Olympic Spirit

We've got some Olympic Spirit going on around our house.  Not sure about you guys, but we have been watching quite a bit of the Olympics.  Friday, we got ready for the Opening Ceremonies by making a red, white, and blue pom pom out of pipe cleaners,

and a tasty parfait treat with strawberries, blueberries, Cool Whip, and granola.  We were ready for the show to start!

In an attempt to keep Eli interested as the countries paraded in, I used this flag scavenger hunt.  It got a little late, so we ended up recording it and watching it the next day.  The scavenger hunt did help....for a little bit. He hung in there until "N."  He liked looking for the flags and figuring out which country's was which.

Both boys have enjoyed chanting "USA" during races and events.  I even heard Jude up in his crib chanting it before he fell asleep for nap.  Awesome. I think my love of the Olympics is rubbing off on the boys.

Little Stinker!

Heaven forbid Mommy get a moment to go to the bathroom! Last week, Jude decided to seize the moment and paint his toenails.  He got some of Mommy's {dark}nail polish, twisted the top off, and poured it on his toes feet.  And of course, a 1 1/2 year old does not have good aim, so he decorated our carpet too.  Thankfully, Eli came running in to inform me soon after it started and there were only 8 spots to clean up.  Sigh.

It took me nearly 2 hours and all of this to get the stains up, but you can barely any of it at all now. This last spot was the worst. It was where it had poured directly onto the carpet, and it was deep in the fibers. While trying to clean, I put Jude in his highchair to color......all over himself!!  AAaargh!!!

Such a little stinker.  It is a good thing he's cute!

Our 4th....and Then Some

We had a nice and relaxing 4th of July week at the beach with family.  Aunt Z and Uncle Matt B were able to use some vacation time to come.  Yay!  Aunt Kristi and Uncle Steve came down, and Grandpa came for a quick 24-hour getaway.  Lots of fun.....

.....until.....Jude started feeling sick.  He was pitiful and was not in the mood for pictures.  He went to bed soon after this:

Jude slept through all of the fireworks again this year.  He would have cried and been scared anyways.  He shook with fear last month when some friends shot some off.  Matt and Steve treated us to fireworks 3 nights in a row.  Pretty awesome!

Eli was decked out in his glow gear again this year.  

Jude had a fever much of the 5th and barely spent any time on the beach.  Poor thing.

Eli reading a book to Jude....might be my favorite moment to date. Pure sweetness!

Always love a good shrimp boil!!  It was delish!

Not long after Jude was feeling sick, Eli started feeling icky too.  He slept off and on for the next 24 hours.  He was feverish and puny.  

Our last day there, he tried to rally and managed to help Uncle Steve catch some crabs.  Exciting!

With both boys trying to fight the crud, I still figured I'd try to get a nice picture of them at the beach.  Jude was not having it....Eli hung in there despite a fever and sore throat that continued on for the next 2 days.

Eli insisted that I take this picture.  He was so proud of himself.  Love him!!

So upon return, we ended up taking Eli to a walk-in clinic because he was in so much pain.  He was crying and even spit out a doughnut.  Whoa!  We knew it was for real.  Turned out to be a nasty virus that he was kind enough to share with Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Kristi, and Uncle Steve.  No fun.  

With germs, another week of VBS, and hot days, we have been taking it slow.  I'll admit to feeling a little lazy this month. Thank goodness for outside activities like music class for Jude...

...and karate for Eli.  He and I had the privilege to see his Sensei earn his second degree black belt this week.  What an intense process.  Eli was pretty overwhelmed by all of the advanced techniques, forms, and sparring. 

Every once in a while, I muster up enough energy for something fun.  One morning, I set out a block of ice for with some of the boys' toys trapped inside.  They had a ball using syringes of warm water and colored salt to free their stuff.

Jude just wanted to pour.  Pour salt from one bowl to the next.  Pour the salt in the grass.  Pour the water out.  Pour the water on the block of ice.  

The first freed toy! Yes!!!

Once one was free, it was ON!  Eli was definitely into it,and it took probably an hour and a half to free them all.  In the end, both boys were soaked, but they had had a lot of fun.

Then there was the day Jude colored with markers....

As you can see, he decided to color himself instead of on the paper.  I think Eli and I were distracted with a reading activity while Jude took advantage of our distraction.  He's a mess, but at least he's a super cute mess. He can go from this:

to this:

in no time!  Our little rockstar is definitely taking advantage of toddlerhood.  

Thank goodness that with the craziness, comes sweetness too.

Still using the phone more the the camera on a day-to-day basis.  I may or may not be totally addicted to Instagram these days.  It is fun to be able to share pictures of my helpers making a "just-because-Happy-Thursday" cake with my followers.  If you aren't familiar, it is an app that is similar to Facebook, but just pictures, and I love it.

Finally, we are on baby watch around here.  My sister, Theresa, is 40 weeks pregnant this week, and we can't wait to welcome another nephew.  

 Hurry up, little guy!!!

The Best of the Rest

June turned out to be a little crazier than normal for us.  We had moments to celebrate, moments to cherish, moments to ponder, and moments to mourn.  It is really hard for me to look back at this month and try to remember what we did when life wasn't shaking us by the shoulders.  God shared a lot with us this month, and it was definitely a little hectic at times.  Thankfully, I can look back at phone and camera pictures that I managed to snap to try to capture a little slice of our lives when we were just being us.

Like playing dress up.....all the time.....

And falling asleep while reading in the car after a busy day visiting Grandpa and Grandma....

Squeezing in a quick 24 hour trip to the beach, just the littles and Mommy to visit a college friend she hadn't seen since graduating.  It was a gorgeous 24 hours.

And watching the "tac-tah" move sand from under the beach house before hitting the beach for the day.

Celebrating Father's Day with silliness, homemade cards, swimming, and a cook out.

Despite my best efforts to find a summer routine, our routine has been non-existent.  Instead we are taking it day by day and week by week.  I had big plans for a weekly schedule of fun to encourage outings, explorations, and adventures.  All the pieces are in place, but a life filled with trips out of town, 2 weeks of VBS, spending time with loved ones and visitors....all of the ups and downs, we have barely had the time to fit in much. When we have managed the time, we have been baking, reading, experimenting, and crafting. Eli can't get enough of this stuff. We even made a Bucket List....and we have barely scratched its surface.

This was the day we made GOOP....check out the difference in the reaction from the boys:

Eli LOVED it..............Jude didn't want ANYTHING to do with it.  Haha!

To wrap this post up, we took the boys to the zoo after a tough (and not a lot of fun-filled) week in Dunedin.   It was a much needed outlet....for all of us.  Jude is in an animal loving stage, so he was in heaven.  Eli got to feed all kinds of animals, and we made it a day all about the boys.  They set the pace and did what they wanted to do.  A day that we all needed.

 I'm on a choo choo, Daddy!  A choo choo!

 

from feeding the birds to the hurricane simulator....such a fun day!

both boys fed a giraffe...always such a neat experience.

July is already halfway over, and it picked up where June left off.  Super crazy and still busy.  Fun at home, a family beach trip, Grandma home from the hospital, another week of VBS (with Mommy as a volunteer this time!)....and we are only 2 weeks in.  Before we know it, it will be time for Pap Pap and Lil's wedding!  There are no signs that things are slowing down anytime soon.