Trips & Messes

Sunday morning Paul left for Washington DC; the lucky guy is staying at the Ritz Carlton!! (your tax dollars at work, by the way) So far, he seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit. He told me that his room even has marble floors! That combined with the fact that there are no children, he isn't paying the A/C bill so can keep it as cold as he likes and he goes out every evening after his classes mean that he is pretty much on vacation.

Back at the home base, things are not quite so exciting. The boys seem to sense the difference when Daddy is gone and Caleb has started sneaking into bed with me earlier and earlier each night. Both boys seem to be pushing just a little more to see what they can get away with. If it wasn't for Heather helping me out, I would be having a much harder time. Handling all the discipline, all the entertainment, all the "I need. . . " is wiping me out! Thank goodness Heather is here but she leaves tomorrow to go to her mom's. I know her other family can't wait to see her but I am going to miss her (and not just b/c she is so much help, also b/c she is an "awesomely awesome" young lady!)

My friend Kristi let her 3 year old son, Ethan, paint a mural for his room. He did a great job, it's really colorful. I have been hesitant to let the kids paint b/c it is so messy, but after hearing about how much fun Ethan had, I decided I needed to let the boys explore their creative sides. So, Sunday afternoon we bought some watercolors and I let the boys paint. Surprisingly, it wasn't that messy and they really enjoyed it. Zachary did have to have a taste or two of the paint to make sure it wasn't food, but I did have him in his high chair so I can't blame him for wondering! A few weeks ago, my friend Kamie came over with her 2 kids and we let the kids decorate cookies. That was a huge mess but all the kids had a great time. The kids decorated sugar cookies that I made, but Heather made us some delicious chocolate chip cookies that day too. She is getting so grown up, it doesn't seem right that she should be able to make things from scratch all her own.

Today, my friend Kamie and her family let us crash their family reunion in Galveston. I brought the camera, but left it in the car, so I don't have any pictures. :( We all had a great time, we really love the beach! Heather and Caleb caught quite a few hermit crabs.

Caleb starting to paint, he was so excited!

Heather playing a video game while the boys painted

Zachary painting (yep, his mouth is a little blue b/c he tasted the paint -- thankfully, it was non-toxic. He tasted his paint while I was helping Caleb, guess he knew he couldn't do it while Mommy was looking)