March 4, 2014

Well, since I wrote last on Thursday, life here has been pretty exciting.

Friday, I made a deliberate point to do "nothing": no cleaning, no errands, nothing but love on my children. And mostly I succeeded. I tried a new crock pot recipe which took over 10 hours to cook. So, first thing in the morning, William and I got up and made dinner. William was really excited at the prospect and kept asking me what each ingredient was before he poured it in. he wanted to know how each would taste and how they would all taste together. It was fun to talk about different tastes and textures while Robert slept in a little. I don't get a whole lot of uninterrupted one on one time with my big boy anymore, so this was a big treat. We also made brownies which made William (who was helping) and Robert (who was watching) very excited. William even got a few licks of the bowl. You can guess how happy that made him to eat the fruits of his labor! they turned out delicious and we took a pan to the lunch at church on Sunday. Well, we played trains, pirates, built things, colored with chalk, played with magnets, ate lunch, played cars, and did just about everything William wanted to do. He has so many ideas! After Robert's mid morning nap, we all packed up and I went to early vote. William thought I said "boat" and was so confused why we at the county tax-assessor collector's office. This happens every time so I shouldn't be surprised. I think he understood finally this time. He said, "Oh mommy, you gonna vote for people so we know who's in charge." Smart kid! Poor boy though, as soon as we entered, one of the little old ladies working the polling booth latched onto him and wouldn't stop asking him questions until after I was done voting and we were leaving. He held up like a trooper and answered politely, but I know he would have rather helped me cast my vote like he normally would. He didn't complain though, and as a reward for being good, we went to a nearby park! It's one we rarely go to, so William had fun running around with all his new "friends". I love how everyone in his mind is a friend. He just walks up to another kid and they start playing. It's so sweet! Robert got to swing for the first time in a baby swing (he's been in the flat saucer swings before). I put William in first and put his legs out two of the holes, and then I had him scoot forward and faced Robert the other way with his legs out the holds on the other side. It worked great! Robert had enough support to sit up, and William had a blast asking Robert if he was enjoying swinging. My heart may have actually melted from the cuteness of my two boys laughing together. They've started playing together more and more and it's such a joy to watch! Oh! A funny thing happened while William was running around the bike rack. Another kid (around 6 or 7) came up to him and pointed to the bike rack and said, "That's an alien space ship. You must be an alien." William's face was serious for a second as he contemplated and then answered, "Oh ok! I'm going to the rocket ship over there!" and ran toward the main playground. Well, the other boy, who was really getting into it now, said, "Ok, but I'm Captain Kirk." Without missing a beat, William responded, "Ok. I'll be Captain Hook!" hehehehehehe. Makes me giggle even now. He was on the right track, and at least he thought of a captain! I love how his little mind works. The crock pot dinner was delicious, by the way. My little chef even ate it (it was Chinese BBQ pork). He's developing quite the mature palate!

Saturday was a big day! Francis, the boys and I went to Sherwood Forest Faire Renaissance Festival. We got up and packed the car before the Davis' (Angel, Austin and Ranger) arrived and we caravanned out to Paige, Texas. It was so fun!!! We saw full contact jousting, a falconry show, some comedy, saw Robin Hood sword fight, did a petting zoo, had delicious (I mean amazing) food, and got genuinely creeped out by "baby stealing" fairies. So many people were in costume and that was both entertaining and occasionally scarring. The fairies painted from head to toe were very into character. We met up with Laura and James Martin, and one fairy kept following them to see their newborn, Stephen. It was funny...sort of. Ranger, William and Robert had a blast. There was a play wooden castle and the boys ran all over it looking out the windows and play fighting with their wooden swords (no one got hurt, thank goodness!). Angel and I even got flower headbands made of real dried flowers. It was fun to get into costume a bit, and the headpiece was very pretty. Francis liked the jousting the best. William kept yelling "Go Red!" (our team's color) and got very confused why everyone was calling his name (our knight was Sir William). We finished the day off by going to Southside Grill and having some seriously good BBQ. I wouldn't have traded Saturday for the world!

Sunday was also a good day. It was "All In" high attendance Sunday. Francis directed our class and after service, we all had lunch together as a church. People came around with trays of desserts and different people sang and played instruments. It was nice to get to hang out at church and just share each other's lives for an hour or two. We should do it more often!

Yesterday was The Little Gym day. In between William's class and Practice time/Robert's class, we had Chick-fil-a with a bunch of people for William's class. I got to talk to one of the children's nannies. It was a cold day and I'm so glad we had warm places to go and burn off the kid's energy!

Today is one of those "teaching" type days. I know learning goes on everyday, but I'm not always conscious of it. We got up and it had rained and frozen over last night. I showed William the icicles and let him go out and pull one off Francis's grill. He came back in and we watched as it melted in his hand. He was intrigued and went and got another one. Again it melted in his hand when he came back inside. We talked about water and how heat and cool affects it. He was so interested that after we got back from the grocery store, he watched the ice melt off the roof and repeated back to me that it was getting warm and the ice was turning back into water. I also bought some marbles at the store today to go with William's marble tunnel set. We spent a long time sorting the marbles by color and using the words more and less, then counting them and manipulating them every which way. We also set up the marble track and ran the marbles so he could see. His little wheels were turning so fast! I can't wait to see what he comes up with after nap. I even taught him how to play marbles. He enjoyed shooting the shooter at all the little marbles and watching them go every which way. Then he would count how many went out of the circle area. Robert loved the marble game too. I just had to keep him far enough away to not eat them!

speaking of Robert, he has been in 12 month clothing for the past couple of weeks. I can hardly believe it. In true family form, it's his torso that's so long. His legs are a bit short for the pants, but not by much. Sorry kid, you've got your momma's build! Solid food is still a no go. I also think it is upsetting his stomach. We will have to go and get him allergy tested at his 6 month appointment just to make sure he doesn't share his father's citrus allergy.

I hear a little voice in the next room, so I gotta go!