Christmas

Sorry it has been so long since we posted! I have not been home very much, and things have been pretty hectic around the house.

We have had a fun month getting ready for Christmas. The kids knew that after Thanksgiving was Christmas, so almost everyday was filled with the question, "Is it Christmas yet?" This was really the first year that Austin and Caitlin knew that Santa was going to come and leave them presents. They were so excited to go to the mall and see him. Both did great, in fact Austin wouldn't stop talking to him. He told him a few times that he wanted a black guitar and headphones. Caitlin followed that up with her request for a pink guitar and headphones.

We went to church on Christmas eve. Caitlin wanted to get all dressed up in her "fancy dress" and we even got Austin to wear a decent shirt and some cords. He requested a bulldozer shirt, but I luckily talked him out of it! After church we drove through this enormous light display that a local John Deere dealership puts up every year. It is really undescribable, it is so big.

After we got home, we sprinkled (dumped) some "magic reindeer food" on the lawn that the kids had made at school. The kids went to bed around 9, which is way late for them, and other than Austin getting up to look out the window for Santa, they went to sleep pretty quickly.

Amazingly, they slept pretty late. They didn't get up until about 7:30 or so. That is about a 1/2 hour later than normal lately. They came downstairs to see all that Santa had left them. They were really excited, and really cute. Austin got a new hoop, a black guitar, a kid's mp3 player, some pajamas, and some other little things like hot wheels and a soccer ball. Caitlin got her pink guitar, a kid's mp3 player, a doll house, a hula hoop, some pajamas and some other smaller stuff.

We opened the other presents after a little while, and they did pretty good. They said, "Thank you" and took turns opening, which Kim and I were happy with. Everyone that sent them or gave them anything, thank you. They have played some with everything that they got, and just go from toy to toy. They are a little overwhelmed, I think.

And one last note...Last Satuday, as I left for a trip, Kim undertook potty training both kids. Caitlin has toyed with it off and on, while Austin had shown no desire whatsoever. Well, she did a great job, and the kids have been great. Since I got home late Monday night, we have only had 1 accident, so they are doing great. We are really proud of them, and I am looking forward to the reduced expenses of diapers!!!

That is about it. Below are some Christmas pictures I thought everyone might like to see...Some are from Christmas Eve and the rest are from Christmas morning.

Today was nice!

Yesterday Ryan came home for less than 24 hours...unfortunately I don't think he got to enjoy it too much because (1) he was sick and mostly slept and (2) the kids were grouchy as all get out! He left for sunny Florida again this morning... :(

The kids were in a MUCH better mood today. They came into our room at around 8:30 so we enjoyed some snuggles while watching cartoons. The kids drank some milk, I had some coffee. It was very laid back and relaxing. Then we headed downstairs for breakfast. Last night I assembled an "art basket" that they shared...it had various things in it...glue sticks, stickers, colored popsicle sticks, tissue paper, paint pens, colored pencils, scissors...they did "art projects" for about an hour! Austin declared he was giving his to Aunt Bubbles and she was going to "blove it!" Caitlin always says she's giving her stuff to Gramma. Caitlin managed to use an entire glue stick without gluing one thing! You figure that one out!!! After that we headed to the basement. They played soooo nicely until naptime at around 1pm. Then we all took a little snooze until 4pm (I only fell asleep around 3pm so don't be too jealous...no 3 hour nap for mommy!). After a little snack I gave them a bath and put their pj's on because we had an exciting night ahead of us!

Their special treat was a car ride in their jammies to look at Christmas lights. And that's what we did!!! We stopped at Wendy's and the kids ate jr. cheeseburgers while we drove around town. We drove past the town hall, through some neighborhoods, and through this huge display at Reynolds (a John Deere place). We probably drove around for about an hour and 20 minutes listening to Christmas music and chatting about everything we saw. Caitlin saw some light up reindeer and said, "I wish Daddy would set up my reindeer." I told her I would tell him she said that and that it would probably melt his heart. She said, "No! Then his heart would be broken!" She was cracking me up. Austin was kind of being a stinker today but he was so sweet too...while we were at a stop light I turned around to smile at him and he gave me the biggest grin like he was having the time of his life! Then when we got home he wanted me to carry him and dance! He loves that!

At bedtime I read them a Mary Engelbreit edition of "The Night Before Christmas". That particular book gets me all teary eyed because I bought it at a book fair at Montwood (where I taught) shortly after Ryan and I married, with the intention of reading it to our children someday soon after that. There were a lot of discouraging Christmases where I thought I would never get the chance to do that. So every time I read them that book, it is special. They are our miracles & that book reminds me that God fulfilled the deepest desire of my heart.

Well, suppose I should go straighten up...busy day tomorrow...speech and eye dr. - woo hoo!

Christmas Cheer

Before Ryan left for his trip, we kind of half decorated for Christmas...he put up the tree and topped it with the star. The kids were sooooooo excited that they got to watch AND put up the ornaments (I have pix of the finished product...just need to upload them). This is a fun age to truly see the magic of Christmas. While it isn't all about the sparkly decorations and gifts, it is fun to watch their excitement with those things. They have been asking if they can leave "gingerbrown" cookies for 'nanta (Santa) and a treat for the reindeer. So cute!

So, anyway...I put up a few more decorations while they were napping. When Caitlin saw them, she was so sweet...she came up to me and said, "Thanks mom for putting up the stockings! Thanks for putting up the decorations!" She can make your heart melt in an instant!

Austin was mostly worried about shoveling ("cooping the 'now") with the new snow shovel from Aunt Bubbles and Uncle John. The basement has never been as snow free as it was today! :) That was the most he did today...he had a fever of 102.2 as of 5:30pm...so he was a little sluggish today. He snuggled with me and we watched "Eloise at Christmastime" in the basement while Caitlin played dress up and tea party. He is also a heart melter...how about this..."Can I 'nuggle with you mommy?"

Supposedly we are getting 3 inches of snow overnight...we'll see! As long as my honey's plane can land here on Monday, I'm cool. If Austin is doing better, maybe we can all shovel together. Oh, he'd be in heaven. He's a real outdoorsy kind of guy...first the mowing obsession, now the shoveling obsession. Funny! Caitlin is looking forward to making snow angels and throwing snowballs.

Time to continue "decking the halls"!!! Hope to post again tomorrow...

Happy Thanksgiving!

A day late, but still...pretty good for us lately! :)

Who knew 3 year olds didn't like to shop the 4a.m. Black Friday sales??? lol...just a joke. Anyone who knows me well would know I am NOT an early riser...even for good deals!! :)

Yesterday, the kids and I snagged Lynn and John and drove up to my mom's house for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a bit of a rough start...Austin was still sleepy and didn't want to cooperate...but we made it on the road by about 10:30. Two Starbucks stops later, we made it to my mom's where the kids had a ball with their baby cousin, Ethan and their older cousin, Mason. They got to help hold Ethan's bottle during his feeding and gave him little kisses on his forehead. Uncle John & Aunt Bubbles took them outside for awhile and they rode a big wheel AND a big kid 2 wheeler (with help of course!!!). It was slightly chilly but fine for a little fresh air. They were operating on no naps and I was kind of surprised that they did so well...they even stayed awake all the way home. We got back home around 8:45 and after a little milk, it was straight to bed.

I was happy to see Ethan again...he has grown soooo much! He was very alert for awhile so we got to play too! He's a wiggly little guy...I laid him on the floor and helped him with his dance moves. He also makes the cutest little faces and was holding onto my finger while he took a little snooze. There is nothing like the pure joy that babies bring.

Austin and Caitlin were very happy to hear that they will have a new aunt soon. Clint and Sarah got engaged and will be getting married in January. YAY!!! With Ryan's crazy travel, we aren't sure if we can all attend, but are trying to figure something out...the kids wouldn't want to miss a good party (and neither would we)!!! :)

Yesterday was a good day to reflect on all that I'm thankful for...beautiful, fun, healthy kids; a hardworking, loving husband; growing in my faith through the past year; my health (especially my tongue being "cured" earlier this year); a nice home that keeps us sheltered; not having to worry about feeding or clothing our kids....there's a bunch more, but I'll stop there.

We are going to try to get out of the house later today...I'm sure I'll have more to post this evening! :)

Well, we didn't make it out...kids (okay, and I) slept until 4:30 and Austin felt kind of feverish when he woke up. So we snuggled, played, read their new Curious George books, watched part of "Elf", snuggled some more and headed up to bed. They must still be wiped out because it's been very quiet up there!!!

Tomorrow morning we are going to head to Target with Lynn for a little Christmas/grocery shopping. Hopefully Austin will be feeling better so we can do that. I hate being cooped up all winter...this week seemed loooooooong because there was no speech or school!

