Summertime '16

Yesterday, Wednesday, was my first full day of summer vacation. And is was a wonderful day. The kids played so well together and we had a day full of ordinary, everyday stuff; but it was great. Isaac woke up at 7 a.m. and B. shortly after. We ate breakfast, played play-doh, and made tall block towers.

Today we had another great day together. Play-doh again and more inside fun as it was still wet from a storm yesterday. After Eric came home, we piled in the car and had an evening at the Children's Museum. They had a blast. Isaac absolutely loved the dinosaurs. Brooke did too, but she seemed to love the Playscape water table even more.

These two are amazing kids. We are so blessed to have them; without a doubt they are both gifts from God. I am so ready to spend my summer with them making memories!

End of June - Summertime 2016

A few moments from our summer so far:

A few weeks ago Eric and I were both sick: fever, coughing, sinus issues...the whole nine yards. Thankfully we are both better and we're more even more thankful that the kids did not get sick. Summer colds/sickness=truly the worst!

Isaac is in the habit of getting up between 6:40 and 7:30 each morning. I can hear him usually toss a few times and occasionally even mutter something as he's waking up before immediately hopping out of bed and noisily opening his door. He calls, "Mommy?" and walks in our room. He makes his way over to my side of the bed and tells me, "Mommy, the sun's out. It's a beautiful day. Time to wake up." If I happen to linger in bed too long, or am not able to open my eyes quickly enough, he tells me, "Mommy, get up! It's not time to sleep." Yikes, he certainly does not get the early-riser gene from me. I absolutely cannot bound out of bed at the first chime from my alarm, I need time to wake up and ease out of bed. B enjoys sleeping in as well as I do; she frequently sleeps until 8 am or later, as long as Isaac isn't making too much noise.

Isaac loves going to Nanner and Big Guy's house. Eric and I took them over last week to swim; on the way, Isaac could tell by the street and houses we passed that we were close to their house. He said, "I'm so cited to go to Nanner's house!" He was nearly bouncing up and down in his seat.

Brooke and Cee Cee, her cousin, love to play "baby" together. They both pretend to be babies and crawl around saying, "goo, goo, ga, ga". They pretend to be babies because they are both soon old!

Brooke has been watching a lot of Doc McStuffins lately and now wants to be like Doc in another way. Brooke already uses her doctor kit frequently: on us, her dolls, the dogs. But after watching the new season, she wants to be a big sister...just like Doc. Doc's family adopted a new baby and now Brooke wants a baby as well. She asks Eric and me for "baby sister" on an almost weekly basis now. It doesn't help that many people she knows are actually expanding their families and having new babies. She's definitely hopeful! She carries her babies around and calls them "baby sister"!

Here are a few pics from our summer so far:

Isaac usually takes a nap after lunch; however, one day this summer he conned me into watching an episode of Curious George first, and almost fell asleep on the couch! The stinker.

The four of us took a walk down to the Famous Tomato, an amazing local place for a summer meal with a fresh salad bar, a selection of soups that changes daily, and hundreds of vintage sodas. The Famous Tomato also has fresh produce, vintage candies, salsas, jams, jellies, pickled vegetables, and a variety of hot sauces. The sweet Vidalia onions and beefsteak tomatoes are absolute Indiana summer must-haves! If you are able to stop by, don't leave without a butterscotch root beer; you won't be sorry you picked one up.

This is one of our favorite destinations; we love walking the few blocks south to grab dinner, a butterscotch root beer, or just a handful of candy. The kids ask frequently to walk to the "Mayto" and Eric and I comply whenever possible.

These pics were taken outside the Famous Tomato while Eric popped inside to grab a few refreshing sodas and a candy-surprise for the kiddos.

Isaac and Brooke love to play outside, running around like wild monkeys, playing in their sandbox, riding on their outdoor toys, playing ball, or drawing on the driveway with chalk. I can't really blame them, I love being outside as well. When summertime rolls around in Indiana, I am so ready to see cold weather end. The beautiful greenery has reintroduced itself to us, the grass is lush and thick, leaves sway in the warm breezes, and sunlight stays around longer each and every night. I can totally understand why these two want to be outside so often, we spend most evenings outside in the backyard enjoying the cool evenings. Here I caught a sweet sibling hug!

B has such a beautiful smile. She has such a bright and sparkling personality. She loves to smile big and bright. Here she is dressed up in her butterfly wings and tutu from Nannie and Pop-Pop.

Isaac was old enough to attend Vacation Bible School this year. He made crafts, ran like a mad man, and listened to Bible stories from Miss Angie (not me)

Unless you have traveled this path of potty-training with a child who has little to no interest in the potty...well, let's just say it's hard to imagine what it's like. I truly didn't realize potty-training would be THIS difficult. There were a lot of other things I imagined would be way more difficult. But it's happening. Thank God because I was truly starting to wonder if Isaac would ever use the potty. I can't take credit for this change though. We are using a tactic shared by Eric's cousin (thank you Nancy!) and it is working! Let's just pray he continues to use the potty after this week.