And the trip began...

Since we were going back to the same house that we had rented the year before, we knew what we needed to take and what we could leave at home. Luckily there is a washer and dryer on site, therefore, we did not need to bring too much in the way of clothing. However, that left more room for pillows and blankets, as seen below.

We drove on Wed. day to arrive in Baltimore to stay with Kevin and Margie overnight. This allows for us to get up on Thursday and drive over the Bay bridge without too much traffic. It was a beautiful day to drive and arrive on Kent Island. Roger was there to greet us and help get us settled in for the extended vacation. Below you can see the beautiful views of our house for the next 10 days.

Why poop on the potty when.....

We are continuing to try to potty train Miles. Some days are good, some are not, but they are getting much, much better.

On Saturday night, we went out to dinner with friends. He was in underwear the whole time and did good. When we got home, I should have taken him to the potty. However, I got busy getting Sophia ready for a shower. In that time, he striped off his pants, pulled off his diaper and jumped on my bed. While actually jumping, he peed all over the bed.

At that time, I stripped the bed and got Miles into a bath. His bath was a little quicker and while I was changing the sheets, he pooped on Sophia's carpet in her room.

He came to tell me that he pooped in Sophia's room and then he told Sophia. Sophia QUICKLY got out of the shower and went to check to see where Miles pooped in her room.

Therefore, why poop in the the potty when you can poop on your sisters carpet.

My climbers

Sophia has taken to climbing the crab apple tree in the front of our house. She is now strong enough to hoist herself up to the 1st limb and then begin to climb all the way up. She prefers to climb in bare feet and will climb in p.j.'s dresses, or skirts- it does not matter. She is getting pretty good at it and we think it will help her in gymnastics class that she is starting soon.

Miles insisted on trying to climb the tree as well. He is very strong and can get his legs up by his head, but luckily for us, his legs are too short to actually get up there. I expect by the end of the summer, he will be up there and someone will have a broken arm. I will not say who.

Summer photo shoot

Somehow on Sunday, both of our kids were dressed in similar colors, clean faces, and pretty happy, so we decided to try to get some pictures. This is how the photo shoot went:

1.) A little too far apart, but happy faces

2.) Miles wondering why is Sophia SO happy, maybe he could take some pointers.

3.) boogers on the Left...

4.) Boogers on the Right (This might just be our Christmas card this year)

5.) Yes, sitting close, pretty happy. Looks like a great shot.

6.)Laying down in the grass, a very sweet picture.
I thought they turned out pretty good. If you need some pictures done, please let me know, I would love to try and take them!

2009 Heart Walk

Miles' shirt read

I am a

heart survivor

Help me raise

$12,000 for the AHA.

This is a pretty big goal for such a little guy.

I hope that you will consider donating to the AHA on behalf of Miles.

Any and all donations are greatly appreciated. No donation is too small or too large.

I have noticed that many people are not comfortable giving in large amounts when the economy or jobs are uncertain. However, please consider asking family, friends, co-workers or church members for a small donation of $1-$5 towards this great cause and large goal.

Miles could use all the help he could get to reach this lofty goal.

Right now, we are at $3,100 raised.

If you are interested in donating on-line, you can donate at my donation site: http://centralohheartwalk.kintera.org/walkmiles4miles

The Columbus Heart Walk takes place on August 22, 2009, but I am hoping to reach my goal before the walk.

Thanks for helping!

From beginning to end.

Tomorrow is Sophia's last day of Kindergarten. How in the world is she already done with Kindergarten? Tomorrow, I will have a 1st grader on my hands with a 1st grade attitude. That is something that we will continue to work on over the summer, as well as reading, math, spelling and writing. Luckily, she loves books, enjoys drawing, and still thinks that homework is fun. Even though she is the youngest in her class, she is not the smallest, only next to the smallest. I have attached pictures from her 1st day of school (where her head is just at the door knob) and the last week of school (see the difference between her height in the 2 pictures.) She is wearing the same dress, Sophia only seems to get taller, not bigger anywhere therefore all the dresses still fit.

She is so excited to be off for the summer. In fact, we will all be off for the summer. We have taken Miles out of daycare since we will traveling a lot this summer and we are putting him in a pre-school program 2 days a week next fall. It should be a fun and exciting summer. I am so excited that I am NOT packing lunch again for a few months!

Check the tag.

If something does not feel right, check the tag. This is a good reminder, especially if you are 5 1/2.

Sophia continued to pick at her underwear that was causing a wedgie after her bath tonight. I continued to ask,
"Is it too small?"
"Do you need different underwear?"