Big Kid Beds

I'll say they are a success! The kids stayed in them all night long and waited until Ryan came in this morning to get out. WOW! That is a major accomplishment. Also, they have played in their room ALL MORNING! They came downstairs for a brief moment to say good morning and get a hug and kiss and after that...forget about mom and dad! :)

That's about it for now...gotta head back to the kitchen...more later!

...naptime was a little wild...kids were into their new found freedom and had to be reeled in a little bit. I am happy to say that finally they both fell asleep and are having a good afternoon so far.

Caitlin has a joke she tells!!! I think it's great...I'm all about the corny jokes and this one is pretty corny (I taught her it!). She yelled it down to Ryan this afternoon which I found hilarious! (I'm not going to spoil it...so, if you want to know what the joke is, you'll have to ask Caitlin!) Our little comedienne!!! She also sat at the island and did "homework" with me. This consisted of her gluing pictures that I cut from magazines onto a piece of construction paper. She loved it!!! So cute!!!!!

Austin is still complaining of the 'niffles and insists he needs 'nynol. He gets mad if you tell him no. But he doesn't need any! He has loved being upstairs in his room...go figure. He's very happy that today is a "play day" with daddy. :)

Ryan hung some pictures in our living room, so we now have a cute gallery wall with all the pictures I've been framing of the kids over the past 3 years. Seems like there's always something we want to do to make our home more "ours". There's a lot more work to be done...but we'll get there eventually!!!

'Nynol & the 'Niffles

So, Austin has a cold. He calls it the 'niffles and insists that he needs 'nynol (tylenol) to feel better. He's a character! He was feeling pretty miserable with his congestion and runny nose today. And the poor thing has an awful sounding cough to boot. Hopefully both kids will be healthy for our trip to my mom's for Thanksgiving...definitely don't want to infect baby Ethan!!!

We are having our small group dinner on Monday which is also Thanksgiving dinner for our family since Ryan will be travelling...don't feel too sorry for him, he's going to be in Florida (in a stuffy gym all day), but still...FLORIDA. We will miss him though!!! Anyway, I've been spending the last few days preparing for that and tomorrow I am going to be cooking up a storm so I won't be absolutely crazed on Monday. I LOVE to entertain and cook so I'm looking forward to it. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because the focus really isn't on gifts...it's on being thankful and reflecting on God's goodness.

Ryan put up the "big kid" beds again today. We tried it last year and it failed miserably with them bouncing around and practically smothering one another. This time so far so good. They still want to share a room which is fine with us...I actually love listening to them chat and process their day with one another. Last night, Caitlin told Austin to "be quiet!" because she was "reading a book at the library!" She comes up with some good ones.

Here's another thing I love about Caitlin...she loves veggies and fruits. Today she got all excited that I was cutting bell peppers and had to have some. Then she munched on a celery stick. Of course, she had to add her own flair and remove the "peel" (the stringy things) and dispose of them in the kitchen sink!

Austin loves when I hold him and dance with him while singing silly made up songs. He giggles so much when we do that! As evidenced at Travis & Kasia's wedding, the boy has serious rhythm and superior dance moves! :)

Lynn and John came over tonight and played with the kids for awhile. Austin and Caitlin had a ball and played like crazy. They fell right to sleep tonight, which was great!

Speaking of sleep...suppose I'd better get some too!

SKUNKY

Tonight I had the distinct honor of holding skunky's hand during our bedtime prayer. Then I had to give him a hug and a kiss!!! Skunky...my 3rd child! :) Caitlin is hilarious with that skunk!

My brain is fried right now...looooong day! More tomorrow!

how sweet!

Twice this morning Caitlin told me, "Let me kiss you mommy." Then she puts her little hands on my cheeks, gives me a kiss, and then hugs me tight. She is such a lovebug!!! Austin was quite a cuddler this morning too. He loves to snuggle next to me, rest his head on my shoulder and let me rub his hair or cheek. This was one of the nicest mornings in a long time. The kids played so nicely together and I experimented with letting them play upstairs (bedroom level) all by themselves for awhile. When I went back upstairs they had ALL of their stuffed animals transferred from their room to our bed. There were a lot, so we counted them...36! They told me they were playing with their pets. It was a funny sight. Ryan said I should have taken a picture...it didn't even dawn on me. Sorry! BUT I'm sure there'll be a next time! :)

Okay, it's nighttime now...Austin and Caitlin slept until almost 4:30! But I think they are still fighting colds so I put them to bed only a half hour after thier regularly scheduled bedtime. Now, they are chatting it up so time will tell...

Let me just say, today was sooooo enjoyable. We didn't do anything special...just hung out and talked mostly. With A LOT of laughing. Whining was kept to a minimum and we only had a couple skirmishes, so it was great. I love reading to them so we did a lot of that. Caitlin brought over a fleece blanket & the 2 of them just snuggled on the couch and looked at books alone for awhile. It's fun to see them interact like that. Caitlin usually takes the leadership role and Austin happily goes along with her. If he's not in the mood to play what she wants to, he wanders off and pushes something around or shoots hoops.

Funny story......Austin was bothering Caitlin while she was eating dinner so I went to have a little discussion with him. Ok, it was me telling him how it is, but that's beside the point! So I have been making them look at my eyes when I'm talking to them and when they squirm or turn away, I turn their head toward me again. Well, Austin decided he REALLY didn't want to look at me and SHUT HIS EYES! I was trying hard not to laugh...it was pretty funny really. Clever little guy! :)

Time for me to straighten up the house and catch up with "Desperate Housewives" and "Celebrity Rehab w/Dr. Drew". Crap TV here I come......

another funny saying!

Well, speech got cancelled this morning because the therapist was sick....so, it's another pj day for us. It is rainy and COLD here!

The kids were excited to see Ryan this morning but it was downhill from there. I think Austin's cold is returning so he was grumpy and Caitlin is going through a whiny phase which is driving me nuts. I am pretty patient with them but I CANNOT stand whining. That is probably one of my biggest pet peeves (except when I do it! lol). They are napping early today so hopefully their moods will improve with some rest.

Anyway, the reason for this post is to tell you of Austin's funny new saying. For a long time if you offered him something he didn't want, he'd say, "No thank you." Awesome, right? Well, now he is doing something funny...in that situation now he'll say, "No welcome"! I'm pretty sure it's because we've moved on to teaching him that when someone tells you "thank you", you need to say "you're welcome". I love how their little brains process things!!!!

Oh, and Caitlin has a new favorite stuffed animal. It is a skunk my mom bought me during my student teaching. Caitlin thinks it's cool that I let her play with a toy that gramma bought for me. She has proudly named him "skunky" and is always concerned about his whereabouts! Funny!!!

Tonight we have small group, so I must shower and clean this place up! For a fun break during your day, go to freerice.com and play for awhile. Last night I did the English vocab, French, and Art subjects and earned about 4,000 grains of rice for impoverished people around the world. Oh yeah, and I had a good time doing it! :)

cool benediction

I heard this at church and then found it on a blog (bravenotsafe.blogspot.com). It was attributed to Craig Groeschel at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit.

This is something I hope Austin and Caitlin grow up to embody...

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

perceptive!

A quick funny story...tonight at bedtime I had gotten Caitlin all settled in bed (see previous post to realize this is no small feat!) & she started complaining about her pants. They wouldn't stay down at her ankles. So I took her out and changed her pants, but was not happy at all. She sensed this because when I went to put her back in bed, she looked up at me and said, "Thanks mom. You're the best." What a character.

And everything Austin sees he thinks he needs to ask "nanta" for! But he swears he won't sit on Santa's lap (Caitlin either). We'll see! They are both big on asking Santa for toys this year.

Nothing much has been going on...both kids have not been feeling great and Ryan has been working up a storm (today he drove to Kentucky). So we haven't done much of anything. A lot of playtime in the basement. I have been thoroughly enjoying my new ipod that Ry got me for my birthday...been bopping around the house pretending I can sing and dance! :) I was on the fence about whether I really wanted an ipod...I had an mp3 player that worked fine. But dang! Tonight I discovered the "games" feature and I love the fact that I can watch a movie when I work out if I want to. And podcasts? Forget it! I'm subscribed to a bunch already!

Anyhow, tomorrow we will get out of the house because Austin has speech in the morning. After that, we'll see how it goes. He gets mad when we have to put on pants and go to speech, so I'm not anticipating a great morning. Hopefully seeing Ry will brighten his mood - he LOVES his daddy!!!! His first question every morning? "Is it a work day?" - he likes to know if daddy will be home or not.

