Carson, Briana, Melanie, Rayanna - OH MY!

Wheww! This week is probably my most busy week of the year! I don't expect another one like this until late October/beginning November when I'm getting ready for Halloween and 3 birthdays!
My (bossy) big sis planned a vacation to North Carolina. She was heading to see our niece, Savannah, graduate high school. I happily agreed to keep my 2 year old nephew, Carson for the week. John and I owe her BIG for all she has done over the years to make our vacations and "moves" possible! Problem was, John was out of town the week before (while school was on a 1 week break before summer session started!!) and would be out the week of, ugh! Luckily a very close friend of ours that we have known and LOVED since she was 7, Briana (now 18!), agreed to ride to Texas with Heather and Carson. The trip would have been rough for Heather without some help with him. Briana was also a TON of help on all of our outings. We went to the sprinkler park, train, park, pool, Sonic, and Snow Cones - each several times! I handled it alone when we got home and she hit the Internet for hours! Briana is so easy. I don't have to entertain her at all and forget she is even in the house. She keeps busy and quiet on her phone, watching TV and playing on the Internet. She also helped watch Carson during his afternoon naps so I could take Mikey to speech therapy. Needless to say, I'm not sure how I would have done this without her! I'm so glad these 3 boys got to spend this time together. I really hope we get to do it at least one week a summer from now on. They really are BEST cousins! Hope Briana's available! Or maybe Heather will "host" next year! Ha ha ha ha!! THAT was funny...to me!
So Friday rolls around and my best friend, Aunt Melanie, and her 8 year old daughter, Rayana, are knocking on the door at 8:30 am! Mel left Tulsa at 4:30 am and didn't make ANY stops!!!! That's WILD for a preggo lady! She walked through the door and straight to the potty though! I'm glad she got here early because we had a ton of activities planned for the kids and a roast in the crock pot that would be ready for lunch. My boys LOVE Rayana! Also, Briana happens to be Melanie's niece. So, does that confuse you, or make it ALL "come together!?" Ha! Heather and I actually met Briana through Melanie, years ago. Mel & her sister, Tiff both have a history growing up similar to mine & Heather's. So, we all formed a quick bond and have felt like family ever since. Mel also has a son, Tony (12), who had basketball & church camp, so he stayed with his Granny. Mel is preggo with number 3, Londyn Grace, and we are anxiously awaiting her arrival in August! Her baby shower is coming up next weekend in Tulsa. I'm looking forward to going and hoping to make the trip to Tulsa ALONE! I feel like John just might make that possible after all my hard work the last 2 weeks. Ha! Mel & I have another close friend, Leah, that lives in San Antonio and is also coming to the baby shower. She came in on Friday night so she could ride back to Tulsa with Mel on Sunday. We had a HOUSE FULL but we had a BLAST! It took all of us women to keep up with the kids while we were out. John didn't arrive home until Saturday, so he missed most of the fun!
Heather arrives back sometime tomorrow. She will stay the afternoon and then head back to Tulsa. I guess life will slow back down (to a VERY fast pace) by Tuesday!

