Field Trip Week

This week was full of fun activities. Here is a recap:

Monday: Jim's Birthday - The kids were in school all morning so Jim and I ran errands and had a nice lunch at Kincaid's. We went out to eat that evening too at MCL and the kids ate Free - I love that part of it. We did something after that but I can't remember.

Tuesday: We went to Tuttle's Apple Orchard and it poured down rain the whole time we were there. We were all soaking wet and cold but we still spent almost 2 hours there and had a blast! Everyone picked out a pumpkin and lots of apples were purchased. Again - I will post pictures as soon as I take the time to download them.

Wednesday: We went to the Children's Museum. Jim and I became donor members which means we can take at least two extra guests with us to the museum for free. The kids LOVED the dinosaurs and the carousel.

Thursday: Jim worked and it rained again. The kids and I went to Gymboree and then took Jim lunch. Jim was on the Indianapolis news that night talking about H1N1. What a celebrity!!

Friday: Sophia had school and Jim's mom had a dentist appointment, which upset her a quite deal. James and I went out to lunch and shopped. I got my flu shot at Walgreen's because the hospital is all out (meaning Jim couldn't get me one) and while we were there a mother took her son into the store and he had just tested positive for H1N1 - leave him in the car or at home!!!!! I was furious and shocked at her ignorance!

Saturday: Back to the Children's Museum to see the King Tut exhibit. Very Cool!! Again we saw dinosaurs and road the carousal. Lunch was at Cracker Barrel - Yum! Then we went to the nursery and picked out more plants. They start landscaping on Tuesday. I need to remember to take before and after pictures.

Sunday: Finally a slower day. Church then donuts then bike rides then park. Home for lunch and then everyone napped. When we all woke up we got Halloween decorations out and playing with the kids. James pooped and peed on the potty again (again I haven't done a thing to train him except get some books and let him watch a video. He tells me when he wants to go - amazing). We ended the day with playing on the "mountain" and taking the trash out. Jim is watching the Colts game and I am going to look for Disney on Ice tickets for Sophia, Sarah, and Maggie. Tomorrow begins another week.

Quick Update

I don't have much time but I have realized it has been a while since I reported anything new so here are some quick updates:

1) James pooped on the potty for the first time two days ago and yesterday he peed on the potty for the first time. What makes this a big deal is that I haven't even started potty training yet. The only thing I have done is bring out the potty and showed him "Once upon a potty". He has come to get me when he needs on and - bam - poop and pee. I have learned that the pee guard is a necessity on the potty chair.

2) We became members of Conner Prairie and have had a great time there so far. We even went up in the hot air balloon. It was so much fun - just don't look down. James and Sophia loved being up there.

3) During the State Fair James and Sophia each rode a pony and still talk about it to this day.

4) Sophia is going to be Cinderella for Halloween and James is going to be a monkey. FYI - Tom Arma makes great Halloween costumes. Google him to see for yourself.

5) Jim and I have 2 adult only Halloween parties this year and are in need of good costume ideas. So far we have agreed upon a Spartan Warrior and Helen of Troy.

6) We love our new neighborhood. The cul-de-cac location is awesome. The women of the street get together once a month for "Book Club". I went last month (there wasn't a book, just everyone getting together) and met a lot of my new neighbors.

7) John - I have new Titlist golf balls for you.

8) I have been decorating the kids' playroom as well as the bathroom in the house (we have 5 full baths). Visit www.potterybarnkids.com to see our playroom - it is one of the ones shown - and my new favorite home decorating website is www.touchofclass.com

9) James is sharp as a tack but stubborn as a mule - does he get that from me or Jim?

10) Once a week we try to have field trip days. It has been fun. That is how we joined Conner Prairie. On the schedule for October is the Children's Museum to see King Tut, a pumpkin patch, the zoo, and Brown County.

11) Jim's 53rd Birthday is tomorrow. The kids got him a new tool box and I am getting him a new electric shaver. Isn't it funny how the gifts seem to get less exciting the longer you are married?

12) The landscaping project is starting in a week! Yeah!! I am getting lots of roses, hydrangeas, peonies, Rose of Sharons, Miss Kim Lilacs, and trees, trees, trees! There are many other things in the landscaping too but those are the ones I am most excited about.

13) The doors to the gym are FINALLY getting underway. The contractor is only two weeks behind and one day short of getting fired but I think we are starting to make improvements.

14) I went to a conference Friday on Apraxia and started to miss work a little bit. Then I got home and the kids were screaming and I started to miss work a whole lot more. Then they slept in until after 8 on Saturday and I totally forgot about missing work :)

I will start posting pictures again. I just need to take the time!