That's about it for today!

funny ritual

Caitlin and Austin love the predictability of having a routine...so heaven forbid if we stray from it. Bedtime goes as follows: pj's on; brush teeth at sink with "big kid" toothpaste and "noisy" toothbrushes; read 2 or 3 stories in the yellow chair; pretend to be "something" when being put into bed (Austin loves to be a motorcycle and Caitlin loves to be a baby); hold hands while kids pray and then our family prayer; hugs and kisses; then covers and lights out. Now, for Caitlin, the "covers" portion of the evening is a bit tricky...she is VERY particular! First, she sleeps with between 10 & 12 stuffed animals (I'm serious)...her pillows have to be just right, then she rolls onto her side and "spoons" her animals (all of them). Then it is time for covers...first the pink one, making sure to cover ALL of the animals also. Next, the white blanket, then the yellow ducky blanket, and finally the Christmas blanket. If it is not in that order...she will freak. Austin is a little less complicated. He rests his head on a wadded up fleece blanket because he's not a fan of pillows. Then he will lay on his side and raise one arm in the air so you can cover him with his knit blue blanket. He likes his arm out...Caitlin likes to be completely covered. It's very entertaining! :)

The best part of waking up....

is drinking from these cups! (sing along if you know the tune!)

The kids made me these cute coffee cups for my birthday. Yet another good reason to enjoy my morning coffee! So cute! Caitlin is blossoming into quite a little artist...she draws pretty good looking people. I'm serious! She also draws a wicked squid! Austin is not so into coloring/drawing as it requires him to sit down for a period of time. :)

They had school today and had no problems when Ryan and I left. As a parent, that's a good feeling...we know they love it there. Kind of stinks that they actually want us to leave, but that's part of them growing up. :(

Anyway, that's about it...nothing very exciting today. Yesterday was not so great because they both have a cold.........hopefully they will feel better soon. I don't want to have to take them to the doctor. They hate that!

Oh yeah, can't remember if I blogged about this, but on Monday we went to the "BIG CITY" to visit daddy. Actually, it was so I could get a flu shot...but they LOVED going to daddy's work. Austin was transfixed by the "big guys" practicing. I think he could have watched the entire practice. It was cute. They both wore their Pacers gear and loved seeing all of daddy's work friends. Mommy was happy because it went so well AND I got to say hello to my all time favorite Pacer, Sam Perkins (a.k.a. Big Smooth) YAY! Yes, years ago I even named our cat after him. :)

Okay, gotta go eat lunch. I think the kids and I are going to hit Starbucks this afternoon, if I can get them into weather appropriate clothing. Austin thinks he needs to wear shorts and a t-shirt year round and Caitlin is all about her sleeveless dresses and sandals. Geez!

some funny moments

Yesterday the kids were cracking me up (not so much today because they are both feeling under the weather)...here are some cute little tidbits...hope you enjoy them as much as I did!!!

Caitlin: "Mom, can we get dressed?"
Me: "Oh, I thought we were having jammie day?"
Caitlin: (thinking very hard & saying with absolute delight) "Let's have clothes day!"

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When I walked in to their room after naps, Caitlin says excitedly, "Mom, we were playing hide and seek in our bed!" I found this hilarious...they are still in cribs! AND, it is a testimony to their "hiding" skills (HINT: look in the most obvious place!).

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I saw something in Caitlin's hair so I told her to stand still so I could get it out. She asked what it was. I told her I didn't know because I couldn't get it with all of her wiggling. She then asked, "Is it ear junk?"! :)

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Caitlin came running into the kitchen crying & telling me Austin pinched her on the back. Austin told me "I didn't pinch sissy!!" (in the CLEAREST talking EVER!). I told him I would see if there was a mark on her back and if there was, he was in trouble. Sure enough, there was a red mark on Caitlin. I told him to come see it & tell Sissy "sorry". So he walks over, looks at her back and says, "OH MAN!" in a real dejected, I'm busted kind of voice. He knew he was headed to time out!
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Kids say the darnedest things!

Trick or Treat!

We had a great time trick or treating tonight. It was the kid's first time ever going out and they caught the hang of it pretty fast. This afternoon they went over to Aunt Bubble's (Lynn's) house all dressed up to get some treats, then headed back home. Our across the street neighbors, Jen and Eric, threw an awesome party for a ton of kids from the neighborhood, so we went over there for a little bit, and then it was off to trick or treat.

You never quite can be sure how Austin will do when it comes to interacting with others. We have seen the outgoing, full of life little guy many times, and at other times he can be very shy and timid. Well, I guess if there are sweets involved the extrovert comes out. He was practically running to each door yelling trick or treat from the time he started up a driveway until he got to the door, he would ring the doorbell numerous times if he had to, and would pick the candy from the bowl before the person could put some in his bag. He probably could have gone all night. He got a ton of compliments on his NASA spacesuit, and plenty of women commented on how great his red hair was...why is that exactly? Ladies seem to love his hair...huh...

Caitlin made a beautiful little Cinderella. She was slowed at first by her glass slippers, but we made a quick change into some tennis shoes, and she was ready to go from there. She made sure to say hello to everyone we passed by, and had the whole routine down to a science before we even reached the first door. After about the fifth house, she was walking ahead of us when she looked back and exclaimed, "This is the best night ever!" It was pretty cute. She kind of pooped out after awhile even passing on some houses that Austin went to. Daddy carried her for awhile until she got a little energy back. All week she has been asking if I would dance with her in her princess dress, and one of the absolute highlights of my night was when we got home and I got to dance with her. Can't say there is much in life better than a moment like that...

We went through the whole procedure of learning that Mom and Dad look at all the candy when we get home to make sure it is ok. There were a few things we took out, but they got a pretty good haul for 3 year olds. I am sure now they know what to expect, they will be pretty pumped for next year. It was a really fun night for us.

Below are the pictures from their school party yesterday, them painting their pumpkins yesterday afternoon, a few from Lynn's today, and then them getting ready to trick or treat from this evening. I hope you all enjoy them!

Talking Time Halloween Party

Today was the BIG Halloween party at school. It was cute to see all the kids dressed up! Caitlin loved wearing her Cinderella costume all day and I was told that she kept telling EVERYBODY that DADDY bought her the light up shoes. She was very proud of them! Austin had a rough start today but by the time the party was in full swing, he was dressed in his orange space man costume. The director took some great pictures for me. Hopefully Ryan can help me post them later. Both kiddos couldn't wait to get home to check out their "goodie bags"! They went trick-or-treating around the school and obviously loved it b/c that's all they've been talking about..."We went trick or treating INSIDE. Tomorrow we trick or treat OUTSIDE." They have no idea that they will hit the mother load of candy acquisition tomorrow night. Good thing, b/c candy seems to be their favorite food group! ;)

While they were at school I did a little shopping. I haven't been to Bed, Bath, and Beyond in a loooong time....oh my gosh! I could have spent the whole day there!!! I loved looking at all the gadgets and kitchen items. I am looking to expand my entertaining serveware and saw so many cool things. I got a bad case of the "I wants"! Good thing they didn't translate into the "I boughts"! :) I did buy a few things...silver chargers, cloth napkins, a platter, a nice ladle...only b/c one thing had a rebate and I had a $10 off coupon and a 20% off coupon. I felt quite thrifty!

Last night, Ryan brought home some Pacers gear for Austin and Caitlin. Austin LOVES his new long sleeve t-shirt (even though it is slightly big which he usually HATES). Caitlin loves her new Pacers "dress" (cheerleading outfit). They also complimented my new hat..."Nice Pacers hat, Mom!" So we are ready to root on our favorite team! GOOOOOO PACERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obviously we will take a ton of pictures tomorrow for Halloween and will post them in a timely manner (hopefully!). Have a fun and safe Halloween everyone!

Recent Goings On....

Sorry it's been awhile...nothing of extreme interest has been going on really!

The kids are getting excited for their first year of trick-or-treating. Austin is going as an "orange spaceman" and Caitlin will be dressed as Cinderella ("blue princess"). So on Friday we will bravely go out into the night to collect candy from our neighbors. Then, depending on the kids' moods we will stop by our neighbor's Halloween party for a little while. Thursday morning they have their school Halloween party and are excited to dress up for that. Mom and Dad are a little nervous about spillage on the costumes and possible disaster for the actual Halloween wearing!!! You never know with 3 year olds! I just hope no mom sends something with bright orange frosting...that usually equals a HUGE mess!!!

