Kristy's Vacation - Days 0, 1 and 2!!

Friday after work, about 2pm, I started my week-long vacation! Emma had been looking forward to this week since she got out of school!!

When I got home, Tony was on his way home with the kids, so I started cleaning the bathroom sink and toilet...I was just about done when I heard the kids arrive home, and it took about 3 seconds for them to get up the stairs and shout "MAMA!!!! HAPPY VACATION!!!!" They were so excited! :)

We went to dinner at Fuddrucker's with my mom and dad (which included a live performance of Bradlee singing "Old McDonald"...something I have to figure out how to upload from my phone!) and then did some grocery shopping at Kroger (of which I saved about 46% of my bill!)...then we came home. Tony put Bradlee to bed, and I spent some quality time with Emma. She has been asking for some "Mommy-Emma time" for quite some time, and I was happy to give it to her, and to have the time to give! We brushed our teeth, washed our faces, and used our mouthwash together. Then we went into my room and watched a movie and I asked Emma if she wanted to sleep in my bed with me. The first thing she asked was where Daddy was going to sleep...so she wrote him a note that said:

Daddy,

I love you.

You can sleep in my bed.

Love,

Emma

I also put the date on it, 'cause I just knew Tony would want to keep it. Fortunately, we had just turned out the lights when Tony came up, so we were awake when he saw it and he loved it! :) As we were drifting off to sleep, Emma hugged my arm and whispered, "Happy Vacation, Mommy!" :)

Tony had to DJ on Saturday, so I took the kids down to Kat and Garrett's new apartment to help them again with their unpacking and moving excursion...Here are a few pictures I took at the gas station....notice, they are BOTH looking at the camera!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, Bradlee didn't fall asleep on the way down, so he started getting a little cranky. I took him in the bedroom and put some pillows on the floor around the edge of the bed and the boxes that were there also. I laid down and sheet and found a flannel sheet to use as a blanket and I laid Bradlee down with the TV on the "Soundscapes" Comcast Channel. He was asleep within 4 minutes! What a cute kid, even when he's sleeping! :) At that point in the day, it was probably the BEST help he could have given us!!!

Once he woke up and Kat was back at the apartment (she had been running errands with our Dad), she thought of a GREAT project for Emma and Bradlee. We had noticed that the paint on the railing on their deck rubbed off really easily, so she gave the kids a bucket of soapy water and a washcloth (one for each of them) and they went at it. Such a good project for them! :) They had a ball...of course, I don't actually know how clean the railing actually got! Bradlee loved getting the washcloth soaking wet, putting it on either the table and slapping his hands down so it would splash, or putting it on the ground and then jumping on it! HIS cleaning time ended when he took the soaking wet washcloth and put it right on his head...good thing I had a change of clothes! Emma likes throwing the washcloth (wet, of course) up onto the glass door and watching the patterns it made. Then she would "accidentally" throw it off the balcony and then Kat would go down and get it and throw it back up. They were hilarious to watch and not only made them happy, but kept them out of our hair! :)

This morning we got up and dressed, ran a few errands and then went out to Flushing. I forgot to mention that we had been dog sitting this weekend, also! Gracie, who lives with Tony's parents, was our visitor this weekend, and the kids loved having her here. I don't know that she'll be back, though, 'cause she had a real hard time with the wood floors, especially going up and down the stairs. But she's a really good dog it was nice having her, even if it was to enforce the fact that we are NOT ready to have a dog! :) Here she is in the car, MORE than ready to be back at her home! :)

The kids went to the "old time circus" with Tony's parents and Tony and I had an adult dinner at a local restaurant that neither of us have ever been to! My parents love the restaurant and got us a gift card for our anniversary back in June! It was SO good! We were so full when we left (and still brought half of our dinner home!) that we went to Kohl's and walked around, then we back to wait in the pool for the kids to get back home!

As I was putting Emma to bed tonight, we were laying in her bed and she said, "Mama, I just love you so much." I asked her if she was my favorite bud and she said "Yes, I'll ALWAYS be your favorite buddy and I'll ALWAYS love you!" I said, under my breath, "Just remember that when you're 15!" LOL She smiled and said, "Mama, I might not remember everything, but you can remind me!" HA! I have to get that in writing! What a sweet little girl!

We have some fun activities planned for the week...you'll have to stay tuned to find out what they are! :)

Glitter Pens and Belly Buttons!

