OUR WEEKEND IN PHOTOS

We started our weekend off with some splashing, and were met by the Kennedy and Sanchez families, as well as Michelle and her mama and sister and their kiddos. It was a treat to see Mason, and kind of a shock to see how very much he's grown over the summer. Definitely not a baby anymore! Sorry for the lack of photos of him, but he moves FAST and I didn't get a single picture that featured more than his booty scooting out of frame... Anyway, we all enjoyed eating a picnic dinner and just hanging out, so thank you all for coming together!

James and Manu spent a lot of time washing their vehicles:

While Jay and I calorie-busted on BLT clubs, the kids attempted to eat the biggest corn dogs we've ever seen. James made it halfway through, Cora gave up after about 4 bites. Then she ate my green beans. She's just not a fan of foods that are bad for her. I don't get it...

(P.S. Cora faceplanted into the concrete while driving a tiny tractor around on Wednesday and scraped her nose pretty bad. It's healing, but she'll probably look like Rudolph for another week at least.)

Leo is such a water baby!

I stole this one from Christina, the 4 big kids right before sunset (after Mason and Gage and Aila headed home). I'm pretty sure there is no better entertainment combo for toddlers than trucks and water...

On Saturday we decided to be productive. We collectively mowed the lawn, picked up branches and sticks, pressure-washed the front porch and back walkway, changed all the sheets, fixed the washing machine and did about 33 loads of laundry, cleaned the floors, did the dishes, cut down the basketball hoop, went grocery shopping, baked breakfast cookies (WAY better than store bought), and began prep of egg salad and chicken salad for the week. And yet we still managed to have some fun outside playing in the pools!

Helping daddy mow the lawn:

(When I walked up to take this picture, James yelled at me to get off the grass because "We're mowing the lawn and it isn't safe for you. And you're in the way". Betcha he's heard that before...)

Taking down the basketball hoop (that we've never used). Jay later filled in the hole with concrete and we'll be taking the pole to the scrap yard.

(That's a bat in Jay's hand. Species unknown for sure, but we think Evening Bat. Apparently there were about 8 of them using the basketball hoop as a roost. Sorry little bats.)

Today we did less work and more playing...

 And that's a wrap. Now it's blogged and we can start our week afresh!

CREATIVITY AND SIBLING STUFF

The kids woke up earlier than usual this morning, so they were unusually productive. Jay and I really love to see their creativity in action, and it's been happening more and more lately with "playing pretend" and making up stories (often using a few real recent events and names of their friends) and using toys/objects in unique ways. And of course, we also love that they are playing SO WELL together these days, feeding ideas off each other, copying each other, taking turns, teaching each other, and so on. Cora absolutely idolizes her big brother, and we hear him copying her just as often. Something else awesome and adorable? Awesomely adorable even? They are becoming quite protective of each other. We have recently heard James tell his friends on multiple occasions to "share with my sister" or "leave my sister alone" or "don't mess with my sister". Likewise, Cora totally ragged on Jay the other day after he'd made James angry (by not letting him watch TV during the week, or some other random something) and told her daddy "Be nice to my brother!" Kinda makes your heart melt, right?

They made a giant train track out of board books across the kitchen floor, then proceeded to drive trains up and down, occasionally crashing into each other. And James spent a good amount of time chastising Cora for knocking the "tracks" out of line. Because she's a bit clumsy. Luckily, she's also a bit OCD with putting things away, so she was happy to continually fix the tracks.

Once they bored of the tracks, they took them apart to read. I had to laugh at one point while I was making their lunches and looked down to see them both reading the same book (The Very Hungry Caterpillar - we have multiple copies).

LEARNING SPURT

I know it's only Thursday, but it's been a long week around here. In the sleep department, anyway. Our sweet baby doll, who had been going to bed all by herself without fuss and staying asleep all night (for months now), is suddenly putting up a 1-1.5 hour bedtime battle each night AND waking up in the middle of the night. The other night she was awake for FOUR HOURS STRAIGHT. Jay took the first shift, I took the second half. I simply laid in bed with her, hoping that snuggles would do the trick, but even though I continually dozed off, every 5-10 minutes she would lean over, grab my arm or cheek or hand, and say "Hi Mama!" all bright-eyed. She's not grumpy, she's not wet, and she's not sick. She's just AWAKE. Very similar to what happens with infants and toddlers when they're going through a learning spurt (you know, staying up all night to practice their new skills). I don't remember James doing this still at this age, but maybe Cora is? Her speech has really taken off in the past few weeks, she's learning her colors (she's great with blue and pink and "lellow", pretty good with green and red, and uses white whenever she's not sure of something) and shapes (she knows the basics, and surprised me with diamond last week when I was trying to get her to name a kite, to which she repeatedly replied diamond until I understood what she was saying and congratulated her), she can count to 11, she's learning the days of the week and her address, and she's picking up on a lot of James' sayings (which he picked up from us, and from his buddies and teachers). It's really funny to hear some of the things she says at only 26-months-old. Some are not so funny though... she's started in with some of my least favorite sentences: "No! Leave me ALONE!" and "Go away Mama!" Since James hasn't said those things in a long while, I have to assume she either picked them up at daycare, or they're just a right of passage that all munchkins go through. Probably more than once, eh? Anyway, we just hope our little smarty-pants starts sleeping well again soon. 'Cause we're tired. And tired of fighting with her at bedtime. 

