Swimming 2

Yesterday afternoon Anthony and I took the boys to Toys R Us to spend the gift card that Alec got for his birthday. We decided some pool toys would be a good thing for them to pick out. We actually only ended up with a boogie board and some arm floaties. I knew today was supposed to be another scorcher (almost 100!) so after our morning walk we headed right over to the pool. I didn't know how it was going to go watching both kids in the pool by myself... and actually Brian, Kody, Macy, Drew and Evan ended up coming down to the pool as well so that made it a little easier. Anyway, I put the arm floaties on Aidan and Alec and we got in the pool... Aidan wasn't too sure at first but once he saw how well they held him up he started to come around. As far as Alec, I figured the floaties would just give me a little more peace of mind in case I couldn't get to him fast enough... yeah, they just made him braver! He

was jumping in all over the place! By the time we had been in the pool for over two hours Alec could put his face in the water and kick his legs and actually SWIM and then lift his face out of the water for a breath and then keep going! Aidan pretty much made his way around the entire pool and was even jumping in to the

water all by himself from the steps. It was so much fun and they had a blast! Aidan did not want to leave. This is going to be one fun summer!!

Swimming

As far as yesterday and today goes... Summer is here!! Of course by Wednesday it is supposed to be back down to the 60's... but for now it is in the 80's and 90's and we took full advantage and headed to the pool both days. We all had a blast, the kids really loved it. I knew that Aidan would need some time to warm up to it but he has been going in the "little pool" (jacuzzi) at Uncle Ty and Aunt Lisa's house for ahwile now so I knew he would come around. It didn't take too long before he was ready to venture off the step and in to the "deep"... however, not without at least one hand in a death grip on whoever happened to be holding him. But he wanted to go under water and he did a really good job at kicking his feet and even jumping in off the side as long as I was holding his hands. Overall a great job. Then there is Alec... I remember from last year that he liked the water, but that was a long time ago... a whole year! Who knew what we had in store for us from the one who doesn't really go in the "little pool" at Uncle Ty & Aunt Lisa's and who so far has screamed every time someone squirt him with our backyard water toys. Well, the big pool is a totally different story... turns out Alec is part fish! He literally dives right in! And I think he thinks he can swim because he doesn't really care if someone is nearby to catch him (let alone holding his hands as he does it). We couldn't take our eyes off of him for a second and if we did you bet we turned every time we heard a splash. So, like I said, we had a lot of fun watching these two in the water. I am thinking about taking Aidan to swim lessons just to boost his confidence. I will say that the only down side of the whole experience was that it is just another activity my boys would rather I not participate in, they only want to swim with daddy, swim to daddy, go under water with daddy, jump to daddy... nobody's asking for mommy! The only lucky break I get is that it is a little hard for daddy to swim with both kids so someone HAS to come with me... nice. (I may get a chance to post pictures with this soon)

The Trail

My mom friends and I from the neighborhood walk every morning with our double jog strollers (except Kody, who has a TRIPLE) to get exercise, fresh air, and talk. It is our "Mommy Time." Of course a lot of days it is just as much an exercise in patience as it is a physical exercise. For my kids, they see the stroller as a place for their own personal cage match! They can barely get along when they have to share the whole backyard or the bonus room, so when they are forced to sit in a 2x2 space... well, you can imagine the nightmare it becomes. It always starts with Aidan grabbing on to Alec thinking he is soooo funny all the while Alec is screaming his irritating, high-pitched squeal of a scream. Then suddenly he decides to fight back and squeeze Aidan or smack him and guess what... Aidan doesn't like that! And he starts crying and crying and unlike Alec who screams so Aidan will leave him alone and then is done with it, Aidan will cry and cry until someone (me) pays some attention to him and makes sure all is OK with his world. If it requires that Alec get some kind of punishment Aidan is so grateful he will tell me, "Thank you, Mommy" while he watches his brother get a spanking or a time out. UGH! It is actually wearing me out just talking about it! So, anyway, while I wouldn't want to start my day without my morning walk, sometimes it doesn't exactly start our days on the best foot. Since starting Weight Watchers I have felt more compelled to "step things up a notch" especially since I have been "walking the neighborhood" for almost 6 years and I doubt that it is doing much for me anymore. So for awhile now we have had some different routes that we take. This morning we did The Trail. Which is this great dirt path back behind our houses and there is a great big hill to hike at the end. Today I decided to skip the big hill at the end and instead run up and down a smaller but steeper hill as many times as I could. It was a great workout! However, it was day three of wearing my brand new shoes and I had a blister starting going into it and of course that only made it worse. I powered through the best I could. I have decided one of things I like best about blogging is using pictures to tell these stories as well, so I am including a picture of not only my shoes that are three days new but look 3 years old already but my blister as well!!

