summer and swim lessons

Well, I am not going to lie and say this summer has been all peaches and cream.. 2 boys and unlimited time together often results in quite a few battles, wrestling matches, crying,biting,hitting..do I need to go on?? These boys love eachother, dont get me wrong, but there must be a line drawn somewhere with spending toooooo much time together! I think I will greatly appreciate the new school year when it begins.

We have been taking swim lessons the past 2 weeks and the boys have loved every minute of it. I am so excited to say that they have graduated from the turtles to the penguins! haha. Whatever that means right?! Here are a few pics from our adventure thus far.

Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day!

We decided to head to the beach for the day on Father's Day. It was so much fun and the waves were almost non-exsistent! We recently got the boys life jackets so they could float around in the ocean safely and this was the perfect day to test them out. We topped off the day with a visit to Cold Stone. It was a much needed day of rest for one stressed out daddy. I am so thankful for Christopher and what an amazing man, father, and leader of our family that he has been. We love you soooooo much!

Dear Friends old and NEW!

Fast Friends!

They boys and I went to Columbia to visit my parents for Carter's Spring Break. It was rainy and yucky but on THIS day we were in the company of dear sweet friends so it made everything like rainbows and sunshine! Kelley,my best friend since 4th grade, lives in Columbia too with her family. We always make a big effort to see them whenever we are anywhere close to Columbia! Below is a picture of Carter and Drew with Kelley's 2 little ones Mac and Arden. They played so nicely together and Kelley and I were able to catch up and laugh and pick right back up where we left off. We really are kindred spirits and lifelong friends whose lives inexplicably mirror each other rather closely. We got married a week apart AND had babies 2 weeks apart. I showed up at her house wearing a black shirt and jeans...guess what she was wearing? Yep, a black shirt and jeans. Too funny. Wish I would have gotten a pic of the 2 of us!! Darn it!Next time. I am so thankful for her REAL friendship and unconditional love and support!

Boys trip to the Dentist= SUCCESS!

Took Carter and Drewby to the dentist today! This was Carter's second attempt and Drew's first trip. Carter flipped out a year ago when we went to get his teeth cleaned for the first time. What a difference a year has made for him! He was so brave and very, very curious about every gadget. The hygenist loved him and was very patient and took time to answer every single question. Drew was super brave as well. He could have cared less that someone was in his mouth working. Only he couldnt suck his thumb... :)

Carter's 5th bday

Carter turned 5 this month!! I simply cannot believe he is FIVE. I refuse to believe it. He is at such a fun age. His little personality to being to come out and most of the time it is adorable and charming. However, he is definitely getting a lot more emotional and passionate when it comes to things that go wrong in his little "perfect" world. Here's to my precious Carter!! We love you so very, very much!

Things I love about Carter:

His love for the Lord and his incredible understanding of who Jesus is from a very early age.

His outgoing and fun personality.

His ability to make friends whereever we go in only a matter of minutes!

His love for monkey bars.(that cost him a broken elbow!)

His brilliant mind.( Of course I would think so, Im his mommy!)

His beautiful eyes and smile.

His ability to way over the top exaggerate when he scraps his knee...BLLLOOOOOOOD!!

The list goes on and on..

Here are a few pics that we took around his bday time. The last one is of our sweet friends Rachel, Caroline and Sims with Carter and Drew celebrating his bday early. The rest are of our family party we had here. We had planned a big blow up waterslide party for his 5th bday, but since he broke his elbow 2 days before the party, we had to postpone!

How many girlfriends?

I was driving down the road today singing along with my boys to Brad Paisely( I know, poor boys who are stuck in the car with my music preferences!) and Carter says....
Soooo mom, How many girlfriends am I allowed to have at a time?? It was really priceless. He wasnt even kidding. Totally serious. I tried to steer the conversation in a different way telling him that he can have as many girls that are his friends as he wants. He then goes, No mom, you know what I mean, like a GIRLfriend girlfriend. whoa. Can we slow things down a bit casanova??

BFF's fo sho!

Our favorite house guests, the Heise's, came over this past weekend for some good food and good times. It was so much fun as always. The kiddos love eachother and get so excited to play together! They have grown up so much! I cant believe Carter and Rachel have been friends since Carter was 8 mo old and Rachel was 1!Just look at how cute they were playing together when they were little! Notice how Carter is clinching his fists and mad in the pic of them playing. So funny! Time really has gone by so fast. Love those Heise's more and more everyday!

Oh Drewby..

Drew has an ear infection and he hasn't complained at all about it actually.. He was yawning yesterday and he looks at me surprised and says " My ear just popped..mommy did you just hear that?" It was hilarious. I said.. "no, sweet boy, only you can hear that." He looked at me like I was crazy and says "nooo mommy, your kidding." I grabbed him and had to hug him and laugh for a while. Love that boy.

Meanwhile, Carter had a boo boo and I was going to doctor it up and he was really nervous about me getting anywhere NEAR it (he is our dramatic child) so before I go in to touch it he yells "WAIT MOM!, Can I pray for Jesus to make it not hurt real quick?!" I said, of course and he prayed out loud fully confident and expectant that the Lord would take the pain away. Well, it worked. He calmly let me touch and clean the wound and was off playing again in like 2 seconds. I love childlike faith. We all need a dose of it.

Hilarious!

