Aaron's first tooth fairy visit

Aaron lost his first tooth over 4^th of July weekend at the lake house.  The tooth fairy managed to find him – thank goodness!  Last night he lost the other bottom tooth.  When I looked back Aidan lost his first tooth May of last year.  Funny because they both got teeth so early (4 months) yet they lost them more than a year apart. 

Summer

We are having a great summer so far, but I managed to pack it full – IMAGINE THAT!!! Today is the last day of the two week Safety Town program at the fire station. They have a graduation this evening and they get to show off what they learned. They attended the day camp last week at the Falls of the Ohio. The most exciting part they told me about was seeing the homeless man. Money well spent – ha! They learned that it not safe to go to the Falls after dark. They said people get killed there, do drugs and there are even people who take little kids. The older gentleman that taught the class was quite a hoot! Anyhow one evening as Adam was leaving for work Aaron told him to go straight to work – “don’t go to the Falls of the Ohio dad, its really dangerous at night there.” You gotta love how seriously they take everything! 
This weekend is flag football signups and they will have football camp in a few weeks. Poor Carter is still a little young for all the camps and sports, so he has just been hanging out with dad or Michelle while they boys do all the cool summer camps. We have really noticed how grown up he is getting recently. I OBJECT – stop it now Carter William Lord! I always tell him I wish I could just freeze him. As long as those oh so kissable cheeks stay!

Surprise Vacation

I had all intentions of not working so much this summer, but things never seem to go as planned. One of my clients very graciously gave us a week of her time share to use. We were limited to the time we could go with school starting in mid August and Adam’s vacation schedule. I left it up to Adam to plan the vacation. We just took a vacation to FL over spring break, and we just bought the camper, so I was (our budget ;-) was not really planning on another vacation. So I figured a nice beach vacation where we could just hang out and take it easy. Yes, you heard ME correctly, RELAX. Something I’m not very good at doing. Anyhow – back to that things not going on planned. Leaving it up to Adam resulted in a much more extravagant vacation. It’s a surprise for the kids and since they can read now – I’ll just say – It’s the most magical place on earth ;-).

A funny story. They boys know we are going on vacation, and we told them because it was planned a little last minute we would need to save money for vacation. This might mean not doing as many activities this summer or getting extra goodies when we go out. So not a day after this conversation we were at the balloon glow and Aidan begged for a light up sword. Aaron turned to him and said “Aidan, we do not have money to be buying that kind of stuff.” Guess Aaron got the point and I think everyone around us prob felt sorry for us – ha!

Here we are .... again

What can I say about my blogging history... we have spent our time making memories and have not saved any time to blog.  The school year is over now - where does time go?  Just a few memorable things I don't want to forget about this year.  Luckily I am pretty good about photos, so at least we get pictures of where the year has gone.  I finally got around to actually emptying my camera chip – 600+ photos!!! 

Click 'older posts' at the bottom to keep reading.  

Holiday World with Nonnie 2011

Every year my mom takes the boys to Holiday World.  They really look forward to the trip all year long.  The best story this year was when Carter thought he was lost at the water park.  My mom could see him, but he thought he was lost.  He went up to the lifeguard and said "where are my boys".  He calls Aidan and Aaron his boys or his "bubs".  When my mom saw him talking to the lifeguard she walked over and he scolded her.  He said "Nonnie, you lost me, thats dangerous Nonnie." 


Here is an email I got from my mom on the rest of the trip.
Carter

He didn’t miss a beat. He was sooooo good and so happy. I don’t think he ever stopped smiling. I wish I had taken my camera for a picture of him on the roller coaster.

He did reprimand me for losing him.

He was riding in the wagon and the other kids tried to get in and we told them no. They said it wasn’t fair and we told them he was a baby. He looked at me and said I’m not a baby and started to bail out. Trish told him to stay put because he had the money pouch on and we needed him in the wagon because of that. It worked.

Trish loved him.

Aaron

He slept with me in one of the two beds in the bedroom. He was rubbing my arm while we were going to sleep and he told me I had hairy arms. I thanked him and he told me they were like boy arms.

Then he told me my hair was sticking up. (It WAS pretty wild because I washed it and didn’t do anything else) He told me I needed to put some glue in it and glue it to my head. He thought that would look better.

Sunday we left the park about 3 and went and checked into the hotel. They swam in the pool and hot tub for a while and then A & A wanted to go back to the park, but Trish’s kids didn’t. So I took the boys back. I was chewing a piece of Nicorette and Aaron said he wanted a piece of gum. I explained that I wasn’t smoking and it was kind of like medicine. They both told me they were proud of me. (That cracked me up) Then they asked what the medicine does. I explained that it helps me to not be grumpy because I’m not smoking. Well, Monday morning on the way into the park I was telling them the rules and Aaron promptly asked, “Nonnie, have you had a piece of your gum yet this morning?” 

