Relaxing with Grammy & Papa

During Jason's second trip away (his mission trip to Manitoba), the boys and I spent only the first half of the time on our own. We were VERY happy to welcome Papa and Grammy for the second half of Jason's absence. Jaden and Cody doodled a special welcome picture for Grammy and Papa on our easel whiteboard.

Since the plane came in late at night, the boys didn't get to see Grammy and Papa until the morning. (Thankfully, my gracious neighbor came over to listen for the boys so that I didn't have to drag them to the airport with me!) Each morning, Cody and Jaden were ready to play right away and would ask for "Papa" and "Gamy" as soon as they got up. Papa read the boys a bunch of stories...

...and Grammy let the boys introduce their stuffed animals to her. The boys (and Mommy, too!) loved that Papa and Grammy were ready and willing to play early in the morning, even while still in their PJs.

Cody and Jaden didn't have any problems at all warming right up to their grandparents. They loved driving their cars up and down Papa's chest,

listening to Papa read,

and teaching Grammy and Papa how to play our favorite Roll and Play game.

"Pat your head 7 times"

"Clap 8 times"

Then, Cody and Jaden wanted to show Papa their playset. (Grammy had already seen it over the boys' birthday celebration weekend.) The boys' current favorite is spending time on the swings. 

Cody and Jaden will both continually say "high, high, high" immediately after getting into the swing, so HIGH we go! This picture makes me laugh... it completely looks like both boys are horizontal and ready to fall out of their swings. But, it's just how they like it!

During Grammy and Papa's visit, we started the HUGE project of staining our playset. Grammy did some painting, but primarily we nominated her to be Jaden and Cody's playmate while Mommy and Papa worked. (I'm pretty sure that Grammy had the tougher job!) On two different days, Grammy spent several hours in a row watching both boys on her own-- talk about an experienced grandma of twins! She kept them so well entertained and happy. Grammy took the boys on a wagon ride,

fed them a snack and read their devotions,

and read them  lots and LOTS of stories. Just recently, the boys have started showing much more willingness to sit for longer stories-- yay!

Probably the boys' favorite activity that they did with Grammy was to create enormous toy piles.

I'm not exactly sure what inspired this activity, but Cody and Jaden took basically every toy out of their upstairs toy baskets and piled them all on the loveseat.

The final product... ta-da! Actually, by doing this activity, the boys uncovered quite a few long-lost & forgotten toys, too.

As you can tell, the boys loved their extended time with Grammy! Jaden showed his affection and thankfulness by "beeping" Grammy's nose...

and by giving her big hugs! :)

Of course, the boys enjoyed every minute with Papa, too! He did a great job of making them giggle and thinking of fun new ways to play.

Papa took the boys for a walk around the neighborhood, too.

Jaden and Cody also liked learning about the computer from Papa. Sometimes he'd show them a few sports highlights, but most often, he'd take them to our family blog to look at pictures and videos of themselves. This, of course, kept Jaden and Cody very entertained!

During the week, Cody and Jaden acquired a few new toys. First of all, toy dinosaurs! Grammy had stuffed this set of dinosaurs (a generous gift from an Immanuel church member) into her suitcase. The boys were VERY excited!

Then, we hit up a few garage sales over the weekend and scored this awesome John Deere digger (complete with pedals and a working lever to move the digger) for only $5. We're still learning how to share this exciting new toy. :)

Finally, Grammy had spent tons of time at home making our boys a set of family popsicle sticks, like she had created for Abby earlier this summer. Aren't these super cute? The sticks are even different for guys and girls!

Cody and Jaden really enjoy playing with these sticks and can identify every family member correctly! Thanks, Mom, for all the time you spent making this thoughtful activity!

At the very end of Grammy and Papa's visit, we welcomed Daddy back home... to stay! Since Jason's birthday was during his Manitoba visit, we took one evening to have a belated celebration.

Grammy put together a very tasty cherry cobbler (with cherries that she had frozen and packed with her on the plane-- they were still frozen by the time she arrived!). Jaden and Cody, now candle-blowing experts, loved helping Daddy with his birthday candles.