Saturday morning we are doing a service project with our church so we have to be up and at church by 8am! Austin and mommy are not morning people, so this may be an issue!!! We are excited about it though. We are going to be going through a local neighborhood collecting bags of food to take to the food pantry. I hope we get a good turn out as the pantry is running low b/c of the economy AND b/c of the economy, more people are seeking their help. Not a good cycle.

This afternoon we are having a movie day in the basement. Curious George is the movie of choice. We love movie day...

Pictures to Catch Up With Posts...

Sorry it has taken a little bit to get the Pumpkin Patch pictures and the Fire Station pictures up. Hope you enjoy them!

From the Pumpkin Patch -



From the Fire Station -

Fire Station

In honor of fire prevention week, I took the kids to an open house at a local fire station. They loved it! We were the only ones there and the fireman showed them his boots & pants that they hop into and all the equipment they have. He showed them the air mask they wear and explained that they shouldn't be afraid if they see a fireman wearing that in our house. A good point to remember to talk about with them...it didn't even register that they would probably be scared by that! The highlight was that they got to climb in the cab of the firetruck for pictures and then the fireman let them sit on the front bumper for some more pictures. Austin was upset because he couldn't play ball with the firemen...he sees them playing hoops sometimes and I guess assumes that's all they do! :) Well, that and ride around in a cool truck! At the end of our visit, they each got a plastic fireman's hat and a fire safety coloring book. I was soooooooo proud of their behavior. They stayed close to me, didn't grab anything they weren't supposed to, and followed directions. In my opinion, they are pretty well behaved 3 year olds anyway, but it amazes me when I take them somewhere by myself and they act great...I go in hoping for the best but expecting the worst. That way, I'll always be pleasantly surprised! :)

They have also discovered a love of hanging out at the island in our kitchen. This morning they ate breakfast up there while I unloaded the dishwasher. Then they colored in their firestation books while I straightened up in the kitchen. It is so cute. Let's me see a little into the future when they'll be doing homework up there after school. WOW. They really are growing up quickly!

I picked up their school pix today and they turned out soooo cute! Hoping to get them sent out soon.

Will post the pictures soon...can't find them on the computer right now! Sorry.

Surprise Gifts...

Today, there were a couple packages that arrived from Grandma and Grandpa Carr. Caitlin is a budding artist who loves to draw, write her letters she is learning, and overall, just be creative with pens and crayons. She got a book that is made so she can draw and trace all kinds of animals and letters and then wipe off and do all over again, along with a book of velvet pages to draw of Dora. Austin got a dream come true for him...a toy weed eater. This completes his set of having a lawn mower, a weed eater, and a blower, so he can do everything Daddy does when he mows the yard. They were both very excited, but Austin could hardly be contained. We had to change the batteries within about a 1/2 hour to remedy some tears because some lights weren't lighting up already.

Thought I would attach a couple of pictures we took...

Apple Orchard

On Monday I drove the kids up to my mom's for a trip to the apple orchard. We got rained out Monday afternoon so we went on Tuesday morning. They absolutely LOVED it! Austin was fascinated with the huge tractors that pulled the wagons to the "picking area". He was so excited to get on for a "tractor ride" (even though he wasn't actually ON the tractor...shh...our little secret!). He is funny though...his initial excitement over something usually turns to uncertainty and a little bit of fear once the exciting thing is actually happening. He talked and talked and talked about the tractor ride, but once it started he got very quiet with big eyes and cuddled closer to my mom trying to put on a brave face. They were both so funny once we got to the actual orchard...they loved picking the apples and putting them in our little bag. They also tasted quite a few (the one bite wonders!) and then tossed them to the ground (again...shhh!). The good thing is, they now love apples! YAY! Caitlin also loved waving to every single kid she could. She is a little social butterfly. Austin did his world famous robot imitation in the middle of the apple trees...it was entertaining. Caitlin was a dedicated picker...she didn't have time to play around. Once we had enough of the apple picking, we got back on the tractor and headed back to the main area.

We went into "the barn" to tell great gramma, aunt Courtney, and baby Ethan all about it. And the kids needed a snack...goldfish for Austin, noodles for Caitlin and, of course, milk. Once re-fueled we headed out to the animals area. It was like a mini-zoo! The kids saw chicks hatching, regular goats, pygmy goats, llamas, ponies, and bunnies. They ran around a little hay maze and then got to go to the play area complete with mini John Deere tractors and fiberglass animals for them to ride on. I could see the light stream down from heaven and hear the angelic music playing as each kiddo spotted this. Caitlin hopped on the cow and Austin grabbed a tractor. Caitlin went from the cow to the horse to the pig to the tractor. Austin went from the green tractor to the red tractor to the green tractor. :) He explained to me that he was "driving to work" (the pony "stall") where he "parked his car" and "got some gas". The boy is like a mini Ryan...except Ry doesn't drive a tractor to work (he just traded it in for his VW).

So, we went back to "the barn" and I bought a couple books for them while they each picked a pumpkin with gramma. They were so cute carrying them in from the little pumpkin area! After that, baby Ethan was hungry so we went back to my mom's house for some lunch before we headed back home. Austin was asleep before we hit the highway and Caitlin was not far behind (a miracle because she hates sleeping in the car!). Caitlin set a world record for number of times one little girl asked "wha choo doin' mom?" and getting distraught if I didn't have 2 hands on the wheel at all times!!! She definitely made the ride entertaining!

Here are some pictures from the trip...



STAY TUNED...Sunday is a trip to the Pumpkin Patch!!!!

The Week Behind, and Ahead...

It was a pretty quiet week after Clint and Sarah left. I don't know that anything happened that was way out of the ordinary. Austin and Caitlin went to school Thursday morning, and Austin went to see Ms. Tonya at the "Big School" on Friday. Yesterday morning, Kim and I dropped them off at Lynn's house, and we had a rare day to ourselves. A long time friend of mine always offers us Notre Dame football tickets every year, so yesterday we drove up and saw them play Kim's alma mater, Purdue. We had a great time. We got there a little early and walked around, and then did the same after the game. It was really a perfect day, in the upper 70's and not a cloud in the sky. We stopped for dinner on the way home, finally pulling in the driveway at about 11:30 last night. Kim is picking up the kids now from Lynn's, I just got back from a workout, and it should be a fun day around here. Maybe this afternoon we will go pick out pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. If not, we will do it next weekend.

Kim and the kid's are going up to spend the night at her Mom's tomorrow night. It will be the first time that Austin and Caitlin get to meet their new cousin! I am sure there will be plenty of pictures to post when they get back!

I don't usually put up anything on here about work, but it is exciting around Conseco Fieldhouse. Tomorrow is Media Day for the team, and then we start practice Tuesday. We have scouting meetings for the next week or so. Also, I am excited as I got a promotion about a week ago to Assistant Director of Scouting. I think the team will be better, and I am excited to have more responsibility, so I am glad that this week is finally upon us. I won't be travelling out of town until the middle of next month, so Daddy will still be around.

Well, Kim and the kids should be home any minute, so gotta go!

a side comment from mommy...

i wanted to blog about caitlin's "beauty shop" experience...it was awesome! i don't know where it came from, but in the past couple of weeks she's turned into a TOTAL girly-girl! calling herself a princess, playing dress up, worrying about her accessories (bracelet, barrettes that MATCH her outfit), and choosing her own clothes (which must be dresses or skirts)! so, i thought it would be fun to play beauty shop while the boys were out doing their thing. it started with a luxurious bubble bath. then she got dressed and we put curlers in her hair while i used the blow dryer. next came the greatest moment of her life...i'm not gonna say she's a drama queen, but she'll go dakota fanning on you in a heartbeat! anyway, i began painting her fingernails and as i was doing that, she leaned her head next to my ear and whispered in a bewildered voice, "wow", "beautiful", "gorgeous". it was the sweetest thing in the whole world!!!! we also did her toes and she couldn't stop admiring her new "pink fingers and toes". i love when she and i get to spend some time together to bond over "girl stuff"! sarah joined in the fun and got some GREAT pictures!!!! i can't wait till she forwards them so i can share with everyone! :)

Fun with Clint and Sarah

Clint and Sarah have been here visiting. They flew in on Wednesday afternoon and left early this morning. We had a great time with them. The kids loved them, and I know they are going to be sad when they wake up this morning and realize they are gone. Everytime they come we hear Austin and Caitlin talk about them right up until they visit again.

They got to experience a trip to "Bounce Zone", a place full of those inflatable things kids can jump all over, and Clint and I took Austin to get a haircut and a cookie at the bakery while the girls did a little beauty shop thing. Caitlin has been big on wearing dresses and necklaces and stuff, lately. She got her nails painted for the first time. They also got to play outside with them quite a bit, see Austin mow the yard with me, we all went to church Saturday evening, and we all went to the zoo yesterday. It was a lot of fun. We always look forward to seeing them, and it is so great to see them playing and interacting with the kids.

