Good Pals

Last weekend we had a special visit from one Dallas-ite named Josh. Alison and Josh were in town for a baby shower, and Matt ended up getting lots of playtime with his friend. Matt & Josh play so well together and just pick up where they left off, getting goofier with each visit.

We met at our favorite kid-friendly restaurant, Phil's. After playing, Matt devoured his corn dog and was later rewarded with some ice cream.

Will was all over that place. They boy is on the move and wants to do what the big kids are doing. He goes down slides all by himself now and somehow gets those little legs to climb up on all kinds of things. He was one happy, sweaty mess by the end of the evening. He never stopped moving.

The next day while we ladies were at the shower, the dads and kids congregated here at our house for play time. Zach & Ava joined in on the fun with Matt, Will, Steven & Josh.

Backyard pool time and park time.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera to Alicia's baby shower. But, it was a special day where we celebrated her soon-to-arrive sweet baby girl. Baby Adalyn has a super sweet wardrobe and everything she needs to thrive in the outside world now, that's for sure! Can't wait to see what a Hampton girl looks like. When we got home the kids were outside. Will got his hands on the sidewalk chalk, and as you can see he was begging for attention. Naughty boy.

Henry was in fine form that evening. Matt was having a great time making him smile. Adorable!

This week we wrapped up swim lessons. Somehow, Matt received a certificate. He didn't complete all the skills, but he definitely showed improvement over the span of the class. He was still negotiating with the teacher even on the last day. That boy. He's a fan of goggles now which is incredible to me because he hates anything on his face (no hats or sunglasses). Gives me the giggles to see him wearing them. I'll work on getting a picture.

Splash Park

Last Wednesday the kids and I spent the day with Caroline, Mary Claire and Aunt Sarah at a cool splash park out by their house. The summer is quickly slipping away and we haven't had a chance yet to play with those sweet girls! We had a great day. Ava, Henry and Aunt Joy joined us as well. We had our picnic lunch first. I'm not sure if anyone really ate any of their lunch, there was just too much excitement about playing together. Will is so cute; he struts around and tries to do all the things the big kids do and is really just exhilarated to be in their presence.

Will loved the sandbox and cried when I removed him from it so we could move on to the water portion of the park. When we go to the beach in a few weeks I picture him parked in the sand just digging away.

All the cousins have a ball playing together. I think in a couple more years once Will and Henry are older the split between boys and girls will happen. It will be interesting to see it all unfold!

I love Mary Claire and all her fabulousness. She is still the epitome of everything girl. And what a beautiful girl she is. We get to see the girls again this week! They're coming to watch Ava & Matt's swim lessons one day this week. Should be awesome!

Swim Lessons

Monday was Matt's very first swim lesson. Ever. I've held off until this point because I didn't think he'd take well to it. He likes the water and enjoys going to the pool as long as he's holding on to you in water where he isn't able to stand. To make the experience more enjoyable Matt is in the same class with Ava. So, he has a date with her at the pool everyday for 2 weeks.

The teacher of the class is probably 16, but he's a really sweet kid and seems to enjoy working with the little ones and is incredibly patient. I was really interested to see how Matt would handle the class--with all new swimming skills that he is not comfortable with. He held tightly to the wall for the first few exercises. His teacher asked him if he could push off from the wall and glide over to him. Matt looks at him and says, "Well, I'll probably be able to do that when I'm older, like 5." The young man handled it well, and as it turns out he's really a good teacher for our son. Matt continued to negotiate with him, and the teacher continued to challenge and encourage him to try the exercises. Matt has surprised me and been such a brave boy. I can't wait to see what he's able to do at the end of two weeks. Building confidence is what I'm going for. And it seems to be doing just that.

Here's Will's little hide-out. This week he's been working on running. Right now it's a little trot. But boy is he getting faster. Trouble!

Where might I find...

MATTHEW? Go in the kitchen and you'll see him sitting in front of the refrigerator rearranging his numbers and spelling things with his letters. It's an activity he continues to do multiple times a day. I might need another set of magnetic letters though because he's spelling words and we just don't have enough to go around. The numbers he arranges represent a few things: speed limits, highway signs, swimming pool depth, or song numbers for a cd. He either puts them on the fridge or runs the risk of Will attack and puts them on the floor. That blur is Will about to tromp all over his creation.