What a GREAT time we all had playing and relaxing with Grammy and Papa. Mommy, in particular, appreciated the "reinforcement team" (as Papa liked to call it). Grammy and Papa were awesome playmates, amazing helpers, and caring & patient grandparents. Thank you, thank you for your visit and for all of this nice playtime!

Flag Photos

We were out of town for July 4th, so I nearly forgot our annual tradition of taking a flag picture of the boys. Thankfully, I remembered only a month later, and the boys don't look too different. This flag was latch-hooked by my mom in memory of her dad (the boys' Great-Grandpa Sylvester) since latch-hooking was such a big hobby of his.

This year, the boys are wearing cute flag outfits gifted to them by Grandma and Grandpa Schleicher. Here are our 2014 "July 4th" photos. :)

Jaden, Cody in response to my direction to "Look up!"

Jaden, Cody in response to my direction to "smile!"

Our 2013 Flag Photo

Cody, Jaden-- 13 months

Flag Photo 2012

Cody, Jaden-- only 1 month old!

While Daddy was Away

Summer is by far the busiest time of year for a DCE. Jason's month of July was especially filled with church activities. He led two major mission trips back to back-- one with the youth to North Carolina and the second with a group of 30 church members of all ages to Cross Lake, Manitoba. This meant that he was gone for 9 days, home for 4, and gone again for 10 days. Meaningful and worthwhile, yes, but definitely an exhausting month!

This summer I decided to be brave (crazy?) and try watching the boys on my own for the majority of Jason's time away (thankfully, my parents came to my rescue during the last 5-day homestretch!). Prior to these trips, I had only been on my own with Jaden and Cody for one overnight at a time, so I prayed fervently that the time would be smooth!

Before Jason left, I set up a few play dates and made a few activity lists-- places we could go, new art projects we could try, and other at-home activities to do. I knew that these lists would come in handy when I was running low on energy and creativity on these long days. 

One of our first outing adventures was to attend a local arts and crafts vendor show. The boys weren't at all interested in the vendors, but the morning weather was beautiful, the playground was just right, and the ice cream was delicious!

This was actually the first time the boys have ever been able to hold and eat their own ice cream cone. They LOVED the independence of eating and laughed at each other's ice cream goatees. Jaden ate his cone all the way down to the end!

Another day, we took a trip to our nearby splashpad. You might be wondering where the water is...

For some reason, Jaden and Cody refused to go into the water and preferred instead to run up and down this grassy hill. They also discovered how fun it was to run into the bathrooms, yell, and hear the loud echo. So much for the splash pad. :)

Since the boys stayed completely dry during our splashpad visit, I decided to make the change into swimsuits worthwhile. Once we got home, we brought out the water table.

During our days at home, Jaden and Cody were in overall happy moods... other than the last few days when they decided to start cutting their 2-year molars! Ugh! Go figure that this would happen while Jason was away. The pain seemed to mostly affect the boys at night, though, and their daytime attitudes were generally okay. More and more, Jaden and Cody enjoy being silly together. Here, they found a fun "hiding place" to relax.

During one particular nighttime bath, the boys stuffed their mouths with little basketballs, 

and gave each other "kisses"!

How fun it is to hear their giggles over things they've devised all on their own!

Our mornings were usually filled with some kind of out-of-the-house errand or outing (play date, shopping trip, playground). In the afternoons, I'd try to plan a special activity of some sort. One day, we went on a squirt bottle scavenger hunt (thanks, Kim, for this great idea!).

I gave the boys directions to squirt various items around our yard.

They were SO eager to run from place to place in order to squirt the correct item.

Another day, I brought out some tempera paints (for the first time ever!).

Since neither boy was willing to wear a paint shirt, we removed their shirts altogether. Being shirtless bothered them a little (Cody especially), but once the paints were out, curiosity won them over.

I figured it'd be easiest to just tape paper down over the entire surface of our little kids' table. It worked fairly well.

