Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend Celebration 2015

I think I type the same things each year when I talk about MLK Day. But, 11 years ago a few of us bonded as friends on that weekend and since then, we've liked continuing it as a time to get together each year. This year, Kristofer and Katie invited us to Huntsville to Katie's parents beautiful home that I'd also like to dub a "resort". They have a pool, a hot tub, a bar, a perfect kitchen for us to crowd around and cook in, a poolhouse to do more eating and visiting, a hut to sleep extra people and more than anything, her parents are the kindest, most easy going, thoughtful, generous and fun people to be around.

Vic, Katerina and I headed their way Friday afternoon and didn't come back until noon on Monday. GG came in to watch the kids (and by watch I mean spoil them completely but in a wonderful way of loving them so much! I can't tell you how many little treats of dinosaurs, animals, playdough, books, movies and snacks she brought them. And I can't tell you how many hilarious conversations she told us about after their weekend).

The others to spend the weekend with us included: Taylor & Mary, Kristofer and Katie, Whitney, Abby and then of course Gary & Nancy. And then our other Katie came on Sunday. The entire weekend was spent eating delicious food (Emeril's Mexican Breakfast Casserole, Carnitas tacos, Emeril's Blue Cheese dip, Emeril's Sausage Cheese Bread, Emeril's Chicken Chili, Taylor's smoked brisket and Verett potato salad and finally some monster cookies, wedding cake, and Katerina's Chocolate Chip Pie). We also sat in the hot tub, slept in, drank out of our new fancy koozies that Mary had made, got pedicures & manicures, made Vic play charades, watched Katerina dance and sing to her own playlist, and watch Kristofer and Taylor install all kinds of new fancy TV & music equipment for Nancy & Gary's pool bar area. It was the best!

Our Lovely Hosts Nancy & Gary....

This picture makes me laugh! Mary went down the slide a lot that night!

By this point, on this really cold night, Vic was back into his warm clothes and just serving drinks instead.

These were two of our 3 chefs for the weekend.

Ah...Emeril's delicious Chicken Chili (that is cornbread on top).

I can't imagine what joke had just been told...

  Watching Vic play charades by himself was one of the highlights for me! He may be the best sport ever!

 This is exactly their relationship...hilarious!

 Katerina has always been our dancing queen! This could have been "Bye Bye Bye" by N'Sync or Whitney Houston's "I just wanna dance with somebody!"

 And here is our last morning...always the saddest part to our weekend!

And back home to our babies we went! Oh and by the way, we were pretty sure each child had aged at least 6 months and were talking more and acting more grown up than when we left 4 days before. How does that happen so fast???

Porch Pictures

I love to take quick pictures of the kids on the porch. Lots of times there is a Christmas tree or some pumpkins on the porch or the flowerbeds are full of spring flowers. So, I like a quick kid pic for the day. Well, even Grace knows how this goes and is quick to run to the porch and sit down on it to wait for her picture. When she was little, I could just sit her down where I wanted her and she would hold still and I would finally get Atticus following directions and I could usually get a cute picture. Now, however, they both sit down at different times or not near one another or aren't looking at the camera. So, I'm having to go with the flow on these days. But, here was Friday before Children's Museum time. Grace, by the way, no longer sucks on a paci, but on this day decided to chew on it all day long and carry it with her everywhere.

Grace's laugh

I can't tell you how hilarious Grace is when she laughs. Despite the fact that I've told you she can be so cranky when she doesn't get her way, she really is a happy girl. I thinks sometimes I forget that she is still little and doesn't speak much so  expect her to know how to behave like I expect Atticus to behave. But, I shouldn't expect so much. She is just a baby!!

But, yesterday afternoon when I got her up from her nap, she and I played until she went to bed. She giggled and laughed for probably 20 minutes on our bed while I tickled her and wrestled with her and played. We played with toys in the playroom. We got out some Frozen stickers and not only stuck them on paper, but then on ourselves and then later in the evening all over the window. She giggled while we played in the bathtub and we spent lots of time washing and giving hugs and kisses to her bathtime baby that can be washed. Atticus and Vic were busy with things so she and I just had lots of one-on-one time and it was so fun! But, the best part of Grace laughing is her actual laugh. It comes from the pit of her stomach and is this deep loud laugh. I can't really describe it but it's like as Vic just said a "guffaw". It's almost like she is making fun of whatever it is she is laughing at because of that deep laugh - like she knows something we don't. But, when she is tickled, she is going to laugh!

