August

So here we are again. Another month has passed. I blogged about J's birthday in a separate post so here is the rest of August. And can I just say that as I was uploading these I realized that they are all phone pictures.  I love my camera dearly but it is just so easy to grab my phone... oops!

 We did some rearranging to give us our room back, give the boys a play room, and get them into bunk beds.

They love their bunk beds.

 G loves his playmobil guys. He especially loves them when they have a party on the ship.

 Wrestling with Grandaddy. Matt's parents recently moved to Charleston and we miss them dearly. 

Can't wait to visit them soon!

 Oh you know... just building trains in the playroom.

 Sometimes G is the sweetest big brother. Much of the time really...

He insisted on pushing J here and he was so careful and kept reminding him to hold on tight.

Melt me.

 How do you think they feel about pirates?

 There was this glorious day when the heat and humidity broke and I had this great idea - go to the zoo and see the new sea lion exhibit! Too bad every single other person here had the same idea...

We didn't get to walk through the new underground tunnel, but the boys were still thrilled. 

 And they were best buddies. And the weather was nice.

 And we got to see the zebras (G's favorite animal these days...)

 It really was an awesome day at the zoo for us!

 Our friends had this super cute lemonade stand as an "end of summer" sort of party.

I can't believe I didn't get a picture because it was so adorable!

Everyone was super cute and G for real fell in love with the whole lemonade stand thing.

 J fell deeply deeply in love with ring pops.

 We spent the morning with some friends at a park and these two had so much fun!

They were running races in their own "olympics." And climbing trees, so cute. 

 Just more dress up. This is pretty much all day every day...

 After going to a lemonade stand, G would not stop talking about having one at our house. Every time we went to the store he would beg for some pink lemonade for a stand. Matt was working with the neighbors in the front of the house and so I let G take lemonade out. He was so stinking cute with it! He offered it to everyone within ear shot at least 5 times. More than anything, he loved seeing people ask for a drink. Oh, and he had like 5 cups...

 J's daily outfit. He wears all three hats because the black pirate one is a little big and falls off. So the others help keep it on.

 We need to get this little G-ism documented. He is really funny about his hands and toys. We've always known he had some tactile issues but nothing that makes living every day life difficult. 

So he is quite the little hoarder with his special toys. And I noticed that he really only holds his toys with his right hand. He never eats or does anything that would get his right hand dirty or sticky either. In fact he'll ask for a wipe or go wash his hands if his right one is even clammy. He calls it his "toy hand" because it's bigger and better at holding more toys. He doesn't like his special toys to be on the carpet or on his bed or even the couch because they get lint on them. WHAAAHHH? Yes, we know it's absurd. Yes, we know it's super type-A of him. 

I just sort of made it my quiet little goal to get his right hand dirty now and then and also to drop his toys on the carpet.  You know... just to keep him from getting TOO controlling about it. Ha!

 Who knew that J liked crafts? Who knew he could manipulate stickers so well?

This bought me like 30 whole minutes of time in the kitchen without him under my feet. Win!

 First day of school! The boys are technically in just a mom's day out (called Peeps) at a church near us. G went there last year and loved it. So this year J joined him. G is in their 3K equivalent and J is just in a 2's room.

I love that they learn bible verses, play outside, do messy crafts, meet friends, hear bible stories, walk in lines, sing songs, and get some time away from me as their only teacher in life. Plus, I get a few hours to grocery shop or window shop at the mall in quiet!

 Graham was so excited as he was telling Jackson all about what Peeps would be like.

He always asks for us to drop J off first so he can walk him to his class. Brother love!

 I found this little magnet toy in the dollar section at Michaels. Man, who knew G would love drawing silly beards on him so much?!

 Someone dressed himself. And I found him standing like this checking out his reflection in the fridge.

He asked me if I thought he looked fierce. True story.

 A little DQ run one evening. Who knew these little treats would make them so happy?!

 Hat hoarder.

 Oh Jackson...

 We seriously went to Target like this. They got so many smiles.

 J eating his lentils. Crazy kid.

 Second day of school. Still liking it!

 G briefly went through several days as a superhero.

Don't worry - he's back to pirates.

 Lovey hat.

Walking into Chick fil A. It was raining so the goggles had to be worn.

You know, to keep the water out of his eyes. He wore them the entire meal and time in the playground.

Matt can't believe I let him do stuff like this sometimes...

(and remember his toy hand? check out which one is in his pocket...)