Brotherly Love

 An unexpected perk of being a parent of multiple kids is witnessing the intense love they have for each other.  Of course, there is certainly no shortage of fighting but I'm always so fascinated with the love, caring, and genuine concern they have for each other.  

Who are these clowns? Get me the he!! out of here.

We drop Jamison off first at his classroom everyday and he has been known to cry as we are closing the door behind us.  Joshi always says "it's ok Jamison, we'll be back to get you after nap time, don't cry, Mommy's here" and gives him a big hug.  It is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen and is enough to warm even tin man's heart.  

Jack will do anything to cheer his brothers up when they are crying, even if it means foregoing his own happiness.  I picked Jack up first on Wednesday.  He was SO excited to show me his cool noodle necklace he had made that day.  He was wearing it with pride.  We headed off to Joshi's room and as soon as we walked in Joshi busted into a meltdown of tears.  Apparently, there was a minor altercation between him and another little friend (who, ahem, doesn't have the best reputation shall we say) and he had bottled up the emotions - apparently saving them for Mommy.  I picked him up and cuddled him in my lap.  The cuddles weren't working so Jack immediately jumped into action and said "it's ok Joshi, what can we do to help you?"  He actually got down on his knee's and took his beloved new necklace off his neck and said "here, you can have my necklace."  I was so proud of his complete and total unselfishness and it took everything in me not to scoop him up and give and five minute bear hug.

I have a zillion examples but I'll only give you one more and that is how they react if they feel unsure about something or feel a little insecure about a situation.  It's like they instinctively know to stay within an arms reach of each other in the event they may need each other.  The moment a situation gets hairy they immediately grasp hands.  I captured some sweet little pics of this very phenomenon that actually happens quite frequently.

These sweet boys are more than just brothers, they are built-in playmates, protectors, and best buddies.  I can't wait to continue to watch the friendships grow.  And watch out ladies... we've got some ladies men on our hands, that is for sure!

Thelma and Louise

First of all, can we say slacker?!?  It's been forever since I posted!  Life has been so crazy but - no excuses. I promise to get better.  

We had such a fun day today.  We kicked it off with swimming lessons for Jack and Josh.  I have fallen in love with Saturday morning swim time.  It is so laid back.  We head out a little early to get Mom a nice hot coffee, head to swimming and then hit up Target or something of the sort before lunch.  We did in fact, hit up our beloved Target today but it was not any normal Target trip.  It was a Kindergarten prep trip.  We had our trusty list in hand and perused the Back to School isles for the [very] specific items listed.  I felt like a fish out of water and honestly, was a bit intimidated.  I don't get intimidated all that easily so the feeling was unfamiliar.  Anyway, we finally found everything we needed including a very cool new backpack.  I was so proud of our little Jack for actually picking one that WASN'T Spiderman.  Same coloring actually, but a much cooler red, black and white checkered number!  He was so sure that was the one as soon as he saw it - so cute!

$200 later we headed home for lunch and a nap.  Grandma was coming over later to watch little J so Corey and I could take the older J's to Cars 2.  They earned all their "Sleep Ferry" coupons this week so they got to pick an event of their choosing.  They debated between Cars 2 and Sea Life (to see the sharkies) but the movie ultimately won out.  Grandma arrived right at 3:00p and we had some time to kill before heading off to the theater so we decided to take the boys for their first spin in Grandmama's convertible.  We grabbed their little booster seats, threw them in the back and said hop in.  They looked at us like we had just eaten the head off a horse.  Jack said "really?  No, really, really?" Like Ashton Kutcher was going to jump out and say he was being punked.  We got all buckled in and took a leisurely spin around the neighborhood.  They loved everyone second and I'm pretty sure they felt like rock stars (and looked it, I might add!)

Off to the movie.  It might be a tad too early for Joshi and the movie thing.  He was pretty antsy from the get go so we knew it would be a long ride but he did pretty good.  Dad took him out to the game room at one point and then he and I headed to grab a few things from Cub while Dad and Jack finished the flick.  As we pulled into Cub, there was the sweetest old fella with a broken arm attempting to load all of his grocery's into the back of his car.  I pulled in next to him and Joshi and I proceeded to unload his cart for him.  He was so thankful and it just warmed my heart.  I feel it is so important for the boys to witness and partake in acts of kindness as often as possible and this was one of those moments.  

We picked Daddy and Jack up at the theater and made our way back home for some dinner.  Post dinner fun included an impromptu water gun fight and a unique game of throw the ball on the roof.  It was a great day and I have three little sleepers to show for it!  The Sleep Ferry will definitely be visiting our little sweethearts tonight.  xoxo

4th of July: The Running of the Men

We had so much fun and took so many pictures on 4th of July weekend I have to break it out into parts.  As tradition called for, we headed to Papa's house to meet up with the Cook fam - including Auntie Camille, Uncle EJ, and "the cousins" as the boys affectionately call them.  

Let's start with the running of the men.  These boys would spend 24 hours a day in the kiddie pools if it were up to them.  They devise their own games and on this day it happened to be the "Run & Jump" game.  And they had an audience which was perfect for these little HAM'S.  

Up first... Jack Thomas.

And since it's monkey-see, monkey-doo, guess who's next?  It cracks me up how he is looking right at the camera.  I could eat this kid up.

By next summer we will have three running men, but for now, Jamison was more than happy to just sit and play.

Camp Chronicles - Week 2: Day 5

So long, farewell... week two of camp is done.  Although a bit rough with the freakishly hot weather, the boys had a blast anyway and were no worse for the wear.  I mentioned this in my first week camp post but I found it funny again how secretive Jack is about what goes down at camp.  He is very selective about what he tells me because you know "what happens at camp, stays at camp!"   

Day #5 Stats

Mostly Sunny

Temp: 94 Degrees

Dew point: 60 something

Feels like: 94 degrees

Day #5 Agenda:

Snack Time

Barn Tour

("Mommy, we got to ride a HORSE!" - definitely the highlight of their day.)

Arts-n-Crafts

Lunch

Outdoor Education

(your guess is as good as mine?)

Swimming

Games and Goodbyes

Camp Chronicles - Week 2: Day 4

Another fun day at camp!  How nice it must have been for those kiddo's to have some relief from the heat.  Jack seemed very sad when he came off the bus because his tooth hurt.  We made a quick stop at Walgreens to get some Advil on board right away.  I'm wondering if he's getting some new molars.


Day #4 Stats

Partly Cloudy

Temp: 88 Degrees

Dew point: 60 something

Feels like: 88 degrees

Day #4 Agenda:

Singing Hill

Snack Time

Swimming

(Jack came home with another boys underwear on.  He said it was the only pair left on the locker room floor.  I'll just pretend I didn't hear that.)

Lunch

Tye-Dying

(A new red and blue tye-dyed shirt has joined the family.  It is actually very cool!)

Archery

(Jack quote: I'm nevvvver going to hit the red part.)

Snack and Games

Singing Hill