 Check out that bed hair!!!

 Kisses from Gracie Bug!

Best laugh ever!

Dinosaurs

So, for today, Vic and Grace stayed home from church and Atticus and I attended Sunday School, Church, the Annual Meeting and then our LIFERs lunch with other families from our church. Because of such a long day and knowing Grace doesn't last that long, we decided she and Vic would take a father daughter at home day instead.

On the way to and from church, Atticus and I, per his request, talked about all extinct and endangered animals and then what our favorite dinosaurs were. Then, in opening worship before Sunday School, as everyone sang "The Battle of Jericho", Atticus made up his own song that went along the lines of "the big woolly mammoth killed the saber toothed tiger lalalalalal". Then, as our little toddler class walked around outside to find things that God made, Atticus was sure to share random thoughts about "endangered species" with the other teacher.

Once we got home, he immediately went to the playroom to start setting up his dinosaurs. We decided to let him skip his nap since he was playing so quietly. He did come ask me occasionally what dinosaur family a particular dinosaur belonged to because he said he was setting them up with their families. At one point, he comes through the kitchen with his airplane full of dinosaurs and they landed on a table in the living room. At that point he re-set them up in their families in that room. When he was done, he made both Vic and I close our eyes and he led us to the table and told us to open them so we could see his setup. He told us all the families. First, I should tell you that he really is learning the types of dinosaurs, but I mean really and truly - those are hard words to say and hard to remember unlike all of his "regli-ur" animals he knows so well. So, when we asked him which was which, he pointed out each family and these are the answers we got:

Stegosauruses
Tall-e-osauruses (the tall ones)
Humply-osauruses (the ones with humps such as the brontosauruses)
Horn-e-osaurusus (the ones with horns on their heads)
Triceratops
Ankylosauruses.
Flying Lizard Sauruses (the flying dinosaurs)
Tigerosaurus (a T-Rex that happened to be colored like a tiger)

And then he picked up the T-Rex to make it eat one of the dinosaurs and told me that dinosaur really liked to eat meat and blood. Nice.

He played with them awhile longer moving them around and lining them up and having them attach one another occasionally.

He loves animals. Regli-ur Ones. Endangered Ones. Uh-stinct ones. And now Dinosaurs. Oh and do you want to know why regli-ur animals are uh-stinct? It's because the Indians killed them all. And do you want to know why all of the dinosaurs are dead? It's because a big rock hit the earth and the earth changed. And do you want to know his favorite dinosaurs? Well, today it is the brachiosaurus, ankylosaurus, and the stegosaurus. And do you know why I know all of these answers? It is because Atticus told me. Smart little guy, huh?

 

 

A Vet and a Doctor

Lately, Atticus & Grace have picked their current go-to toys. These are toys they play with over and over for awhile and then will put away and a couple months later come back to and realize how much they loved them and start playing with them all over again. Grace has recently chosen he doctor kit that is filled with doctor office items as well as her Doc McStuffins doll and squishy Doc McStuffins toys. She will grab the box and bring it to me to open. Then she will usually start with the stethoscope to check out Doc's heart as well as my heart (or my face or knee or arm). Then, she will use every other instrument to work on Doc or the other toys. So, I'm thinking maybe she will be a doctor when she grows up?

Atticus, however, is still playing with his animals. He has big animals, old animals, new animals, farm animals, jungle animals, sea creatures, and tiny animals. But, recently he has added in Endangered Animals and Extinct Animals. After getting on a kick of watching videos on YouTube about animals, he learned about the terms endangered and extinct. He then began to tell us which ones were which and would regularly line up all of his animals and then choose one to "kill" the rest so they would become extinct. He will quote facts to us about these - sometimes they are exactly right and sometimes they are not. But, the way in which he tells us would make you think he knows exactly what he is talking about. For example:

"You know, mommy, that the Indians killed all the buffalo so now they are extinct." or "You know, mommy, scientists want to bring back extinct animals like the quogga, the big turtle, and the tapir." or "You know, mommy, endangered animals means that there are not very many left like the panda bear." or he would tell me stories such as "Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Atticus. He was walking along when he heard sumping! Oh. My. Goodness. It was a buffalo coming out of it's flossils! But, it was a nice buffalo. So then Atticus and the buffalo were walking and then they stopped. They heard sumping! Oh. My. Goodness. It was a giant snake coming out of it's flossils!"...and the story continues on and on. (Side note: he was watching a YouTube video where they would show the fossils in the ground but then would show them digitally come to life in the form of the original animal to show us what the animal would have looked like. So, that is where he got the "coming out of it's flossils" term. Oh and "flossils" instead of "fossils". I love it! Unfortunately, it only lasted about a week and a half before he learned to drop that first L.)

So, when GG was here this past week, they talked a LOT about dinosaurs and he learned a lot about the different kinds of dinosaurs and GG gave him lots of new dinosaur toys to play with. So, now he has added dinosaurs to his repertoire of animal knowledge! Oh and he is still into "setups". The other day while he was at school, Grace and I setup all of his animals. When he got home, he saw them and told me "Mommy, you did a gweat setup!".

And, I think he might be a vet one day because in his words..."I want to pwotect all the animals."

Atticus Update

Updates on Atticus:

• Still loves all animals, but recently has started including dinosaurs in his animal love.
• He is finally learning to dress himself. He sits down to put his bottoms on and only needs a little help with his top. He loves the praise I give him when he is dressed!
• Simba, Humphrey and his blanket are still his comfort pieces.
• He is starting to be able to do things like reach the light switches or things on shelves or put himself on the potty better.
• He is becoming more helpful all the time; he will put his plate away in the sink/trash and wash his hands without help and clean up toys without help and will try to help Grace with things occasionally. He will get the dustbuster to clean up messes and still loves to vacuum or help do any kind of cleaning with me.
• He loves his shows on TV, but is finally happier playing with toys than watching a show. Sometimes, when I need them to be occupied without me playing with them, I will put on an episode of something, but recently, Atticus would just as soon go play with his toys than watch it.
• He is still great at doing puzzles and likes to play games when he has my complete attention. He likes to do "setups" of his animals and really likes cooking in the kitchen although he does not yet do this much with Grace yet. She is still young enough that she doesn't play with him necessarily; at least not with any focus.
• He does lots of singing from the songs at school.
• He recognizes most numbers and lots of letters. He recently asked me to "just please teach me to read" when I wouldn't read his current favorite book to him (the great animal search which has approximately 300 animals and facts in it).
• He definitely as an attitude sometimes when I do not do what he wants or am not acting quickly enough. But, generally he still wants to be good and works very hard to be sweet and helpful and thoughtful.

Some of his recent conversations and phrases are as follows:

• "Well, you know, mommy,....." is the phrase that precedes most of his new topics. I love "well, you know" and think it is super cute.
• "You are my cute little mommy/daddy" is what he will say if he is sitting in our laps or snuggling up with us and being silly.
• "I bless you Gwace." (see former post on the new blessings we all get lately)
• "OH no! Daddy! Alabama is coming on TV!" is what he said one day when some NFL team was about to play. He thought it was bad because he just knew it was Alabama coming on and that Daddy would not be happy.
• "lellow" is the way he says yellow.
• a random conversation one day where he is explaining some previous event to me: "One day, I was looking for these animals but you and daddy and Gwacie were not here yet. I was still in your tummy but God was with me looking for these animals. And then I got out of your tummy and God went back into my hawt."
• When he is deep in conversation with me, he will be asking serious questions and scrunch up his face and put his hands on his hips to get his points across.
• Sometimes if Grace is acting up, he will come to me and tell me he knows what to do: "Lets put Gwace outside and let the birds take care of her and feed her worms!" and then laughs hysterically. I have no idea where he got that thought.
• On Sunday mornings, Vic will usually dress Atticus and he will come out and tell me he "is looking good in the neighborhood!"
• Right before Christmas, he couldn't say "Merry Christmas" with correct annunciation. He would pronounce it "Mawwy Chwimpas!" and it was adorable. I was so sad when he just casually said it correctly one morning.
• He will sometimes describe something with "as flat as a pancake!" for extra effect.
• His other new constant words include "ridicli-us", "regli-ur" and "disgusting"
• He's just hilarious with the way he sees life and the number and kinds of questions he asks. I will try to keep up with more of his comments to post in the future!

