Another Card Pic

The bottom pic in the previous post is the wrong group pic. This is the correct pic!

Christmas Card Preview

These are the three pics we picked for our Christmas card. It was really challenging to get both smiling, have their eyes opened or both looking directly at the camera. I had to compromise in one of the shots. The background of the card will have the nativity scene.

Like Mother, Like Daughter!

O Christmas Tree!

After going to the grocery store, the kids, Matt and I put up our Christmas tree. Carleigh was soooooo excited and applauded when I turned on the lights. Of course they have sat and stared at the tree and TOUCHED the ornaments. They are doing better with it this year. They still want to touch and spin the ball ornaments, but the tree is still standing this year! We watched "Polar Express" while decorating the tree. Carleigh was fascinated with the train scenes. I recovered from not having any sleep, however, I was in bed fast asleep after 10 last night! These pics were taken with my NEW camera.

Deals!

Let me preface this post to say that I could not for the life of me fall asleep last night so I am running on zero sleep. If this blog is unclear, it is due to the lack of sleep. Here is the rundown of the morning:

My mom, sister and I leave my sister's house at 4:30am. We arrive 5 minutes later at Walmart. My sister gets the last shopping cart (a hint of something bad to come!) and we had to share the cart amongst the three of us. We head toward the electronics where you could hear a ROAR. People are shouting and hollering! Apparently someone opened up the Wii shipment and people were greedily picking those puppies up at $250 a box. I happen to get my prize early Christmas gift, a new camera with 10.3 megapixels with a great memory stick. Someone put one down and I snatched it up! My first good thing that happened.

Well, my sister wanted to get Carleigh a Leapster (well she wanted to get both Cody and Carleigh one) so when we got to them, they were sold out much to her disappointment. I was talking to another shopper when I commented how disappointed I was to find no Leapsters available. Out of nowhere a lady (angel in disguise) said "Here!" and gives me a pink Leapster! Wooohoo! I hold it up in the air to show my sis who was about 10 feet down the aisle. She jumps up and down! She didn't get a Nintendo DS or the Wii as they sold like hotcakes. We got in line and had to wait, get this, 2 HOURS to check out! I have never waited that long to check out ANYWHERE and will not EVER do that again! We got to know the people around us very well. And I got a pair of special pjs for Cody because someone decided not to get them for their child. We did get Cody's piano and it will just make his Christmas for sure. I bought nice, big bath towels for $1.50 each which was an awesome deal! All in all, we did well and I bought Carleigh's Christmas dress at another store for $11.99!!! Wooohoo! Now I have to get out later and find a Christmas sweater for Cody. (I plan on taking their picture for the Christmas card this weekend so I can order and get them back ASAP.) The pic will be so much nicer on my new camera. Yay!

Now I am just sitting and am surprised that I am still functioning on no sleep. I just need some caffeine and I will be good to go for the rest of the day. I am hoping Matt comes home early. *sigh* What a morning of madness!!!!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had our big Thanksgiving dinner at Jen's parents. There were eight of us: Jen's parents, my niece Brittany, boyfriend Jeremy, Matt, Jen, Cody and Carleigh. We were packed at mom's kitchen table. The food was delicious and we were totally stuffed afterwards. Cody's favorite food was the green beans and Carleigh loved my mom's biscuits.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Checking out the ads for tomorrow!

My niece Brittany, Jeremy and Cody were checking out the store ads for Black Friday. All of us are joining the early morning madness. There are some deals TOO good to pass up! I will have most of my shopping done by 6:30am! My two love sitting with Papaw in his favorite chair.

Yum!

Chillin' after dinner

Black Friday update...

I went online to the Black Friday ads and yes, I am going to get up early (before Matt has to go to work) and brave those crowds because I saw something that Cody has to absolutely have....a piano at a great price. It's his original all-time favorite piano that they have brought back out of retirement. So, being the dutiful mommy that I am, I will be out at 4am getting it for my little man. Hopefully I can sneak in a nap on Thanksgiving!

Be thankful....

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I have been thinking about what I am thankful to the Lord for.

