Jackson declared this weekend that he had an "ear election."
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Yesterday, as I played video games with the boys, I whispered, "You know what? I love you?"
Jack said, "That's not a secret!"
So I looked at Sam and said "Did you know that I love you?"
He said, "Yep!"
"Hey! How does everybody already KNOW that?" I declared indignantly.
And Jack replied "Because you tell us all the time!"
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The boys earned their white belts in karate on Saturday, and will receive them at graduation on Thursday. They got progress reports from it, which they tried diligently to decipher by themselves. It took some reassurance that they did a great job! I can't wait to see them in their little belts!
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I had my house professionally cleaned last Tuesday for the first time ever. Bliss. My entire house has never been clean at one time before. It was fabulous. And now it is not clean again. Not even for a week. Sigh.
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Ryan threw a surprise 30th birthday party for me last weekend, complete with boat rides and out of town friends. It was great. BUT there were nine kids at my house with one 17 year old babysitter. See the professional cleaning above!
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School starts 3 weeks from today! HURRAY for fall!

Piggy bank

The boys have been finding coins around, and they LOVE to put them in their piggy bank (which is actually a football, and a gift from their Aunt Leah!). Yesterday morning, when Jack was the only one with me, I found a dime on the desk and handed it to Jack. "What is it, Mom?" "It's a dime, so it's 10 cents!"
"Wow, we have alot of money now, and if we keep saving, we could buy anything we want, right Mom? But I would share my money with you, and that way Daddy wouldn't have to share HIS money with you, and we could all stay home together."

Awwww, so sweet!

The new baby...

Jackson, upon arriving at the beach, excitedly told my sisters, "Aunt Jen and Aunt Shell, my mommy has a baby in her tummy."
"Yes, we know. Do you want a boy baby or a girl baby?" they asked.
He thought a moment and said "I hope it's a girl. But if it's not a girl, I hope it's a boy."
Yep, we're definitely hoping for a boy or a girl! ;-)

Swimming lessons, karate, and cousins, oh my!

The summer has been so full! The boys have taken swimming lessons, and are now doing great at the pool without any assistance, which is LOVELY! Even Olivia is swimming with her water wings, and there are days I don't even have to get in with them! Hurray!
This week marks the second week of karate lessons for the boys, which they adore! Playing dodgeball at the end is their favorite part, and getting their uniforms yesterday was so exciting! There have been lots of "yes SIRS" since it started, and I'm looking forward to watching them develop more and more confidence and independence as a result.
Not only were their cousins Becca, Kiki, and Josh here the week before July 4th, but their cousins Leah, Emmy and Matt were here last week, and Ryan and Jacey were here over the past weekend. The kids don't know what to do with an empty house now, but with beach preparations in full swing, we're definitely filling the days. It's time now to start buying school supplies, enjoying our beach vacation, and soaking up the last of the summer fun!

Scene from yesterday

The kids were hungry, and it just so happened there were four yogurts left in the fridge. Peach was about all I could stomach, so I doled out the other three without checking the flavors. Sam ended up with mixed berry, Olivia got peach like me, and Jackson got mango. He looked at the front and immediately the complaining began:
Jack: "I don't like this kind. That's not fair. I like the other kinds, but not FLAMINGO!"
Me: chuckling, "Flamingo is a bird, Jack, and they don't put birds in yogurt. That's all there is so stop complaining and eat your snack."
Sam: "What kind is it then, Mom?"
Me: knowing that saying mango would be a death trap at this point, "It's tropical."
Sam: "Mmmm, I like trockipal!"
Jackson immediately corrected his pronunciation, and Sam agreeable said
"Well, sometimes I say stuff wrong because I'm a kid, right mom?"
So right, Sammy, and I'm going to miss it someday! Love you, buddy!

Olivia's 2nd birthday party

The "fast-poke"

The other day as I was buttoning Sam's pants after he used the potty, I felt some moisture on them. "Sam, why are your pants wet?"
His reply, "Oh, yeah, well my peepee was a fast-poke."
As opposed to a slowpoke, you know. Too fast to make it to the potty! Silly goose!