7/31 - Wii date; Brad's been gone

Last week we had some friends come over one evening and had dinner and we played Wii. Our friends, Nicole and Leif, and their son Aiden, came over. We had a good time. We played Just Dance 2 on Wii for about 2 hrs. We did some friendly male/female competition and some couples. It was fun.

Brad left on Thursday morning for the Men's Retreat with our church. I was very excited for him to be able to go. They went to a place near Crystal River. The boys went to daycare on Thur and Fri and on Friday night, we had a playdate with Stephanie and Tiffany. Aiden found a little piano that is from Baby Genius video series. Aiden loved making the piano play songs and trying to sing to them. Eli would come over and dance every now and then too.

I brought the tunnels and tents with me but it seemed like the kids played in them right when we set them up and when I tried to take them down.

Blaise enjoyed playing in the tunnels with my boys.

Eli got pretty tired by the end of the night so I had to buy him from crying with his paci. He found a doll stroller upstairs and actually brought it downstairs and eventually tried to sit in it. The wheel was about to break because he's so heavy and it's not made for a person. The little guy trying to push Eli is Ryan.

Eli found a cowboy hat he enjoyed. Blaise, in the background, loved stealing Eli's shoes and wanting to wear them. It was too cute.

It was getting late and we were trying to calm the boys down with TV. My boys, of course, stopped and watched. They even all started dancing at one point which was pretty funny.

Right before we left Steph's house, she brought down her huge mirror and the kids thought that it was great. Eli was staring at himself in it and then Aiden laid along beside him. Aiden eventually decided to try and ride on Eli's back and they both thought it was pretty funny. I give them piggy back rides at home, so I thought it was pretty funny that Aiden thought of it to get on Eli's back. It took Aiden me explaining to him that he is too heavy for Eli.

They calmed down some and Aiden watched some TV with Kyleigh while we finished up talking and packing things up. We had a good time like always!

Brad came home late on Saturday. He had a great time and got to bond with some other guys from church. The men did a lot more fellowship than the women did. While I loved the retreat and it was very God-focused, some more fellowship next year would be great. Brad went kayaking down crystal river yesterday and came back completely burnt. Brad starts leave on Wednesday which is exciting. It's been a pretty good couple days despite Brad being gone. I look forward to him being home a bit more so I can get a few extra workouts in!!

7/29 - The Ray Reunion

Last weekend many of the Ray family got together to say hi to grandpa. Almost all the brothers and sisters had not been together since grandma died about 4 yrs ago.

It was good to see grandpa again. His girlfriend was there (purple shirt) and he was still as feisty as ever. You can see him telling Jan about how he was waiting downstairs for someone to get him to bring him over to the conference center where we had the gathering.

Here are all my aunts. My mom was the only daughter missing.

Here are all my uncles. Everyone had a good time chatting and seeing each other again.

This next picture is some grandchildren and some great grandchildren.

There was only one other cousin there. That means there were 2 out of 11 of us there although my cousin Rachel was able to come towards the end.

Grandpa is getting old and his macular degeneration is getting pretty bad. He was put in an ALF last week and was just told at the gathering that he won't be leaving to go back to his apartment. He is pretty much blind now out of both eyes. His brain still works although he loves to tell the same stories over again.

Having the boys there was a bit of a challenge but they did pretty good. Brad and my uncle Jon took the kids (our 2 boys plus his 4) for a walk and got a little lost. The kids were nice and worn out by the time they got back which probably helped him them a bit calm for the gathering. Brad had to make an emergency run for food for the boys because they were having a breakdown. After they got some chicken nuggets and apples in them, they were much better behaved. They enjoyed seeing family.

This child cracks everyone up. Cheese!!!

This picture of my uncle Bill and Brad cracks me up. Two Navy men (my uncle is prior Navy) that just look a little uncomfortable.

Here is a picture of Sheri, my aunt. Good gravy is was good to see her. I haven't seen my aunt Sheri and uncle Jon in a really long time (years and years) and I think I've only met one of their four kids before last weekend. They live in Tenn and drove down for the week.

I had to include this picture that Brad took because I have my new coral watch on. I love the color coral!! Brad got to pick the hair style, straight or flipped out. It's kinda fun having options and it's actually not too much trouble. I'm still thoroughly enjoying my new short hairstyle although it does get quite hot and it stick to the back of my neck sometimes.

Thankfully my aunt Sharon brought some games. While my boys were too young to know how to play them according to the rules, it didn't stop them from playing. This Connect Four game lasted for 45 min of entertainment!