I am thankful for...

My Lord

My husband Matthew

My two incredible blessings Cody and Carleigh

My health

My job

Our home

My friends and family

One more day to go!!

Tomorrow is my last day of teaching for the week! Yay! And then I have 5 wonderful days to stay home with the kids and just enjoy them. Wednesday we are going to play some fun games that I made for them and then I will be going over to my friend Shannon's house in the evening to learn how to "quill." Thursday will be Thanksgiving and we will be having dinner with my parents. I will be helping mom with all the fixins while Matt keeps the kids home until dinner is ready. Friday morning, I may or may not be out shopping during Black Friday. I guess it depends on two factors: 1) What is on sale 2) If I can do it without children. Friday afternoon, the kids, Matt and I will be putting up our Christmas tree. On Saturday, I plan on possibly taking them to Niedermann Farm to see the "Walk Through Bethelehem" which is all about the birth of Jesus Christ. They also have a neat light display (so I have heard). Sunday is worship day at Church and then a lazy afternoon of relaxing. I am hoping to get some cleaning and organizing done mixed in on a few of those days.

Tomorrow is a low-key day at school. After lunch, it is easy breezy lemon squeezy with Computer class and then the party for the rest of the day. The morning consists of a Math test, P.E. class and a few Thanksgiving activities. Ahhhhhh!!!! I could really go for 2-day workweeks!!

Sounds of Letters

Last night, right before bedtime, I was singing to Cody when all of a sudden he said " a -uh, b-buh, c - cuh, d-duh...." and preceded to say 20 out of 26 letter sounds! I just sat there AMAZED at my little guy! I have heard him say the P sound and the "b" sound, but he knows MOST of them! Wow! It brought tears to my eyes knowing that Cody CAN learn and I have no doubt of his potential!!

A Visit From Papaw

My parents came over when Cody and Carleigh were finishing up with their nap. Of course Cody and Carleigh ran to Papaw and sat with him. Carleigh fell back asleep and enjoyed Papaw holding her. They are crazy about him!

What a day!

The day started very typical as I went to school and left at lunchtime. I quickly realized I left my purse at work! Opps! So, after Cody's meeting, Carleigh and I went before her follow-up Dr's appt. She liked meeting some of the teachers and she received a lollipop from the principal! Carleigh did a great job at the doctor's office and got the flu vaccine via a nasal spray. This was the first time she received it this way. She did remarkably well and we plan on getting Cody in soon to get the same thing.

I guess I am just trying to process all the "heavy" things discussed in the meeting and we all seem to want what is best for Cody, but it is hard on a mommy's heart to hear all the negatives about your child. We have some plans set up and with Cody's 5 year physical in January, we might be getting an ADHD diagnosis. He's so young to get that diagnosis, but we do agree that he almost for certain has it. Maybe with medication, it will help him to focus and concentrate on communication skills. They were so impressed with his achievement last year and although he is progressing, it seems we have reached a "plateau" in his communication skills. At this time, they figured he would be speaking in small sentences. *sigh* Matt and I have a lot of thinking and decisions to make regarding his education, but we do have 6 months to decide which is good!

One really neat thing is that he is connecting letters to the SOUNDS which is the precursor to reading!! I also have some strategies to help him and now plan on working with him over Thanksgiving Break (they are out ALL next week) and Christmas break. I loved homeschooling him this summer and plan on doing lots of fun things over my TWO WEEK break!! (Yes, I am VERY excited to have two FULL weeks off for Christmas!! Wooohooo!)

Playing with blocks

When I came home today, Carleigh and I decided to build a garage for her Hot Wheel cars and other assortment of vehicles. Cody was snoozing because he refused to take a nap for Memaw (seeing a pattern here?). I snapped a few pics. (I got new batteries for my camera.)

Last night, my family and I went to my parents' home for dinner. One of my favorite meals that my mom makes is homemade veggie soup with cornbread. So, she made it for us and it was so nice not to fix dinner! Yay! Thanks mom! Of course when Cody and Carleigh go over there, they are in hyper form wanting to touch all of Memaw's doodads and home decor. At one point, they were sitting on top of her coffee table (hence why WE don't have one anymore!) and spinning around. Needless to say, we did not stay long after dinner. Once we were home, they were their normal selves.

