Sunday, April 13, 2014

Week Fifteen: 4/7 - 4/13

A pretty normal week with a busy weekend....
Monday: Tim took this picture of me & the boys as we gauged how they are compared to each other and me. Super cute! 

And we started the week off with a lot of rain. Of course, the boys thought it was fun!

Tuesday I had a late work function so Tim took the boys to Moe's for dinner. Tuesday is Kids' Night so a kid meal is free with an adult meal. There's also a super awesome balloon maker lady there. 
Cole got a Pterodactyl. 
Eli got a sweet puppy - looked like a Belle dog. 
Dog riding a pterodactyl. 

Friday morning is usually pop tart breakfast at our house but somehow Mommy let all the pop tarts run out. So as a super surprise, I took Eli with me to Dunkin' Donuts to get them breakfast before school. Funny how neither cared that there were no pop tarts since the substitute was donuts!
Because it's Friday!!
Eli picked the "Manager's Special" for both he & Cole. Thankfully he didn't want the one with the peep in the middle. Would have to had to overrule that one!
Cole was quite happy! Boy LOVES a donut!

A little Friday night bike riding....
I can't resist that cute face. =)
This was almost a crash photo bomb. I was taking pictures of Cole and Eli thought photobombing the shot would be funny. It wasn't funny when he almost made them both crash. 


Riding bros
Look Mommy - Cole's new nickname is "Skidmark". He learned how to use his brakes and skid on the driveway, leaving black tire marks. Eli used to do the same thing and literally wore through a tire. 



One of the books I'm currently trying to read. 
See all those skid marks on the driveway? 
Eli and his bike mojo, Wile E Coyote

Saturday was a) tv day and b) soccer game. Cole loves tv and is always excited when Saturday gets here so he can watch it. He talks about his soccer games and acts happy about it but always refuses to play when he gets there. Today Cole's team played The Grapes. I don't remember much about the game except getting aggravated that Cole wouldn't play (again!) and then trying to get him to kick around with Eli so he'd at least be doing something. He wasn't very happy with me when I wouldn't let him run through the tunnel at the end or get snacks since he didn't participate. Just two more games left in the season......I/We can make it. 
Loves the sideline.
Just hanging and watching. 
Did get him to kick around with Eli. 
He's really good when he actually plays!
We went to Target and got Starbursts and plastic eggs to fill for his school egg hunt and Spring party. Cole filled them by himself!
Reading time - lately Eli has wanted to do some independent reading so we've been encouraging it. I swore he had fallen asleep but he really was awake. 

Today (Sunday) was a pretty busy day. We went to church this morning and then the afternoon consisted of two birthday parties and a make-up soccer game for Cole. First up, Evan P's 7th birthday party. Both of the boys went and had a great time running around. They and pizza and YUMMY cake (it was a Whole Foods cake and totally what I'm buying for the boys' parties this year. SOOO good!!!). Since all the boys are a little older, the party room was kinda crazy. Running, wrestling, jumping, some crying.....normal boy stuff. 
Happy 7th Birthday Evan!!
For someone who used to not like pizza, Cole is a pizza eating machine these days!
Cole on the lookout. 
Birthday Boy
See what I mean.....boys climbing everywhere. 
No idea....but it is a funny pose. 
There was a smaller playhouse for little kids. The big boys took to sitting on the roof. 
Eli and Evan
This picture of Cole cracks me up. He is such the ham!
Sweet picture of Evan as everyone sang to him. 
Um, yeah. Just a little dangerous!
Eli & Evan have been friends for a long time. They probably don't remember life without each other!

After Evan's party, we made a quick pit stop at home. Tim and Cole took a nap before soccer and I took Eli to Adventure Landing for Jaidee's 7th birthday party. Eli and Jaidee were in Kindergarten together and are now in 1st grade together. She's a super sweet girl, so smart and polite! Eli says she's his girlfriend but Jaidee told me that she's too young and doesn't need a boyfriend. Love it!! Eli loved Adventure Landing. He had so much fun playing games, spending tokens like crazy and then eating pizza (again!) and cake. We spent THREE hours there! Boy did not want to leave!
Skee-ball with Jaidee
He loved putting tokens (coins) in the machines trying to earn more. 
We are SO in trouble if he ever goes to Vegas!
The Party Crew!
Make a wish!
The boys thought the purple icing was fun
because it made their mouths and tongues turn purple. 
So cute! 
Happy Birthday Jaidee!!
More Skeeball
Eli was excited that he got one in the 10,000 hole! His score was 38,000 - mine wasn't that high! 
And a little driving. He tried to steer into the walls and crash!

