Blowing the stink off

Memaw and Pappy decided to take the fellas outside for a few minutes today. Ethan wanted to ride his bike and Lincoln decided to follow suit. I was in the kitchen when I saw them heading back...so I grabbed my camera. Ethan rolled in first.
Link was quick to follow....but I noticed he was on foot.

Pappy was in the rear carrying the bike!

Playseum

Jenn had a great idea to take the kids to an indoor Playseum in Bethesda today. If the GPS had of cooperated, we would have been there super early. It didn't so we had lunch and then headed to the Playseum.
The fellas found the firestation first and Jenn and I had to coerce them away after 15 minutes. A boy band?? They could be called Leaping up the Hill??? Just a thought.
Ethan found a knight costume and I know this will shock you......but Lincoln found a pirate costume. My picture didn't turn out because he was running around screaming AHOY Matey in his pirate voice.
Again....we coerced them to another room. I thought this room captured their personalities really well. Lincoln put everything in his cart and Ethan went around putting everything back. Aaron just zoomed around with his cart.
When it was time to go, we went to the last room (animal room), they had a one eyed frog named, Pirate Pete. Another shocker....Lincoln loved him! He cracks me up!

So....in a nut shell, we will be back. They loved it! And as you can tell it did all I wanted it to do...wear them out! They both slept for three hours this afternoon. I had to wake them up!

Roar

This was me tonight after Lincoln had his third accident of the night and Ethan had his second of the week.
This lion looks like he is taking a deep breath while counting to ten. I wish I had done this before I roared on both children tonight.
(I took this picture at the Lufkin zoo.) The zoo is amazing!

His first love(s)

Me: Hey, Lincoln! Can I take a picture of you and Doc?
Lincoln: Sure!Lincoln: Mommy, don't forget Sneezy.
Lincoln: And Bashful.
Lincoln: And Sleepy.
Lincoln: And Grumpy.
Lincoln: And Dopey.
Lincoln: And Happy

Me: Heaven's no Lincoln....I wouldn't leave one of them out!

Little Mean

Marilyn left today. It looks like it may be a full week of school/daycare for us all. I seriously can't remember the last time we have been for a full week. Lincoln has such a hard time when there is just one of us (me) here. I get called Big Ole Mean at least a dozen times a day. Pray that Little Mean has a good week, that I keep my patience, and we enjoy each other this week!

Sledding

I borrowed a sled before the big storm, but the snow was so high it was intimidating for the boys. We attempted to sled one day, but they didn't even make it out the back door. Yesterday, E and I went down to a hill in the neighborhood while Link stayed with Mar. Ethan loved it so much we decided to bring Mar and Link out today.

Lincoln started out a little nervous, but loved it once he got started!!! He was not ready to come home.
Ethan even tried it by himself.For some reason, I don't think we have winter Olympians here. THANK GOODNESS!!

The problem with Skype...

On the days that we are home for lunch, we are all able to Skype with Nate. I think because it's such a frequent thing they barely even talk to him. He sent the boys a book on DVD today and Lincoln tried talking to him. He didn't understand why Daddy didn't answer him.

Marilyn finally, finally, finally made it!!!!
She and Lincoln put the same puzzle togther 42 times!!

Wild men

Memaw and Pappy had to go home yesterday. There was some major drama when they left. They both were hooting and hollering and putting on a BIG OLE SHOW!!! It was nice to see their goofness come back today.

Escape

We were able to escape to the outside world today. We made it to lunch and to Target. It was so refreshing. In the past seven days, there have been a few touching moments. Today, I experienced a big brother reading to his little brother. It was sweet....then the fighting started again! :)

New digs

Nate FINALLY took some pictures with his camera today. He had a day off and took a picture of his place. This is it....hmmmm. He shares this trailer with 30 of his closest friends. :) This is the BX. Impressive, huh??? After he sent them to me, he said, "Now you see why I wasn't in such a hurry to take pictures. There isn't anything to take pictures of." I am hoping he is able to get off base and see something....anything!
Now THIS is a picture. Isn't he the cutest stinking thing you have ever seen. Aaron loves the camera!
Poor Jenn. She thought she was coming over for dinner. Little did she know that Lincoln was not going to give her a free second. When Jenn and Justin left, Lincoln looked at them and said, "I love you guys!"

Well....this picture sums the whole thing up. Ethan was in HEAVEN playing Wii with Justin!!!

PLEASE STOP!!!!

We are supposed to get 10-20 inches of snow tonight. They already cancelled Mar's flight today. PLEASE SNOW GO AWAY!!
Summer Leaf Lane has enough snow already!
We went for a little walk this afternoon to just GET OUT. It's ridiculous how stir crazy we are going. We had a little snow ball fight. I think I lost!
Back at our driveway, Ethan found a big chunk of ice and held it up. I squated down for a picture. When I stood up, I noticed he was licking it!! SOOO NASTY!!

This was the cutest thing ever!!! This morning he asked to watch Snow White on the computer. I set it up for him and started playing Wii with Ethan. I looked over and he brought all his Hi Ho men over to watch it with him. Sometimes, he can be so cute!!!

Success

After a total of six hours shoveling, the driveway is passable!! I must say, I am super proud of myself!! I wasn't sure that I could do it by myself! BUT....I DID!!!
The boys are seriously itching to get out of the house. I bundled them up yesterday morning and took them outside. Our first step was a sheet of ice. I carried them to a clear spot and told them to have at it. It lasted about two minutes and they both wanted to go in.

Movies under blankets are much better than that cold wet snow!

Last resort

Linco has not felt that great for the past two days, so he has been a little whiny. Ethan has cabin fever and wants to play video games ALL day. Around dinner time, I decided I would bring out the big guns.....the NOISY TRAIN. Family members and close friends know that I can't stand that thing. It ends up taking over the living room. There is no way to contain it to the toy room. After about five minutes, I also remembered that it causes fights. None of the trains go the same speed and inevitably someones train gets bumped. It's no suprise that Ethan got the fast train and Link's train got bumped. It may have to go back downstairs at bedtime!
My neighbor feeds the birds around here. Today when the snow stopped, they were out to play. I got some good shots from the window.

This one is my favorite.

Blizzard of 10

They weather people are calling for up to 30 inches of snow this weekend. YIKES!! I went out to shovel the first five inches at 8:00 pm and found that the tree was touching the driveway! I dread going out there tomorrow morning! Maybe if I stay under the covers it will all go away! :(

When all else fails

This fella has given me more grief than one girl deserves this week. I have used all the tricks in the book. Tonight, I tried.....TICKLE TORTURE!
It worked for a minute....and then "mean boy" was back!

I tried it once more, and it seemed to work.......for a while!

Ms. Cat's house

Our great neighbor, Ms. Cat, has been such a lifesaver since Nate has been gone. She has cooked for us and she has watched the boys so I can go workout. Tonight, she had us over for dinner. I think Ethan may turn into a cornstalk after all the corn he ate tonight. She made cookies with icing and sprinkles for dessert.

As Cat and I cleaned up the kitchen, I heard the most awful noise coming from the living room. I thought that the sheet music next to them says it all. Their piano playing was Les Miserables.