1/31 - Tee ball and Eli in therapy now

I'm not really sure where the month just went but I but hurry and post this. The first 1.5 weeks of the year were great because we were a family still. But then Brad had to leave again to go out on the ship for almost a month. We enjoyed being a family and finally got a tiny glimpse of what that may look like here in Florida. It's been a tough 6.5 months with Brad being gone for 6 months of that time almost. That is the life of a military family who gets really bad luck with orders and deployments :(

Once Brad was home and saw Eli's daycare situation, we decided we really did need to change. The new place that we chose is so very expensive (and it's the only place where we have to pack his lunch - even crazier why it's so expensive) BUT it's totally worth it. He LOVES it!!! I think morning time is horrible right but that should change in a few more months. Right now, since it's been so cold, they won't let the kids go outside and play like is on the schedule. Instead (this is the part that kills me) they have them sit on a carpet and read to them for 30 minutes!!! What? Sure, let's trade exercise for something completely sedentary and boring for that long for 3 and 4 yr olds. Besides that, he loves his 2 teachers and says "I never want to change daycares again. I love this place." Music to my hears. :)

So Nana's birthday was on January 4th and we had a little party for her here. The boys (headed by Brad) made Nana a cake and frosted it. We took it easy during the day and then Aiden invited Nana into his tent set-up in his room in the evening. After dinner we we had some cake and Nana got to open her presents and she got some new jewelry so she can get all fancy.

The first part of January had pretty nice weather. Here are the boys on a dirt mound. I had to post the close up rather than the other picture I had because I needed to be able to see Eli's crazy one-eye closed pose and Aiden's typical I'm-trying-to-smile but won't look at the camera face. These boys crack me up.

We had some fun while Aiden still was out of school. He had break for 21 days which is a lot. While I was trying to do laundry the boys got their sheets out of the closet and it was quite funny how long they entertained themselves with crib-size fitted sheets.

Aiden "Smarty Pants"

Eli "Speedy Pants"

We signed the boys up for i9 t-ball and it started the second saturday in January. The first day was crazy with the coaches kids' not wanting to be separated at all from them and then no one really having any idea what was going on. Aiden and Eli hit like champs off the tee which was cool. Eli would hit the ball and then run to get it. He cracks me up. We finally got him to run the bases and on his second (and last) at-bat he still picks up the ball that was thrown/rolled to almost home base and yells "touchdown" as he crosses the plate and then hands the ball to the head lady. Oh my. Needless to say, he had quite a few parents laughing. Aiden did well but I needed to explain the game to them a bit more before we went. Aiden retrieved the ball a few times in the field and then just would chase around the other kid running. Eli did the same thing and finally got the kid out right before they touched home plate. It was very comical. Eli thinks it's funny when people swing and miss the ball on the tee and then he laughs. I told him that wasn't nice the first week and we talked about it. The second week he did the same thing and that weeks lesson was on respect so needless to say, a coach went over and talked to Eli for a minute.



In an effort to make them better a t-ball, I got out our tee which our movers damaged and taped it back up. I also found a bat and wanted to at least teach the boys how to hold the bat. Eli looks so very uncomfortable and has a really had time remembering how to even try and hold it. After this week in therapy, I understand why more since he doesn't have the trunk rotation that most kids have. Aiden did better but doesn't want to turn his face forwards which is weird to me. For right now, we are teaching Eli as a righty but when Brad gets back I might have him try as a lefty. Aiden is definitely a lefty.


On the same day the boys had t-ball for the first day, we also had tickets to the circus, which the boys have never been to before. They enjoyed it for a bit and the motorcycles in the ball were their favorite part. Eli was done with it about half-way through because he was so tired (he still normally naps) and then Aiden started asking how much longer it was. We stayed for the whole thing but as soon as we got in to the van and started driving this is what we found. I cannot even remember the last time Aiden took a rest; especially in the van (he can't sleep in the van usually). I also realized how cheap I am because the prices at the circus were just insane. It was about $11 for a snow cone or bag of popcorn. Just insane.





