Fixin' to Go to Texas

Just a few more shots of my boys :)

Figured I'd better start working on my accent so I fit in when I'm there :) Better stop saying "soda" and start calling it "coke" and I need to brush up on the "ya'lls"

"Are ya'll fixin' to head down to the corner store for some cokes?" Man, after living up here for 6 years, I really notice the accents when we go back. At the doctor's office last Weds for Ty's 5 year well-checkup. Dr. Wilfhart asked Ty if he drank any pops. Ty looked at me confused as to what "pops" were. So I said "sodas" so he would understand. Dr. Wlfhart then asked me if I was from around here. No, but I have at least stopped calling all soda pop, "cokes" so I'm making progress. Don't know if I'll ever call it a pop though.

Boys are loving the bunk beds. They have been in there playing since we got home. I've overheard them pretending it was a boat and around 6:30 Ty comes out of the bathroom, dressed in his pj's, teeth brushed and ready for bed. It's been a crazy day, but its ending well.

Getting ready for the wedding

Joel and I bought the boys some suits. They'll be wearing a checkered shirt for the wedding, but the whole suit was the cost of a pair of black pants so we thought they could wear this outfit for Easter. They looked super cute. They were both so excited to try them on when we got home. I had to get some shots since they looked super cute. Unfortunately I was trying out a new (old) lens and it didn't turn out quite as good as I'd hoped so I made them all black and whites since they looked better that way. At any rate, I like them and that's all that matters. Deke is such a character in every shot I get of him, he's doing something crazy.
We leave for Texas in 4 days. I'm so excited and cannot wait for the warm weather down there. We got the boys bunk beds and Joel and Ty are busy trying to get that together tonight. Ty had his kindergarten roundup today. So hard to believe that he starts Kindergarten next year. He really can't wait for school and was telling us how he is ready now and wants to go there everyday.

New Floors

These show our new floors pretty well. Joel did such an awesome job with it. I'm still amazed at how great they turned out. In the bottom photos, Deke was playing with a bag. He enjoyed putting it over his head and then pretending to get us.

Brothers

How cute are these two? In the middle two, the were watching Daddy finish putting in the floor in the kitchen. The brad nailer kind of, sort of scared Deke, so Ty had his arms around him while they watched. I'm not really sure how scared Deke was of this or if he just overheard Joel telling me that David is scared of it, so he thought he should be too. At any rate, I love how Ty really looks out for his baby brother. It is so awesome to see these two develop their relationship. They're not always this loving as there are plenty of times when they fight with each other, but I have no doubt and have seen it in action that they will also stand up for each other. I've seen Deke get onto another kid that is trying to take something from Tyler and I've seen Ty do the same thing for Deacon.

35MM Camera

I have this really nice 35MM camera that I just started using again because my digital camera crapped out on me again. I love this camera even though it is really old school. Here are some of the photos that I got off of it. I know for those of you that are really into photography, these aren't that great, but I am having to re-learn a lot of what I used to know so I realize that they are over exposed. I still love these and I think I'll get better as I use it more. It sucks that you don't have the instant gratification of being able to see the shot you took, but oh well. One of these days, I may get a really nice digital camera. In the meantime, Heather took pity on my being digital cameraless and gave me one of her digital cameras that she doesn't use anymore.
We had our big winter blues party this past weekend and it was blast. There was only one sad note to the whole thing and that was that we also turned into a good-bye Bob party and I'm going to miss him a lot. He's moving to Colorado and while he is gone, he is not forgotten. He is going to be greatly missed around here.

Home Improvments

We finally had it with our dining room carpet. It had a big yellow spot from the Manny chewing up yellow food dye on it and then last weekend, orange paint ended up on it. We've wanted to replace the carpet for a while so the orange paint made the decision for us. Joel has been working so hard on it and its almost done. He finished grouting today and it should be completed tomorrow. The boys were anxious to help and fortunately Joel is an extremely patient man. I'll have pictures up soon of the finished project.

We're now working on the kitchen, so I'll post the pics when we are completely done. The dining room is now a mess due to the fact that we had to pull most things out of the kitchen. (Love how I use the word "we" when it should be "Joel"). The work has been non-stop and I'm amazed at how much he's done already and with zero help. I think I did maybe 30 minutes one day and I felt like an old woman when I got up. He's been putting 6-8 hours on it every day. Staying up to midnight or later and not complaining about it at all. He is truly an amazing man.

Sleepover

We allowed Ty to invite one of his friends over for a sleepover. He really wanted four boys to sleepover. Ethan and Cale from daycare and Connor and Jakob whom we've all seen on this blog in the past. He was very torn when we told him he had to chose one. Mom didnt' know if she could handle more than three boys. He ended up chosing Ethan because Connor and Jakob have been to his house before and Ethan never has was his reasoning. It went so well. Ethan was very well behaved and listend beautifully. Also very polite. Always said thank you and was really good with Deacon. I'll admit that was my big fear was that those two wouldn't want Deke to play with them, but that fear was misplaced. Ethan has a younger brother as well that is almost the same age as Deke and he was always really good with him. At one point in the evening, they all got dressed up. Ethan was batman as you can tell, Ty was superman and Deke was of course Scooby Doo.
Bedtime went way better than expected. Ty and Deke are sharing a room right now because they want to. Joel and I decided to let Deke sleep in the same room as Ethan and Tyler and see what happens. It went better than it does with just Ty and Deke. They were all three asleep before 8:30 and normally I consider it a good night if Deke goes to sleep before 9.
Hopefully, we can have Ethan over again.