cousins!

this week finds us having a blast with family! my niece (13) and nephew (12). tommie's cousins. brad's sisters two out of three children are in town...from an affluent neighborhood outside of chicago. they're a bit older then tommie by a couple of years. and lightyear's ahead of him...maturity wise. but they truly love each other so much. it makes my heart happy to see them bonding. laughing. wrestling and rolling around with each other. being an only child myself.... i have very fond memories of spending time with cousins from my childhood. you know this bonding thing is amazing...it's all so unconditional. it's memories, time spent like this...that will forever connect them. memories that will never be erased. they'll have them forever. and will one day look back and be filled with so much happiness at time well spent.

here's a peak at their week so far:

pizza on sunday night

wrestling and giggling

enjoyed several card games of bologna sandwich, speed and spoons

slept in

came to my house- i taught rebecca how to make yeast bread from scratch- two cinnamon and one garlic-oregano...all fabulous!

painted an abstract picture with two different art mediums and framed it

joey and tommie built a six foot working roller coaster out of k'nex-- amazing!

painted whimsical candle holders

visited a pig farm

drove my SUV (Yes, Uncle John...we were careful and I was with them!) up and down grandparents driveway!

had a wonderful pot roast dinner at grandparents

played a very fun board game called Last Word

the three kids took flashlights and played hide and seek in the dark..until 9:30.

the kids are looking forward to painting EMU (cousin of the ostrich) eggs!

today, we'll be heading on a homeschool nature scavenger hunt...with our homeschool group. the sun is shining. it's suppose to be in the 50's. it should be fun. plus, i gotta hand it to my brother and sister in-law...their kids are always, enthusiastically "game for anything!"