short and sweet!

I don't have much time this evening, but I feel bad leaving you all without an update for last week! One cute story on each of them and then I'm calling it a day!

Today Carson was putting on a dolphin show for me. His arms were the dolphins and they were "kaplash"-ing all over the kitchen. He was carrying around a sand bucket (empty, of course) and giving his hands fish when they made big "kaplash"s. It was so cute!!

Delaney got new Winnie the Pooh toys last night and she spent the entire morning arranging them in her Little People house so that they could have a birthday party for Piglet. They had cake and had invited friends - it was quite the production!

Enjoy your week!
Gretchen

PS I would include a picture but I can't get the camera to come on and I'm just not in the mood to fight with it tonight!! Maybe I'll try again tomorrow :-)

Go Colts!

Go Colts is a phrase I've heard a lot today!! From EVERYONE in my house! Delaney was heard yelling it from the bathroom, Carson was heard mumbling it while eating lunch and Matt was heard uttering phrases about the Colts (only occasionally under his breath) throughout the entire game. Carson was very focused on football during lunch - as was Matt, so I couldn't really say much. I think I might need to invest in TV trays :-) Our children are also convinced that Grandpa Bub is at every Colts game (or sometimes just every football game) that they see. Delaney is getting the concept that he can only go if they are here, but Carson is still convinced he's up there!!!

Carson has an adorable phrase - "I told you." He says that very matter of factly when you have broken one of his "rules" or disregarded his request - do you think he hears that too often?!?

This afternoon Delaney pooped in the potty (we are now on day 9 of her pooping streak - in case anyone missed it, I bribed her with the promise that I would paint her room pink and get her a big girl bed that I could sleep in with her if she'd poop in the potty for 2 weeks - looks like I'm going to be very busy, very broke, and very tired soon!!!!!) Anyway, she always calls anyone and everyone that is in the house to come look at it before she flushes. Carson walked in, leaned over the toilet, and said "Holy Toledo" as only Carson can - it was so funny!

Delaney has been balleting around the house all weekend . She is obsessed with a song called "Balance." They pretend like they are walking a tight rope while it is playing, so she keeps doing this around the house. She also loves to show off her twirling skills! What a pretty princess she is!

One night this week I fixed macaroni and cheese out of pasta shaped like footballs, baseballs, gloves, tennis racquets, and the sort. Well, Delaney had a glove and Carson had a ball, so he thought it was totally appropriate for him to throw the ball into her glove - ah, no!! It was very funny though, so it took us a few minutes to discipline. I wish I could remember the exact conversation, but there was lots of confusion as to why it was wrong - because it landed in Laney's milk cup - is that reason enough?!?

Grandma Teri watched the kiddos Monday while I worked. It was nice b/c Matt and I were able to sneak away for a "date lunch." We went to this really great hot dog place and we didn't have to cut up anyone's food before we could eat! My tator tots were actually warm when I ate them!!!

Tuesday we went to the apple orchard with MOPS. That was very fun! I had invited a friend to go with me, so we took our kids to a nearby park after we were done at the orchard and let them play and had a picnic. It was kind of chilly out, but we enjoyed being outside! Carson even chased a squirrel around the park - almost right into the parking lot.

Wednesday was storytime at the library. This week was a visit from the fire dept. They put on their gear for the kids. Delaney was scared and cuddled up on my lap for most of the presentation. Then, they took the kids out to the fire truck and ambulance. Carson sat in the back of the ambulance in awe of all of the equipment around him. It was so cute to watch him.

Thursday was ballet and a visit to Grampy at work. We had to show off the ballerina!! We also went to Matt's softball game. It was such nice weather and it was an evening where Matt and I would have been running in opposite directions the whole night, so I decided to take advantage of the 20 minute drive there to actually converse with him about our day.

On Friday Delaney had to have a wart removed from her finger. She is such a brave girl. She stood right next to the pediatrician with her hand resting on the dr's lap. She had huge tears in her eyes but didn't let one of them drop. She said, "Owww" once and I commented on how brave she was being. The doctor said she certainly was because what she was doing should hurt! She got a band aid when it was over and after a trip to the mall for some pretzel bitz, she was good to go!!!!

We went to the fish fry with my parents Friday evening - we love the fish fry!!!! The kids love to look at the live fish in the pond (something is terribly wrong about that to me!) and I love to eat the wonderful fried fish!!! The weather was perfect to sit outside and enjoy the live music and good company. Unfortunately, the evening was cut short by Matt getting a page from work demanding his time and expertise.