Both of my kids, I have decided, love to be in the spotlight. I think they get it from their dad! LOL

Emma found some glitter pens in one of the drawers at Tony's parents' house...so naturally she not only had to open them and use them right away, but we had an array of glitter-goo pictures within a half hour! Here she is POSING :) with her newly-found glitter pens!

Bradlee loves to have his picture taken, too...the only problem, is that I rarely get a picture of him looking AT the camera...case in point:

his new-found love is his belly button....or any one's belly button, for that matter...He'll be sitting or playing on his own one minute, and the next he's lying on the floor (or bed or couch, or even your lap!) showing you his belly button and trying to see yours! He also loves to have his tummy rubbed when he's "relaxing", so he'll pull his own shirt up and say, "rub tummy!". He sits so still and you can almost feel him fall into relaxation! :)

Work and Play!

This summer, as I'm sure you've been able to tell, has been pretty busy...and it's not over yet! Although we've done our fair share of work, we've made sure to save some play time, too! That includes Tony and me, too!!

Last week, Bradlee was in rare form...just being goofy! :) Here he is in swim trunks that are 12 MONTH in size!! Yes, they fit, too!! He loved putting the hat on and running around the house...but once outside, he took it off...someday he'll learn!

One thing (of many) I am proud to say about my children is that if given the choice between cookies and a bowl of fresh fruit, they would (and do!) choose the fruit! We were at Tony's parents' last week (same day as the goofy picture above) and Tony's Dad, hereby known as Beepee, was making a bowl of fruit salad...I don't even know if there was any left once the kids were done "testing" it!!

This past Saturday, Emma and I helped my sister, Kat, and her fiancee, Garrett, move from their apartment to another apartment. Emma had a great day, spending time with Uncle Garrett and Aunt Kat! She even got to help paint the wall in their new place!! Bradlee got to have some "Bradlee-Daddy" time at home!

For Christmas last year (2009), Tony received a Detroit Tigers gift card from my mom and dad. We were finally able to use it this weekend, also! On Sunday, Tony and I left the kids in the very capable hands of my mother and went to the game against the LA Angels. The kids had a GREAT time with "Gramma" (Emma)/"Deeta" (Bradlee) and were able to play on their swing set in the backyard most of the day. Boppa (my dad) even brought them Slurpee's!! THANKFULLY, the Tigers won (9-4)...which means the "curse of the score book" is over! A few years back, I discovered that the best way for me to remain interested in a baseball game was to keep score. Instead of buying a program or a scorecard, Tony and I bought score books from a sports store! We take it to every game we go to. Tony taught (and continues to teach) me how to keep score, which forces me to watch the game! It works! :) Well, we were noticing that every game we had been to that we kept score in our score books, the Tigers lost! Not one winning game since 2007 when we started! (Yes, it's fine...you can blame it on us!) :) So, after this win on Sunday, we are so thrilled that we FINALLY have a win in our score books! Here's Tony at the game with his "lucky pink pencil"....I get to use the blue one! :)

A New Addition!

The Coggins Family has a new addition to our house! No, I'm not pregnant, and we definitely did not get a dog...we got..................A SWING SET! :)

Part of Emma and Bradlee's birthday presents this year, Tony's parents, my parents, Lynne and Uncle Paul contributed with us to buy the kids a swing set. At first, I wanted it to arrive closer to Bradlee's birthday, but now I'm glad it took a little while to get here. That way, it wasn't just for Bradlee, it was for BOTH of them!

We ordered the swing set around July 21st and both boxes arrived by August 4th. We had it out of the boxes and checked all the parts on Thursday night. Friday afternoon, my dad came over and we worked on it until about 10pm (yes, it was dark...we had flashlights!). Then on Saturday morning, our dear friend (and handyman) Matt came over and he and Tony finished it! We've found a few things that need adjusting, but they are minor, so the kids have been able to play on it! They LOVE it!!! Just watching them on it makes me so happy that we finally did this. and found a good one! There's a slide (Bradlee's favorite), rock wall, two swings and a glider (Emma's favorite!), and in the front, a picnic bench for them to sit at and eat lunch! The swings are removable, so we may get one of those bars with the rings so they can hang and swing, something BOTH Emma and Bradlee love to do!! While it's kind of large and takes up a majority of our backyard, we're okay with that. We're going to grass over the area behind the set so it's all grass for them to run and play on. The blue thing on the ground in the picture is a sandbox...something I would be happy getting rid of, but they love that, too, so maybe we'll just get a bigger one for them to play in! :)

Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying their new swing set!!!