Here are the boys very first paint creations.

Nearly every day, we spent some time outside. The boys' current favorite place to play is on our driveway, with all their wheeled toys.

We also went on quite a few stroller rides. Recently, (after a play date with a little friend who had on sunglasses) Cody and Jaden have decided that they love wearing sunglasses, too. These particular glasses are a bit too small, but they're effective in shielding the sun, so it works. Here, the boys give their best Joe Cool look. :)

We visited the park a few times. This day, Cody and Jaden were more interested in exploring the trees, rather than going on the play equipment. We picked up pine cones, played some hide-and-seek, and poked the pine needles.

A few more at-home activities included making tunnels with our Discovery Toys building set (I'm not even sure what the actual name for these are... We picked up the set at a garage sale for only $5!)...

...and exploring with shaving cream. Jaden and Cody were so funny with this activity. I knew they'd be bothered by having shaving cream on their hands, so I put out wet washcloths for them to use as needed.

Basically, the two just poked at the shaving cream globs and then spent the rest of the time playing with the wet washcloths!

Even when Mommy demonstrated how to smash her hand in the cream and smear it around, all of the other globs pretty much stayed intact. :) At this point in life, I guess, Jaden and Cody are not really the get-dirty kind of boys. I know, I know. It's only a matter of time before that changes drastically!

Another art activity we did was experimenting with the boys' new easel. I finally took the time one afternoon to assemble this birthday gift from Andrew and Sarah. Cody and Jaden were thrilled with their new toy! We scribbled on the white board side first...

...and then tried the chalkboard side. The boys loved having the freedom to move around during their drawing, and it kept them out of each other's personal space too. Great! My favorite part of this easel is its height versatility. The chalkboard & whiteboard can both change to three different levels as the kids grow. We are sure to get tons of use from this easel now and in the years to come! (Thanks again for the great gift, Drew & Sarah!)

When Daddy's first trip was nearly done, the boys and I went out to McD's for a special ice cream celebration.

These cones were HUGE!

Jaden and Cody only ate half or less of their cone before they decided they were done. We spent another 30 minutes, at least, at the restaurant's play place (one that the boys had never played on before). It was a great way to celebrate Daddy's almost-homecoming!

One final thing we did on both of Daddy's trips away was to visit our friend Ms. Doris. She invited us to her apartment complex's community room. It was a perfect place for the boys to play-- no breakables! Ms. Doris had bought the boys a few new cars and trucks to push around. How well she knows our little fellas!

Some of the vehicles even made noise!

Even though I had brought along a bagful of toys, Ms. Doris insisted on bringing out activities of her own for the boys. Here, she found a small bucket in her apartment and a small ball she had bought so the boys could play some basketball. Cody and Jaden were willing to try a few shots only after Ms. Doris demonstrated. What a fun hostess!

Following our visit to her place, we all went out for a picnic lunch at the park. We had a perfect cool breeze for our lunch!

I was impressed that Jaden and Cody sat at the table to eat with the playground so closeby. Of course, they didn't eat much before wanting to play, but it was more than I had thought. Doris and I enjoyed visiting while watching the boys on the playground. It's been fun seeing the boys warm up to Ms. Doris during our past few months together. On this day (the second outing with her), Jaden probably gave her at least 10 hugs while she was sitting at the table!

Finally, before Daddy's arrival home each time, we made some decorations for him. The first time, we made cards to give him as we picked him up from the airport. After Daddy's second trip, the boys used the paper roll on their easel and their dot painters to create a large sign for Daddy.

As they painted, the boys kept repeating, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." Their sign was definitely made with lots of love!

Jaden was particularly proud of his artwork!

All in all, Jason's time away made me SO appreciate the partnership I have in parenting with Jason. Jason is a wonderful daddy, an energetic playmate for the boys, and a supportive husband who lovingly encourages me and gives me much-needed breaks. All three of us certainly missed him dearly! I was thankful that God answered our prayers and gave us a smooth time on our own, but we are so thankful that next summer Daddy has just ONE trip away!