t, lee, and babies g: 2018, Week 17 (April 22-28)

Sunday, April 22

The way Jack looks up to Luca, watching and copying every single thing he does kills me!

We ran a few errands this morning, one of which was to Lowe's so we of course, made a stop to sit on some tractors.

Eating lunch outside because it was so nice. Luca looks so big to me in these.

Lee is pretty obsessed with having a fire, so he had one this afternoon. I put the boys down for naps and joined him beside it. I have to admit that I don't enjoy the smell or the smoke blowing in my face, but I do really enjoy sitting beside Lee, usually hand in hand, just talking. No distractions, just focused, intentional conversations.

I took Luca to a birthday party this evening. He had so much fun and by the time we got home, he was completely exhausted.

Lee and Jack hit up Banana Republic while Luca and I went to the party. They got done a few minutes before we did.

Monday, April 23

When Momma has to go potty...

Jack is obsessed with Luca. If Luca is in the bathroom, usually Jack will go and sit outside the door until he is done. This day, he sat there and waited because he found Luca's sweatshirt and just had to give it to him.

This morning ended up being kind of hard. Lee and I both believe this to be a year of breakthrough for our family, in many areas but in particular, in our finances. Ever since we have declared it and are working towards it, we seem to keep finding out about unexpected large bills we didn't know we had. This day, it was almost comical because I learned of three different bills we owed. I will be honest, I felt a little frustrated about it. I know God is good, I know His promise still stands and while it looks like the opposite of financial freedom is happening I know we aren't moving in the wrong direction. However, it was still hard to hear and while I should have laughed about it (because the timing and the way this keeps happening is truly funny! It is so obvious!) instead I felt a bit sad and frustrated.

This morning, I had slept through my alarms (both!) and missed my devotional time. I know that is why I was feeling a bit more tearful than usual in regards to the news I received. So I used my down time during naps to read my devotional and watch a sermon. In order to keep my eyes on Jesus, and stay afloat, not allowing the storm winds to knock me down or cause me to fear, I had to intentionally seek Him. To help me remember where my focus needs to remain, but also to bring my heart the peace it needed.

My sister, Sarah, wrote about it so much better than I ever could here. I read her post over the weekend and kept thinking back to it all day this day as I tried to remember to keep looking to Jesus. I am so thankful for her wisdom and insight, and how she bravely wrote it down because the words she wrote helped me get through the storm winds this day.

This afternoon, I let the boys watch a movie. Jack was pretty into it for a good chunk of time.

That smile!

They both look so determined! Luca got this little toy that I could not figure out how to put together in his goody bag, so when Daddy got home he figured it out. Son of an engineer, thank the Lord!

Tuesday, April 24

Work day for me, Pops day for the boys.

It's really a shame they don't have any fun with their Pops.

After dinner this night we were in the middle of cleaning up and Luca asked if I wanted to go out and play. It was raining out and there was a massive puddle in our yard. I immediately jumped at the chance to play in the rain with my boy! He was wearing his undies only (hence the rain cloud). We had the most fun, getting all dirty and wet, laughing and making memories. I will always stop what I am doing to go dance around in the rain with my boys.

Jack wanted to join in on the fun- but only in Momma's arms.

After we got back inside, Luca asked to do a silly faces photoshoot.

After the boys went to bed, we tried on some things that had arrived in the mail earlier this day.

Wednesday, April 25

After we dropped Luca at school, Jack and I went up to the chiropractor.

After the chiropractor, we hung out at home before going to get Luca from school.

We walked up to the park after rest time. This day was not as windy and Jack was super into climbing/trying to get away from Momma. Luca is getting so much stronger, and more brave, and loves climbing/balancing/doing ninja moves up the playscape.

Jack was really obsessed with that faux gas can this day. He carried it around everywhere, clearly.

He was and still is obsessed with wearing sunglasses like this. He puts them up on his forehead and walks around laughing and waving at you, thinking he is the coolest.

He was also obsessed with that book, he had my dad read it approximately 47364375 times the day before, and again wanted me to read it to him over and over again this day.

I'm obsessed with him and his personality.

Thursday, April 26

Luca was proud of himself this day because he put all of his clothes on, shoes, zipped his jacket, and his backpack all by himself and "very fast."

He went to go get something and High Tide got stuck in his backpack which made us all laugh.

Momma is just trying to go potty...with her audience. Every.single.time.

