Week 15, Round 2

We were busy bees this week.  We had a few more days of fun with Uncle Chris and Aunt Terri, and then we started to prep for Easter.  Time seems to be going by too fast lately for us and not fast enough for Nathan.  Hopefully he will make it home soon and everything will run in slow motion so we can really cherish every moment with him back--what I can dream right?

After our trip to Disneyland the kids woke up, and we had a slow morning opening presents.  Corinne did a lot of this...

Uncle Chris and Aunt Terri did a lot of this... 

Why does each little doll come with 100 little twist ties?
It must have been worth the effort because Corinne seems to love her new Sleeping Beauty doll, Prince Phillip, and the Three Good Fairies.  She is also enjoying her new flapper dress up and mermaid outfits.

Corinne stocked up on swimsuits this birthday--which is a good thing because she is outgrowing all of the ones from last year.

This one with the matching hat came from Mimi and Grandpa Jinks!

Somewhere in the mix the kids went to swimming lessons where they got to show off their skills.  Apparently they had to adjust their chemicals in the big pool because a rat snuck into the water.  This made for some close quarters in the baby pool, but Corinne was super happy to be in the warmer water.  When we got home the kids did their best to wear their Uncle and Aunt out.

Lincoln thought Uncle Chris needed to work on his push-ups.

We had an easy dinner and celebrated with brownie dipped oreos for dessert.  She made her wish...

Blew out the candle...

And the oreo was history!

I forgot I bought her a crown and shoes to go with the dress.  That's what happens when you have presents stashed all over the house!

Her look was finally complete.

On Friday morning Chris made some harnesses for Lincoln's nerf guns.  He was convinced he has more guns than Daddy and "Waaaaaaaaay more bullets.  I have fifty hundred you know!"

Lincoln got a bug catcher as a side gift from Mimi and Grandpa Jinks.  He LOVES that thing and now keeps snails as pets.  I don't mind him taking them off of my flowers.

The weather was perfect, so Corinne got to play with her new princess bubble maker from Grammy.

The kids got in one more round of nerf gun war with Aunt Terri and Uncle Chris before they had to leave.  Corinne never sacrifices style for function--she insisted on wearing her heels to battle.  Friday afternoon we headed back to the airport to get Chris and Terri off to Vegas so Terri could work (and Chris could play).  We had a wonderful time with them, and both the kids and I really enjoyed their company.

We spent a good chunk of the day in the car driving, then met up with Mabel, Luke, and Jenn at the park on the way home from the airport.  I knew the weather was going to get nasty on the weekend and wanted to squeeze in some more playtime while we could enjoy the sun.  It was great to see them again and hear all about Mabel and Jenn's latest adventure in Hawaii!

On Saturday morning we bundled up to trudge out into the "mist" for Lincoln's sports camp.  This week they focused on baseball.  Lincoln loves running and learning new things, but was very discouraged when it came time to throw and catch.  There was only one leftie mit and two left-handed kids. 

He did his best and practiced throwing with his right, but knew it felt wrong.  Lincoln still had a good time and I promised to search for a glove of his own for next time.

We came home to get warm and the kids got ready for a "date".  Lincoln helped his lady get her hair ready with her new play set from Papaw and Amber.

Lincoln kept saying, "Now hold still and this won't hurt.  You are going to look soooo beautiful!"  Ahhh, I love it when they play well together. 

On Sunday Jenn, Warren, and baby Hunter came over for dinner and for an extended birthday celebration for Corinne.  She insisted on breaking out all of her puzzles.

Then I got out the hard one that we all worked on together.

While I cleaned up, Jenn and the kids found all the I-Spy answers.

On Monday, we had our make up swimming lesson.  Corinne tried out her new suit.

And Lincoln got to swim in the lanes with the big kids.

On Tuesday, we watched Hunter and decided to take him to the park where Lincoln has sports camp.  We never get to check it out on Saturday mornings because everything is still soaking wet from the dew.  When Hunter's parents picked him up, Warren took him for a ride down the slides.

Lincoln loved trying out the new equipment.

Then the kids took a few trips up and down the big hill.  Lincoln was unstoppable...

Corinne was a bit more cautious and was afraid she would fall on the way down the hill.  She decided to set with me and we played a little frisbee for a lot of the time.  Then the three of us headed to Walmart to complete our shopping for the week.

This is what happens to your kid when he runs up and down a hill 20 times...

This is what happens to your kid when she chooses a more relaxing activity at the park....

She was literally playing leap frog with herself all over the back yard while Lincoln napped on the couch.

Jenn and Hunter came back over on Tuesday and helped us get our eggs ready for Easter.  I was thankful to have the help because the two kits that I got were a little involved.  I found a pirate kit for Lincoln and a princess one for Corinne and just had to have them.  Common sense should have told me that decorating 24 eggs is a lot of work for anyone, but add two very opinionated kids to the mix and it leads to a major project.  But for only $5 a kit, it was worth the three hours of entertainment.

I hustled Corinne through the last of her eggs and moved her onto a collage project she got from Papaw and Amber.  This is her crazy face--she is definitly Nathan's daughter!

While she was occupied I helped Lincoln with the rest of his scurvy crew.  I knew the kids would love doing the kits, what I wasn't prepared for was them asking to play with the eggs when they were finished.  I finally convinced them that the eggs had to go back into the fridge, but they could play with the cardboard and plastic eggs instead. 

So I packed up the crew...

And all the fair ladies...

And got them back into the fridge for safe keeping.  We spent the rest of the day prepping for our beach trip over the weekend and cleaning up around the house.  (Oh, and searching for more snails for Lincoln's collection.  I now have to conduct three mandatory snail recovery searches in my daylilies every day.)

We really had a wonderful week--exhausting, but wonderful!

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Quote 1:  At bedtime.

Me:  "Okay, give smooches."  Runs to Terri and lays one on her, then is hesitant with Chris.

Corinne:  "He has pokies on his face!"

Clearly not a fan of facial hair.  She later got out of bed to blow him a kiss goodnight, and by the end of the week she had discovered that his upper cheek and forehead were still smooth.

Quote 2:  Checking out Lincoln's new friends.

Corinne:  "I don't like snails Mom, but they just have the cutest little eyes ever!"

She won't touch them, but makes Lincoln take them out of their home so she can get a closer look.

Quote 3:  While playing with his new friends.

Lincoln:  "Look Mom!  This snail really loves you too.  He made a trail of slime into a M for you!  I just told him what to do and then drove him into an M shape."  Holds up what is left of a snail.

Sure enough there was a M made of slime on the table.  I made a mental note to thoroughly bleach the table before we start eating outside again.

Quote 4:  While I was searching for charcol at Walmart, we approached the outdoors section.

Corinne:  Sniff, sniff with a crinkled nose.  "Hey it smells like Lowes!"

Grandpa Jinks will be proud that his grandaughter knows the smell of Lowes.