Aidan

He is definitely the leader of the pack. He kept track of how many times he and Aaron sat with, sat next to and rode with Brendan and let me know when things were “not fair”.

On the way home we told them to go around and say what their favorite thing was at Holiday World. Brendan said the big water slide. Presley said the wave pool. Carter was sound asleep. Aaron said the diving show and Aidan said “making two new friends”.

A few funny ones from the past few months

Things and saying I don't want to forget

Aidan: 

The boys call breasts 'bras'.  Just kinda cute - never really found it worthwhile to go into a full explanation.  The other night we were eating fried chicken.  I asked Aidan what kind of piece he wanted.  He said "I want one of those chicken bras". 

Aaron:

When we were out to dinner the other night a white man and a Hispanic woman walked in the restaurant together.  Aaron says look that peach man is married to that brown lady.

Carter: 

I want to watch the Pink Kitty (aka Pink Panther)

Aidan:

I went to eat lunch with the boys yesterday.  Aidan must have forgot I was coming.  He got the biggest grin on his face and ran over and gave me a big hug.  I know some day it will not be so cool for mom to come eat with you. 

Carter: 

Rainbrella aka Umbrella

Aidan: 

Last night Aidan wanted a treat cause Aaron had one.  I asked him if Aaron jumped off a bridge would he??  He replied 'yes - to save him'.

Carter:

I just signed Carter up for 3-year-old Tball at the YMCA.  It starts in May.  He was so sad he did not get to play with the boys.  He did the pouty lip thing... so so sad. 

It just melts my heart thinking about him out on that field with his little glove.

Carter: 

Last night he was singing 'Take me out to the ball game'.  He sang "buy me some peanuts and APPLE jacks".  Haha

Aaron:  

Mom... A boy in my class grabbed another boy’s wiener today and got in big trouble.

Mom:  Oh, really???

Aaron:  Mom.... what’s a wiener?

Aaron:  Mom a kid in my class told me there was a finger that meant a bad word.

Mom:  ...well, lets just say I spent a long time explaining that one.

Aidan:

It is teacher appreciation week and they boys took in flowers.  Here is a text from Adam as he was getting them on the bus. "Oh Aidan with his listening skills. I handed them the flowers and said you need to be very careful and hold these. Turn the corner to go out the garage and he is stuffing them in his backpack. Took a few petals off one. I said Aidan I told you to hold them so you wouldn't mess them up and he said it was an accident and accidents do happen."

Reading

Each night we lay in bed with Aidan and Aaron and they get to read to us.  Aaron always brings home his reading counts book.  Aaron's teacher spent the first 1/2 of the year focusing on the letters, their sounds and the 'special' word rules.  Aaron reads every word of a book - he will not move on until he knows the word.  This makes for a lot of questions, but it is a patients exercise for mom and dad ;-).

Aidan's style is totally different.  He gets big chapter books regardless of the level.  If he does not know the word he just keeps going.  I was worried he did not understand the content, but he can tell you exactly what happened even if he does not know all the words. 

Listening to the two of them read one after another makes it very difficult not to compare.  We try so very hard not to compare.  We don't dress them alike, it makes me mad when people as who was the first-born, or who is bigger....  I don't even like to refer to them as twins - they are two very different little boys.  But Aaron was starting to notice that Aidan was reading a little better than him.  It is my job as a mom to keep their confidence level up so I talked to Aaron's teacher about his reading progress.  Come to find out Aaron is one of the highest-level readers in his class and he is reading at a first grade level.  Soooo... Aaron is doing super, he just happens to live with another very smart guy.

We were very honored when Aidan's teacher asked him to read at Camp Kindergarten, which is a pre-registration for next years Kindergarten.  Only six kids were asked to read, and we are so very proud of Aidan's hard work.  Like I said he does not turn down a hard book – he is one awesome reader!

Dozer

This is going to be a hard one - but I don't ever want to forget this guy.  The day after Christmas we had to say goodbye to our Dozer.  Dozer was my very first dog.  He is the only dog I was with from the start of his life to the finish.  We had a dog growing up, but she passes away while I was away to college. I got Dozer just before Adam and I started dating.  He kind of taught me that motherly love.  I remember once just after I got him, I saw fire trucks at my apartment.  I about had a heart attack thinking something might have happened to him.  Dozer went everywhere with me.  I even used to let him sleep in the bed.  Well time when by and we had kids.  The dogs kind of got moved down the totem pole.  It’s so funny because Dozer drove me crazy.  The stink, the drool, always under foot, but when it came time to say goodbye none of that mattered.