The boys have been asking me for a sleepover and then I realized that they haven't slept in the same room since we moved here. In AL they shared a room and then we had a toy room but we separated them since Aiden wasn't napping and Eli was and it was making thing challenging. I let them stay up and be pretty quite for a while but at about 8:45/9:00 I told them they had to go to sleep. Aiden usually falls asleep within minutes of tucking him in so he was beyond exhausted the next day since he didn't get near as much sleep as he is used to.



Last week after t-ball the boys decided to go next door and make paths in the empty lot next to us. They would take the shovel and walk around the lot with the tip of the shovel in the dirt and then come they would both line up and follow the path all around and then they would switch and the other would draw the path. It's so funny how they can actually entertain themselves if we let them. If this world of electronic driven junkie kids (mine included often), it's nice just to give them some toys/tools and be outside and see what they will do.


This picture of Aiden and Eli is too precious. It was right after rest time and Aiden needed to read me his book and Eli came in right as Aiden started to read so Aiden just read the book to Eli as I watched. Too precious. Let's talk about reading. Aiden is doing awesome. He knew a handful of sight words before he started Kindergarten but has just done awesome learning how to read. He just got moved up to D level books (it only goes to E in the system his teacher uses) and that is beyond a K level anyway. His teacher told us he has all his K sight words down and there are 3-4 in the first grade list that he didn't know but to move on to the 2nd grade list. Just amazing. He will only check out non-fiction books at the library which cracks me up but he's doing a great job of reading.

Eli started occupation therapy a few weeks ago. He is going to the same place that Aiden went when he did therapy in Jacksonville and we were fortunate enough to have Mrs. Lisa (who was Aiden's therapist) to work with him. She tested him and has been seeing him for the past couple weeks. I never realized how much he does actually struggle with some stuff and how much work he needs to do. He has mid-line stuff going on as well as bilateral problems and trunk stability and rotation issues. He's not really enjoying t-ball right now and I think a lot of it is that he can't physically move how he needs to be able to do stuff. At least now that he's working with Mrs. Lisa he will slightly entertain doing therapy stuff at home  which he wouldn't do before. Even stuff I would have him do for fun (which was never fun because it's so hard because of his issues) he would just quit on. Mrs. Rusty was the queen of obstacle courses so Aiden helps me make them and then Aiden and Eli do them. Aiden would do them all day and Eli asks if he has to do it "just once?" They are so different. I'm not sure how we ended up with 2 kids with sensory processing stuff but they are opposite. Eli likes loud, physical stuff and Aiden ... does not.

This was one our our at-home courses: I pick out 3-4 colored mini cotton balls and showed Eli. He had to remember the colors and then had to jump 10 times on the tramp, jump with 2 feet over the tubes, crawl with the tunnel stuffed with pillows and blanket so that he can barely fit, then pick out the color cotton balls, go back through the tunnel, over the tubes and back to the drop-off area where he had put his cotton balls down and use the thongs to pick them up and put them in the cup. We then compared his cup with my cup (where the original cotton balls were at) to see if he was right.

Here is another picture of the boys doing a "challenge" that I gave them one night (Eli doesn't like doing therapy so I have to try and make it fun or a game). They had to pull the tube all the way out and then push it back in. Eli (in the red jammies) was seriously concentrating to push it all back together. I have to let him wear it like a belt after he pulls it out because that's the only joy he gets from this. Aiden will do it all day because it's fun and that's just Aiden. :)

The boys really are too cute. I've been having some listening issues with them lately so I've gone back to my Celebrate Calm CD's and have established a few rules and incentives to get us back on track. These boys really do love each other.














Wednesday this past week marked the 100th day for the kids in Clay County Schools. It's big deal although I don't remember ever celebrating 100 days. This was Aiden's crown that the made and he's wearing 100 fruit loops as a necklace. His teacher did some pretty fun stuff for his class that day.