Saturday was the Beech Grove Fall Festival Parade. Matt helped with crowd control and we watched the parade - see attached photo - they were not fans of the sirens!!! However, they were fans of all of the candy they could collect. This is the first year I've let them run out to get candy. They were pretty good at it! Matt ate a lot of their hard candy this morning during church because his throat hurt - yeah right :-)

I believe that wraps up our week. Enjoy!

Gretchen

The Ballerina!

This week started with a lazy Monday - having daddy home on a weekday is always a special treat. Carson, Delaney, and Mommy went to the store mid afternoon to get items typical of a cookout while Daddy fired up the grill. We had a wonderful dinner.

On Tuesday, we started MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) at a church nearby. We will meet every other Tuesday for 2 hours. Childcare is provided in a program called Moppets. I was very worried about leaving both of them. Delaney has just started running into her class at church, so I was fearful that we'd have tears at a new place. We put Carson in his class first and before I'd labeled his bag and let the door close behind me he was all the way at the other end of the room (and it's a big room) peeking out of a little plastic playhouse. Next stop, Delaney's room - she went without a problem. She gave me a little hug on the leg and off she went. They said she did great - it probably helps that the indoor playground was right outside her door and they got to play on it for the last 20 minutes!! I also had a great time. I only knew 2 people going into the day and neither one were in my small group. But, it seems like it will be very fun. On the Tuesdays that we don't meet for MOPS they do Mommy and Me activities and have a book club. Tomorrow is the apple orchard - if it isn't raining.

On Wednesday we went to the library for story time again. This time there were 27 plus kids there - they wouldn't sit still for me to get an accurate count. That is a lot of 2, 3, and 4 year olds!! They read about Grandparents (Happy Grandparents Day to all of you grandparents reading this!!). Then, we went to Lowe's to get stain for the deck for Matt's evening project. There was this really nice man in Lowe's who gave both of the kids little aprons. They were adorable!!

Thursday was the day we'd been waiting for - the first day of ballet!!! Delaney sat still for me to put her hair up because she knew it was for dance class. We got to Tippy Toes about 10 minutes early because we needed to rent tap shoes and I've heard it's a pain to find the right size. That took about 30 seconds. So, we sat in the lobby and got acquainted with other girls in her class. When the class started I thought Carson and I would sit in the observation area for a few minutes and then we'd have to exit because his attention span would be shot - 45 minutes later and lots of "She's pretty" said by Carson, the class was over and we were still in our seats!! She was gorgeous!!! It was too adorable to watch all of the little girls, everyone is new this year, so that makes it nice. The class is for 2 to 4 year olds, so we could have had some repeaters, but they are all new! There are only 6 girls in her class, I was very impressed with that. When ballet was over we were getting in the car and I asked her if she had fun. The response was, "You were there, you saw how much fun it was." Well duh!!!

Friday we went downtown to have lunch with Grammy. Since she has started working full time our Fridays playing together are gone, so we decided to go to her! We went to a very not kid friendly McDonalds!! The only seating was for 2 people, so we had high chairs sitting in the aisles - oh well, no one seemed to mind.

In the evening we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise - mainly because Carson sounds adorable when he asks to go there!!! The kids behaved wonderfully! We had movie night when we got home. I took a much needed nap during Finding Nemo. I did stay awake for the beginning when they were both scared, but when the movie got cute and fun, I closed my eyes and had both kids curled up against me!!

Saturday morning we got to see Shannon and Aaron. Shannon was home for a wedding so they stopped by to say hi. For as much as Delaney talks about missing her she sure didn't show it!

In the afternoon Delaney and I went shopping. I don't know that we've ever had so much fun! We went to the mall, Target, and Kohl's. We shared an ICEE at Target and she thought she was HOT STUFF!!! It was adorable to watch. When we left Target and were headed to Kohl's I told her she could walk over to the trash and throw it away. She decided there was still at least one drink left so she should probably take it with her. She was so cute she convinced me to buy her a new shirt in Kohl's. We got to ride on the escalator at the mall b/c we didn't have stroller - that is such a big deal for her!!!

In the evening, we went to a going away party for one of Matt's fraternity brothers. It was at the house of a couple who has a 3 year old boy, so we took the kids with us. They had fun playing with all of Jonah's toys in his play room.

Sunday evening we went to my parents house for dinner. It's finally Carson's turn to get the funny story told on him. The kids were playing in the family room and all of a sudden Seth started screaming like he was hurt. So, Dave went over to get him and I went to my child that was closest to him to question what had happened. I picked Car up and said, "What happened Buddy?" Car, "I wasn't mean to him." Me, "What happened?" Car, "I wanted him to talk into the microphone." Me, "Did you push it into his mouth?" Car, "Yes." Me, "Then you need to tell him you are sorry." Car, "No, I wasn't mean to him." Me, "You hurt him, you need to tell him you are sorry." We walked over to Seth and he said he was sorry and gave him a kiss. What a cutie!!!