We got to Carter's school a few minutes early today and he wanted to show me his playground and more importantly the monkey bars at the playground. So we are walking over there and the sidewalk curves around and you see the playground up ahead and Carter runs ahead of me and turns back with is hands pointing toward the playground and says, " THIS( dramatic pause..) is where the magic happens!" I died laughing. It was so stinking funny. I cant believe how funny this kid is. Cant wait to tell him these funny stories when he grows up!

Funny Carter Comments of the day

We had some bad weather tonight here in FL and Carter, who is our worrier, was all upset about the threat of the word"TORNADO". So I tried to watch the weather reports in my bedroom as not to alarm him after dinner tonight and Christopher was doing his best to distract the boys from the storm....Carter comes in the bedroom and says he wants to watch the news with me. So we are watching the weather man and all the red and flashing lights on the radar map and Carter says..
Carter:"Hey Mom, My nose has been running today but dont worry, I dont even need tissues because Ive got my own wet wipe here in my mouth!"
MA: What? What are you talking about silly?
Carter: "See right here(pointing to tongue) Its my own personal wet wipe, and its here with me all the time!" (and he then sticks out his tongue to wipe the snot coming out of his nose.) nice.

Then after we died laughing...

Carter: "Hey mom"
MA: "Yes, Carter"
Carter: "It is good to make jokes and laugh because it distracts us from the bad weather and keeps us calm."

WHAT 4 YEAR OLD SAYS THAT??
It was hilarious. I love this kid.

Boys will be boys

Carter and Drew play outside pretty much everyday from about 3:30 to around 6. No

one has to teach boys to build forts and guns...it just happens. Amazing. They have so much fun playing and imagining with eachother and with our neighbors. Here is just a sample of what I see outside when I pass by. Thank goodness Auntie Lisa provides us with loads and loads of beach towels! Do these boys really know how good they have it???
So I sit here and blog while they play pirates and robbers! Here's to trying to be better about blogging. New year, new goals.. Seeing that I didnt post a single entry in 2010, I am already exceeding my best expectations!

Lately...

So it seems that me and blogging do not go hand in hand. I will try to sum up the past few months that have gone by...lets see. We are finding that Drew and Carter are beginning to look more alike. We took some pictures of them tonight together and they are pretty funny. The boys are totally playing together now and that is so much fun for Christopher and I to watch. They chase eachother around and then eventually Carter knocks Drew down and he cries... that is ALWAYS the way it ends. Always. Enjoy!

Drew on the scooter and my perfect loaf of bread

SO Drew thinks he can do anything Carter can do... and he does! It is pretty amazing how these 2nd born kids are so headstrong to be just as good as the first. We were playing outside this morning and Drew took off down the driveway on the scooter. Our driveway has a slight slope for those who do not know so you can pick up some pretty good speed going down it. Drew did it flawlessly and without a problem. Well, until he ran into an obstacle(tricycle). But that doesnt count. It was stopping him from going into the street! hehe. So here is a short clip of him riding it. And also Carter riding it too. Enjoy!

Oh- and I also have put in a picture of my first perfect loaf of homemade bread that I have made thus far. I think the 3rd time was a charm. It is deeeelicious!

Much needed update

So it has been a while since I posted anything... my only excuse is LIFE. Oh my goodness. I truely feel that some days it is all I can do to just make it through the day! I think Carter skipped the terrible 2's and went full force into the terrible 3's! Oh my! WHERE did this come from? I feel like everyday lately is an up hill battle. If he wasnt so stinkin cute I might have to sell him on ebay! kidding..
But seriously, who teaches them to talk back and beat their brothers? Is that Carter's life long ambition.. I think yes. All I have to say is thank goodness we can go outside and play year round in Florida! I think that is my saving grace on most any day. Everything bad disappears once we walk, or RUN, outside!
Okay- thanks for listening to me vent a little.
As far as an update on the Newlins... I turned 30 this past week. That is the biggest news! Christopher and I went out to eat in Orando. It was so nice. We went to the beach on Valentine's Day. It was a beautiful day here and I am so glad we decided to go. Here are some pictures from our day at the beach.
Enjoy!

Sea World

So we are trying to make the most of living so close to Orlando at this point in our lives. Therefore, our children have been super spoiled by going to both the Magic Kingdom and Sea World. Carter thinks they are like his playgrounds and that we can pick up and go at any time. Aren't kids the best? They live in this surreal world. You know, I say let them live in it because before too long that bubble will burst and life won't be quite as magical anymore. So all this to say, we went to Sea World 2 times in a week actually. Because when you buy a ticket you can come back free 1 more time...but it has to be within 7 days. So Carter really did think that he had it made and could go whenever he wanted! Christopher wanted to take him on all the kiddie rides. Poor Carter just goes with it. Look at these pictures! I don't know how they let Carter on this ride??!

Okay... I give in, I will blog!

So in the words of my 2 year old son Carter, "Here goes nothin'". I love reading all of my friends blogs so I thought why not take time to fill them in on the Newlins and the crazy day to day chaos that surrounds us. It will be quite humorous at times so beware. For instance, just today as I was addressing Christmas cards thinking...Man, I have this 2 children thing down...Carter was playing nicely in his room with his trains, Drew was back and forth under my feet and chasing a soccer ball....all is well. Or so I thought. I had not heard or seen Drew in a few seconds it seemed, but that was all it took. I turned around in my chair and he was standing on top of the toy box. Yeah. He is our climber. I had to laugh. Probably not the right response, but it was super funny. Next I got my camera to document, THEN I got him down from the dangerous situation. Oh the joy of having boys!