Mother's Day 2008

well, it was a pretty awesome day for me as a mommy. it was the first mother's day that the kids actually told me "happy mother's day" and it was SO sweet! good thing i loved it because they told me about a million times that day (and continue to tell me!).

daddy, austin, and caitlin let me sleep in till about 9:00 and then all came in to the bedroom saying "happy mother's day...i love you!" talk about a great way to wake up! and it definitely sweetened the deal that ryan brought up a hot cup of coffee for me. :) they were very excited to show me my presents downstairs...boy, was i surprised! they each made a garden stepping stone for me with their handprints on them. daddy stepped WAAAAAY out of his comfort zone on that one and they turned out so great! I LOVE THEM! they are proudly displayed in our backyard "garden". the night they did the "art project" (as a & c will tell you) i got booted out of the house and i went to see a movie....in a real movie theater! i almost forgot what it was like! :) they also got me an espresso maker to satisfy my love of mochas, a new regular coffee maker that works like a dream, and a coffee grinder...austin loves it because it's noisy, caitlin loves it because i let her sniff the ground coffee when i'm done. they really went all out and spoiled me!

THEN, they made me cards and a cute little book at school earlier in the week. it's so awesome to get artwork that they made especially for me. definitely something i'll treasure forever.

Lawn Mowing...

Yesterday afternoon was a big day for Austin. He got to follow around Dad while mowing the lawn. He was using his toy lawn mower, while Daddy was using the "Big" lawn mower. Austin was very determined and didn't stop the whole time. I was only going to do the backyard, but the little guy was really mad when I stopped, so we did the front, too. The weed eater must not be quite powerful enough to satisfy him because he didn't like when we were all done and Daddy traded the lawn mower for that. It was very cute, and he was sweating like crazy when we were done. He was concentrating so hard! Caitlin wasn't too thrilled with the sound of the engine, but she sat on the patio and cheered her brother on. At one point, she yelled hi to him with a wave. Austin responded with a wave back. The whole scene was pretty neat, and satisfied one of Austin's earliest loves. The kid loves mowing the lawn. He pretends to do it inside and outside, and talks about it all the time. I don't think, however, that we are going to let him do too much with his other love at this time..."mumping bahbage" (dumping garbage).

We didn't get any video or pictures yesterday, but maybe this weekend when we mow again...

The Zoo...

On Wednesday we took advantage of a gorgeous spring day here in Indy and spent a few hours at the zoo. As always it was alot of fun. Austin and Caitlin love their animals. They remembered most of them from last year's several trips. This was the first time that they got a chance to see the dolphin show. They sat there very mesmerized, clapping for the dolphins when they did their tricks and Austin, of course, was very concerned about getting the water cleaned up when they splashed the crowd. They got a kick out of hearing the dolphins make their sounds, doing flips out in the water, and waving at them. Other hits of the day were riding the merry go round, "the man" feeding the penguins, the rhino, the elephants, and the zebras.

Yesterday (Friday), we went to Ft. Wayne to see our friends Carrie and Andy, who have twins (Ben and Kate) about a year younger than Austin and Caitlin. It was great to see them play together. They did very well for the most part. I tend to still think of Austin and Caitlin as pretty small, but when you put them next to kids a year younger, they are much bigger. Really amazing, and you understand how quickly they are growing up! I can live with them already about to turn 3, but not sure I want them to get much older or bigger. It is so much fun where they are now! It was a great few hours hanging out. We wish we could do it more often!

With it being so nice out this past week, Austin is doing his duty mowing the lawn (he hasn't lost the love of it over the winter), and is consumed by "mumping bahbage" (dumping garbage). Caitlin is basically just trying to learn everything. It is hard to single anything specific out, although she is breaking out as a performer. She will act out and sing entire episodes of "The Backyardigans." It is a cute show about 5 different characters whose families share a big backyard. They use their imaginations to act out all kind of different things, from being pirates, to clowns, to knights. I actually don't mind watching it out of all of them. Austin and Caitlin will act them out, and I think it has really encouraged them to use their imagination.


A few pictures from the past few days...

Helping Daddy plant a lilac bush...

Austin maintaining the lilac bush the next day. They will tell you we have to check it and water it every day!

Caitlin always ready to smile for the camera. She is sitting in the grass with "Hoopie." She has made sure to tell us he is "tinky" and needs a bath!

seen and heard...

austin requests his naps and bedtime daily...so sweet.

caitlin's favorite words..."wha choo doin?" and "can we...."

dancing and singing to the backyardigans theme song AND acting out almost an entire episode where caitlin plays the roles of "queen tasha" and "uniqua the knight" and austin gets to be the "moose of the mist". they have great imaginations!

using color wonder markers and paintbrushes to color the same picture over and over together.

playing on the swingset and in the sand table because we've FINALLY had some nice weather!

wearing their new bicycle helmets (dora for caitlin & thomas the tank engine for austin) to do EVERYTHING! safety first! :)

austin putting on his own pants and shirt! caitlin putting on her own shoes!

Boopsie (Austin's version of whoopsie)...

Sorry we haven't posted in some time. Kim hasn't felt great the past week or so, and I have been busy doing what I do most of the time...work! We had a great Easter, and we will post pictures soon. Caitlin loved getting all dressed up, while Austin wasn't so excited. He really wanted his vest "boff" and kept tugging on it all morning. They loved the fact that the Easter Bunny stopped by, and we really had our first experience of toddlers on a sugar high, and then coming down to the low...NOT FUN!!!

We had our friends Justin and Bethany over last weekend to watch some of the NCAA games, along with A&C's favorite, "Baby Kellen", their nearly 6 month old son. Kellen holds a dear place in the hearts of our kids. It is cute to hear them talk about him.

I hope that Kim will update this quickly...she is the one that has all the good stories on these two.

Hope everyone is well!!!

excitement...

on wednesday we spent most of our day at the pediatrician and e.n.t. because austin stuck a foam craft shape up his nose!!! ryan went in to the offices with austin while caitlin and i waited in the waiting room. she was not happy that her austin was away from her!!! the e.n.t. finally removed the thing (with ryan and 2 nurses helping to hold austin still). when they came out i held austin and the poor thing was drenched with sweat. he took a great nap in the car on the way home and is fine now. hopefully that was the first and last of our "foreign objects" dr. trips!

today's news...

well, the kids had school this morning...here's what their teachers told me...caitlin needed to get a diaper change so austin had a fit that she was leaving the room without him. when caitlin returned, austin ran over and gave her a big hug. how sweet is that? apparently caitlin was going around asking each kid if they'd like a hug too. :)

then a & c "double teamed" one of their classmates who was riding in a fire engine. they both stood next to the fire engine then caitlin climbed in over the back while hooking her arm around the little boy's neck. she finally got in and sat next to him...he was not happy about that so he got out and ran....austin jumped in and they rocked back and forth in the fire engine for a few minutes. it's funny to watch them with other kids when they don't know i'm there!!! :)

we finally had a decent day of weather over the weekend so the kids were able to try out the new swingset...they loved it! poor ryan got quite a workout pushing the swings! it's going to be so much fun having that this year!

we are excited too about the vacation we have planned for this year...we're taking the kids to the beach in florida! (no disney for another couple years) ryan found a nice condo to rent on the beach in siesta key so we are looking forward to some nice relaxing family time!!! we're driving which will be an adventure in itself...hoping the kids will be potty trained by then so between a, c, and me i'm sure there'll be a ton of stops!!!!! my poor hubby!! ;)

another funny thing...caitlin had a hangnail & she told me..."have a toenail on my finger mom." then i looked over and saw austin trying to pull it off for her!