Work visitor!

The sunglasses again, but this time pushing his ear down and that smooshy ear kills me.

Grilling in the rain, our MVP.

Friday, April 27

This day was one of my very favorites. We stayed home and played hard all day long. I love those kind of days. Where I forget about my to do list, errands, etc. and just get to fully emerge myself in play with the boys.

When Lee went to leave for work, he opened the door to this. Luca slept in super late this day and Lee was so bummed he couldn't see Luca's reaction to it.

Jack sat watching the neighbor's landscaper mow their lawn while I made breakfast.

When Luca finally woke up, he was so excited to see the frog. He was so giddy with excitement and disbelief.

At breakfast, somehow these utensils made their way out of the drawer and both boys played with them for so long. Jack started copying Luca's bulldozer noise and he would make it as he pushed them around his tray. (With that face, which is the cutest ever.)

After breakfast we went back out to check on the frog. It was still there! Luca spoke so kindly to it. He asked "Can you ribbit? Can you ribbit for me? Can you jump? Can you jump from here to there? Are you just resting?" It was so sweet. Jack, however, was not into the frog and liked watching it from far back behind Momma's legs.

Jack and I caught Luca's colds so we were both feeling kinda crummy this day. We watched some Blippi before his am nap because he was just really out of sorts/clearly didn't feel well.

Luca was reading his library books while we watched/watched with us.

During Jack's am nap (which lasted 3 hours!) Luca and I had the most fun playing.

First, thanks to a Blippi episode, we were inspired to do a sink/float experiment. Luca went around and grabbed a bunch of different toys/objects from around the house and yard and made predictions for which items would sink and which would float. Then we tested it out. We both had so much fun!

After that, we came in and built a fort and read books inside it.

After that, I needed to rest a bit so I sat in the chair and Luca played/acted out scenes from Earth of various animals while I watched. He is really into doing this and having an audience watch. He also narrates as he is re-enacting (in an accent like the narrator in the documentaries) spewing facts and describing what he is doing. He also usually likes to play the soundtrack songs while he does this, but this day he skipped the music and just re-enacted and narrated.

After that, he joined me in the chair and practiced writing his letters and numbers.

Jack finally woke up just in time for lunch. His sleep curls kill me.

After lunch, we played in the fort together.

Super into the hug...

...and then over it.

Luca is really into making silly faces now, which is new.

After we played in the fort, the boys destroyed the fort. We played with the sheet like we played parachute in gym class growing up. I tried to remember all the different things we did with it (go around in a circle, shake it along the floor, go under it, etc.) in gym class but couldn't quite recall it all. Luca had the best time, he kept announcing "this is the best game ever!" And I tell you what, my arms got tired when we were done, it was a good workout too! We also formed a band and played some music together and then played doctor. Luca always likes to tell me when we play doctor that he has a "broken heart" as one of his (many) symptoms.

Then the boys went down for naps where Jack slept for another two hours! Lee got home as Jack was waking up and we did dinner/played some more. I was wondering at bedtime if Jack would go to sleep since he napped for so long that day but he did. He went right to sleep. Sweet boy needed extra sleep apparently. He typically takes two naps a day, and when he doesn't you can tell. He is so active when he is awake, he needs his naps. If he doesn't get a nap at all, he becomes so overtired and feisty and super grumpy.

I posted those photos on instagram. Lee's mom sent him a bunch of things, some of which were his old yearbooks from high school. I have mine somewhere, but no idea where and I don't recall the last time I looked through them. But that soccer photo! Eek. How was Lee so cool in high school, they are supposed to be awkward years?! Clearly, they were for me. He really must have seen me for my inner beauty back then.

Saturday, April 28

Saturday morning soccer. And Jack is still obsessed with those utensils. He carried them everywhere for 24-48 hours.

Every week at soccer there is a designated time for each child to go score a goal. But today, during the scrimmage they play at the end Luca went after the ball. He did so well! And he scored his first goal while playing! We were so proud, I literally could have run laps. I yelled so much (yep, I'm that mom!) which is funny since they're 3-5 years old but I couldn't help myself. It is just so incredible to watch your kids grow and improve in things.

After soccer, I worked for most of the afternoon but did have two cute visitors come see me.

We decided not to go to church this weekend because both boys (Jack especially) still had a nasty cold. So we ended up grilling for dinner and playing out back. Both boys were really into playing basketball this day.