The fair

Two blogs right in a row! Don't faint....and don't get used to it!

Today Hannah was at school and some friends of mine invited me to go to the fair for lunch.  Who can pass up some yummy, super high calorie food? Not me! So, Ethan and I loaded up and headed to the fair.  It was cool this morning, but it was pretty hot by the time we got there.  So it was a quick trip, but enough time to get some goodies.  

Ethan ate a corn dog. 

We like corn dogs because they can't make a huge mess.  I ate tacos and after that we were hot! So we stopped for icecream.

Right when we walked into the fair there was a huge building shaped like a giant icecream cone and I'm pretty sure Ethan thought he had entered heaven.  I promised him an icecream after his lunch.  I told the lady a small one - I would love to see the large!

Pretty quick after ice cream we left the fair. It was Ethan's nap time and even though he wasn't fussing, he kept rubbing his eyes.  He did so good during our fair adventure.

Don't tell Wes, but I let him finish his icecream on the way home. It was a huge mess. 

Since he wasn't completely crashed out, we stopped by Raquet and Jog and bought Ethan some new shoes.  I've bought him several really cute pairs lately and he complains that they hurt.  I thought Toms might be our solution since they velcro near the toe. Anyway, they seem to have done the trick and when I put them on he ran (fast) through the store and didn't complain...and are these just the cutest things, ever!?

A fun day with my sweet boy.  We sure missed sister, though!!

zoo day

If you were at the zoo today, I was that mom that let my 2 year old run around with no shoes on.  I put them on him at home and he cried and said he didn't want them. I tried again when we got there and once again, he threw a fit. Instead of having a miserable time at the zoo, I decided to just let him wear no shoes and be "that" mom.  There's my disclaimer. 

So last night I decided to take the kiddos to the zoo today.  We love spending time with our friends, but sometimes I just like being alone with my kiddos so I can really soak them up.

It was a fun time.  They really love each other and they are so sweet to each other (most of the time) when it's just the two of them.  By far, Ethan and Hannah's favorite thing today was the birds. 

They loved feeding them and getting close to them.  I think they were extra frisky with the cooler weather and a couple of them almost flew right into my head a couple of times.  Ethan got a little scared when the birds would hop on his hands, but he would just shake them off and keep feeding them.

We stayed at the birds for a solid 20 minutes.  I'm surprised we made it out alive, and without getting pooped on.

All that bird feeding worked up an appetite and we had to stop for a snack. Hannah would eat snacks all day long.  She was asking for one on the way to the zoo and the entire time we were at the zoo....so she was really excited when I told her it was snack time. 

After snack we headed to the snakes.  This is not my favorite place at the zoo, but both the kids actually like it. Ethan was in awe of the snakes and just starred at them.

I had such a fun time with them today...and dragging 50 pounds up the hills at the zoo was quite the workout.  I took a good nap when we got home!  

Castle park

A few months ago we bought a cow from Wesley's grandparents.  A few weeks ago it was time for the calf to be slaughtered for meat.  That whole process is totally new to me. I'm not a country girl at all! But, Wes has been wanting to do this for quite some time so I went with it.

Our meat was being delivered by Wes' parents on Saturday afternoon so that morning Wes went on a hunt for a deep freezer.  While he was gone, me and the kids went to the castle park for some fun.

It was a beautiful day and the kids had a fun time.

Ethan had a blast and enjoyed climbing everything. There were lots of things to climb on and he conquered almost all of them with no help. 

Hannah loves this park and especially likes the tire swing. She also loves sliding. She's such a big girl!

And shortly after we got home, our new freezer looked like this:

Meat, anyone? I guess it's time to start cooking! 

Back to school

The kids started back to Mothers Day Out today.  Hannah will continue going on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Ethan will go on Tuesdays only.  I'm happy to have some routine back to our week. Both the kids love school and both their teachers said they did great today.  Aunt Jenn is Hannah's teacher again this year (Jenn moved up to pre-k) and I don't know how, but she gets Hannah to nap every time she's there!

Ethan wasn't too excited about having a photoshoot before school (he just wanted to push his lawn mower around, which is in his hands).  This was Ethans first time to sleep on a mat and not in a crib.  His teacher said he did great and that he was the first one to fall asleep. She said he was really sleepy after lunch and was ready to lay down. Awesome!!

So happy to get good reports!  Love these little munchkins!! I enjoy my time to run around town alone, but I sure miss my side kicks! 

Kids update

I would love to do a "day in the life" post, but at the current stage of my life, I don't have the time or energy to keep up with what we do all day - haha! 

Hannah is 4 and LOVES princess things. She twirls around the house with a crown and a wand almost daily. She loves dressing up and pretend play.  I hear her saying the funniest things from her room.  Her favorite toy right now is her miniature princess dolls that are smaller than barbie dolls.  You can interchange their clothes and I never see one dressed in the same thing more than a few minutes. 

