Chatter Boxes

Various sunset pictures from the week (don't come here looking for sunrise pictures...no way...no how!)









A storm across the harbor

I love this one!

A few days after the boy's birthday extravaganza...John and I scurried off for some time away.

Some much needed restful, rejuvenating, romantic time away.  We spent a week in beautiful Sanibel Island, Florida to celebrate our anniversary.  I slept in, read two books front to back and didn't have to take anyone to the bathroom.  John read his Kindle for days on end, rode a bike all over the island and didn't have to take anyone to the bathroom. 

We rode bikes to the beach, to go shopping and to get ice cream

 

The lighthouse behind us sits on the tip of the island

Sanibel is known for the abundance of sea shells.  That's a blanket of shells behind my feet.  At first you try hard to walk around them so you don't break any, but by the end of the week you just crunch along in your bare feet.

The boardwalk from our hotel at sunset

 

The view from our room

We took a sunset dolphin cruise on our last night there.  Dolphins are hard to photograph but I managed to snag this picture, which in no way illustrates how cool it is to see a dolphin in the ocean (and not at the local aquarium).

A romantic sunset cruise with 35 other people we don't know

We had a wonderful time.  A big thank you to my mom for watching the boys, almost entirely by herself.  When we booked our trip, the idea was that the boys would be able to stay with my parents - both of them.  Dad has already made the big move to Idaho so my mom took on the task of watching the boys by herself (with help from Grandpa over the weekend).  Not only did she watch our squirrely bunch but we came home to a clean house, empty dishwasher, fresh towels and sheets!  That woman is a gem!  (Completely useless little side note - I discovered tonight when I crawled into bed that her sleep number is a firm 100 while mine is a fluffy 55.)

We're home safe and sound and getting acclimated to our real-world responsibilities.  I may have to carry my beach bag around for a few days to help with the adjustment.

This story starts two years ago on a hot August night.  John and I went with our friends Chad and Katie to the JoCo Fair.  I don't remember having ever gone to a county fair before.  We ate fair food, looked at livestock, and sat in the stands to watch the pedal pull (little kids driving tricycle tractors as far as they could), and mutton bustin' (little kids riding ferocious barreling beasts of death and destruction sheep). 

John and I were smack dab in the middle of the adoption process.  We knew we were adopting Seth and Colin at that point and everything we did we imagined what it would be like with them there.  I could tell John was watching the activities of that fair and imagined our boys right there.  We joked about how I'd never let them bust a mutton (seriously...have you ever seen it? Go here for a glimpse.  Not my child...not ever).

It just so happened that while we sat watching toddlers be trampled by ferocious barreling beasts of death and destruction sheep, my phone buzzed with an email from our adoption agency.  It was an update on the boys with new pictures (we clung to those emails for dear life then.)

It took almost an hour to download the new pictures, but sitting in the stands watching toddlers get trampled was the first time we saw Seth's smile. 

Remember these....



Fast forward two years...It's another hot August night.  Chad and Katie are there with us...all four of us.  We're perched in the stands at the JoCo Fair.  Seth is registered for the pedal pull.  He waited in line and carefully studied the kids who went before him.  He's a fierce competitor...hates to lose, but has never seen anything like this before, let alone practiced.  He took his turn and pushed that tractor farther than anyone else so far.  Katie and I cheered like crazy stage moms. 

He ended up in second place out of 40 pullers in his age group and took home a giant red ribbon.  And I think he had fun.  He was confused by our enthusiasm over something that to him wasn't that big of a deal.   To us though...it felt fulfilling. 







There are no pictures of him mutton bustin'.  Not my child...not ever!

Thanks again to Katie for the pictures.

We all love spending time with our friend Katie and her fancy camera.  She took these pictures during the birthday party.  John built this roping game for the kids to play.












Stay tuned for her action shots of Seth at the JoCo Fair.  Without Katie we'd have very few pictures of all the fun stuff we do.

We celebrated the boys' birthday this weekend.  Seth is now 5 and Colin is 3 (or free if you listen to him).  It was a cowboy birthday complete with authentic apparel.  Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate. 


This was on their actual birthday (Friday).  We had a birthday dinner...menu chosen by the boys - pizza and yogurt, and opened presents.



"Real" cowboy clothes!

Apparently the sunglasses bring out their inner gangsta.  They did this pose completely on their own.  Seth has asked for sunglasses for his birthday since...well, his last birthday.  I love that at least for now, his gift requests are simple pleasures.



The Spread... BBQ of course



The Peanut Gallery  Our dear friends



Pete treated the kids to "pony" rides (Pete's the horse...not the husband)







A true friend is one who lets you lasso him



Cowboy Cuteness



I stole this picture from Amber.  It proves I own boots of my own.  And aren't those sisters cute?



Thanks Grandma for matching the party theme!  Isn't she pretty?!



It's rare to get a genuine smile from Colin when there's a camera around.  I have a feeling this one was courtesy of some tickling.


It was a fun day spent with good friends and family.  I, like most moms, get teary on
this day thinking of what a gift my children are to me.  It's fun to make them feel special with balloons and presents and copious amounts of sugar.  But more than any of that I feel like the recipient of the best gift of all...getting to mother these boys through another year of life. 

This morning, the boys and I went to the grocery store.  We're gearing up for a birthday party this weekend so we stopped by the store to stock up on party supplies. 

I loaded our purchases into the car, Seth got in his seat and Colin and I left to put the cart away.  I lifted Colin out of the cart and threw him over my shoulder like a sack of...flour...feed...something (let's be honest - I don't throw sacks of anything over my shoulder but you get the idea). 

I opened the car door and said to Seth, "Look what I found!  I found a cute little boy!  I think we should bring him home with us." 

Seth said, "Yea we should.  And we'll call him Colin." 

Colin giggled at our story.  I then said, "Now Colin, there are a few rules you'll need to follow if you come to live with us.  Seth, can you tell Colin the rules?" 

I was curious what Seth would say so I let him take it from there. 

"Colin," he said, "there are three rules and they are very important.  Number one, don't stomp on the floor.  Number two, do what mommy and daddy ask.  And number three, don't make mommy crazy!"

Amen to that!



Little Baby Colin - an old picture from my phone