dillard discoveries, take 2

Okay, I am going at this with some dedication now. I have heard from 3 people this week about how much they enjoy and appreciate getting these updates, so I am going to try to be more faithful to you all :-)

This week was another fun one - full of new discoveries. Matt and I had the opportunity to use Kevin's tickets and go to the Colts preseason game on Monday night - that was FUN! We rarely get to do fun date like things, so that was exciting. The game was good even though they lost - it's preseason, who cares if they lose!!!

Wednesday we took a trip to the Children's Museum with 2 of my friends and their kids. We had the most enjoyable time. All of our kids (6 of them) were born from February of 03 to September of 05 so they are so close that they all enjoy doing the same things. We only went to a few places during the morning because they were so into the things they were doing, looking at, and playing with that there was no need for us to move on (see picture from the dinosaurs). We enjoyed a great lunch with tons of socializing and then we rode the carousel before going home. Delaney wanted to ride with Miss Codi (my friend who teaches Delaney's class at church on Wednesday nights, so she is super cool in Delaney's eyes). Delaney got to go on an animal that goes up and down for the first time. Carson and I stuck to the stationary giraffe - he's not a fan of the carousel in general, so I thought that the movement up and down on top of the movement in a circle would probably send him over the edge :-)

Friday was my dad's birthday, so we made a special cake for him out of swiss cake rolls, pudding, and cool whip. The kids had so much fun "helping" make it! They were so good at taking turns (and adorable with chocolate pudding on their lips - see picture). We also went to the mall to get Delaney's ballet shoes - fun!!! We stopped to play at the playland for a while and Delaney became a social butterfly introducing herself to all of the other little girls playing and asking what their names were - it seemed very grown up.

Friday night Delaney spent the night with Grammy and Grampy (what a birthday present, sorry dad!!!) From the stories I have heard they had a lot of fun and stayed up very late. Delaney got up early Saturday and didn't really care that we weren't there. Matt couldn't stand it anymore and finally called over there about 11 o'clock Saturday morning to check on her. She was doing fine and didn't so much care that he had called. However, we did get her back around lunchtime and she seemed excited to see Carson - so much for the parents, we're over rated anyway!

Saturday night we went to the mall and to Applebee's for dinner (me, the coupon queen, saved us $19 on dinner - thank you great waitress that let me use 4 coupons!!!).

When the kids wake up from their nap today we are taking them to see Delaney's "dance school." They are having an open house this afternoon and I thought it would be a good idea if she saw her classroom and teacher before she starts (Sept 6).

Delaney

Delaney's photos from her modeling debut can finally be seen at www.poutyprincess.com She is featured in the toddler section under bowbands, flower headbands, bows, and flower clippies.

If you know anyone that has little girls, please pass the webpage along to them - their products are adorable!!!

Have a great week!
Gretchen

August 17

I have to recap 2 weeks this time - I really need to get on the ball.

I will start with the highlight of going to the State Fair!! We took the kids Monday afternoon/evening and we had so much fun! We started by walking through the kids area where they, of course, found a play set to climb on. Following that we decided to walk to where all of the animals and food are. We stopped to see the horses and everyone got to touch one. Carson went straight for the eye, but with a quick redirection he hit the nose and didn't upset the horse enough to make it go crazy on us :-) We then stopped for a shake - which both of our children managed to down almost a whole one alone - pigs!! We then got to see a sheep being sheared and the kids got to touch it when he was done. Carson fed some animals and Delaney drew some pictures in the kids building. The kids ate corn dogs while we sat on the "main street" and watched the tractor parade. It was very fun this year b/c they were so into everything around them (see picture - my camera died about 15 minutes into the gate - I was furious and sickened!!! This is what they looked like at every single animal pen that we stood near - adorable!!).



We also took them to the zoo last Thursday because it was members ride free night. The zoo stayed open later and we got the ride the train at no charge. That was the first time they had ever been on the train, so they were very excited. It is a short ride and you don't really see any animals on it, mostly just the buildings - admin, vet, food preparation - but the kids thought it was great. We also ate dinner there and they got to play in the water - they have this area where water randomly shoots out of pipes in the ground and they had a blast putting their faces over it and waiting to get shot in the face!!

