"I'm Going To See My Best Friend, Jay!"

We had another playdate with Jay last week.  Gabe was so excited when I told him that we were going to see Jay at Mall Tots.  Gabe chose his entire outerwear that day based on what he thought Jay might be wearing.  This boy is obsessed with Jay!

Two other moms were at Mall Tots with us.  Nicole's mom, Melissa; and Joseph and Jonathan's mom, Karen.  According to Karen, Joseph, who's in Gabe's class at school, got very excited when he heard that he'd be seeing Gabe at Mall Tots.  So cute.  We had a GREAT playdate that day.  I remember driving home with the boys and just relishing the feeling of a successful playdate with friends.  It's so rare; but when it happens, it's such a great feeling.

Gabe & Jay sitting on top of the pirate ship

Jay pushing Gabe in the cool car (doesn't Gabe look so small?)

Jay's turn in the car!

Gabe's classmate, Joseph

best buds

Zachie and his car

This Is Amazing To My Eyes!

The former owners of our house continue to haunt us.  Shortly after we moved in, we quickly discovered - and continue to discover, unfortunately - that the family did not take good care of this home.  Our recent haunting came in the form of a trash heap that I noticed behind our back fence.  Between our fence and a rock wall that separates our property from our neighbor's, there's about two feet of more land.  As I was playing with the boys the other day, I saw a TON of trash just over the fence.  Things like old plastic sand toys, trash bags, candy wrappers, old dog balls, etc.  I guess this trash heap was covered up by old leaves and grass?  I'd never seen it before....

So, I put on my rubber boots and gloves and with trash bag in hand walked around the block to get to the part of our backyard just over the fence.  Naturally, the boys got a big kick out of seeing me on the other side of the fence.  Gabe was very curious about what I was doing, so I explained to him that there was a lot of trash that we needed to clean up.  We talked about how trash is not good for the earth, etc.  Everything that I explained to Gabe, he would then pass on to Zach.  It was super cute.  There was a lot of talk about this trash.  Looking back, I realized that the excessive talk probably had something to do with the fact that I often exclaimed, "are you kidding me?" as I picked up broken egg shells, decomposed trash bags, a rusted tape measure, broken toys, etc.  In all, I filled 1.5 trash bags!

I also found a small toy truck, toy airplane, toy hammer, and a decorative garden duck in the heap.  Those "treasures", I placed on top of the fence to wash and give to the boys later.  When Gabe spied the dirty toys, he got very excited.  I explained to him that I'd give them the toys after they were washed.  Well, Gabe got completely jazzed at the idea of buried treasures.  He said the cutest things, and the one that sticks with me the most is: "I'm so excited about these toys.  This is amazing to my eyes!"

And from the other side of the fence, I heard him sing a song from one of our books called, My Nest Is Best.  This is what Gabe was singing:

"I love my nest, I love my nest, in all the world my nest is best."

Gabe was so excited about the unearthed toys that I think he was singing a song about how much he loves his house (aka "nest").  Too cute!

99-1

Gabe & Zach like pretend that they see fires from up in their clubhouse.  They look through the telescope, find a fire, and then Gabe throws the pretend phone to Zach saying:

"Quick.  Bere's a fire.  Call 99-1"

I've got to hammer home that the emergency number is actually 9-1-1.  Just in case of a real emergency; but for now, it's super funny to hear him say, "call ninety-nine, one!"

Some Outdoor Time With Cousin Drew

Drew was in town last weekend and came by for a visit with Momo.  I took 165 photos of him (and some of the boys) and, as always, I had a very hard time editing them down.  I just cannot get enough of pictures.  Here they are:

he played with this truck forever

three little boys and their trucks

gah!

concentrating

two little boys screaming in their "clubhouse"

love that shot!

okay, some one's had enough

when he's done, we're all done!

Drew loved climbing up the bulkhead like one of the big boys

here he goes!

three little boys on the bulkhead

look at Drew's expression!

teefies!

playing with Momo's keys (and turning on her remote starter by accident)

look at him!

standing up!

"touchdown"

Happy Tears

I was talking on the phone this morning, and I said, "she's going to be so happy that she's going to cry."  Gabe, who was sitting right next to me, asked, "why is she going to cry?  I don't want her to cry."  (He didn't even know what I was talking about, but he clearly heard the word "cry".) 

So, I explained to Gabe that sometimes people cry when they feel so happy, and that those tears are called happy tears.  Gabe then proceeds to smile as hard as he can and scrunches his face and eyes....trying to cry happy tears. 

Say It Isn't So!!!

Fingers and toes are crossed.  Please, please, please, say it isn't so.  Please don't let Zach morph into a "terrible two".  Please!!!  I don't think I can handle two freshies in this house.

This week, Zach was on the changing table and he said (direct quote with an emphatic, dictatorial voice):  "Get me down.  Nowa."  I think that was his first real long sentence.  And, unfortunately, it was a rather fresh command. 

Yesterday, he didn't nap and was a complete bear by the late afternoon.  He yelled, "cookies, cookies" at me to the point that his face was turning red and I thought he was going to fall over.  It was a monster (not cookie monster funny) voice, and I was stunned.  Talk about asserting himself.

Tonight, Gabe was being fresh and I brought him to his room (in the middle of our Friday night dance party).  I came downstairs and Zach yelled at me, "No Gabe up nowa!"

These boys think that they are running the show over here at the Fredette House.  And in a way, I think they are.... I'm just so tired and burnt out from J's work schedule.  Lord, give me strength!

A Couple Funny Zachie Comments

I was putting on some lipstick the other day (not a typical occurrence---so Zach had never seen me do it before).  We were in the car, and as I was applying the lipstick, Zach asked, "Mom, I have some?"  I told him that lipstick wasn't something that you eat, and that it's for Mommy's lips.  Zach then asked, "It delicious?"

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Recently Jason was hanging out with the boys on his own, and Zach asked where I was.  J told him that Mom was out.  Zach asked, "making the money?"

Too funny---whenever Zach asks where J is, I tell him that he's at work.  Zach then asks why, and I tell him that he needs to make the money.  Zach asks why again, and I tell him that we need the money for food, clothes, etc.  He continues to ask why, but I usually try to end it there.  Anyway, I just love how when you're not at home, Zach thinks that you're "making the money."

So cute!!