Chasing Butterflies & Catching Lizards

Catching butterflies & cute grins









There have been tons of butterflies around our flowers the last few days and the boys have had fun trying to catch them. They also have been trying to catch lizards. Yesterday Aiden found a lizard (not hard to do, they are everywhere) on the window and got a container to put it in. He slid the container up the window and was yelling at the lizard to jump in. I was watching from inside thinking "that is not going to work", but much to my surprise, and to Aiden's, the lizard actually went in the container! I don't know who was more surprised, the lizard or Aiden. Aiden quickly recovered from his shock, put a lid on the container and did an excited dance. He tried to bring it in the house, but I quickly stopped him. So, he put Kyle on lizard watch right outside the door. :)

Kyle has been sick since Monday, he showed a lot of improvement today, but he is still not himself. My first clue that he was sick was that he was laying on the couch in the morning, then he confirmed it throughout the day by throwing up all over me several times. Aiden is starting to act sick, so I guess we are in for round two.....

Life on Meagan Drive

Well the soccer game was hysterical. Twenty some kids going after one ball. They followed it around in a pack and then ended up in a huge pile of kids. Aiden lost focus a lot and kept trying to catch bugs. :)

Friday night Jason ran into some friends of ours that have a house right on the water. They told Jas to stop by on his way home. They had just steamed a bunch of crabs that they had caught that evening. They gave us a whole bag full of steamed crabs. Quite a treat for this Marylander who grew up eating crabs every summer. Sorry Dad that we called and rubbed it in. :)

Yesterday we took the kids to see "Open Season". They loved it and so did we. :} Before the movie Jason pulled up next to a nail salon, opened up the glove department and handed me a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure. He took all three kids to Dairy Queen and I gave me some quiet time. I know, I know, what a guy. :)

There is a new game in our house (see pic above). Not sure what it is called, but it involves a sofa cushion and the steps. How do they think of these things? Currently we are trying to teach Kyle that my shirt is not a tissue and that putting his food under his chair or spitting it in the sunroom corner is not an option.

Soccer

Aiden started soccer last night. He was so excited. They pretty much just let them kick the ball around and tried to teach them the basics. Next week they actually play a game. That should be interesting. Some of the kids wouldn't even play they were just laying in the grass looking up at the sky. :) But, Aiden was totally into it, he didn't like having to give up the ball. He did a great job of not touching the ball with his hands and went to great lengths not to do so. When a ball would be stuck in the net, he would be trying to maneuver it out with his feet. His team is called the Dragonflies and their color is blue. They get their official shirts next week for the game. Wednesday night when we were putting the boys to bed Aiden asked if Ryleigh was going to come watch him play soccer. I said she was and that we would all be there. He said "But, Ryleigh won't know which one is me." I said "Don't worry I will show her where you are." He said "But, you won't know which one is me either. I got a great idea mom." Then he holds up his wrist and in an excited voice says "I will wear by Batman watch so you all can find me!" Keeping Kyle off the field was the challenge of the night. He was not happy that he couldn't play too. I guess we need to get him in some sort of sport soon. Today I found him playing "golf" with my soup ladle and a tomato. Next week we will have highlights from the big game, "Dragonflies vs. Grasshoppers"!!

Two months old

Ryleigh is two months old today! At her Dr. appointment on Friday she weighed 11 lbs. 9 1/2 oz. and is 23 in. long. She is smiling all the time now, and definitely knows Mommy and Daddy. She is starting to make cooing noises and likes to stick out her tongue. The boys continue to be infatuated with her. I have to watch them like a hawk. Today I had her on my bedroom floor while I ran to get a load of laundry out of the dryer. I came back (I was literally gone for 20 seconds) and she wasn't on the floor. I asked the boys where she was and they said "Under the bed." "How did she get under there?" I asked. "We dragged her under there." Needless to say, they were in trouble. Hopefully they don't try that again. I am sure it will be something else though.....