The underwear actually seemed a little baggy. They continued to bother her, so I told her to change them before bed. This is when I discovered that she had her underwear on sideways. This means that her waist was through a leg hole, one leg was in the correct spot and the other leg was through the waist ---- where the tag was sticking out. I believe this can only happen to a 5 1/2 year old because her waist is so small it actually fit through the leg hole. (I do not recommend anyone trying to see if it would work for them. )

We switched the underwear into the right position and she was much happier.

So, make sure to check the tag.

Potty training progress

I have to admit that I have been working at this potty training thing half hearted. Miles pees every time that we put him on the potty, but does not always tell us that he needs to go potty. Therefore, there can be many messes to clean up. On Tuesday, we were in Meijer and he pooped while "looking" at a new bike. This was messy AND i did not have a diaper in my purse. So, we bought some new big boy underwear, wipes and headed to the potty after checking out with our purchases. He did a great job for the rest of the day and stayed dry. I was pretty impressed. However, something in me clicked tonight. I knew that he was trying to poop. Sorry, but it is really easy to tell with him. So I told him if he pooped on the potty, I would take him out to get ice cream to celebrate. (Yes, I bribed him,) AND IT WORKED. He did a great job, pooped quickly and we were off. I must have been a little too excited, put him in more big boy underwear and 5 minutes later he also pooped in them.

None the less, we are really excited. We had to make some phone calls to g.g. (who is in Denver, CO) and grandpa herb. Hopefully this will continue down a good path. He will be starting a new pre-school program in the fall and he must be potty trained. I think he can make it

faces

Some days, the kids actually like each other and enjoy sitting together. This particular day, I actually was able to take a picture to have proof that they love each other.

Miles was wearing the hat that came along with the $12.00 cotton candy. Sophia could not stop talking about having cotton candy, so that is the only thing we spent $$ on at the circus. Miles really enjoyed the hat, Sophia enjoyed the cotton candy.

Sophia made this hair clip at school and was very proud to wear it home.

She looks ready for the beach!

I love the look in Sophia's eyes. Her energy and excited. She also is starting to get her summer freckles. I just love them!

She was posing before going to a party. Each night, she take the time to dress for dinner in new, clean clothes and makes sure that her hair is brushed and hands clean. I think that she may actually be a princess

Spring Game 2009

This year we got tickets through my work to go to the spring game. They were reserved seats, which is good so that we did not have to come out too early. It was such a beautiful day, 80 degrees and sunny. Therefore, we were off to the Shoe so Miles could see where they play football. This was the 1st time for Miles to be at the Shoe. Surprisingly, no one was burned. This may only be that Justin was wearing 85SPF. Yes, I said 85.

Miles and Dad

Miles enjoying the sites of the football players.

Sophia keeping her eyes shaded, while the sun was out SO much!

Miles sat with my friend Karen for part of the game. He can always sweet talk a new girl everywhere he is at to get what he wants, i.e. a better seat.

Red in the face

This one is for you Mr. Dawson. I hope to be able to get some pictures up soon, but Miles has been sick for a little while and there is not much sleep happening at our house.

However, before Miles was sick, we ran to Kroger to try to pick up a few things. Unlike the rest of the members of my household, I rarely fart, toot, pass gas, (whatever you want to call it). I must have farted in the vitamin isle and Miles LOUDLY started to say

MOMMY, DID YOU FART, YOU FARTED. THAT WAS A LOUD FART.

I was laughing so hard that I began to cry. Luckily, i was able to distract him with some gum and I was able to escape the vitamin isle before anything else escaped me. I do not think anyone saw me laughing or actually heard Miles, but nevertheless, I was red in the face

Rememberance

Tonight at dinner, my grandmother who is 87 reminded us that today, 4/26 is the day my Grandpa Carr (my dad's dad) was released from POW.

A day to remember, 4/26/1945..

i just keep forgetting to......

tell everyone about this really precious moment.

Yesterday morning, Sophia came downstairs and started brushing her hair to get ready to go to school. She stopped and looked and me and said, "i wish grandpa herb was here to brush my hair. He does such a good job and it does not hurt."

That was such a cute thing to say and remember. Over spring break Sophia and I had gone swimming. Grandpa Herb was there managing the house while the chimney was being worked on. Dad spent at least 15 minutes slowly, and gently brushing Sophia's hair. It really did turn out very pretty that day.

Eggs, Beautiful Eggs

Tonight we colored our Easter eggs. I used my favorite food coloring, the gel concentrate type from Joann's, to get bright colors! Much better than the store bought kits.

We had 48 eggs and 10 colors. Missy and Randy came over to help with the egg dyeing. Everyone had a great time and the colors turned out amazing. I was surprised how quickly the 48 eggs were colored. It was so much fun, we might have to do it on a regular basis.