He got very sick just before Christmas.  He was almost 10 and bulldogs have a life span of 8-10 years.  We did as much as we could with our vet, but decided not to pursue treatment beyond that. The vet put him on antibiotics and an appetite stimulant.  The day I thought I would see that big fat man on an appetite stimulant - well it makes for a good laugh in light of the situation.  We brought him home for Christmas.  That stubborn dog held on for so long, but the day after Christmas he was suffering so much that we took him to the emergency vet to have him put to sleep.  All there is to say is that it was the hardest thing ever.

One thing I want to remember is Aaron's poise.  We all got to say our goodbyes, but the boys did not totally understand.  When it was Aaron turn he stood up with tears in his eyes and pulled a tissue out of his pocket, dabbed his eyes and then turned around so no one could see his tears.  That child has such a heart and so much empathy and the way he handled that was so grown up.  Over the next few days Carter told everyone 'My Bulldog dead" - at least he gave us a laugh.

Well I am finally able to write about this now because we are so excited to welcome our next furry friend this weekend "Digger".  We had to continue on with the big machine names.  As much as I wanted another bulldog (and we will have one again) we decided a lab would be able to keep up with our family better.  We have been waiting for him for three weeks now and we are just beyond excited.  About a month ago I heard Aidan in bed crying.  When I went in he was missing Dozer.  Dozer is irreplaceable, but we hope Digger will bring a little spirit into our already very energetic home. 

Cleaning my house

I used to be a little OCD about my house.  I had nice labeled bins for everything.  The bins even had pictures so the boys would know where to find things.  Well three boys later, you must let go of some things.  And a spotless house is first on the list.  The majority of the toys are in the basement and I can go about a week and then the thought of the mess drives me crazy so I head down to the jungle.  Every time I do, I find myself smiling at each corner.  Some of the things that make me laugh.  The matchbox cars lined perfectly around the inner rim of the pool table.  The stuffed animals in various places when they play zoo.  They are constantly packing bags with Nerf guns and spy gear.  They make sure to put something in every last pocket.  Is like a never ending unpacking game.  The love to put their tool belts on and load them up with guns, walkie-talkies, swords, handcuffs... such boys!  They still play with their dress up stuff, but not as often as they did last year.  Santa still brought some cool new costumes this year that have gotten some good use.

Its so funny how we adapt to life.  Growing up with two sisters and myself I could not have imagined a house full of army guys, Nerf guns, power rangers.  But here we are.  Sometime I miss the girly toys - the baby dolls, and Barbie’s.  I did take all the boys to build-a-bear for a special date night over Christmas.  I actually let them get a few outfits for their bears - which were a small fortune.  But that's the closest thing I will get to girly toys.

And yes for the record book I did say my boys would never play with guns and swords.  But with boys it’s inevitable.  They started turning their tools into guns.  They are boys... we are embarrassing it!!! 

Aidan and Aaron's 6th Birthday

After lots of discussion, Puzzles, SIGS, Movie and the party list goes on... they decided to have a joint bowling birthday party.  A co-worker recommended Rose Bowl just off Bardstown Rd.  It was a non-smoking facility with reasonable prices and it was a laid back atmosphere.  With the boys being in two different classes now it made the guest list a little more complicated.  I would have loved to let them invite their whole class so they did not have to pick and choose, but that would have just been too many kids.  So they invited their karate fiends, Cole and Luke (longtime preschool friends) and they each got to invite 5 kindergarten friends.  Wow was that tough.  I thought keeping it an all boy party would make the guest list simpler.  Poor Aaron just loves some of the little girls in his class so this was a little harder for him.  But it all worked out and we had one wild and crazy party with 15 boys in all.

What do you get with 15, 6-year-old boys?!?!  Lots of energy, noise, excitement and even a few injuries.  We had a busted lip from a bowling ball bouncing up... I know, figure that one out.  And one set of smashed fingers.  But we sent everyone home alive and well sugared up! 

The party package included a real bowling pin for all the guest to sign - very cool!  The boys got a ton, I mean a ton of Nerf stuff.  It was like a dream come true for them.  I could not walk a step or sit down on the couch without sitting/stepping on a Nerf bullet.  I would sit down on the couch after I though I had them all picked up and one would be stick to a picture.

