Chris

Chris has been working on getting a new car for his race track. We have decided that when we get an item for his good choices book he will have to earn stickers by the cost of the item times 3. So he had to earn 10 stickers. I am surprised he didn't get the car quicker because everyday at lunch he would sit the car on the table and look at it. However, I have noticed that some of the good choices he got stickers for previously have become habits. I love that he holds the door open for his brother and me, our daily walks have become enjoyable, and he quickly gets dressed when it is time.

This car took him longer to earn because he has been sick and ultimately didn't make any choices at all. It was great today because when I told him he could pick out a sticker he started screaming. It was easy to get a picture and have him smile because once again he was truly excited.


Later today we found out the community center pool was opening at 5:00pm (a year late). We also found out that they were going to have two bouncy castles. I know from previous experiences that many times they require the kids to wear socks. So after Chris put his swim gear on he also put his socks on. I could not resist taking a picture.

I have never seen Chris have so much fun at a pool before. It was almost impossible to keep track of him. He was even swimming under water for the first time. Unfortunately, he got blisters on 7 toes from the bottom of the pool and has informed us he isn't returning. Good thing we have another pool right across the street!

Blocks

Ryan has been sick the last couple days. He was well enough to play blocks with me for a short while today.

I have no problem getting him to smile when he is proud of himself!

The Shore

We went down the shore again today. We figured since it was so hot the shore was going to be the perfect place. Once we arrived and stepped out of the car sweat starting pouring out of every inch of our bodies. I made the boys sit on a bench while Ken put money in the parking meter. The boys were miserable because it was so hot. This was the best picture we got (taken by Anita).

The beach overall was a disappointment. We had a couple bad storms over he last couple weeks and I guess the storms caused rocks to come on shore. There were few places that had sand but the rocks would pound your legs when the waves came in. Also, the current was really strong. Ryan could not even get his feet wet by himself because the water was knocking him over. It was crazy. I have never experienced a beach like that. Even with our feet in pain we still managed to have a really good time.
Here is Ryan playing in the sand.

Anita and me as we were packing to leave.

John is really good with Ryan. Here is Ryan and John waiting for a table at dinner. It was so cute because there is another picture of Ryan and John where Ryan just walked up and sat next to John. However this picture Ryan was getting crazy so I picked him up and put him in John's lap. John quickly said "take a picture of us." I wasn't going to since we had other pictures of Ryan in John's lap but this one came out the best.

Finally, Anita's family.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Anita and her boys came and stayed the weekend with us. The boys had so much fun. We made sure to keep them busy, which lead to them getting along the entire weekend.

Ken introduced Anita's kids to the saying "monkey see, monkey do" since the boys would copy each other. Here is John showing off his strength by picking up Chris.

So Chris showed off his strength by picking up Zeke.

Then at dinner Zeke put a lemon in his mouth.

Ryan quickly grabbed my lemon, shoved it in his mouth then looked at Anita to get his picture taken too.

They really are little monkeys!

Crocs

The day Ryan discovered Chris's crocs he fell in love. He constantly was getting them out and wearing them around the house. Well, we decided he needed a pair of his own.

He is so proud of them.

Vacuum

I bought this vacuum a few weeks ago to help with the crumbs on the kitchen floor.

Ryan thinks it is the greatest toy in the world. He uses it correctly so I have no problem with him playing with it. A little help never hurts!

Only if I could get him to vacuum under the table instead of under Chris!

Christopher's sandwich

My mom told me once she heard if kids didn't want to eat what you were having for dinner to offer them a sandwich. The deal is though, they have to make the sandwich and then clean up afterwards. The kids don't like the work, so therefore after time they just eat whatever you are eating.

Well, Chris refuses to eat tacos. Usually when we have tacos we just make him some soup. The other day he decided he didn't want soup. He wanted a Subway sandwich! We told him that we had lunch meat and he could make his own sandwich as long as he cleaned up the entire mess.

Chris thought this was the greatest idea. Before he made his decision though he informed me that he was not good with a knife and he needed me to cut the sandwich in half.

So he took the bread out and immediately ripped it in half. Then he took a ton of cheese and put it on his bread. One half of the sandwich had the rest of the ham we had in the refrigerator. The second half of the sandwich had giant chunks of salami.

It was not a sandwich that I would have eaten. That doesn't matter though because Chris enjoyed it!

This was the best picture I actually got of the sandwich. Chris still has not figured out a nice smile, so all I can put up is his goofy smile!