The Moments a mom lives for. . .

This is one of those lump-in-your-throat-wish-you-could-freeze-time moments.  So during some down time in the "business" of selling refreshments  from the front yard the boys decided that "battling" with their Pokeman cards was a little more entertaining.  I love it when the boys do this.  It is the perfect combination of playing, imagination, cooperation, reading and math.  I have NO clue how the game is played.  They have made up all the rules themselves and it is very cool to eavesdrop while they play.  Mind you, I still don't get the object or rules but I do love hearing the discussions of what beats what and how many points remain.  I really love how enthusiastic Asher is and how loving and inclusive Aiden is when they play.

So as the boys "battled" our cute neighbor, Jared Green comes by.  He is 10ish years old, so of course, these younger boys are psyched to see him.  Well, it turns out Jared used to be into Pokeman cards and "has a ton of them he doesn't use anymore."  Off Jared goes to get his cards.  He comes back with a bunch of cards and the boys go wild!!!!  Jared is the total Rock Star as he divides up the cards equally among the 5 boys.  He also brought is old Pokeman binder that holds his cards.  The boys' eyes were as big as silver dollars.  Jared offered to sell it for "10 bucks."  Ade and Brock scattered to see if they had adequate funds.  I was smiling, knowing full well Ade was going to fall short.  

Well, next thing I know Ash is right in my face with the hugest grin (complete with red mustache) and this sparkle in his eyes.  It was the teeth clenched/eyes wide open excitement.  Ash. . ."MOM LOOK, LOOK!!!!!"  (He is holding the Pokeman binder) "AIDEN GOT THIS FOR ME!!" As he hugs the binder, "I never had a biner befoouur."  I looked back to see Aiden acting all nonchalant and "no big dealish."  He gives me this little 'awww shucks' wave of his hand and said, "Mom, Jared sold it to me for 3 bucks and Asher doesn't have his own binder, so I thought he should have one."  Then off he went to play with his buddies.  I could feel the dilation of vessels in my nose and eyes. . .must fight emotion and not embarrass kids.  I also had the fight the huge urge to go buy Aiden the entire stock of Star Wars/Indiana Jones toys and games.  you know, I thought that graduating from nursing school was gratifying.  But this sense of accomplishment blew that away.  I LOVE that Ade is learning empathy and generosity.  But I mostly LOVE the bond developing between these two.

Here is Jared helping Ash load the Pokeman cards in his new "biner."  Jared is such a sweet kid!  He was totaling entertaining those kids.

Check out the intensity on Asher's face as he loads his cards.

Here are my sweeties with their new goods!

And now the 'holy grail.'  The "biner" that almost made the mom cry!

Will Work For Boat Gas. . .

In these tough economic times my kids decided to take matters into their own hands. . .I mean someone has got to pay for the gas in dad's boat.  Yep, we did a "refreshment stand" not the normal lemonade stand due to the lack of lemonade.  They had a great time and at the end of the day we had most of the neighborhood hangin with us.  We served up some Crystal Light, an assortment of soda, and some yummy chocolate rice krispy treats.  Yep, I was just about as tired after the "stand" closed as I am at the end of a shift in the E.R.  But hey, can you put a price on some awesome summertime memories?  Here are a few shots from our day. . .

Brock and Aiden "fancying up" the sign.  I love that these kids already understand the importance of marketing.

One of our favorite customers of the day, Ed Gorder and Tyler really pumped the kids with soda and lots of treats purchase.  Ed is such great guy, thanks Ed, you really made the kids' day!

Taking a break, can you see the red mustaches on their faces. . .yep, drinking up all the profit!

Here is a pic of the corporate headquarters. . .notice the sweet sign.

How much do I LOVE this photo, my two babies, joining in mutual admiration.  I hope they will always love each other.

Okay, so maybe the moment was fleeting, but couldn't you just eat little Ash us with a spoon.  The princess is pretty much over it.  
And one last one, my baby growing up way too fast.  HATE it!  She had a great day hangin with bros and their buddies.  This little girl LOVES the outdoors.  We were outside for  about 4 hours and she was soooo low maintenance the whole time.  Yummy baby!
So all said and done, the kids made about 10 bucks (2 bucks each).  So if Ash and Ade combine their earnings they could put almost a whole gallon of gas in dad's boat.  Oh well, they are well on their way to corporate America!

Things a baby girl LOVES. . .

This crazy baby. . .she LOVES ice.  If she hears the clankity clank of ice swirling around in your cup she goes all sorts a postal.  When I looked at her today I saw her reaching into the cooler and grabbing out a big ole' piece of ice.  And I'm pretty sure she does not have temperature sensors in her hands.  She will grip a piece of ice or popsicle until it is gone.  One of these days I'll have to post a pic of her baby birding ice out of Quinn's or my mouth.  This ice infatuation is quite ironic since I craved and chewed ice from 4 months on when I was pregnant with her.  They told me I was anemic but now I'm pretty sure it was this little thing making her demands known.

Another thing she LOVES. . .well, we all love him.  Gus is such a great dog and soooo tolerant of the kids.  When Aiden was almost one he would grab fist fulls of Gus's fur and yank.  Then Ade would pull himself up and with Aiden still holding on Gus would slowly walk.  Yep, our dog taught our first born  to walk.  Another fine example of stellar parenting.

Here are Ava and Gus displaying mutual admiration.  When Ava sees Gus she points at him and goes, "uuuuuuuu."  Love it!

Gus came up and sat next to Ava knowing full well that this was going to happen.  But really, who minds a little tugging. . .

When there is a lot of smooching to follow.  Ava giggles her little head off when Gus showers her with kisses!

And while we are on the topic of obsessions. . .what the crap am I going to do with this little punk?  Yes, he is freakin' cute, but really, this binkie. . .eieieieyyyyiiii.  He is doing better leaving the binkie out during the day, except today. . .busted.  Anyone have any suggestions?

"SOOOOOOOO BUSY. . .

In the words of my crazy friend, Jenn ( I think she was making fun of her mom when using the "sooo busy" term).  We have been crazy busy so I'm going to do a little back bloggin' cause really it's all about the documentation.  Sorry in advance for the ridiculous amount of photos, I may or may not have an addiction!

Watch out Andre Agassi

Summer tennis. . .really just a minor prep for school next year.  Ade had to be up and out the door by 8:55.  We are soooo hosed for school this fall.  Ade made it to tennis on time, ohhh, about 40% of the time.  And school will start an entire hour earlier.  Anyway, despite uncombed hair and unbrushed teeth he had a great time.  His idea for a Family Home Evening activity was to go to the tennis courts.  His buddy, Braxton, was with him each week, along with Bradley and some other kids from school.  So, I think, hangin' with the buddies was the real fun and the tennis was just gravy.

Aiden and his brotha from anotha, Braxton.

This is the official "tennis tee shirt" which Aiden insisted he had to wear everyday (tennis was 4 mornings a week for 4 weeks.) I had to be ultra night time laundry mom.  But lets be honest, he went to tennis a lot of mornings with ketchup and other surprises on his shirt.

Sweet form, dude.  He is a total Ace!
I love this little man, he is such a gift!