Picnic at the lake

We brought our lunches and had a picnic at the lake. Cody and Carleigh were eager to go and play. Carleigh kept pointing to the lake while we were eating and said "I want the water."

Matt's mom and dad went with us and we all had a wonderful time.

Having fun at the beach!

C and C were hesitant at first, but loved the lake and beach! The sand was really hot so once our feet found the water, it was such a relief! Carleigh didn't want anything to do with the water at the beginning. Then, she was running up and down the shoreline and wanted to go out farther. I didn't bring their bathing suits as I really didn't think they would want to venture out farther. Wrong! Cody kept pointing out to the deeper part and said, "That way!" Which means that he wants to go out deeper. We did bring extra clothes so they did get wet. We looked at the animals at the nature center. We wanted to feed the deers again but we only saw one little guy and he was resting under a tree and wouldn't come over to the fence.

Looking forward to the weekend!

We are all looking forward to a nice 3-day weekend! The weather is supposed to be great so on Saturday, Matt and I are taking the kids to the beach at Houston Woods. Carleigh has been itching to play in more "sand" so I thought, hey, let's take her to a beach. Granted this is not the ocean, but a beach next to a lake. They also have a new playground next to it that we tried the last time we were there and the kids liked it. Other than taking care of one cute Yorkie terrier this weekend and ALL next week, we haven't made any other tenative plans for the weekend although we will probably do something Monday.

I am also going to do some school shopping for a couple of new outfits for each. And Carleigh's teacher has a school supply list so we will take care of that this weekend also.

I think the best part of the weekend will be spending time with Matt and the kids AND getting more SLEEP!

Visiting their classrooms

What a morning! I am exhausted and now I have to go to work! We were walking in and Cody's teacher was right behind us coming in to the classroom. Cody and Carleigh played while I filled out paperwork and questionaires. Cody came into this classroom looking specifically for the Mickey Mouse piano that his teacher Ms. Ellie found just for him. It wasn't there and he was upset. He got over it and started playing with Carleigh. We discussed Cody's progress and she was impressed. She was excited that Cody could play ball with her which was one PT goal that has been accomplished!!

Then, we had to jog across campus to Carleigh's room. Once she was walking down the hallway, she just KNEW it was her turn! She squealed and ran into her room. Then I had more paperwork and more chasing the kids out of other classrooms. Whew! At their preschool, they call the teachers by their first name so Cody's teacher is Ms. Ellie and Carleigh's teacher is Miss Jenny. Missy Jenny graduated from the school that I teach so I was so happy that she is a Christian!

Summer Flew By!

Tomorrow morning, I take Cody and Carleigh to visit their classrooms. They will have the same teacher as last year, but we have an appointment to answer questions, bring in a spare outfit for accidents, etc. I cannot wait to see their expressions when they see their classrooms again! I plan on taking a few pics of each with their teacher.

When I am out of the classroom, it is more work for me. I have to prepare lesson plans and try to be very specific and more detailed as well as have all the papers and materials ready. I am so glad that I will be out for only a half-day which means less preparation for me to do!

The week has been going very well. This group is chatty, but overall a good group. They get my humor and are excited about learning. We are conducting a science experiment for a week and they are just so excited about finding out what will happen with the leaves that are covered with aluminium foil. And...we are growing an herb garden since we are doing a unit on plants.

We are all looking forward to a 3 day weekend to rest, unwind, and recharge!

Bizarre Weather

We definitely have weird weather in Ohio!! At lunch while talking to some fellow teachers who live in Cincinnati, they told me that they didn't get a drop of rain! And we got 6 inches of rain in less than a few hours! WEIRD! Our electricity didn't come back on until 9pm!!

Murphy's Law can be applied here: the electricity came on the split second AFTER we had the kids bathed and dressed for bed!! ARGH!!! However, I am not complaining because it was getting stuffy in the house and I really needed light to do my lesson plans last night.

Cody and Carleigh were singing "Happy Birthday" again after seeing the candles lit. Carleigh kept telling Matt to turn the lights on so she could go potty. She doesn't get that Matt just can't magically make the electricity come back on...which was the reason for candles! Such a silly girl!!