I love seeing what he decides to spell. Ava is usually in there every time. He tried to spell "T is for Texas" but see, we didn't have enough A's! Gotta get more letters.

Matt's other latest obsession is questioning me about every single road sign he sees while we're driving. Like...what does detour mean? what's left turn on signal only? why's it say no right on red? what do all those arrows mean? why does it say stop here on red? why does it say guardrail damage ahead? why is that exit only? why does it say no outlet? why do we have to use caution? And where are the workers ahead? And on, and on... It's cool that he can read and all; don't get me wrong, I LOVE that he can read, but it sure does spur on more and more questions. Somehow I still have a voice at the end of the day so that's good!

Matt also spends a good amount of time in front of the computer listening to music or watching old home videos. He can open both programs on the computer and navigate them unassisted. He's still making playlists and adding songs to his playlists. His favorites right now are Blitzen Trapper and the Beatles.

WILLIAM? You'll find Will either in Matt's room begging to play with his Yo Gabba Gabba calendar or toting around his print out of the Gabba gang that Steven made for him. He's decided that that is his favorite show and that all the characters are his best friends. He carries that sheet of paper around and points at all their faces and smiles at them and tries to babble their names in his own language. It's hilarious. The other night Steven and I were cracking up because he was just sitting there on the floor holding the paper and smiling at them.

Will also has a new-found fondness for books. There's a Curious George book that he looks at over and over again all day long. If Matt and I are reading Will comes toddling over and climbs into my lap to listen. It's cute until he gets restless and then grabs at the book. Matt is usually pretty patient with that.

You'll also find Will, well, everywhere else. His tiny little legs scurry all over this house tearing apart everything he runs into. His favorite places to cause naughtiness are in the kitchen (pots & pans) and my bathroom (toilet paper & q-tips).

The both of them love to play on our bed too. It scares me to death, but they have a ball doing it. They take turns hiding in the pillows, and Will likes to talk to himself in the mirror on our dresser. Good times at the Jones house, that's for sure.

Where have we been?

Since I last posted a lot has happened! We've been to three birthday parties...for the twin boys Eli & Luke, Hannah and Cadence.

Matthew got a new booster seat for the car, and William inherited Matt's old seat and is finally facing forward like a big boy. I think they're both happy with the changes. Will just chats away and points at all the things he can see now.

The kids and I made what turned out to be a quick trip down to Port Aransas the last week of June to spend time with some of my college roomies and their children. Hurricane Alex was threatening, so we decided it wise to pack up and leave early rather than risk experiencing crazy winds, downpours of rain, and no electricity with 5 small children. But the short amount of time we had with one another was great fun.

The kids had a total blast together and created all kinds of mischief while we weren't looking. In the same day we caught them in one of the bedrooms eating iced animal cookies that they'd snatched from the kitchen AND hiding in another bedroom eating Alison's Twizzler stash. Tsk, tsk!

4 kids also shared a room that was full of bunk beds so that led to all manner of shenanigans as well. It was definitely not a restful few days, but we had fun! Will followed those big kids around and just laughed and smiled at whatever they did.

We came home in time to get ready for our annual July 4th party. Sunday was a full day. We started it off with church in the morning where there was awesome patriotic music and a tear in everyone's eye as we honored those who have served our nation. Then we came home and greeted all our friends and family with a nice BBQ lunch and way more food than we needed. We spent the afternoon watching the kids bounce and slide and collide into each other on the awesome bounce house we had in the backyard. There were some really good wipeouts into the pool at the bottom of the slide.

That evening Joyce & Ken were so kind to watch Will for us while we went out to the Quarries to watch the fireworks show that our church put on. We got there early enough to get a good spot and watch the kids run around and ask a billion times when the fireworks were going to start. Once they did finally start, which was late, Matthew was beside himself with excitement. He was jumping up and down and yelling very excited words at the show in the sky above him. I knew he would love it. He was totally entranced.

This picture is so funny to me because it proves how huge Matt is getting. He fills up my lap, and it's really uncomfortable to have him sit like that with me! But I still savored the opportunity to be close to my little boy.

It was a really great show, and once it was over we headed home and put our big boy to bed--at 10:00! What a great day we had, and it was so wonderful to be able to share it with so many great friends and family. For those who missed out, we hope to see you next year!