Here are some random pictures of the boys and I playing around. In this first one Eli is trying to stand on my leg and is being completely silly and then started to fall down. Aiden gets the photo credit for that picture. In the picture below, Aiden is now balancing and also laughing a lot so it looks like there is something in his mouth. I've had to play with them every now and then for them to get a similar experience to when daddy is here (although daddy is so much better).








I then got a really good workout by dragging the kids around the track (a pathway in our house where we play tag and chase - in the living room, through the kitchen and back to the living room) in their sleeping bags. Aiden is actually strong enough to pull Eli but it's a relatively slow pace and Eli only functions at a really high pace or completely sedentary. It's also good therapy for Aiden so it actually really worked out for all of us.





I have some more therapy pictures to post in the next few days but those will have to wait. I'm teaching at JU in the classroom again this semester but only have to go in 2 days a week (versus 3 last semester) and am teaching 2 on-line courses for the College of Southern Maryland. I was a bit too ambitious this semester and realize that next spring semester will have to be very different with Brad deploying for 9 months. I'm a little too busy at the moment but my commitments have been made and I can't change anything now. I'm trying to make enough time for Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). It's such a great way to get in the Word and truly learn it but it's also a huge commitment to truly do the work. Brad comes home in just a few days and we are beyond excited.

12/31 - Christmas 2014

So we learned some very valuable lessons this Christmas. Let's backtrack a little and I'll take you through our past 2 weeks. While waiting for Grandma Jo and Grandpa Dave to get here on Dec. 18 (Wed), Aiden and Eli decided to play their Tell Tale Story game and they made some very interesting stories for me to listen to. The boys were very excited to have Brad's parents here. On Thur, Eli had a dr appointment because his belly had been hurting him quite a bit and it was starting to effect his eating and his behavior. X-rays revealed he is really constipated and needs some help to move things along. Eli was also fighting a cold that Aiden and I already had when he woke up on Friday morning, he blew some blood out of his nose. While it was odd, he was acting fine. I then noticed lots of dried blood in his ear that still has the tube and that was a red flag for me. Needless to say we went to the dr on Friday afternoon and had Eli checked out. Thankfully Dave and Betty Jo (Brad's parents) went out grocery shopping for me because Eli and I were at the dr so long on Thursday (appt, x-ray, prescription, and driving = 3.5 hrs) and then unexpectedly on Friday. I was a ball of stress and I kept busy in the late afternoon trying to find hotels for Brad as he headed East towards us.

On Saturday morning, I decided to take the boys to Jump Zone (a local bounce house place) on Saturday morning. They had mixed feelings about this place which was funny. They ran around and bounced for a while and then Eli kept sneaking into the toddler's area and playing in there. Aiden snuck in the area as well and they played with blocks in there for a while. After I forced them out, they bounced a bit more and then wanted to wonder over to the video games. Thankfully they had a free air hockey game that was really cool because it was shaped like a u and the boys loved playing it.



Brad finally made it home on Saturday night. It was so good to see him and know he was home to stay for a bit. It was a busy mess from Sunday to Christmas Day. I've been so stressed with Brad being gone for so long and trying to keep up with everything and failing at that. I didn't even send cards out this year. I took care of presents for the boys but didn't have the time or brain power to do anything other than that. I bought enough stockings for everyone but didn't buy stuff to put in the stockings. I spent 5 hours trying to make Christmas presents snacks for teachers and ended up with nothing since I burnt the chocolate both times because I thought our microwave was under 1000 watts (according to the GE website) and it's actually over 1100. I didn't have a single present wrapped until company came to help me do it.

