Wonderful Weekend

We had such a great weekend! It was nice enough to spend some time outside, the boys were pretty good and we hung out with some friends. Friday night was lazy night around the house.

Saturday, we took the boys on a bike ride around the school and the lake. We stopped at the lake for a little while and chatted with the ducks. Eli broke the bad news to them that we didn't bring bread with us. At his request, I ended up pulling Eli around in the trailer so I had to work extra hard! Once we got home and changed, we headed to the Fairgrounds Flea Market - well, us and two-thirds of the city! It was so nice outside. We walked around with the boys in the wagon checking out all the potential good deals. Didn't find what I was looking for on that day but left with some ideas. We tried to have nap time after lunch but neither boy was really interested in it. We did manage to have a little quiet time. After "nap", Eli's buddy Gray and his Mom came over to play and have dinner with us. The boys had fun running around outside and we had a great dinner together. It was a lot of fun for the adults to hang out and talk too. Eli & Cole were asleep in their beds less than half an hour after Gray left. Tired little boys.

Sunday, it was Cole's turn for a playdate. His buddy Boyd (who used to go to school with him) came over with his Mom to spend the morning with us and have lunch together. The boys had a fun time with each other; they were best buds at school. While Cole & Boyd played, Tim took Eli for a hike at Umstead and even managed to snap some great pictures for me with his phone. Eli looks so big and grown up in the pictures - my outdoors boy! After hiking, Tim and Eli ran back by the flea market to try to find a lamp I had spotted the day before. I was so happy when they came home with it. Thankfully we did get a break and the boys took simultaneous naps Sunday afternoon. We definitely needed a little rest. After naps, we spent more time outside and tried to soak up as much of the great weather as possible before it chills off again this week.

So there you have it - our wonderful weekend. The best part was that not only did we stay busy, we stayed happy busy and the boys were pretty good all weekend. Very much enjoyed it!

Eli hooked up to Mommy's bike and ready to ride

Cole - hooked up to Daddy's bike, snack in hand.

Tired boy after our flea market adventure.

Gray & Eli took turns pushing each other on the Unimog.

Going to be a great mountain biker.

Such sweet happy faces - pretending to drive the "bus"

Cole was not happy that he got stuck with the tricycle

He was much happier when he snagged the two wheeled bike with training wheels.

Dinner party Saturday night.

And a little post dinner entertainment provided by Mickey Mouse.

Cole cracked me up making trains and then pushing them off the end table.

Sunday morning - Cole + Boyd

Eli the hiker boy

He loved it!

Posing for Daddy on the rock wall. Doesn't he look so big with his trekking poles and CamelBak?!

Snack time break.

Ahhhhh, my beautiful lamp.

Running around after nap time - love the back yard.

The boys also explored the "way back" yard. Eli stopped Cole and then

led him to a secret spot in the bushes to hide from us. I see trouble on my hands in the future!

Baking at Ronald McDonald House

This afternoon, I had the great opportunity to bake at the Ronald McDonald House with my friend Carol. I was so excited to spend the afternoon with her, doing something we both love for wonderful families. I had no idea we would actually get to meet some of the families staying there, hear their stories and meet some of the children. As we baked, and as the yummy smells drifted through the house, kids started coming to see what we were doing. Chocolate chip cookies were first out of the oven so we put some on a platter and let me just say, if you bake it, they will come. =) Homemade goodies just seem to make everyone smile. We had a great time and when all was said and done, here's what we had baked:

• 4 dozen chocolate chip cookies
• 3 dozen caramel apple oatmeal cookies
• 1 pan marshmallow cereal squares
• Bundt cake of banana bread
• 24 cinnamon streusel muffins
• 20 shortbread cookies
• 1 container of no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies

Our ingredients

My sweet friend, Carol

Oh my goodness, this little boy was scrumptious. I wanted to take him home with me - and offered to do so many times to his Mom. His nickname is "Poot-Boy". He has a 4 month old sister, Bobbi, at the hospital waiting for a heart transplant. Listening to his Mom and her story, it was amazing. She has such a great attitude and is handling everything with such strength and grace.

Sweet kids. Andrea (in the middle) loved hugging on her friends, saying "cheese" and then coming to see what their picture looked like in my camera. They ALL loved the digital camera and being able to see themselves.

Me & Carol

Our finished work

Front and back - or is it Back and front?

Cole came home from school with his coat on like this....

Is this the front or back?

Is this the back or front?

Turns out, Cole LOVES zippers (zips as he calls them) and routinely unzips his coat. So in an effort to keep his coat on when it's cold outside, his teachers put in on him backwards so he can't reach the zipper. We saw this technique when Eli was Cole's age but he never needed it. Cole, on the other hand, must have it to keep his jacket on. It just cracks me up to see it!

Tuesday

Some fun stuff on this Tuesday. This week at school, Eli's class is talking about their parents and families. The teachers asked for parent volunteers to come into class and do an activity with the kids - the activity could be job, culture, hobby related, really anything you wanted to do. I decided to wear my jobsite gear and talk to them about what you wear on a construction site and why. I asked them about each item I had on and why they thought I wore it. Hardhat - in case I bump my head, of course! Glasses - so something doesn't fly in my eye. Gloves - so I don't hurt my finger. Safety vest - they didn't quite get that one at first but then agreed it was so someone could see me better. Boots - so wood didn't fall on my toes, absolutely! The kids were so great. I had made them each a paper safety vest so after we talked about my safety gear, they colored their own safety vests. I thought for sure I could keep the class occupied for 30 minutes or so. Nope, turns out a class of 3 year olds doesn't like to focus on one thing that long! After coloring, the teacher read some books before another Mom came in and did a cracking game with hard boiled eggs. The kids colored their eggs and then bumped them together to crack them.