My uncle Bill sat with the boys for a few minutes so Brad and I could get some dinner. They found the Jenga came and loved that as well. Eli was having a bit of a tough time sharing the blocks with Aiden but Aiden built a fort with the blocks while Eli just dumped them out and put them back in the container for 30 minutes.

Brad was so awesome at watching the boys so that I could be a little more free to go and roam and talk with family. I love my husband.

Towards the end of the gathering, the boys were going a little stir crazy but it was about to pour so they couldn't go too far. Brad took them for another walk (Aiden loves going for walks) and then they blew some bubbles. Thankfully my uncle Bill brought some and that definitely did the trick by the end of the day.

On sunday morning, we went out to the beach to see my uncle Jon and aunt Sheri and their 4 kids. It was great. We swam at the pool for an hour or so. Brad got lots of exercise by throwing all the kids around. We had our hands full trying to keep Eli and Aiden from drowning too. I see swim lessons for Eli is the near future.

I had to borrow a bathing suit and get in the pool and help because someone was going to drown.

Eli at one point got really lovey and gave Brad a huge hug and didn't want to let go of him. It warms my heart.

Both boys had fun playing with nana. Nana was a trooper because the hot weather is miserable with her and her MS. We did find a chair in the shade that she could sit in. Between the heat/sun and my mom's bad back (she had just gotten a shot), she had a good attitude and enjoyed the visit.

Towards the end of our pool fun, Eli decided to play a fun game with daddy. It was too funny to watch. Eli wanted to eat his snack so I told him he had to stay out of the pool. He decided to sit on the edge of the pool. When Brad came and sit by him to keep him company, he got up and ran down to the other end of the pool and sat on the side. Brad would then get up and run down and sit by Eli again and then Eli would get up and run down the side of the pool. It was too cute. In the last picture, Brad had just come to sit by Eli and Eli was standing to go down to the other end of the pool.

It was great to see some family and to hang out with my uncle jon and aunt sheri

7/28 - It's been a while

We've just been enjoying time together as a family so I haven't taken the time to post to the blog lately. Brad is home to actually see what is going on so I've been a little lax. As you can see from this first picture, I do have one child that likes to play with play-doh. Aiden is getting a little better but Eli likes to put it from one container to another.

Aiden would much rather play on the floor with his new sleeping bag than play with play-doh. He has slept in his sleeping bag a few nights now and enjoys it.

Aiden has loved getting some one-on-one time which I haven't been able to offer much. Brad and Aiden played Memory the other night and Aiden was loving every minute of it.

In other news around the house, Brad just got a new truck. We wanted to have 2 vehicles that can transport both kids and Brad's old Nissan Frontier couldn't do it since it didn't have a backseat. He found a new-to-him Ford 150 with two rows of seats (plenty of room for both car seats and someone else in the back). He loves it. I brought the boys down to the dealership the night he got the truck.

The boys love daddy's "new white monster truck."

Unfortunately for Brad, he got a brand new truck and we left early the next morning to head to St. Pete so he didn't even get to drive it after we got home that night. We headed down to St. Pete for a few days to see some family. Although my dad was away, the boys still had fun staying at papa's house and playing with the handful of toys they don't normally see.

My mom came over and played with the boys some. Nana has a bad back right now but they boys didn't let her slow down too much!

She spent the night on Friday night and Eli didn't want her to leave on Saturday morning. It was too cute and sad at the same time.

The boys did enjoy seeing Bronco again and playing with him.

We went to a family gathering for my grandpa (the next post will be about that). Brad spent some time with the boys outside and blowing bubbles.

The boys had a good visit with nana and enjoyed seeing her. Eli showed her what a little lovey boy he can be.

Nana even watched the boys for us on Sunday night so that Brad and I could go out and celebrate our anniversary. Time has really flown since our wedding day on July 23, 2005.  

We enjoyed getting away for the evening and having a yummy Italian dinner (thanks for watching the boys mom). We made it back to Jax safely and am trying to get into a rhythm of Brad back at work. Aiden gets so concerned when I tell him daddy is going to work. He wants to know how long he's gonna be gone. Brad left yesterday for a few days for the Men's Retreat at church. I think he'll have a great time and get to know some more guys. I'll post tomorrow about the Ray family gathering we had last weekend.

7/18 - Aiden's 3rd birthday party

On Friday night, Brad and I got to go out on a date!! Our neighbor, Ryan, was nice enough to watch the boys for us. We went out to St. Johns Town Center and had dinner at a nice italian place (Maggiano's). It was delicious. We walked around for a while and also got some ice cream. It was an awesome date night.  