Not what I expected in a Spring Break.

Sophia's 1st Spring Break was/is this week. I had decided a few months ago that we should try to travel somewhere, Chicago, Centralia, or just somewhere. Well none of that panned out. I had already taken the week off, but ended up returning one of the days since Justin was off to be able to watch the kids. So, I figured that this would be a prelude to summer break. I decided to make plans and have ideas for each day of the week to keep us all busy. However, it did not work out as planned.

First of all, the weather for the week was COLD and RAINY.

Monday: Great day, the kids actually did not even try to kill each other, we made it to Sam's, then lunch with my parents and swimming before a nap. Miles felt a little warm after his nap. That night he began to spike fevers.

Tuesday: Canceled play date d/t miles being sick. Justin stayed home to help with the illness. Sophia traveled to have a G.G. and Sophia date.

Wednesday: Miles feeling better, but still canceled breakfast and another play date. Having chimney work done on the house, so we went to my parents for the day to stay away from the noise and dust.

Thursday: BEAUTIFUL DAY: My dad came over to watch the house so we could get out and enjoy the ONE really nice day of spring break. He made green scrambled eggs for Miles and Pink ones for Sophia. They both loved the "different" eggs. Miles went to Kindercare for the day. Sophia and I packed the entire spring break plans into this day.....
Zoo, lunch out, Swimming at the rec center, playing on the computer, and then to the park. We were both exhausted and Sophia was asleep at 7:45.

None the less, i am glad to be going to work tomorrow. I had hoped to be able to figure out how to manage the kids and keep them busy for the week by myself, but the weather did not hold up, illness set in our house, and work being done on the house did not allow for any form of normalcy. Hopefully the summer break will be less eventful, but full of outdoor time and early bedtimes!

Let play a new game

Today is the 1st day of spring break for Sophia. She spent the day with G.G., Grandpa Herb, and Miles. They had a great time which included pink pancakes- made by grandpa Herb, going to the movies, helping make dinner, watching Peter Pan in Spanish- (just don't ask) and eating dinner together. It seems that the kids volume button had been turned up very high. After a busy and long day at the medical center, as well as lack of good sleep last night, this was not appreciated by myself. Justin was aware of my beginning frustrations and told the kids we would start to play a new game, Who could be quiet the longest. Never the less, it went something like this, with a great ending.

Justin, "Okay, we are going to see who can be quiet the longest. One, two, three, go."
Sophia, giggling
Justin, "Miles wins"

repeat this 4 times.

Finally, Sophia says she is ready
Justin: "Ready, one, two, three, go"
Sophia: brrrrrrrrrrr....rrrr..rrrrrhhhhhhhh (Sophia FARTED really loud.)

I guess she lost again.

This could be a long 1o days. Luckily, I will be going to work on Friday again. And just think, I was invited to go see NKOTB (new kids on the block). It would have been louder and I am glad that I did not go.

p.s. Sophia is getting really good at reading and just questioned me about writing, 'Sophia farted'

At our house, make sure you sleep with your mouth CLOSED.

Justin has not been sleeping great due to throwing his back out before his birthday. Therefore, after a week without great sleep, he was very, very tired. Every other Friday, Justin has Miles at home with him. This past Friday, Justin really needed some sleep and had fallen asleep in his reclining chair, dosing in and out while Miles watched his new favorite show, Olivia. Justin could hear Miles talking and saying something, but not sure what. Miles then started putting his fingers in Justin's open mouth. Then Justin realized that Miles had been saying, "Dad, look at my huge booger."

So, if you sleep at our house, remember, sleep with your mouth closed!

Tornado Drills

We have all been in school when they did a tornado drill. However, how many of us, as adults, have been around children during a tornado drill??

Today is national weather safety and there were tornado drills at 9:50 a.m. This is of course during the time that I volunteer in Sophia's school. The kids all lined up, on hands and knees with heads covered. And then it happens,

someone said, "who farted?"

I am glad that I did not completely start laughing out loud, but it was close. The problem was that someone did actually fart, and it STUNK!!!

Pokey-no

why is it that Disney created all the characters with names that are very hard for kids to say??

Our current character that is difficult to say is Pinocchio, also known as Pokey-no at our house.

Miles just keeps walking around the house today saying, "Pokey-no, Pokey-no. I just can't say it. Pokey-no"

all good things....

must come to an end. We are checked-out of the hotel. Planning to get some lunch soon before getting the cab to the airport. It has been a great escape/vacation. I will try to post pictures once i get home. We will probably get into our own beds about 1:30a.m. It will be a long day, but well worth it.

And tomorrow, we get to see the kids.