I Think Yep

Sophia's new thing this week was she started to say "I think..." When asking her for an opinion she was say, "I think yep", "I think not", or "I think yeah". It is very cute.

James the other day, via video monitor, called out "Dada and Mama" and then on a walk said, "I want down"- three word phrases from the little boy who lets Sophia do all the talking. Amazing little man.

Emergency? Call Mom

So last night, while all of us were snug and warm in our cozy beds sound asleep at 2:45 AM...our house alarm goes off. I yell,"Jim! Alarm!" as I am jumping out of bed and sprinting down the hallway to James and Sophia. Must save the kids!! The alarm woke James up so I snatch him up and run into Sophia's room. I wait just inside Sophia's door, waiting for Jim to follow closely behind when I realize...he is not coming. He is just getting out of bed! I hear him starting to move a little faster in the bedroom and then he starts running around (for what I am not sure of). Then the phone rings - it's our security company. Jim answers the phone and starts talking to them. They turn off the alarm and I hear Jim say, "Karen, Zone 9 is a bedroom downstairs...is that the basement?! Should I go down to check?" I am thinking to myself "Hello!!??? Get your a** over here and have them call the police! Oh, and by the way, bring my cell phone." After that, I decided to take over with the course of action. Apparently if it isn't medical, Jim has to think things over before he reacts...he did this type of thing when we had our house fire too. (Of course all of this took about 20-30 seconds from the time the alarm went off but it seemed longer than that at the time. I shouldn't be so hard on Jim. He's been working hard.) Anyway, to shorten the story, the police came over to check out the outside of the house. No forced entry anywhere. A very friendly policeman came in and looked things over again inside the house. (I am sure he had a giggle at Jim's underwear and my old nightgown from college. He laughed at James' hair.) It turns out it was nothing, maybe a book fell and made the sensor go off. We all settled down and went back to sleep at around 3:45.

4:30 - House alarm goes off again! I am up and down the hall again like a lightening bolt. No time to think...must save the kids. Same thing happens. This time Jim is a little more awake. However, when we found out it was Zone 9 again we kept the police away and went down to check it out ourselves with the security system on the phone. Apparently we have a faulty glass break sensor. They are coming to fix it soon. Everyone back to bed, go to sleep. I finally went to sleep at around 5:15. What a long night.

Jim, James, and I were all very tired today.

Sophia, on the other hand, had a peaceful nights sleep. She didn't wake up to either alarm nor did she wake up when we were all in her room talking to the dispatcher.

School and James' 15 Month Check-Up

It's been a while since I have blogged. We have been very busy with moving/unpacking/etc. I will have an update on the move another time. Today was have some exciting news...the kids went to school today!! It is a Mom's Day Out program since the kids are not old enough to start a preschool. Either way it is great. They didn't cry or make a fuss. We dropped them off and 4 hours later picked them up. I loved it. Hopefully Sophia and James can start making friends and we can have play dates. Fun! I took a picture of the first day and will post it once I have downloaded the pics. Sophia talked about school all evening. She said she couldn't remember any of her new friends names but that Mrs. Neitzal found the mouse in the house and that was funny. Everyone laughed. Ahhh, to be a child again.

Before school we went to James' 15 month appointment. Suz (Dr. Bielski) said that James is doing great and is right on target. All developmental milestones have been met, which we already knew but it is always reassuring to hear it from the pediatrician. James weighs 25 pounds 6 ounces (70%ile) is 34 inches long (100%ile) and has a head circumference of 19 inches (80%ile). A few vaccines and he was ready to go.

This evening I interviewed a new babysitter and we love her. I told Sophia that she went to the same school as Kara so Sophia was very excited to meet her. It turns out the new babysitter goes to Chatard (Kara went to Cathedral) but we won't tell Sophia. Her name is Ellen and I think she will be around for a while. Yeah! What a good day!

Flowergirl for Hire

Does anyone need a flowergirl? It turns out my little Sophia is quite the performer. After preparing her (with books, videos, and talks of Princesses) for the important job for her cousin Jessica's wedding, Sophia was ready. She wore a yellow and white gown from Vietnam (which is where Jess Beeson - now Tocco - lives) with a flower crown of white daisies. She walked down the aisle holding hands with Lige (the other flowergirl) and carefully dropping yellow and white rose petals down the aisle. Every once in a while she would stop dropping flowers to look up at her Mamma and yell "Hi Mamma" with a sweet wave. She won the crowd! If there wasn't a beautiful bride getting married, I think Sophia would have won the show ;). Sophia is now ready for any other wedding as a flowergirl...Lisa - are you ready?

