Look who came to spend their Spring Break with my fellas again :) ......
That's right, CC & BEV!!!!! We had a blast hanging out with them last week. I've already put a lot of photos from the week up on my Facebook page... but here's a few others or some of my favorites with the stories to go along :)
Of course, a visit from CC & Bev means TOYS :) It was like Christmas 7 days in a row for these guys. My mom had a special bag that the boys know they go to in order to find their presents for the day. Even Emit was picking up on it by the end of the week and sneaking over to see what magic he could find in THE BAG! Now, I'm trying to figure out more projects to build to store all of these toys neatly (which is not how they are stored right now... total mess).
This little train above was one my sister-in-law found at a consignment sale about 3 days before Bev left to come over here. It is a little battery-powered James (from Thomas & Friends) that runs or I should say ran on its own little track. I think it is safe to say these boys loved this train to death and before mid week it had been played out. Joss and Emit weren't content to just watch it go around and around on their track...as you can see above it had to go outside, in the dirt, on the floor, on the carpets, anywhere and everywhere they could take it... it went. Daddy tried to fix it... but after the third attempt to repair it... we just threw in the towel. It is now an empty train (no wires or batteries), but they are still having fun chugging it all over the place.
This photo below with Bev and Emit is one of my favorites from the week :) It is 100% accurate for the reactions they each give to lizards and/or creepy crawlies. Emit is all excited and wants the things to crawl all over him, and Bev is thinking "Okay, any sudden twitch and I'm outta here!" Gotta love them both. Bev, I'll be praying you have little girls or else you will have a full dose of the creepy crawlies all the time (come to think about it.. you'll probably get that even with little girls). Sorry Sis!
One of the many new toys was these little balls (you can see the orange flying out of the shot to the right)...the boys love these. Especially when they took them outside and Aunt Bev showed them how high they could bounce.
Boy, oh boy! That was an exciting time! And check out Emit's new little crocs above :) Aren't they cute!!!
Since we've been able to use Dallas' grandparent's apartment down here when company is in town, it turns into a little welcoming party every morning. The boys wake up, get their chocolate milk and get their morning cartoons going. We wake up nice and slow around here, and it is just fine with me :)
Joss loves his Canadian cartoons on CBC called Animal Mechanicals and Bo on the Go. You can see him here doing his "Bo Boogie" that I just LOVE!!! He was quite the performer, and they got some great little video clips with their iPhones. I definitely need to get one of the quick video recorders so I can get more little clips like these easier.
Emit started doing this new trick A LOT while my mom and Bev were here. He's done it before, but he really got in to it having more people to do it with. He'll find a toy or something and come right up to you. Then he holds it in his hands and starts moving it up and down saying "two, two, two". Finally, when we give in and ask him if he wants to throw it he repeats "Throw!!" and we count "one, two, threeeeeeee" and he tries to throw whatever he has to us. Most times it goes straight up in there air almost hitting him in the head, or some other random direction, but some of them come right to us. He gets all excited and starts doing his little happy feet dance that he does.
Our trips down to the beach here at the house are so spur-of-the-moment most of the time that we end up going down there without towels, swimsuits or the plans of staying very long. Especially this time of year with the water still being a bit chilly. In the summer months, we live in our swimsuits!
So it is very common for Joss to end up running around naked soon after we get down there. I will never quite understand the fascination of running around naked when you are little. I know I used to do it. It's refreshing to see the innocence of their little minds. It's heartbreaking to know that people out there prey on these sweet little babies. I can't let my mind go there though or else it will literally make me sick to my stomach. I love my little naked boy and I'm so thankful he is on a little island with wide open beaches where he can run around naked all he wants and not a soul in sight. Except for mommy with the big ole camera zooming in on his cute little toosh :)
Joss really loves riding in this thing. Emit... not so much just yet. He would much rather snuggle when he's in the water :) And I don't think Bev minded one little bit!