Potty training

Well there is not much to write about this one, because it pretty much came and went.  Aidan and Aaron both trained pretty easily.  I was all ready at 2 1/2 and Dr. Harper, who I trust 100% said I was rushing it.  He is so laid back about things, he said it would happen when they are ready.  He was so right.  Aaron trained himself, on vacation non-the less, and Aidan was quick to follow.

With this in mind I had not really gave much thought to Carter' training.  He used the potty alot on his own because he wants to be just like his big brothers.  He had been pooping in the potty for a good 6 months before he turned three.  I can hardly remember changing a poopy diaper last summer.  Shortly after he started preschool at St. Paul the teachers said we did not need to send him in pull us because he was staying dry, even during nap.  I was telling this to Adam, thinking I would want more around his 3rd birthday.  Well Adam must have missed this part of the conversation (surprise, surprise).  The next day Adam called me after he picked Carter up and said he kept his underwear dry all day.  Say what?!?!?  He went to school in undies and I did not even know about it... tear ;-(.  Well so the story goes and we never looked back.  He has only ever had one accident and it was at school - poor guy.  He wanted nothing to do with pull-ups after he got those cool undies so he did not even wear them at night. 

Hush, hush about this one, but I would have kept him in diapers until he went to Kindergarten ;-).  Each milestone means the last baby is growing up.  I have really hung on to everything with Carter.  Remember we did not give the passie up until 2. 

Carter's 3rd bday

We take full advantage of the time of year Carter's birthday falls.  I have a November birthday and Aidan and Aaron in December.  Nice weather creates so many more cool birthday party locations.  This year we decided to take advantage of our local parks.  I gave Carter a choice and with the help of the boys he chose Speed Park in Sellersburg.  Carter's birthday fell on a Sunday... bonus!  He wanted a Scooby Doo birthday.

We had beautiful weather for the party.  Our guests were the Loses, the Blanton neighbors, and Carter's old sitter Amanda and her family.  It was low key... and everyone had so much fun.  We played pin the tail on the donkey, we had sack races and had pizza, cake and ice cream.  Carter got lots of boy toys. Spider man and Scooby Doo toys... all of his favorites next to Power Rangers.

Birthday boy and Aidan... and Scooby Doo

Game time

Mom and dad face off!

Good night birthday boy

Good morning birthday boy

Awards

We just got back from the boys end of the year awards ceremony.  I am so proud to say, both boys received three (out of four award categories) each.  They received attendance awards. They both got fitness awards.  I was holding my breath on that one...cannot be the Jazzercise mom and not have the boys get that award ;-).  And lastly they both received reading awards.  Aaron actually got top reader in his class and his name was recognized in the newsletter.

The only one they did not get was a citizenship award.  Not sure what happened there?!?!?!?  Guess we have to leave some room for improvement ;-).  Adam and I are convinced they just inadvertently left them off the list - ha! 

We are so proud of these guys!!!

Reading

The boys have been choosing reading over watching TV every night for the past week.  We bought them headlamps for camping and they have been using them to read in bed.  Aidan helps Aaron with the words he does not know.  Last week Aidan finished his first chapter book - Star Wars.  He was so excited when he finished.  He came out of room.  "YES, YES... OH MAN MOM, I JUST FINISHED THIS WHOLE BOOK!!!"  He was very, very proud.  Their reading styles are so different.  Aaron's teacher spent more time the first part of the year going over the letter sounds and some of the English rules.  He tends to get hung up on words trying to say them they way they sound.  He tries so hard and will not move on until he knows what the word is.  Aidan on the other hand has a totally different style.  They were just given journal and books and encouraged to read and write.  Aidan's reading blows me away.  He on the other hand has no problem skipping over a word he does not know.  We were at Pizza Hut yesterday and he said OH, YUM!!!  We had no clue what he was talking about until he read out loud from a sign.  "Ultimate stuffed crust pizza."  They are both such smart boys and I love their individuality even shows in their learning style.

Boys, Boys, Boys!!!

We took the boys to Target Sunday and they each got something. Aidan picked the Kids Bop 19 CD, Aaron the Rhianna CD and Carter the Spider Man movie. I was making dinner Monday night and I hear Carter jump off the couch with a great big thud. He had his spider man costume on. He yelled "Mommy, I no fly... I no have wings... I need wings mommy." Poor kid honestly thought he would be able to fly. Adam said "good thing he did not try that off the deck."



A few days before that I was getting ready for Jazzercise and I hear the boys yelling "bottoms up" - to the tune of that song Bottoms Up. I walk out to find Aaron bent over, hand on ground and bottom in air. Aidan was shooting Nerf bullets at his butt. They were taking turns shooting each other. Boys, boys, boys.