I miss you!

Lincoln is really starting to "get" emotions! He is starting to tell us that he missed us and that he loves us!
We went with Nate to get his haircut today. When we pulled into the neighborhood, Lincoln said, "Hello home. I missed you!"

Routine

Thank goodness last week was a short week. We (meaning me) have not gotten back into the groove of things. This weekend was also furiously fast and BUSY! I am hoping this week we fall into our normal school time routine!
During the summer, our church does not have Sunday School. This means that Ethan goes to church with us and Lincoln goes to the nursery. Ethan has been very good. He colors and listens while we sing. I say listen because he does not sing at all! This is N-O-T because he doesn't know the words. Throughout the week, our house was filled with singing! This song in particular:
In the Lord, I'll be every thankful. In the Lord, I will rejoice. Look to God. Do not be afraid. Lift up your voices. The Lord is near. Lift up your voices. The Lord is near.
Last night at church, that was our communion song. Did he sing it???? NO!!! He just listened. As soon as we got out of the sanctuary, he started singing! I guess all that matters is it is sinking in!
On a side note, the above picture is taken in Lincoln's room! He's in a big boy bed now and doing great!!

First day back

Today was our first day back to school. Our routine when we get home is for me to let Hunter out to pee and the boys usually wait downstairs for me. Today the boys were up the stairs before I had the back door open. They could not wait to bust into their toys. It was actually like they had not played with them in weeks!!!! For some reason they decided to play with buckets on their heads.

We survived the first day back. The boys were happy and eager to share about their day. I guess that's a good sign! They asked to go to the pool tonight! It's still technically summer, right?

What a great Daddy!!

Before Jenn and Justin moved here, Jenn emailed to me to tell me this week was restaurant week in DC. She asked if I wanted to go have lunch one day before school started. I quickly said, YES....and then thought what am I going to do with the children! I knew Nate would LOVE an excuse to take a few days off with us before our summer was officially over and so I jumped on the opportunity to have lunch without kids! Unexpectedly, Justin had to run back to Blacksburg to finish up some school work, so Nate volunteered to take on another kiddo while we had lunch. I don't think anyone who reads this blog or knows Nate personally would disagree that he is the best daddy and hubby EVER!!! Thanks Nate...I owe you some Maryland blue crabs!!

Little Man

Ethan has been trying to be a big boy so much lately. He struggles with playing with his little brother and trying to boss him around. Since Jenn, Justin, and baby Aaron have moved here, he has been in LOVE with Aaron. Tomorrow, Jenn and I are going to lunch and Nate is watching all the boys. Ethan is super excited to have Aaron here. I hope Aaron can take all the kisses and hugs!

Simon....Theodore....LINCOLN!!!!

I am comparing this toddler to Alvin because he is just as much trouble as Alvin. PLUS....he loves those darn chipmunks so much. He and Ethan were calling Simon, Theodore, and ALVIN very loudly in the car tonight.
Yesterday morning, Ethan and I went to get Link, and he was diaperless. When I asked him (not so calmly), "What in the world are you doing?" He answered, "Diaper wet." My genius idea, to teach him a lesson, was to wash all his "favorite blankies" while he was napping. He begged me for them, and I told him, "NO, you peed on them. Keep your diaper on!" I left the room with him screaming and expecting him to fall asleep soon. An hour later, he was still screaming. The blankets were cleaned and dry. SO, I took them up to him. He smiled and said, "favorite blankie." Then he rolled over and snuggled up with them and quickly fell asleep! SPOILED BRAT!!!

Justin's Birthday

I don't know if this was how he dreamed his 33rd b/day would be, but I hope he enjoyed it. Justin and Jenn came over for dinner and cake. Ethan and Lincoln talked us all to death. All we heard all night was "Justin, Jenn....look here." Happy B/Day, Justin!

Straight to bed

I have to admit that I am really bad at giving umpteen warnings. One of the punishments we sometimes dish out is "straight to bed" after bath. Tonight, Lincoln was punished with "straight to bed" after pushing limits and showing off for Jenn and Justin. Trust me....he was given umpteen warnings. Ethan was rewarded with a few minutes of one-to-one play time with Daddy.

me...I want a hula-hoop!

For the last couple of weeks, we have been watching Stuart Little over and over and over. This weekend we rented Alvin and the Chipmunks and I think this one may make them forget about the "mou mooie" for a few days.

County Fair

The Montgomery County Fair opened up this week, and we headed out today to have some fun!We started out at the pig races. (That's Ethan in the red hat.)
We headed over to ride the horses. Lincoln loved every minute of it. As SOON as Ethan got off the horse, he asked for ice cream. He wasn't as enthused about the animals as I thought he would be.So, we started towards the ice cream and both boys caught the tractors in their sights. We had to stop off to ride the tractors first!
It was H-O-T today! Both boys were tired and exhausted just from our short time there. The ice cream helped to cool them off.
The little Mama had her baby within minutes of us coming by. Happy Birthday little cow!
I know for a fact that I had more fun than all three of my boys! I told Nate on the way home that this brought back so many memories of home!!! The one BIG difference was our county fair was in the winter......much COOLER!