I love his serious little look here (above). It's almost like he's coming to scold me for walking away for a minute. And this poor little face below is one I see way too often some days. I know he's developing and learning how to express himself, but there are many days when he really whines at me all day long if he isn't getting every little thing he wants. He'll just wander around saying "No, no, no, no, no, no..." over and over in his saddest little voice and I don't think he even knows why he's saying "no". He does know the word YES too, and he knows how and when to use the two. It is very frustrating though when I know something is bothering him, but the whining and crying is all he can manage to communicate. That's when mommy just goes crazy in the head!! But in a split second he is loving on me with the sweetest little kisses and squeezes ever...so I'll take the moments of crying and whining because I know there's a sweet boy that is just frustrated over something! I love you sweet boy!!!
Joss using his "magi-nate" (imagination) with his new truck at the beach. I love to hear the little conversations his toys have back and forth with him :)
Even if the boys say they don't want to go out in the boat, once we get there...they are ALWAYS happy to be on the boat! Especially when they have CC & Bev to show down the dock and lead to the right boat and show them where to sit and all that fun stuff that makes them (or Joss right now) feel like big boys :)
You may have also noticed the Buzz Lightyear above with Joss and Emit...those were part of their "Christmas in March". They Love LoVE LOVE Toy Story 3. Joss refers to them as the one with the rocket (the first one), the one with the plane (the second one) and the one with the train (the third movie). If you have spent two minutes with Joss you he's over the moon crazy about his trains, so of course the train one will be his favorite.
The first time we watched that movie we were with my cousin and her little boy Jake. He's a month younger than Joss. Well, Jake's favorite part of the movie was with the little girl playing in her room with the toys and going to the microwave pretending to set the timer and saying "Bee Boop Bee Boop!" So every time we have watched it since then Joss has loved that part too. We play this little game now that any time someone says the phrase "Bee Boop Bee Boop" everyone in the room has to say it too :) The boys love it and laugh every time we do it. It works like a charm if we're in the truck or somewhere and I need to get them to relax or change the subject... just drop a little "bee boop bee boop" and I'm good for a few minutes! And yes, Emit does it too... it's really cute and I run around saying it because I love to hear and see their reactions to it.
We FINALLY got my mom up to snorkel at Thunderball and feed the famous swimming pigs! She's been to visit us the most times (by far), even when we lived here before without the tempting grand babies, so it is really hard for me to believe this is the first time we've managed to get her up there. It wasn't quite as easy with our old boats, but this new one makes it a lot easier. And the fact that Dallas was finally around the week they were here and not out on a trip made it a lot more doable too.
She seemed to really enjoy the experience in Thunderball, but her highlight of the day was definitely the pigs.
Joss was pretty excited to show them to her too.
Not long after we pulled up to throw the pigs some food, Emit thought it would be funny to throw his pacy to the pigs too. Joss was the first to notice and he yelled, "Oh no, Mom, Emit threw his pacy!" One of the pigs thought it was a treat for her instead and took off after it rather quickly. I thought she'd give it a test and then spit it right back out, but she swam with it in her mouth for quite a ways. I swear she was posing for this shot below :)
Then Joss started yelling "Hey, PIG! Bring that back. We need that pacy!" Obviously, he knows Emit's attachment to those things too. The pig finally dropped and it floated over by the rocks so Dallas jumped out and ran over to rescue it. My mom couldn't believe that we gave the pacy back to Emit... but he was not about to let us retrieve his pacy and then him not get it back. It has teeth marks on the outside and everything... but he wasn't about to part with it :)
These pigs above started to follow Dallas after the pacy, but when they realized he didn't have any food and we still did they made a quick retreat back to the boat. They were hilarious galloping through the water. If I had captured it on video I would be editing the Baywatch theme song to it. This was my mom's favorite part of the day!
One of my favorites was our stop at Compass Cay. Dallas gets to go here and swim with the nurse sharks a lot more than I get a chance to, but I wasn't about to miss my chance while we were here. There's something really amazing about getting to pet animals like this in their natural environment. If you can't tell... I watch a lot of cartoons these days, and How to Train Your Dragon is one of the top ones right now too. My favorite part of that movie is the part when Hiccup is trying to pet Toothless and he closes his eyes and turns away and then the dragon leans in to his hand just so he can touch him. I wanted so badly for these sharks (which cannot hurt me because of the size of their mouths and many other reasons) to just come and swim in to my hands like that. They did let me graze them, but you could tell they were only humoring me for a minute...but I'll take it!
