High Five

Treasure hunting. Chris (L), Aiden (R).

Best buds. Chris (L), Aiden (R).

Brothers forever. Aiden (L), Chris (R).

Bribery. 9 am. Chris (L) Aiden (R).

Yum! Chris (L), Aiden (R).

We are 2.5 this week! Aiden (L), Chris (R).

Not sure how Aiden managed this? This was my surprise at 10:30 pm.

Visiting our best bud, Dziadzu.

Boy oh boy do I love my boys and can you believe that they are going to be 2 1/2 this week? My goodness. I am pretty sure that it was just yesterday that I was stretching out my shoes with my swollen feet, barely fitting behind my steering wheel (and yes, this was a valid concern), as pregnant as can be.

Thursday poor Ashley wasn't feeling great. We were excited to spend the morning with her but happy that she was able to get some snuggle time with her Mommy in the afternoon as we realized that she had a quickly climbing fever. I am happy to report that she is well again and we all stayed healthy too!

Friday we had nothing planned but in our house, we all do better with something to keep us out of trouble... so, we went to surprise Dziadzu for a visit while he was busy delivering mail! The boys were in awe seeing him in action and were SO excited to see a real mail truck. What a morning! Naps didn't happen but Chris and Aiden were good about having some quiet (not so quiet) time in their room. After failed naps, we headed over to visit Great Grammie Tess before heading home for the boys MUCH needed bedtimes. Our quiet day turned out to be full of fun adventures and I was happy because we were even able to sneak in a walk to Highland Park Market, our grocery store in town. A & C LOVE their bake shop (okay, and if we're being honest, I have a weakness there as well) and they love to see the tiger (really a cheetah I think), tucan and monkey display that they have in their produce section. I am LOVING this gorgeous weather!

Saturday we headed to Northwest Park early where I was thrilled to get some cute shots of the boys to mark their 2.5 years of life. { siggggghhh..... and confession.... I bribed them with gigantic lollypops to get some cute pictures and it wasn't even 9 am.. yes, I am that mom. } We went for a family hike and A & C were excited to keep up with us. They love their time outside, especially in the woods. I can see them getting lost for hours as they get older and I remember those days myself like it was yesterday (because it was, right?). We headed home for a chore filled afternoon. Not much fun but it feels great to have crossed off some of our to-do's. 5 1/2 hours later Mike finished re-doing our sinking sidewalk for the 4th time (no joke) and I trimmed and collected all of the lovely scraps of our overgrown jungle of a yard. I swear I think someone is busy sneaking in miracle grow when I'm not looking because I kid you not, these bushes can GROW! I admittely went a little crazy with the hedge trimmer and they may be a bit on the anemic side but I'm hopeful that will bide me more time to let my sad blistered hands heal.

Mike and I got brave today and intentionally let A & C skip naps because, well, they were just having too much fun outside. They had their moments of weakness and meltdowns but it was worth every minute of it for easy, early bedtimes. ahh, the sweet sounds of silence (minus the sounds of me typing on my keyboard and Mike, well, making noises doing what guys do best).

This morning Mike and I had nursery duty at church. Aiden and Chris were thrilled that they had new legos in the toddler room. Life is good and they both didn't even notice that we left. We are excited for a visit from Grammie and Dziadzu this afternoon and GG Mimi will also be stopping over after her arrival back home from sunny SC! We can't wait to see them!

PS - I was kind of excited that in my recent cleaning frenzies I came across a package of garbage pail kids. Not sure why I would ever spend .99 on a pack but then again, when you get "Car Sick Caroline, Wolfman Jack, Lisa Loser, Eaten Ethan and Hot Scott," who can complain. Did anyone else own, collect and trade these or were Laura and I the only ones, lol?!? I'm saving these as I am confident that someday they will fully fund our retirement :)