Grace Updates

Here are a few updates on Grace, mainly for me to remember:

• After a few rough weeks during the holidays, she has gotten into a sweet, happy routine.
• She giggles and smiles all day long and only if she is really mad will she throw a fit and scream. The screams are so high pitched and she also does them if she just sees other little kids who she doesn't know or who she does not want close to her.
• She says the following things but mostly only when prompted (except for mama or dada): Mama, Dada, Da (Atticus), shoes, cheese, ball, go (gah), uh-oh, snack (nack), sleep (she doesn't say it but she either tilts her head and gives the most adorable grin OR she will give a fake snore), water (wah), yes (for mostly just the sssss sound) and other than that, that's about it. I'm hoping for some more progress in the next couple of months. She knows everything we are talking about because she will go pick things up that we ask of her or go to a room we ask of her or will shake her head no or give a big shake up and down for yes and say "hmm hmm hmm" as if she is murmuring yes. She also just makes noises and acts silly too. I just am not sure why she doesn't speak much. When I do sit her down to work on words and she does them, I praise her and she is so happy! But, if I push too much she just stops and doesn't want to do it anymore. Or she will keep repeating "bah" for every word that is harder that I know she doesn't know well yet and smiles.
• Her favorite toys right now are the 4 paw patrol pups, Doc McStuffins and the doctor kit, pushing buttons on the toy cash register and feeding the toy dinosaur his food. She likes to play with the kitchen too but still needs us to play with her. She also likes to get on her tractor to scoot around and push her shopping cart while Atticus pushes his around. She also likes playing with puzzles right now and does a good job fitting the pieces.
• She is a DANCER! We watch plenty of entertainment TV in the evenings (Dancing with the Stars, America's Got Talent, or other music shows) and she will come grab our hands to go in the living room to dance with her. She loves it. She will spin and dance and at the end, if they are clapping on TV, she immediately claps too. She loves to dance!
• We play a little game if we are on the bed where I tell her to go to sleep and she lays down and does a pretend snore for a few seconds and then wakes up squealing so I will wake up too. She does it over and over.
• For Christmas, Grandma gave her an Anna & Elsa pillowcase so we put a pillow in her bed for the first time. Each night, she happily lays down on it like such a big girl and lets me cover her up and she goes to sleep. By morning, she has moved all over the bed, but she is quickly learning how to use the pillow.
• Her hair is still wild, but growing. I'm about ready to try some foam rollers and see if she would keep them in at night to curl it after a bath. It's soft and sweet and cute though!
• She does NOT like her hands to be dirty. If she notices they are dirty, she will call out to me and I know she wants them washed.
• She is not into arts and crafts much yet. I've tried coloring with her many times but she doesn't stay interested for long yet.
• She loves to be outside. She likes her slide, chalk, loves to swing, loves hide and seek, loves the sand box, and just wants to play. But, she usually needs one of us to be with her.
• She still likes to come grab our hands to take us wherever she wants us to go whether outside or to a room in the house and if you do not go with her, she gets very mad very fast.
• She has a pretty set evening routine with her books these days. She no longer wants to sit in my lap in the rocking chair to read. She picks a book to give to me, walks to her rocking chair, we read it, and then she goes back for another one. This happens over and over for her favorite 6 or 7 books. These books change about every week.
• She has really mastered the "blowing a kiss" concept and will do it without prompting anytime someone is leaving or she is going to bed. She even includes a "mwah!" with it. She also can give great little hugs wrapping her arms completely around your neck.
• She ended her need for the paci around mid-November. We cut off the ends of a few pacis and although she was mad for a day or two, she didn't put up much of a fuss. She still takes them to bed each night but doesn't need them all night long. I think it's more of a routine / habit for her. She will chew on them and run them through her fingers until she falls asleep. But, she does not keep it in her mouth all day. So, I've decided after seeing how easy it was to take it away that paci's will always be ok in my book!
• She is in 18-24 month clothes.
• I think she is trying to cut her molars but feel nothing. This week, she had fever for about 3 days off and on and kept her shirt soaked in drool, but no teeth coming through yet.
• She has gotten picky with eating. She changes her palette every day and we never know what she will like from one day to the next.
• She is the best baby ever as far as waiting for us to come get her in the mornings or after naps and not fussing at all. She just hangs out in her crib. And if we put her to bed and she is not ready, she will just hang out in her bed until she falls asleep.
• In December, we turned her carseat around and she thinks it's the best thing in the world to see out the front of the car.
• She is just such a baby. I remember Atticus seeming to be much older at this age, but Grace loves to be held and carried and snuggled and loved on a lot. Previously, she has had stages of doing what she wants when she wants but now is back to wanting attention and extra love. And, she is definitely not interested in being the center of attention. She is happiest doing her own thing. She's the cutest!
  