We can't wait for the next time!

These are a few of the pictures that we have. We will add more when Sarah can get us the one's from her camera. She has ALOT of pictures!

The Last Week

Sorry it has been a little bit since we got a post up here. It was a little hectic. I ended up going to El Paso on Thursday to attend the Memorial Service for Coach Haskins. UTEP and the family did a great job of putting together a really nice evening to remember him. It was pretty awesome in that just about everyone that had anything to do with the basketball program over the past 48 years was there. Former players, coaches, referees, friends...it was really quite a gathering. Nolan Richardson, who played on Coach Haskins original team at UTEP, just about all of the 1966 National Championship team, Antonio Davis, Tim Hardaway, Tim Floyd, Billy Gillispie, Doc Sadler...Amazing to see how many people Coach Haskins really meant a lot to. He had a way of making everyone feel like you were his best friend. After the service, they hosted a really nice reception where everyone just kind of got to mingle and talk to one another. I was really glad that I went, although the occassion was very sad.

Earlier in the week, it was interesting talking to the kids about it. They are pretty much on top of everything around here, so especially on Monday, they could tell that Daddy was "sad." So, of course they wanted to know why, especially Peanut. Obviously, they don't need the full on explanation, but I did explain that Daddy has a friend that he won't be able to see anymore. It seemed to appease their curiosity. They are both so sweet. Caitlin was good for some cuddles and kisses, and Austin's spontaneous hugs will cure about any ill. Both are great about letting you know that they love you. It is great as a parent to see these guys learn to be empathetic and loving.

The week finished pretty fun for Kim and I. Kim had planned a day at Springhill Camps for our small group and any other friends that could go on Sunday. Unfortunately, not everyone could go, but Carrie and Andy came down from Ft. Wayne, and Angie was able to go. Justin and Bethany were in Florida celebrating Kellen's 1st birthday, Nell and Jared were home, as Nell is within a month or so of having their first baby, and Justin was a little under the weather. We were able to spend a fun Saturday evening with Carrie and Andy, without each of our sets of twins! We had a fun dinner at Red Robin and then came home and watched some football and just got to catch up and hang out. Anyway, this camp is out in the woods and is pretty much a kids camp during the summer, but you can go down with a group and do different activities. We did a zip line that was about 40 feet high and went over a lake, we climbed a rock wall that was about 40 feet high, we did some trap shooting, and some archery. It was a great day. A zipline is way out of my comfort zone, but after the first couple of seconds it was a lot of fun. I even did it a 2nd time!

While we were down there, and especially when we got home, we got some incredible winds from the remnants of Ike. We had 39 mph winds that were gusting to 59 mph. There was stuff flying all over the place. Our grill took a tumble. At first glance, I just need to replace the ignition button, and I hope that is all the damage that it got.

Well, that is about it, I guess. We are all looking forward to Clint and Sarah coming on Wednesday. It is supposed to be a beautiful week and weekend here, sunny and in the upper 70's, so we should be able to be out and have some fun.

The Bear...

Last night I got a text from Travis telling me that Coach Haskins had passed away. He had really been struggling with his health in recent months, and I guess that I knew that it wouldn't be too long before he succumbed to it, but nonetheless, it hit me pretty hard. I have been blessed to have had some really extraordinary people in my life. My Dad, Coach Thomsen, Coach Iverson, Coach Knight, Larry, Dave, Coach Haskins. These people are as close to "heroes" as I have. In different ways, they have shaped me as the person that I am. More than that, none of them could possibly imagine the impact they have on me.

During my time in El Paso, and since, Coach and I became as close as two people who share the same birthday, but 44 years apart, could be. The times having a couple of drinks at the most hole in the wall places (Rosa's Cantina, Sassy's, and a couple of places I never caught the name of), the drives in the truck, the breakfasts and lunches, the phone calls. I will really miss the phone calls. The past 5 years, since I moved back to Indiana, we had a lot of those. I struggled with the fact that in the past year they had gotten less and less frequent. We talked a lot about basketball, but we talked about so much more, too. We talked about everything under the sun. I remember the excitement he shared with me in a conversation we had right after our kids were born. He was more a teddy bear in the years that I knew him than the intimidating person I had thought he was before spending time with him.

It would be impossible for me to write what Coach meant to me, what he meant to the sport of basketball, what he meant to the city of El Paso, or really what he meant to the world. I would recommend that anyone that hasn't seen it rents the movie "Glory Road." They made that movie about him. He told me it is about 80% accurate. You'll learn a lot about life in that movie. I was really, really blessed to learn some of those things from him personally.

Maybe the best college basketball coach to ever walk the sidelines, he did more with less than probably anyone ever has or will. He stood for loyalty, humility, and doing things through hard work and a team concept. He is in the Basketball Hall of Fame, they have named awards after him, and made a movie about him, but he would never talk about it. He stayed in El Paso when he could of went any number of places and made a lot more money and received a lot more notoriety. That wasn't him, though. I was at the gym this morning, and on the local news they ran a short story about him, but at the bottom of the screen it said, "Dennis Haskins dies at 78." I wanted to call the station right then and tell them to get it right, but in a way it was typical. He was a man that never wanted to stand out or be recognized, never wanted the spotlight. He broke barriers and changed lives, but never wanted the credit.

I last saw Coach last summer, August 16th, 2007. We traveled to El Paso for Travis and Kasia's wedding. Kim, the kids, and I went a couple of days early and I was a guest on his weekly radio show. It was a lot of fun, and is a lasting memory of a cherished time. We laughed and had a great time, as we always did.

I know that there will be so many people embrace his wife, Mary. She is such a special lady, and someone who was so kind to Kim and I when we were there. She is as sweet as there are, and my prayers are with her and the rest of the family.

I wanted to share this article with you. It was written this morning by Dan Wetzel, a columnist for Yahoo.com, who shared a similar relationship with Coach. He is a good friend, and I thought he did a great job of painting a picture of what Coach was all about.

Coach would end every conversation you had with him by saying, "Adios." Unfortunately, I guess it is my turn to say, "Adios, Coach, Adios. I will miss you tremendously."

Appearing as a guest on Coach's radio show on August 16th, 2007. A treasured memory.

The Greatest Show on Earth!

The circus was a lot of fun. Hard to get the kids to sit still for a couple of hours, but they did really enjoy seeing the circus! Their "lights" were a big hit, and they loved the clowns, the elephants, the trapeze, the tigers, the performing dogs, and well, just about everything. Honestly, I think Kim and I enjoyed it as much as they did. Check out the pictures below.



Looking forward to today. We'll go to church, then mow the backyard (we weren't able to get to it yesterday, and no way I was going to do it without Austin), play all afternoon, and then I am going to the Colts game with John. It is their first regular season game in their new stadium, so that should be cool. I always enjoy going to new arenas/stadiums, so looking forward to it. Hopefully, it will be nice and they can open the roof.

Siesta Key Pictures!!

I think that I finally figured out how to post a slideshow on here...amazing what you can do while waiting for the kids to wake up from a nap!!!

Child labor laws?

Thought I would share a funny story from last night. We were talking about how we were going to go to the circus the next day and everything that we needed to do before we got to go. Austin and Caitlin like to know all the things that we are going to do for the day. Well, we are standing in the kitchen and had gotten done and Caitlin says, "When I get up I need to go to work at the circus, the store, and the gym. I have three jobs." Kim and I just looked at each other about ready to crack up. We have no clue where she comes up with stuff, but she is always pretty serious. She also told us that she needs to be there at 20:11...she is into knowing what time it is theses days and is such a genius that she operates on military time! :) Meanwhile, Austin was running around exercising, which requires him to pretend to put his earphones in his ears, clip his imaginary ipod to his waistband, and then he runs with very exagerrated arm movements around the house. He is now taking lawn mowing and fitness very seriously!

Well, gotta get ready to take off to the circus. We'll post about that later. Have a great Saturday!!! It is beautiful here. Mid to upper 70's and sunny as can be.

New Layout

I have been toying around with a few things and changed the look of the blog. I hope you enjoy it. If you have any suggestions, post a comment and let me know. Also, if you aren't subscribed to getting the e mail updates, click on the link on the right hand column. It will automatically let you know when a new post is added. Enjoy!

some news....

baby ethan!!!

well, i'm an aunt! yay! ethan edward was born last wednesday via c-section after my poor sister was induced and had serious contractions all night!!! he was 7lbs5oz and 21 inches and he is just sooooo cute! he had the longest fingernails and is one of the hairiest little guys i've ever seen! i only heard him semi-cry once...maybe he'll be a non-crier?!

the kids are just getting over the "niffles" (as austin says)...all that time in the chic-fil-a play area finally caught up with us! the night before last caitlin was up every hour and then up for good at about 4:30am b/c she tries to breathe thru her nose and panics when she can't...ryan tried teaching her to breathe through her mouth, but no luck. fortunately she slept soundly last night and so did austin (and daddy and mommy!)!

last sunday we went to a party and they had "silly safaris" perform a show....with LIVE animals! austin and caitlin got to pet a skunk, a baby alligator, a bunny, a millipede, and a porcupine! then they were the special helpers for another animal...the man ("alligator aaron") called austin up to help him and immediately caitlin walked up too (and why not?!). austin was hysterical...he was sooooooooo excited that he kept hopping around. anyway, the animal they got to hold was a CORN SNAKE! they loved it...i thought they would freak but they were very good with it. they also got to see a vulture and a baby tortoise but they weren't allowed to touch those. then later in the night, a musician came to entertain the party goers...he just played the guitar and sang some mellow christian tunes, but to austin he was a ROCK STAR! austin was playing air guitar like a champ!!!! we ended up staying well past their bed time but it was a lot of fun for all of us!

this morning sophia (our neighbor's 4 yr old) came over. i will be watching her on wednesday mornings....the kids were soooooo excited! they all played nicely and it's so good for them to have a regular playmate too (well, besides each other!).

that's about it for now....saturday we are going to the circus and we are looking forward to uncle clint and sarah's visit in a couple of weeks! the kids are all pumped up b/c we said we'd go to the zoo with them.

Home

We decided during the first day of driving to get it done in two days instead of three. The kids were doing good, and we just thought getting home Sunday evening would be better than Monday at noon. We stopped about 40 miles North of Atlanta and stayed at the Fairfield Inn in Cartersville, GA. I stay in alot of hotels, Marriott brands to be specific, and we used some of my points to stay places on the drive there and back. I just want to stay that this Fairfield (which is Marriott's lowest quality hotel) was nicer than some of the regular Marriotts that I have stayed in. So, if anyone is driving from the midwest to Florida and wants to stop halfway, I recommend this place. The town was pretty nice, too. We found another playground for the kids at a Chick-fil-a, so they could burn some pent up energy, then we all had a good night's rest.

We got home yesterday about 6 o'clock. It was good to be home. I think everyone had a great night's sleep last night, and the kids even slept for about an hour and a half extra between last night and this morning.

It sounds like Kim's sister, Courtney, is going to have her baby this week, so that is exciting. I don't know all the details, but from what I understand it will be sometime in the coming days.

I will try and find a good way to post pictures from the trip on the site. I haven't been able to do that yet, but am determined. Probably a late night project tonight.

Wrapping up a GREAT WEEK!

I see that Kim did some early morning blogging and said we were going to the aquarium. We did, and it did prove to take Austin's mind off of going home for a few hours. It wasn't the biggest aquarium, but it had some cool stuff. The clown fish were a big hit as the kids know that is a "Nemo fish." There were also sharks (Austin's favorite), dolphins, big lobsters, and some Manatee, which are found all over around here, I guess. Well, I should say, used to be found. I guess they are either endangered, or very close to being endangered. There were also some huge sea turtles. Austin became a big fan of these all of the sudden. In the gift shop Austin picked out a stuffed sea turtle, and Caitlin picked out a stuffed Nemo fish. We got a great picture of Austin actually trying to get his stuffed sea turtle to talk to one in the tank. I will post it when we get home. The turtle got the name, "Tuga." Which is short for Tortuga (Spanish for turtle), and the name of a sea turtle that Diego saved in one of the cartoons that the kids know by heart.

After a not so great nap time after the aquarium, the kids were a little stir crazy so we headed down the island to see Turtle Beach. This is a place that alot of giant sea turtles go to lay their eggs. Some agency comes out and marks where the nests are and tapes them off so you don't step on them, but you can easily see where they are, so the kids all week have enjoyed knowing where the turtle nests are. There were several on Turtle Beach, as promised, along with some surfers as there were probably about 5-7 foot waves there today, also. But, as soon as we walked 50 feet onto the beach we got hit with a downpour, so we ran for the car. It probably lasted about 5 minutes, but we bailed on it, and headed to the nearest DQ to get the kids a little ice cream. After that, we hit the Chick-fil-a (a fast food place that has awesome chicken sandwiches) not really to eat, but so the kids could get some time playing on their indoor playground. Not sure if we mentioned it a couple of days ago, but we took the kids there Wednesday night for awhile. They keep it very clean, much better than the McDonald's ones. They played there for over an hour and had a great time with the other kids.

We got back and took one last walk on the beach for this trip. We had an English guy take our picture (needs to go through photoshop to see if I can get it to look good!), looked at some sand sculptures of a manatee, a dolphin, and a mermaid and then headed up for bath time. The kids fell right to sleep and we are getting everything packed up to get an early jump on the road. Fay is raining all over Northern Florida so it will be interesting getting through it. We will take it slow if we need to and stay safe. We plan on getting to Macon, Georgia tomorrow night (7 hours), Bowling Green, KY (6 hours) on Sunday night, and then have only about a 3 hour drive home from there on Monday. Hopefully, with the storm, we can still keep that schedule.

We have had a great time this week. Some great time as a family to play and laugh and just have a great time. It has been such a great blessing for me personally because it just doesn't seem like I get time like this with the kids that often. Just to be connected with them and Kim for these 10 days or so makes me feel closer to them, and feel like we are a little tighter as a family. There are a ton of memories we will take, and hopefully can get down here a lot more in the future. To have a week without a storm and just enjoying the sun and water would be awesome!!! By the way, only Kim is going home sunburned...I am slightly darker (I used sunscreen), Caitlin is darker (even through SPF 50 - she tans really easily), and Austin is still pretty white (we make sure he is covered head to toe in sunscreen with his fair skin).

Thanks for following our travels with us this week! It has been fun to blog about our (mis)adventures!

our last day in siesta key! :(

well, austin is homesick...pretty amazing considering he is here with his entire family! he has been grouchy as can be and all he can talk about is mowing with daddy and "want to go home". so in an effort to take his mind off of it, we are going to the aquarium this morning. today isn't really a "hang out on the beach" kind of day anyway...VERY windy with big waves. hopefully they will enjoy the aquarium.

oh yeah, in case i haven't mentioned it earlier....once we get home, ryan is our family's OFFICIAL GRILLER. he has been manning the grill and cooked up some great burgers, pork chops, and ribeyes. everything i grill has a tendency to become um, charred! i think it's best for all involved that he take over! :)

more after the aquarium....

Thursday...

Today was pretty much back to normal. Sunny and hot. We had a pretty good breeze all day and it is picking up pretty good right now. The surf has gotten pretty wild, with much bigger waves hitting the shore. I wouldn't say you could surf on them, but for what we have seen here, it is pretty rough. A lot different than the other morning when the two dolphins were swimming around.


We started the day by taking the kids to breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. They can be a challenge to get to eat, so we thought a good sugar filled start to the day would get them going. Caitlin ate some "blue cake" (blueberry muffin). She loves it, and makes quick work of the oversized ones she usually gets at Starbucks. This was just as big and was devoured just as quickly. Austin wanted a chocolate doughnut with sprinkles. He licked off most of the frosting and sprinkles but wouldn't bite to eat the dough part. Oh well...We have learned on this trip that if you let him walk around with a bag of animal crackers he is good. Never seen someone consume the pure quantity of animal crackers as he has, and I am not sure of the nutritional value, but at least he eats them! He will eat some occassional chicken nuggets, strawberries, grapes, and, of course, goldfish. Caitlin has been eating her noodles (circle pasta), grapes, strawberries and goldfish. She is snacking on some mini ritz right now. I'm not sure if we have mentioned it yet, but we discovered they LOVE Oreos the past few days...well, not the whole thing, just the frosting inside...Boy would they love to know about DoubleStuff...


After breakfast, we stopped and took a look at a couple of other condos that we have driven by and wanted to take a look at for future trips. There is probably a mile long stretch of different condo buildings, some really nice, some not quite as nice, and some that really need some updating. I think we found one that we will try to reserve for a week next summer. The place we are at this week has probably the best view of any place on the beach, but is just average in terms of being updated and taken care of. Not bad, but not great, either. There are places for the same price that would be better. Without being on Waikiki, this is probably about as close as you can get in the lower 48. To be here for a week without a storm messing with the weather would be great! I see why this place is like a magnet for people to come spend the winter months, and people make big money renting places out.


