Bad Hair day

Lincoln has been such a pill the last two days. Today was the absolutely worst day he has had in a long time. If he wasn't in time out, he was in his room. I think maybe it was the hair? I would be in a bad mood if my hair looked this crazy!
Dinner proved to be my breaking point. He shoved his plate, threw his spoon on the floor, and then called me "pupid." I knew at that point that all the special things I had been doing since Nate was gone were not working. I took all the toys from the table, movies, video games, desserts away. It made them both cry. BUT....it totally worked. They cleaned the toy room, went straight up for baths, and brushed their teeth without once little fuss. I think that for once they took me serious! Lincoln even said, "I don't like you. I want my Daddy." The funny thing about that is I just did what Daddy would have done days ago!

This picture is just for Mar!

Snowy Saturday

Thank goodness we got our errands run yesterday! We had a snowy day today! I'm not sure why he felt he needed the sunglasses! Maybe the snow was so bright!
He watched Snow White for the bazillionth time today. When the "Mean Queen" came on, he put on his gloves (socks) and got his ford (sword) out!
He finished the day with Scooby Doo Pirate. He made sure he and his brother has their "fords" ready to go!

Play time!

Today was jammed pack with errands and activities. On the top of list was play time with Aaron and Jenn. Jenn cooked us lunch and the boys played!
After lunch we went to the Rec Center to play. They have the nicest soft play room.The boys ran hard! After a half hour, Lincoln's cheeks were so red. Ethan sat down and said he was tired.But, this man was still going!!

Snug as bugs

I saw a great post on a blog I read called Half Empty and Half Full. She had a little (or big) gripe and then basically said something she was thankful for. She asked for comments from her readers. I commented today and said that I hated that Nate has to be gone for four months, but I am so lucky to have family and friends that come to help out whenever I need them. This morning started off half empty. I was running about ten minutes late and the kiddos did NOT want to get up. I opened their doors and gave them a few minutes to get rolling while I put on my boots. I didn't hear a peep, so I knew we were going to be even later than we already were. I went into Ethan's room and saw this. Link decided to crawl into Ethan's bed and go back to sleep. It was adorable and help my anxiousness about being late. What's twenty minutes in the grand scheme of things, right? (that's how late we ended.)
Nate sent some pictures finally. He took a self portrait from his room.

He also took a picture of one of their meals. This was steak and shrimp night! He said the food is abundant!!!

Puzzle time

Lincoln has started to enjoy interlocking puzzles. He was never the puzzle enthusiast Ethan was, but he's pretty good at them.
I helped him do it the first time and he did not want any help the second time.

Proud boy!

Workout

We've all been working out around here!

Hurrah

The camera is fixed. It was just a battery problem.

It was a GORGEOUS afternoon. Ethan was able to burn off some energy!

Hi Ho

My camera officially died yesterday. I am hoping to get it to a camera shop tomorrow to see if it is repairable. In the meantime, I am playing around with photoshop on my old photos. Check out the above photo (after) and the bottom photo (before).

I chose the photos because last night he and Pappy went for a march with his "Hi-ho" men. Pappy tried singing the Hi-ho song and Lincoln said, "NO Pappy you don't sing Hi-Ho." He's a bossy lil boy these days!

No camera!

My camera is about to die. It keeps saying change the batteries even when there are new batteries in there. I hate blogging without pictures. I feel that a picture says it all.
Nate had a day off this week and he was able to get the webcam working in his room. Before he was having to go to a common area, and it was just inconvenient. Today, he got see a full out fight between Ethan, Lincoln, and myself. I think it was just what he needed! :)
I let Ethan stay up an extra hour tonight so we could get some Wii time in. He loves the Star Wars game! Since he was up late, he was able to talk to Nate for awhile. They had a full out conversation and it was good!

Blankies

Ms. Rachel and Jaden had us over for dinner tonight! They got the boys new blankets and Hungry, Hungry Hippos! What a night!!!

Impressive

Lincoln has always been able to play by himself. He is really good at it. Yesterday, he brought over an armada of boats he made with Duplo blocks. This was my favorite boat. He even included a driver! I have to say I was very impressed! He had NO help from anyone. He's TWO!!!
Tonight he showed me his train.He was not so excited about me trying to take a picture of him and interrupt his creative process!
I don't even know how to explain this! For some reason he has to have the tongue out while playing Star Wars.....I know....DON'T ASK!

The Inspector

One of my requests, when we found out Nate was leaving, was that I wanted some one to come clean once a month. Ms. Lourdes and Ms. Esmerelda came today to clean. They started upstairs, and the boys and I played downstairs. The SECOND they came down to start downstairs, Ethan ran upstairs to "inspect." He called me up. I wish I could have captured the look on his face. He grinned and said, "They are GOOD!" They cleaned up the middle floor and he ran into the toy room. He came over to me and whispered, "Mommy, they are REALLY GOOD!" It was adorable!
We decided to end our weekend with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. I thought that a Monday night would be great. Boy, was I wrong. I guess since it was a holiday everyone had the same idea we did. It was soooo crowded. This is a video of Link singing "Bob the Builder."

Nap time

I thoroughly enjoy naptime! Most of the time, Ethan takes between an hour to an hour and half nap. I guess Memaw and Pappy wore him out. He took a three hour nap today. In fact, we had to wake him. Lincoln asked to wake him up today. Link ran up and came down quickly. He said, "E-han is mean." I quickly figured out Ethan got too much sleep.
After a heart to heart, Ethan's attitude changed. He got some food in his belly and was much more pleasant. Link looked over at Ethan and said, "You nice now?" That pretty much summed it up!

Extra loving

Memaw and Pappy spent yesterday and today spoiling these boys rotten. There was so much playing going on that we almost neglected the housework.
Lucky for us, Lincoln picked up the slack.