Tim and Cole were at the soccer game during all this Adventure Landing fun....apparently Cole practiced awesomely with his team. He started the game but didn't play too long. He watched and finally went in near the end when Tim told him he couldn't run through the tunnel unless he played more. Just one more game......

 Amazing how he is always gung ho but that quickly fades. 
Go Cole-Man!!!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Week Fourteen: 3/31-4/6

Week Fourteen?! We're a quarter of the way through 2014 already?!! What did we do this week? Let's see.....this week was Spring Break so Eli spent his week at the Y. He came home flat exhausted every day - it was awesome! 

Monday - Scout night. Mommy's Tiger Cub Board was a bit hit. Everyone loved it and apparently loved seeing themselves on it. I think Eli was proud that his Mom had done it. Definitely made Tim look good on his commitment!! 


Another look - adventures included Camping, getting their Bobcat badges, Pinewood Derby, WTVD News Channel 11 visit and visit to Char-Grill.
A little Tuesday experiment. The boys decided to see if the Lego canoe would float. Nope, didn't float. Tipped our poor Lego friends over BUT thankfully the little Lego people DO float! 

Wednesday started off with a bang. Eli was making a lot of strange noises at breakfast to get our attention. Turns out his loose tooth finally came out while he was eating breakfast! 
 I'll have a baby tooth with my bar and cheese stick breakfast please. 
Tooth #7 gone! He's been waiting for this one for a few weeks. I think we have one more and then the dentist said we'll get a break for a few years. Tooth fairy needs it! Which btw, the boys had a discussion about the tooth fairy trying to figure out if it's a boy or a girl. Their verdict "Duh, a fairy.....she's a girl". There you have it - in case you were wondering!

Tim went on a bike ride after work so I whipped up a quick pasta dinner. Eli has loved pasta from the first bite. Cole however has not. It took him forever to even try a pasta noodle. Now he loves it. 


 Can you tell?! 
 Showing off his new tooth-gap. 
Bagged up to go under his pillow. Funny thing was....Thursday morning, he checked under his pillow, put his money in his bank and barely said anything. We had to ask him! Thankfully the female tooth fairy didn't forget. ;-)

Thursday: I got to go on a bike ride after work while Tim took the boys to swim lessons. It was such a great ride. I had mapped out a route that started mid-way between work and home and went on lightly traveled roads. I did an out and back - planned for about 23 miles. Well, my bike computer didn't work so I was kinda on my own. I did have my iPhone in my jersey pocket so I could see how far I had to go. The "out" part of the ride was awesome and I was worried about going "back". I worried that since the first half was so fun that going back would be really hard. I was also worried about beating daylight since I got a late start. With what I thought was about 2 miles left, I saw a stop light. Then I realized I was already back!! Such a great surprise!! So the back wasn't as bad as I expected and it only took me four minutes longer than the out segment. I'll take it! I'm looking forward to doing that ride many more times......and getting faster each time. =) 
My Thursday happy - green shoes! 
 All loaded up....just like old times! 
 Happy at the turnaround. Thanks HB for letting me get a ride in this week! 
When I got home, it was time to get Tim & Eli packed up for their Scout campout. Eli and Cole decided to have their own pretend campfire and roast pretend marshmallows for Smores. Oh I love these boys!!

Weekend: We've got a tale of two weekends this week. Tim and Eli left Friday afternoon to go on the Spring Scout Campout. Cole and I stayed home and did our own thing. It was really weird not having us all together but everyone had fun. 

