They're Baaaaack!

Over the river and through the woods
To Grandmother's house the went.
(literally)

Its been a week and half now since I got to wrap my arms around these two sweet little things.



They had the best time in Mississippi. London only cried for us once. Dylan said he was happy to see us, but that he could have stayed another week if it were up to him. The fact that they were not homesick is a direct testiment to the love that they were surrounded with. Their grandparents, great-grands, aunts, and cousins all spent time making special memories with Dylan and London. I hope that this trip is something they'll always remember. And I hope its the first of many more. 

They had the best time in Mississippi. London only cried for us once. Dylan said he was happy to see us, but that he could have stayed another week if it were up to him. The fact that they were not homesick is a direct testiment to the love that they were surrounded with. Their grandparents, great-grands, aunts, and cousins all spent time making special memories with Dylan and London. I hope that this trip is something they'll always remember. And I hope its the first of many more. 

Daniel and I were in Louisiana for two nights before picking up our babies. We had such a good time, but when Sunday morning came I could not get out of bed and into the car fast enough! They were in children's church when we finally got to them. We waited until it was over and then slipped into the room. The looks on their faces were priceless when they realized we were thee. They both hugged me tighter than ever before, I think. London did not let go of my hand for the next few hours, other than to eat. We went and visited with Daniel's grandparents for a bit and then loaded up the car to bring our babies back home. I know the kids were happy to see us, but I think they were both sad to leave. I'm so glad they love their grandparents and great-grands so very much.   

 

 

We asked them what their favorite part about each leg of the their trip was, the first leg being Daniel's mom and dad's house and the second being his grandparents. Here's what they said:

Dylan about Memom and Umpa's house:
1.Climbing the rock climbing wall (which Daniel's dad built just for the grands!)
2. Kayaking in the river, and learning to do it all by him self.
3. Getting to not only go to the Mississippi Brave's game, but getting to be the honorary bat boy!

London about Memom and Umpa's house:
1.Going fishing and catching a fish!
2. Watching the fireworks (at the Brave's game)
3. Getting to yell "Play Ball!" at the Brave's game.
4. Eating cake
5.Watching the Olympics*
6. Going to a birthday party

Dylan about Grandma and Grandpa's house:
1. Playing Legend of Zelda with Grandpa.
2. Going to swim at Aunt Paula's
3. Getting his shoe stinky in the pond (I'm quoting here)
4. Playing with Maggie and Ally
5. Grandma getting in the pool with him*
6. Sleep over with Ally.


London about Grandma and Grandpa's house:
1. Having ice cream with Grandpa on his swing.
2. Seeing Tracey "my grown up cousin"
3. Playing with Maggie
4. Having a sleepover with Ally
5. Swimming at Aunt Paula's and playing with her cat Simba
6. Playing barbies with Paulina and Christina.
7. Meeting Daisy, Micky Mouse, "Hustle" (not sure if I understand her correctly on that one)

*funny stories to follow

 

I'm so glad that my mother in law and grandmother in law both thought to tell me funny little stories through out their stay. Some of the kids "favorite memories" reminded me of a few.

Dylan:
On one of the days the kids were at Grandma's house, two of their cousins came over and they all went swimming at Aunt Paula's house. Apparently all of the grands talked Grandma into getting into the pool with them. When Daniel saw the picture of her in there, he said he's never, ever seen her in a pool before! Grandma told Dylan she needed him to teach her to swim. He told her "Sorry! Old people can't learn to swim." Thankfully she has a great since of humor! Kids tell you their exact truth, don't they?

London:
The first night night away from home was also the opening night of the Olympics. Umpa had the Olympics on and London was beside herself that the people on the tv kept saying her name. She was even more baffled that the broadcasters were saying how many people were in London for the Olympics. She turned to Memom and said "Maybe that's why my tummy hurts a little... all of those people are IN me." Sweet girl.

While telling me her favorite memories just now. She said spending the night with Ally (one of their little cousins) was one of them. Then she said "I really want her name to be Olivia, but its not. Her name is Ally."

On our way home, we had dinner with my Daddy and Brenda. We always love seeing them and our visits never seem to be able to last long enough. The kids sang a few verses of some church songs with my dad (right there in the restaurant) and it was so, so special to me. 

 

 

 

 

We drove straight home after dinner. I think we got in around 2:30 on Monday morning. If I'm not mistaken, Daniel and I were in the car for a total of 13 hours on Sunday (including the 4 hours of LA to MS to get the kids that morning). It was a long day, but so worth it.