Hannah loves to swim at the "big" pool and jump off the diving board.  She also likes swimming in our backyard pool with her little mermaid dolls. She will ONLY wear a dress and only a nightgown to bed.  If you see her in anything other than a dress, just know there was a battle at our house that morning. She only wants to wear flip flops and I have to beg her to wear her cute little sandals, so that usually only happens on Sundays. 

Ethan is 2 and WOW. He's all boy, plus terrible twos.  It's an adventure with him.  Getting him dressed, going to the store, playing outside...I'm always on my toes with him.  He lights up a room and usually makes everyone gasp because he's climbed to the top of a ladder or table, or anything else there is to climb.  He's absolutely, whole heartedly in love with tractors, cars, monster trucks and anything else with wheels. 

He's gotten into super heroes and swords lately, too. He will go around with a squinted up nose and fists and just looks for trouble. He punches the air and just "psh, psh, psh." It's adorable, really.   He's not big into sports and balls, but give that boy a hammer or saw and he'll go to town.  (only fake ones for now). He loves playing with daddy's screwdrivers  and riding on daddy's lawnmower.  I can't imagine where he gets his innate ability to know what to do with power tools. 

Both of these kids are so loveable in so many ways. They are NIGHT and DAY.  Hannah is a tender hearted, soft spoken, timid little princess.  Ethan is a feisty, crazy, climbing little rascal.  They are both such a joy to have and I'm so thankful for these two.  

Annual beach trip

So, my blogging has fallen through the cracks.  I haven't read blogs or blogged (obviously) in almost a month.  Summer is so busy and my kids are so demanding - haha!  Hannah doesn't nap anymore and so my "free time" is usually after they fall asleep at night and at that point I have so many other things to do, blogging is usually not on the list.  So, with that little rant behind me...

We went on our annual White Family beach trip.  As always, it was a great time, but this year we had a few little challenges.  Before we left on Tuesday morning we ran by the doctor's office to have Ethan checked out.  He hadn't slept well for the previous 2 nights and I just knew something was going on with him. I was right...he had an ear infection.  Oh, what a fun way to start our vacation!  But, we got medicine and hit the road.

Once we got there we got settled and hit the beach!  I soon realized that Hannah was NOT all about the beach.  She complained about the sand being itchy and the salt water hurting a blister she had on her foot...long story short, this was the theme of the week - Hannah hated the beach.

So I spent a little more time in the cabin that I had hoped to, but I guess that's just the season of life I'm in.  Ethan loved the beach in small doses. He would run wild and dive into the sand head first, but then after about 15 minutes of that, he was done and got whiny and clingy.  He sure enjoyed Grayson's fun superhero toys at the cabin, though!

We decided to join my sister's family on a little ride on the ferry to Galveston to try and escape some of the constant complaints from Hannah about being on the beach.  She had fun feeding the seagulls and looking for dolphins.  Ethan and daddy took a tour around the boat and he snapped this picture. 

Overall, we relaxed and it was nice being away from home where things were a bit more relaxed.  I'm praying that next year my kids will appreciate the beach more and realize what vacation is all about.  Until next year....

summer happenings

We have been having fun in the sun lately....and indoors to beat the heat. 

Last week Hannah had two birthday parties.  One was a princess party and the other was a camping party.  For the princess party, she got to dress up in her favorite princess dress. 

Ethan always gets to tag along for these fun parties and he tried on a couple of capes before deciding on his superman cape for the party. 

After changing out of her princess dress we headed to Tyler State Park for a camping party. She had a ball.  Wes and Hannah spent the night and she did so good. She slept all night and didn't complain (much) about the heat and bugs.

While Hannah and Wes were roughing it, Ethan and I stayed up way past his bedtime. He was so happy and was giggling so much when I tickled him. It was fun to just have him all to myself!

This week the temps were in the 80's so we thought we would head to the zoo since it was a little cooler than it has been.  It was a fun time. The kids enjoyed being out. 

Feeding the birds was Ethan's favorite thing to do.  It was so fun watching him.  

(Please excuse his red shoes that don't match and are 10 times too big.  He insisted)

 Yesterday our friend Lauren came to play.  We love this girl so much and are always excited to have her. I took all 3 kids to dairy queen to play, eat and have icecream.

How adorable is this little sweetie!?

Hannah loved her icecream, too ...as always!

I'm not sure how this has happened, but every time we go to McDonalds, Dairy Queen or Sonic, the kids expect icecream!

When we got home I had some house cleaning to do so Hannah helped me.

She loves helping, and I can always use the extra help. 

We have had a fun, hot summer so far.  Looking forward to more fun memories!