Pappy's Tractor

Lincoln is connecting EVERYTHING to Pappy's Tractor. If he hears a loud noise, "Pappy Tractor." If he sees the color green, "Pappy Tractor." Yesterday, we were talking about gas prices and he says, "Pappy get gas in Tractor." At the playground there is a steering wheel...apparently it's Pappy's Tractor.
Ethan gets VERY upset if he doesn't get to pick out his shirt every morning. This morning he was in my room when I was getting dressed. He comes over to my clothes and says, "I want to pick out your shirt." HA...UGH...NO!! He looks at me very seriously and says, "Well can you at least pick out something pretty." I picked out a blue shirt with flowers on it. I asked him if it was ok and he says, "Well, I was hoping it would be pink." His teen years are going to be rough!

one more book

Mar called me over to look at the boys. Lincoln asked Ethan to read him a book. He was doing a great job!

Busy day!

We had a list of things to get done today! On the top of the list was Ethan's dentist appt. I knew that he had a tooth that was "bothering" him. It turns out he has TWO cavities and we need to go see a pediatric dentist. If you had asked me before we got there if I would be concerned about getting a cavity filled, I would have said...."Nah." It turns out Ethan is not as comfortable at the dentist as he is at the doctor's office. It was a major ordeal getting his teeth cleaned. Wish us luck on Thursday when we go to the pediatric dentist.
We made it down to the pool tonight as a family. Ethan and I have been going after his nap and we usually make it back before Lincoln wakes up. Today we decided to all go after dinner. It was really fun and Lincoln is finally getting comfortable in the water. He even kicked his legs while floating today.

Haircuts and Church Bear

The boys hair was getting unruly. We talked about getting haircuts ALL week, but finally made it to the barber shop yesterday. When we walked in, Nate sat Lincoln down all by himself. He was so happy to sit up there like a "big-boy." We were able to get all three boy's hair cut in twenty minutes!!!
During the summer, our church takes a Sunday School break. The kids sit with the parents during church and our pastor does Children's moments before his message. Each week he has two or three church bears to go home with kiddos to pray with. This week Ethan got the church bear. The best part was he got the bear that had a 1997 scarf on it. You know how he LOVES his numbers. He was beaming all through the sermon!!! He slept with him tonight and Marilyn said prayers with him.

National Aquarium

We can cross another museum off the DC list. We made it to the National Aquarium. We looked at the reviews yesterday and the museum got HORRIBLE reviews, so our expectations were low. Surprisingly, it was great. I could see where if you had adults or older children it could be disappointing, but our kiddos loved it. Lincoln was thrilled that Nemo and Dory were there. He could have stayed at this tank and looked at them the whole time.

There were a few hands on exhibits. Ethan enjoyed touching shark teeth. It was a small aquarium, but just right for our guys!

You say it's your birthday

Today was Mar's birthday. We started the morning off with pancakes. Then the boys helped me bake her cake. Last week, Marilyn made buttercream icing for some cookies we had. Nate bought some almond extract and the icing takes EXACTLY like the Cakery's icing in Dayton. The poor thing had to make icing for her own cake today!
We finished the night up with dinner at Southside 815. This was one of the best restaurants we have eaten at since we have been here. I am so happy we were able to go on Mar's b/day. They had a bread basket with two types of butter. Lincoln was in love with the apple butter.
The boys were dying to get home and dig into the cake!

This cake was SOOO close the Cakery's cake! It was delicious! Happy Birthday Marilyn!!

a night in Old Town

Nate wanted to take Marilyn to his favorite "guy" joint, Hard Times Cafe. They serve mainly....chili. He usually takes the boys on my girl days. There is a bead store in Old Town that I have been wanting to take Marilyn to, so we decided to hit them both tonight. Marilyn and I were dropped off while Nate and the boys parked. We were just finishing up when they came in. Nate decided to fly the boys around while we were paying.
Lincoln is following in Ethan's footsteps by lining everything up....tonight it was crayons.
Yesterday, Ethan had a rough day being a good listener. Today he was fabulous!!!
These are fake smiles. Dinner took FOREVER to get to the table and Lincoln was losing his patience. That in turn, made me lose my patience!!

Picture day

Marilyn, Marlene, and Dad all have birthdays next week. We decided to take the boys to a local park and take some pictures for their gifts. I started off telling them that we needed to get a picture for Papa and they needed to smile real big. Lincoln was totally confused and thought Papa was going to be at the park. The entire drive over and while we were there he kept asking for Papa.
The park was gorgeous. They had flowers everywhere!! Thank goodness I have a good camera that snaps pictures really fast. Most of the photos look like this one! I did get some good ones. I'll post them after they get their photos.
Towards the end of the "photo shoot" the boys started running around like the crazy boys they are. There was a little gazebo with a ramp and Ethan took a big jump off the ramp. We heard a big crash followed by a big scream.
Starbucks was around the corner, so chocolate milk was a great fix for the boo-boo. While in Starbucks, I asked the barista for some ice because my buddy hit his head. She had the BEST idea. She put ice in a glove as an ice pack.

He was better in no time. A little chicken nugget helped too!

