He may have had a point...

David and his "no coloring on the walls" sign, that is. What do I walk out into the hallway to find Aidan doing? Nothing other than coloring on my walls with the Buzz Lightyear-light-up pen!!! What did the little culprit have to say for himself? Nothing but squeals of joy while running away from his Mama. When I grabbed the camera to take his photograph to post with this blog, he gave me one of his "I know I'm really cute" smiles and said, "Cheese!" as is illustrated below. :) Happy Wednesday!

Aidan being his cute little self.

Look what I found...

curled up on the top shelf of my armoire! Yeah, this child of mine is most definitely a MONKEY! David thought it was hilarious that he was curled up on top of my pants.

Trains galore.

Some pictures from our Saturday trip to the VA Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. So much fun climbing on and in the old engines and caboose. We're all looking forward to going there again.

David and Aidanisms

Thought I'd take a moment to share a couple Davidisms and Aidanisms as of late.

David:
This afternoon while I was preparing the potatoes au gratin David looked at me and said, "Mommy, I want to be a cook when I grow up so I can cook in the kitchen with you."

On a daily basis he kisses the tip of my nose and tells me, "Mommy, you're so cute. I just love you." Usually this happens while I'm giving him cuddles before bedtime, but he has also started doing this randomly at other times of the day. I'm not complaining though...it totally melts my heart.

Aidan:
This evening Rob tried to have Aidan say, "Go Ducks!" Aidan replied: "Quack, quack!" Then Rob tried to have him say, "Go Hokies!" to which Aidan said Hokies, then quickly changed the word to cookies (his favorite food of the day besides ham).

Aidan is very particular about his clothes and his shoes (notice his blue tennis shoes in the above photo--those are "Blue" and he insists of wearing those every day--try to put another pair on him. As soon as he sees "Blue" he grabs them and asks over and over to have you put them on him). Almost every day this past week he has picked up one of his polo shirts out of his pile--primarily his light blue one with stripes and carries it around. He even tried to take off the outfit that he had worn to church this morning to put on his preferred shirt.

Today is day 2 for Aidan being weaned. He looked at me today half perplexed and said, "No Num-nah" then smiled. Thankfully he hasn't shunned me like David did when I weaned him. That child wouldn't cuddle with me for almost an entire month afterwards (he cuddles with me lots now though...must not have traumatized him too much). :) Weaning him has been a bit of an emotional experience for me though. More so than I had originally anticipated. Fortunately, this time the process has gone by much more smoothly. I'm hoping that it continues to be this way.

Wanna piece of me?

E: looks perplexed
D: Do you wanna piece of me?
E: Yeah!

David then grabs Evan and throws him to the ground.

R: Whoa David! That's a game you only play with Daddy--not with your friends.

What on earth has Rob been teaching that boy? :)




Apparently this is how this little conversation/wrestling maneuver occurred tonight after dinner, shortly before Matt, Tasha and the kiddos left. The boys all had lots of fun tonight--it was fun watching and listening to them play and interact. Fun times for all.

2 and 1/2 hours later...

both boys received a clean bill of health. We finally got around to scheduling the boys' physicals with the doctor here in Blacksburg today. After talking to a few of my MOPS moms, and after discussing this with Rob, we decided to go with a family doctor instead of a pediatrician. I saw Dr. Freeman (aka Dr. Jeremy) earlier in the fall when I had tonsilitis, and have heard other people rave about him, so figured what they hey, we'll have the boys see him too.

The boys' appointment was scheduled for 4 p.m. We arrived about 20 minutes until 4 so I could fill out paperwork, etc. Yeah, I didn't get home until 6. It was a LONG (but good) visit. David and Aidan are both above average for their age in the weight category, but are both on the shorter side height-wise. Everything was good though (barring David's low-grade temperature that he ran today...not sure where that popped up from). The examination room we were in was basically a playroom with the exam table in the corner. The boys had fun playing with all the toys, and having me read books to them while we waited. The toys were definitely our saving grace. Who knows how things would have panned out had we been in the waiting room the entire time! :)

Before we left, Aidan ran into Dr. Jeremy's office (to see his messy desk, so the doc said--to which I quoted Rob: "A messy desk is a sign of a brilliant mind." the doc said that he's going to have to remember that one). David told the nurse and the doctor both that he had Cubbies tonight, and then recited all of his memory verses for them. Nothing like having my little witness sharing the good news of Christ with others. :)

Aidan still has to go get his shots, but we have to do that at the county health department or at the hospital. I figure Rob will be on this one--needles...blech! Otherwise, no appointments again for a couple of months, then no more until next year right after birthdays. By that time, I'll have to get a tetanus shot myself.

No coloring on the walls!

Signage by David. He came out of my bathroom yesterday saying, "Mommy, I made a sign in the bathroom that says 'No coloring on the walls!'" I didn't think much about it until after I had to go in there later. As I sat down, I noticed on the wall in front of me 2 circles with lines through them (as seen in the picture above). The little box of crayons they got at Cracker Barrel last time we ate there was sitting on the edge of the sink. I was laughing pretty hard by the time I had left the room.