Since being home, the kids and I have been some lazy bums. The first week they both pretty much wanted to be home all day. They were ready to get back out, playing and swimming this week but Dylan has swimmer's  ear so we've missed a total of two week in the water! There is only one more week of summer left. I plan to make it a great one!!! 

My Sweet Love Bugs

Two pieces of my heart are in Mississippi this week.
They are there spending time with their grandparents and great grandparents. Its important to Daniel and I that they have close relationships with all of their grandparents. We want their childhood memories to be filled with summers and holidays in Mississippi on the lake and in the country.
It was so hard for me to send them. There is nothing I love more than having my babies at home with me. I'm a control freak and even though I trust my mother in law and grandmother-in-law with my whole heart (literally because my kids are my heart), its hard for me to hand them the reigns and give complete control to them.
I know that they are in great hands. I know that they are being loved on and doted on all over. They are having the best time. I'm so glad they get this time together with people who love them so much.
And I  can.not.wait. to get my arms around them this weekend!

In the mean time, I've been meaning to post a few things that I want to remember about these two sweet things this summer.


 

This summer London has been the sweetest little thing. This is especially appreciated as we have been emerging out of the "terrible toddler" phase over the past year. Not that she was truly terrible, but those toddler years have very trying moments in them for every child (or at least both of my children) and while I'm sad to see how quickly she is growing, I'm happy to be waving good by to toddler tantrums. Just like her big brother, she is happy 95% of the day. Lately she has seemed especially grateful anytime we do something that she likes. For example, I'll take them swimming (which we do almost every day) and she'll say "Thank you for bringing us swimming, Mommy! Your the BEST!" or the other day when I let them get slushy at Sonic, which is treat but not a huge deal, she went on and on about how much she loved it and "Thank you so much!" I love her little attitude of gratitude. 



Mr. Dylan...
Oh this boy just makes my heart so happy. He's almost always happy and has the sweetest spirit. The other day I told him how handsome he was and he said "I know. I'm a good looking dude."
 I almost died with laughter.

He's grown to be quite independent and prefers to have good deal of time to himself during the day. I worry sometimes about whether or not I'm spending enough real quality time with him. Sometimes I'll say "you want do hang out with me?" and usually he says yes but every now and then he says "No thanks, I'm playing my game."  Playing a game equates to acting out, or pretending, to a story that he has made up. He is the most creative little person. He enjoys filling his down time with pretend play, writing and drawing (he's been working on a book), and video games. He would play video games all.day.long if I would let him.  But on the same hand, lately he has been super into wanting to bring a friend with us everywhere we go. If we go to lunch, he ask "Who can go with" and the same for the pool or park or bike ride or anything else we do. He and London have also been playing together really well this summer.

London would play with Dylan all day long if it were up to her.
Like I said though, Dylan prefers a little time to himself throughout the day.
London has recently discovered that she can cash in on his desire for solidarity.
Whenever she has something that she wants him to do, she'll say "If you don't I wont let you play yourself tomorrow!" or "If you ______ I'll let you play by yourself for __ days (anywhere from 1-60!)"
I think its hysterical.
The other day she tried this method out on me.
She asked me to do something and then said
"Please! I wont ask you any questions for 3 days!"
I looked at her laughing and said "I don't mind if you ask me questions, ever!"
She giggled and said "Oh! Yeh!"
I'm not sure why she thought that was leverage with me, but it tickled me none the less.

Dylan is quite the comedian, which makes me extra happy because there is nothing I love more than the sound of my babies' laughs. He likes to tell jokes, like the other day he asked "Why do the planets like to hang around the sun? Because they he's hot!" and then he just giggles and giggles with delight. Along with telling jokes he just says the funnies things. I'm kicking myself because I can't think of specific things at his very (late at night) moment. I'll come back and do a post with just funny things that he says sometime soon though, because he is a hoot to be around. He has become such a cool kid. 

 

I tell them every single day that I love being their mommy. 

I truly do love it.

I thank God daily for allowing me to be.

The other night I said to both of them, "I'm so glad that I get to be your Mommy. You guys are the best"

and they both said back to me "I'm so glad to be your kid."

And that is what its all about.

Friday

Happy Friday!

Is been a long, fun week.
Daniel was off work on Monday but has not gotten home from work any earlier than 11:00 every night this week. This makes for a long week for all of us. But we did a lot of fun things and it was a good one overall.

Today Daniel didn't leave for work until 8:30 so that he could hang out with the kids.
Once he left, the kids and I took our time getting ready for the day.
London wanted me to paint her nails. I was sort of impressed because usually she wants whatever color I have on, but today she wanted to pick her own colors. She went with lime green and hot pink. So fun for summer!

