More "crow" fun

 

 We had fun again this afternoon playing in the "crow." Joel wasn't too sure in the beginning and then wanted to just crawl around and try to eat the snow.  He was fine until his glove fell off and then he went back inside shortly after that.  Then Colin and I made a Snow T-Rex (use your imagination for that one!)  and then we ventured over to the only hill around near the pool.  Colin had a great time sledding down the small hill and loved to watch the big boys do their tricks and even joined in their snow ball fight.  Its really funny though since we aren't used to this much snow to see kids with plastic bags on their hands and feet - even the teenagers had plastic bags over their shoes. Snow gear just isn't used much around here :)   Colin was so tired on the way home that he fell asleep in the sled. And its not that far of a walk home. We came home so Brent could go back out with Colin but he was too exhausted.  Maybe if it hasn't melted by tomorrow they can go sledding again.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Snow Fun

It really snowed. Or as Colin says "crowed" (amazingly he can pronounce all the dinosaurs names but he can't say snow yet...) The weatherman finally got it right.  And not just a slight dusting. Last I measured we had around 7 inches and its still falling.  We've had a lot of fun outside.  We had a makeshift sled as I went to Home Depot last night and they suggested using a cement mixing tub as a sled. It works great. Joel and Colin spilled out of it once- but they didn't seem to mind.  Colin has been outside off and on all day.  He even helped me shovel the driveway. Colin also wants to "snow plow" the whole backyard and wants us to push him on his caterpillar truck.  Smart kid but its so hard to push when he has the front plow part down!  Once it stops snowing we'll take Joel back outside. He keeps looking out the windows and keeps crawling to the garage door when we go out. He doesn't want to miss anything his big brother is getting to do. Joel may be 6 months but he thinks he is 3 like his brother and should get to do everything Colin does. Colin wants to make a snowman or a snow dinosaur but its too powdery to do any of that. Maybe tomorrow after it starts melting some.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Virginia LIving Museum

 

Yesterday we went to the Virginia Living Museum with my mom.  We went two years ago (click here to see colin ) It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. Colin was our guide and kept referring to the map. At one time he looked at the map and pointed to the water and told me that the water was "an american lake" haha.  We also watched a show in the planeterium about Astronauts. Colin loved it. He understood it better that I did.  At one point I had no clue what they were showing and he leaned over and said "mommy we're in an astronauts brain" and sure enough thats what the announcer said.  Although learning about all the effects outer space has on your body I think it will be safer for him to be a football player.  The otters put on a show for us and would come over and swim near the window whenever we were there.  Joel touched a horseshoe crab which Colin refused to go near. Joel would've touched everything there. And probably would have tried to eat it all too.  They both played in a tunnel and Joel crawled through the whole thing. He was very proud of himself.  Both boys loved it and it was a great way to spend the afternoon.  Colin does want to go back because they had a poster with T-Rex on it advertising the summer attraction.In fact he didnt want to leave because he was afraid t-rex would get there soon. He told me ont he way home that t-rex family was packing their bags to come visit and that we needed to go back and not miss their visit.  haha so funny.  And i'm sure he'll mention it often and wont forget. 

  

 Why is Joel so excited? Because while Colin was busy watching a movie on the computer about dinosaurs...

 

...ALL the firetrucks were his to play with. 

EIGHT IS GREAT!

Yesterday Colin and I played hopscotch outside for over an hour. It was so much fun.  I love this age. Eight was the number Colin kept trying to get his rock to land on.  "Eight is Great" is what he kept saying.  And then when I'd try to say "four is more" he'd correct me and tell me "Eight is more mommy" or "Five is alive" he would say "no mommy five is dead... eight is great"  For every number I had a saying for he would bring it back to eight.  And he wants to turn eight this year on his birthday.... he may be 8 for a long time in his head :)

Random facts from the week

the past few days joel has discovered he can crawl into the bathrooms.  he goes straight for the trashcan and likes to tip it over.  or chew on the bath rug.  gross...

Joel likes to grab my nose and hold it when he's upset or tired. He wont take a pacifier anymore and doesnt have a blankie... he has my nose.

colin's prayer at dinner "thank you Jesus for eyes, eyebrows, and mouthes"

Colin always picks me every dandelion he see and proudly brings it to me. When the kids are older and have moved out I hope to always have dandelions in my yard (Brent might disagree) 

Joel wants whatever Colin is playing with.  And its hard to distract him with another toy. He is very determined.

