Do your boys fight?

 At least once a week, I get asked if the boys fight with each other, or if they are friends.  I usually answer "yes" to either question.

   

As you can see, the boys are friends....they love each other very much.  They hold each others hands, smile and laugh together.  They share their toys, and play together.  Most of the time at daycare, they are inseparable.

However, they also like to wrestle and rough house with each other too! Sometimes it is fighting over a toy, a sippy cup, or who gets to sit on mommy's lap. Other times, it's just to pick on their brother.

This picture captures what usually happens:  Jackson pins Lincoln.  Sometimes it is a strategy to take whatever Lincoln has, but I've also seen where Jackson is trying to hug Lincoln, so he holds onto his waist, and let's Lincoln drag him around for a while.

Oh, brotherly love....

Colors

The boys know their colors!

They have learned them at school, but we reinforce them everyday.

We have a book about colors, and the boys read it to me almost every night.  They tell me what color is on the page, and then they also tell me what else is on the page - there is a blue bird, a yellow butterfly, a red truck, etc.

The boys are constantly pointing out colors to us - usually telling us what color car/truck is driving by.  It's amazing how many white, black, yellow, and red cars are on the road!

They also know how to sign most of their colors - Mommy is still learning some of those!

We are so blessed to have 2 happy, smart little boys who love learning!

Memorial weekend fun

We had an amazing Memorial Day weekend.

Brian only worked a half day on Friday, and my work let us go 2 hours early.  With the extra time, we decided to pack up and head to Toledo early for the holiday weekend.

We were all packed up and on the road around 4:40.  Surprisingly, traffic wasn't too bad!

We were about an hour into our drive when Lincoln asked for a snack - a sign that he was getting hungry.  I told him we were going to stop for dinner soon, then I asked him what he would like for dinner.

Lincoln...."Ummmm....chicken nuggets!"
Jackson...."Mack and Cheese!"

Who can resist when they actually tell you what they want for dinner?

We stopped in Wapak just after 6:00 and had dinner at Bob Evans.  We ordered 2 kids meals - mac and cheese with green beans, and chicken strips with carrots.  These are kids meals for ages 12 and under - and my 2 boys ate everything but the carrots, and they also ate one of our dinner rolls!

After a quick diaper change, we were back in the car, heading north.  I asked the boys if they liked their dinner...Lincoln shook his head yes and smiled, but Jackson gave a bit more input - "I no like the carrot."

Silly boy.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, other than the boys stayed awake the entire trip.  When we got to Lyn and RJ's, we gave the boys a bath, they drank their milk, and finally at 10:00, they went to bed.

Saturday was a bit cloudy to begin with, but the sun finally came out.  We spent most of the day outside playing with Lylah, Knox and Nash.  The boys wore their new swim gear for the first time this year, and played in the pool with the kids.  We ate lunch on the patio, and just enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Saturday night, Lyn and RJ hosted their annual Euchre tournament to raise money for Relay for Life.  The boys were great - playing outside, riding bikes, and visiting with Barb and Pat.  The event raised $300 toward our event, and we had a great time visiting with friends both old and new.

Sunday was a hot day.  The kids were in the pool, then we ate lunch, and the boys took a 3 hour nap.  Yes - three hours (Mommy even got an hour nap!).  After naps, they were back in the pool.  Jackson was a bit braver on Sunday.  He was watching cousin Lylah jump up and sit down in the water - doing cannon balls!  He was having a blast when Brian came back from Fort Recovery.   He would jump up and yell "Cannon ball!" and splash down into the water (it only came up to his neck, but it would splash pretty good).  Lincoln was more tentative, but he still enjoyed playing in the water.

We made home made ice cream, and the boys loved it!

Sunday night we bathed the kids, ordered pizza, then watched a movie after the little ones went to sleep.

Monday morning, we packed all our stuff up, and went to visit the Wagners.  We gave Miss Ashley her birthday presents, played on the swing set, and blew bubbles.  The boys didn't want to leave!  We stopped back at Lyn and RJ's for a quick lunch, then hit the road for home.

Jackson slept most of the way home, while Lincoln only slept for about an hour. 

It was a great weekend - and exactly what I needed.  Very relaxing, and wonderful to spend time with my parents and my sister and her family.

Hope everyone else enjoyed their three day weekend too, and thanks to all the men and women in the military who protect our freedoms!

Handsome boys...

