Fourth of July photos from Utah

Mother's Day Tea 2011

Kaitlyn's school is so great at making us mothers feel so special. The kids prepare each year by making fun things for us and singing to us. Today we ate a wonderful lunch and had pink lemonade. :)
Here is a video of the kids signing.


Also, in the hallway were the fun things they have the kids to each year describing their parents. I absolutely adore these as they are usually hilarious and not one thing is true except maybe our name.




Thank you, Kaitlyn, for all of my fun things you made for me and for singing so nicely to me. You are my special, sweet, beautiful, smart and silly daughter.

Mommy Kaitlyn

This morning it was my turn to get up with the kids. My body got out of bed, but my mind wasn't really there yet. I suggested to them that they keep playing while I slept longer in Kaitlyn's bed.

Kaitlyn was proud to see that Mommy had chosen her bed to lay down in (that was where they were playing), and decided to mother me.

"Lie down, Mommy, and I'll cover you up, okay?" She instructed.
"Okay sweetie," I replied. "Can I cuddle with Lovie?"
"Sure!"

I laid down on my side, facing the wall. She covered me up, first with the sheet and then with the quilt and patted me on the side of my ribcage in the slightest, sweetest way.

She left my bedside and went on to create completely loud ruckus with James trying to build the alphabet squares squishy pad.

One more minute passed and she came back to me, patting me again, "Mommy, I'm going to get you another pet," she said in her soft mommy-like voice.
"Here is another pet, Mommy." She handed me her pink bear.

She went back to playing with James.

One more minute passed and she came back to me, patting me again, "Mommy, I'm going to turn the light off for you," again in her soft mommy voice. I've created a mini-me and I LOVE IT.

This continued for about five more minutes and I never did fall back asleep. I ended up having James beg me to go downstairs to eat breakfast and Kaitlyn needed my help at the potty. Turns out I still am the Mommy after all.

Sneaky sneak.

Kaitlyn has decided to reinvent the "feel sorry for me when I get in trouble" act as she has done in the past. For a while when she'd get scolded she'd say, "I want you to hold-a meeeee." Now, probably for the second time, it's hard for me to remember, she is bringing up Grandma and how badly she misses her. "I miss GRANDMAAAAA!"
Ok kid. I miss Grandma too, but she's not here to bail you out right now sweetie.
Apparently she's getting pretty good at complaining to Grandma how much she misses MOMMY when she gets in trouble over there. Sneaky sneak!

So tonight I tucked the kids into bed and was ready to get a few things done when I heard the pitter patter of little feet upstairs. I knew it was Kaitlyn because she has been getting out of bed lately to go to the bathroom or peak down the stairs. She's testing boundaries.

I tiptoed up the stairs and quietly peeked into her room to find her not in her bed. I looked in the bathroom and found her squirting hair conditioner out of the bottle into her hand.

"WHAT are you doing?" I asked.
"Nothing." She looked at me like she had seen a ghost.
"You are playing with the conditioner, aren't you? Now come here and wash your hand because you are going to the naughty spot."

You guessed it. Here it comes.

"But I miss GRAAAAAAANNNNNDMAAAAAAAAA!" She blurts out.
"Yes, I miss her too but she's not here right now and you are in trouble."

To sum up what could be a long entry here, I had her sit on the naughty spot and apologize. She WREAKED like conditioner. I mean it smells good, but the waft coming from her was intense. I asked her if she had any on her jammies and she told me that it was on her nightgown on the sides of her legs. While putting on her new and clean jammies, I realized that she had the stuff slathered in her hair as well. AWESOME.

She got into the tub complaining the whole time how much she missed her Grandma. I literally had to hold back the laughs from sneaking out of my mouth.

Animal Kingdom

When we decided to go to Disney for Kaitlyn's birthday, we ended up buying the Florida Resident pass that let us go four times by May 26. So now we have been trying to squeeze Disney into our already busy schedule.

We decided to go to Animal Kingdom because none of us had ever been there. What a great park! We had so much fun. I must admit- it was REALLY hot and it's not even close to the brutal summer heat that we experience here. I gladly traded the hot day for NO lines though. It was amazing. We pretty much saw everything we wanted to do in about 5 hours.

Kaitlyn and James both claimed that the Kali River rapids ride was their favorite ride... probably because we all got soaked. Nathan took James on the Mt. Everest roller coaster and when I went on it by myself after they had gone, I was shocked James hadn't thrown up! Ha. What a great ride though!

Note to self: don't take the kids on a really bumpy ride that is completely dark and full of scary dinosaurs. They might scream their poor little heads off.






We knew the kids were beat by the time we left at 2:30 ish. We tried to convince them to lay back, relax and enjoy the ride home. We knew Kaitlyn would be out in a matter of minutes. James insisted that he wasn't tired. About 5 minutes after that, I looked back and saw this:



I felt bad for the poor kid so I tried to wake him up to make him sit up straight. It nearly took a hurricane to wake this kid up he was so asleep. I finally was able to get him upright, and when I peeked at him one more time I nearly fell out of my seat I was laughing so hard. Poor kid... Disney will do that to ya!

Spring Break 2011

OOOOOH la la! I just discovered this brand new beautiful way to display our blog photos! AND IT'S SO MUCH EASIER! YAY!