This little shot of Emit above melts my heart every time I see it. He is definitely a momma's boy still. Joss is when he's in the right mood, but Emit is almost ALWAYS wanting to be held, or showing me something, or telling me something, or crying if I'm not in sight, or trying to break down the door if I'm in a room he can't get to, etc. It's sweet! It's a little frustrating at times, but it is still very sweet and I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. But this was one of those times. I ran up the trail for just a minute and he and Daddy came to look for me. When he saw me... this was his reaction. How could I do anything but bend down and open my arms?!!
Fun BUBBLES!!! Messy as all get out, but the boys loved them.
Another time when being naked is very fun and fitting :)
These guys love bubbles of any kind, but these really messy ones are by far their favorites!
Alright, so I know I've been 'winded' tonight and writing a lot, but I have one more story to leave you with for now. This just took place tonight, but I don't want to forget it, so it is going on this post :) For the past couple weeks/months I've been doing the boys their story times and then I'll sit in the rocker in their room with my book and little reading light and read while they fall asleep. Joss really likes it for me to sit in there a while. Emit doesn't really seem to care as long as Joss is in there too and he's not getting to stay up later or anything. So I was convicted a while ago about praying more with the boys, so I've started saying a prayer out loud after I've tucked them in and that's our final little thing before it's quiet time. Tonight I started to pray and Joss was kind of saying it with me out loud so I asked him if he wanted to pray tonight. He wanted us both to pray so I told him he could go first and then I would go. He liked that idea. You might catch a glimpse of some of the stuff he's been talking about today and things that get him really excited right now. This isn't exact, but his prayer went a little something like this:
"Lord, thank you for today. And for my bike and for Emit's bike. And for the street to ride in. And for Christmas and the presents. And my birthday and my train cake. ~Amen"
That's right, CC & BEV!!!!! We had a blast hanging out with them last week. I've already put a lot of photos from the week up on my Facebook page... but here's a few others or some of my favorites with the stories to go along :)
Of course, a visit from CC & Bev means TOYS :) It was like Christmas 7 days in a row for these guys. My mom had a special bag that the boys know they go to in order to find their presents for the day. Even Emit was picking up on it by the end of the week and sneaking over to see what magic he could find in THE BAG! Now, I'm trying to figure out more projects to build to store all of these toys neatly (which is not how they are stored right now... total mess).
This little train above was one my sister-in-law found at a consignment sale about 3 days before Bev left to come over here. It is a little battery-powered James (from Thomas & Friends) that runs or I should say ran on its own little track. I think it is safe to say these boys loved this train to death and before mid week it had been played out. Joss and Emit weren't content to just watch it go around and around on their track...as you can see above it had to go outside, in the dirt, on the floor, on the carpets, anywhere and everywhere they could take it... it went. Daddy tried to fix it... but after the third attempt to repair it... we just threw in the towel. It is now an empty train (no wires or batteries), but they are still having fun chugging it all over the place.
This photo below with Bev and Emit is one of my favorites from the week :) It is 100% accurate for the reactions they each give to lizards and/or creepy crawlies. Emit is all excited and wants the things to crawl all over him, and Bev is thinking "Okay, any sudden twitch and I'm outta here!" Gotta love them both. Bev, I'll be praying you have little girls or else you will have a full dose of the creepy crawlies all the time (come to think about it.. you'll probably get that even with little girls). Sorry Sis!
One of the many new toys was these little balls (you can see the orange flying out of the shot to the right)...the boys love these. Especially when they took them outside and Aunt Bev showed them how high they could bounce.
Boy, oh boy! That was an exciting time! And check out Emit's new little crocs above :) Aren't they cute!!!
Since we've been able to use Dallas' grandparent's apartment down here when company is in town, it turns into a little welcoming party every morning. The boys wake up, get their chocolate milk and get their morning cartoons going. We wake up nice and slow around here, and it is just fine with me :)
Joss loves his Canadian cartoons on CBC called Animal Mechanicals and Bo on the Go. You can see him here doing his "Bo Boogie" that I just LOVE!!! He was quite the performer, and they got some great little video clips with their iPhones. I definitely need to get one of the quick video recorders so I can get more little clips like these easier.
