:. Sunday at the park .:

[I want to start this post by saying, "Emily, how in the WORLD do you find time to write not one, but two blogs, OR do anything else?!?" Your boys are the best in the whole wide world . . . but MY GOODNESS, they're BUSY!!!! Kudos to you, my daughter!]
Okay . . . . we had a PERFECT day yesterday! After taking refreshingly long naps, the boys donned their awesome pro soccer uniforms, and we headed to Ames to watch Uncle Chris. The sky was blue, it was warm with a lovely breeze, and the Ragamuffins did a fabulous job!
Of course, after watching the big boys play, the little boys wanted their chance, so during half-time, Uncle Chris gave them a chance to mix it up on the field.



All that soccer makes a guy tired . . .

(No, the Ragamuffins didn't win, but as Uncle Chris said, "We had heart!")

After a quick shower for Chris, we headed to El Cazador for rice and beans!

Then, since it was "way past our bedtime", we headed for home.

And as I'm tucking the boys in, Gavin said a good night prayer:

"Thank you, Jesus, for mommy and daddy and their trip to Massachusetts and thank you for Gavin and Liam at grandma's house."

Amen.

:. and there was evening, and there was morning, the first day .:

Aaaaahh, this is what I've been waiting for!

Just look at those beautiful, happy faces as they arrive at Grandma's house!

Even Lambie looks happy!

So far, so good! Everyone is having fun, and the Thomas the Train pillowcases are a HIT. Here Liam gives his a trial run. (Looks kinda painful.)

You just hope a good night's sleep will ensue.

Yeah, you'd HOPE so, and you'd be pretty wrong. Take two boys, excited to be at Grandma's, and sharing a DOUBLE bed for only the second time in their lives. What you get is Gavin gently and repeatedly 'pushing' Liam . . . causing Liam to cry . . . . causing grandma to finally have to go in and lay in between them. (HAVE to.)

Two talkative, happy, loving little boys on either side of you, crowding C.L.O.S.E. to see your face in a darkened room, feels something like this:

we did go to babies r us we don't throw lambie down the laundry shoot gavin fell on the driveway and hurt his knee he had to have a bandy your hair is short mommy and daddy are on a trip grandma grandma stop singing that's weird yum that sounds good to me we did go to babies r us we don't want to crunch on mr. liam thank you grandma for the clovis i do have a thomas the train pillow i am sleeping in the big bed i am spending the night at grandmas i cried on the skywalk the hand drier at church is loud gavin pushed me and i cried hhhmmm, it's roughy . . . .

and they kept that up for approximately 45 minutes. (oh, and FYI, that last thing is what liam said about my arm pits. dang.) And while all that was happening, Aunt Katie called to check on things, so of course both boys had to chat with their LoveAunt.

Intersperse that with liam gently kissing grandma, who was pretending to be asleep, and it made for a pretty delightful evening. Unfortunately, they didn't stop talking until about 10:30! (sorry, mommy!) Grandma was able to slip out of bed and enjoy a comfortable night's sleep, unencumbered by two sets of flailing limbs.

They woke up early . . . ate a good breakfast . . . had a good time in Sunday School . . . and now they are both sleeping peacefully! Wake-up time is at 3pm, cuz we're heading to Ames to watch Uncle Chris score some goals for the Ragamuffins!

:. let the games begin! .:

Well, here we go! Starting tonight, just after dinner, the LoveJoys are spending the week at my house! (Give or take a night or two. Aunt Katie and Uncle Chris have also requested the pleasure of their company.)

I'm going over my check-list one last time:

√ make Thomas the Train pillow cases

√ make Thomas the Train t-shirts

√ buy new Hot Wheels for the collection

√ find a replacement for One-Eared Bunny

√ buy new books

√ stock up on Rice Chex

√ prepare to enjoy my boys!

I promised Emily I would try to keep a blog diary of her boys. I know mommy and daddy are going to miss them terribly! So be forewarned, gentle readers, you may find my posts for the next week to be even more boring than usual. But it's my blog, and I can write whatever I please!

:. bear with me .:

I didn't think the pics in my last post could be outdone, but I was wrong. Just look at Mr. Gavin! I took these today during his "Special Day With Grandma" . . . mmmmm . . . . how I love him!

and here's a very artsy shot taken by none other than Liam. I especially like the way the sun is lighting up Lambie, and how it contrasts so starkly with Liam's finger over the bottom of the lens. Good job, little guy. I'm sure Uncle Chris will be proud!

:. no words needed .: