Usual antics

Carleigh created a crown and I thought she would be the "princess." No, she declared she was QUEEN!

Summer School

The kids enjoy doing their schoolwork outside on the porch. Carleigh's princess table and chairs is a great place to do their work. For Carleigh, we are working on fine motor skills. It's definitely a work-in-progress. She has mastered writing her first letter, but now we are working on the other letters of her name as well as writing numbers. We are working on lots of sight words and reading sentences with Cody. Both kiddos now go to occupational and physical therapy once a week in the morning which works great for both of them because they have the most concentration and attention at that time.

Great Reading Practice

I bought V-Tech's reading system called "Create-A-Story." I found it at Big Lots at a steal at Christmas time. The books were very cheap as well and the kids received it as a "together" gift. We stored it away for a rainy day and didn't open it until today. Well, it is really COOL! Carleigh and I played with it and created our own stories including our names and spelling. It also has a read along book in which the words are highlighted and is read aloud to the children. I think this is great for Pre-school - 1st grade because it gives the children an opportunity to see the text highlighted and spoken aloud. Children can also practice opposites, phonics and other activities as well. We have all the books listed in this pic and my kiddos LOVE it! Now if it had math....it would be perfect!

Flash Floods and a Rainbow

We have had rain ALL weekend and each time it rains really hard, our poor backyard looks like a small pond. Today, it rained especially hard AND the sun was out. We saw a beautiful, bright rainbow. Carleigh was so excited to see a REAL rainbow!

What goes around comes around....

Carleigh can be very aggressive to Cody. On Satrday, she decided to shove Cody into the entertainment center, her lip hit the glass and cut it badly! I thought for sure she lost a tooth due to the amount of blood in her mouth. Hopefully, she learned her lesson (maybe).

Oxford Game

Friday night was such a chaotic mess! First of all, Cody started out with a small rash on Wednesday. Each day I noticed it was growing. I was suspicious of chicken pox although he has had the vaccine. Well, Friday afternoon we were in a dilemma. We had to bring the snack for the Oxford game so we didn't know if Cody should go or not. We called the doctor's office who told us to come in. Two doctors looked him over and confirmed it was not chicken pox. It would have been extremely rare since he has had 2 dosages of the vaccine. We then had to rush, get ready, grab dinner on the way and then drove to Oxford. What a night!

My Cinderella

The First Week

I know I have been not posting this week, but I have been busy with the kiddos. On Monday, I had a mandatory First Aid certification class and then summer officially began! We have been sleeping in every day (between 7:30 - 9am). In the mornings, we do summer school things like working in workbooks, practicing writing (extremely difficult for Cody) and I try to do a craft with them. In the afternoons we play on our swing set, ride bikes or play with bubbles or chalk. Wednesday night, Cody graduated from Benson Buddies at church and will officially start earning badges in Caravan in September. Carleigh has one more year in Benson Buddies before she starts earning badges. Both kiddos were promoted to new Sunday School classes and I will be Cody's helper in his 1st grade class. I am so thankful to an awesome Children's ministry director who has a such a sweet heart. We have people helping Cody in every class he is in on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Today, I cleaned out the pool and filled it up with fresh, COLD water. As I was filling it up and talking to Carleigh about something, Cody JUMPS in! It surprised both of us! Both kids LOVE water and it is extremely difficult for me to get them out. Today I caught Cody off guard and grabbed him. He wasn't a happy camper! When I persuaded Carleigh to get out, he was more accepting that he had to get out.

Now we are cooling down, drying out, and will head to Oxford for Cody's game. We're hoping it doesn't storm like it usually does on game day.

My New Ride

I purchased this vintage or "old-school" bicycle on Saturday. My sister and I got the same kind of bike. We both bought baskets or different colors so that we would know which bike belonged to which person. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my bike! I also love the basket because it can hold a lot of stuff AND can be taken off VERY easily (just push a button)! (If it were just a little bit bigger, Codeman could ride in there!)

This has gotten Carleigh interested in bike riding again and we are thinking of taking off her training wheels very soon. We plan on hitting the bike trails alot this summer and hopefully this will be an extra way to lose more pounds.

12 years ago....

I married my best friend. Yes, it has been 12 years since Matt and I were married! Wow! It really doesn't seem like 12 years! It was a beautiful day on June 6, 1998. Last night, we went out to dinner and had the whole evening/night kid-less thanks to my mom who had Codeman and my sister kept Carleigh. Both kiddos enjoyed their time with family.

Now we are planning a few extended weekend trips. Nothing is finalized yet, but we are looking forward to possibly a trip to the mountains and a lighthouse adventure as well!

School's out for the summer!