We had lunch with a girl-friend of mine, whom I've been friends with since the 7th grade. She's about to have her first baby and it was so fun seeing her pregnant. She'll be a great mommy :)

After lunch I took the kids to Bonkers, this HUGE jungle gym  play place.
It was on their summer to do list.
When we lived in Lewisville, before London was born, we used to take Dylan there all the time.
We would go in the evenings when there was hardly anyone there and Daniel and I would climb all over with him. He loved it. I always think I should take the kids, but its sort of out of our way and we just never get around to it. We went once when London was a tiny tot, but I think that's it since we moved (over 4 years ago!). Dylan was so excited to go back. He remembered it well. London had no memory of it and was just excited because Dylan was.
 (you can look back at our last visit here if ya want)

Dylan was all over the place with excitement. London was very unsure of it all.
She kept asking where the little kid section was.
I went up with them until London was more comfortable.
Then I sat and watched them for a bit.
They do have a toddler area, but London didn't want much to do with it because it was "Three and under" and Dylan couldn't play with her in there.
It was so lound and crowded that I was pretty sure that I would actually be bonkers by the time we left.
We only stayed about an hour. My nerves couldn't handle any longer.
But it was a fun hour (for the kids anyways)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way home the kids decided they wanted to spend the night with my mom. I love having her live so close to us and that we are a such a tight knit family! I dropped them off and then had a little shopping time at Target. I planned to come home and super clean my house, but I got distracted looking at bookbags. For real ya'll, it is crazy how much time I'v put into the search for the cutest bag. I think I found Dylan's. I'm still on the hung for London's.

Cheers to the Weekend!

Thursday

Last night I let the kids stay up until 11:30 because I've lost my mind.
And because that's what time Daniel got home for the 2nd night in a row and they wanted to see there Daddy before going to bed. How do you say no to that!?
I thought they might sleep in.
Wrong.
By 7:30 they were both in bed with me.
Daniel had already left for work, so all breakfast duties belonged to me.

After breakfast we hung out for a little bit and then headed to our local water park.
Dylan was thrilled when we got there and almost immediately  ran into one of his good buddies.
It worked out really well that he could ride the big slides with his buddy while London and I played on a very near by baby slide and kept our eye on them. I say "our" because London is quite the little mother hen.

We had a great time and stayed for about two and a half hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got home around 3. We pretty much just vegged out for the next couple of hours.
I did a little house work, but not as much as I should have.
We colored and practiced writing. London is working on perfecting writing her name. And Dylan is working on a little cursive. We played chase and had a tickle-war.
Oh, and we all three jumped on my bed. Just because.

I had a children's council meeting at church after supper.
Since Daniel was working late I had to take the kids with me. I was so happy when London replied to me telling them we were going to the meeting with "Yay! CHURCH!" I'm so glad they like going to church. Several of their friends were there, so it was like a play date for them.

On that note. Here's my little rant. I love to volunteer. I feel like serving is my spiritual gift. I love, love, love sitting on the Children's Council at church. I love sitting on the PTA board at Dylan's school. I love helping in the classroom. I love being room mom, which I have done every single year for Dylan. I enjoy all of these things for so many reason. The fellowship with other moms, the involvement in things my children are involved in, and the joy that I get from helping others. But here's the deal. I feel like every year I bite off more and more. Usually I take the summer off and by the time school starts I'm ready to load my plate right back up. But for some reason as we were talking about all the areas that need volunteers in the meeting, areas that I would usually jump in head first, I just felt so exhausted. Like I really just wanted to curl into a ball and take a nap right there in the meeting. I don't know what my deal is. I just feel burnt out. I'm hoping I can shake this and that I'll be rearing to go by the time school starts. I know you can't do everything, but I have my list of things I really, really want to do. Or at least I want to want to. Does that sense?

Kids went to bed at a much more normal time tonight. 8:30.
I can't wait to tuck myself into bed shortly.
So glad tomorrow is Friday. I have fun plans for the kiddos tomorrow. 

Wednesday.

I have to say, blogging everyday is not for me.
I have to drag myself to the keyboard.
But I set a goal, so here I am. And I really think it will be neat to look back in a year or more and have a window it what our day to day life was like, and hopefully the kids will like having this also.

Daniel woke up with the kid and spent the morning hanging out with them.
He didn't get home until about 11 last night, so they hadn't seen him since he left for work the day before. The long hours that are sometimes involved in his job stink, but I'm so grateful for the flexibility in when he can go into the office. He woke me up just in time to walk him to the door and send him off to work. What a good hubby, huh?