Top Ten Reasons to have your aunt visit for the summer

10.Sending the boys to "get Mar" so I can sleep a few extra minutes
9. The dishwasher is always empty. She isn't afraid to put the dishes away.
8. She plays with the boys and isn't afraid to make them mind!
7. She makes the best butter cream icing!
6. Another reason to eat out....SHE LOVES to eat out!
5. A Third Person for diaper duty!
4. She keeps me motivated to scrapbook Lincoln's last year!
3. She loves Big Brother almost as much as us....so we have lots to discuss at night.
2. Nate not having to do the laundry. (Can you believe she likes to do laundry?)
1. She's just so much fun to have around. We love ya Mar and miss you already!

Attitude

This may be TMI, but Link has decided NOT to go to the bathroom unless he is at home. Today we dealt with the wrath of "bobo hurt" after being on vacation this weekend. On one hand, he gets really lovey and wants "MAMA." On the other hand, he cries ALL day! I don't know why BOTH of these boys are holders. Thankfully, I know that this too will pass! HA!!!

Philly

The last time Nate, Marilyn, and I were in Philly, I was in my first trimester with Ethan. I was sick and don't really remember much of the trip. I definitely don't remember Betsy Ross' house....but mainly because it was closed the day we went. We finally made it yesterday.When we went five years ago, we went in March and there were virtually no tourists. We were able to walk up and tour everything. Yesterday, we learned that was not the case in August. We went to get tickets to tour Independence Hall at 9:30 and the tickets were gone until 4:30. So, we headed over to see the Liberty Bell.
We decided to walk around the streets and see what we see. I can't tell you how many times Nate asked me if I remembered "that house" or "that garden." I sadly didn't remember any of it. We stopped at Washington Square to let the boys walk around and to see the eternal flame. There was a lady telling stories sitting on a bench, so we stopped while she told the boys a story.
We headed back to the hotel to let the boys "nap." HAHA!!! Then we drove back to Independence Hall. The boys were very good during the tour. Our tour guide was very animated. We accidentally parked in a handicapped metered spot and got a HUGE ticket. I think the rest of the night was a downer. This morning we headed to the Rocky statue and steps before heading home.
Nate ran all the way to the top carrying Lincoln. I think that's pretty good.
Before we left Philly, we learned that our GPS took us a CRAZY way on our way there. We plugged HOME into the GPS and headed home. It was taking us out of the way again, so we went 95 anyway. It saved us 45 minutes....crazy GPS! I think is our last summer trip. It has been so fun taking the boys on vacation. Life is good!!!

Day trip????

I have a book that tells you different things to do in D.C. WITH CHILDREN! One chapter is devoted to day trips. I don't know how in the world that they are able to do a day trip to Philadelphia, but they listed it. In fact they listed Hershey, PA....which is an hour from Philly. We left at 3:22 and arrived in Philly (with one fast food stop) at 8:30.
All I have to say is THANK GOD FOR DVD players!!!

Carrying my baby!

Marilyn made up a song while holding Lincoln yesterday. Here it goes:
I'm carrying my baby. I'm carrying my baby. I'm carrying my baby down the road.
It's pretty catchy! The ENTIRE family has been singing it. Lincoln loves it!

Playgrounds

The Abbott boys came over today to play (and wear my boys out). We headed back to the Arlington playground we went to last week. Lincoln wanted to be like the "big" boys soooo bad. He followed them around and imitated everything they said.
"Big" Ethan was a great help today. We did have a little confusion today with both Ethans. It seems everytime I called "Ethan" they both turned around. It reminded me of my college days with my roommate Mandy!
Ethan and Alex became fast friends. They got along so well!! I think Ethan talked his ear off in the car.
I love that these two boys have no fear! They really helped Ethan and Lincoln come out of their shell and get WET!!
After two hours at the playground, we headed back home to play. My boys took a nap, and I took the boys back home. I guess I did my job....they BOTH fell asleep in the car on the way to their house.
Once my boys woke up we headed to the Washington Monument for a tour. We bought tickets for last week, but forgot to go! We reordered the tickets for tonight and made sure we didn't forget.

This may have been the best playground of all!!!!

Brain Freeze

After some hot fun at the playground, I decided to stop off at the new gas station by our house. They have a Dunkin Donut AND a Baskin Robin's in it! :) I thought we would try an icee to cool off. The boys had not had one before. Marilyn told Ethan to be careful when sipping on his straw because he might get a brain freeze. He got the maddest face and just glared at her. When she asked him what was wrong he said, "Just think about it." It was FUNNY. I think he didn't want her telling him he was going to get a brain freeze. After ONE little sip, he was DONE. He did not like it.

Lincoln was a tiny bit more adventurous (as usual). He took about three sips and asked for water. Marilyn and I endured the rest with about 10 brain freezes. They were good.

the LOVE seat

I was relaxing when the family decided to join me on the LOVE SEAT!! They were in a loving mood....ok....they were stalling for naps, but I'll take it when I can!

Friday fun day!

On Friday, we decided to take the boys to a playground and play, play, play! The park we found had a splash park. The boys loved it....for about 15 minutes. Then they wanted to play on the playground.Next time we come, we are bringing sand toys. The park had a great sandbox, but only one digger toy. The digger was really hard for Lincoln, so Ethan helped him! We met Nate for lunch, and then headed home for naps. We all went to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner and then to Dolce for dessert. Nate ordered the ice cream and decided to share with the boys. I think we ALL could have shared his ice cream. It was HUGE!!!