The kids are in the backyard playing with their friend, Katja. I can hear the screaming and yelling.. mostly Aidan at Alec... so I am counting the minutes till I go down and make them lunch and put them to bed for 2 hours! Now THAT is what I call "Mommy Time!"

Avocado Festival

Yesterday we made our annual trek up into Fallbrook for the Avocado Festival. We got there right after it started which was a good thing because by the time we left two hours later it was hard to navigate our way through the crowds. We had a good time. It was your typical street fair. Lots of different vendors and lots of different foods. The only difference was the many varieties of things you could get made with avocado. You can get deep fried avocados, one booth was making everything with avocados instead of using other kinds of fat in stuff like breads and cakes! They weren't bad. Of course you can get guacamole as well. We only went for the Kettle Corn, but it was delicious! I bought a funky cowboy hat. Aidan walked while Alec rode in the back pack on Anthony's back and they did a good job. Aidan went on his first kiddy rides all by himself and he had a great time. Alec wasn't as thrilled about WATCHING Aidan go on those rides as we were but he wasn't quite big enough. They both fell asleep on the way home and I figured they would just transfer to their beds for a nap like usual but nooooo... Aidan was awake in his room for over two hours before I finally got him out (after going in and out trying to convince him to go to sleep about 3 or 4 times) and he was crying so we sat on the couch for awhile and what do you know? My 3 year old fell asleep in my arms! Stinker! It was sweet though and I will treasure that 30 minutes for a long time to come.

I am not sure if I am supposed to start another posting when I change subjects but since I am new at this I figure I can get away with just adding it to this post. I just wanted to share with those of you who I don't get a chance to talk to all that much that I have been doing weight watchers and have lost over 40 pounds! I am so excited to finally see the weight come off so I can't help but share the news! I feel great and am enjoying fitting into smaller clothes. I am only about halfway to my goal and things have slowed down a lot but I am not giving up this time, I am going all the way! And by sharing it with everyone it keeps me that much more accountable. Also, it was my birthday just over a week ago and my wonderful husband bought me a beautiful right hand ring! So I am adding a picture of it. I love it! It helped 35 sink in just a little bit easier! How can I be 35??? I feel 25!

OK, one more thing... Used to be that I could sleep in in the morning because when Aidan woke up he would just go in the toy room and amuse himself till I got up. Well, now that he is potty trained he wakes up and goes potty and then comes into my room naked from the waist down, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, I went potty on the toilet!" This is usually at like 6:30 or 6:45 in the morning! It's cute but getting old! So I guess the next lesson is How to Put Your Pants Back On All By Yourself!

Who wants to know...

So you want to know what is going on with the Biondos? Probably not... but I am going to tell you anyway!

So the biggest news in our lives right now is that Aidan is potty trained!! OK, so he is almost 3 1/2 years old and probably should have been doing it a long time ago... but he just wasn't interested! Finally, the week before Easter I decided it was time to just DO IT. Monday, I went cold turkey and just stuck him underwear. He had three accidents that day and just wasn't quite getting the hang of it but we powered through and did it again the next day. By that Sunday (Easter) he was going on the potty AND even pooped on the potty too!! YAY! Of course there have been a few minor bumps in the road but for the most part he is there and it is nice to only have one in diapers again... I had 2 in diapers for almost two years (just two weeks shy of two years). I have a feeling Alec is going to be using the potty a lot sooner than his brother did, especially because he wants to do EVERYTHING his older brother does, and I mean EVERYTHING, even if Aidan just got in trouble for doing it Alec wants to do it too! And now that Alec is two he has kicked things up a notch, he is pretty strong-willed, verbal, opinionated, silly, still super snuggly, adorable and a real pain in the butt! The two of them are a real pair, let me tell you! They have brief moments of playing in harmony and the rest of the time Alec is just a thorn in Aidan's side. I do hope that one day they will find joy friendship in each other, until then my job is referee!

Other than the antics of our rambunctious boys we don't have a whole lot else going on. Our house is just over a year old now and we still a list of projects we want to get to but it is more than suitable for now and we love so much about our new place and with the weather warming up our new, larger yard has been so great! We have tons of things for the kids to do out there and they love being out there. I give them lunch out there almost everyday. The bonus part of that is one less mess to clean up inside and the dog usually has a treat or two when they are done eating. OK, I am talking about the kids agian! So Anthony flies to Detroit about every three weeks for works and has to stay for 2 to 3 days. it is a little tough on us at home but we usually manage to stay pretty busy. My mom comes over once a week for dinner on Thursdays so she helps out when he is gone. I keep busy around here of course with the boys but I also try to do some stuff for myself. I have gone from paper scrapbooking to digital this year and I am really enjoying it. I am also involved with a group at my church called MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) that meets twice a month and it is a place where you can drop the kids off for a few hours while you get ministered to through speakers, a craft, brunch and time with other moms.

I guess that is all for now. Hopefully I will have something else to talk about next time! xoxo