I made a smoothie (which is my usual breakfast) and took a few minutes to check in on all my social media sites and then got myself and the kids dressed for a bike ride. We met our neighbor-friends outside and they came with us. Its always more fun with friends!
On that note, Dylan is really has entered that phase of constantly wanting a friend to be with him.
I totally get it and can remember very well being that way myself. We do play with friends a lot, but I also want him to be content when its just our little family. We'll be working on that this summer.

After the bike ride, we had a pretty bland morning.
The kids played in their playrooms,
Dylan read two chapters in his book,
London and I watched the dance portion of "Dance Moms",
I cleaned up around the house,
rotated laundry (but didn't fold it... oops!),
had lunch and just bummed around.

Then my mom called and asked if she could come do a craft with the kids.
You don't get any better than that on the grandmother of the year front!

She brought over those beads that you make patterns with and then press with the iron.
I don't know what they are called, but I did them when I was a kid.
I've never done them with the littles before but they loved it and it was so, so, so good for their motor skills. We'll be doing that again, for sure!

When they finished their craft I laid both of them down for a nap.
My mom and I enjoyed some girl time for a bit before she headed home.
I joined the kids in la-la-land for a nap and we didn't wake up until 4:30!
Oops!
By the way, its 10:30 and night and they are both still awake.
That's what happens when you take long, long naps late in the day.

By the time we got up from our nap, it was time to start thinking of dinner.
Right as I was starting to figure out what to cook, Daniel called to say he would be working late.
That's when I decided it was a pizza sort of night.

The kids and I grabbed pizza and took it over to our friend's house so we could swim too.
They swam for over an hour. You would think that would help them tire out for tonight, huh?

By the time we got home it was past 7:00.
During the school year my kids get in bed at 7:00.
Last summer I push back bedtime to 7:30.
This summer has been crazy, with them getting in bed at 9:00 or later.
Its been fun and we compensate with naps,
but I bet its going to be a bear getting them back on schedule come August.

For the rest of the night, the kids indulged in screen time. This means TV, Video Games, computer, phone games, or any entertainment that has a screen. My ideal day involves no more than a couple hours of screen time, but some days that's just not the case.

Tomorrow I have to fold and put away all that laundry and then we might hit up our local water park.

Happy Wednesday.

Tuesday

When I woke up this morning, I didn't feel to terribly well.
Luckily, Daniel's car wasn't done being repaired so he was still home.
So I went back to bed and didn't get up until almost noon!
I can't even remember the last time I slept in for that long. It was amazing and I woke up feeling much, much better.

As soon as I was up we were out the door to pick up Daniel's car.
Then the kids and I went to our friends house to swim.
I sat at the edge of the pool for a bit and watch in awe.
I can not believe both of my babies swim independently without floaties!
The last time I was able to sit outside the pool and just watch was the summer before I had London and Dylan had just started swimming really well.
I can't believe this is the phase of life that we are in.
London is the same age now as Dylan was when I was pregnant with her.
They are both so independent and both so much fun.
I say to them almost everyday, "I'm SO lucky to get to be your Mommy"
and I hope that they know that I really, really mean that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After swimming for long while, we ran home just long enough to get dressed and then headed to our library.
Dylan and several of his friends took a class on how to draw cartoons.
Dylan did a great job. He's so creative, so I knew this would be right up his alley. I would love to find a real art class to put him in.

London and all the other little siblings playing in kids area. London spent 80% of her time there playing with the puppets, 10% on the computer and the rest with our little baby friend.

We came home and had dinner. I cooked tacos, per Dylan's request.
I always give myself a little pat on the back when I cook a full meal while Daniel is working late.
Its just so tempting to say "oh, its just the kids and I... I'll order something in or throw together a sandwich."
Surely I'm not the only mom who's like this?

After dinner we went out and enjoyed a perfect summer evening with our neighbor-friends. We played outside for about and hour and then cam in and got ready for bed. Dylan asked me to cuddle them on the coach, so I put a movie on and did just that. Here's another bad-mom-confession. I'm not the best at sitting with the kids to watch a cartoon or movie. I'm so bad about turning on the movie, cuddling for a few minutes, and then sneaking my laptop out and "sitting" with them while they finish the movie. But tonight, I made a conscious decision to stay present with my babies and cuddle them, rubbing their backs, twirling their hair and giggling along with them.  I'm so glad that I did. All the sweet cuddles were worth more than anything else I could have been doing.

Both kids are asleep on the couch,  my talk shows on playing in the background, and I'm catching up on everything on the net right now. Pretty fabulous.