Hot summer evening!

It is getting hot here in Ohio! The kids love to be outside but I don't like it so hot and humid! So our compromise is to play on our screen front porch. Today, my sister dropped by and Carleigh let her pull her hair into a ponytail. She will NOT let me style her hair. I am hoping that this is the beginning of a little bit of maturity because I am itching to do pigtails, ponytails, barrettes and of course braids! Cody is enjoying his first week off for the summer! When I sing the ABC song with him, he will chime in when it is time to say "I," "P" and "Y."

Grill out pictures

Grill out at the park

We had a grill out with Matt's family at Joyce Park today. Carleigh of course found her favorite friend....a rock! The kids had fun and we met some interesting people...to say that least! I am getting myself ready for one busy, crazy, emotion-filled last week of school! This time next week, I will be livin' the easy life!!

Rocks, rocks, rocks!!

Carleigh's favorite hobby is rock collecting! Everywhere we go, she has to find the biggest rocks to collect and carry around in her hands. She also loves to play with cars and trucks. Do I have a boy or is she truly a girl?

Having fun in our backyard

We were playing outside last Thursday and the kids were having a great time. Carleigh is sporting her mischeivous grin.

Memorial Day Weekend 2007

Saturday, our church had our Memorial Day cookout and campout at the Weaver's farm in Liberty, Indiana. The Weavers are my sister's in-laws. Cody and Carleigh had a blast playing in the dirt and picking up rocks! They also had some church friends to play with in addition to their cousin Devon. Cody loved riding the ATV and going down scary hills on the Mule. Cody would just roll with laughter everytime we would hit a bump. Carleigh enjoyed chasing the ducks back to the pond and I don't think I have ever seen ducks run and fly as fast in my life...but I think I would run too if I had two toddlers chasing me!

Today, we had our friends Shannon and Niki over for pizza and cornhole. Although it was sunny and hot, we had a really nice breeze. We had to dodge a few showers but we got a lot of cornhole games in before we stopped for an ice cream excursion to Culvers. We also got 2.5 hours of uninterrupted adult time while the kiddos napped.

Tomorrow we will go to the Hamilton parade if it doesn't rain. Cody loves flashing lights and Carleigh loves ambulances so I think it will be a big hit for them again. We haven't been to a parade since last 4th of July.

Kids say the cutest things!!

Carleigh has made us laugh every hour with the funny with things that she says or does. She has been really goofy today. She was sitting on her knees and hopping which really made Cody laugh. Then after she saw Matt go outside on the porch, she waves at me and says "Bye bye Mommy" and goes to the doorknob and heads outside.

As I was bending on the floor to pick up thrown food, she slaps me on the back and says "Burp!" She has had a huge interest with eating with forks and spoons although it is hit or miss. I give her lots of practice and it motivates her to eat more. Today they ate a large meatloaf slice, baby potatoes and rice for dinner and then wanted fruits snacks for dessert. I just wish some of that would stay on their bones instead of being burned off as energy!

Cody had an eye appointment this morning and his vision hasn't deteriorated! However, the dr. seems to think the reason why he doesn't wear his glasses are due to the stem of the glasses curves over his ear and bothers him. So we are getting new glasses without the long circular stem. I will buy ANY PAIR if he keeps them on! This is his last week of preschool. Thursday is his last day. I can't believe how fast this school year has gone! I have 8 more school days (2 weeks) and it cannot get here any faster!

We are gearing up for our trip to Virginia Beach. We leave Sunday, June 10th and will come back Friday, June 15th. It will be Cody and Carleigh's first trip to a beach and an ocean and Matt's first time to Virginia Beach. My parents are going and it will be great to have two extra people to lend a hand with our two (and we are hoping to get to take a date while we are down there!). Our hotel is right on the beach and our room has an ocean view with a balcony. We are also hoping to go to Holiday World in Indiana with Matt's family later in the summer. What a fun summer it will be!

Oh what a night!

Yesterday will go down in the record books for being an all-around bad day! Cody's school called and said that Cody had vomitted and Matt & Carleigh had to go down to the school to get him. When they arrived he was happy and not sick at all. We found out that his aide placed him into a swing. Wrong move!! Cody tends to get motion sickness from swinging, not sure why but he does. Everytime that we place him in a swing, he vomits. This has happened since he was a baby. He was perfectly fine afterwards and ate a nice lunch and dinner. However, his mood was awful! I think part of it was because he didn't get a nap due to therapy being on Tuesday afternoons. He was awful for us at church and at home. He also refuses to keep his glasses on. I guess one step forward equals two steps back for Cody! We will keep trying though.