Six Flags America

Nate found a great deal at Six Flags America this week. If you buy a day pass you can trade it in for a season pass. The park is about 35 minutes away. Their Looney Tunes park is perfect for the boys.
Lincoln was able to ride most rides with Ethan. I think that there were only three that Ethan had to ride by himself.
Ethan has become so much braver this summer and I think that he owes a lot of it to his dare devil brother who LOVES the rides.
Nate is itching to get on the big roller coasters, but for now these little ones will have to do! He tried to get me to go on one big one with him, but my neck is finally feeling really good for the first time in seven years. There is no way I am going to mess it up for a roller coaster!

The movies

When Marilyn arrived, I told her that one of the things I wanted to do while she was here was to take Ethan to the movies. My first thought was to take him to see Up, but after talking to quite a few people, I decided against it. So we decided on Ice Age 2. I told Ethan we were going today, but he started whining and said he didn't want to go. He has never been to the movies, so he had NO idea what it was going to be like. While I was telling him about it, Lincoln starts yelling, "GO...Mama....GO!" So Marilyn and I talked about it and decided to take Lincoln. Since there was going to be two of us, we could take him out if he started getting crazy. The movie at 10:00 am was 3d. I wish it had been a regular movie because they were not crazy about the glasses. Ethan did fabulous. He loved the movie. Lincoln loved the popcorn and drink. He did really well. He sat for about 45 minutes and then needed a break. He finished the movie standing up, but overall he was great! I took my camera, but as soon as we got into the movies the batteries died. Isn't that the way it always goes!Tomorrow we are going to 6 flags. They are giving away season passes if you buy a day ticket. I have my batteries charged for tomorrow.

They found a house!

The Hill's worked HARD at finding their new house this week. It seemed each day they thought they had it narrowed down, they would find another one to add to the list. The best thing about the house they chose it that it was one I found for them....so I quickly took all the credit. When I told everyone this, they quickly told me if they hated it, it would be my fault. :)
Aaron really warmed up to everyone. By the end of the trip, he was waving good-bye!! Ethan was in love with him. Poor Aaron was covered in kisses on a daily basis.

I am super excited that they are moving close again! It's going to be awesome to have great friends near by! Now just hurry up and get here!

Fun at the pool

Ethan took a quick nap and Aaron refused to take his nap, so Jenn and I took these two boys to the pool.
Jenn has been taking Aaron to swim class and he can hold his breath under water. Ethan spent his time at the pool "teaching" Aaron how to swim.

When we left, Ethan told Jenn, "Aaron can only do one thing at the pool, but I can do two things." We asked him what two thing and he said, "I can blow bubbles and I can swim." (with floaties).

Sunday morning pictures!!!!
Jenn and Justin went to look at more houses today. They left Aaron with us and Nate did NOT put him down today! He even made googly eyes at him. I told him I didn't mind him getting the baby itch, but it better be for a girl. There's no room for another boy here!
He and Ethan even did a little loving today!
Marilyn made her Amy cookies today....YUMMY!!! The boys helped (without her requesting). It usually takes her an hour, but today it took an hour and a half---with help :)

We've learned Link doesn't actually need a cookie....he only eats the icing off!

Rocks in the creek

We had a few hours before nap and we were all going a little stir crazy. So, we made a trip to the library. Next to the library is a walking/biking trail with a creek. We had taken the boys once to throw rocks in the creek and today it seemed like a good time killer!
The boys had a bag of rocks to throw and Lincoln had to supervise Ethan on where to throw them.
I've noticed that Ethan concentrates with his tongue out of this mouth.

When we finished the bag of rocks, Nate and Marilyn quickly said, "Let's go...this makes me nervous." On the way back to the car, I learned that they had emergency strategies planned out in their head for when the boys fell off the bridge into the water. Apparently, Nate was going to throw his phone to us to call 911, and then he was going to jump the side cliff into the water. REALLY??? That's what they were thinking??? The thought never crossed my mind. They are such worriers...

This place is crazy!

Jenn and Justin arrived today to do some house hunting. Aaron took it all in. Of course our maniacs had to show off and went wild!!

I like shade

Me: "Ethan, it's sunny day. Do you like sunny or cloudy days the best?"
Ethan: "Hmm...I like the shade the best."
We headed to my school's playground for some fun today. Ethan chose the playground he wanted to go to based on the shade. He played a little bit and then ventured out into the sun.

He climbed up monkey bars, tall ladders, and big slides. Marilyn and I were talking about how big our boy has gotten. Last summer we couldn't get him to get on anything at the playground!!! It's hard to believe he will be five in October! Where has the time gone?

Let the games begin

Marilyn brought Crazy eights, Go Fish, and Uno for the boys. Let's just say Ethan is definitely a Leap/Arnold. He's very competitive.....and good!!

Early riser

He showed up next to my bed at 6:11 this morning. I said, "Go back to bed until 7:00." He pouted and went back to his room. He came back at 8:10 asking if he could wake Marilyn up. I hated to tell him that she wouldn't be here until 1:00. He was mad!!! It did make sense why he came in so early. I hate to see what time he tries to get up tomorrow.
They were both super excited when she arrived. They started the rough housing and I am sure it will continue for the rest of her visit.