Our Christmas & New Years in North Texas

And our final Christmas post!

• We headed to Sanger on Saturday, the 27th. We stopped at Rainforest Café in Grapevine for a surprise lunch for Atticus and Grace. After an HOUR wait, we finally had lunch and it was so much fun for Atticus, who loves all of the animals.
• We got to Sanger and immediately headed out to see the 6 week or so old goats. It was SO cold and windy that we didn't last long.
• on Sunday, we hung out at the house, played with the goats, while it was nice and sunny, and played with Grandma and Pop's toys. Later that night, went to see Stormy & Tabatha's new house! It was just finished and beautiful! It was also so much fun to see them and see Adley, who is so precious. She is just tiny and petite like her mama and has the curliest blonde hair. She just played and played with Atticus and was so sweet to share toys and tell us things. Another reason to move to North Texas...for the McCuistions!
• On Monday, the plan was for all of the Erwins and families to meet at Melbo & Pa's at 5:30 to open gifts and eat dinner. The boys (Vic, Daddy, and Charley) went to Denton to drink a few beers, visit, and play darts. Ana came over so she and I could visit while the kids napped and then we all met everyone else at Melbo's about 5:30.
• We had potato soup and taco soup and fiesta soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, plus the wonderful Christmas sweets! Then, we opened gifts with everyone. I think we definitely need more time next year. It goes so fast and I know that I can't really open and look at my gifts very long while trying to make sure the kids are opening and taken care of as well. But, it was lots of fun!
• Before we opened gifts, I asked Atticus to sing Away in a Manger. At first he said he didn't want to but I reminded him he needed to if he wanted to open gifts. Then, he looked at me and said he wanted to sing Away in a Manger AND Go Tell it on the Mountain. He did Away in a Manger first with the hand motions and then he just lit up as he started singing Go Tell it on the Mountain and clapped his way through it while everyone joined in. Adorable!
• I was also really proud of Atticus. It's got to be a lot of stimulation for little ones at Christmas - especially when you get 3 Christmases like our kids do that last an entire week! There's a lot of expectations that he will keep getting presents and it's easy to forget to be happy with what you have and to show your thanks in person and not be greedy. He did not act appropriately at the McCuistion's house the night before so we made sure we had lots of talks with him about what Christmas is really about and about how to be happy with what we get and not to ask for more. So, when it was time to open presents, he was SO helpful to pass out whatever Charley gave him to pass out. He, on his own, would tell someone thank you and even give them hugs after he opened a gift (and without me even prompting him!) I was so proud of him. At one point, he was about to say "where's another present for me?" when I started to stop him and remind him of the correct behavior. But, he stopped himself in time and told me "if someone says "Atticus I have another present for you" then I can open that present!". He got it completely!
• Grace, on the other hand was adorable. She was not completely interested in sitting in my lap or opening presents one after the other. She preferred checking out what was going on in the living room and then going back to GG's room to watch a few minutes of Paw Patrol and then coming out for a snack (which at one point meant her eating a cupcake at the table in her chair all by herself). She would open a gift here and there but otherwise she was happiest doing her own thing. And, thankfully everyone was ok with that too.
• For Christmas, Atticus and Grace got so many fun things! Grace got lots of Frozen things like memory, her first plate, a pillowcase and coloring pages. She got a bath baby doll, shopping cart, books, Doc McStuffins memory game, food for the kitchen and  puzzle. One of her big gifts were 4 of the Paw Patrol pups (which she carries around the house to play with all the time!). Atticus got the game Eye Found It, superhero memory, a knight and horse to go with his castle, his own shopping cart, Chutes & Ladders, books, puzzles, a fantastic Animal book that has over 300 animals and facts in it from Grandma and about 10 new animals from GG. He also got this great book from Charley called The Book With No Pictures and it's super funny and he laughs out loud every time! THey also got more food and dishes for their kitchen and a cash register. They made out like bandits at Christmas this year!
• A super special gift that GG gave the kids was a bench. It was found by Pa's brother, Joe, on the side of the road with the wood rotted out. He replaced the wood and cleaned it up and sold it at the family auction at Thanksgiving. Well, GG just had to get it for the kids because it has iron animals on the back of it. And it is really super cool! I love it for their reading area in Atticus' room.
• Vic and I were spoiled as well with hardware for our bathrooms, candles, lots of house shoes and double sided tape for me, some great scrapbooking supplies, jewelry, exercise trackers, cookbooks, a bracelet holder, tape measure, gift cards, a handmade tablecloth, new cd's, garment bag, kitchen supplies and money!
• It was a very generous Christmas from our family. And it was a fast night.
• Good thing the next day was Family Game day so we could spend more time together. We gathered at Mom & Daddy's at about 3pm to start games. We played fishbowl, and two new games - Headbanz and A Ticket to Ride. Both wree great games and kept some of us going until midnight. We had lots of fun food to eat and lots of family time. I think the best part was having Melbo and Pa play Headbanz with us. The game consists of 6 people wearing headbands with a card in each one. When you have the headband on, everyone but you can see your card and you have to ask questions that everyone else can answer to help you decide what it is. However, they can only answer yes, no, could be, or I don't know. So, it is tough! Well, Pa would occasionally help someone out by giving a clue such as for the word "bedroom" he said " you can have a lot of fun in there". Oh goodness! He is 88 years old but boy was it funny and even he couldn't stop laughing. And Melbo would get side tracked or stuck on one way of thinking about her card (which is really easy to do anyways in this game) and he would give her hints to help her or we would all have to help her remember. I was SO glad they wanted to stay and play and it was so much fun with them.
• On Wednesday, we hung out with the kids for awhile and then took them to GG's to spend the night so Vic and I could spend New Year's Eve with Ana & Charley. It was really fun as they had great wine and appetizers and then took us to Twelve Stones, a restaurant in Flower Mound. It was delicious! And then back to their house to play more Headbanz, drink more wine, and wait for midnight! We got up early Wednesday morning to two delicious breakfast casseroles that Ana made. Then, we went back to Aubrey, got the kids, loaded the car, and drove back to College Station in the first REALLY cold weather we've had this winter.
• It was just a really fun, relaxing trip. The kids behaved well because they were not sick, had plenty of toys to play with that are only at GG's or Grandma and Pop's and just did their own thing part of the time. Here are about a million pictures below!

