Sun Break.

Finally, after a week long battle of sickies we are coming out on the other side of it. There may have been a few moments I honestly thought we would never ever sleep again. In desperation I may or may not have thought the best solution would be to set up a bed for Cole on the floor next to ours. In my mind it seemed like it would be easier, and we could even keep our eyes closed as we rolled out to help him. 3 hours later we had a screaming mad little boy, throwing the biggest tantrum of his life....at 2 in the wee morning. Someone really ought to let them know that mama and dadda's patience is pretty much non-existent at that hour...especially after already being up what seemed like every 15 minutes. I may or may not have bribed him with half a banana to go back to his bed and stop screaming. It may have worked. Never under estimate the power of the banana at 3 am.

So we spent most of last week cuddled up on the couch, watching "cowboy" as Cole calls Toy Story.  Bennett spiked a high fever and nearly gave me a heart attack and then passed his yuckiness on to Cole for the latter half of the week. But we made it, we really really did. And in celebration God gave us the most beautiful day! Seriously, it was glorious....oh how He knew we needed some fresh air after being cooped up all week. It did our souls good!

Prepare yourself, you are about to get slammed with pictures! We were just having too much fun and I couldn't help but try and capture it all.....

After a morning of salt painting, waiting for it to warm up, and then naps, I surprised the boys with squirt guns. Possibly Cole's favorite thing about summer. :)

Even Bennett tried to get in on the action, but had a hard time reaching the trigger with his short little fingers. He didn't seem to mind though, most of the time he just ran around shaking the water out instead, and then hovering by the water spicket waiting for his chance to turn it on.

True 007 style right there. I have no doubt he will be dangerous once he figures out the trigger action. I may need to get my little white flag prepped and ready come this summer.

But even after the all out water war, we all kissed and made up....well, kind of, I missed capturing the elbow Bennett threw to get Cole to stop kissing him....but at least it was sweet for a moment.

Bennett took every opportunity possible to steal Cole's tricycle, if Cole as much as took one step away Bennett was all over it.

When dadda got home, we moved the party out front, went for a nice walk and then just played. These are the kind of evenings I can't get enough of. Both boys just playing together, outside, getting dirty.

And never fails if one boy starts playing with something, the other will be following closely behind...sometimes trying to hijack the fun.

You better believe Cole was just steps behind Bennett when he saw him playing with Grandpa Eric's old car. After trying to shove Bennett off, Mr B let our a howl of his disapproval....so Cole got and hauled out another old truck and they started racing racing instead. I think Bennett's face about sums up his feelings....

Boy's and their trucks, the two just go together like bread and butter...enough of that My Little Pony stuff ;)

Just as boy's and trucks go together, so do boy's and dirt. They always seem to find the dirt. And I happen to kind of like it. For some reason when I found out I was having boys I envisioned two little mischievous mugs smeared with dirt. And it made my heart so happy.

They discovered some left over dirt in our pot that we still need to work on (I say we when I should say Kyle, he has the green thumb in this family, so thankful for that!)

So they dug and dug and dug, and then Cole got a bright idea.

That would be this same innocent looking boy, who dumped dirt on his little bro's head.

He looks like he would never do anything the least bit wrong. Those eyes can be deceiving, not all the time, just some of the time.

But he means oh so well, most of the time. Especially with his hugs.

Despite the strangulation that appears to be happening, this was a genuine felt hug.

And this was a genuine rebuttal when I told Bennett it was time to go in for a bath.

These boys, so thankful that they are finally getting somewhat back to their normal selves, that they were able to get out, play, and actually soak up and enjoy the sunshine yesterday. Just another example that the sun surely will shine after the storm, literally.

Also thankful for the dirt smears on those faces and the dirt remnants in Bennett's curls, my dream come true, honestly. I love it. 

Also, proof that we are working on our hugging techniques, and that Bennett may not really be all that into it. Although, he happens to give his mama the BEST squeeze hugs ever.

And kisses, he gives lots of kisses...especially in the dead of the night when his mama is quietly rocking him, makes the wake up call very worth it.