This year I really wanted to focus on giving to others and making the kids see the true meaning of Christmas and emphasizing Christ. However, I only partially succeeded. I had planned to do an Advent Calendar that I was working on but that never got finished and I was lucky the kids were getting fed and bathed during the month of december. Here is a picture of what the boys woke up to on Christmas Day. I will not lie to my boys about Christmas and Santa. Brad and I did not bring up the word Santa or say that Santa was even coming but we answered the boys' questions with other questions usually. I was barely hanging on this year to the idea of Santa and I think next year we might approach Christmas differently. The one thing my boys are sure of is that Jesus was born on Christmas Day and that is the purpose of Christmas. We did a minimal Christmas. Having all these crazy presents takes away the true meaning of Christmas in my world. The boys received a few presents from us, 1 or two from the grandparents and then Aunt Pat sent a bunch of stuff which we will ration out to them through the year for various holidays.


Below is a collage from Christmas day. Upper left: boys playing with a Hex Bug toy; Upper middle: Aiden looking at his cool new dinosaur book; Upper right: Daddy showing Aiden how his new toy that Santa brought works (which he couldn't play with because I didn't get D batteries); middle left: the boys opening up a box with hex bug which they were excited about; middle left below: Eli being super excited about the fake food he received as a present from Aiden; Center: Family picture on Christmas; middle right: Eli watching the hex bug crawl upside down in a tunnel; middle right below: Aiden being super excited that Eli also got a stars projector; bottom left: us opening up a family present which was the game of Twister; bottom right: Brad just built Aiden his new hot wheels track that Eli picked out as his present for Aiden yet both boys are playing with their transformers (which cracks me up for some reason)

We are thankfully in a position that if we really need something at some point in the year then we get it. Maybe because that is possible for us, I (and Brad) view Christmas and Christmas presents a little differently. Brad and I don't do presents for each other really.

Aunt Pat bought both the boys this star projector thing which is really cool. Here is a picture from Eli's room. It shines these green stars onto the ceiling that float/move around. You can then add this hint of blue in to the scene if you want.



Below is another collage from Christmas day and the days leading up to Christmas. Upper left: The boys playing Don't Break the Ice and Eli pointing to Grandpa Dave since he just broke the ice. You can see Aiden in the background all excited that the ice just broke; Upper right: Nana and the boys while they were on a walk; middle left top: Aiden and Eli walking outside looking at ducks while with Nana and Grandma Jo; middle center: Eli getting a ride in Grandpa Dave's truck and enjoying the view; middle right top: Eli sneaking in to a picture of Grandma Jo and Grandpa Dave with Bronco; left lower middle: Grandma Jo with the boys on a walk; right lower middle: Nana opening her present from Eli which was a craft she has to do; lower left: Grandma Jo and Aiden coloring a Christmas picture; lower right: Aiden giving Grandpa Dave his present of a sudoku puzzle book.

The boys have had a blast playing with the grandparents over the past week. Aiden was able to play the game of Sorry at least once a day I think (that's his favorite game). They were also able to play lightsabers quite a bit which has probably been a highlight of the holidays for them.









We kept ourselves so busy that we didn't get around to finally making our ginger bread house until after Christmas. Here are the boys decorating their house. Aiden was really in to it and telling me where he wanted the icing and carefully deciding where to put his candy decorations. Eli wanted to eat the candy and had a hard time putting the candy balls on the house (they would fall out of his hand and onto the floor). They worked hard on it and made a beautiful house. I've even let them eat some of it!!

I've been a bear for the past few works because of being so stressed and tired of Brad being gone. I've been short with people (my mom and Brad's parents) so we have definitely learned that we need a bit of a buffer period after Brad has been gone for a while for us to gather ourselves and then be social as a family. My friend had a good analogy for all of this. I'm this little wind-up toy and everyday I get wind-up more and more with everything that needs to be done. By the time Brad comes home I'm about to break from being wound-up so much; my little eyes are about to pop out and my feet are sprinting. Adding family and Christmas onto that wasn't a great formula because rather than starting to un-wind (not even sure how to do that at this point), I was still continuing to wind-up. We did have a good Christmas and enjoyed seeing Brad's parents but we also continue to learn about Brad being gone and how it affects me and the rest of the family and how we can deal with it better in the future.