We had a quiet weekend. Oil changes, family walks, a date (yeah!) football. The week has started and it is going to be a busy one. The kids and I all have colds. The boys are being crazy as usual. As I type they are jumping off the guest room sofa flinging balloons and putting them on their heads (ones that have not been blown up). Each time they get ready to jump they say "Ready to rock and roll". :)

Marines

On Monday Jason had his Marines over for a picnic. He is now in charge of the Basic Marine Platoon which consists of Marines who have graduated boot camp, but have to stay on the island for some reason or another. Like healing from a broken ankle or require surgery of some sort. He currently has about 21 Marines, but some of them are on leave, so we had about 14 at our house. It was the easiest picnic I have ever hosted! I barely lifted a finger, every time I turned around they were taking out the trash or cleaning up. They were really happy to get off the island and be in a family atmosphere. They are a good group of kids, but having them over did make me feel a bit old. :) Especially when they kept calling me "ma'am". :)

The Weekend

Friday night we had the Kauffman family over, (old friends from PA) who were in town for their son Eric's graduation from Marine Corps Boot Camp. It was great to see people we haven't seen in years, to see how much their children have grown and have them be able to meet ours. The boys loved the Kauffmans and wanted to go home with them. Also, Happy Belated Birthday to Megan and Sarah!!!

We got Aiden his soccer equipment this weekend and Daddy showed him a few things in the back yard. He is super excited to start playing next week. Kyle wants to play too, but he is too young right now. I have a feeling it will be a challenge to keep him off the field when Aiden is playing.

Ferns and Black & White Photos

I adore this photo of Kyle. I think he looks a lot like Matt Aguilar, my cousin, who died about 15 years ago. He has that same mischievous look in his eyes and the same curly hair, only Matt's was dark like mine.
My new favorite photo. We took this photo with black and white film, and when I tried to scan it into the computer, it didn't turn out right. So I just took a picture of a picture. We don't claim to be photographers by any stretch of the imagination, but I think this one turned out really nice.
My ferns this year are huge!! Some of the leaves are actually touching the railing. These were just regular $7 ferns from Lowes I bought earlier this year. But, I learned a secret from a neighbor on how to get them to really grow. :) I hope I can keep them alive all winter.

More pictures from Mom and Dad's visit last week

Shrimp feast!!

Cute photo of all the kids.
Meeting Granddad, with proud daddy looking on.
Playing Playdough, a favorite pastime at our house
Cool block castle!

The Marsh

Here are some more photos from when we went on the Marsh Boardwalk on Hunting Island. You go across this long boardwalk to a little island, then another boardwalk to another little island. At the end is a big deck that you can fish, shrimp and crab from. When we first moved here I wasn't too impressed with the marsh views that I see everyday. I thought they were stinky breeding grounds for the terrible mosquitoes and sand fleas that seem to run the islands. But, after living here 2 years I have learned to appreciate the beauty of South Carolina Lowcountry. I might even (gasp) miss it when we move. I will not however miss the bugs.

More pictures from the beach

More pictures from our day at the beach. Hunting Island Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to. And we live only 12 miles from it! The beach is lined with palm trees and driving in to the beach is really cool, it is dark and dense. Aiden says it is jungle. When we drive into the entrance Aiden always says "Be quiet, there are lions and tigers in here." I think Josh told him that last year! :) Notice the shrimp boat in the distance in one of the pictures. The other night when we went to get shrimp, we got it from a man our neighbor has been telling us about since we moved here. I usually buy it at a local stand down the road, but we decided to try Mr. Chism. I called and I believe he was on the boat shrimping as I was talking to him. He gave me directions to his house and I wrote them down the best I could understand. I didn't think we would actually find the place. We drove out to St. Helena's Island and made several turns on back roads and dirt roads. We drove up to a big house right on the marsh, I didn't think we had the right place, but someone pulled up in an old truck and I told them we were looking for Mr. Chism. He said "Right down there on the boat." So we went down to his dock and we bought the shrimp right off the boat. Can't get any fresher than that!! Mr. Chism now has our business!! A great Lowcountry experience.

I love the picture of Kyle with his arms outstretched to the ocean. He kept doing that over and over again. I would have loved to known what he was thinking.

Family Visit

Ok, Granddad and Grandmom, sorry for taking so long, here are a few pics from this week. I'll add more later. Everyone is having a good time. We've been to the beach and the marsh boardwalk and tonight we are getting 5 lbs. of local shrimp!! One of the advantages of living here, great local seafood. The storm seems to have slowed down, so we shouldn't have to worry about it too much. Just rain and some wind. A normal storm around here. Lots more pics to come.....

