Past Due Pics

Nicolas having some fun on a riding toy.

Daddy and his girl at the Buick GS Nationals in Bowling Green.

Summer is Underway

Well, I am out of school for about a month and a half, so it is officially summer! Big plans this summer as we have a lot to do. Here is just a smaple of my to do list:
1. T ball games (Nicolas is very good, but does not pay attention very well. Alas, a 5 year old.)
2. Go through and organize and deep clean every nook and cranny of my house! (A hard task considering as soon as I get something finished, the kids have reaked havoc on at least three more areas!)
3. Re-decorate Nicolas's room. He has had the same room theme (trucks and other assorted vehicles) in every house that he has lived in. We are now at the moment going to a space theme. He did want dinosaurs, but ended up on space. Any ideas are welcome.
4. Get everthing organized, cleaned, and taken care of with my Grandmother and her house, things, etc. An overwhemling task, but one I have put off since November.
Alas, I know that there are several other things tucked in with the free movies, kiddie pool thatI just bought, summer trips, etc. However, for just a few days what I would most like to do is ....relax.

By the way, I just finished reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccolt. A great book. I wanted to get it in before the movie came out.
Anyway, enough rambling for tonight!

Ode to Naptime

I promise that I will add al of what I've missed in the last few months, but right now.....

An Ode to Nap-Time
Oh naptime, how I miss thee.
My most precious hour (sometimes two).
Your silence - golden.
Your stillness - sweet.
My hour to choose what I will do.
I could read, shower, watch what I wanted to tv, or (drumroll please)even sleep!
But alas, those days are gone.

You see my kids no longer will take a nap. Sometimes they will lay down, but rarely anymore will they sleep.
I knew this day was coming, as well as it should.
But my friend, out time now comes to an end, and I must say goodbye.


As Nicolas will be going to Kindergarten next year, I have known that this is the summer that his naps would stop. However I didn't realize that Grace would no longer want to take a nap most days either. (I'm still not sure that she's ours, she requires very little sleep.) Maybe it is the fact that 5 year old boys cannot be QUIET!

WOW, Just how long has it been?

Okay, I realize that it has been about three months since I have posted. I will get better at this! I will hopefull have some time on my hands in the next few days since school is coming to an end to get caught up.

I have a lot to cover...vacations, racing, sports, all kinds of family happenings!

Basketball Fever...

Nicolas has been playing basketball all month as part of Enter His Courts, which is an awesome Christian organization. You can find out more about this at http://www.enterhiscourts.org/. Anyway, although he likes to play, he is somewhat frustrated by the game and guarding aspect. He just wants to practice making shots. That's kinda hard to do when on a team. He says he is not playing again next year, which is a huge disappointment to my in-laws. Sorry though Barb and Rick, with my gracefulness in his genes, I'm not sure he'd be NBA material! :-)

Okay, getting to the honest and humorous part....my mom asked him why he is playing if he didn't want to, and he looked at her and very honestly and innocently replied "I don't know, I guess its 'cause my mom signed me up."

(Note to self - When registering children for sports, ask first, then register. :-) )

A few shots of the action....

Yippee, continued...

Okay, I'm holding my fingers, breath, and whatever else I can hold because Grace is now peeing almost every time in the potty. I am so excited! Our goal is to sustain this, and then after a long, long while of peeing continuously, we will begin our mission to "get the poo out" on a consistent basis as well (so far only three times after a "clean out" regimen).

YIPPEE!!!!

okay, I know that this won't interest some of you, but for those with young children, I know you will understand...Grace FINALLY pooped on the potty last night!!!!!!

We have an announcement...

We now have a new member of our family, Lucy. I again will attempt to upload lots of pics soon. Lucy is a 9 week old lemon and white beagle. (As many of you know, our dog Millie passed away this past year after being with us since she was a puppy.) Todd and I thought the time was right (although, being that we just had a huge snowfall I'm not so sure) to adopt a new puppy. She is fitting right in and doing quite well at least peeing on her training pads. The kids love her and she loves them most of the time. She is a nibbler, so we are working on that with her. So now we are working on potty training and house training at the same time. Fun!

A Twist on a Favorite

kids t.v. show that is. Grace and Todd have gotten into the habit of watching a show called "Oobi" if Grace happens to get up early or stay up late. The show is particularly dumb in my opinion (it is a pair of eyes on a ring, worn on a hand to make this puppet thing on a hand). they like it and tease each other about it all of the time. the funny thing is that Grace doesn't call it "Oobi" but instead says "Boobi" which is really interesting when she chases us yelling, "Boobi, Boobi, Boobi." We are working to solve this funny but problematic speech issue. :-)

Mother and Son Day

Today Nicolas and I went out for a special day. I was hoping to overcome the doldrums that he seems to be having - no to mention oppressive whining and disobeying. So, he and I went out while my mom kept Grace, which was a reward for Grace as well.

We began by visiting the Home Depot for our monthly meeting with Corey and Jacob for Project Build-it. Today they made football helmet bookends. We ate lunch, the boys picked Burger King. (so much for healthy) Then we proceeded to go to Nicolas's choice activity for the day - ice skating. This was his first time, and I have to admit that we were both pretty excited since i love to skate but can't ever get anyone to go with me. Well, we made it a half a lap around the wall before he panicked, began screaming and crying with fear, and refused to budge one more inch. I finally flagged down a guard after dozens of people watched our struggle and offered to help. I swear, a persistent 5 year old can just about take down two grown adults when forced to move while off balance.

When we finally got off the ice and our normal shoes back on he began crying again as we left because he "wasn't finished skating."
That's when we went painting. Much better option, although more expensive.

As far as hoping that this excursion wold help with the attitude, well I report that I failed on that front, but at least we both have a day full of memories that we can share.



(FYI - I will begin posting pics as soon as I get my new cable so I can charge my camera!)