Latest happenings...

Well, FINALLY tomorrow is the draft! Ryan has been working very hard in preparation so I hope they make their picks count! Go Pacers! Go Ryan! :) Draft day is his equivalent of the summer solstice...longest day of the year!! ;)

Naturally, I have a TON of stuff to do for the party on Saturday and yesterday my back decided to act up. Ever since I've been pregnant, I've been dealing with sciatica. Yesterday was awful...painful, nonproductive, and not fun. Last night I tried to turn over in bed and gripped Ryan's arm so hard I thought I might break it...I think it was my yelling in pain that woke him up. Poor guy. He was great though...helped me out and kept telling me it was okay. Today it is a little better...I'm just tired from not sleeping much last night. I read that I should keep moving so that's what I've done. The kids and I vacuumed downstairs, I watered the flowers/plants in the backyard, then sprayed the kids with the hose (more on that in a minute), then I watered for the next door neighbors who are on vacation.

Now, back to the spraying the kids...they were soooo funny! They were surprised that they could get sprayed while wearing clothes and not swimsuits. They loved that! So I had the nozzle on "shower" and they pretended they were cars at the carwash. Every time they went through I had to say what kind of car they were...Chevy Camaro, Chevy Corvette, a Saturn, a Ford...they had a good time. It was soooooooooooooo hot today it was ridiculous!

Austin's favorite things to say..."Or something like that?" (example: "Are you going to vacuum the office or something like that?"). "Does that sound like a good plan?"

Caitlin keeps telling everybody she is taking ballet lessons (she's not...yet). It's pretty funny because she has to throw in a ballet move also. She likes to demonstrate the pirouette nowadays. We plan to enroll her in ballet this fall/winter and Austin will do "basketball class" (as he calls it). We need to keep busy, busy, busy so we don't dwell on Ryan's travel.

Oh yes, while policing the hallway at bedtime the other night, here's the song I got to hear Caitlin sing..."Rock your body, rock your body, the lady on tv says rock your body, sing a song." The girl LOVES to make up songs...when she gets dressed she'll sing, "underwear, I call it funderwear and thunderwear" and then she does a little dance.

Austin loves his new drum that Caitlin got him for his birthday. It also came with a kazoo that is a hit since they both learned how to use it. Caitlin loves "the clappers"....so they play marching band a lot. Noisy and mildly irritating if you are trying to conduct a conversation, but most of the time it doesn't bother me really. I find it amusing.

Time to head upstairs for baths....maybe more later....

Father's Day

Well, I didn't get to enjoy it for long, as we have alot of work to do in getting ready for the draft on Thursday night, but it was a great morning for me. The kids came in when they woke up asking if it was Father's Day. They got excited when they were told it was. They got all the stuff that they made for me from school, along with a couple of other things. They helped me open the stuff and told me all about it. Each of them made a little book where they completed different thoughts like, "I love it when my daddy..." then drew a picture for each of the phrases. It was very cute and something I am sure I will enjoy looking at again as the years pass by. They cut out some neck ties from some fabric samples with string to wear them around your neck. I thought that was pretty cute. They also gave me a poem with their footprint next to it.

Kim bought a picture frame in which you can record a greeting. The kids each said, "Happy Father's Day" into it, so when I press the button I can hear them say that...I really like it.

I think that the kids and Kim are headed over to Aunt Bubs this afternoon to ride their new bikes and help celebrate Lynn's birthday. Yesterday, they went up to see Grandma June for her birthday. It has been a busy few days.

We thought the kids would like the bikes, but we had no idea that they would be such a hit. So far, everytime they have been told it is time to come in from riding them, it has elicited immediate tears. Austin is doing really well, Caitlin is doing good in straight lines, but not so sure when turning around on a driveway with a little incline. She gets nervous when it starts to pick up a little speed. Both need to learn to use the brakes to control the speed, but that will come. We have taken a lot of pictures and will post them when we get a chance.

I hope to get home before the kids have to go to bed to squeeze in a little bit more time with them on Father's Day.

