Decking the halls...

We decorated for Christmas on Tuesday. I figured if Jason was going to be able to help us decorate the tree I would need to have everything ready for when he got home (he usually is home pretty late, but he came home early that night!). So I told the boys if they were good helpers we could decorate. Suddenly I had two very willing and obedient children. Aiden had garland, with lights all lite up, draped over the back of the couch. He wanted to leave it there, but I explained to him that it would not be very comfortable to sit on the couch with that behind us. He jumped on the couch and tried it out, he didn't see the problem. :) He also took a breakable Santa and put it in his bathroom on the sink, right on the edge. Again, he couldn't understand why it couldn't stay there. Jason picked up eggnog (the boys tried it for the first time and did not like it) and cookies (a tradition for decorating the tree) on the way home from work and we had a fun evening watching the boys decorate the tree. All the ornaments were pretty much in one spot at the bottom, but it didn't matter to them, so I didn't even bother to fix it for a few days. Our tree will not win any awards, but to the boys it is just as good as the one in Rockefeller Square. And that is all that matters.

Everyday now the boys are asking if it is Christmas day. Aiden says it is taking forever to get here. I told him it was in 30 days (at the time), he says that is "like a thousand days away."

Now I need to get busy on Christmas cards and shopping.....

Pictures of the week

Ryleigh is getting so big!

Thanksgiving morning, Jason stayed home for a few hours. The boys wanted to play "chest", which is what Aiden calls chess. Jason tries to teach them a few things, but mostly they just like that they are playing a "big kid" game with Daddy.
Ryleigh turned 4 months old this week! At her Dr.'s appointment on Wednesday she weighed 13 lbs. 14 1/2 oz. She rolled over for the first time Wednesday night and Jason was actually home to see it. He was so happy that he was home to witness one of her "firsts". Last night she grabbed Kyle's sippie cup and was trying to drink out it.
Here is Aiden's "pie". I gave him the leftover pie dough and he rolled this out himself and I let him make a cinnamon and sugar pie. He was so proud. He saved it for Daddy.
Here is the latest in the boys inventions. It is a trap for a dinosaur (they told me the name of the dinosaur that they have trapped, but I have no idea how to spell it). Underneath the bins is an upside down basket and there are two dinosaurs trapped in there. They have been poking at them with swords. On the chairs you can faintly see string tied from one chair to the other.
Aiden rolling out his pie.

Thank you Aunt Lindsey!!

A package arrived for Aiden and Kyle yesterday. They were thrilled to receive something in the mail. Thank you for your sweet note Lindsey and for thinking of the boys. They loved your gifts!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Wish we were in PA with everyone! Thanks Dad and Mom for already putting pics on your blog to make Chelly and I feel like we are there. You guys definitely made holidays special and we still love them. There is nothing like Thanksgiving morning at the Aguilars. I can still hear the music playing when I woke up in the morning and remember the smell of the turkey as I came down the stairs. I hope my children look back at our memories the way we do.

Little Boys

It rained all day and I believe the boys knew that they were cooped up. Here are just a few things they did today:

- Emptied everything out of their dresser drawers and threw it around their bedroom (I caught them halfway through the last one). Aiden said he was looking for something.

- Emptied everything, within reach, in the bathroom linen closet. Aiden had no explanation for that one.

- Kyle spilled bubbles all over garage floor. From the looks of his clothes, he also must have laid down and rolled in it.

- They took a rocking chair, night stand and every toy basket and toy they own and piled it up in front of their bedroom door.

- Used every piece of wicker furniture and rocking chair in sun room to make a fort.

- Crushed Pringles all over dining room floor, they were mixed in with little Lego pieces.

- Made a fort upstairs using sofa cushions, a basket and Ryleigh's bathtub.

- Found goldfish crushed in between sofa cushions in living room when they took those cushions off to make another fort (do I see a theme here?)

Where was I when they were doing all this? If you are asking that question, you don't have little boys! :) The picture is not from today. They have been making this sun room fort frequently. I wasn't really in the picture taking mood today.