Emit started doing this new trick A LOT while my mom and Bev were here. He's done it before, but he really got in to it having more people to do it with. He'll find a toy or something and come right up to you. Then he holds it in his hands and starts moving it up and down saying "two, two, two". Finally, when we give in and ask him if he wants to throw it he repeats "Throw!!" and we count "one, two, threeeeeeee" and he tries to throw whatever he has to us. Most times it goes straight up in there air almost hitting him in the head, or some other random direction, but some of them come right to us. He gets all excited and starts doing his little happy feet dance that he does.
Our trips down to the beach here at the house are so spur-of-the-moment most of the time that we end up going down there without towels, swimsuits or the plans of staying very long. Especially this time of year with the water still being a bit chilly. In the summer months, we live in our swimsuits!
So it is very common for Joss to end up running around naked soon after we get down there. I will never quite understand the fascination of running around naked when you are little. I know I used to do it. It's refreshing to see the innocence of their little minds. It's heartbreaking to know that people out there prey on these sweet little babies. I can't let my mind go there though or else it will literally make me sick to my stomach. I love my little naked boy and I'm so thankful he is on a little island with wide open beaches where he can run around naked all he wants and not a soul in sight. Except for mommy with the big ole camera zooming in on his cute little toosh :)
Joss really loves riding in this thing. Emit... not so much just yet. He would much rather snuggle when he's in the water :) And I don't think Bev minded one little bit!
I love his serious little look here (above). It's almost like he's coming to scold me for walking away for a minute. And this poor little face below is one I see way too often some days. I know he's developing and learning how to express himself, but there are many days when he really whines at me all day long if he isn't getting every little thing he wants. He'll just wander around saying "No, no, no, no, no, no..." over and over in his saddest little voice and I don't think he even knows why he's saying "no". He does know the word YES too, and he knows how and when to use the two. It is very frustrating though when I know something is bothering him, but the whining and crying is all he can manage to communicate. That's when mommy just goes crazy in the head!! But in a split second he is loving on me with the sweetest little kisses and squeezes ever...so I'll take the moments of crying and whining because I know there's a sweet boy that is just frustrated over something! I love you sweet boy!!!
Joss using his "magi-nate" (imagination) with his new truck at the beach. I love to hear the little conversations his toys have back and forth with him :)
Even if the boys say they don't want to go out in the boat, once we get there...they are ALWAYS happy to be on the boat! Especially when they have CC & Bev to show down the dock and lead to the right boat and show them where to sit and all that fun stuff that makes them (or Joss right now) feel like big boys :)
You may have also noticed the Buzz Lightyear above with Joss and Emit...those were part of their "Christmas in March". They Love LoVE LOVE Toy Story 3. Joss refers to them as the one with the rocket (the first one), the one with the plane (the second one) and the one with the train (the third movie). If you have spent two minutes with Joss you he's over the moon crazy about his trains, so of course the train one will be his favorite.
The first time we watched that movie we were with my cousin and her little boy Jake. He's a month younger than Joss. Well, Jake's favorite part of the movie was with the little girl playing in her room with the toys and going to the microwave pretending to set the timer and saying "Bee Boop Bee Boop!" So every time we have watched it since then Joss has loved that part too. We play this little game now that any time someone says the phrase "Bee Boop Bee Boop" everyone in the room has to say it too :) The boys love it and laugh every time we do it. It works like a charm if we're in the truck or somewhere and I need to get them to relax or change the subject... just drop a little "bee boop bee boop" and I'm good for a few minutes! And yes, Emit does it too... it's really cute and I run around saying it because I love to hear and see their reactions to it.
We FINALLY got my mom up to snorkel at Thunderball and feed the famous swimming pigs! She's been to visit us the most times (by far), even when we lived here before without the tempting grand babies, so it is really hard for me to believe this is the first time we've managed to get her up there. It wasn't quite as easy with our old boats, but this new one makes it a lot easier. And the fact that Dallas was finally around the week they were here and not out on a trip made it a lot more doable too.
She seemed to really enjoy the experience in Thunderball, but her highlight of the day was definitely the pigs.
Joss was pretty excited to show them to her too.