Bad Storm

Around 6pm, we had a REALLY bad thunderstorm here. The rains started and then we had SERIOUS winds! Our tornado sirens started going off so we watched the windows in case we needed to head to our bathroom for cover. The wind and rain looked like a hurricane! We had over 3 inches of rain on our driveway in a matter of minutes! The winds were horizontal and took 2 large branches off of our tree in the front and our neighbor's across the street. We have branches and leaved everywhere.

Of course we lost our electricity and still do not have it. My laptop came in handy to check for weather updates. I had been cooking a casserole in the oven when the power went off but it needed just a few more minutes to cook and we left it in the stove and it finished cooking. We ate dinner by candlelight and felt like pioneers. Then another storm hit and still no electricity. Giving baths by candelight was challenging and I hope I got all the soap out of their hair!

We haven't had a strong storm like this for YEARS! Whoa! I hope our electric comes on soon or I will be finishing lesson plans by candlelight And another storm is hitting again as I type this. Eeeek!!!

Interesting Weekend!

Normally our weekends are not so exciting, but this weekend was very fun! Friday evening was very typical which is our grocery shopping night *yawn.*

Saturday was very busy. Matt had a Men's breakfast at church. Then, we went shoe shopping at Target. We found a really cute pink and white pair that had Dora & Boots for Carleigh. For Cody, we found silver and navy blue. Both pairs do not have shoelaces, but the elastic, stretchy strings with a small velcro strap at the top. Shoelaces are not a good thing for preschoolers!!

While the kiddos napped, I went shopping with my sister. We hit Goodwill before going to T.J. Maxx. Cody and Carleigh have 3 new outfits thanks to Aunt Connie and I bought a few new but old clothes for them also. Next weekend, I plan on buying a couple of outfits a piece for each. I then went grocery shopping with Connie. Then, we both decided to go to a movie we have been wanting to see for quite awhile. I talked it over with Matt and since he was too glued to the tv for a preseason Bengals game, I got to spend a night out with my sis and her friend.

We ate at O'Charleys before seeing "Mamma Mia." It was HILARIOUS!! It is definitely a girly musical that Matt would have been bored so I am glad that I went with women!! I will definitely watch it again.

After church today, Matt and I met our friends Shannon and Niki for 3 rounds of bowling. (I haven't been bowling in over 5 years!!) My scores were 75, 71, 79 which isn't bad for me and I came in second place 2 out of 3 games. We definitely decided to do that again because we had a blast! Afterwards, we got ice cream at "The Dip." Matt loved the sugar-free vanilla there. Matt's parents babysat for us while the kids napped.

Bowling and movies in one weekend! Wow! That doesn't hardly ever happen. Ahh, the life of preschool parents!! I haven't been to a movie in ages other than the "Chipmunks" movie in March but who is counting that??!! Matt and I have decided to do something together without children more...at least once a month!!

Oh, Shannon & Niki: Cody and Carleigh LOVE the bears and cheetah and elephant you bought them!! They have been hugging and kissing them ever since we gave it to them!!!

The latest

Yesterday, Carleigh threw a Hot Wheels car at Cody and it hit him in the forehead and left a nasty bruise and a small cut. We have been frustrated with her behavior toward him. She will also get mad about not getting her way with me or for Memaw and then she lets out her anger on Cody. Today, my mom told her no about something so she went over to Cody and slapped him in the face. Grrrrrr!! That is behavior I will not tolerate! Poor Cody is the whipping boy! I am hoping this is a stage that will soon pass!

Today, the kids received their letters from their teachers. It also had the time and date in which we meet the teachers and have a personal interview with each teacher. Of course, it has to be during the day, but I am VERY thankful that the preschool teachers collaborated and put our times back to back and that I would only need to take a few hours off work and not have to waste one whole personal day. Thursday, August 28th at 8 and 8:30am is their conference times. I plan on going this year and bringing mom as it will be challenging to keep an eye on both while trying to answer questions from the teacher. We are very happy that Cody and Carleigh will have the same teacher they had last year....consistency and familarity is a good thing! They are so excited about school and CANNOT wait for it to begin again. I think one of the best things is the bus ride to school!! Every time that Carleigh sees us bus, she cries "School!!" They will be so excited when they see their teachers next week!

I had another good day. My students are testing me, but seeing that I mean what I say and have settled into a good routine. However, I am looking forward to the weekend so I can get caught up on much needed sleep and rest!!

My classroom and an update on me

Today was such a BETTER day!! Whew! Last night, I was absolutely, positively, EXHAUSTED and just plain 'ole worn out! My class was squirrely yesterday and no one had a problem with just talking whenever and to whoever they wanted to!