Brad's parents left on Friday and then Brad headed in to work to check-in to the squadron and see what was going on. Here is a quick picture I snapped before Brad left. My little boys have missed their daddy so much and Eli kept asking if Brad was going to come back this same day. It is heartbreaking to hear him ask those questions but so cute at the same time. 

On Saturday, Brad took the boys and Bronco out for walk in the morning. Nana found a really cool path the other day when she took Bronco for a walk so the boys went to find the same path. They explored back there and had lots of fun running around and being Ninjas, which is their newest obsession. Brad took pictures of both boys doing their Ninja poses. Eli's picture cracks me up. He's the not-so-secret Ninja waving hi and wearing yellow and red. Aiden, serious as always, had no problem showing his ninja moves.

So a few days after Christmas we gathered the boys and told them we are re-doing the way we do electronics in our house. On Black Friday, Brad and I waited outside Best Buy in the freezing cold and it totally paid off getting $99 Kindle's for the boys. So now I have my original iPad back and we have 2 kindles in the house. This is great because it reduces setting the timer and taking turns with the iPad. Aiden is reading a lot more and we can check books out of our public library (electronic versions) and then he can read them on the kindle as well. I love the FreeTime App because we give the boys a limit to using the kindle and then it just turns off. They are learning to manage their time better and by now are not even using all of their allotted time. It does crack me up that while they have apps that are different, they also have a few that are the same. I don't even remember what Toca game they are playing in this picture but it was so cute to see them playing right next to each other and talking to each other about what to do next and where to go. 

On Monday late afternoon, I took the boys down the clubhouse area and we played around for a while. They were being Ninjas and deciding who could see them and who could not. I was having fun watching and listening to them and then I jumped in on the action as well and became a ninja for a bit. In the upper right, the boys were seeing if these 2 older boys (ages 9-10 playing putt putt golf) could see them. In the upper right, Eli was telling Aiden the coast was clear and they could run and hide behind something else. The middle circle is what happened when I said, "boys, give me your ninja poses." Lower right you see the boys hiding behind the bushes so they wouldn't be seen and the bottom right cracks me up because it's Eli hiding by just laying on the ground. In his defense, he was low enough not to be seen by the group of people they were hiding from. Unfortunately the group of people had no idea that there were 2 little ninja's around because they did a relatively good job hiding from them minus the one or two screaming streaks from Eli.

We celebrated the last day of the year with Brad doing errands, Eli at daycare, Aiden and I at home taking down Christmas stuff in the morning. Early afternoon we had a visit from our friends Mike and Grace and a long playdate. We ended the evening with trying to get this blog done in time to put in the book for 2013 and watching HGTV and watching people buy houses.

2013 was a challenging health year for me but thankfully we are figuring things out. I'm so thankful for a supportive family, traditional and modern medicine, and God continuing to show His hand in our lives.

7/24 - Moving Nana in with us

On Friday morning we left to head to St. Pete to get my mom and move her up to Jax. On the way down, we stopped in Tampa for my first IKEA trip ever. It was so amazing. We ate a pretty good lunch there, the kids loved the play center area, and we found most of the stuff we wanted. We were pinched for time (the kids could only stay for 40 min) so I didn't get everything I wanted to but I was still overall pleased with the trip. We got to Nana's apartment and she had done a great job of packing things up. We did some light packing and then headed off to Bob Evans for dinner. Here is Aiden waiting for his french toast that he ordered. Iggy, the chameleon on his head, has been traveling around with us lately. Eli ordered spaghetti (which we don't eat at our house) and devoured it and didn't really make a mess. I was actually impressed.

