FREEDOM!

Due to extenuating circumstances, Mimi and Pop Pop have not been able to take the boys for quite a while... that was rectified yesterday! They now have the kids until this weekend! Ahhhh.... As much as I love love love my boys, and miss them, I am so excited to have a little 'freedom!' Time to catch up around the house, and take advantage of some quality time with my husband.......... who I have been married to for EIGHT years as of yesterday!

It is the best feeling in the world to be married to your best friend and love of your life! God definitely made us for each other. Over the past eight years, we have experienced extremely high highs, and extremely low lows... through all of them, our marriage is stronger and we are better together because of each experience. I can honestly say that I love my husband more today than I did the day I married him. And I didn't think that was actually possible. The love has changed (and matured... I think ;), but it's so much stronger! I love that man!

Now.... today is day #1 of my so-called 'freedom.' What SHALL I do with myself????

Pick up the house (OMG - if you could see the MESS of STUFF just strewn around!), clean the house (thoroughly), change beds, wash, fold and put away the laundry, cook dinner (maybe not!?), blog (we see where my priorities lie), organize some things, and some other basic needs of maintaining a household that don't seem to transpire when you have two little rugrats running around distracting you!!!! That ought to fill my day!?

What will the kids be doing? What WON'T they be doing may be a shorter list!!! I met Mama and Daddy at 4:30 yesterday afternoon... before bed, they went to Five Guys (had a Popsicle drink - aka PowerAde), ate a cookie (or two), went to Wal-Mart and bought a new pool, rode on the mule (while eating suckers), and went to bed at 10!!!!

Sam and Jake with their cookies...

Sam and Jake on the mule with their suckers! (this SO captures the adoration Jake (Sam does too) has for Pop Pop!!!) Today sounds like they will be going for a boat ride and swimming in their pool. I'm sure there will be lots more involved!!!!!

When I met Mama and Daddy to give them the kids, Sam immediately got into their car. When I asked him for a bye-bye kiss, he looked at me, smiled and said, "I'm way too busy Mommy!" I informed him that I would just have to take him home with me if I couldn't get a kiss. He RAN and gave me a kiss!!!! Once we got them buckled up and I started getting into my (lonely) car, Sam started grinning and squealing with delight! Things like this COULD give a Mommy a complex.... I'm trying not to let it!!!! I'm glad he was so excited to spend time with Mimi and Pop Pop... really, I am!

I have a few more stories saved up:

• The last time we went to the farm, Sam and Jen were there for a few hours alone while Jake and I took Nanny to lunch. They rode the four wheeler and stopped to look at some buzzards. Once they rode closer, they realized that the buzzards were eating a dead baby fawn. It was too late to turn around, Sam saw it! He asked what it was, Jen told him it was a dead baby deer, and that was the end of it. He wasn't bothered by it in the least! I'm surprised... and glad!!! Guess death hath no sting at three!? (Later, Jack - their black lab - drug the deer down to the barn... still didn't bother Sam!)
• We watch Finding Nemo A LOT in the car... it's Jake's favorite, and I'm too lazy to change it most of the time! Sam has begun speaking whale.... just like Dorey! Too funny!
• At church, Sam has 'graduated' up to the three-yr-old class. They go to Butterfly Island, which is where they have a puppet show and sing and dance. We went and spied on Sam... he was standing right in front... not moving, not singing, not smiling.... typical! We asked him afterwards if he had fun (he did), if he sang and danced, etc. His answer: "No, I didn't, but everybody else did. I was only there to learn about Jesus."
• I was feeding the kids dinner (which tends to be my most frazzled meal of the day), and gave them each a fork (Jake can NOT eat without his FORK (whick sounds more like a curse word than 'fork'!). Sam tells me that he can't eat with this fork because it's Jake's. I told him it was HIS fork and that it was fine. He insisted that it was JAKE'S fork. After much frustration, I took a new fork over to him and took the other fork. Low and behold, it had Jake's name written on it!?
• One morning when Sam came to my room (at 7:00 --- thanks to the little clock in his room, it was NOT 6:15!), he got into my bed and said, "One day I will be bigger than Daddy and can sleep in your bed." I asked him where Daddy would sleep then, and he said, "In my room." Oh, my precious little boy!!!!
• The other day, I was trying to accomplish SOMETHING while the kids played. I heard squealing (delight), then I heard screaming (pain). I ran to see what the problem was... Sam had slammed Jake's hand in the door. Not the wide open part. Jake had put his hand through the crack of the door and Sam had pushed and slammed the door not understanding why there was so much resistance!!!! Jake's little hand had a blue/red line across it. It got a little puffy, and it took a lot of TLC to calm him down! Poor baby! I really thought we were headed to the ER with a broken hand. Sam honestly didn't know he was hurting Jake.... but he got in big trouble, and we went over the "if you hear Jake screaming, you need to throw your hands in the air just in case it's you that's hurting him" rule!!!! YIKES!!! I cringe just thinking about it!
• Sometimes we end up in the car right at nap time. My primary goal is to get the kids home AWAKE!!!! If they fall asleep in the car, it's bye-bye nap time for me!!!! One time, I kept asking Sam if he was awake (he had on sunglasses and I couldn't tell). He finally tired of my asking and said, "Yes, Mommy... this is how we look when we are riding!"