Joel is becoming very much a mommas boy -always a good thing :) - and wants me to pick him up and snuggle whenever I walk into the room.  He was fuss when I leave the room.  He is perfectly fine in between playing on his own but the minute he sees me or realizes I'm gone he cries. 

Joel is still doing the wounded soldier crawl and is now loving standing.  Its only a matter of time... we're not ready for that yet

Colin has molars coming in. Its very swollen and doesnt look fun. 

 Joel has 3 top teeth coming in. He wakes up every hour at night. We're so ready for these teeth to come in.  Poor kid.

Colin loves to wrestle Joel.  He will wrestle him and roll him all over the floor. For the most part Joel thinks its fun.  Unless he sees a toy he wants and then he complains.

Colin and Joel love to crawl into tents/forts/caves that Colin makes. Just the two of them.  Joel thinks he's such a big boy to be allowed in them. I think Colin just brings him in he can make sure Joel doesn't play with his toys.

One day I sat down to drink my cup of tea that I had reheated 3 times that morning and spilled it all over myself. So I made myself another cup - spilled that too.  Tea is not easy to get out of white carpet. I'm now only allowed to have water in the back room :)  the same day I turned on a burner on the stove. Turned on the wrong one and ended up melting a plastic lid all over the stove.  It was a rough day that day.

I used my $2 patch on my free jogging stroller and got it working. I have convinced the boys maybe 3 times to go in it. Colin usually wants to run too so he can practice for his next race :) But this is how they sit - holding hands the whole time.

I want to hold your hand...

Yesterday Kelly, RJ and Lucy came over to play. The boys played in the tent and sword fighted with these amazing nerf swords I found at the dollar store.  Joel is a big flirt and tried to hold lucy's hand and loved to scoot over to her and try to kiss her.  The first picture is her reaction to him holding her hand.  The bottom picture is right after he kissed her.  Her daddy would be proud!  Joel never gave up and kept trying to give her kisses over and over.  I think we need to have a talk with our little boy about kissing girls. Probably the sooner the better!

Big boy picasso

Today we went to the Peninsula Fine Arts Center for some painting fun. And this picture looks a lot like last years painting picture. (click here to see last years picture)  You can see how much Colin has grown. We used the ambassador pass my mom got for us (I've mentioned it before how each january NN gives out these free passes so you can enjoy the museums the city has to offer) We missed the Mariners Museum this year but will be checking out the Virginia Living Museum next week. Colin enjoyed the painting and this year painted 3 airport pictures. And they dried this time before we left so we were able to bring them home (not like last year) Both Joel and Colin liked the light table.  Brent works in Newport News on Tuesdays so after a quick stop at Bead Retreat to pick up supplies for this week we met Brent for lunch at Panera.  All day Colin had been acting fussy and grumpy so we quickly came home and then after talking to my grandma figured out that Colin has some molars coming in.  Great.  Now I have a baby who has yet another tooth coming in and a 3 year old with molars coming.  We're never going to sleep!

The weather was so beautiful we played with trucks outside when we got home and then when a meltdown started I told Colin it was time to come in and rest.  He told me he wanted some alone time so he had it (mommy needed some alone time too) Then we were playing in his tent later and Bambi (his stuffed animal) asked him about why he needed alone time and Colin replied "Me needed alone time because mommy said bad things to me that made my heart sad."  So Bambi (ahem... me...) asked him what bad things did mommy say and Colin said "that I needed to have a better attitude and to stop crying or we can't go on a bike ride"

Kaitlin comes to visit

 The week before Christmas I got a call from my friend Kaitlin asking if it would be ok for her to come visit us in January.  OF COURSE!  We never turn away friends and especially for it to be Kaitlin.  I haven't seen Kaitlin in almost 3 years. She graduated the same time we left WVU but have kept in touch the past few years.  Kaitlin was in my bible study for 2 years and was and still is such a joy to be around.  We became great friends and I think really bonded over our weekly trips to MOPS each week (kaitlin babysat for us during MOPS) driving around the block a few times to get Colin to sleep in the car, or singing songs to get him to sleep :)  She was also brave enough to babysit during the fussy hour for us so Brent and I could go out to a quiet dinner.Colin just loved her.

