Aunt Mary and Uncle Brian Came to Visit

Aunt Mary and Uncle Brian came to visit. They are good sports to come visit our house. They leave the comfort of their quiet house and come visit our chaos and early bed times. Emma and John live for it though.
 Mary sneaks John Oreo cookies. Brian taunts Emma by telling he is going to touch the decorations in her room. Mary hold candy classes with Emma to teach her about cookies and candy. My favorite was that Mary made salted caramel butter bars. These things have enough calories in them that by definition they are wonderful. Emma looked at it, tasted it, scrunched up her nose and handed it back to Mary like it was a piece of poop. Mary made vanilla pudding and Emma tasted a bit and never asked for more. Mary even asked Emma if she thought it would be a good idea if Emma kept candy under her bed. At this point one might wonder if Mary should be left alone with children who live in a state where there are roaches. Here is how Emma responded, "No, because my mom would find it and ask me where I got it and then she would take it away." Emma speaks the truth. Pretty much, Emma didn't show too much interest in the cookies and candy. So it is safe for Mary to be around Emma.

John was another matter. Every time I turned around, he had a cookie in his mouth. After a while she stopped giving them to him and put the bag of cookies in her purse. A short time later, he had Oreos again. I looked at Mary to place blame with her but she didn't do it. He turned around in the shopping cart, and fished around in Mary's purse for the bag until he found it. He also found a candy bag in her purse several times. Even after Mary left, he found the same bag of candy somewhere in the house and was attempting to open more candy. Mary might need close supervision when she is with John.

While Mary and Brian where here, we cooked steaks. By "we," I mean Aaron. I have no interest in cooking steaks. I love to cook, but have no desire to learn about steaks. Aaron was kind enough to take on grilling steaks for me. He did a good job. In fact John, who only eats bread and crackers, said, "I like it!" John ate a bunch of steak. If he is a steak and potatoes kind of guys, he was born to the wrong family.

Aaron and Brian we shooting guns. Mary and I picked out paint colors for my bathroom. Seemed like an appropriate way to divide our time.

Emma and John loved spending time with Brian and Mary. One day Mary and Brian took a nap. Emma sat quietly on their bed the entire time. Granted she was playing on their iPad, but she just wanted to be by them. John followed Brian around like a puppy dog, begging to be read to. He also watched Brian shave. The first thing John would ask for in the morning was "Brian." The kids would come downstairs in the morning, very excitedly waiting for Mary and Brian to come down and make an appearance.

We got to celebrate John's birthday. We sang Happy Birthday and John liked that. However the blowing out the candles part was beyond him. We even had Emma demonstrate and he was totally lost as to what he was supposed to do. He was not lost on the concept of a cupcake. Again, he said, "I like it!" This kid never met a sweet he didn't like. Mary and Brian were kind enough to get him Thomas the Train books and backpack. Those books have become staples of our everyday reading.

We had a great time visiting with Mary and Brian. Some day we will bring our chaos to their house... something I am sure they dream of.