On Saturday, we went out in the cold to play with goats and fed them.

On Sunday, we had a prettier day to play with goats, play with toys and go see the McCuistion' new house! Grandma also taught Grace to feed Sam, who is temporarily staying at their house. She loved throwing food to him and then laughing hysterically at the event. Although he got tired of it, she also loved throwing toys for him the entire time we were there.

 

On Monday afternoon, we got dressed up and headed to the first part of Erwin Christmas.

 

 

So, at the end of the night, I asked Melbo and Pa, who have been married 67 years, for a picture. Then, I asked them to give us a kiss! Well, Pa put up a fight and not because he doesn't kiss her all the time (we've all caught them around the corner at one time or another), but because he has to pretend like he doesn't want to kiss her. He always claims he has a "weak stomach"! ha! He can't stop laughing in these pictures either!

On Tuesday, we started our day off with checking the goats outside in our pajamas and coats and boots. Then, Pop drove us down to the marina to walk around. It was really cold! Atticus LOVED not having to ride in his carseat. Grace was needing a nap, but really liked pushing every button she could find in the truck.

 Then, everyone came over and we had family game night! And amongst the noise, Grace took a nap on the couch. And, at the end of the night, Ana had dance party with the kids!

 

  

 

 On Wednesday, we celebrated New Year's Eve with Ana & Charley and discussed reasons we should move to North Texas! 




It was a great end to 2014 and a great beginning to 2015!!