One month old

Ryleigh is one month old today!! I can not believe she has been here a month already. She is already growing up too fast.

Mom, Dad, Josh and Lindsey will be here on Saturday!! I can't wait. We haven't told Aiden that they are coming. We are going to tell them right before they get here that a surprise is coming and take him outside. When he sees them you will be able to hear his excited screams throughout the whole neighborhood.

Jason held his late duty last night until November!!! After 29 months of schools that took him away for months, then pushing platoons that required 120 hour work weeks, then a quota (the break you are supposed to get on the Drill Field for 6-12 months) that was the hardest on the island, we get almost a 3 month break. He was assigned a new job for the remaining of his quota. Thankfully this one does not include recruits. We are excited to lead a little bit of a normal life for a few months.

More from the kids

Everyone has been telling us how much they enjoyed reading the post about some funny things that Aiden has said, so here are some more. Enjoy!

- Just before jumping off a counter I hear him say "Don't break me Lord."

- "Mom do you know what Marines do? They protect the WORLD!"

- Jason told Aiden to do something the other day, Aiden didn't respond. Jason said "Aiden, that would be a 'Yes sir' ". Aiden responded with "Yes sir Daddy". Aiden immediately turned to Kyle and said "Kyle we are supposed to clean this up". Kyle didn't say anything. Aiden looked at him and said "That would be a 'Yes boy' Kyle." :)

- A conversation between Aiden and Kyle, of course Aiden is doing all the talking, Kyle is just agreeing. "Kyle, do you want to protect Ryleigh?" Kyle says "Uh huh" Aiden says "If bad guys get her, guess what happens?" Then Aiden makes gun noises. I guess Jason has them trained already to ward off the boys when Ryleigh gets older!

- What Aiden calls gas - "burping in your pants"

- This one is from a while ago, but I was reading it in the folder where I write down all the funny stuff they say and it made me laugh. We were talking about his uncles and I said "Yeah, you have a lot of uncles." Aiden said "That makes me nervous........very nervous."

The picture is from a few months ago when Joe was here and they were ganging up on him.

Dad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

We wish we were there to celebrate the day with you. We love and miss you.

Thunderstorms

Jason took the whole day off yesterday!! It was the first time he has done that (without him already having the day off) since we moved here. Of course his Drill Instructors and everyone else at work called him every 5 minutes, but at least he was home. He couldn't have taken the day off at a better time, the lack of sleep was starting to catch up with me and a morning to sleep in was just what I needed. It is so nice to wake up in the morning and the boys are dressed and fed, the beds are made and the everything is in order for the day. Don't know how I got so lucky, but I am glad I did! :)

We had a huge thunderstorm yesterday afternoon. The thunder was louder than any thunder I have ever heard. It started just as we were leaving to go pick up a movie. We were driving down the road right outside our neighborhood, which is just a tunnel of old trees with moss hanging off them and it started to get scary. We turned around to go home since limbs were falling everywhere. We made it safely back to our neighborhood and decided to take a different way out to the main road, with not as many trees around. Aiden kept saying "Lets go home." and Kyle kept answering him by saying "No!". The storm wasn't as bad further out on the island and by the time we got to the store it was just raining a little. The main road to our house was closed on the way home due to a large tree falling over the road. I guess it is a good thing we turned off that road....

In other news, our bloody nose count has been high this past week or so. I think Aiden has had 2 and Kyle at least one. Plus Kyle fell on the driveway last night as both Aiden and Kyle were going for a ball. Kyle got to it first and landed on it, but then Aiden landed on him and made Kyle eat the driveway. So he has a nice brush burn on his face. But Kyle really wouldn't look normal to us if he didn't have some sort of mark on his face. :)

Boys Pictures

Here are the pictures that we had taken of the boys a few weeks ago. I know they are already out of date since Ryleigh was born, but I wanted some of just the boys. Plus, these are for their 4 year and 2 year pictures. I guess we will have some taken of all three when Ryleigh gets a bit older, like in 6 months or so. Chelly, tell me which pose you want in a 5x7.