I have a Cody IEP meeting on Friday so I have to take a half-day to meet with his teachers, psychologist, and therapists. It is for the new IEP he needs and then we meet again in May to work on his Kindergarten IEP. I just cannot imagine my little man will be in Kindergarten next year. These 5 years have gone by sooooo fast! After the meeting, I have to take Carleigh to the doctor for a re-check on her ears as well as get a physical document taken care of for Cody. Run, run, run is all I do!

Cody and his piano obsession!

Last night, I was on my laptop while the kids were watching cartoons. Of course Cody has to come over and check out what I am doing. Mostly I check email, update my blog, check out facebook/friends' blogs and check out the discussion boards that I moderate and frequent. EVERYTIME that I am on my blog at home Cody can sense it and sits down next to me and says "Find Piano." He KNOWS about the 2005 December entries where there are pics of his old piano. Most of the time I try to ignore his pleas, but last night, he said THREE WORDS "Where is piano?" I looked over at Matt and asked him, "Did you hear that?" I have never heard Cody use the word "where" before!

So, I pull it up on the archives and he just starts talking away. I never knew that showing Cody his old piano or other pianos would spark such a language explosion. He was talking up a storm! He was talking to fast that sometimes I didn't understand what he was saying. So, I just may have to use this to get him to talk more. I can't even describe it because he was looking me in the eyes and talking to me and when I was talking to him he was looking me in the eyes really strongly and listening to every word I say. It makes this mommy heart proud! I think we have made a breakthrough with his communication skills.

Oh, and guess what happened yesterday in our "Glasses Saga?" Well, my mom let Cody wear them after school and he broke the arm/elbow of the glasses. We can't have them fixed until Wednesday so he will be glasses-free for a few days. *sigh*

Christmas shopping

Bilibo Toy that we are getting Cody and Carleigh:


I went Christmas shopping Saturday evening for Cody and Carleigh. We are 1/3 of the way done for them. For Carleigh, I bought the Furreal White cat (which meowed as I was trying to get it into the safe place), pjs, warm fuzzy flip flop slippers and a Disney princess ball hopper (you inflate it in the shape of a big ball and you sit and bounce on it). For Cody, I found a 3-drum set with a stool, foot petals drumsticks (I know I will be regretting this later) and pajamas. Cody is VERY hard to buy for as he is not interested in typical boy toys like cars or trains or action figures. I asked him what he wants Santa to bring and he said "piano." I will have to make sure that Santa brings Cody his only item that he really wants. I am thinking this Christmas will be VERY musical as with a drum set, piano and possibly a guitar from his paternal grandparents, Cody can have his own band!! I also plan on buying them each a Bilibo Swedish toy each. I have heard it is great for children with sensory issues so both will be getting it and it is a great indoor toy that children can rock in and spin as well. Carleigh is getting a train set as well. I am much more organized this year and trying to do a little bit a shopping every 2 weeks as it is quite hard on the wallet to do it all at one time!

School Portraits

I found away to get them here without breaking copyright laws so I snapped a pic of them on the wall (and yes, Cody's portrait was crooked when I snapped this!).

Hold Your Family Close

Last night, our school called all staff and faculty to tell us that the high school PE/Bible teacher as well as soccer coach had a brain anneurism. This morning, we got the call that he went home to be with the Lord early this morning. I am just in shock. He has two little girls younger than Carleigh. Our school is devastated to say the least. Please keep this family in your prayers. And keep your family close by celebrating every day. You just never know when it will be the last day that you or your family/friends are here on this earth.

Indoor baseball

Last night and today, Carleigh wanted Matt and I to play baseball with her. She has quite a strong pitch and look out if you are not paying attention! She has a carrot bat that she got a couple of years ago and we used an assortment of balls. We had alot of fun and she would get so upset if it rolled under the couch. I will try to get a shot of the fun and post it soon.

