Happy Birthday Jules!!!

I hope you are lucky enough to have a friend who has been by your side from this... days of playing dress up (well, actually I had to force Julia to play dress up, but still..)

to this...(maid of honor at my wedding)

and this...to loving my children and spoiling them rotten..

Dear Jules, You have been my best bud since forever. My favorite childhood memories involve you and your love of ketchup, purple, and Coletrain, etc.  You have been by my side for every important thing in my life.  You put me in my place when I need it.  You love my babies as if they were your own.  You drop your life to visit me.  You forgive me for the years I was a crappy friend.  You make me laugh out loud.  I know I can always count on you.  I love you to pieces and am thankful for your friendship. Have a fabulous 29th birthday friend. You are 29, right?

Let's go racin'

Today we took the boys to their first Nascar race. The Nationwide series was in town and we bought some cheap seats and decided to give it a go.  It's the first time in a looooong time we've been able to go places without packing the kitchen sink and so we're getting a little more adventurous.  We knew we weren't going to stay for the race (it was at 6:30 p.m.) so we thought we'd take the boys to watch qualifying and see how they did.  It was great!  I grew up going to races so I really love the sound of a loud engine and the smell of burning rubber. Strange I know, but I still do.  The boys were a little startled by the loudness at first, but then settled in and decided they kinda liked it. It was so fun--hysterical to watch their reactions to things (and to watch them "people watch")!  And there's always good people watching at a Nascar race.  They kept talking about Lightning McQueen--they were really hoping he was going to be in the race--so cute!!

I used to be Richard Petty's biggest fan--can you tell?

CD was not so sure about the noise.

CJ was a fan!

So classic, I finally get a picture with my boys and someone is picking a nose, HA!!

Swim lessons

Little CJ is enjoying swim lessons. This is his first time taking and he's doing great!  It's so precious to watch as he learns.  He's jumping in now and learning things like how to kick his legs, how to pull himself out of the pool, how to float on his back, and arm skills.  They have adorable ways of teaching them too!  I'm so impressed with how the instructors teach (and how young they are...wow...they make me feel ancient)!  It's our summer goal to have CJ swimming like a champ so we may go ahead and sign up for a few private lessons too. I think he will really benefit from one on one attention. 

We're having a busy summer, it is flying by! We've had some visits from family and have been busy with MOMS club activities and other summer stuff.  Toodles for now:)

Lately

Summertime!

We're having a great summer! It feels like it's been summer forever here because it's been warm for quite a while.  No complaints here.  We've been playing in the sprinkler, painting, getting together with friends, grilling, etc.  Big C and I have even been out on a few dates, yay!

The boys are really at adorable ages.  They are growing so fast though!  CD says 500 times a day "I can do it MYself!!"  When he wakes up in the morning, if CJ isn't awake yet, he can't stand it and he just has to get him up.  It's sweet!  CJ loves to get up and get himself dressed and come and surprise me.  And he always matches his clothes perfectly, ha! I am always kind of surprised by this. Do all children match their clothes?  I find this amazing.  He's such a big boy. He told me today that he was going to tell Daddy on me and I was going to get a time out.  I am having to remind these boys who the boss is because they forget sometimes (but not all the time, mwa ha ha)..

Funny story -- Big C tried to put Little C in time out the other day and Little C said, "Dad, you are not putting me in time out. You are not the boss.  Mom is." This one had us laughing so hard! We are constantly hearing the most hysterical things come out of these little mouths. 

On another subject we had a great Fourth of July.  We walked to the edge of our neighborhood and watched fireworks.  It is the first time the boys have seen fireworks and guess what? They couldn't have cared less, ha! They were just excited to be out after dark and chasing Evie around.

PS  Congratulations to my good friend who just had a precious baby boy!!

Good times

Today I..

• took the boys to the zoo
• wondered if we should be an exhibit instead of visitors
• got tired of hearing my own voice, begging and pleading with my children to listen
• answered a million questions, making things up so often that I, too, am starting to believe my made up explanations
• hid in the laundry room and ate frozen cookie dough
• received a text from my husband inviting us out for Mexican
• have been dreaming of a very strong margarita ever since
• realized it's Wednesday and we are that much closer to Friday, Oh yeah!
• am thankful for my precious, curious, energetic, WILD boys:)

A challenging time

These are the faces of angels.

But don't be misled.  Little one is surely giving us a run for our money.  When CJ was born, I read one book about schedules, naps, and feeding, and that was that.  When he reached the terrible two's, well they weren't really terrible at all.  But CD, oh boy....Now we get it.  We are struggling with toddler-dom.  He is headstrong and stubborn like no person I've met before.  If he asks for something and I say no, he will continue to ask for the next, oh, 8 hours if need be. He does not like to listen.  (I'm laughing as I write this). I am trying to be steadfast in not giving in to his demands.  I believe in boundaries.  It is my job to teach them and mold my sweet angel into a respectful little man.  But it ain't easy.  My blood pressure is probably reaching alarming numbers.  I fear I'm shaving years off my life.  It will be worth it, I know, but wow, this is hard!! 

If the house gets quiet, we know we are in trouble.  CD is up to something.  My brand new ottoman?  He colored all over it today within 10 minutes of it sitting in my den.  We are so careful to hide EVERYTHING but somehow that little stinker can just find things.  He got into my hand sanitizer this morning and this afternoon emptied out a tube of face cream. And where on earth did he find those screws that he just put in his mouth??!!  I can't turn my back for a second!! Will someone please come do my laundry and scrub the kitchen floor for me so that I can keep my eyes peeled on this little stinker?

CJ was a different child.  I'm not comparing I promise.  Just laughing at the differences!  Different temperament.  Easy going.  Just didn't get into the things that little one seems to.  If he found something interesting like a screw or a bug, he'd bring it to me instead of eating it.  So we had no idea what terrible two's meant.  But CD is teaching us!   He's our angel and we love him. It's so amazing how different 2 children can be and what a different skill set I need in teaching each of them.  We're getting there, slowly but surely.  Life with these two boys is never dull!!

On my list of books to read are Siblings Without Rivalry, Shepherding a Child's Heart, and 123 Magic.  I know they will help me, I can feel it:)

Still here

Hey there! I've been out of blogging practice and have some catching up to do.  A few weekends ago the Mr. and I had a wedding to attend in Annapolis.  So Nana and Papa flew on over to keep these boys of mine.  They stayed an extra couple days so they could spend some time with me too, sweet!!

We went to the zoo.  We caught lightning bugs.  We blew bubbles.  We rode a train.  We rode a carousel.  We shopped.  We had so much fun.  I cried when they left and begged them to move to Tennessee.  It ain't gonna happen but a girl can dream.  My family warms my heart.

Okay, catching up on pictures...

CD loves bugs but unfortunately has quite a grip and is still learning how to be gentle.. Not a good day to be a lightning bug in our yard..