Today, they came in calm, less rowdy and ready to get to work. I always forget how "first graderish" they are at the beginning and I am constantly reminding myself to slow down for them and to give them baby directions. I think I could enjoy this class because they are excited about learning and that is such a blessing! The only bad thing is the heat wave we are having. Wouldn't you know it that the week before school started, we had a wonderful week of no humidity and cool temps. Now that school is back in session, it is in the upper 80s all week! I am VERY thankful that each classroom has their own a/c unit!! Wooohoo!!

Ok, I think I can do this for another year!!

Cody and Carleigh are so excited to start preschool. Unfortunately, their school doesn't start until the day after Labor Day. We have backpacks ready and I plan on doing some shoe shopping and clothes shopping this weekend.

Tired

That is the best word to describe how I am feeling at the moment. Today was the first day of school for students. I have 19 students, 12 boys, 7 girls. I was nervous about having so many boys, but I don't think they will be my challenges. I have 3 girls that I know already pose a challenge in their own unique way. *sigh*

All in all, it went ok for the first day. Today wasn't your typical "school day" and tomorrow will be the REAL eye opener as it will be a more typical day of school with school work, the start of the real routine etc.

I will post pics of my classroom, hopefully tonight if I get the extra energy!!

Puppies

Matt's sister's neighbor had two set of puppies....13 in all and Cody was in LOVE! He loved them so much that every time that Matt pulled him away, he would cry! He is definitely a dog lover like his Mommy! Unfortunately, we are not allowed to have pets at our house due to renting. Maybe in a few years when we buy a house we might buy a puppy. (And Cody could squish these puppies as they were very tiny!)

We had quite the busy weekend: Saturday morning we went to my school because I left my cell phone there and I needed to do a few things, then it was naptime and then we had a wedding to attend. Today, we had church and then a birthday party. Tomorrow will be a LONGGGGG day for me as I have to work all day and then stay at school for Back to School Night. I won't be home until 8pm or so tomorrow night and then school starts on Tuesday. I am bringing my camera tomorrow to take pics of my finished classroom.

Ryan's 9th Birthday

Today, we celebrated our nephew Ryan's 9th birthday. The top pic is Ryan and the bottom pic is our niece Raygan.

Having fun at the party

Carleigh funnies

I sneezed this afternoon and Carleigh shocked us by saying "God Bless you!!" We have never heard her say this before. Carleigh picks up alot of what we say and it is so cute to hear say funny little phrases.

One day, she knew she was in trouble for dumping her clothes and the entire drawer onto the floor, so what does she do? She walks over to one of her chairs and says "I sit in timeout!"

My Spongebob fan!

The shirt Cody is wearing used to be his cousin's. He found it and fell in love with it since Spongebob is his latest craze.

The second pic is Cody snuggling with his sissy.

This is what happens when Carleigh doesn't take a nap for Memaw!

Today was my first official day back to school. A day filled with boring I mean exciting teacher inservice meetings at the high school. Today was my mom's first full day of watching them since early June. Carleigh decides she will not take a nap for mom and so when she settles down to watch tv before dinner, this is what I found. I couldn't let her continue to sleep on her hands so I layed her flat. I have NEVER seen anyone fall asleep like that before!!!

Snippets

Cody's latest favorite thing to do is to give hi-fives. Of course, Matt has taught him to miss the lower five and say "You're too slow!" Cody has a cute little hand gesture and facial expression as he is doing this. It's so cute to see him singing along and chiming into songs or phrases that he hears.

Carleigh is progressing in potty training although she is not fully potty-training (not at night time). For the past two days, she has told me that she is hungry. It is so cute to hear her say "I'm hungry Mommy!"

I worked in my classroom last night and this morning. Carleigh enjoyed having my mom taking care of her. In fact, she cried when she left at lunchtime. We reminded her that tomorrow she would be there all day as today is my last day off for the summer.

I am ready though. I get bored easily and am ready to get in the swing of things as well as talking to adults again.

I know I haven't posted any photos lately....just nothing exciting going on. I will be posting pics of my classroom soon and will have a few C and C photos uploaded by the weekend!!

