Changed the title of our blog

I felt the urge to change the title of our blog due for Internet security reasons. If I can the website address, I will post it from this blog.

Our Saturday

Our Saturday was very busy! First, we met my friend Jen and her family at my school's Family Fun Festival which was like a carnival in every way. The biggest hit was the bounce house and my friend Jen had to crawl in and get Cody and Carleigh a couple of times because they didn't want to get out!! There were inflatables from Pump It Up and Cody and Carleigh raced each other through the inflatable obstacle course. The only tricky area was the wall in which Matt gave both a boost. They loved the steep slide. Carleigh and Cody won goodies at the cake walk and we won a couple of day passes to Pump It Up! I can't wait to take them over the summer!

After the festival, all the kiddos needed a nap before heading to Indiana. I crashed and am so glad I took a nap because I am still not 100%. We left for Indiana around 3:30pm. Jerry's surprise 40th birthday party was fun and Cody and Carleigh enjoyed running around. They did not like a little dog that jumped up on them however. It was a pug and beagle mix and was just trying to be friendly. However, Cody and Carleigh are not used to dogs jumping up on them (Aunt Connnie's yorkie doesn't do that) so they were scared!!

Overall, we had a fun time, didn't get back until after 9 and Carleigh crashed before we put her to bed!

Heavenly Grass

Jerry's band members were there to celebrate his birthday. Jerry plays in a bluegrass band named Heavenly Grass.

In the woods

Carleigh is racing to Daddy to get away from Jeremy and the scary dirt bike!
Matt, Cody and Jen's dad watching the riders scale the big hill.

After and before

The top pic happened after Carleigh was scared by a dirt bike cresting a big hill. She thought it was coming after her!

Having fun at the party

Jen's niece Brittany and Jen's mom!

Over the hill!

My sister had a surprise 40th birthday party for my brother-in-law Jerry! He was truly surprised and wasn't expecting anything. In fact, Connie had to actually TELL HIM to come back to the shelter and camping area because he didn't want to stop riding around the farmland.

Twenty

Cody can count to 20! He used to stop at 11, but now he can count 1 - 20 without any error. He can point and count or just count 1- 20 without looking at any numbers! Way to go Codeman! I know that his preschool class has been working really hard on counting to 20 and using one-to-one correspondence with counting. He has come a long way this school year. He is starting to answer questions, he nods yes or no, and really listens to songs and can sing them and do the movements.

My sister commented today on Carleigh's progress on speech. She talked to her and was basically a chatterbox! She is talking to her Sunday School workers and I really feel that preschool has really helped. Both are making great progress.

We have a busy and fun weekend! Tomorrow, we may go to my school's Family Fun Festival in the late morning before going to Indiana to celebrate my bil Jerry's 40th birthday party. My sister has been planning and cleaning the shelter at the farm all week. Hopefully he will be surprised! (I guess I will have to plan Matt a party because he hits the big 4-0 next year.) Sunday night, Matt and I will be teaching the preschool Bible Bucks class. It should be alot of fun since Cody and Carleigh are in that class and our niece Raygan is in there also.

Squash...who knew?

When we were in Indy a week ago, Cody wanted a taste of my mom's steamed veggies which included squash. He devoured most of her veggies and loved it. I bought some squash and steamed it with cucumbers this evening. Cody ate 3/4 of the veggies and I made a good sized amount of both. Who knew that he has an acquired taste of squash? Even I don't like squash, but I will gladly steam them for my little guy! He also loves cooked broccoli, but his favorite food is cantalope. I plan on introducing more exotic fruit when summer arrives and more fruit is in season. Carleigh is such a picky eater but like cantalope.

Carleigh is in the "mine" stage. All night I have heard "Mine!" She thinks that everything belongs to her and she shouldn't share with Cody. Oh the joys of having siblings!!

Future ATV Rider

Cody loves ATVs!! This was his first time riding them in 2008 and he had a blast with Aunt Connie (Jen's sister). Every time that I held out my arms to take him off the four-wheeler, he shook his head no and pointed in the forward direction and told Connie "Go!!!"

He will have a blast this summer when we go over to Indiana where my sister's in-laws have a huge farm with lots of land. Cody would clap his hands and kiss Connie violently when Connie went faster. He loves to go "fast." Now don't be alarmed because my sister doesn't drive fast with a 4 year old! Carleigh didn't like it and would not go on it again, but of course she refused a nap that day and was on the cranky side. I envision buying a kid-sized, battery-operated four-wheeler in the near future!!

Beautiful tree

This is a tree in my sister's front yard. It blooms a couple of times a year and is absolutely gorgeous when it is in bloom.

Wagon ride

We had wonderful weather on Thursday, so we took the kids on a wagon ride on our lane. Of course, my sister got her four-wheeler out and Cody was on Cloud Nine. Carleigh of course was a bit fearful and now will not ride with Connie.

Enjoying the ride

Cody is now Aunt Connie's new buddy. Ever since she took him on a ride on Thursday, he wants her to take him wherever she is going. Friday night when Connie and Jerry and the crew were getting ready to leave for Jerry's race in IL, Cody motioned for Connie to pick him up and Cody said "Up!" He was heartbroken when she couldn't take him with her.

"This too shall pass..."

I say this to myself daily, er hourly! Terrible twos are nothing compared to terrible threes!! Carleigh is getting too smart for her own good. Today, I hear that she gave her Mammaw a hard time. The big problem is that Carleigh is refusing to take a nap for her since she is falling asleep on the bus ride home and taking a short cat nap. Then, when my mom wants her to take a nap after lunch, she refuses. Argh!! They used to be the first home since the school is less than 5 minutes from home, now they are the LAST to get off and have to spend 45 minutes on the bus which is too long for a toddler that is getting ready to take a nap!!

When Carleigh doesn't get a nap she is whiny and mean. This affects mom and poor Cody who gets the brunt of her anger. My mom is counting down the days until June 2 and I am counting down to May 29th (Students' last day!) If I can just get to May 29th, everything else is downhill!!

Update on me: I have a really important test next Wednesday (4/23). Once we get the results from this test, I will know if I will have surgery or not. I appreciate all the prayers!

Cody and Carleigh Update

We received Cody's report card (can you imagine?) today and it was great! He is showing adequate progress in speech as well as other preschool goals. He has also mastered jumping and this goal can be taken off his IEP. I am so proud of Cody! He knows a slew of animals and can point and clearly name them. He is also connecting letters to sounds now and I can hear him saying the sounds sporadically. He is still working on expressing his wants and needs, but we see progress in that each week.

Carleigh is such a typical 3 year old: stubborn, chatty, and independent! She wants to do everything by herself with no help. And if she wants food out of a bag or packet, she MUST get it out by herself or she will refuse to eat it. Picky, picky, picky! She can follow almost any command you ask her and she is starting to be helpful around the house. She loves to find any tiny piece of paper to throw in the garbage. She loves to say "Throw in garbage!" It's cute to hear her refer to herself as "Sissy." When I was giving Cody something, she said "Sissy's?" Meaning, what about Carleigh?

6 more weeks of school and I am FREE! I am planning alot of fun weekend trips and daytrips this summer. I am also planning on "homeschooling" them this summer with a homeschool preschool curriculum I am purchasing. It will be a fun way to spend time with my kiddos as well as sharpen my teaching skills.

It is May 29th yet?????

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

We left Saturday morning at 8am on our journey to Indianapolis. We stopped for breakfast and arrived at the museum around 11am. The entire museum is for kids including the bathrooms made for little ones! The biggest hit of the day was the "Curious George" exhibit. Cody and Carleigh had a blast! Matt and I were exhausted from chasing them for 4 hours, but we all had fun. One area was called "Playscape" and it was for children 5 years and under. There were lots of imaginary play as well as water tables, sand tables, train sets, climbers, songtime, carousel, huge life-size dollhouses to check out, and I also got to see an Egyptian exhibit. We will definitely go there again! My parents came along with us and we found a hotel to stay in and had a wonderful time.

Water Table Fun

Splish Splash

Sand Table Fun

Cody and Carleigh played in the sand forever! It was really neat because they had a geometric dome over it.

The Bulldozer

After song time which they loved, Cody and Carleigh wanted to explore the child-sized bulldozer.

Cody loved the magnetic wall that had letters and numbers. Carleigh loved the Thomas train set.

Mom and I resting in the Healthy House. Carleigh having fun on a slide.

Maze of Mirrors

My camera flash took away from the pics, but we walked in a maze of mirrors and one walk was lit up with lots of colors and your shadow could be seen as well.

Tea Time with the bears

Cody and Carleigh having fun at the Curious George exhibit.

Carleigh eating with Papaw and Cody enjoying the spinning wheel.

Rocket Blastoff!

Another fun part of the Curious George exhibit. Carleigh could easily climb about the spaceship, step up the windy staircase and slide down the rocket.

Rocket Ship Slide

Another fun part of the Curious George Exhibit. Carleigh could easily climb aboard and slide down.

Sights from the museum

Top: A beautiful tree made of blown glass that starts at the lowest level and goes past the 4 floor!
Bottom: Curious George suspended over our heards!

Sights from the Museum

Top: A beautiful glass tree that starts in the basement of the museum and goes to the fourth level/ceiling!
Bottom: Curious George suspended over our heads.