Happy Boy and a Tea Party...

The other day, we were having dinner at Tony's parents house and Bradlee was in rare form, I had to get some pictures! They have had this little toy saxophone since Emma was born. It's really tiny and has Cookie Monster on it. When you push the buttons, it plays little songs and Cookie Monster also says, "A-Cha-Cha"!! It's kind cute...and it can be turned off, which is probably why it's lasted so long! LOL Emma loved this toy because, in my opinion, she could pretend she was really playing it and we would clap and cheer for her! So, naturally, we do the same for Bradlee!



As I was saying, the other day, we were at my in-laws, and Bradlee pulled the said saxophone out of the toy box and started "performing"... I usually take a lot of the pictures I post on here with my cell phone because it's always with me and it takes pretty good pictures... unfortunately, the only problem is that from the time I push the button to the time it actually takes the picture is about 4 seconds...which, as I'm sure you can imagine, is a long time for a 2-year old to hold a pose, let alone a 5-year old! So when I was able to capture these pictures, I was ecstatic! The top one is just priceless, and the bottom one here is how I was teaching Bradlee to play the toy: both hands on the "instrument" and with his eyes closed! Whenever he's pretending to close his eyes, he always is peeking out of them! Makes it even more cute! :)

This morning, when Emma woke up, she was playing in her room and found her tea set that Aunt Karyn got for her for her 3rd birthday. We keep it under her bed so it won't get ruined. When Aunt Karyn gave it to her, it was in a very nice Rubbermaid container and had an envelope taped to the inside with little "invitations" for Emma to give Aunt Karyn whenever she wanted to have a tea party! This morning, Emma decided she needed to call Aunt Karyn and invite her to a tea party...and Bradlee was invited too, of course! When Emma tried calling Aunt Karyn, she was at work...so she left a message: "Hi Aunt Karyn. Please call me when you are done with work. I want to invite you to a tea party and I have your invitation. Bye! *pause* Oh, this is Emma." LOL



So Aunt Karyn came over right after work and she, Bradlee and Emma all had a grand tea party in Emma's room. The top picture here is them saying "cheers!"! The "clink" tea cups before every "sip". This time, since they were in Emma's room, and Bradlee was there, we decided to just pretend that there was something in the tea cups! Then I hear Aunt Karyn ask Bradlee if he wants a little plate. Emma corrects Aunt Karyn and says, "Aunt Karyn, that's not a plate. It's a SAUCER." Wow. :) This bottom picture is so cute 'cause Aunt Karyn is trying to teach Bradlee that he has to put his pinkie finger up when he's drinking his tea, and he's TOTALLY not buying it! :) LOL

Happy 2nd Birthday, Bradlee!

It's absolutely unbelievable to me that my little boy has turned 2! Bradlee's birthday was on Thursday, July 29th and we had a great party for him last Sunday! We served ice cream and cake and a few snacks, and a lot of our friends and family were able to come celebrate with us! My parents, Tony's parents, Lynne, Paul, my grandparents (Snookie and Papa), Kathi and Garrett, Matt, Desiree, Dorian and Griffin, Susan, Bill, Evelyn and Isla, and of course the 4 of us! We had a full house, but thankfully, it was a GORGEOUS day, so we were able to use the backyard! I wish I had had the time to take a picture, it was awesome! We had the little pool blown and filled up, the bounce house, the slide, little table and chairs, plus the big table and chairs and tour swing on the deck! It was wonderful to have people over to utilize all our outdoor toys!!

The party concluded with a gigantic water balloon fight and swim in the pool! A great time was had by all!! Here are a few pictures:

Emma got Bradlee a "Woody" coloring book!

Evelyn, Emma, Bradlee, Dorian and Griffin - enjoying cake!

Bradlee woke up wanting cake!!

Waiting patiently to blow out his candle...so he can have CAKE!

Aunt Kat and Uncle Garrett came with a battle plan for the water fight! Looks like they're winning and Emma's not!

Emma and Isla helping Bradlee open presents!