During the day on Saturday we went to Matt's fraternity softball tournament in Franklin. We showed up right before lunch and watched one game, had lunch with him, and then came home for naps. It was fun to visit with everyone and for our kids to play with some of our college friend's children. In the evening, we had dinner with Shannon and Aaron as a going away - I'm searching for a word, not party or celebration b/c we're sad to see her go for 8 weeks - but mourning doesn't sound right b/c she's doing something she wants to do. You get the idea - we went out with them to say goodbye to her until Jess' wedding. We went back to their house to visit for a while and let our kids drag out every toy they have in their house!!

Last week we helped watch Seth some while my sister and brother-in-law were in Florida. We picked him up from daycare on Wednesday and Delaney has never squealed so much in the car. They would look at each other and then kick and laugh like they were the funniest things alive!! It was so cute. Seth ate dinner with us that night and Delaney informed him that if he didn't eat his peas he couldn't have a treat. I had to break the news to her that Seth isn't into treats and he eats just to be healthy - what a concept!!!

I am starting to go into work a little more b/c I have been asked to up my hours some, so I went to work yesterday for the day and my mom watched the kids all day. They were all having a discussion about something during the day, but she said that Carson said that whatever they were talking about was "disgusting." She said it sounded so much like Delaney she almost couldn't tell who was talking. I do agree, they are more like twins every day!!

Today we went to the park with 2 of my friends (the 2 that I go out to dinner with once a month) and their youngest kids (their big kids went back to school this week). Then we took a lunch trip to McDonalds with them. It was so much fun to see all of our kids interact with each other. That was really the first time they had ever been around each other. Delaney was seen with her arm around Emilia (she's 18 months old) and Carson and Logan (he's 4) were running through the grass like wild men numerous times!

I signed Delaney up for ballet and tap. She will be starting the week of Labor Day. I didn't realize how expensive this "habit" was going to be. But for the class she has to have a pink leotard, pink tights, pink ballet shoes, and tan tap shoes - yikes!!! And, for the recital she has to have 2 outfits - we'll be doing a fundraiser in the fall - look for me to be hitting you all up :-)

I think that about wraps up our life. I will be better with the funny stories next week - if I don't write them down, they are gone from my head!

Love,
Gretchen

I'm on a roll!

The week has come and gone and it has been fairly uneventful. It has become very steamy here and we have been avoiding the heat! Yesterday we played outside for about 45 minutes from 9:30 to 10:15 b/c it was so stinking hot I couldn't bear it. I bribed them inside with the promise of Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers - big time excitement in this house!!!

On Sunday we took a day trip to Grandma Teri's house to help her celebrate her 50th birthday. We (Aaron, Shannon, Darrell, Jess, and our family) surprised her for a 9am breakfast. We spent the day watching the kids give Bailey (a chocolate lab) a bath in the baby pool and ride tricycles, eating fresh cucumbers from the garden and we even took in a few laps of the Brickyard before Matt, Carson, and I fell asleep. Of course, I had Delaney sitting on my lap, so that nap didn't last for long. It was topped off by a trip to Frickers (a bar/restaurant) by the girls (Teri, Shannon, Jess, and myself) to enjoy a drink while we waited on wings for the hungry crew at the house. It was nice to enjoy a few quiet moments with "the girls."

We spent lots of time with friends this week. I had some high school friends over on Monday and a friend home for the summer over on Tuesday. On Wednesday we met a friend from church at the park, however, she is 7 and a half months pregnant, so she only lasted about an hour in the heat. We enjoyed a visit from Grandpa Bub last night (enjoy the picture!!).

Excitement from the week - Carson pooped in the potty tonight. I know that doesn't seem to exciting for some of you, but we're hoping it spurs Delaney on to thinking it's a great idea (she did poop in the potty once this week, and yes, Aunt Shannon, it was HUGE!)! He seemed very proud of himself and is well on the road to being potty trained. He goes everytime we sit him on the potty, but he won't tell us when he needs to go, we just have to guess right now - it's working though.

Delaney has been reading Charlotte's Web at bedtime and she finished it last night, so I took her to the video store this afternoon and we rented the cartoon version so we could have a movie night. She seemed to enjoy it, although she was a little upset a few times.

We have enjoyed 4 tomatoes off of Goliath - wow did they taste good! It's amazing what growing it yourself does to it, probably helps that it is very fresh when it hits the table.

Love to all,
Gretchen