Lazy Hazy Days of Summer

Our evenings have been filled with a lot of outdoor time lately since the weather has been a little more bearable... meaning of course that it is only in the 90's vs. the 100's! The boys have spent a lot of time in their sandbox and on their slide. The slide is teaching them a lot about taking turns and waiting which has been a great learning tool! The sandbox is a blast, but is always immediately followed by the bathtub (especially since M is now quite fond of doing bodyslams in the sand!)

Texan?

J and I were sitting in the kitchen when we heard this mysterious language being called from the playroom... "Mommy, Heyulp me! Heyyyuuulp!" We walked slowly in wondering what that strange noise was to find N needing our assistance with his button. Daddy said, "N, do you need our help?" "Yes, Daddy I need you to heyulp me." J and I couldn't control our giggles... and I have to admit our dismay! We know he didn't hear that at home, so we are wondering... what is this strange new accent... hopefully a phase, but could it be? Is he... a Texan?

Rascal!

I have been trying really hard to get M to talk. I try to ignore his grunts, groans, screams, points, tugs, etc... as best I can in an effort to get him to say his words. Tonight, he came to me and grabbed my shirt and started pulling me as hard as he could. I got up, took his hand, and let him lead me to where else?... the kitchen. From there, he pointed to the refrigerator and grabbed the handles and started pulling on them and grunting. Well, you get the picture... eventually, we were back on the couch with a bowl of grapes. He ate a few and then N had a few. When N was done, he handed them back to M who pushed the bowl away. I said, "M, do you want any more grapes?" Did he answer me? Yes! ... He shook his head from side to side (no) with a huge teethy grin on his rascal of a face! Oh well... I guess that is better than nothing!

Soccer practice

N had his first soccer practice on Monday. I am sure that 3 year old soccer will be quite humorous, but the practice was actually very organized and fun. They did ball drills and really practiced! The team is all 3 and 4 year olds and I think N was the one who had the least "experience." He did a great job and followed directions wonderfully! Here are a few pictures: (Notice that we had to keep M entertained with a little ball the whole time too... he really wanted to play with the big kids!)

Chatterbox

N's vocabulary is really expanding lately. He has become quite the chatterbox! Yesterday, Daddy came home for lunch and we sat at the table to eat. N wasn't eating his food, so Daddy told him that he needed to eat instead of talk. N said, " I wait and eat yater, Daddy. Now, I jush wanna talk." That pretty much sums up the past few days of living with Mr. Talkative! He has some really cute things that he is mixing up lately. He mixes up being excited and being proud. Today, when I picked him up from MMO, he ran to me and said, "Mommy, I miss you. I so pwoud you heuh!" He also mixes up times and thinks that anything that occurred in the past happened "yast night." I will tell him he needs to go brush his teeth and he will tell me..."I alwedy bwush my teeth yast night... don you membah?" He also finishes a lot of his statements with "don't you remember?" He is really trying to figure out when things occur. He told me earlier today that he wanted to go take a nap "yater nex week." His newest saying is "I jus wanna tawk you bout somtin." Isn't it just wonderfully amazing how their little minds work?!

Errands

Yesterday I absolutely had to go to the post office. Normally, I try to do these things without the boys, but this was one of those times that it could not be avoided. Thinking I would be clever, I went to the remote, "country" post office which is about 10 minutes from our house. The boys were very well behaved for the first minute we were in there. N stayed next to me and M let me hold him, but they are both pretty independent so this did not last long. N got a little antsy so of course, M joined in. Before I know it, N is singing a beautiful rendition of "Da Issy Bissy Pider" and the spider is crawling all over the post office. M thinks this is hilarious and starts to try to climb up the tables with envelopes, etc... with the spider. I quickly tell N that although his singing is beautiful, we need to stay away from the displays, so to please go stand in a particular designated spot that was clear of anything. N and M were obedient and N decides that since I enjoyed his singing so much (which I do!) he would continue and still be obedient by staying where I told him to. (He's so smart!) Much to everyone's enjoyment in the post office, the boys start singing "Rindy Roundy Rody"... (Interpretation: Ring around the Rosie) And of course, before I can get out the sentence, "Now boys, let's not fall down on the post office floor..." They are both ROLLING on the floor laughing hysterically. It was really cute...albeit a little counterproductive since we had just gotten out of the bathtub, but cute. A lady next to me said that she never dreamed she would be so entertained at her trip to the post office!

24 / 7 Fun!

Whew! What a week and weekend we have had! Gracie and Bob-O came in town for a few days. We had our first day of preschool and Mother's Morning Out and then to top it all off... Uncle J came in town! This was by far, a highlight in N's week! N adores Uncle J (or "Unc Vamie") and, as you can see in the picture, even did his best to dress like him! I think by the time Uncle J left yesterday, M was pretty enamored as well! After all, Uncle J is 24/7 fun. They played baseball, had wrestlemania all over the house, went swimming every day, played at the park... you get the idea! We had a blast and it was so much fun having him here. They just built this neat sprinkler / splash park near our house and we went to that. It has a playground and also a sprinkler area that is perfect for younger children. I am not sure who had more fun: N, M, or their Uncle!

First day of school!

N and I went to open house at his preschool on Tuesday. When we pulled into the parking lot, N said "Hooway Mommy, my school!" I knew from there that he was not going to be a clingy kid! N went right in to his new classroom, met his new teacher, and started playing. He did not seem to care at all that I was there or if I was staying. On Thursday, both the boys went for their first day of school. N is going to 3 year old preschool and M is just going for 1 morning a week for Mother's Morning Out. Both did really well. N was very excited to go and was especially thrilled when we presented him with his new backpack and lunchbox. M was very excited about his new backpack too, but threw a fit that he didn't also have a Thomas lunch box! I guess we've already hit that stage of having to buy 2 of everything! M cried a little, but did very well. The teachers said they both were great and M's teachers especially were amazed by how "happy" he is and that he put himself to sleep!

Mommy was very happy for the break. Gracie was in town, so we got to go do "girl" stuff. We went out to a girly lunch place and went to some antique and fabric stores. It was a much needed break for us both and fun to be together!

Gameday!

The Jones household was all abuzz this week with college football season beginning. We had some friends over this afternoon who are fellow SEC fans... (LSU, but we won't hold that against them!) and "pretended" to tailgate. We had a ton of chips and dips and vegies and dips and crackers and dips, etc... and chicken wings of course! Basically, we were all depressed that we are all so far away from our teams, so we did our best to get in the spirit anyway. While all this was going on, we also had 4 little boys running around playing, fussing, tattle telling, and eating. Needless to say, we didn't get to watch too much football, but we had fun anyway. J's team isn't playing until tonight anyway and A's team isn't even on television today. Being the football fans we are, we tried to get N to get in the same spirit, but he stayed true to his roots and wore one of his baseball outfits. He did sport his Auburn helmet for a little while (until M stole it.) It was so big on M that it just kind of bobbled on his head, but he loved it anyway!