We spent about an hour on the beach this morning after taking a look at the other condos. Austin has seemed to like the water less as the week has gone on. Adventure girl just gets more and more comfortable. She runs to the water whether you are with her or not. She loves it. During nap time, Kim walked the beach and found some more shells. She definitely loves to look for them, and the collection that she and the kids have got to take home is pretty impressive. We have alot!


After the kids woke up from their nap, we went down to the pool. They can float around and be in the water much more than in the gulf. We spent a couple of hours down there. We are going to have some dinner and then watch another beautiful sunset. It is amazing, no matter what the weather is during the day, the sunsets are absolutely postcardesque. There are amazing colors and they have been breathtaking every night. People stream to the beach to take pictures of them. We have sat on our balcony and enjoyed them everynight. Looking forward to the last two we get to see tonight and tomorrow night.


We will split time tomorrow between the beach and the pool, I would suspect, and then head home Saturday morning. We lost a couple of days of good weather to Fay, but we have had a great time here for sure, and hopefully can come back many times. Good to spend so much time with Kim and the kids with nothing really to stress or worry about. I guess that is what vacations are for! I haven't been the best at taking them. We have gone places, but done tons of sightseeing or been really busy. Nice to come to a place as beautiful as this and do really nothing but enjoy the beauty and spend time with the family!

The kids carrying water in their buckets from the gulf today

Kim in the pool with the kids this afternoon. Caitlin is a fish! She floated around in her "floatie" and life jacket for at least an hour today learning to kick and paddle around. Austin clings pretty hard to you still.

Another unbelievable sunset from the other night. We have taken a lot of picture of them and I am sure one of them will end up blown up and hanging in our house. A picture doesn't do them justice. Caitlin was telling us the colors in the sky on this night.

The Day After...

After a windy and cloudy day yesterday, and amazingly almost no rain, we are having a windy and partly cloudy day this morning. I think we are in about a 75 mile area in the whole state of Florida that will have gotten no rain from Fay. It should be in the upper 80's today, and although it doesn't look like we are going to have anymore perfect days here the rest of the week, it should be nice enough to spend plenty of time down on the beach.

Last night at about 2 a.m. I woke up to hear a bunch of kids down on the beach. From what I could see, it looked like they were taking advantage of the winds from the NW making some fairly good waves to body board. In the last 24 hours we have seen the wind come from the East and rotate all the way around to coming from the North, and now the Northwest.

Shouldn't need to really update anymore weather conditions, I know the storm is forcasted to cross back over Florida, but well to the North of us. I think we are just in for a windy rest of the week because of it.

Noon Fay Update

Well, we haven't even gotten our first drop of rain yet, so that is great news. It is windy, maybe gusts to 30 or 40 mph, and overcast, but beyond that, it is still warm and there are plenty of people on the beach and in the water. Mostly, it looks like they are looking for shells, but some are out swimming. We took a morning walk with the kids and both would exclaim how windy it was.

The forcasters have said that we are now maybe only going to get up to an inch of rain this afternoon, and are amazed that we haven't gotten any yet. The storm continues to head up to the Northeast while the bands of rain kind of disappear before they get to us, although they are getting closer. Hopefully, we will be back to sunny and hot temperatures tomorrow.

random funnies....

whenever we ask austin a question requiring "yes", he replies, "think so!" in an adorable sing-song voice!

in bed the other night, caitlin took a band-aid off of her foot and applied it to her bunny's knee! she (and austin) love to pretend they're doctors.

caitlin's favorite question is, "how we get down to the beach?"...knowing full well the answer is the elevator. she loooooves to ask that!

during our drive, austin was very impressed with the mountains (we told them it was the smokey mountains, but we're not sure)...he was often heard saying, "want more 'mokey mountains!!"

mr. polite...when ryan unlocks the gate to the beach, austin walks through and says, "thanks dad!"

caitlin is fascinated by the analog clock in our condo...she loves to announce that "the hands are pointing to nigh nigh time."

when looking for seashells caitlin doscovered one with a tiny crab in it...she didn't know whether to be scared or excited but became excited when mom and dad told her how cool it was.

the kids have discovered a love of oreos on this trip...well, not the whole oreo...just the frosting!

caitlin declared "I feel hungry about it" several times as she was trying to tell austin that she was hungry for some goldfish in the car.

Morning Update...

The above map is courtesy of the NOAA.gov website and is their prediction of the storm track as of 5 a.m. this morning. Can you believe that we are in the green area to the north of where the storm made landfall! Tampa is right inside the white part just to north of us, and Orlando is pretty much in the storm path. Here at Siesta Key, it is windy (20-40 mph gusts) and partly sunny right now at sunrise. Granted, the clouds that are overhead are blowing from East to West about as fast as any clouds I have ever seen go by, but we have had no rain so far, and as of now they are saying that we may only see 1-2 inches today (some places may get a foot) and things should be back to normal summer weather by tomorrow. That means a chance for a thunderstorm in the afternoon, which seems to be the case in any tropical place I have been in the summertime.

Now this is certainly great news for us, but hopefully there won't be too much damage where the storm does roll through. Also, interestingly enough, we may have to drive through the remnants of it on the way home this weekend! That should just mean a rainy first day's drive into Georgia.

Well, we will update more later. Right now, as the sun comes up, people are filtering out to the beach for their morning walks and enjoying the fact that somehow, we are only having windy conditions!

Settling in for Fay, and some pictures!!!

Well, it is about 7:30 p.m. on Monday evening and we got in our last hour or so of beach time before the storm comes. We took a nice walk with the sun starting to go down...Amazingly, so far we had one quick, intense shower, and the rest of the storm kind of just disappears on the radar before it gets to us. That won't last a whole lot longer, but for now there are still quite a few people out on the beach under partly cloudy skies, but still warm temperatures (in the 80's). There are definitely some darker clouds to our East, which is where the storm bands will come from, but definitely nothing too ominous. The NOAA website doesn't even forcast the storm to be at a hurricane level when it hits shore, as of now. We will see. People say that these things are very unpredictable, so always have a plan if things change.

There is a voluntary evacuation of the barrier islands (Siesta Key is one of them), but they aren't telling anyone they need to leave, and there is hardly any boarding up of houses or anything like that. I was at Target earlier to get a flashlight, a couple of candles, and Scrabble (in case the power goes out for a long time) and people were just shopping as if nothing was happening. I called Larry to get his take, as he has lived in Naples and been through several hurricanes. He said that as long as it is a category one or so, it shouldn't be too bad. He said it would be a good experience for us! He said the last category one he was in he was driving around and stuff was still open. I hope that is the case for this one! Our friend Bethany, who is from Sarasota, said that she used to surf in category one hurricanes, so maybe we will see some of that!

Anyway, I got some pictures uploaded and thought I would share....So here they are!

A&C getting to play on the Chattanooga Choo Choo...a big hit on the drive!

The view up the beach from our balcony...How beautiful is this place? The sand feels like powdered sugar!

Austin throwing the ball to Caitlin...He's got an arm!

Caitlin doing her interpretation of an SI swimsuit model...She LOVES the water! No fear at all!

Austin and Caitlin playing ball...

Last night's sunset from our balcony...Breathtaking...

fay is coming!!!

well, we are figuring out what to do right now...looks like we are in the direct path & a voluntary evacuation has been issued. we are keeping a close eye on the conditions and will do our best to find a weaker section of the storm to find shelter. how's that for some vacation excitement?!?

this morning i was able to hang out on the beach for awhile by myself and was lucky enough to see TWO DOLPHINS playing!!!!!!!! that was one of the coolest things i've ever witnessed!

then we headed to a different beach (venice) to look for shark's teeth. austin was melting down shortly after we arrived so we left empty handed...the kids decided to play in bed until 10pm so naptime was early today!

more later!

siesta key

first of all, this place is beautiful! the sand is cool and has the texture of flour. we arrived yesterday and were able to get in some time on the beach. austin wasn't so sure of walking in the sand at first, but as he got used to it, he had a good time. caitlin was fearless...she just marched right up the beach like she had done this her entire life. the same went for the water...she loved the waves and kept asking to go further and further out. to which we replied, NO WAY. they were both very good and stayed close to us...mom's recurring nightmare is one of them getting swept out to sea!

we all had an early bedtime last night (maybe we had "van lag"?!)...ryan and i didn't even make it to see michael phelps' last swim and that's what our goal was! sad!!! but after we put the kids to bed we sat out on our balcony, ate pizza, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the gulf.