Then, right when we were going to bed, a severe thunderstorm struck. The winds were so strong that I thought it was a mini-tornado! Whoa! The wind picked up the kids' playhouse and knocked it to the ground on its side and pushed it near the fence! We also have major tree damage to our front yard tree. The tree fell about a foot from Cody's bedroom! Whoa! The worst thing however was not having power from 10:30pm - 5:30am. I was constantly waking up to check if I didn't oversleep since my alarm clock is electric!! What a night! I hope that never repeats again!!

Glasses!

Cody has been successfully wearing his glasses since Saturday! We have been fighting with him for a year to wear them. Finally, I put them on and held him while he watched cartoons on Saturday. He then realized that he could see better and kept them on for the majority of the day. He also did well yesterday. So today we sent him in his glasses to school! We hope they com back in one piece and on his face. We noticed that he has been tripping less and hopefully that will prevent him from getting more bruises. Way to go little man!

The ball pit

Happy Mother's Day!

Today can be a sad and empty day for those who are waiting to become mothers. It is a bittersweet day for me as I can still remember and feel those same feelings of wondering when I was going to become a mommy. I thank God that I can celebrate being a mother of two! I am praying for all those who are waiting with empty arms, may God bless you with your chosen child.

My mom and dad, sister, brother in law, neice Brittany, boyfriend Jeremy, Matt, Cody, Carleigh and I went to Tumbleweed for a Mother's Day dinner. It was a nice dinner. On a funny note, we were dipping tortilla chips into salsa and Carleigh was carefully observing all of us. Then she grunted and wanted us to put the dip in front of her so that SHE could dip her chips like all the grownups!! It was so cute! And then Cody took his cue and did the same thing. Boy are the learning at lightning speeds!

We went to a church picnic at a church family's house last evening and Cody and Carleigh had a blast! Carleigh was hitting baseballs off of a tee with a baseball bat. Matt and I already think she could be a great softball pitcher because she can throw VERY well (um, too well in my opinion!). I think we might buy some baseball gear now that it has sparked an interest in both of them.

Before going to the cookout, I watched my niece Brittany get ready for the prom. She looked so beautiful and she and boyfriend make a cute couple. It seems like yesterday when I was changing her diapers and babysitting her on the weekends when I was a teen. Time really flies by!

Update on us

This weekend, we bought a ball pit for the kids. Actually it looks more like an inflatable three-ring swimming pool with balls and a canopy over top! They have had a BLAST with the balls. In fact, Carleigh jumped off the couch into the balls. I think we have a diver on our hands or at least a gymnast!

Bragging moment ahead: Carleigh was evaluated with our EI Specialist and we found out that she is on target in all areas except speech and she is just a few months behind! I am not overly concerned with speech as she has blossomed in the past 2 months! Her vocabulary is up to about 50 words! She also is starting to put 2 words together like "Good girl!" "Thank you!" "More ba-ba aka... drink!" She also follows two step directions like go get the ball and bring it to Mommy, go get your shoes and coat. She is also trying to take clothes on and off. Her learning is just taking off! This summer, I really want to focus on the alphabet, shapes, numbers and colors with her and Cody. Also, Cody can identify the number A, B, C, E, K and Y! Carleigh can identify about 10 letters also. We are getting to the stage that I have been dreaming about.

When I was on the farm field trip, Cody's new preschool teacher commented that she has seen growth in Cody in the past 5 weeks that she has been there. Oh I just love hearing that! There is no limit to their learning or potential!

AND...Carleigh loves the outdoors! She will throw a fit when she has to go indoors! Today, I had to stay in the blazing sun for about 45 minutes because she had to "mow" the yard with her bubble lawnmower about 20 times! She also didn't take a nap because Matt said that she was so excited about playing outside. Oh boy!!

Well, I have less than 4 weeks of school left and I can't wait to stay home, sleep in, play and teach my kiddos a few things. And of course...we are going to the OCEAN the second week of June!!

Farm candids

Cody's Field Trip to Parky's Farm!

We had another "first" with Cody today. His preschool class went on a field trip to Parky's farm. Cody had a blast! His favorite thing to do was to play in this big vat of balls! He did not want to get out, in fact, I had to go in and get him! And I can see why it is so hard to walk with hundreds of balls all around you! Cody was swimming and also being buried in the balls. We also fed/pet the animals, saw a puppet show, went on a wagon ride, planted onions, touched frogs and toads!! Cody also got to eat lunch in a big red barn! It was so much fun! Cody fell asleep on the bus ride back to school. I was thrilled to be able to go on his first field trip with him. A couple of the girls in his class would come up to us and say "Oh, I just love Cody! He is so cute!" And they would hug him!! That just melted my heart!! I am one tired, but happy momma!