Once again quite late in writing a timely blog post--sorry (if anyone even cares haha!). So, we'll start this post with the continuation of summer-o-fun....but, here's a little spoiler for you, its end is rapidly approaching!! Nevertheless, one of our most adorable play-dates of the summer was with the Moccari family:
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| Tommy and his buddy, Caleb |
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| Eleanor holding adorable Miss Leah :) |
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| The honey badger...doing his own thang! |
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| I was fortunate enough to have this precious face gazing up at me <3 |
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| Tommy trying his best to fly the $1 Buzz Lightyear kite from the Dollar Tree... |
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| poor kid...I'll have to get him a real kite one of these days! |
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| We made moon sand to go along with our beach theme.... |
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| Let's just say they didn't exactly play with it as we intended ;) |
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| Look at that cute little mischievous smile! |
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| Even Ethan decided to join in on the fun! Check out the sand in Caleb's hair! |
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| The 3 amigos! |
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| Tommy was SO STINKIN CUTE with Leah!!! |
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| He held her for probably 20 minutes, and kept trying to make sure that tricky paci stayed in! |
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| He's asking me what he should sing to her next in this picture <3 |
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| Three tired little boys who played their hearts out! |
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| I just LOVE this picture of him cuddling with Leah on the couch <3 |
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| A goodnight kiss for little Leah |
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| My tired, red-faced, and sweaty big guy is ready for a nap of his own! |
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| This was so cute while it lasted, but Caleb decided he didn't want to nap with Tommy after all! |
Goggi, Papa, and Granny took the boys to the playground and splashpad at Waverly Place one hot and humid and day to cool off!
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| Granny keeping an eye on Tommy! |
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| Playing in the splash-pad with some new friends :) |
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| Oh Ethy--you and your crazy faces!!! |
Ahh, the consignment sale. I'm tired of actually going and working at it twice a year, so I went ahead and got 3 years worth of clothes at this sale :)
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| don't judge me! |
My turn for a little fun--Diva Night with Laura!! We decided we needed a little pre-show dinner and drink at Fiesta Mexicana!
The next morning, we all headed out to our neighborhood pool, where we had it all to ourselves for over 2 hours--it was amazing!!!
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| This was as far as Ethan made it into the pool, and it lasted for probably 2 minutes. He went through a brief phase of a few weeks post potty-training where he didn't want to be wet at all with "clothes" on! |
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| I am seeing some Ethan in this cute little picture :) |
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| A little science lesson in the baby pool! |
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| Anddddd, the honey badger is done! |
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| Aunt LoLo stealing some Tommy time! |
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| Love Laura's pout as Tommy demands to be taken back to the baby pool! |
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| Ethan was perfectly content to sun-bathe and eat snack! |
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| Tommy decided it was time to join him! |
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| Time for some time with the hubbs! |
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| Hehe, this is just so us <3 |
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| How GORGEOUS is Laura Hinson?!!?! |
After our impromptu pool party, it was time to head over to Grandma's house to celebrate Uncle NoNo's birthday!
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| Nolan, thrilled as always to be the center of attention for the day ;) |
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| Tommy can't wait for NoNo to open his gift! |
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| We got him good this year!! Check out that genuine smile from the guy who claims to hate presents... |
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| You're welcome for the Major League DVD that you let us borrow nearly 5 years ago! |
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| And, of course, it is now "TOMMY'S TURN!!!" |
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| He's looking pretty pleased with himself :) |
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| Look at those cute little crossed legs <3 |
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| Tommy pretending to be Sully from Monsters U |
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| Aunt LoLo and Grandma enjoying some time on the porch! |
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| Now this next little series of pictures was pretty funny--Tommy and Granddaddy having a sumo-like fight with the hop-a-longs by throwing them at each other! |
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| Tommy winding up for a big one.... |
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| Thwarted by the "monster"--Granddaddy Long Legs!! |
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| They're both really just kids at heart <3 |
I'm so happy that the boys have continued to really love their playset. Everyday after snack, they get so excited when Daddy declares, "PLAYSET TIME!!"
We met up with Davey's cousin, Kathryn, and two of the adorable children she nanny's at Chick-fil-A one day for lunch. I was so impressed with how calm and collected and in control Katy seemed handling a 3 year old and baby all by herself--she's a natural!