That's all I have for now! Ahhhh.... One thing done on the list.... moving onto picking up and cleaning!!!!! I think!!!!

More Summer Fun...

Summertime brings lots of fun... and lots of pictures!!!!

At the farm again! The boys and I went out and spent a few days with Jen!They enjoyed this little tub over the big pool! (Of course they're naked... it's the farm - they think that gives them freedom!!!)One of MANY four-wheeler rides! ("WHEEEEEEL... RIDE" --Jake)More playtime in their pool on the deck!Yes, Sam is relieving himself, and no, it's not the farm... but my house doesn't have wet footprints tracked through it either!!!!!!Jake and his 'gasses!"Sam having fun at a cookout!Jake and I did too!Jen has been giving Sam and Jake swim lessons. They're doing WONDERFUL! Jen's the best!Jake chillin' while eating his lunch at the pool! See his head? He ATE it on the pool deck!This is the same injury just a day or so later! It looks awful now! Poor baby!Yes, this is my little exhibitionist! He is ALWAYS removing his diaper for me! When I get him up, he always tells me, "Mommy, Daddy, Diaper!" So if he gets it, WHY does he still DO it????"Funny?" (Actually, no Jake it's not... but he's still just SO CUTE!)Jake, what are you doing baby?"Go poo poo!"Sam in the jumpy house at the neighbor's birthday party!Jake in the jumpy house... he IS crying; however, he loved playing in it, and actually got in it way before Sam did!!!!Our playdate friends at the pool! It's nice that the kids are at such a fun age for outings to the pool (a little more stress-free, that is)!!!!

He's full of QUESTIONS!!!

Jake: "Why Mom?" (To EVERYTHING!!!)

Sam:

Why is it raining?

Where does the rain come from?

Why do the clouds get full?

Where do the clouds come from?

How does the Sun suck up water?

Where does it get the water from?

Why are cars different colors?

Why doesn't everybody have a car like ours?

Who is he?

Who is she?

Why is he/she doing that?

Why are you doing that?

Where is Daddy?

Why does Daddy have to work?

Why do we need food?

Where are we going?

Is Jake a baby?

Am I a big boy?

Why are I a big boy?

Why is Jake a baby?

Where are Mimi and Pop Pop?

Can Mimi and Pop Pop come over to see me?

Why not?

Why are they not close enough?

What's vacation?

Can I go on vacation?

Where is Disney World?

Can we go to the beach?

Can I have Orange Juice?

Just because Jake does, doesn't mean I can (I think he's heard this quite a bit!!!)

***This is only a FEW of the questions I am so blessed to answer each day!***

Pictures...

I forgot to post pictures from Sam's last day of his first year of school. Here he is with his two awesome teachers! Even though his face doesn't look like it, he really really liked his teachers a lot!!!Mommy and Daddy and Jake enjoying school festivities with him!

And Mimi and Pop Pop did too! They are so proud of their little guy!

We always have lots and lots of fun at the farm!!!

We put Jake down for a nap, and this is what I walked into when I heard him call Mommy! He was so quiet! And he does this quite often!? Sometimes there is poop, sometimes there isn't!This time... there was POOP! At least he doesn't play in it, but wherever his hiney lands, there (of course) is poop! YUM! The last time he did this to me before he went to sleep, I finally used masking tape to keep the diaper on... I went back in, and he STILL HAD THE DIAPER OFF!!!! The tape was still firmly around his middle!!!!! Geez....Jack comes back with a wide assortment of bones and carcasses... this appeared to be a hip bone from a deer!? He's an animal!!!Sprinkler... Jake and Jack loved it...
Sam took a little getting used to! BUT, I think he was just worried about messing up his clothes!!! HAHAHA!!!!

Spiderman Goggles!

He actually got a few bites on his hiney from this!!!!

Somehow, sprinkler fun always turns into naked time for the kids!!!!????