Cole and Mommy: 
Friday afternoon after I picked him up from school, we headed to Target to pick up a few things. Of course, Cole insisted on visiting the "toy island" and spending time with the Legos. He had me take a few pictures of him holding boxes so we'd know what he wanted. After Target, we had a Chick-fil-a dinner date. 
 Visiting Legos - we must have spent 20 minutes looking at them. He was so happy! 
Statue of Liberty pose, Chick-fil-a style

Saturday: Cole woke up excited to watch tv. It's hard on a little boy to only get tv on Saturday and Sunday - he looks forward to it all week! I will say however, that he no longer asks for it during the week so that's good. He got to watch cartoons while I did some chores and then we headed to the Y. First for a swim and then to his soccer game. Soccer started off awesome. Cole saw that his friend Chloe was on the Kiwis and they were playing each other. Cole did great practicing and even started the game. After just a few minutes, he got hit in the chest with the ball after someone kicked it and then it was all over. He was done. He cried and I got him calmed down then made him sit with his team. He never wanted to go back in but at least he stayed with his team. Progress!!
 Awesome at practice


 Cole started the game - his pal Chloe was #8 just like his (she's in the pink shorts, right side of picture).
 He was a bruiser, just like before.
 And.....post soccer ball in the chest. Just hanging out watching...
 and playing on the goal / knocking it over (maybe he's a goalie?!).....
 and flopping around on the soccer balls. 
 His first time running through the tunnel - he thought that was fun. 
 Hello cuteness!
A little more post-nap tv (yes, I made cranky take a little nap and I gladly took a rest with him!).

Saturday night, Samantha came to stay with Cole so I could volunteer at the Umstead 100. I tried to remember when I was first involved in the race. I first ran it in April 2011 (just the 50 miler!) and have volunteered and/or paced almost every year since then. I am always at Aid Station 2 - Tom and Jerry's Ptomaine Tavern - and usually work the night shift. One year I did early morning but it's usually night. It's like a family reunion every year between the volunteers and the racers. This year was my buddy Tom's last one as Aid Station Captain - he's been doing it for 20 years! He does a great job every year and all the racers love his station. 
 Last year with Tom - so many years of hard work and fun. 
Aid Station #2 - Tom and Jerry's Ptomaine Tavern

I got home late and was worried about Cole getting up early. Thankfully he slept until 7am - phew! I taught Cole's class at church this morning and then stayed for our 2nd service. On the way home, I got a text from Tim that they were home. I opted not to tell Cole and he was so happy when we pulled in the driveway and saw that Daddy & Eli were home. He couldn't wait for me to open his door and took off running inside as soon as I did! The boys spent the afternoon happily back together and then annoying each other and then happy again. A normal afternoon! 

Eli and Daddy: 
Tim picked Eli up from Y camp and they headed to Medoc Mountain State Park. This was Eli's first real time tent camping (other than the back yard). From all the pictures, it looks like they had fun. They had a great camp set up - tent and screen house - and Eli did great sleeping in the tent. Friday night was mostly set up and a little hanging out with buddies. There was a campfire....and Smores. Tim is quoted as saying that Eli is a "Smores loving fool". =) Saturday, they did a 3 mile hike, had lunch and then the boys did their "mining" on the tree stump. They found a large tree that had fallen over and the boys were playing in the dirt on the roots, trying to get the dirt off and expose the roots. That translates to.....boys + dirt = happy dirty boys! Apparently that was a big attraction for the day. Tim also said that there was a large field that had huge telescopes in it where the boys were able to look at the sun during the day and then look at the moon that night. So cool! This morning they had a prayer service and sang some songs at camp before packing up and heading home. Eli looked bigger and tired when I saw him. From what I can tell, Tim and Eli both had a great time. Lots more camping (and Smores!) in their future! 
 Their setup - tent and screen house.
 Scouts around the campfire
 A lean to that the boys made. 
 Eli "mining" on the tree roots.
 Happy boys "mining" in the dirt.
 Heading out for a hike.
 Science fun
 Apparently the kids sat around making up songs. Eli sang one to me and it was hilarious!

Joy to the World, 
Barney's dead.
We bar-be-cue'd his head. 

I don't know what happened to his body,
I think someone flushed it in the potty.

Barney is dead.
 Look how dirty his face is! He was dirty and happy all weekend. 
 Smore's time!
 Sunday morning group time around the campfire
Apparently Eli slept the entire way home!