Soccer Camp

There is a wonderful program called British Soccer Camp and Nolan was able to go to a mini-soccer camp for his age, meaning that pre-k was able to participate, but for a shorter amount of time each day. Nolan loved it of course and it didn't hurt that two of his neighbors/friends were in the camp with him.

Joseph, Daniel and I didn't stay every day, but a couple times we stayed the whole time to watch Nolan and cheer him on. See...the twins are totally intruiged with Nolan... They played this game of freeze. The object was for the kids to take their ball across the field, with Coach Chris turned away. But when he turned around, if he caught them moving, they had to go to the starting line. It was hilarious...here, Chris is saying, "Nolan, I've got my eye on you." And Nolan is trying not to dissolve in a fit of giggles. Coach Chris and Nolan.

Kidisms

NOLAN:

• We have a new pair of shoes that we bought for N, for the start of school. He asks us to wear them everyday. One day Brian said, "Nolan, remember? What are those shoes for?" Nolan said, "MY FEET!"
• One of Nolan's worries about Kindergarten is that if he has to use the bathroom, he'll miss what the teacher says. We explained if he went at designated times, he'll be okay, but he's still worried he'll have to go in between and then miss learning something.

JOSEPH & DANIEL:

• The twins have this thing about shutting doors. They both want to do it...even if its a door on a hinge (like the front screen door), that closes itself. They fight over who will shut (aka slam) the doors and it terrifies me that a finger will get smashed.
• The twins also fight over bringing syrup from the pantry to the table. If I ask for "help" they race to it. One brings it to the table while the other one screams bloody murder. Then I put it back and they switch, one helps and the other screams.
• They both like to climb into their carseats, but also try to sneak in the back and sit next to Nolan where they giggle and giggle. One of them always gets back there while I put the other one in their seat.
• Joseph and Daniel are both coming leaps and bounds with talking, repeating better and their words sound much clearer.
• D loves to sing "moon moon" at night, to himself and Joseph.
• J will take the shirt off one of their little stuffed animals, go in the bathroom, get a kleenex, wipe it clean and say, "poop."
• Josephs first full sentence went like this: Me: Joseph, are you going to be a big boy and go on the potty, like Cami and Nolan?" Joseph: No. Me baby. No potty. Me diaper."
• When I ask for a kiss, J sticks his little lips all the way out, like a big pout. D almost sucks them in, like he's getting blown in the wind. I love both expressions and both ways to the kisses!!
• D's hair is as straight as can be. J's is curly. A neighbors mom told me, "Wasn't God smart to give you twins with different hairstyles to tell them apart?" I laughed and laughed and thought this was a wonderful thought!!!! Especially since she didn't mention size difference once! ;)

Ice Scream in a Bag

Cheyna gave me the gift of a Family Fun magazine subscription a few years back. It always has the BEST ideas to do with kids. One of the articles for this past summer was making ice cream in a bag. You take heavy cream, vanilla, sugar, seal it in a bag. Put that bag in a bigger zip lock bag of ice and kosher salt (please look up actual instructions before doing this). Shake for 5 minutes. We couldn't believe it actually worked. Brian and I, however, did most of the shaking! The bags after shaking for 5-7 minutes: The pay off: I thought it tasted like home made ice cream that we churned as kids. It wasn't sweet enough for Nolan, but that's probably just a product of his generation. We offered it in a cup with sprinkles, etc and next time I think that would help his need for better taste...aka, more sugar. The twins ate ever last bite! This will definitely be a summer tradition. Best done on bath nights!

Shoe Fight

Both the twins like things a certain way. Joseph's worse. This is an example that ended badly...he sat in time out. But this is just an example of how they push each others buttons...

Major Brian

At the beginning of this month, Brian pinned on Major in the Air Force. I can't tell you how humbled I am to be married to this guy. Nope, he's not perfect. But he's a wonderful father and a loyal and amazing husband and his integrity at his job is awesome. So, it was wonderful to see him recognized. The ceremony was a Thursday afternoon and we are so grateful to the friends and co-workers who joined us.

This is Nolan pinning the new rank on Brian's hat. Brian's last promotion was to Captain, and Nolan was in my belly! I had the honor of putting rank on his shoulders. This is us laughing because I had pretended I was going to pound the rank (a pin) into his shoulder. When I stopped, I got booed from the audience and people kept yelling for me to "do it, punch him, go for it" etc.

The big moment!

I LOVE this picture. I couldn't stop looking at Brian with googly eyes all day because life's busy. We're busy. It all goes too fast. And for one afternoon I got to stop and listen to people remind me how lucky and blessed I am to have him by my side.

Brian brought goodies for all of us. This is him giving Nolan his Captain America shield. Nolan was so excited! Joseph & Daniel didn't want picture time, but it was hard to argue, they behaved really well during the ceremony (with the help of many snacks, it did sound like their were chipmunks in the room). The boys enjoying some fun and more snacks after the ceremony. Thank you, Brian, for taking care of our family, for serving our country and for making me laugh daily. I love you.

Kimball Farms

For the second year, Brian's summer picnic for his department was held at Kimball Farms. Kimball's is known for their ice cream and they have a few locations, but their "big" location has mini golf, batting cages, bumper boats along with the popular ice cream. This year we opted out of bringing the stroller. It was easier in some ways, but obviously, there was more chasing and it took longer to get around, but it sure tired the boys out!

Everyone's saying cheese, yay!! All you can eat ice cream for dessert:

We rode bumper boats with all three. Brian, Nolan and Danny rode one. I rode with Joseph. Joey did great and was laughing most of the time. D was TERRIFIED and screaming to the point that other boaters were saying, "Awww, I can't hit them!" So Brian and Nolan went back and rode solo (which by the way made Joseph furious)!!Mini golfing. Three little boys with clubs. What could possibly go wrong?

And even though they fight like crazy, they really do adore each other.

Kristy's Shower

A few weeks ago we were able to spend an afternoon celebrating with one of the kindest people I know! I met Kristy through a friend at Eglin (Thanks Heather!), but even when we discovered we were both moving to Hanscom at the same time, I didn't think we would see much of them. They weren't planning on living on base...well, they changed their minds and I'm so happy they did. Kristy and her husband Chris have become good friends...they always put others first and would do just about anything for anyone. It was a fun afternoon...who doesn't love baby showers, cake and punch?? It was not a surprise party, but I love how happy Kristy looks here...and I love that she is glowing!

Very cute diaper cake one of the ladies made!

Kristy with her cake!

The guests with Kristy. Anyone that knows anything about cameras will have a good laugh on my account...I brought my tri-pod and was super excited and proud of myself. Took a picture of all of us. Later realized I had not lifted the tripod all the way, so the pictures at a terrible angle. Oops.

And just this past Friday, they welcomed Madelyn Grace into the world! Congrats!! She's so so beautiful!!!!