To top it off, he just told Rob this story about why he had to do it. Here is the condensed version:

R: So David why did you write on the walls?
D: so that somebody who comes in the bathroom to write on the walls knows that you aren't supposed to write on the walls
R: Didn't you have to write on the walls to do that?
D: Yeah, but I had to so people would know not to write on the walls

4-year-old logic. Gotta love it. :) Speaking of that child of mine, I just heard the fridge--gotta go investigate!

Soakin' up the sunshine!

That was definitely us yesterday. Went to the park in the morning, cleaned up the back yard a bit (apparently missed some of the dog-poo though--Aidan's "blue" found it when we played out there later). In case you're wondering, Aidan calls his favorite shoes (blue Sketchers) "Blue." And believe me, if you try to put anything else on him, he gets a little grumpy!

Yesterday afternoon was fun though--I cleaned off the patio slab while the boys were out playing in the yard, or on the patio furniture...they are monkies you know. :) It was fun watching them get all dirty and having fun. We're definitely looking forward to our move in just over 3 1/2 months. I'm about ready to begin a countdown, I'm that excited about it! Maybe we'll even drive over to that neighborhood later today to play at the park. Get the boys used to the new surroundings they will have. David is looking forward to being able to ride his bike more and having a park just down the street. I'm excited that the boys will each be in their own bedrooms again, and that Rob and I will have our own creative/work spaces (and, the office will no longer share space with our bedroom). Having a real yard and a garage are definite plusses too. Our yard here is pretty much just a weed patch, where there is any green at all. But, my monkeys need room to move or else they are going to drive their Mama crazy!!!!

Tigers, Old Navy and 79 degrees--oh my!

Alright...the title for today's entry is a little crazy, but that's kind of how today has been. Rob worked on homework for awhile this morning (trying to get his take-home test complete) then came down suggesting that we go up to Roanoke to go to the zoo and to Old Navy...the boys needed new pants. We all said, "sure!" and so that's what we did.

The zoo was crazy! We have gone there at least 5 other times and have never seen as many people there as we saw today. Guess that everyone in the Roanoke Valley and possibly the New River Valley all had the same idea we had. :) Then again, it was 79 degrees outside! Yeah, it's March 11, and it's 79 degrees. How crazy is that? It was pretty awesome though. We aren't complaining after getting to go outside and enjoy it! The boys ran around the zoo for awhile, then we had the difficult task of wrangling them back in the direction of the car. Neither one really wanted to go in that direction.

After the zoo, we went to Old Navy to get those pants I mentioned earlier. And, since they had their St. Patrick's day t-shirts, we had to get those for us too...it's kind of a family tradition. :) We also ventured to the Disney store--boy, was David in heaven. As soon as he saw Buzz Lightyear, it was over. And, luck had it that since he lost his small Buzz Lightyear toy on one of our excursions, he was able to get a replacement Buzz--a much bigger one that makes LOTS of noise (now, why did we give into that again? the laser noise drives us CRAZY!).

Well, it's time to go finish dinner and help Rob with the boys. Maybe we'll even go out for another walk after dinner--who knows!

27.

Today I have officially entered into my late-twenties. Pretty crazy to think that I'm now that old. :) David has asked me repeatedly over the last couple of days, "So Mommy, when are you going to be 25?" To that I had to reply, well, David, that time has already passed. At least Uncle Dunny will be turning 25 this year, so he'll have someone at the age that he must think is nearly perfect.

My birthday has been great though. The boys made me breakfast in bed--scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice and a Mexican mocha. Apparently David thought that he needed to be fully responsible for making his Mommy's breakfast. Rob let him be the one in charge of making the toast, but after about 2 TBSP. butter being not completely spread on one slice of bread, Rob decided that he'd step in and help. It was wonderful being woken up by an extremely energetic and excited 4-year-old (and a 22-month-old who thought that his Mama's scrambled eggs were for him--little mooch!). :) David has also made it a point that anyone he talks to knows that it's his mommy's birthday. A little embarrassing for me since he also has to tell them how old I am this year, but it's wonderful news for him. His excitement is contagious.

After breakfast, we ran a host of errands--Lowes, church, Kroger, the pet store, came home for lunch, looked at a couple of potential houses to rent, went to the park, had dinner, then Rob took the boys with him to pick up our babysitter, Meghann, so I could get ready for our "date" to the movies. We saw The Pink Panther with Steve Martin. Talk about hilarious!!! I laughed so hard that I literally was afraid of peeing my pants! Guess that's what I get for drinking a big ol' Diet Coke while watching the movie, eh? :)

Birthdays are fun though. Fun times with my family. Fun to have a day just for me. Fun to get completely spoiled. Not only are they fun, they're also semi-reflective. I've taken moments to look back at who I am. Where I've come from. Thinking and wondering what God has in store for me next.