Uncle Jeff, Happy Birthday tomorrow!!

Another platoon

Well, our break is over, this morning Jason picked up another platoon of recruits. He is a Senior Drill Instructor again (SDI), also known as the "big daddy" and "boss". Over the next three months Jason and his Drill Instructors (DI's) will basically spend every waking moment (about 120 hours a week - no, I am not joking, wish I was) with these recruits, training them to be Marines. The pictures show him giving his "pick up speech" where the recruits meet their Drill Instructors. The picture of them with their hands in the air is where they are saying the Drill Instructors Creed. Basically making a commitment to turn the recruits into United States Marines. They let the wives come to this part (we stand in the back), the only time we will be allowed on the deck until Family Day (the day before graduation). This time they actually let us stay about 10 minutes past the speech and watch them with the recruits. The mom in me couldn't help but feel sorry for all these young guys who looked scared out of their mind. But, the Marine wife in me knows that this will prepare them for what lies ahead. Since Jason is the SDI, he has to stay with them for the first 4 nights, then they will take turns, so he will stay with them every third night. We took dinner over for him and his DI's and got to see him for about 3 minutes. We will go each night so that at least we can see him for a minute. So, if anyone wants to get away to the warm south, the kids and I would love company!! :) Jason and I joke that since we have had Ryleigh we pretty much lost all our friends down here. :) I guess 3 kids 4 and under are too much for people to handle being around. We feel that way too sometimes...... :)

Soccer Party!

Proudly showing off his medal when we got home.

Waiting to eat some junk food!
Coach Tommy handing out the medals. Sorry the picture is a little dark.
Aiden receiving his medal. He was so proud and excited.
Kyle enjoying his chips thoroughly.

Aiden also enjoying his snack. Joe, Jas and I both thought that this pic of Aiden looks a little like you. So soccer is over for the season and next year they will both be playing. Kyle can't wait. At each of Aiden's games Jason and I would have to take turns kicking the soccer ball with him.

Vegetables and Muscles

Just like all parents we struggle to get our kids to eat their vegetables. Well the other night we came upon a concept that works really well with the boys. Since all boys want to be strong like their daddy's we told them vegetables make their muscles grow. Each time they took a bite of the things that are good for them we made a big deal about it and felt their muscles and made comments like "Wow! They are getting bigger right now!!" They loved it and that night ate everything on their plates. Later that night Jason was playing with them in their room right before bed. They were wrestling and Jason got Aiden in a head lock. Aiden was very upset that he wasn't strong enough to thwart the attack. Jason told him that he needed to keep eating his vegetables and one day he would be able to get him in a head lock. Aiden came right into the kitchen and asked me if he could have more string beans!! :) I gave him a few and he said "No, more!!" I gave him a whole plate full and he ate every one of them. He wanted more, but we didn't have any left! :) Since that night, they have eaten anything that we tell them makes their muscles grow. In the picture he is showing you his muscles growing.

Happy Birthday Aimee!!

We all love you and hope you have a great day. We wish we could spend the day with you.

The rest of the visit....

11 comments:

Ryleigh's 3 month pictures

I just got Ryleigh's three month pictures back today. I mostly got the one on top, and I am usually not a fan of props and stuff, but her grin in the bed of flowers is so cute that I had to get it. She is such a smiley baby and that picture really captures how when she smiles she seems to use her whole body. I will be trying to get them sent out this week to family. So you have something to look forward to in your mailboxes. And Meredith, you will be getting yours too, promise! :)

Home Again

Well we are back in the land of lizards and sand fleas. :) It was so hard leaving PA. We all look forward to the day we move back there. Aiden asks everyday, and several times at that, when we are going back. On Sunday he asked me. "Mom, what day is today?" I said "Sunday." He said "What is the day we go to see Grandmom's?". Hopefully it is going to work out for kids and I to visit sometime during the holidays. I have lots more pictures to post of our visit, but they are all on Dad's computer and I am waiting for him to send me the rest. So, I will put them up as soon as I get them.