Cody's Latest Fave

We don't watch Nickelodeon much other than Dora and Diego, however, one day when Cody was being very moody, I left the tv on while playing with Carleigh on the porch. Cody stopped fussing and was glued to "Spongebob Squarepants." That cartoon is obnoxious and I really don't like them watching it, but Cody absolutely loves it! He really doesn't understand alot that is going on, I think he just likes the voices and the characters. Now, whenever we are out, if he sees any of the Spongebob characters, he gets excites and shouts out Spongebob. Even Carleigh gets glued. I guess this is one of their guilty pleasures and one of my pet peeves! He also can chime into singing with the song...so hopefully he is gaining speech by watching it...gotta come up with something to make it educational and worthwhile.

We have been watching the Olympics as I am a BIG women's gymnastics fan and is planning on putting Carleigh into gymnastics once she is fully potty trained. Carleigh and Cody were engrossed with the gymnastics and swimming competitions. Carleigh kept saying "Swim! Swim!" as the swimmers raced toward the finish line. Matt likes track and field so I imagine what Cody and Carleigh will say when they see the runners running! They also enjoyed the opening ceremony that had lots of fireworks and flashing lights. It was so cute to see them applaud it when certain pieces ended. They are so cute!

Enjoying the last few days of freedom!

I know I say this every year, but this summer went by incredibly fast and I think it went faster than the year before! Whoa! We were busy this summer with several weekend trips and lots of playdates with friends.

Sadly, Wednesday is my last day off work. *sob* I have really enjoyed this summer! It has been very relaxing and eye-opening! It was great watching my children mature this summer as well as teaching them new skills such as potty training for Carleigh and life lessons for Cody.

Yesterday, Matt and I took Cody and Carleigh to a park and they really wasn't in the mood for playing, so we ate our lunch and headed home. I guess they were tired of playground equipment and were more interested in other things. After naptime, we went over to my mom and dad's and of course they wanted to get into anything and everything. They think Papaw and Memaw's house is a playhouse where they can run and squeal and get lots of food!

I am happy to post that Carleigh did not cry for me today at church! Woohoo! One of my students from a couple of years ago goes to my church and his parents volunteer in the toddler room. Cody and Carleigh love it when it is their turn. Today, they reported how a big helper Carleigh is and how she notices detail. Cody of course enjoyed piggyback rides the best!

Monday and Tuesday will be spent enjoying my kiddos while in the evenings I plan on working in my classroom. Wednesday morning my mom will babysit while I go to school and do some things that I cannot do (or have access to) in the evenings.

Guess what Cody and Carleigh has learned to do? WELL, they can roll down the windows in the van and stick their hands out. And Carleigh threw her flip flop out and we had to pull over and retrieve it. Suffice to say that we are using childlock now on the windows...what a lovely invention!

Yesterday

Yesterday, Cody and Carleigh got a little taste of what will happen starting late next week: Me-maw! Me-maw watched them half of a day while I was in first aid training at the high school. Let me tell you that the videos and practice was FUN FUN FUN for 3 hours. I can hardly contain my excitement! Carleigh did fairly well with Me-maw, but had one minor accident. She also didn't whine for me so that is good and she didn't whine at church on Wednesday night.

After dinner, I decided to go to a park for a little bit. We went to Ft. Liberty again since it is such a nice park and the temps where in the upper 70s and hardly any humidty! Woohoo! We had a fun time and then got ice cream at THE CONE. Matt loves that place because it has sugar-free sundaes. (He hardly ever finds a place that caters to diabetics!)

Last night we ended the evening with pony rides aka the back of Mommy! They kept wanting more "rides" and finally I had to stop and rest my back. 32 lbs of kid on your back is tiring!

Today, we are hanging around the house for the most part until the evening. We plan on going out to eat with my parents and then off to the grocery store. So far, Carleigh has been to the potty three times this morning and is dry. She is finally starting to get it! I am so glad that I didn't try to push her about 6 months ago because she really wasn't ready or aware of it.

Potty Training Update

Carleigh stayed dry all morning! Woohoo! We are celebrating a small victory! She also told me 2 out of 3 times that she needed to go potty! I am hoping this is just the beginning of an easier road. My mom will continue to potty train her next week while I start inservice. I am just so proud of my big girl!

While I was putting her down for a nap, I always sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and she sang the majority of the song to me. It was so sweet to hear her little voice singing. She has an excellent memory and can recite back parts of the songs after hearing them once.