After the fun activities, Eli & I ran to get his hair cut before getting Cole and heading home. This was a big hair cut because it was Eli's first clipper cut!! He got #4 around the back and sides and then a scissor cut on top - just like Daddy!! I was so proud of Eli, he did great. Once he got used to the clippers, it was no big deal. We all like his new haircut.

Class getting settled to start our construction discussion.

Eli's table coloring their vests.

Me with all the sweet kiddos.

Eli crushed his first egg and then put his name on his 2nd.

Learning exactly where to "bump" them.

Getting a clipper cut from Leo.

Eli liked checking out what Leo was doing in the mirror.

Awesome haircut!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Had fun today celebrating the three loves of my life - Daddy, Eli & Cole. When everyone got up, there were treats waiting for them. The afternoon was spent at Valentine's Day parties at school. Lots of love (and sweet treats!) made for a great day.

Heart placemats, a book and candy for each of the boys.

Eli was kinda groggy - checking out his surprises.

Cole was quite happy.

Eli's class lining up to perform songs.

I love self-portraits. My not-so-little Valentine.

Cole and his sweet teacher Jan'nae. He loves her so much and she's so sweet.

My little Valentine.

Our lone attempt at family self portrait. Eli was very specific last week asking both Tim & I if we wanted to come to his "Monday party".

Cole, of course, joined the big boys in Eli's room. Looks like they're checking out each other's plates.

After snacks, Cole went straight for the shopping cart. He sure loves that thing!

Time for a little music - Cole with a maraca. Several other kids in class joined him and we had a mini band.

Mommy's sweet little Valentine's - Cole was not interested in taking a picture; there were big boy toys to play with!

2 Good days (and a not-so-good day)

The weekend was short, the weekend was long - the story of parenthood! This weekend actually started early when Cole was sent home at 4:15pm Thursday with a slight fever. Thus he had to stay out Friday - he stayed home with Mommy. We had SUCH a great day. We hung out, played, ran errands. Cole was happy and I think he liked the Mommy one-on-one time. Both he & Eli slept like champs Friday night, sleeping until 6:45am Saturday. That's some serious sleeping in at our house. =)

Saturday morning, we did our normal thing. Breakfast, a few cartoons and a trip to the Y for Mommy and the boys. During our Y trip, Daddy painted over our red wall in our living room (I finally have a plan for that room - yay!). It took 11 sample cans of paint to pick the perfect color but it looks great! Now we (or more accuratelyTim) just have to paint the rest of the room and get it finished. I'm quite excited about it and feel like we're finally growing up. It only took 7 years to figure out a plan for the living room. Saturday after the Y, we ran a few errands and had lunch at Chick-fil-a. The boys had fun playing in the playground and we thought it would wear them out. Eli took a short nap but Cole wanted to stay up and play. The rest of the day was spent hanging out, playing inside and out.

Sunday morning, the boys were up much earlier - as in the 5 o'clock hour earlier. Ugh. Cole was up quite a bit during the night and was just off. Due to that, we had to cancel his playdate with his buddy Boyd - I was so bummed. Then he was just off all day. We ran a few early errands as a family (Target and Lowe's) and then Eli & I headed off to play at Ryan's. It was GORGEOUS outside so the boys played outside for a while and then inside. It was great to catch up with Carol and the boys had a blast together. Once we got home, Cole & Eli both refused to nap. These days I've gotten ok with them not wanting to nap as long as they are happy....or at least tolerable. Cole was a bear all day but Eli was fun. About mid-afternoon we had to get out of the house so we headed to Lake Lynn to feed the ducks. I pushed Eli in the stroller and Tim toted Cole in the backpacker. We thought for sure Cole would fall asleep - he finally did about 5 minutes from home on the way back. We had a great time outside feeding the ducks oyster crackers and honey nut cheerios. Bet you didn't know ducks love cheerios did you? That outing made the mood in our house much better and we survived the night unscathed. =) The boys went to bed fairly well and then we got ourselves ready for another week.

The nice weather is making us all happier - we're looking forward to the nice week ahead!

Eli and his new I-Screamer monster truck, Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen monster trucks. He carries these trucks everywhere!

A game of "which is bigger" and "which is smaller". Eli is getting good at putting things in order.

Two cute boys watching Saturday morning cartoons.

Saturday at Chick-fil-a. This is Eli's new favorite pose for the camera.

Cole-Man......"where is my food?!"

Mommy and Sweet Cole-man

Daddy got in on a little play action.

Love this action shot - makes me think of a Superhero.

Mommy and Eli.

"You coming Cole?"

I caught Cole drinking and driving Saturday night. We had to have a talk.

Sunday, Eli & Ryan drawing "roads" with sidewalk chalk.

And then driving their monster trucks on the roads.

I was enlisted to draw each of them a Tow Mater monster truck. Hard to believe these two met when they were 8 weeks old!

Sunday afternoon we made some Red Velvet Cupcakes for Valentine's Day. Eli is my little baking assistant. Here he is wisking the flour mix for me.

Aren't my helpers adorable?

Before our walk to the lake - neat shot of Eli in the stroller.

After being grumpy for a while, Cole was so happy to go for an urban hike.

Hanging out, feeding ducks.

Told you that they love cheerios!

Eli had to break the news to the ducks that we had nothing else to give them.

Daddy and his boys

Literally 5 minutes from home, Cole finally gave it up. Then, of course, once we got home he was raring to go.