Noah graded Elliot's workbook pages

The other day Elliot was doing pages in his workbook and Noah decided to grade it. He wrote on several pages the sweetest things. Here are a couple of my favorites.

That is wonderful

Awesome Job Elliot

Funny Faces

The value of a nap

We had a birthday party with Noah's friends today, which Mandy will probably talk about later when we have some pictures.  In all the rush, we forgot cameras, and got to enjoy just being in the moment.

It was an active party, held at a place that essentially consists of a bunch of indoor bounce houses.  Elliot was asleep before we got home, and it was clear Noah needed to go down too.  When they both woke up, it was almost like we had two different kids.  Kind, funny, helpful to each other and thankful for all we did for them.

It was another beautiful day.  The weather in Kansas City does occasionally have its redeeming moments, and we've had a stretch of them lately, with no end in sight.  There was a lot on tap this weekend - the Plaza Art Fair, the Waldo Fall Festival, and a number of other smaller gatherings.  We could have done nearly anything with this weather, but the boys wanted to go to a park.

Noah suggested a picnic for dinner, so Mandy went home and made dinner and brought it back to the park.  Noah thought this was one of the greatest ideas he'd ever had.  They were polite, thanked us, asked to be excused from the picnic table, and continued to play like best buds.

Tonight, Noah wrote thank you cards to all his friends, both kids bathed without complaint, and had a great time playing with each other as we moved the train table from Noah's room to Elliot's room in order to make room for Noah's hot wheels.

After bedtime stories, they wanted to sleep together in Elliot's bed.  We've tried it once before, and it lasted a few minutes.  A few fart jokes, some laughing, some bonked heads and some crying, and it was all over.  Tonight though, after telling them we'd let them if they were quiet after 10 minutes, we let them try again.  Not a peep was heard, and when we finally checked on them, they were sound asleep.

We'll have to treasure this day.  There have been few like it.

You're going to need those knees someday, son. 

Noah's usually one of the bigger kids on the playground...

All of Elliot's animals

A few days ago after we woke up Elliot from his nap, Noah brought up all of his stuffed animals and put them in his crib. Noah was so excited to do this thinking he would really like it. And Elliot LOVED it. They played together in there for quite awhile. Then when Noah left, Elliot still wanted to stay in there and keep playing. I think he played for about an hour before I finally brought him downstairs. Now all the animals are up there and after naps and in the morning Noah piles them all in there for E. He really thinks I need to just leave them in there all the time because he says they are soft and Elliot can sleep on them.

Movie night

Paul & the boys went for a bike ride tonight and Noah came in crying because he fell and got hurt. He wanted some lemonade and to watch Shrek. These things, he claims, makes it all better. It's Saturday night, so I thought what the heck. I got him bathed quickly and let him have movie night.

Elliot even got to stay up an extra half hour after his bedtime. He came down and begged for a piece of popcorn and loved it. He hasn't been eating much since he got sick Thursday, so we were just glad he was wanting something.

Movie nights are pretty fun. I can never believe Noah stays away for them after a full day, but he does. He passes out the second his head his the pillow though.

Summer Saturday

I forgot how much I love the weekends! From January-May, all my days pretty much ran together. I'm still getting used to Paul not working weekends and it's awesome. Saturday started out early, but I had a great day.

E is our early bird, up by 6am. Paul usually takes him out of the house on a walk, coffee run, etc to allow Noah to get some sleep. E is so loud he wakes him up early. After letting Noah stay up late playing outside until it was dark on Friday, he ended up sleeping in until 9:35! Woah! That would never happen with E in the house! But, instead of Paul taking him out, I decided to. We went on a long walk at Loose Park first. I love it early when it's peaceful and not crowded. He loves seeing the geese. After that we had breakfast at Starbucks. He loved sitting on the patio and standing up in his big boy chair pointing at all the dogs. I learned that there is only one thing more obnoxious than a yippy designer dog in a purse. That would be a yippy designer dog in a man purse being carried by a man. Elliot was amused though, so it made me laugh. After 'bucks we headed to the park to kill time until swim lessons at 9:00 and then came home by 9:45.

After I showered up I left E with Paul so I could have a date with Noah, too. We went to Kaleidoscope at Crown Center and then had some Topsy's popcorn by the fountains. He & my mom did this exact same thing awhile back and he hasn't stopped talking about it since. So we had to do it again. Since it was so hot, I let him play in the spray park fountains, too. I had to cut him shorter than I'd have liked since I didn't pack sunscreen and he was in his street clothes instead of swim trunks. But, we had fun and made plans to go back to play in the fountains with swim wear, sunscreen and his baby brudder the next day.

I love spending time alone with my boys. They are both so sweet and well behaved when I take them out (alone) and we always have so much fun.

I took a little nap that afternoon, then just hung out with the whole family of 4 the rest of the day. We went on a bike ride to the park, out for ice cream and hung out with my mom and little sister, Sam who stopped by after dinner. What a great day!

My boys at the "little park" as Noah calls it. Just a small park tucked away in the neighborhood.
Eating popcorn at Crown Center after Kaleidoscope
Being goofy at Kaleidoscope

Park day

Just a typical day at the park. Except for the fact the boys were actually clean (yes, it was still morning), dressed cute & matchy-matchy. Plus, I had my camera in tow :)

Going fast on the bike trail. Even when he's got speed and gliding he still will periodically put his feet down and run like heck to go even faster.

Much appreciated break from pushing the swing addict

Top of the monkey bars

Now, how does Noah do this?

Poor E wanted to play in the sand, but Noah had other ideas for him. He has no qualms about just picking him up and moving him to play where he sees fit.

Brother pics, too!

And one of my handsome 3 year old

That's it, Spring is my new fave season.

Fall has always been my favorite. There is so much to love about the Fall. But, after this long, cold and snowy winter, I've decided Spring is my favorite. This is a typical way to burn a couple hours on a nice Spring afternoon. Love the sun. Love the fresh air. Love being outside. Love that we have great parks in Brookside. Love that we can walk or ride bikes to the grocery store, to get ice cream, the toy store, the dime store, out to eat, etc. Yep, Spring is my new fave.

So handsome!

Yep, he did it by himself. He's already a climber!

Having much fun, Elliot?

His hair cracks me up in this one! You should probably double click to enjoy in all it's glory.

Noah made a 5 year old friend named Jett yesterday.

We heart the sand!

Brudders are so sweet.....when they aren't fighting.