Anyway, now that the wedding is over, next on the list is Dad's birthday party. Dad turns 60!! I can't believe it! We (Beck, John, Carol, and I) rented the whole bowling alley in Brazil for the occasion. So far we have 125 RSVP yes but who knows how many will show up. Hopefully it will be a lot of fun for Dad. I know Mom has been stressed out (or at least doing a good job of stressing everyone else out) for about 3 weeks. She keeps insisting we do not have enough food. Luckily for us we are having appetizers and cake which means we are not responsible for starving people not getting a meal that day. Ahh, I love appetizers.

Story Time

Here is the conversation I had with Sophia today:


- Hey Mom! Hey Mom! Hey Mom! I have something to tell you.

- Yes Sophia. What is it?

- One day there was a girl and she was riding her bicycle. And she rode around and around. And then the storm cloud came. And then the prince said, " let's dance." And they dance and dance and they live happily ever after. The End. It was Cinderella Mom. The girl was Cinderella!


Story telling just started this last week but I haven't been able to remember them by the time I had a chance to blog until tonight. She told me this story after supper so I was able to remember it better. I am very impressed that she can do this since she isn't even 2 1/2 yet. She also told me the other day that leaves were green because of chlorophyll.

A funny thing about James. He has been going up to the refrigerator and yelling "Ahhb". I had no idea what he meant until he went up to the van before we left on errands and yelled "Ahhb". He is saying 'abre' (open in Spanish). Sophia does this to her van door and then I push the key fob to make it open. She thinks that by saying "abre" her door automatically opens. Apparently now James thinks the same thing too.

Pedal!

Today we were in the driveway playing and the neighbor boys came over (Jackson and Taylor). Sophia and James love playing with the boys. They had their bikes today. Sophia was watching the boys ride their bikes. She told us she wanted her tricycle so we got it out for her and she hopped on and with a little push, she started pedaling!!! She pedaled all around the driveway. We were very excited. She's funny though because as soon as the boys left, she went back to using her feet to push it along. Silly girl.

Housing update: things are going smoothly. I don't remember is I updated everyone but we bought a new house. It has plenty of bedrooms (5-6 - any visitors?), a playroom for the kids, full basement with pool table, poker table, and bar, exercise room, etc. The kitchen has lots of room and two seperate sinks (one for vegetables at one area of the kitchen and then one double regular sink by the window) so I am excited for that. Inspections are done and they went well. Expected repairs are needed on our current house, no surprises were reported. Our new house had a good inspection too with a few things that won't take long to get fixed by an electrician or plumber. We still have to negotiate on those items but I do not anticipate it being too bad. Let's pray that everything keeps going smoothly. I have lists galore of things to do. I even have a list of plants that I liked here at our current house so I can buy new and plant them at the new house. Can you believe that there are no maple trees planted at the new house?! I believe they have all River Birch and White Pines. I am going to need a maple tree that blooms yellow in the fall and a Colorado Blue Spruce.

Jim is working a lot this month. I hope he is getting enough rest. He had to do a lot of trades to be off dates in August and it just so happened that they all fell in July. He is doing well so far. Jim seems to have a good attitude most of the time and he hasn't lost it yet. I hope that doesn't change by the time he is finished working all of his shifts.

Let's see, James is the only one I haven't updated. He is cute and rotten at the same time :) He loves his school bus and if you try to play with him with it he will scowl at you. He is walking and climbing very well. He signs 'more' and 'want' when he needs something. He says daily: done, down, up, hi, Dad, high, no, yeah. He is started to get a better accuracy with pointing to pictures and is attempted to name pictures or say parts of a story now. He's so cute. Mostly though he is spoiled and Mama's/Sophia's Boy. What more can you ask for!

SOLD!

Well we finally sold our house - Yeah! Finally a good offer came in and we accepted, after a few counters of course. I do have mixed emotions. I love living where we do, especially the yard. But, I am very excited about our new house. We don't have one yet but we are going out tomorrow to look. Jim and I have looked for the past 3 years and only found a handful that we would be happy living in so wish us luck that we will get one that we want. Luckily there is one on the market that we really like.

Happy Independence Weekend!

Let's Pray

Yesterday James started to pray with us at meal time. It is so cute! Sophia has always been really good about this. She stops eating if she has already started and will pray with us before the meal. Sometimes she even reminds us that she is waiting to pray. Well, now James has joined in. He had the biggest smile on his face while we prayed and he kept his hands together. ADORABLE! Also tonight, at bedtime prayers, Sophia said, "Stop Mom. I want to say my own prayer." Then she did the sign of the cross and said her usual prayer. It was sweet because it was the first time she did the sign of the cross all by herself.