One of my family traditions for birthdays is to be awakened in the morning with singing and a candle in a donut! Tony and I have continued this tradition with Emma and Bradlee! So, before I left for work on Thursday morning, I got a donut and candle, woke Emma and Tony up, and we sang to Bradlee for his birthday! I would have said we "woke Bradlee up by singing to him", but he was already awake and singing to himself! He enjoyed his donut, although I think he enjoyed blowing out the candle more! Emma also had a donut to enjoy, so it was a good morning!

Here's Bradlee in his crib and enjoying his birthday donut!!

For Bradlee's birthday dinner, my mom and dad and Karyn came over and we had pizza and salad (at Bradlee's request!) and finished up the cake and enjoyed some ice cream for dessert. It was such a wonderful night that we ate outside and the kids played for a while before heading inside for a "birthday bath", movie and bed! I can't believe my baby is 2 years old! He's so different, yet so similar to Emma. He's rough and tough and is a complete daredevil. He jumps off of steps...usually into my arms, but sometimes not...he tries to do EVERYTHING Emma does, including somersaults and handstands, and he LOVES LOVES LOVES to run! On the other hand, he's so gentle and loves his stuffed animals and blankets. You ask him for a kiss and he comes running (usually!) with his lips puckered. He says hi to everyone he sees while walking around the store and he cuddles like you wouldn't believe. He's one special and incredible little boy. Being a mother to both him and Emma is so wonderful!!!

Warm Summer Days...

It's been unbelievably hot the last week, so we've spent a lot of time inside, just hanging out. Mostly because my children have a habit of getting heat exhaustion. Emma got it when we were in Florida in 2007 and Bradlee just seems to not be able to tolerate it for a long period of time...

Bradlee has been interested in the potty for a while now. This is more because he sees his big sister using it, as well as his mommy and daddy and every other adult in his life! So, we pulled out the little potty from the shed (we were cleaning out the shed anyway!) and have it in his room. He sits and sits and sits, and nothing happens! :) We're not so sure he quite knows what he's supposed to do on it, but he's still pretty cute just sitting there...

Emma's been very interested in watching "new" movies lately. We started lightly with "Night at the Museum" and "Night at the Museum 2" - and she LOVED them! She calls them "Night at the Nuseum"! LOL So then I moved to Harry Potter...we watched the first one, and she liked it. Apparently she had seen some of it when it was on TV, so she said, "Mama! This is the one where they go to the forest and find the unicorn!" So the fact that she kind of knew about it helped. The following weekend, we watched the 2nd movie...she did well with that one, too! I warned her, this past weekend, when we went to watch #3, that it's a little bit scarier, but she still wanted to watch it...so here she is watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

As you can see, she was a little nervous...and she's trying really hard not to smile because she kept sliding off the edge of the couch! LOL We haven't finished the movie yet, but she's liking it a lot. At one point, she came running into the laundry room and said, "MAMA!! Sirius Black is IN THE SCHOOL!!!!!!!!" HA! :)

This past Saturday, while Tony was working a wedding, I took the kids to Sam's to pick up some milk, cream cheese and Bradlee's birthday cake. Three simple items, should have taken a half hour, tops, right? WRONG. I got the milk, the cream cheese, some samples for the kids they had out, and went to get the cake...it was a mess. You could see the cake through the frosting, the border was choppy, the writing was horrible and it looked like they accidentally spent Bradlee's name "Brd..." then tried correcting it and it just looked bad. So I told them to redo it (nicely, of course!)...they said they would do it right then, so we just waited. We ended up taking the milk and cream cheese back so they wouldn't go bad, then going to the book section and I read them books while they sat in the cart. Worked out pretty well, but an HOUR later, we were finally walking out of Sam's with milk, cream cheese AND a great looking cake!

Since the kids were so good while we were in there, and it was already 6:30pm, I decided to treat them to Burger King! Here they are enjoying their meals:

After they ate, I took them to a small playground behind a church near our house. It's a really cute little playground and has some unique little play things. They also have a set of bars to hang from (which I had a picture of Bradlee hanging from in an earlier post)...Emma loves to show off her gymnastics skills...and then she asked, "Mama, when can I start ganaxis again?" Made me smile, 'cause that's exactly why we don't have her take the classes during the summer...that way we can make sure SHE wants to continue...and that just proved that she still likes it!

Bradlee loves the bridge at the playground, and Emma loves playing "pirate" on the big wooden ship, which is complete with a window and a fire pole! :)