On Saturday morning we finished packing up a few last minute things and then the guy power arrived. We are so blessed. My sister's brother, cousin, step-dad, and a friend came over to help us move. It was so awesome and sweet of them. My cousin Rachel was going to watch the boys but then my sister decided she would be in town too and it would be great to get the cousins together. That said, I ended up taking the boys to her aunt's house in St. Pete and she had her 3 boys with her and then my aunt and cousin came to help out too and we added in my 2 boys. I then took back off to go to my mom's apartment. The boys were already taking boxes downstairs and stacking them up. It took a while to get the moving van and trailer but Brad finally showed up with the MASSIVE truck. He tried to get a smaller one but they didn't have anything available. We got it all packed up pretty quick but the longest part were those last few items and then cleaning up. Here are a few pictures of the boys having some fun with their cousins:

I wish I could have seen all the cousins playing together. Aiden loves his cousins and I really wish we were closer to he could see them more. After all the stuff was out and most everything was clean, Rachel and Becky brought the boys back over to Nana's apartment to eat lunch. The boys had a great time with them and I just love this picture to the below. I haven't had a picture with my cousin Rach and my aunt Becky in a long time so glad we got a few pictures. 

It was finally time to put the trailer on the truck. The boys helped out and had so much fun. It seemed like forever from getting to truck loaded to actually leaving. I'm SO SO SO glad Rach and Becky stayed around to help with the boys while we did all the last minute stuff that didn't last a minute at all; more like an hour. The boys were so hot from being outside but I was scared to give them too much water because then we would need to stop and use the potty. I also knew it would take longer than usual to get back to Jax since we were following Brad in the truck and with the trailer. We did pretty good and just made one stop at a rest stop which was great because Brad didn't have to worry about driving that huge thing with a trailer and doing tight turns. 

It took us about 4-4.25 hrs to make the trip and of course, little Eli falls asleep with about 10-15 minutes to go. The poor little guy didn't get a nap the day before and then didn't fall asleep until 5:15ish on this day. His body is so confused. We let him sleep for about 20-30 min and then woke him up.

The boys have LOVED having Nana and Bronco home with us. We ended up not going to church on Sunday because the previous two days just completely wore us out. My mom didn't have any clothes either because they were all in boxes on the truck. With the help of some church friends on Sunday afternoon, we got truck unloaded and lots unpacked for my mom. 

The boys were showing Nana their activity dice and they were getting a little physical activity in on Sunday morning. Sunday night was the last evening of Sports Camp at church so I took the boys to that while Nana continued to unpack and Brad did a few things around the house. 

Here is Eli playing basketball. He's getting better put I think he is more of a power guy rather than an accurate thrower kind of boy.

Aiden loved playing all the sports but seemed to enjoy the 'lacrosse' he played. 

Nana is unpacking right now and getting settled in. I think the space she has upstairs is pretty nice for her. I'm sure there will be kinks along the way with 2 households blending in to one but with patience, prayer, honesty, and love, it's all going to workout just fine. 

2/13 - While Nana was here; Eli sick

We had 1-2 days of both boys feeling pretty well. The boys had so much fun with Nana while she was here. Eli is getting pretty good at playing catch. Here he is with Nana and you can see how excited he was about catching the ball. You can see Aiden in the background. He wanted to shovel dirt into the driveway entrance so that the rain wouldn't get on the road (there was lots of rain in the forecast).

The boys asked to play with play-doh while Nana was here. I got the stuff out and they had lots of fun with Nana. She is very creative and she built them baskets and then they put little balls of play-doh in them.

I thought we escaped with just Aiden being sick. Nope. Exactly a week later, Eli came home with a fever from daycare at noon. You could tell he really was not feeling well. His face got all flushed from his fever and his nose started running a ton.

It was just after nap time when I went to daycare and Aiden wanted to come home too. Here he is playing on my phone while Eli was laying around not feeling well.

