Life With Nephews

I was given a great opportunity to bond with my nephews a few weeks ago while my brother and dear sister in law drove off into the sunset… the Colorado sunset… without me…(not bitter).

Due to the fact that I am currently working just one day a week, I was able to watch the boys at their own home which was less stressful for everyone involved.

You are familiar with these two munchkins, you know them as Bear and Bug.

 I’m going to give you a short recap of our week spent together.

I arrived on Wednesday evening after working from 8-6:30 pm.  Ben and Heidi were supposed to be ready to go when I got there…While BEN finished packing (he hadn’t even started yet), Heidi gave me the run down of schedules, food options, freezer inventory and TV capabilities (they have a ROKU and a PC hooked to the TV, and I am NOT super tech savvy) .  They had also decided to become a host family for a sweet girl from Japan, and she was staying with us that first night before heading to a friends for the week.

After getting loaded up and saying goodbye to the boys, they headed out the door, with my brother looking back over his shoulder and proceeding to say “Hey, if it is possible, can you figure out a way for Minami (the exchange student) to talk to her parents?  Thanks!”…and out the door they went.

At this point, Minami had not been in the states long enough to know much English, and well, let’s just say that I am less than stellar in Japanese (read: I don’t know ANY Japanese).  We smiled at each other and then proceeded to attempt to communicate with each other.  2 hours later we had set her up a Skype account and I put enough money on it for her to talk for a couple of hours…as I am putting the finishing touches on the account (the boys are in bed by this time), she somehow signs and communicates to me that she doesn’t get internet on her phone at which point I take her phone and enter the WIFI password for my brothers internet and her phone proceeds to BLOW UP with messages and missed calls…She hugs me, says ‘Thank You’ and heads to her bedroom to call her parents!  WHEW!

It had been a long day, but I still had a blog post due…my CL was a gem and when I told her I ended up working and was babysitting as well, she allowed me a few hours fudge time on my posting!  Finishing touches on the blog (and the entire first season of “Hell on Wheels”), and I was in bed by 3 am!

I woke up to a sweet face saying “Hey Sarea Mom!”  The boys let me sleep until 7:30 am and that was GREAT!  We got up and headed to the kitchen for breakfast.  Now, let me tell ya, if there are 2 little boys that know what they want for breakfast, it is these two!  I attempted oatmeal for Bug, it wasn’t like ‘Mommy’s‘, but he ate it all.  Bear was pleased with his scrambled eggs, so we were off to a great start.  They are also very much in love with Cutie Oranges…Heidi said if I could limit them to 6 a day I would be doing good!  Bug informed me (after he had 2 already) that “If MY Mommy here, I get MORE!”

The next couple days are a blur,as Ethan and I got sick Friday evening and didn’t get off the couches all of Saturday.  I couldn’t have done it without the help of my sweet daughter Madison.  She fed the boys, bathed them and put them to bed even.

Sunday we headed to Grandma’s house, and you would have thought I told them we were going on a Disney Cruise!!  Those boys were geared up and ready to go!  Small problem…my car battery was D-E-A-D, Dead! (more on that in my next post).

We finally got to Grandma’s, where they got some good old fashioned loving, and I got a NAP!

Monday Heidi’s mom saved the day by picking up Bear and taking him to therapy,which left us with Bug who enjoyed the one on one attention!

During a phone call with Heidi before they were even out of the state yet, she mentioned to me that “…if Bug was potty trained when we got home, that would make you AWESOME!…”  Well, WHO doesn’t want to be awesome?  Challenge accepted!

Bug did so great!  We put him in ‘big boy underwear’ and after just one accident (sorry about the carpet Heidi), he wasn’t even wet after nap time and was still dry first thing in the morning!  We were very proud of him.

Here are a few other ‘funnies’ that are sure to make you smile!

Bear: “Hey wet Sarea!” (as I stood in a towel after just getting out of the shower).
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Bear: “She, hello she!”
Madison: “Why do you keep calling me ‘she’?”
Bear:  “Cause your a girl!” (He’s a smart one!)

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Bear: (Laying next to me in bed Saturday morning) “You don’t feel good?”
Me:  “No honey, Auntie Rea doesn’t feel good at all.”
Bear: (very enthusiastically) “That’s Okay! You’ll feel better in NO time!”
Me: “Aww, that’s sweet, do you want to hold George for me so he doesn’t get sick?” (as I hand over my beloved teddy bear)
Bear: “Oh MAN, I am SO lucky!  Thank you, Thank you Auntie Rea for letting me hold your bunny rabbit!”
Me: “You are welcome, but George is a teddy bear.”
Bear: (Looking at me, and not convinced, even a little bit) “Oh, okay.” (sheepish grin)

And my personal favorite: (from snack time)

Bear: “I want root balls!”
Me: “What?”
Bear: “ROOT BALLS!” 
Me: “Root Beer?”
Bear: (more agitated) “FROOT BALLS!”
Me: “Foot balls?”
Bear: (borderline postal) “I said Froot Bars!”
Me: “Oh, a fruit bar?”
Bear: (big sigh) “Yes”
Me: “Got it, why couldn’t I understand you?”
Bear: “I don’t know, I was speaking English!”

P.S.S.  I had some time to reflect on a few things in my life, and some major revelations were made.  I will be sharing those in an upcoming blog too, stay tuned!