Enjoy the pics of ballerina girl and of Delaney and Carson being nice to each other - look shocked, it doesn't happen that often!!!


Gretchen

Update addition

Wow - what a weekend!! Carson managed to get in a fight with a park bench - the park bench won - big time!!! I describe his injuries as looking like he got hit by a train, Matt describes it as looking like he took a right hook. I'll attach a picture that doesn't really do it justice, but looks too cute! This happened Sunday at about 5:30, we were in the ER until 11:35 - UGH!!! He slept on me once for about 10 minutes, before that we made lots of trips to the bathroom, water fountains (b/c he couldn't drink out of his cup), and outside to look at the dark (something he doesn't normally see b/c he's in bed!!). The doctor apologized a lot and said that unfortunately at his age there just wasn't much to do. It appears that he hit his chin on the metal part of the bench which caused his top two teeth to go almost through his lower lip. He also tore the flappy thing that hangs down on the top and has a nice gash there. His cheek hit the bench and has a wonderful purple and blue bruise on it. Seriously, the picture does no justice to the real injury. Today he has been a trooper!! He is drinking out of his sippy cup and eating anything and everything (even cheez its and tortilla chips).

Enjoy the little man's picture!!!

Week 2 of the new commitment

If only I could stick to a workout plan for 2 weeks :-)

Okay - let me recap this very fun week for you all.

Sunday evening we had a birthday celebration for my father and grandma at my sister's house. Carson never did eat his cake and ice cream. That child is so odd. Matt and I are all over sweets and Delaney definitely is following in our footsteps. However, he couldn't care less if there is something sweet in front of him.

On Monday, Matt and his mother watched the kids while I went to work. This is going to become more routine for us, so Teri decided she should spend a day with one of us to see where everything hides and what a "normal" day is like for us. They seemed to have a blast!!! I heard all about playing outside and building with blocks. We'll see how everyone does next Monday when Matt won't be here with them :-)

On Tuesday we had some friends over to play. Wednesday we went to the library for preschool story time with some other friends and then we went to meet Daddy for lunch. That was very fun!! Preschool story time was kind of crazy because there were 15 to 18 kids in the room all ranging in age from a few months to 4 years old....however, the lady reading was very expressive and had great interactive songs, so she really kept their attention.

On Thursday we went to get the oil changed in the van. I love that the Honda dealership has a play area for the kids. I sat in the doorway with my feet blocking the entrance and read Better Homes and Gardens while the kids played with all new toys. It really was a fun 45 minutes - I used to dread doing this at the Chevy dealership with nasty plastic chairs and NO toys.

On Thursday afternoon Delaney was being disciplined for something (probably hitting Carson, that seems to be her favorite thing to do these days) and I did my normal routine of taking her into her room and sitting her on my lap on her bed to talk to her. I asked her to look at my eyes while we talked and she said, "Is this going to be a long talk or a short one, 'cause I have things to do." How do you discipline after that?!?

On Thursday evening we introduced the "big girl" cup to Delaney. At meals (at home) she is now drinking out of a cup without a lid. She told Carson he couldn't do that till he was three - so many privileges come with being 3 - you can pick up the cat and get a cup without a lid...wow!!!
We played outside for the rest of the evening till it was time for baths and for Matt to leave for softball.

On Friday I left the house when Matt came home and had a WONDERFUL, much needed and deserved girls night out with 3 of my friends. We went to a Mexican restaurant and our waiter quit in the middle of our meal. He had brought 3 of our meals and had gone back to check on the whereabouts of the other. When he hadn't come back after 15 minutes, my friend whose food was missing decided to go check on him. We learned that he had walked off the job sometime between our table and the kitchen. So, we were treated like royalty for the rest of the meal - that was kind of nice :-)

Saturday morning we took the kids over to my parents for the morning so we could pressure wash the deck and hot tub and clean out the shed. We were successful at getting it all done, but I (personally) don't think the deck looks much better. We are going to get some stain for it, so maybe that will help. The new portion of the deck, the hot tub, and the old portion of the deck are all different colors right now so it looks mismatched and blah...hopefully the stain will help it look unified. We have ordered a new cover for the hot tub and I am calling Tuesday to get them to come out and fix the jets. If it is going to look nice, then everything should be functioning too!!! The weather was absolutely beautiful for being outside yesterday!!!
My parents brought the kids home and Delaney was telling me something later in the day and she said "Remember, your mom was here...." She's such a goof!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Love,
Gretchen