{we had a real good time}

Oh my goodness, OH MY GOODNESS!

My sweet nephew, Collin, says that phrase all the time. And I mean all the time.

**************

Last week I spent a handful of days watching and playing with my nephews, Collin {4 years} and Jack {16 months}. I was their full-time go-to gal. It was so fun. And so exhausting. So exhausting that Monday night I went to bed right after I put them to bed.


Did I mention raising kids is exhausting?! But man, we sure did have fun! Not only did I sit Collin in the chair by the window so we could play "senior portraits", but we went to the park, went on a scenic drive, had lunch at McDonald's, only sat in time out once {Collin, not me. Ahem}, played bikes in the driveway, and went on a walk.

Plus another handful of things, but I can't remember. Oh right: laundry, bubble baths, puzzles, making/eating homemade cookies, intense discussions on hiking adventures, and reading books.

Collin and I share the same passion for talking. Here he is, telling another story :)


Anyhoo, it was really, really, really, really, really fun being with the boys. And since they love to chit-chat as much as I do, it was really super fun! Ha ha. Jack doesn't speak English, but he speaks Jack lingo. He understands 85% of everything we say to him. And he babbles like he is speaking English. But he isn't. For sure, he is not.

While I was there, I woke up at 7 a.m. {aka: the scariest time ever}, hopped in the shower, and then went downstairs to tell Collin to stop stomping on the kitchen floor. This happened every. Single. Day.

!!!

{For extra emphasis.}

I would tell him, Brother Jack is still sleeping, and since it's hardly 7:21 a.m. I'd like him to sleep a little bit longer. You'll understand this in twenty years ;)


Isn't he precious?! I love spending time with Collin.

However, most times I {or Zack and I} do more activities with Collin simply because he is older and we have more options. But last week I was able to spend a lot of time with Jack. It was awesome. It made me realize we don't have to take Jack somewhere to make a memory with him. And not that we have to with Collin -- we all just like to go on adventures with him.

So, we sat on the porch swing, chatted about life and it's hardship.

We had a good time.

A real good time.



Some times we even sat on the swing together and held hands.

Ha ha, I tried to hold his hand. Most of the time he let me :)


Other times I watched him play.


This is my all time favorite picture of him. I'm taking this as his, Aunt Maggie, you rock and this is my YOU ROCK signal.

Ha ha, so hilarious!!!



While I had Collin sitting in the chair in the living room {for senior portraits, remember?!}, I put Jack in the toy shopping cart. I'm pretty fun. I wish I was small enough to fit in it. Oh wait, I probably could fit in a normal shopping cart. Whoa.

Anyways, Jack is in the shopping cart. I can only assume Collin sat in his chair all big-eyed and watched the following unfold...

I LOVE MY NEPHEWS!!!

In conclusion {what is this, a term paper?!}, I decided to make a little list of the top 100 things I said daily, while visiting.

Just kidding, how does top 5 sound? I'm a little young to be counting triple digits.

• Hands off the wall! {This phrase was repeated every other minute, especially when we're having a "learning moment" aka: Big Brother is about to be in time out {so listen up, ya hear?!}

• Please don't touch the door/door knob
  

• Nuh-uh is not a word. Please say "no" instead
  

• No standing on the couch

• Please don't throw your food
  

Ahh, that was fun skipping down memory lane.

Back to all things sweet and chirpy.


Guess I wasn't done typing.


Collin sure has learned to say the cutest things. Whenever he wants to do something special, like play a game or watch TV/a movie, he says, Umm, Aunt Maggie? I'm going to ask something nicely. OK. Can I... I mean, may I please watch _____?

It's almost like he's telling me, Umm, Aunt Maggie, I'm going to ask nicely once, OK?...

Ohh, great. My nephew has more sass than I do...