Lot's of work to do for Thursday night. Go Pacers!

bowling

I think I forgot to blog that a couple weeks ago we took the kids bowling for the first time! They loved it! They looked so cute with their little bowling shoes on!!! The lanes had the bumpers up so they never got a gutter ball and they used a metal ramp thingy to roll the ball down to the pins. It was a great set up and they each got a strike! We took pictures so will try to get those up in the near future.

another something funny...

A cartoon character was acting grumpy and Austin told me, "Maybe he needs to use the restroom." Austin gets soooo grumpy when he has to use the bathroom so I always tell him to go tinkle because he's acting grumpy. :)

Happy Birthday Austin & Caitlin!

Four years ago our lives were changed forever. I never truly understood the love that a mother feels for her children...now I do. I am so thankful that God allowed me to experience that kind of love with Austin and Caitlin. After all the years of praying and trying so many different things to actually get pregnant, we were blessed with 2 absolutely wonderful kids...loving, kind, smart, hilarious, beautiful, sometimes ornery! I can say that what I expected motherhood to be and what it actually IS are vastly different...in a good way though (except I could do without the exhaustion part!). So on their fourth birthday I feel as grateful as ever to be celebrating with such fabulous kids!

Today's festivities will take place when Ry gets home...we are going to open small presents and then go to "Rockin' Robin" for dinner (it's safe...the big biwd isn't there on Fridays!). When we come home, we are going to have their new bikes waiting in the garage with bows on them! They will be so excited!!! Then we will have cake with Aunt Bubbles and Uncle John, skype Gramma & Grampa Carr, have baths and head to bed. They are having a hard time understanding that they have to wait a week for their big party...

Right now they are watching "Cars" by Austin's request....he likes when the cars "speed up" (this means they pass other cars!). Austin is eating goldfish crackers and Caitlin just finished some peanut butter and is snuggled up next to me. :) Later I think we will go to Party Tree to look for little birthday ribbons they can wear...I thought we had some already but when I looked at them, they said, "I'm 3 today!"...so a-shopping we will go! :)

where do they get this stuff?

caitlin said today, "mom, i'm tired of all this growing up stuff!" she also declared that she was "tired of all the car riding!"

in the car austin said to caitlin, "i don't love you!" and she started to cry. i told him he hurt her feelings and made her sad by saying that...about 5 minutes later he said to her, "i'm sorry sissy. i didn't mean to hurt your feelings and make you sad. i love you." talk about making my heart melt!

yesterday caitlin got mad at austin and yelled, "YOU ARE NOT MY FRIEND ANYMORE!" which led to him doing what she wanted because he doesn't like when she's mad/sad!!!

we were talking about them being born on their birthday...caitlin asked how they got in my tummy...she said, "did you put us in your mouth?" LOL!!! so i told them that God put them in my tummy. then she asked, "how did we get out?" oh boy! i said, God decided it was their birthday and had them come out to see us. she was happy with that answer, but wow....mommy is NOT ready for that conversation!!!!

tomorrow is the big birthday!!! the kids are excited that when they wake up they will be 4. AND they are more excited about the cake than the presents! funny! speaking of which...gotta go wrap some presents so i can hit the sack!

PIRATES!

so, we're driving and we see a crane with a pirate flag on top of it...caitlin and austin both exclaimed, "look! it's the jolly roger!!!" are they the only 4 year olds who know that???

today has been heavy on the outdoor activities! we did have a short car ride to fix a calamity with my mom's 60th birthday present. crisis averted. other than that we've been outside all day! they were so exhausted at naptime! HOORAY!!!

well, that's about all for now...we are going to head inside for dinner and baths. tomorrow morning is school so that means i get to shop. ryan has some very heavy work days ahead of him...draft is a little over a week and a half away! go pacers!!!

The Weasel

Austin kept asking me if I'd bring the weasel outside. WHAT? So then he said, "Yeah, the one in the basement!" AHA!!! I said, "Oh, you mean the EASEL!" Pretty funny! Now they are outside using the EASEL to color pictures.