On the way to Walmart today, I asked Cody what he wanted to see and he said "Piano!" That boy has a one-track mind!!

Something very neat!

I had a BLAST observing a second grade teacher at my old elementary school. Boy did it bring back memories!! I was showing Joanne some of my old rooms and it is amazing that I remembered where they were. The coolest thing was that my seond grade teacher was STILL teaching and the guy that we were observing walked us over to her classroom and I got to say hi to her and she remembered me! How cool is that??!! He had a smartboard in his classroom and can I say how JEALOUS I am? Now I need to write some grants and get my school on board to get one of those really cool toys. It was amazing to see all the fun and educational tools that he used with his second graders!! We had a fun time and he has a really nice class. Then, we went out to lunch and I was home around 1pm. Wooohoo! Of course tomorrow won't be as exciting, but boy did we learn alot.

Teacher Inservices

Today and tomorrow are teacher inservice days for our school. My co-teacher Joanne and I are going to Fairfield North Elementary which is my old stomping grounds. I went to school there my entire elementary years of Kindergarten through 5th grade. No doubt it will bring nostalgia!! We are observing a dynamic first grade teacher there who does a program that we do in our school. I am looking forward to it. Then, Joanne and I are going out to lunch somewhere at Bridgewater Falls. I love going to restaurants WITHOUT children so it will definitely be a treat and a rarity. I should be home early which will make my mom's day.

Tomorrow, we have inservice training at the high school for the morning *yawn* and then back to the elementary school for the afternoon. I am hoping to be home a "little" bit earlier than I normally due than during a typical school day. The students have had ALOT of days off and we teachers are sooooo looking forward to Thanksgiving Break...5 days off sounds like Heaven to me!!

Got Chocolate?

Cody and Carleigh have enjoyed their Halloween candy. We limit one piece per meal and it seems to satisfy them. Carleigh's favorite is the chocolate. A few days ago, she said "Mmmmmmm....this is good chocolate!" Ahhh...she is ALL girl!!! Cody will rub his belly and say "Yum!"

Cute Little Phrases

Here are a few cute phrases that the kids are saying these days!

Cody:

How you doing?

Mommy, SIT.

Again, please.

Find piano/Mommy

I friend of God.

Hi Mommy, Hi Daddy, Hi Sissy! (All three in a row)

Go play outside.

And now, if the mood strikes him, he will just start counting or labeling the names of all things in the house or in a book that he knows.


Carleigh:

Uh-huh! Yeah! (So cute to hear her say that when I ask a question.)

Where did it go?

Come here Cody!

Oh, look!

It's a chicken, gobble, gobble! (Um Carleigh, you mean TURKEY!)

Cody, Cody, Cody

Cody and his glasses *insert BIG sigh* will be the death of me for sure! Well, when I got home, my mom told me a long winded story about Cody and his glasses. To those who don't read my blog often, Cody and his glasses is an on-going drama in our family. Well, the latest is that apparently Cody flung his glasses off on the playground at school. Miss Ellie saw him wearing them before heading out (they play outside for a few minutes before boarding the bus to go home) and noticed he didn't have them when lining up to board the bus. They looked around and could not find them and they even delayed the bus line looking for them before he left glass-less.

Then his teacher leaves a LONG voice mail about his missing glasses. Then my mom says that the teacher calls back and they found them on the playground. Cody and his glasses will make a love/hate reunion tomorrow in the classroom.

It's so funny that his glasses has caused the bus line delay as well as an intercom announcement in the big Kindergarten building. The Lord is surely looking out for these glasses because they should have been broken or badly damaged by the neglect and abuse at the hands of our soon to be 5 year old!!!

Now when I am on the blog, he loves to look at it and tells me to "Find Piano." He has seen his beloved piano on older posts from 2005 and he wants me to click on them so that he can remininsce on the good ole times!!!

Party Pics

My camera's battery is dead which frustrates this camera girl! It happened to die right before our party last night so I didn't get any pics. Luckily today Mary Ann took some shots and the kids really enjoyed watching the presents that were opened and loved playing with them. Cody and DJ (birthday boy who is 2) is going to go on tour: DJ as the drummer/guitarist and Cody on piano...maybe Carleigh will be the leader singer and dancer!!

Carleigh enjoyed eating lunch with Aunt Michelle. It's so cute hearing her say Michelle's name!

Back to normal

We are all back to normal!! Cody's fever broke at my mom and dad's house last night while we were at the barn get-together. We went to Raygan and DJ's combined birthday parties and both kiddos enjoyed playing with their cousins. They of course crashed on the way home due to no naps and when we wanted Carleigh to wake up, we told Cody to go wake up Carleigh. He went over to her and said "Wake up!" and shook his finger. Matt and I laughed!

Earlier in the day, I was reading the newspaper when Cody came up and said "Find piano!!" He likes to look at toy catalogs and it's the cutest thing seeing him looking at all the toys.

I am so glad that everyone is healthy again!

Our day

The morning started off on the wrong foot, but got better in the evening. Matt and I awoke to Cody crying at 5am. So we get up and yep, Cody had another fever. Poor thing! We gave him Tylenol and he and Matt rested on the couch. I went back to bed. He woke up crying again sometime later and then we all slept in until around 9am. Cody had a little bit of energy for a few hours but wouldn't eat anything and then the fever hit again and he was lifeless on the couch. He slept most of the afternoon. We were for certain we were going to have to miss the Hoot-n-Nanny, but my mom and dad offered to watch him while we went with Carleigh.

The Hoot-n-Nanny (aka Cowboy get-together) was held at our Sunday School teacher's ranch. They have quite the ranch with a really nice clubhouse that had a great kitchen and dining room. The tables and DJ were set up in their indoor corral in their HUMONGOUS barn. They board horses...alot of them! There was one really cute and friendly horse that wanted me to pet and love on him and guess who owned him? Some lady whose has the same first and LAST name as I!! Weird!! It's was funny because when I saw my name on it, I was like, oh, I own a horse now??

We had dinner, and they had a raffle, Carleigh got her face painted with flowers. There was a corn hole set and a ping pong table set up in the corral as well. Carleigh made a craft and played with a pumpkin game. The music was really great and they had a wonderful DJ. Everyone had a great time and Carleigh played with her friend Paige from church.

When we picked up Cody, he was waking up. He slept almost the whole time at my parent's home. After we got back, he became full of energy and so I think we may be on the tailend of this sickness!! Yay!!

Starting Christmas shopping

We are officially thinking about Christmas shopping! Last night, Cody, Carleigh, and I shopped a few stores online looking at toys. This is so less stressful than taking them to stores and picking out toys to look at. She would LOVE the Furreal big golden retriever dog but who can rationalize paying $158 for a stuffed animal??? She saw another Furreal white cat for under $50 so I am happy with that! There were also a couple more animals that I am going to suggest to family members for her. She is in the stage now where she can play with non-toddler toys!! Woohoo! I am also going to buy a couple of together gifts as they play with each others toys anyway. I am thinking of getting them a toy that video tapes them and projects the image of them dancing on the tv screen. They would really like looking at themselves and dancing is one of their favorite things.

For Cody, we are looking into buying a new piano. We had to take away his older pianos as they don't work well and it gets him very angry which makes his whole attitude awful for a few hours or for the rest of the day. *sigh* I am looking carefully for just the right one, plus one that he could learn a few keys as I am thinking of having him take piano lessons in a year or so. We are also getting him a helmet that makes sounds and comes with a steering wheel. He loves to put things over his head anyway, so I figure he would like that. I know they have a policeman, but I am thinking Cody would like a fireman helmet better.

We took them to Walmart last night for grocery shopping and we went to the Christmas decorations section. Carleigh just LOVED looking at the lit and decorated Christmas trees. She said "Oh look Mommy!" "Can I pick one?" meaning she wanted one of the ornaments off the tree. I told her that the ornaments had to stay on the tree. (In the back of my mind, I am thinking, oh, our poor Christmas tree will be abused again if she is THIS fascinated with ornaments.)