Not long after we pulled up to throw the pigs some food, Emit thought it would be funny to throw his pacy to the pigs too. Joss was the first to notice and he yelled, "Oh no, Mom, Emit threw his pacy!" One of the pigs thought it was a treat for her instead and took off after it rather quickly. I thought she'd give it a test and then spit it right back out, but she swam with it in her mouth for quite a ways. I swear she was posing for this shot below :)
Then Joss started yelling "Hey, PIG! Bring that back. We need that pacy!" Obviously, he knows Emit's attachment to those things too. The pig finally dropped and it floated over by the rocks so Dallas jumped out and ran over to rescue it. My mom couldn't believe that we gave the pacy back to Emit... but he was not about to let us retrieve his pacy and then him not get it back. It has teeth marks on the outside and everything... but he wasn't about to part with it :)
These pigs above started to follow Dallas after the pacy, but when they realized he didn't have any food and we still did they made a quick retreat back to the boat. They were hilarious galloping through the water. If I had captured it on video I would be editing the Baywatch theme song to it. This was my mom's favorite part of the day!
One of my favorites was our stop at Compass Cay. Dallas gets to go here and swim with the nurse sharks a lot more than I get a chance to, but I wasn't about to miss my chance while we were here. There's something really amazing about getting to pet animals like this in their natural environment. If you can't tell... I watch a lot of cartoons these days, and How to Train Your Dragon is one of the top ones right now too. My favorite part of that movie is the part when Hiccup is trying to pet Toothless and he closes his eyes and turns away and then the dragon leans in to his hand just so he can touch him. I wanted so badly for these sharks (which cannot hurt me because of the size of their mouths and many other reasons) to just come and swim in to my hands like that. They did let me graze them, but you could tell they were only humoring me for a minute...but I'll take it!
This little shot of Emit above melts my heart every time I see it. He is definitely a momma's boy still. Joss is when he's in the right mood, but Emit is almost ALWAYS wanting to be held, or showing me something, or telling me something, or crying if I'm not in sight, or trying to break down the door if I'm in a room he can't get to, etc. It's sweet! It's a little frustrating at times, but it is still very sweet and I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. But this was one of those times. I ran up the trail for just a minute and he and Daddy came to look for me. When he saw me... this was his reaction. How could I do anything but bend down and open my arms?!!
Fun BUBBLES!!! Messy as all get out, but the boys loved them.
Another time when being naked is very fun and fitting :)
These guys love bubbles of any kind, but these really messy ones are by far their favorites!
Alright, so I know I've been 'winded' tonight and writing a lot, but I have one more story to leave you with for now. This just took place tonight, but I don't want to forget it, so it is going on this post :) For the past couple weeks/months I've been doing the boys their story times and then I'll sit in the rocker in their room with my book and little reading light and read while they fall asleep. Joss really likes it for me to sit in there a while. Emit doesn't really seem to care as long as Joss is in there too and he's not getting to stay up later or anything. So I was convicted a while ago about praying more with the boys, so I've started saying a prayer out loud after I've tucked them in and that's our final little thing before it's quiet time. Tonight I started to pray and Joss was kind of saying it with me out loud so I asked him if he wanted to pray tonight. He wanted us both to pray so I told him he could go first and then I would go. He liked that idea. You might catch a glimpse of some of the stuff he's been talking about today and things that get him really excited right now. This isn't exact, but his prayer went a little something like this:
"Lord, thank you for today. And for my bike and for Emit's bike. And for the street to ride in. And for Christmas and the presents. And my birthday and my train cake. ~Amen"
5 comments:
Why did that week go by so fast and this week at work so slowly? I never get tired of playing with these little guys - even though I was exhausted by the end of the week!!! It was WONDERFUL to hear and watch their daily routine... I'm so THANKFUL you and Dallas are sharing your love for God with the boys - it will get them further in life than anything else :0) I LOVE Jossy's prayer - he is so precious and I know it blesses you to hear his little heart :0)
Love too all, CC
Tamara, Thanks for sharing these great photos! I enjoyed the Blog, the stories that explain what's going on. So glad that your mother and Bev got to spend spring break with you. Looks like everybody had a great time!!
Love and miss you all.
Wendy
Awe! They are so sweet! I love you guys! Thanks for a good afternoon! Like Joss use to always say. We had a great time. Miss you already!!!
Oh, whenever I see your pictures it just makes me want to fly out and visit too! So beautiful and such handsome boys. :) I love that one of Emit running to you.
Great pictures, cute boys, and you gotta love the naked bum!
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