After the boys got their hair cut last week, I told them they were handsome.  Mommy loves her handsome boys.  The rest of the night, the boys just kept smiling at me and saying "Handome boys".  Then they would giggle.

They really do look quite handsome with their new hair cuts.  Jackson looks more like his daddy now than ever.  Lincoln reminds me of my nephew - and he's just as awnery as my nephew was at this age!

Things my boys say that crack me up!

Everyday, the boys say something that just cracks me up.  Sometimes it's because I can't believe they remember something, or I have NO IDEA where they came up with it.  Here are a few things I've heard the past few days:

• Jackson - "Go see Dr. Korn.  Look. At. Ears."
• Lincoln - "School bus! Go get it Daddy!"
• Jackson (when we were getting ready to check out at Sam's Club last night) - "Get a pretzel, Mommy?"  - He remembered the day I took him shopping and we got a pretzel and shared it.
• Lincoln - "I want candy!  I want candy" (in response to going pee-pee in the potty this morning, and I told him we'd find him a treat for being a good boy)

Last night, we picked the boys up from daycare a bit early to get Jackson's ears checked again (thankfully, they are better, so no trip to the specialist for now).  I've really been conscious of trying to engage the boys in conversations - not just asking yes/no questions.  Here is how our conversation went yesterday.

Mommy - What did you boys have for lunch today?
Jackson - carrots.  applesauce.  Sandwhich
(their paper confirmed it was a Ham and Cheese Sandwich)
Mommy - Did you have your afternoon snack before we picked you up?
Jackson - yes Mommy.  We had snack.
Mommy - what did you have?
Jackson - cookies and the pineapples.  No like the pineapples.
Mommy - Does Lincoln like the pineapples?
Lincoln - No.  I no like the pineapples Mommy.

I was totally cracking up listening to them tell me about their lunch and snack.  It is so cute, and so rewarding to hear them actually answering my questions, and adding their own snippets as well.  conversations with 2 year olds are fun!

Excitement

The innocence of a child continues to amaze me, even after being a mom for over 2 years.

Our boys take the most mundane, uninteresting, everyday chores and turn them into something that the whole family looks forward to.  Isn't that crazy?

Everyone looks forward to Friday's.  Most people can't wait for the work week to be over, and to enjoy the weekend.  We look forward to Friday because it is trash day.

Yes, that's right.  Trash day.  TGI Trash day. 

I don't know how it started.  Probably a random comment about Daddy needing to gather the trash and take it to the curb.  Then, Jackson was probably insistent on helping, because he loves to help.  And from there, it turned into a magical occasion, where the boys get to help daddy take the trash out to the curb. 

Today is Trash Day.

The boys were muddling through their breakfast this morning, dragging their feet like usual.  Then, the spark appeared.  Did Daddy say he needed to take the trash out?  Yes, he did.  Oh...we need to eat our breakfast fast!  So, the boys ate up their yogurt, very patiently let us change their diapers and get them dressed.  Then, as soon as their shoes were on their feet, they were eagerly waiting at the door to the garage.  I even got a "Come on Mommy.  Put your shoes on. Take the trash out!"  Because yes, it is a family activity now. 

Thankfully, we had a lot of trash this week since Brian has been trimming bushes and pulling weeds.

We found a bag of trash for Jackson to take to the curb, but most of the bags were too heavy for Lincoln.  So, he helped me carry the recycling bin to the curb as Jackson drug his bag out.  Daddy brought the other bags of trash.

There was a wonderfully sweet woman driving down our road watching the whole scene unfold.  As she neared our house, she pulled to a stop, rolled her window down, and made a comment about "it's nice to have helpers, isn't it?  oh - you all are so cute!"  I think we made her day.

So, you know what the Hart's say?  The family who takes the trash out together, stays together.  And we love it!

Mr. Herb again...

Last night, Brian was trimming bushes and working on more yard work.  Dinner was ready, so the boys and I went out to let Brian know.  Mr. Herb was just coming outside to tinker around, and he came across the road to share some pointers with Brian.  When Jackson saw him cross the road, he took off running for him!  I was actually a bit afraid that Jackson would knock Mr. Herb down!  But no, he just went running right into his arms, and let Mr. Herb pick him.  He gave him a BIG hug! 

The boys were actually sad when Mr. Herb headed back home - they kept telling him goodbye, over and over.

It just melts my heart to see the boys take to Mr. Herb, who is genuinely one of the kindest souls I've ever met.