On Saturday morning, we got the house ready for Aiden's birthday party. He wanted to wait until daddy came home so we did. We decorated the house with Car's themed stuff. The party was not as large as I thought but it actually worked out perfect (funny how God knows what we need more than we think we do).

Aiden was so excited for his 'friends' to come over that he didn't even take a nap. I did make him stay in his room so I could get stuff done. Brad was gone during nap time to deliver meals to some families that just had some babies. Aiden was running around the house before our guests got there putting out fires with his invisible hoses. Eli was jealous of me taking pictures of Aiden so he plopped down in my lap for his picture.

Stephanie, Harold, and their 3 kids and my friend Crystal and her husband (Ian) were the only people who ended up coming. It was perfect. Brad blew up some balloons but Eli and Blaise didn't quite understand they needed to hold on to it so it wouldn't float away. I tied Eli's to his pants and he didn't like that at all.

The kids had a good time. We just ordered pizza and had some chips and fruit. 

We got a cool Cars cake done at Target. I was gonna make Aiden's cake when he originally said he wanted monster trucks but I didn't feel like I could pull of Cars (nor did I want to spend my precious time with my family baking/cooking too much at this point). Aiden loved it.

This is the first year he didn't cry at his birthday!! He even blew out all three candles by himself!

We tried to take a family picture but the boys really just wanted to eat cake and didn't care about smiling at the camera. I promise they were having a good time! haha

Aiden got to open a few presents. He got a spy jet (from Cars 2) from Crystal and Ian and was pretty excited about it. He's never met Ian before and took right to him. He even gave him a hug.

Ms. Stephanie and her family got Aiden a backpack with a Cars sleeping bag in it. He was pretty excited. It worked out great because Bronco ate the straps on his first Cars backpack and I was waiting to get him one without wheels. The even cooler thing is we've been talking lately about going camping and even letting Eli sleep in Aiden's bed and Aiden can sleep on the floor in his room and they can have a sleepover. Now he has a sleeping bag for that. Papa has also talked to him about camping. We will definitely be using that pretty soon.

He got a few other random Target dollar bin toys and two Cars from the new movie. He had a great birthday. Everyone stayed for a bit so it was a great time for Brad and I too.

I had to take a picture of Eli because at 21 months, he drinks like a champ out of a big boy cup. He's growing so fast. Unfortunately, he still likes to use his hands to eat way more than I would like.

I believe Blaise was originally sitting in the Cars chair and chunky monkey Eli came and pushed him out and then sat in it. Blaise didn't fight it too much to my surprise. We are gonna need to keep our eye on little Eli; I don't want him becoming a bully.

The boys were sad to see Stephanie and her family leave so Aiden followed their truck down the block to the stop sign. It had been raining out so there were lots of puddles. They had a blast walking down to the end of the street to the stop sign and then coming back.

You can't see it very well in this picture but Eli was crouching down like he was going to sit when I asked the boys to stop at the STOP sign and say cheese. It was too funny.  I just added a picture where you can see Eli crouching.

Eli got a little tired on the way back so Brad gave him a piggy back ride. He was enjoying it but it seems Brad was in a little pain.

I was shocked that Aiden wanted to play in the puddle. He got a little sidetracked and had an accident while he was playing in the puddle. That's only the 2nd or 3rd accident he had since he started potty training. He does a great job, even during nap time. He still needs a pull up diaper at night but other than that, he's potty trained.

I forgot to take a picture of Aiden by his big Lightening McQueen balloon. Look at how big this is!!

On Sunday, we went to church as a family which was so awesome. While Brad was getting ready in the morning, he was doing push-ups and the boys started to copy him. It was too cute. Aiden talks all the time about exercise and it cracks me up. Some people would think I have brainwashed him but he's actually gotten it from an Elmo DVD.  Aiden even tried to bend his arms to do push-ups. I was shocked that Eli could actually support his body weight too.

Eil decided to not eat his lunch (he hasn't been eating much lately) but when he saw Brad's leftovers from the italian place, he made a bee-line to Brad's lap and was like a little bird opening his mouth for food. He was loving it though.

I also had to get a picture of Eli with the balloon because it was so big. He had a blast with it.

Things have been going great. Brad went back to work today and is bringing home a lot of clothes to be washed tonight. I dropped the boys off, went to the store, and then got a workout. I've been doing some work and am getting ready to work on my bible study. Make sure you enjoy the time you have with your loved ones because you never know when it will end. Every day is a gift from God and I am so thankful for the family I have right now.