Nate update

It's taken me a while to update you on Nate's trip because he just got there today! Fog kept them at the their seccond stop for over twenty-four hours. When I chatted with him today, he was exhausted! Hopefully, he got some sleep today and is ready to work tomorrow.
The boys were great today! We had a great morning and afternoon today. I even got Ethan to help me put the dishes away. He put the silverware in the drawer for me. He enjoyed it so much, he asked if he could help put the dirty dishes away!
When we said our prayers tonight, Ethan asked for Daddy to come home quickly. Lincoln asked for God to keep the witches, monsters, mean queens, and aliens out of his room! That boy cracks me up!

The timer

My main goal while Nate is gone is to keep my patience as much as possible. I think that the only time I really lose my patience is when we need to be somewhere or get something done in a timely manner. Since I have the most competitive children ever, I bought a timer. I actually bought the timer to keep Ethan's Wii time in check, but he loves it so much I decided to try it out tonight during clean up time. I gave them five minute to get their toys cleaned up and if they accomplished it, they got an extra book each. They loved the challenge and clean up time went great! Now I just have to cross my fingers that this keeps working.

I had my camera upstairs after baths and I told this stinker to show me how he sleeps in the crack. He smiled and went straight to his spot. I don't know how this is comfortable, but he sleeps like this every night. (There is a giant stuffed animal snake on the bed frame where his leg is propped.)

Bye, Bye Daddy!

We spent as much time as we could together this past week! We've done our best to enjoy ever second! The big day arrived and I can honestly say that we were ready. Hurry home, Nate! We miss you already!

Belated B/Day Meal

We were not at home for our b/days this year so we didn't get to have our annual lobster dinner. When I asked Nate if he would like to have it for his last meal at home, he jumped on the offer. Poor guy ended up cooking practically the whole meal, but I don't think he minded one bit! YUMMY!
We always cook them once the boys are in bed, but this little stinker kept sneaking down for a peak at those lobsters! He was so interested in them!

The simple things in life!

It's been a really rough week around here. Today we decided to make it a comfort day. We started the morning off lounging around playing with the boys. Around lunch time we decided to eat one of our favorite places to eat, IKEA! Man we love those Swedish meatballs. (We also did a little shopping.) Then, tonight we went to eat at big time favorite place, Japanese Steakhouse. It is amazing to see the kids eat there. They will try anything there. Lincoln actually ate a bite of lettuce and Ethan tried zucchini! It's awesome!
We bought the kids those Spinbrush toothbrushes! I think they were a hit!

It's funny how the simplest things in life make you happy!

Adult Time

Last night, Lincoln Harris Leap made a conscience decision to not clean up. Therefore, he had to go straight to bed after baths! No books or puzzles. He then proceeded to throw the biggest hissy fit ever. Twenty minutes into his fit, I went into his room to calm him down and tell him good night. He looked at me and said, "Tomorrow you will be nice to me!"
Tonight, Ethan tore the box on a brand new game because he couldn't wait for help. Then he threw a hissy fit that was so similiar to his brother's hissy fit the previous night. He wouldn't calm down and he had to go straight to bed.
You might wonder why I am telling you these sad stories and why Nate and I have big grins on our faces. Well, the first one is because I truly think that lessons are being learned. Lincoln was so awesome tonight. He cleaned up after being asked to on the first time. Ok, ok, the truth is..... it's more time alone without the kids. We are desperately trying to be positve and enjoy each minute together before Nate leaves AND it's more Wii time for us! HA!!

First Plane Ride

Our trip to Texas was Link's first trip on a plane. He did really well considering all the mishaps we had at the airport. When he wasn't watching a movie, he played with his Hi-ho men (the seven dwarfs).

The big D

Getting out of and into Dallas proved to be an adventure. For some reason American Airlines felt it was necessary to lose our carseat on the way and our bags on the way back. Once we got there Granny and the boys could hardly wait to open presents! Sometimes, I think she is the kid. She has NEVER been able to wait on her presents. The boys were super excited!
We started our first day there at Misty's. She cuts Mom and John's hair and I love her! I have to get a haircut in everytime we visit. One of the local malls had a train exhibit and we stopped by to see them. The boys loved it.
We ate out a lot while we were there. I don't know how you can go to Texas and not eat. It's amazing how many restaurants there are there. Nate and I went out to eat twice on our own and Granny took us out for lunch quite a few times! We had to eat Mexican food at least once!
On our last day, Granny had a couple little things she needed a tall boy to help her with. One was putting in light bulbs! Daddy went right to work and his big helper was there to hold the ladder and eventually climb up for some extra help.

The munchkins started asking for baths about 5:00 o'clock every day. I have no clue why???? It may have been the enormous bathtub filled with bubbles????
We had a great time. Next time we go to Dallas it better be warm so that we can enjoy the pool!!

Lufkin

Top Ten things we did while we were in Lufkin!! We got to see Great Granny. This was Lincoln's first time to ever meet her.
We also got the meet the cousin's. They played hide and go seek with the boys!
We got to see Uncle Josh. Again, this was the first time Lincoln met him.
This was ALSO the first time we met Gail. Lincoln and Papa had a big time. Lincoln tried to saw Papa's leg and Papa screamed and screamed. They had so much fun!
We also did PLENTY of lounging!
Granny got into the teasing a little bit. There was LOTS of playing!
Marlene read lots of books!
Marilyn and Ethan played games, games, and more games!!
Nate and I both read. I actually was able to finish a book while I was there!

We literally ended the Lufkin trip with a visit to the zoo. All I have to say about that is it is NOTHING like the zoo when I grew up! It was awesome!
We had the best time! Thanks for everything Lufkin peeps!