Eli just wanted to cuddle for the rest of the day. Thankfully Nana was here and could give him the attention he wanted :)

While the boys were lounging around during the afternoon, I got a text from Brad that said he was about to fly over the house. He has gotten his private pilot rating and has been flying about once a month or so. We all ran outside (well, I carried Eli), and got to wave to him. He even made the wings of the plane flap so it looked like he was waving to us. Here is Brad flying over our house. He had a great time flying and took a friend with him which made it even more fun.

I took Eli to the doctor on Thursday just to get him checked out. He didn't have a really high temperature like Aiden did with flu Type B but I couldn't be sure it wasn't the flu without a test. Also, he had said a few times that his ears hurt and I didn't even know if his tubes were still in so it was possible he had an ear infection. To make matters worse, there was another boy in Eli's class that was just diagnosed with strep throat. There were too many unknowns so I needed to take him in. They swapped his throat for strep and his nose for the flu. We went home and waited for the tests to be done and the results phoned in. Amazingly, he didn't have strep or the flu!! Praise the Lord!! Both of his tubes are still in but the right one is facing upwards somehow and she said it's probably causing him discomfort. The left one is in and looks fine. It was just a cold. He "rested" on Thursday with me at home. In the afternoon, we got Aiden and the boys had lots of fun opening a package from Ms. Jen, our neighbor in Jacksonville. Eli was starting to feel a little better and decided to try and balance his new Mr. Potatoe Head cup on his head.

Eli said he was feeling pretty good on Thursday night so we all went out to dinner at a new pizza place that is in downtown Prattville. We had a good time and the food was yummy.

This is a really cute picture of the boys and Nana below. Aiden wanted to make sure his lizard was in the picture and Eli was starting to feel much better and was being goofy.

They boys played for a bit once we got home. Aiden has discovered that he can take his new ball that Mrs. Jen sent him and bounce it against the brick column by the front door and it will come back to him ... assuming he hits he column. Otherwise, it goes into the toy room. :)

Both boys went to daycare on Friday. We did lots of yard work during the day. Nana and I picked up the boys early on Friday and took them to the YMCA to play. They had fun and enjoyed getting to show Nana where they like to play at. I think they had more fun with the containers that hold the shoes than they did with the actual play structure this time.

Nana let the boys open a little present she gave them for Valentine's day. It was a painting book. Actually, 2 books. One has a strip of paint at the top of the page for each page so you don't need anything else besides a paint brush and water (in theory; the paint doesn't really show up though). The other is a water color paint book. They had fun playing in those. I got out the bingo markers for them to use to paint with and they then decided to put a mark on their finger and then run to the bathroom to wash it off. I'll let Aiden put ink on himself all day long. He did it about 2 times and then realized he doesn't like washing his hands so he went to another activity. Eli put ink on himself and washed his hands for a good 40 minutes. I'm not kidding. It was too funny.

The boys stayed in their jammies almost all day on Saturday. Nana left on Saturday so we were just enjoying our last bit of time with her.

Here are Aiden and Nana being goofy with a pvc pipe that was leftover from our tent (I'll blog about that in the next day or so). It's so amazing what will entertain kids!

Eli was really sad that Bronco was going with Nana. He was sad Nana was leaving too but this little boy is quite fond of animals. Here he is petting Bronco and then giving him kisses with Aiden.

The look on Bronco's face cracks me up. He is like, "hey boys, stop kissing me and just leave me alone. I'm not allowed to give you kisses so you can't give me kisses."

The boys both decided they want to start taking pictures with my camera. The one of my mom and I was taken by Aiden.

Here is one taken by Eli. Eli cracks me up because he tells you what kind of face to make before he takes the picture and then he shows you. I need to take a video of it.

We had a great 2 weeks with Nana. Both boys were sick and I was so so so scared Nana was going to get sick. God is great though and kept her protected and healthy. Brad safely drove her to Georgia and then my dad got her back to St. Pete. I am behind in blogging because 1) I've still been pretty darn tired and 2) I've spent the little energy and free time I have had obsessing about a tent project.