appointments.  I am so blessed with two kids who do not pitch fits at doctor's appointments, haircuts, etc.  They are both so good and know exactly when it is important to just chill out and just deal with the situation.  Here are two pictures of Connor at the dentist office.

When the dental hygienist turned on the light, Connor squinted his eyes.  She asked if it was too bright and he said yes.  So, she went and got him some sunglasses!

Time for the floride treatment.

For the past two months, we've been having to give Blake iron supplements because his iron level has been at the lower end of normal.  He's been checked twice since April, and yesterday we had to go get the iron checked again.  Once we got to the doctor's office, the doctor decided she'd rather get even better results than their machine gives, so she sent us to the hospital to have blood drawn there.  When we first got there the lady at the front desk immediately called back to the nurse and told her she had a 20 month old and to call for back-up.  Of course, I immediately think "This is so not going to be necessary!"  The nurse came in to see what kind of bloodwork we needed and cancelled the back-up.  She informed me that she was just going to prick his finger to get the blood.  She said it would take longer than a needle in the arm but he would probably do better with just a finger prick.  So, we proceeded on with the finger prick.  By the time she had gotten all the blood she needed (which did take some time just because he started clotting fairly fast), the blood in the vile had started clotting!  So, all that hard work for nothing!  Blake was so good the entire time.  When his blood stop flowing as easily, she pressed on his finger a little harder and he said "ouch" in a very quiet voice.  That was the extent of him getting upset.  So, since the blood started clotting in the vile, she had to do a needle in the arm.  So, at this point she did call for back-up just told hold his arm for her as she inserted the needle.  I was a little concerned that this might get ugly.  But, Blake proved us wrong!  He did flinch a little when she first inserted the needle and he put out that sad puppy dog lip, but he NEVER cried or said ouch or anything!  It was amazing.  The nurses were so amazed at how well he did.  Here are a couple of pictures of his battle wound.

Sporting his blue bandage

As if he is telling me "See, here it is."

So, we are waiting for the test results right now.  The nurse told me that our doctor would get the results last night.  So, hopefully we'll know something very soon.

Aaron is off work today because he has a major project he is working on on Monday.  So, we're all hanging out together today (minus that hour I'll be at boot camp).  I love days like this.  I'm sure we'll have several heart-smiling times  today!