 

 She is very encouraging and someone who opens up and not only shares her life but also wants to know all about your life.  We spent many hours at a coffee shop talking and praying together in West Virginia. Thats the one part about leaving wvu that I miss - I just loved my bible study girls and spending time with them. Kaitlin and I decided that we definitely need to get a bible study reunion with everyone soon. Kaitlin flew in from NY on Wednesday night and was greeted by Colin and Joel Thursday morning. (unfortunately Joel decided he couldn't sleep more than an hour at a time all week so I think at times we were a little out of it being sleep deprived) Colin was very intrigued by Kaitlin coming and kept asking who she was and wanting to see pictures of her before she came.  And in showing him pictures of him and Kaitlin when he was a baby really reminded me of how much Joel and Colin look alike. One of these days I will have to post them. And Colin was just in awe of Kaitlin. They became fast friends and had a blast together.  Joel loved to stare at Kaitlin and also shared in the playing time. There were lots of hugs, kisses, and snuggles given by all.

 

The weather turned warm and we spent a lot of time outside. The beach one day and Yorktown the next.  We spent the past few days talking and catching up while playing with the boys. And I know some of you have also gone almost 3 years without seeing Kaitlin so here are tons of pictures to enjoy!

 Isn't this little guy so cute!  He discovered the joy of eating sand.

 

 Joel is eating sand, Colin not looking at the camera. Typical for my life right now

 

 This picture makes me laugh since Joel looks so small and I look so big.

 

 Kaitlin and Colin had fun running down to the ocean

 

 Kaitlin playing airplane with Joel.  She also spent a lot of time snuggling with Colin reading books - even keeping him company in the potty with Clifford stories. She also started teaching Colin how to read. I'm thinking I should start working on that since he just kept soaking it all up.And Kaitlin even played at least 10 rounds of Candy Land in a row - and she taught Colin how to play without cheating (since he always wanted the green ones)

 

 Joel and I at Grace Church (below) Its in the historic part of Yorktown - also where Brent and I got married 6 and a half years ago. Friday the weather was just beautiful so we spent every minute we could outside. It was so relaxing because we just took our time and walked around Yorktown and let Colin play as long as he wanted. Joel just went with the flow. It was so fun to watch Colin just run around and get so excited about everything.

 

I just love it.

Colin loved running around the church and in and out and on top of the tombstones. Reminded me of all the times I did growing up too.

Playing in the graveyard. Its beautiful with the old tombstones and big shady trees. We ate lunch near the playground next to it.

 Joel loving his hugs and kisses from Kaitlin

 

I love this picture. Thank you Kaitlin for getting taking this for me!  She was able to get amazing pictures of Colin - maybe I just need to pass the camera off to people from now on.

 

 Colin was very interested in who was buried underneath each stone so we spent some time reading all of them. Its amazing the spelling of the old english and how they worded things.

 Then we walked down the street and saw some of the historic building. Like the one below. That is the Nelson house, one of the signers of the declaration of independence. There is still a cannon ball in the side of the house from the war. Colin thought that was very cool. But the best part of the house was the "maze" or the gardens. We spent a lot of time there.

 

 Colin liked to tell us to go through the maze and then told us to concentrate but if we got lost that he could come and help us find our way.  I'm so glad he was there because we would still be there all the times we got lost if he didn't come rescue us! ha

 

 Telling Mommy which way to go

 

 The maze. I promised Colin we would go back again very soon

 

 Our Colonists.  Aren't they cute. 

 

 The historian at the house was related toThomas Nelson.  He was his great great great great great grandfather and very proud of his heritage. It was fun finding out some of the family history firsthand. Colin was excited when he was told that the kids games were in the back room.  In the picture below you can tell that he doesn't believe Kaitlin that rubbing sticks together was a toy.

 

 But then he decided to try it. But he thought it was sad that the kids a long time ago didnt have toys! ha

 

We took Kaitlin back to the airport this morning and I think spent a few hours there afterwards playing in the terminal. We watched her plane take off and then colin wanted to play. He liked the people movers but really liked the escalators. Up then down, up then down.  Several times over and over. He also wants to go back to the airport and play again.

 

 Thank you Kaitlin for spending your vacation with us and loving on my boys. It was such an encouraging weekend for me that was greatly needed. We loved every minute of it and hope we get to see you again - hopefully before another 2 years go by.