As I write this post, I am getting ready to leave my classroom until mid-August. Today was teacher check-out day and I am officially done with every thing that I needed to do before summer break begins! I am excited that I will be doing "Mom" things for the next couple of months. I have a lot of fun things planned, plus some "school" activities to do with them to keep their minds fresh.

Let the summer fun begin!!

Carleigh's Preschool Graduation

Carleigh reached another milestone today. She graduated from preschool. It was a bittersweet time...I am so proud of her, but am sad she is growing up so quickly. I cannot believe I will have a Kindergartener and a 1st grader! Whoa! Her class sang songs, recited a poem and shared what they enjoyed about preschool this year. It was a cute program! (Please excuse some of the blurry-ness...not sure what was going on with my camera)

Carleigh is now officially on summer vacation, Cody will be finished tomorrow and I will be finished on Friday! Bring on summer!

GOTCHA!

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Saturday morning, I looked out the window and saw this. (Sorry this isn't a close-up.) I snapped this pic from inside the house. The kittens are very skittish and take off at a slight sound. They were cuddled in the kids' old umbrella stroller. VERY cute!!

Saturday

We went to Liberty, IN yesterday for a day at the farm. We hiked, took rides in the woods, had a grill out, and played in a cornhole tournament. The kids had endless rides on a tractor wagon, mule, four-wheeler and a wild ride in the Tracker with Uncle Jerry. Despite the hot temperatures, fun was had by all. The kids were exhausted!! An easy bedtime is WONDERFUL!!!

Born to ride

The MOMENT Cody arrived at the farm, he had one goal for the entire day. That goal was to ride on a four-wheeler, mule or other off-road vehicle. He charmed almost a dozen different people and he was on a ride during the majority of his time in Indiana yesterday. It was HILARIOUS! The boy doesn't know a stranger and will ride with anyone with a moving vehicle.

My little boy was born to RIDE!

At the beach

The kids enjoyed swimming at the beach. Normally I wouldn't take them this early to the beach but with temps in the upper 80's, it was warm enough! The kids had a BLAST of course and enjoyed swimming for the first time this year. We visited the nature center and enjoyed looking at the animals before heading home.

Our new pool

Carleigh asked my dad for a swimming pool on Friday. And what does this doting Grandfather do? Today, he brought over a brand-new pool that he bought this morning, inflated it at home, and brought it over. Carleigh was squealing when she saw it after church. We also had a few meltdowns since we were going to the beach and could not get in the pool until later today.

The laughter and happy chatter was priceless today! They love their new pool and I love that it will also keep them from being bored this summer.

New pool = New Smiles

The end is drawing near

I have 3.5 days of school left, Carleigh has 2 days left and Cody has 4 days. I won't be officially on vacation mode until June 7th at noon (when my First Aid class is over)!! It's funny how none of us have the exact last day of school. Cody has to go on Thursday morning because of snow days. The AM kindergarten is the only grade level that has to go an extra day. Silly I know?!! What are they thinking? Cody is having a pizza party on that day so not a lot of academics will be involved!

I am in shut down mode as well. Tomorrow is Pillow Reading Day in which students in my class will bring a pillow and sleeping bag/blanket and books for a day of reading. What I would REALLY like to do is take a pillow and sleeping bag and go to sleep!! LOL! But I will be doing report cards and student awards while they are reading.

This weekend, it is supposed to be beautiful so we have plans to spend the day in Liberty on Saturday and hitting the beach on Sunday after church. We may see a Memorial Day parade on Monday.

The end is drawing near and I am finally seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel.....I didn't think I would ever make it to this point!!

I saw them!

I saw ALL 4 kittens this morning! I heard meowing as I was getting ready for work. I peered out our window and lo and behold, I saw all 4 of them! They are ADORABLE! I ran to get my camera, but by the time I got it my mom arrived and scared the kitties away! Ugh! I can describe them, two are spotted (like the ones I have mentioned) and the other two look exactly like Momma cat: black with white feet and trim. They are so stinkin' cute and I am not a cat lover! I am trying my best to get a pic so I'll have to practice being a papparozzi and steal a pic.

Cat Chronicles

Last night, I bought cat food and set it out for the cats. Momma cat devoured it and one of her kittens came and started to eat as well. I was kind of surprised that the Momma didn't get the rest of her babies to dine on the chow. They were secretly playing under an old semi truck that is parked next to our side/back yard. Afterwards, she plopped herself onto our doorstep and meowed contentedly.

She was at our doorstop this morning with an empty bowl and meowing loudly. As I was pouring cat food out of the bag, she couldn't wait and started to eat out of the bag! Poor thing must be starving!!

We'll see what other adventures abound with the cats!

Saturday at the Park

We went to a park in Fairfield that was a community park. It was created behind a neighborhood and the kids really enjoyed it because they were the only ones there.