MEAN Geese/Ducks!!! Part -1

So, I wrote a bit about how the geese/ducks seemed a BIT aggressive the other day after swim lessons. Well, today.....CRAZY! I started taking video but it was VERY difficult because things went so crazy so fast that I couldn't get the camera in focus and take care of the boys at the same time. So, I apologize that this video is blurry but the audio is fine. In Part 1, you can see the goose actually "GOOSE" my girlfriend, Laura Roskin's, daughter, Isabella, on her behind! Poor sweet Bella! Also, Matthew insisted on wearing his flip flops to feed the ducks. I told him it was a bad idea because he has never wore flip flops before and isn't used to wearing flip flops. ALSO, because I didn't want him to slide down the embankment into the pond while feeding the geese. They proved to be THE wrong pair of shoes to wear while trying to "run for our lives!!" It didn't help that he insisted on wearing them on the wrong feet and refused to put the correct toes between the "separator thing!" THAT kid, ugh! He's going to put me in an early grave! A couple of funny things they said today were: Toe-Toe - "Mommy, my skin is awful itchy. I think I need a shower. Papa he says...you know what papa says, Mommy? Me- "What does he say Toe-Toe?" Toe- "He says I gotta get in that shower and wash AAAALLLLLLLL the itch off of me- right down that drain! Yup, that's what he says." Mikey ate an enormous dinner. He had pizza for dinner. Then we were out running errands afterwards and asked for cheesecake from Chick-fil-A. The kid is so skinny I can't tell him no. So, we went through the drive-thru and he asks for chicken too! He ate all 8 pieces and his cheesecake! So later, after his bath, he says to me: "Mommy, my tummy not feels so good." I said, "well, maybe you need to do potty." Mikey - "No, it just needs a rest." He looks down at it poking out so full. Mikey- "Mommy, is my baby in here? When am I going to have my baby?" The conversation went on and on. He mentioned something about how Jesus makes you in your mommy's tummy. He spoke about my girlfriend, Vanessa, who we saw today at playgroup, and how she has a baby in her tummy. Wanted to know why the baby isn't ready to come out yet. Said it was because Jesus was still giving it it's leg. He asked again when he would get his wife and baby. He wants to feed it milk and applesauce. He wants to sing it a lullaby and when he is busy I can help feed it. Oh, and he wants to know where it will sleep. I told him, "IT WON'T!!!" At least he and his brother hardly did!

MEAN Geese/Ducks!!! Part -2

MEAN Geese/Ducks!!!

Last day for swim lessons

Thursday was Mikey's last day of swim lessons. I think he was ready for them to be over. He had the same instructor as last year and did well again. After each lesson Mikey would ask me if I was proud of him. He would say, "I'm amazing, am I?" I think having the same instructor helped him since he is shy. On the first day he asked me, "Mommy, is her going to remember me?" "Mommy, does her like me?" Of course my answers to both questions were, "YES!" He had two sets of twin girls in his class and one other boy that was a bit older than him. Toe was SO happy swim lessons were over for Mikey. And because he was so difficult while we are there, I was happy too. Each day I had to think of something to reward him with if he would go without being TOO incredibly difficult. There is a park near-by that has a TON of duck and geese. He just LOVES feeding them. A couple of times feeding them was his treat if he could behave during the lessons. I could have taken him during the lessons but really wanted to watch Mikey. Plus, Mikey really "needs" me there to make him feel more comfortable. Toe has a favorite goose that is HUGE. There are several huge ones and they all look exactly alike to me. Somehow, the kid can tell them apart. I noticed that his favorite has babies that he always stays close to - maybe that's how he knows. Once, when Toe was trying to persuade me into going to feed the ducks DURING the lesson, he said, "M-m-m-m-m-mommy, m-m-m-m-my big buddy needs me. He's, he's, he's berry so hungry. Y-y-y-y-y-you know he has a BIG tummy and he needs me to feed him." These ducks/geese are enormous and VERY friendly- to the point that they seem aggressive. When we went to feed them they all rushed towards us (at least 30 or more)quaking and squawking at us with their skinny mouths wide open. It was VERY concerning but I tried to act like it wasn't. Toe just started tossing bread to them. Next thing I know, more were swimming across the pond toward us. Mikey got on top of a rock and fussed the entire time. Toe and I kept feeding them until it was all gone. I think we could have had 5 more loaves of bread and it wouldn't have satisfied them. The pond is full of hungry fish and turtles too. If the ducks that are in the water don't get the bread quickly enough, you'll see it disappear under the water. As we headed to the car they walked after us fussing the whole way. A car stopped as one duck was crossing. As the car went by the duck turned around and bit at it's tire! Ha! Toe thought that was just hilarious! Mikey was just hollering, "let's get out of here, Mommy!" Never a dull moment with these boys!

Brothers