Here's a funny: Now that the inflatable ghost is gone out of mom's neighbor's house, they replaced it with a huge inflatable turkey. Well, I tell Carleigh, look at the turkey and say GOBBLE GOBBLE. Instead, she says "Look! It's a chicken!!" Silly girl!!

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Conferences went well yesterday! I met Carleigh's speech pathologist as well as her preschool teacher. Apparently, Carleigh is a BIG helper and likes to help her teacher alot! She is doing really well routines and following directions. She still needs to work on her communication skills and speaking longer sentences, but overall she is doing great!

I had to race across campus to Cody's building and of course was late to it because Carleigh's conference started late and ended late. His conference went well and we began to discuss his transition into Kindergarten next year. Cody can sit at circle time very well which lasts up to 30 minutes!! Way to go Codeman! I found out that a fireman got an unexpected kiss from my kissing bandit when he picked Cody up while he visited their school. One of his teachers caught it on camera and will be putting it on CD at the end of the year.

Matt took Cody to the dr and he has just a viral thing. Off and on fever so we are watching him and giving him Tylenol. He doesn't have an ear infection or strep so hopefully this little sickness will go away quickly because we have a lot of fun plans scheduled for this weekend: going to a Hoot-n-nanny at a friend's barn in Oxford and a birthday party on Sunday.

If it is not one, it's the other!

My mommy radar was up last night with Cody. First of all, after church, he was just wanting me to hold him and snuggle him. (Now of course he loves to kiss and hug but he never sits down for more than a minute!) He sat with me on the couch for at least 30 minutes. Then, this morning he was up before I left and he is NEVER awake that early. And of course he wanted me to hold him and snuggle with him which slows down getting ready for work!

He didn't have a fever at the time so my mom sent him to preschool. When he came home, he had a fever and is just lifeless. I have parent/teacher conferences tonight and I already agreed to going so I have planned a course of action. I will go to parent/teacher conferences, Matt will take Cody to Children's Urgent Care and (hopefully) my sister will babysit Carleigh while I am at conferences. *sigh* If it is not one, it is the other with sickness!!!

Looking forward to conferences

Tomorrow evening I will be going to Carleigh and Cody's parent/teacher conferences. I cannot wait to hear the progress that they are making because I see so much improvement at home! This will be my first conference with Carleigh's progress so I am very eager to hear what she is doing in her classroom. Cody's speech is progressing and he is talking up a storm which is music to my ears!! I am just so proud of their progress and Cody is such a little miracle in every way. Can you tell I love my two little miracles???

REMINDER!!

Go and VOTE! Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, go and make your voice heard! I am going to go vote during my break and am hoping to get back in time before the kids get back from P.E. class...one hour!!

One year ago today....

One year ago today, my little girl became a part of my forever family! Of course, she has ALWAYS been my daughter, no matter what. She became an official FOREVER daughter of mine. It was such a special day and I am just so thankful for her. Although she can be quite the challenging and mischievous little girl, she is my little princess. She brings so much joy to my life and our family!

I love hearing her laugh or watching her play with her big brother. She protects and looks out for her brother. Just yesterday, she said "Come on Cody!" And she took him into her room to play. She also looks for injustices and if Cody doesn't get something, she lets me know.

She is very dramatic and loves to dance and sing! She also loves her trains and cars.

I am so very blessed to be called her mother and I look forward to celebrating each Adoption Day with her!!

Just as I suspected...

I came home Thursday evening to a sick little girl. She was leaning lifeless against Matt. I gave her Tylenol and she was back to her normal self. Then Friday, she was grabbing her ear (as I suspected she would) and said "Ear hurt." So this morning, Matt took her to the ped. and I stayed home with Cody. And just as I suspected, she was diagnosed with an ear infection. After we gave her the first dosage, she grabbed her ear and was crying out in pain and so another dose of Tylenol was in store. After an hour, she was back to her normal mischeivous self. She has to go back in 3 weeks to check her ear again. She is the ear infection kid in the family!!