we're still here, incase you are wondering. it's been a long two weeks, so not much time for blogging. the boys both had some funky virus that gave them a fever and congestion and basically made them miserable. we are finally fever free today! thank goodness, because we are leaving on thursday for kelley's island in lake erie. we are looking forward to time together with our family. P has been working six days a week for the past ten months, so this vacation time is loooong over due. we are excited for it and are really praying the kiddos will stay healthy.

not too many stories to share. sick kids are more whiney than cute, so it's been awhile since i had a funny story to share. here are two quick things, though. today, A was trying to do the sign language sign for play, which basically looks like a hang-loose sign. he said, is this how it goes, mommy? and i look over and he's flicking me off! since he's not a teenager yet, i'm assuming it was an innocent mistake.

and my favorite thing C is doing right now is learning all kinds of new words, including uh oh spaghetti o's. that's quite a mouthful for a 1 1/2 year old.

Finally some new pictures

Enjoying Grandma and Nonno's pool. C has no fear of the water. We are sure going to get a work out keeping up after him this summer.

A started out very timid around the water. Last summer he would cry if someone went under. This summer, after a timid start, he has become so comfortable in the water. He even went in the deep end! He's signed up for swim lessons in July.

Gramma and Grandpa Mike took a long -anticipated trip to Ireland, and brought back some hurling sticks for the boys. They love them, and the best part is that we haven't had any black eyes yet! A insists on wearing his gardening gloves when he plays. I guess hurling players wear gloves? who knows. He's never seen a game, but he insists it's how it's played.

A few weeks ago, we went strawberry picking with Grandad. It was a lot of fun, the boys did great, and we got a LOT of strawberries to enjoy. The farm we went to also had some baby ducks, which the boys loved, especially C who is an animal lover.

We bought a bike trailer off of Craigslist and have really enjoyed it. The boys love sitting in it together, and they do a great job being patient when we ride.

This is my favorite thing to watch the boys do. I love when they hold hands. Plus, it keeps C from running off and A feels so helpful keeping his brother safe.

The boys playing baseball. A is the umpire and C is the catcher.

On Sat, our day started at 5:15 with two cranky boys up. The morning was SO long and the boys were miserably whiney. Now add a huge rainstorm like Niagra Falls pouring down, and it had the makings for a horrible day. Then Daddy decided to take the boys for a walk in the rain. It was so sweet, and they had a blast. This was especially sweet because P had to work later that morning and walk for 6-7 hours in the pouring down rain. What a great husband and daddy. If you can't tell from their smiles, they had an awesome time.

Came down from getting dressed and found two loads of clean laundry on the floor. I might have gotten pretty annoyed except it was raining and we didn't have anything to do. So, instead, I took a picture and let them keep playing. It kept them entertained for over an hour!

I love how creative my kids are! To the untrained eye, this may just look like two kids sitting on a couch. But it is really two construction workers (notice the hats) sitting in a frontloader. The basket on the ground is the bucket on the loader, and the baseball bat in A's hand is the lever that controls the bucket. They were using the loader to scoop up the pile of dirt (my clean laundry) at the construction site (our living room). So creative! I did not influence this AT ALL except to suggest they find a second helmet for C so they would stop fighting over the white helmet.

race car driver

A was playing in the family room this morning. He put a box on his head, and said, "Here comes the race car driver. He puts on his helmet. He gets into his carseat. 3-2-1- go!" It made me smile to think he hasn't realized yet that not everyone has to get into a carseat in the car. If you are old enough to drive a racecar, you have probably outgrown the carseat.

-Conversation with A today as we looked through our wedding album.
A- Is that when you married daddy?
Me- Yes.
A- Are you still married to daddy?
Me-Yes, sweetheart. We are still married.
A-Why (classic question in our house these days)
Me- Because I love your daddy.
A- Well, I'm not married, right?
Me-No, you aren't married yet.
A-That's because I still have a lot of growing up to do. But maybe I'll get married sometime. When I'm older. Like when I'm in high school.

I had no idea he even knew that there was something called high school, let alone that you go there when you are older. It was such a sweet conversation.

-My kids are enrolled in the summer reading program at the library. The won their first "prize" for reading 5 books. It was a pair of cheap, cheap, cheap sunglasses that probably cost them a penny to buy. But my kiddos loved wearing them. Of course, Cs broke before we even left the library. We got him a new pair so he wouldn't keep trying to take A's. We were home for less than an hour when I heard C in the other room. I went to check on him and he was sitting on the floor with his sunglasses in two parts, one in each hand, and he kept saying, "uh-oh. uh-oh. uh-oh." It was his first time using that word that I can remember, and it was so precious to see him staring so sad at his chintzy little sunglasses wanting me to fix them.

-C has gone potty twice! I am not under any illusions that he's ready to be potty-trained, but he was so proud of himself. He got a big smile and kept pointing back into the bathroom and grinning for the next hour or so.

-C has had to sit in his first time out. All I said was "time out" and he went over, sat on the stairs and stared at me. Then asked in a questioning tone, "beep beep?" knowing that when the timer goes off he can get up. I guess he's seen his brother sit in time out one too many times. He's got the ritual down.

-We bought a bike trailer on Craigslist, and have LOVED using it! The boys are so good sitting next to each other, and it allows us a little more flexibility in getting out of the house. For my bday, we biked as a family up to Hyde Park, played at the park for awhile and then came home for lunch. Since then, we've biked to the library a few times and just biked around our town with no destination in mind. I love it! With two kids so close together, I've been pregnant or with a newborn for 3 1/2 years, so it's been awhile since I've biked. So much fun!