it is hot as blazes here! the water is perfect though & even when we're cooling off inside, the view from our condo is spectacular. ryan made a great selection...tons of windows and 3 balconies overlooking the gulf with no obstructions. we took some good sunset photos last night.

austin and caitlin built their first sandcastle yesterday. they were so cute!!! this morning we all took a walk along the beach and looked for seashells. they had a ton of fun. austin thinks every tall building in "the big city" is "daddy's work" which is pretty funny!

well, gonna get out and enjoy some more sun...hope the hurricane doesn't get us on monday/tuesday. they named it "fay" and they aren't certain of the course yet...stay tuned!!!!

the state fair...

we ventured out to the fair on sunday morning! it was a gorgeous day...sunny, in the mid 70's with a slight breeze...not your typical "august in indiana" weather. the kids were excited because we had been talking it up nonstop for a few days...as soon as we walked up to the fairgrounds, caitlin said, "what i smell like?" (translation=what do i smell?) daddy said, "the fair"...ain't that the truth?! they loved seeing all the animals up close. they got to ride on the merry-go-round and they rode on a ride all by themselves for the first time. it was called "convoy"...just a bunch of little "trucks" hooked together that they could "drive" around the track. it was sooooo cute to see and further evidence that they are indeed growing up waaaaaaay too fast! the highlight of the day was that they each got to ride a pony!!! austin went first and was a little bit afraid to get on, but he did and then he just grinned from ear to ear. caitlin hopped on right away and was all smiles too. austin's horse was named "rowdy" and caitlin rode "hank". too cute! they also had elephant rides but ryan vetoed that till they're older. darn!

earlier in the week we took them to the zoo to see the koalas....they loved them. austin also loved seeing the rhinos...caitlin declared them "stinky". they also got to pet the goats and ride the merry-go-round...always a favorite.

we have suffered the devasting loss of austin's favorite toy...his lawnmower!!! one broke last week and the other one broke yesterday. poor guy. we are going to find him a new one after vacation. in the meantime, he has been pushing his tractor around like a mad man!

yesterday ryan and i celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary!!! YAY! it's always nice to remember the day we promised to be together forever...marriage can be a bumpy road sometimes, but it is well worth the ride to be with the one you love with all your heart.

2 more days till the beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we are all sooooooo ready to just go and relax! so excited, in fact, that we bumped our departure time up by a day! ;) the last minute preparations are underway...hooray!!!

suppose i should go accomplish some of the aforementioned last minute preparations...more after our vacation...

vroom vroom!!!!!

this morning we were playing outside and caitlin had an accident in her undies. so, she and i came in to change. i told her to take off her shoes, shorts, and undies while i ran upstairs to get some clean clothes. it took me about two minutes but by the time i had come back down, there she was...naked from the waist down, swinging from her trapeze. oh my gosh, it was the funniest sight i've seen in a long time! i had to usher her inside the house, all the while explaining that we don't go outside with our buns hanging out. so glad none of our neighbors were out yet!!!!!!!! she only had 2 accidents all morning so we're making progress....

except we're not....caitlin wants to wear undies but refuses to use the potty. what the heck? we'll keep chugging away tomorrow.

aunt bubbles and uncle john stopped by this evening for a few minutes...the kids had a ball. they especially loved sitting on uncle john's motorcycle (see pics). they fell asleep without a peep tonight! love it!

funny, but not really

well, austin has discovered how to lock our doors. last night he locked me out of the master bathroom (he locked the door then pulled it shut when he left the room, so he wasn't locked in or anything)! of course, i can't find the million and one keys the builder left for us because i cleaned and lord knows where i put it! thank goodness my neighbor let me borrow one of theirs! double thank goodness because he locked himself and caitlin in our bedroom and i needed to unlock it! talk about double trouble!!!!!!!

in the bathtub tonight austin kind of lounged back onto caitlin. so, she grabbed her dora sponge and told me "i'm scrubbing my little buddy!" as she washed his hair with her sponge. i cracked up!!!!!!!!

tomorrow is a total hang out day. i am going to do some cleaning tonight and then we are all going to veg tomorrow! we bought "go fish" so we'll see if they can get the hang of playing that game...

funny stuff

we went to 2 furniture stores today with the kids. each time ryan and i would sit on the furniture to test it out, the kids started yelling to get up and "it's not play time!" they were good considering we were looking for about 2 hours (and bought NOTHING b/c we couldn't decide!). so, anyway, afterward they got some dairy queen for putting up with rolling through the boring furniture stores with us.

3...it's the *NEW* 2!

i'm assuming you've heard the saying, "pink is the NEW black"...well, 3 is the NEW 2! we are quickly learning that there was no such thing as the terrible 2's. however, there is such a thing as the terrible 3's! wow...lately it has been a struggle as austin and caitlin each find new and exciting ways to assert their independence. there's the refusal to do what we ask them to do (which pains my "teacher being" to the core), the endless timeouts for biting and hitting with an occasional kicking episode, austin's fondness for the word "NO" (and yes, it MUST be shouted!), and caitlin's food "whims". then there are the completely hysterical things they say and do...caitlin was playing on her "playground" and announced, "hollywood, here i come!" (NO IDEA WHERE THAT CAME FROM!)...she also now has a "trapeze act" because she can do a flip on her trapeze bar (the girl has some serious muscles!)...austin follows daddy on mowing day without taking a break. he will mow, weedeat, and blow until the work is complete. last night ry was working on the "f" sound with him, saying "fish"...he enjoyed it for a few minutes then announced "don't like saying words at home!" too funny! oh yes, caitlin put dora in a time out the other day complete with practically verbatim pre- and post- time out commentary just like mommy and daddy do it. dora enjoyed a 3 minute stint on the mat. she was "timing out", as the kids will tell you.

let's see, what else...we are all VERY excited about our upcoming trip to "the beach". every day we talk about what we will do and see. it will be soooo nice to get away and just play all day for a whole week! ryan is really trying to talk up the idea of sleeping in the car...it's pretty amusing. :) God bless him for trying...it'll be a great thing for all involved.

austin and caitlin are doing great in school...every thursday they come home with cool art projects and i've noticed that austin is waaaaay more talkative on thursdays now. they love ms. amy and enjoy going, so we're really pleased. they are starting to work on recognizing their names and tracing letters.

still not potty trained but after vacay we are switching to undies during the day and whatever happens, happens. caitlin pottied once and thought that was all she needed to do for the rest of her life. she still talks about getting treats for using the potty and the big party she will have for pooping in the potty, but still...nothing. austin will just flat out scream "no potty" and run from you! boys and hygiene. whatever. ;)

i am enjoying life with no crazy tongue flare ups...finally found a doctor who actually knew what he was doing! it is so great to be able to eat fruit (and anything else) again...haven't done that in about 5 years!!!! i love being able to talk and sing to the kids and read to them....sounds trivial, but i couldn't do it for a loooong time. this past weekend i actually enjoyed a few fruity alcoholic beverages.......YAY! ryan and i got 24 hours alone (well, without the kids). we had a date friday night and then went to his company's party (they had a trailer set up with freshly made elephant ears and funnel cakes...how cool is that?). it was really nice to reconnect with him without interruption. felt like we were dating again...pretty awesome considering we are quickly coming up to our 8th wedding anniversary!

we have had several friends doing some cool stuff internationally...mission trip to colombia, ministry in india...totally amazing stories. we have also been moved by the family of a little boy in the kids' class. the dad has pretty serious colon cancer and just went to rome for some treatment. it seemed like a disappointing trip, but they are holding out hope. it totally makes me appreciate that ryan and i are healthy and are not facing that kind of challenge and i am amazed by their strength. we are praying that God will provide them with a miracle...they are a young family which makes it even more tragic.

book recommendation..."28 stories of AIDS in africa" by stephanie nolan will blow you away and quite possibly change your life. i was amazed by my ignorance of how severe the AIDS crisis in africa really is. and. let me tell you, it is SEVERE. this book really made me want to DO something (in addition to seeing how a recent trip to s. africa seriously affected our pastor...you could tell he was changed after that trip...on fire). so, ryan and i went to a presentation of a group that is affiliated with our church called, loving south africa. they are doing amazing things over there...we are still not sure what direction we will take, but definitely we'll be doing stuff with lsa in the near future.

on a lighter note (sorry to get all heavy on you!)....the slideshow to the left shows several sunset views from our estates in montana and arizona and even has a picture of when ryan and his buddies reeled in "THE BIG ONE". just kidding! no idea what those pictures are or even how ryan got them on here!

hoping the kids wake up from naps in a happier mood...we are going furniture shopping today which will be a nightmare if they are unhappy! will post more later............hope you enjoyed our recent tales!