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| Kathryn and Wyatt :) |
And, now we come to the cessation of the first (and last) Summer-O-Fun! Now, that is not to say that we won't ever have anymore fun in the summer time, we have and we will. Let me explain in my first new life lesson to myself:
Life Lesson: Entitlement
So, if you've been following along, you know that I had declared this summer the "Summer-O-Fun". I was determined to fill the boys schedules with something special and fun nearly everyday. It began because I was starting to feel nostalgic that this would be my last summer with just the two of them (as I was pregnant when the summer began). Adding to that, they are both starting preschool this Fall, so I really wanted to just cram in a bunch of fun and memories. Now, most of you know that I miscarried, and once I was back on my feet, it made me all the more eager to have fun with my two little hearts that were here with me. I had the best intentions--I really did. It all started out amazing (I wasn't lying in all my previous blog posts!). We really did have so much fun, and it brought me so much joy to just see their faces light up everyday when I told them what was on tap for the day. And, for the most part, we had a blast at the actual events. We went to movies, play dates, parks, the pool, restaurants, the beach, Monkey Joe's, etc etc etc. I'd say probably about a month into it though, I started to notice some attitude issues coming out at home. What used to be a fun and exciting special treat was now seemingly expected and sometimes being demanded by my sweet boys! I had unknowingly enabled them to become entitled. A quiet day at home was no longer good enough for them. And, as I said, even a special treat didn't care much significance because it was now what they expected automatically. It all came to a head that day at Chick-fil-A when my usually very compliant Tommy essentially refused to leave the play area when it was time to go home. NEGATIVE. Not going to happen my son. Not in this house. Thus, the summer-o-fun was officially done. I am determined to do my best to not raise spoiled and entitled brats. What started as an innocent and well-meaning endeavor to have a ton of fun this summer ended in the unintentional entitlement of my kids. So, for the week and a half leading up to our first family beach trip, we cleared our schedule of anything that involved leaving the house. For the first week, we did NOTHING. We talked about gratitude, and we talked about attitude. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how quickly their attitudes returned to normal. I'm not trying to tell any Mommies out there how often to go out and do "special" things, but I can speak for my own family. We are going to try to keep special outings to a minimum, such that they remain special and a treat. In addition, none of them will happen without the boys "earning" them. I have found it is just not wise to give them anything without some effort on their part. We have a star chart for a few daily items that they must do, and their attitudes must display the following characteristics: gratitude, good listener, and a happy heart. So, to my boys, I apologize for creating an environment of entitlement this summer--sometimes Mommy's still have life lessons to learn too!
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| Day 1: Tommy had accidentally broken Grandma's lemonade pitcher while he was playing with it when he wasn't supposed to be the previous weekend, so we started out our week of refocusing by learning an important lesson... |
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| Tommy taking responsibility for his actions by giving Grandma $2 out of his piggy bank to pay for the broken pitcher. I was proud of him--as you can see, he clearly was sad about it, but he didn't fight it. |
We decided to continue our beach theme all the way until our first beach trip! Here's a look at all the "material" we covered!
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| Tommy building his very own sandpaper sand castle! |
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| Ethan's sandcastle was much more of a Salvador Dali type of work ;) |
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| Adding in the ocean... |
Next up was our sand-dollar paper plate craft--the boys did really well with this one!
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| Don't eat the glue!! |
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| This one is mine--Tommy insisted I needed to make one too :P |
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| Tommy's finished product! |
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| Ethan's Sand Dollar! |
After a one week hiatus, we were very thankful to go to the swimming pool with Goggi, Aunt Becky, and Uncle Steven!
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| Thanks for spending some time with the boys! |
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| <3 |
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| Ethan again chose to sit out :( |
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| Goggi and Tommy enjoying some fun pool time! |
Shoooooo, what a couple of weeks it had been--it was time for Mommy to have a special treat of her own ;)
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| Nothing says relaxing like fajitas and a margarita! |
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| Chicken fajitas! |
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| We had so much fun with Megan, her daughter Riley, and Sara! |
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| Riley was one of the girls--she hung out with us the whole night! |
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| Again, more Tommy cuteness with a sweet little baby girl <3 |
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| This picture kinda cracks me up... |
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| Tommy was so content to just look at Riley and sing her lullabies <3 |
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| LOL--Riley isn't so sure about this boy holding her :) |
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| "Shhhhhhhhh...go to sleep Baby!" |
The boys earned one final play-date with Caleb and Leah before we headed out for the beach! We've been trying to ask the boys what they are thankful for and what their favorite part of the day was every night at dinner or before bed. While Ethan's answer this night left us laughing (I-Pad!!), Tommy melted our hearts with his answer, "My friend Ca-wo (Caleb)" <3
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| I'm pretty sure Caleb was showing Tommy how to do some crossfit lifts :) |
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| Me and my little man <3 |
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| Oh my! Check out the Hulk Hogan face on Tommy! |
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| Poor little Leah didn't want to leave again! Doesn't she look so cute in the little outfit I got for her for Eleanor's baby shower--toot toot (that would be my own horn!) |
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| After insisting that he didn't want to take a nap, Tommy fell asleep within minutes of Caleb leaving! |
Now that we have our shades, we are ready to go to the beach...stay tuned to see how our first family vacation went! :)
