Dyson Dude

Austin loves to vacuum...so, I handed him the Dyson and said "Have at it Mister!". The kid had a ball...from using the wand attachment on the wood floors to "making lines" on the living room carpet! All the while, sporting the serious "work face" that he and his daddy have in common. Ahhh, if only they'd develop a love of cleaning bathrooms... :)

Caitlin used the time wisely...she commandeered the computer in the office and has been playing Dora and Olivia games!

AND...today was the first day in about 2 weeks that BOTH kids took a nice nap!! Caitlin tried to fight it, but was just too tired to succeed.

By the way - it seems as though the tantrum phase has tapered off. Thank goodness!!! Our "normal" little guy is back.

We are going to clean the basement in a few minutes...hope they are feeling cooperative because it is a complete disaster!

P.S.

Thank you to whomever taught Austin the phrase "Bedtime Snoozy"! He has a little blue teddy bear that he now calls his Bedtime Snoozy and I just LOVE it. SOOOOOO CUTE!

Recipe for FUN!

Well folks, it's Fall Break! HOORAY! I really didn't realize how crazy life gets when you are running 2 kids around town 5 days a week!!! This is a much needed break for all of us.

This morning has been fun! Caitlin and I tangoed (she put one of her pretend flowers between her teeth, told me where to look and then said, "Let's tango!"). Funny! I've helped Austin with games on nickjr.com - he loves playing those & I love that I can sneak in a little learning with him! It works best when I teach that way...he hasn't caught onto me yet! :) And he's been wearing his "helmet" from his Halloween costume and running around falling with his football. Such a little boy!

Here's the recipe for fun though...flour + salt + water = FUN! The goal was to make salt dough ghosts, but we ended up with an array of things. The kids loved that they got to pour and mix their own ingredients. That project has taken up a large portion of our morning and it was awesome just to talk with them and watch how independent they've gotten. Our babies are growing up!

Hoping to post pictures soon!

For the Record...

The kids had their 4 year check up on July 17th...here are the stats from that...(better late than never!)

Austin - weight = 37.6 lbs., height = 41"

Caitlin - weight = 34.8 lbs., height = 40.5"

Also, today here's something Caitlin said, "Oh dear! That was quite a big 'ol tumble!" Last night she said, "Hoops is punching his way through." because he was coming up the stairs at the same time we were!

The other day in the car, Caitlin was complaining and Austin said, "For cryin' out loud."

Last night after church, they both regaled us with the story of Moses and the Burning Bush. It was awesome.

We are having a lazy Sunday...the kids are watching movies and the grown ups are working on some small household projects. AND we are all in our jammies. :)

What's New?

It's been awhile....it seems like life has been "speeded up" (as Austin says) lately!!!

The kids are getting so excited about Halloween! Austin is going to be a Lightening McQueen Race Car Driver and Caitlin is going to be either Belle or Snow White. They have their school Halloween party on Tuesday and then they have Fall Break the rest of the week. On Halloween, Uncle Travis and Aunt Kasia are coming from Oregon to visit. It will be their first trip out here together and the first time we've seen them since their wedding. I hope they arrive well rested! Austin and Caitlin have some plans for them! :)

They carved their first jack-o-lantern the other night...it was classic. Poor Ryan was so grossed out when he had to scoop the pumpkin! He doesn't do messy! But, he'll do anything for our kids...They were sooooo happy to tell him what kind of face to carve and they LOVED when we took it outside and lit it up! Oh my gosh, it was adorable. The next day they drew faces on their little pumpkins....yeah, they weren't so into that activity! Mostly they are scribbled, which is a shame, because they are quite talented when it comes to drawing faces....I have the artwork on the fridge to prove it!

So, we got those lovely pumpkins from our annual family trip to the pumpkin patch. LOVE IT!!! We took a hayride to the patch and this year they were soooo focused on choosing just the "right" pumpkin. It was a perfect fall day to do it too....sunny and crisp. At the pumpkin festival they had pony rides, so of course Austin and Caitlin each took a turn. They are such equestrians. When we got home the kids rested and I finished our outdoor Fall decorations. The kids enjoy decorations so they were happily surprised when I showed them.

The day before the pumpkin patch, we got to share another great family adventure...Weekend Of Service for our church. They literally close down the church and have the congregation volunteer for all sorts of great projects around the Indy area. This year we chose to work with an organization called Food Rescue. Volunteers go collect the leftover food from area businesses that would otherwise be thrown out and take it to local food pantries for distribution. Our job was to go to 2 different Little Caesars Pizzas and collect their leftover pizza to take to Wheeler Mission in Downtown Indy. We picked up about 50 pizzas (seriously...we ran out of room in the "way back" of my car!) and dropped them off. It was a great opportunity to talk to the kids about poverty and how it's important to help others and to actually let them participate in doing so.

A few weeks ago we did another Fall tradition...went to the apple orchard with my mom, gramma, sister, & nephew. Okay, it's only the second year we've done it, but a tradition needs to be started somehow, right? Austin was focused on PICKING the apples....Caitlin was focused on EATING the apples! The night before was awful for them...getting no sleep....so it was touch & go with tantrums. Austin fell asleep at a table at the orchard!!! Now that's tired!!