She also likes to help around the house by picking things up, putting them away, and throwing away garbage. She also likes to "clean her tray" as she puts it. It is amazing tosee how much she has matured over the summer. She talks about the bus and school and cannot wait to go back to school and see her teacher Miss Jenny.

It's getting closer....

Yes, it's that time again...Back to School! My school starts in 2 weeks from today. Yup, that means August 19th! I have started to work in my classroom. Last evening, the kids and I hung out in the room while I cleaned out my old desk. My old one has followed me for 8 years and was really beat up when I got it. The summer daycamp pushed my old desk and broke the leg off. Normally that would make me upset, but I was happy to get my new one. It is really nice and better looking for sure!! Carleigh loves getting drinks at my school drinking fountain. Cody loves running in the school gym. I plan on going back to school this evening and Matt may bring the kids along and let them play in the big gym or outside on the playground, depending on the weather.

Yesterday, Cody's lip was REALLY swollen from his injury at church on Sunday. I took a pic and may post it if it shows how swollen it was. It is less swollen today. My friend graciously offered to watch Cody and Carleigh this morning while I met my new to second grade co-teacher to show her curriculum and other things. She said that the kids had a great time. I was a bit worried as Carleigh has been going through this Mommy stage. She doesn't want me to leave and wants me to put her down for her nap and bedtime. She should be fine for my mom when she starts to babysit again because that is "Memaw!"

Cody has been talking up a storm lately. Yesterday, he handed me his plate and said, "All done!" He then grabbed his belt in his booster chair and said "Out!" I asked him a question last week and he answered in a 2 word sentence! Woohooo! I think his teachers will be blown away by all the talking!

Poor Cody!

We were at the beginning of the church service this morning, when one of the toddler workers came to get me. Apparently, Cody was climbing on a soft climbing block when he slipped and hit his mouth on the edge of the window ledge. He was gushing blood from his mouth! So, I try to put pressure on his upper gums but he was fighting me. He was so scared, in pain and thought we were hurting him! My poor little guy! The blood went everywhere--on my blouse, his shorts, Matt's shirt.

I finally decided to put him in a choker hold and held his head so firmly that he could not go anywhere. I applied pressure while he was crying and that helped it to stop. They allowed Cody to play in the nursery with the little ones so that he would calm down and it is his favorite place to go because all of the baby and fun toys are in there.

I finally got a look at it and he has cut and bruised about 2 inches of upper gums above his front teeth. He hit his mouth again tonight at church and it bled a little but nothing like this morning. We plan on giving him Tylenol before bed for the pain.
We are banning him from wearing sandals because he cannot walk that well while wearing them. Back to regular shoes even in the 90 degree weather!!

Women of Faith Weekend

My sister, mom and I left around 5pm for our Women of Faith Weekend. My sister couldn't get off early from work so we skipped Friday night's session. It was a nice evening. We ate at O'Charleys on the way there. Then it was an adventure finding our hotel. We stayed at the University Place which borders Indiana University/Purdue University Institute. We could see a college football stadium for our hotel window. We were on the 5th floor and had a really cool view of the city.

We ordered yummy appetizers from the room service. We had loaded nachos and cheese quesadillas.

Our hotel was really nice other than one problem: the air wasn't working well. It was "okay" by my standards but for my two post-menopausal roommates, it wasn't ok. We had the temp down to 60 but it didn't FEEL like 60 degrees!

It was a fun and crazy night and let's just say there were so very creative and usual sleeping habits that night! We also ordered room service for breakfast right before we checked out and headed for the conference.

The conference

This was our view at the Women of Faith: Infinite Grace 2008 Conference. It was held at the Conseco Field House which is home to the NBA team of the Indianapolis Pacers. This arena couldn't be more than a few years old and was beautiful. The bad part was that we were in the balcony almost at the main top. Even I was getting a little scared of the steepness of our seating. Suffice to say that if we go next year, we will order our tickets earlier (like very soon) so that we are not stuck in the nose bleed section! It was not for the faint of heart!

I cannot even put into words the atmosphere of thousands of Christian women worshipping the Lord together. There were ALL kinds of denominations and I saw some Amish and Mennonite women there as well. It was breathtaking seeing so many women praising the Lord at the same time!

The best singers/speakers there were Nicole C. Mullen and Sandi Patty. Nicole sang "My Redeemer Lives" and I was just in tears. Her songs so move me! It was a wonderful conference and I am so glad that I was able to go!