Sam and Jake's pool! TONS of fun for these guys! They LOVE their pool on their deck!Jake dumping water on himself...Jake dumping water out of the pool! (By the end of the day, the pool had MAYBE 1/4 of the water left!!!!)

Sam hard at working helping Daddy!Sorry... they're just so darn cute!Daddy even let him push the mower!

GET READY!!!

So EVERYTHING that comes out of my kids mouths is so stinking cute... and extremely profound and smart! That being said (and fore-warned)... GET READY!!! I have some pictures and stories coming your way!!!

• BJ was singing the alphabet to Jake last night, and Jake SANG it back! It was sooo cute (and pretty stinkin' smart)!!!! He kept singing, "Emo, ox, i, e" for w, x, y, z.... and SMILIN' the whole time!!!!
• This morning I asked Sam what he was doing, and I got the (foot shuffling) "Nooothingggg...." answer! He's not old enough to be giving me this answer!!!!!
• Jake knows all of his basic colors! WOW! And he totally surprised us... he usually only 'knows' them right after we tell him! Genius!!!!
• I splurged and got myself Chick-Fil-A this afternoon and the kids some nuggets. After we finished, Sam asked me where his Happy Meal prize was. I informed him that this meal didn't come with a prize. He calmly asked, "Did you get a sad meal, Mommy?"
• Sam showed Mimi his flowers that he had planted, but didn't know what kind they were. Mimi told him they were Periwinkles. Sam started calling them Pink Winkles! Pink Winkles they are!!!!
• Jake still can't get on the couch by himself (which I was glad of because he just crawls to the edge and nose-dives off for sport). But Sam, being the great big brother that he is, went to the bathroom and got his stool, put it in front of the couch and showed Jake how to get up using that! Sweet... but not-so-great for Mommy.....
• Everything Jake says is followed by 'mom.' "Help Mom," "Thanks Mom," "Why Mom," "All done Mom," "I see you Mom," .... you get the picture!!!!
• Whether they fall and hurt themselves, or I spat their hands, both kids are immediately holding out said boo boo and saying, "Kiss it Mommy!" So cute and endearing... and extremely hard for me to keep my 'mad face' on when they're in trouble!!!!
• Sam has also showed Jake how to go downstairs. I encourage tummies because it's safer (or appears so to me). Sam goes one step at a time... Jake holds his arms and legs up and Superman's down the whole flight of stairs at once!
• Jake's latest habbit is to take his clothes off when he wakes up... diaper and all! Luckily he doesn't PLAY in the poop when it's in there, but it's on his hiney and wherever his hiney goes, there is also poop! Lovely.... as I type this, he is awake from his nap, and I am afraid of what I might find!!!! But I'm keeping on.... why????
• I have figured out how to get Sam to be quiet! In the kitchen at least! I put a bird feeder outside the window (which he has taken full ownership of... when it needs re-filling). He would get so excited when they would come to the feeder that it scared them away. Now, he whispers when he's near it! Ahhhh.....
• Jake pretty much says everything now. Sentences, thoughts, all of it. He even talks on the phone to Mimi and Pop Pop (there's a lot of babbling, then discernible words, followed by more babbling --- but he has A LOT to say!). Funny words: Fork (well, it doesn't sound like fork!?), S (well, it sounds like @$$), amongst other funny things he says!!!!

Pictures.................

More documentation of my baby's curls.... funny story about those to follow!When Sam wakes up and comes to my room, I have him a 'pillow bed' ready so he'll stay somewhat still and quiet so I can doze and/or get ready for the day.... and so he won't wake Jake up!The kids at church....Sam's last day of his first year of school... :-(School's out for the summer!!!! No, actually, I have no idea why he was naked (although it happens quite a bit with BOTH of my children!)Playing with Sam (aka "Bubby") is definitely a hard hat adventure!Jake's chillin.... watching SOMETHING on T.V.Playdate! All the kids (it's amazing) all lined up...

Landon (Jessica's), Riley and Ansley (Stacey's), Kaden and Macey (Cathy's), Collin (Kelly's), Jake and SamJake had JUST woken up... hair's a MESS!!!! This would make some people think of cutting it.... not me --- yet!!!!Sam half-dressed (again)!?

Sam dressing himself... hallelujah!Jake zoned (again)!I shaved Sam's head!!!!!!He looks like trouble!!!Sam and Jake with their new sand toys... waiting for their sand box to get here!It made it, and they couldn't wait for Daddy to get home and put it together!!! And of course assistance was needed for such man work!!!The signs say it all (and the smiles)!!!!This is hair stuck in the wheels of the bus.... Poor Jake stuck it on his head while it was on! When I finally dislodged it, there were some locks lost!!!!