We are awaiting a large furniture delivery...we finally got the kids their bedroom sets! Caitlin's is white and Austin's is a medium dark wood. Once those arrive we can hang things up and finish the upstairs. It will be nice to have their rooms done! Right now is a little crazy...they are sleeping on only boxspring/mattress and have all their clothes in a large plastic bin. :( Caitlin's new comforter set has cute applique flowers that match the color of her room and Austin has all Pacers/NBA bedding.

We are muddling through a not so great phase of increased tantrums from Austin. This, to me, is the hardest part of parenting! Now they are starting to assert some independence, which is fine, but I hate the acting out part. UGH! Nothing worse than a screaming, crying 4 year old...especially when it regards something non-negotiable like getting dressed, wearing a coat, or getting buckled in the car to go to one of our activities!

Speaking of activities....Caitlin is getting a lot better at tap and ballet. She really pays attention to the teacher and tries so hard. She likes to show us her moves at home too and tells me how much she loves her ballet class. Her favorite move is "Genie in a Bottle" (I think it's because it involves hip shaking!) and she also likes to do an arm movement with a stuffed animal! Daddy let her get a new sweater to wear in the studio, so she is excited to get that next week. Austin loves his "basketball class"! He is getting a lot better at dribbling and following his coach's directions. He sinks most of his shots (on a lowered hoop, of course) and likes talking to the other kids. His favorite part is the "BIG GAME" at the end of each "class". They get to wear jerseys and run the floor. Austin often passes rather than shoots and you can often find him guarding his own team! :) I love hearing him yell, "Pass it to meeeeeee!" as he's running down the floor! (BTW, he hustles down the court like a champ!) Both kids get to listen during Bible Basics and they LOVE the Tootsie Roll Pop at the end! (Austin calls them "tootchy woll pops")

Now, for some random stuff....

*Caitlin is a dress up fanatic! She loves anything princess!

*Austin loves candy corn! He even turns down M&Ms in favor of the "corn".

*Austin was just playing a game he made up. He called it "Fall Down & Get Up" and I'll be darned, that's exactly what it is!

*The kids saw their second movie in a theater...."Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"...they loved it and were soooooooo good! Caitlin ate her popcorn and Austin ate some Twizzlers!

I guess that is all for now....more later!!!!!!

Austin's 1st Day of Basketball

Friday was Austin's first day of basketball at the Indiana Basketball Academy. It seems like most kids his age are starting to play soccer, but he really hasn't been all that interested in that, and not surprisingly, he loves basketball. I checked out a couple of places and asked some people, and they highly recommended this preschool basketball class that meets once a week. It is led by Tom Abernathy, a former IU player on the 1976 undefeated team. I was really impressed with the way he and his assistant Andrew, taught the kids, but had such a good way with them. There must have been about 15 four or five year olds so it is a handful.

They worked a lot on dribbling, pivoting, and some shooting on lowered goals. They all use junior sized balls. Austin took it very serious (not a surprise)! He needs to understand you have to keep your dribble going without picking it up. Also, pretty funny when they lined up on the baseline and were supposed to dribble to the other end, Austin thought it was a race and just bolted to the other end. He did a much better job after Tom explained to him what they were doing. Interesting, for as reserved as he can be, he never hesitated to raise his hand and try to do whatever they were asking, even when he didn't know how to do it.

After a lot of dribble work, and some shooting, they got to play in a "real" game. He wasn't sure what to really do for the first time up and down the court, but caught on pretty quick. He was one of the very first up and down the court each time. He doesn't get his speed from me, but he looked pretty fast! He scored 1 point by hitting the net on a shot. Tom did a great job of making sure each kid gets to shoot during the game. There aren't a whole lot of made baskets, and Austin was guilty of guarding his own teammates, but pretty fun to watch! Considering I was in like the 5th grade before I ever played in a game, what a head start!

All in all, he did a great job for the first time in an organized situation. The class has been meeting for 4 times already, so he is coming in a little late. He also was the only kid to bring basketball shoes and his own basketball...If he is going to play, he might as well do it right. Notice the multi colored ball in the pictures. That is his!

Hopefully, he will practice dribbling without picking it up this week! I was really glad that I could be there for his first time. Unfortunately, I won't be able to be at every one, but I hope to surprise him when I can.

Enjoy the pictures!

Caitlin's 1st day of Tap/Ballet Class

Monday was Caitlin's first day of dance class. I just wanted to share these pictures of her all ready to go. I wasn't able to go, and Austin was having a major meltdown because he was seperated from Sis, so Kim didn't get to watch her too much. Uncle John stopped by and watched a few minutes. The little bit that Kim did see, she gushed about how cute it was, although Caitlin is not the most naturally coordinated little girl. She did love it though, and I am sure she will catch on and do a good job as she learns.

Enjoy a few pictures! And by the way...Austin starts his basketball class Friday. I took him to get his first pair of basketball shoes tonight, and he was so excited! I will post pictures of that, too.