Good thing she looks so cute in the morning.....

BITTY TINY ROCKETS

When I got home today to listen to James and Cora tell me about their day at school and afternoon at the gym, the rocket launcher was the highlight of their tales. Cora was so excited I could barely pull two words apart at a time to decipher her sentences (because she was talking so fast) and James went on and on about the "bitty tiny rockets" and "shooting the rockets way up into the sky" and how he needs a "big rocket so I can ride in it". Jay reported that they were awesome about taking turns and cheering each other on (in fact, these two have been playing very nicely together for quite a while now, much to our relief). Needless to say, these rockets will be a go-to activity for a while. BIG hit! MANY thanks to Lauchlin and Olivia for the creative birthday gift (received back at James' rocket ship party, and somehow tucked safely into a closet until recently...)!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL: 2012

Today is the first day of school!

Even though the kids have been at school all summer, save for last week and the week right after the last school year ended, they were pretty excited about today. Not sure what Jay was asking them to do here to get them to look at the camera, but they're cute in their coordinating orange shirts!

(Don't mind the handprint on the wall. We can blame Cora for that...)

And because you KNOW how sentimental I am, here is a comparison photo of their first day at Agape (when we switched daycares mid-October last year) to today. 

They have both grown SO MUCH! Funny that they're both going into their same classes this year though, and with the same teachers that they had last October (if you recall, Cora started the 2K/Toddler Montessori class at 16-months-old, then dropped into the infant class for a few months before moving back into 2K in January). We have no indication as of now when or if James will move up this year to the 4K/Preschool Montessori class. He's currently in the 3K/Primary Montessori class, which has a whopping 12 students (Cora's class has 8). We're a bit shocked at the numbers and will be keeping a very close eye out for any issues or behavior changes with James, but we were glad to hear at dinner last night (when we mentioned going back to school today) from James: "I get to see Miss Reese?! I love Miss Reese!" Even though she's not our favorite teacher (we don't have any major issues with her, we just don't mesh well with her quiet/shy personality and lack of straightforward communication), it's reassuring to know that our kids really like her (because as you know, kids are completely honest about such things, so she must be doing right by them).

Jay reported that both kids went running into Assembly this morning without even looking back for hugs or goodbyes from daddy (he was kinda bummed, to be honest, since they normally require multiple hugs and kisses and squeezes), so they must have been happy to see all their buddies (most of whom were not in school over the summer) and the return to normal structured activities. Here's hoping for a successful and fun school year for them!

FRENCH SUPPER CLUB

This edition of Ethnic Supper Club ranked right up there with Thai Night (which is still #1 though!) and Sushi Night. Everything was just SO GOOD, the kids ate really well (as you know, Cora likes everything - she even ate some of the soup, and James said that the chicken cordon bleu was "better than chicken nuggets"), and we of course enjoyed a few glasses of wine while we cooked, baked, and dined. The only thing not pictured are the popovers, but I assure you they were delicious too (we ate them too quickly to remember to document them)!

Vichyssoise Soup (a potato and onion soup, served cold)

Cora approved!

Chicken Cordon Bleu and Scalloped Potato Gratin  (SO much better than those boxed mixes, and just as easy to put together - we definitely need to start eating potatoes more often!)

Taking a break to make room for desert...

Drumroll please....... Chocolate Souffle!

Thanks for another amazing meal Sandy! I went to bed SO FULL and so happy, and I loved seeing my kids show off for you and steal your attention. And of course it totally melted my heart when James chased you out the door for a second goodbye hug, returning to the house to tell me "Ohhh, but I just love her TOO much!" A successful evening all around!

A ROARIN' GOOD TIME!

Sweet little Leo the Lion is almost 1-year-old, and since our buddies the Sanchez's are heading to Canada for most of the month, they celebrated his birthday a little early. We joined them at their pool for LOTS of swimming (and lots of eating).

Will, James, and Manu spent a lot of time on the airplanes. Cora climbed on for a photo op, but was otherwise pretty uninterested in them.

She was far more interested in jumping off the side. Once she even jumped in when not wearing her Puddle Jumper and while no adults were in the pool. Awesome. Good thing we were all standing there watching her and I was able to jump in and grab her right away. She wasn't even phased. This girl is going to give me heart failure one of these days!

Both kids impressed us with their willingness to take off swimming on their own (with the Puddle Jumpers on, obviously). I think these things were a worthy investment, even if James learns to swim next summer and no longer needs his. His confidence has grown immensely this summer, and it's helped Jay and I to chill out just a little bit when the kids are around and in the water.