We had such a great Spring Break this year in New Smyrna. There were a few days of rainy weather, but we really had a great time playing on the beach and relaxing. Especially when we thought of our families freezing up in Iowa. Heee heeee... just kidding guys.

I hope you enjoy seeing the photos! Facebook users, click on View original post or you can click here to go to the link and see the gallery.

James whistles.

James has learned to whistle despite not having two front teeth. He loves to whistle, ALL OF THE TIME. It's quite impressive actually.
So here's a sampling, enjoy. ;)

Kaitlyn's Birthday at Epcot

Here is an awesome video that I put together from our day out at Epcot. We celebrated Kaitlyn's 4th birthday out there this year by having lunch with the princesses at Akershus in Norway.
What a celebration! Both kids were such troopers the whole day, it was unbelievable how smooth everything went.
We love you Kaitlyn, you will always be our princess. XOXO

First Tee ball practice

Gasp. I've really been bad about blogging.

Tonight is James' first Tee ball practice. Is it Tee ball or T ball? Well whatever. You know what I'm talking about.

Nathan and I decided it would be good for him to do a team sport. We stopped taking him to karate in the fall when I had mono, and when I asked him if he wanted to go, he'd say no. After a break for a while, he was actually interested in going back, but we are opting for a team sport this time.

Backing up a bit to a few weeks ago.... Nathan and I were going to ask James together if he wanted to go register for the league this year. That plan changed one day when James was being very theatrical in the kitchen one day. He was singing to me instead of talking and using very LARGE arm movements to accent his voice. Yes, Mom, I know, maybe we FINALLY have a singer to follow your footsteps.

So at that point, in the kitchen, I asked him, "James? Do you want to be in theater? Do you want to act on a stage in a performance?"

He looked at me with a confused expression.

"Do you want to act? Do you know what I mean?" I kept going.

"No, I don't understand." He responded.

"James, would you like to play Tee ball?"

"YEEEEAAAAAAH!" He screeched.

Whew. Sorry Mom.

So now he's at his first Tee ball practice with Daddy. :)

Bad morning turned to good morning.

My day started off pretty badly but thankfully took a turn for the better. James was in a sour mood this morning and didn't want to go to school. First he told me that he didn't have school and when I told him that he did, he insisted that he didn't want to go. I asked him to get himself dressed twice. He ignored me and remained on his bed in his PJs. He got to sit on the naughty spot for 5 minutes.

We got down stairs for breakfast and I saw what I had forgotten.... On the stove sat a lovely pot of chili that I had made last night for us to eat tonight for dinner. I forgot to put it away in the fridge before collapsing in bed. All that work, all that food, all that money, went down the drain... and I was TICKED.

It's been colder than 45 degrees the last few mornings, so James' school had "rainy day" drop off instead of a normal gathering in the parking lot for morning prayer.

He seemed a bit lethargic when he got out of the car, but immediately changed his tune when the cool air hit his face. He did his usual... he started running/bouncing towards the school entrance where the Principal, Mrs. Walsh, stands and helps direct traffic. He went over to her to give her a hug. He hugs her every morning, he'll even wait if she's talking to someone, and she is always so welcoming and sweet to hug him back. I remember being petrified of my principal in school, I guess times have changed. ;)

I went to mass at SMM this morning at 9. The Kindergarten classes had planned it, and James was a greeter, so I wanted to surprise him when I walked in. He was standing at a side door instead of the main door, so I didn't see him right away. I had to ask Mrs. Danagher where he was, she pointed me in the right direction. His face lit up when he saw me with the kind of expression that he only shows when he's elated. He asked me if I could sit with him. I told him I couldn't since he'd be sitting with his class and his eighth grade buddy, Jack (who I got to meet today, finally).

I took a seat in the last row in the back next to a friend of mine. Mrs. Walsh was walking by, spotted me, and stopped to put her hand on my shoulder and tell me, "Your son is the sweetest boy in the world!"

I popped. ;)

Applause, please.

On the way to school the other day, we were listening to Lee Dewyze's new album. The song Stay Here played and as soon as it was over James said, "That song was WONDERFUL!"
Then he proceeded to give it a round of applause. :)

Kaitlyn is a licker and a picker.

Kaitlyn really loves condiments, spreads and frosting. Whatever it is that you put ON something, she is more likely to eat that part than the main ingredient. Cake or cupcake? She eats the frosting. Bagel? She licks the cream cheese off of it. Sub? She picks out the cheese, pickles and tomato. Pizza? She licks off the Ranch dressing. You get the idea.
So Nathan bought sugar cookies from the grocery store. He got the really soft thick kind that are frosted with sprinkles. It was the type that elicited one of James' first words... "BITE!"
Kaitlyn asked for a cookie after lunch, and me, being tempted to eat the whole container of them about 5 times a day, was a bit anxious to get rid of them. I said she could have one and I practically begged James to eat one. No dice. He chose Pez.
Kaitlyn sat up to the table to eat her cookie, and... you guessed it... she started licking off the frosting. Nathan and I are constantly trying to get her to take bites of thing instead of licking off the good stuff or picking it out of a sandwich.
"Take bites, Kaitlyn." I told her. "If you lick the frosting off again, you're going to go to the naughty spot."
"Will you stop looking at me?" She asked. Then proceeded to try to "hide" from me by leaning back to obstruct my view with a chair.

Stinker.