High Five

Aiden in the sandbox at Jonathans Dream

Chris with THE tractor at Jonathans Dream

Cutie Patootie Calvin

Aiden's crib after nap....

Chris's crib after nap...

Cali in her new perch. She LOVES this window seat because we have a bird feeder that is finally attracting birds. What a kitty dream!

Double take. Chris (top) and Aiden (bottom) enjoying cereal in their new sippy cup bowls from Grammie Pt. They were a hit!

The boogie monster is finally gone and the boys health is on the mend! Yippee! To celebrate we have had a full week of fun. On Monday the boys and I braved it and returned to play school. Although I stayed the entire time, I was glad we went as I could see the boys starting to get more comfortable by the time we left. It also gave me the chance to meet the students that will be working with Aiden and Christopher. They have great kids so I am hoping it will continue to work out. Monday afternoon we had a play date with our friend Mathieu and his mom, Caroline. Knowing that the bitter cold is only weeks away, we decided to take advantage of a cooler fall afternoon and headed to the park in Agawam. Chris was a bit cranky on our arrival but Caroline was a great help and made sure both boys were happy, even when they went in opposite directions. I spent Monday night working my muscles without even realizing it! I have been working on refinishing one of the ugliest bureaus you have ever seen. It is still a work in progress but I spent the entire evening scraping paint and never knew my arms could hurt so much. I will post some before and after pics of my latest projects in a few weeks when it is done. I have visions of turning it into drawers of toys for the boys, but we shall see. It is old ugly and needs LOTS and LOTS of love!

Grammie Hopkins is in South Carolina this week so our Tuesday was a bit out of the ordinary. I was thrilled to have Dziadz Pt. offer to substitute in Grammie Hopkins' place. Yippee! I got out for my usual errands and the boys had a blast. As I always say, we are so spoiled to have such a wonderful, loving, helpful family that enjoys our monkeys as much as we do! Tuesday afternoon we headed to Jonathans Dream Playscape with our friends Megan and Calvin. Again, it was another gorgeous, cool afternoon that we couldn't pass up. The boys were in LOVE with all of the tractors, slides and things to climb on. It is every child's dream to have a structure like this nearby. Although it's always hard to have adult conversation when your little ones are heading here, there and everywhere, it was great to visit with my friend Megan. Tuesday night I had a girl's night out! I was so thrilled that Kym came from Boston and Heather made it out and Leeanne was able to join too! We had a delicious dinner and although I can only speak for myself, I really enjoyed myself and had a blast catching up and laughing together. Truly, I couldn't be more blessed with the many, many wonderful people in my life.

Today we headed back to play school and again I stayed and the boys seemed to be okay with me around but got upset when they couldn't see me. We plan to head back again tomorrow and will continue to hope that the day will come when I can actually drop them off the way it is supposed to happen!

Aiden and Chris have been very busy boys once their bedroom doors close. No, they are not getting out of their cribs… yet! But, they have found great entertainment in emptying their toys and books from one crib to the next. I had to include a picture because it cracks me up every time that I go in to get them after a nap and find one of them with all of the blankets, toys and other goodies and the other kiddo with an empty crib. Monday Chris was calling Aiden at nap and receiving no response. They can't see each other when they are in their cribs because they are head to head with one of the headboards being a solid piece of wood but they definitely know that they are in the same room together. It was later confirmed that Chris was calling Aiden because he had thrown all of his toys into Aiden's crib to get NONE back in return. The verdict is still out as to whether Aiden fell asleep or chose to keep them all to himself. Always something new!

PS - I should be truthful and admit that I pulled out all of our kids Christmas books and enjoyed 6 with Aiden and Chris today. I can tell, they're into it :) haha