Leo's cake was a fruit tart - so delicious (and refreshing in the August heat)!

Here are the munchkins (minus Leo) anxiously awaiting their slices of fruit tart. James' face in the second photo totally cracks me up!

I loved seeing Grady in these swim trunks - the same style that James wore back when he was an infant (in a bitty baby 0-3 month size though, not the 18-month this big boy is in). Seriously though, how cute is this guy?

 Happy First Birthday Leo! And thank you for hosting such a fun party Sanchez family!

WACKY WEEK

This week the kids' school was closed in prep for the upcoming school year, and they had a really fun (yet kinda wacky) week at home. They spent Monday driving back from Arkansas from our camping trip, Tuesday with mama/then daddy watching Jacob and Manu, Wednesday and Thursday with Sophie and Manu and Leo, and Friday with "Mr. Mike" and Jacob. They were pretty pleased to be home all week playing with their toys, getting fresh air in the form of kiddie pool splashing and many wagon rides, and hanging out with some of their best friends. And the babysitting side of it all went great as far as we could tell. Tuesday was super easy for us, since having Jacob around was a HUGE help (probably the most polite child we know, plus he loves little kids and was more than willing to help them with every little task as well as entertain them). Wednesday Christina came by with Will and Lauren, which was an extra special treat, and since James, Manu, and Cora are 3-peas-in-a-pod, they couldn't have been happier to have "My Sophie!" over to watch them for a couple of days. Then on Friday Cora surprised us by being completely happy and at ease with Mike, even snuggling on his shoulder and convincing him to kiss her baby doll. We'll leave out the details of poop stories, tantrums and time-outs, naptime battles, etc., since the kids (ALL of them) were generally good for everyone - and you really can't ask for much more than that! 

Thanks again Sophie and Mike - we really appreciate your help this week!

(And we owe you!)

CAMPING VIDEOS

Chatty Cora in the Cave

Cliff Jumping and "Cliff Jumping"

Big Girl on a Bike

HEADING HOME

When road tripping, you do things like stop for lunch at IHOP. And eat breakfast foods instead. Like smiley face pancakes.

Jay asked Cora where the soccer ball was and she went and circled it!

Starting Saturday evening James continually asked us "Did you see the spider wave at me? With two hands?" And for a day and a half we just smiled and said sure whenever he asked us that (because we had no idea what he was talking about). Turns out, he's not as crazy as he sounds. As we were packing the car and piling everything onto a blanket staging area, which was quickly overtaken by "grandaddy long-legs", he pointed at one big spider and said "See? His two hands are waving at me!" And sure enough, it DID look like the spider had his front legs raised and waving! Bub Bubs is so cute! (That's him demonstrating the spider wave in the above photo)

Road trips also cause you to pull over at random spots on the side of the road for toddler potty breaks. And when inclement weather threatens, you improvise with suitable potty locations. Especially when you're in the little Jetta instead of the minivan.

DISCOVERY CAVE TOUR

After Cora's nap, we headed back to the caverns to do the 1.5 hour, 1.2 mile tour. James was just a little excited about it (this was in the elevator, heading 240 ft underground):

Our best attempt at a family photo down under:

(I relocated Cora to my back for this tour, since I knew there'd be a lot more walking and stairs, and I'd had a hard time seeing past her on my tummy on the Dripstone tour. She only complained for the first 2 minutes, then proceeded to talk my ear off again. She is SO her mama's daughter! And she kept swinging herself as far to one side or the other as she could so she could see my face, then she'd say oh-so-sweetly "Hi!" and try to kiss my cheek. The other members of our group were highly entertained by her and her constant commentary. You know how lots of cave tours do a "lights out" portion where they put you into complete darkness to demonstrate what caving is like without the choreographed light show? Well, Cora very loudly yelled "Lights off!" while everyone was trying to absorb the peace and heaviness of the place. She wasn't scared, of course, just making sure we knew what was going on...)

Me and my little man (and Cora's arm...)

This was a HUGE section of flow stone - really incredible!

 After the tour we headed into town for dinner, but James fell asleep mid-book...

He was super grumpy during dinner (two days in a row of missing naps + lots of extra excitement and exercise = one tired punkerdoodles), but perked up for ice cream and trying his luck at "the claw" (a toy machine like they have in Toy Story).

When we got back to camp, Cora took another potty break, then we went for a short bike ride (Cora only made it halfway around the campground loop, but we were just happy to see her trying out her bike again finally!), and back into the water to cool off before bed. Our overtired boy was grumpy once again at bedtime, but as soon as we all fell asleep, we slept well all night long. Well, except for the moment when Cora woke up and ran to the tent door, trying to open it to go look for us, scaring us awake. Luckily she passed right back out as soon as I cradled her in my arms. We sure got lots of cuddling in this weekend!

P.S. Cora did wonderful as far as using the potty too. Not a single accident, even overnight and on the cave tours, and she was in undies the entire trip. Yay Cora!