CAVED

as my good friend put it, " SO you caved in on the facebook thing, me too"

Okay, so i am now part of facebook. This could be interesting. Looks like you can talk to people, but only if you want.

I have found heaven....

and it looks like this:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/tussp-jw-marriott-starr-pass-resort-and-spa/

Justin and I are in Tucson, AZ. We are using the perks of a business trip to also enjoy/relax/celebrate our 10 year anniversary. It was dark when we arrived here, but the sun quickly came up in the morning and it was very bright. It is now overcast, but still warmer (80 degrees). The views are amazing and the SPA is even better! I do believe the sage and lavender exfoliating scrub that I just received and the sauna may have been heaven.

I am catching a quick bite to eat and then heading out to be poolside. They say the pools are heated, but that is questionable at best. I think that I will just enjoy the view and read a bit.

I think I will need to go on a spa vacation more often. Mom and Margie, are you up for joining next time?

Somewhere warm.....

We are all getting pretty tired of this crazy winter weather. It even snowed in Atlanta, and to all of our friends in the D.C. area, I hope that you do not have to try to get to work. Luckily, we do not have any snow, BUT, it is FREEZING COLD HERE.

So, if you could go anywhere warm (leaving today or tomorrow), where would you go?

I'm excited to see some answers

it WORKS!

Today, just a few minutes ago, Miles shouted,

"It WORKS. My butt works."

miles was having trouble pooping, but then announced to all of us when he was feeling better.

Thought his perception was very interesting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY . . . .

. . . to my blog. Today is the 1 year birthday of my blog. In the past year I have shared 122 posts about my crazy family and busy life! I have to say, I wish that I could post as good as my friend Josephine, she posts almost daily. I hope that you have enjoyed celebrating and enjoying the last year with us.

Carrie, Lucas, Jim and Francine

Today Sophia went to the dentist for her regular check-up and cleaning. They took x-rays for the first time and the hygienist mentioned that her 6 year molars were starting to come in. One had already erupted and Sophia could see the other ones that were waiting to erupt on the x-ray. Tonight, while trying to fall asleep, Sophia decided she wanted to name her new molars.....
Carrie
Lucas
Jim
and Francine.

Not really sure where she came up with these names, but they did keep me entertained!

Little fingers

Yes, this post sounds all cute and cuddly, but it is NOT!

Today, while getting ready for work, I walked out to put my purse and lunch in the car. When i returned to the garage door, i found that little fingers had locked my out of the house. We had kept a key in the garage, expecting it would happen, but i could not find it.

Then i got my house key out and determined that IT DID NOT WORK.

At this point, i was starting to think, "Okay, go to the front door, ring the bell if the key does not work." Luckily Justin was still home.

I opened the door and Miles ran into the front room asking, "Who is it?" Luckily, he is really, really cute, Otherwise, he could have been in serious trouble!!!

Happy CHD awareness Day!

Today is of course Valentine's Day, but it is also ......
CONGENITAL HEART DEFECT AWARENESS DAY!

Celebrate your heart healthy kids and those born with broken hearts.

Happy Valentine's and CHD Awareness Day.

Come back in a year.

Good news to report. We went to the cardiologist today for our annual echo, ekg, and cardiology visit. Miles ACTUALLY held completely still for the entire echo. We were so surprised!!

at the end of the meeting, Dr Wheller said, "Come back in a year. If we need to do anything sooner, we will call you."

These could not have been better words. See you next year Dr. Wheller.

Pinkalicious

Pinkalicious is one of our favorite books, you should check it out at your local library or resale book store, here is the story synopsis:

Pinkalicious eats so many pink cupcakes that she wakes up the next morning with pink skin and hair. The color just won't wash off, and the doctor diagnoses her with Pinkititis and tells her to eat green food to get better. Still, when her parents aren't looking, she sneaks just one more treat–and turns red. Startled, she starts to choke down her veggies and finally returns to normal. When everything seems okay, Daddy asks what happened to the other cupcakes, and Pinkalicious's little brother bounds into the room with one in hand, happily showing off his new pink skin. The final Pink-a-boo! is sure to garner smiles. The computer-generated collage pictures are bold and appealing and will draw readers into the story. Although the main character is a bit obnoxious, children will be amused by her obsession with pink sweets. Reminiscent of David Shannon's A Bad Case of Stripes (Scholastic, 1998), Kann's lighter confection is a pink lover's dream come true.–Erlene Bishop Killeen, Fox Prairie Elementary School, Stoughton, WI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


So, I decided to do my own version of pinkalicious:

I used 1 box of cake mix (any flavor will do)
1 can of diet soda
Pink and Violet food coloring (purchased at any local craft store for $1.67 each. I barely used ANY coloring and got great colors. This concentrated food coloring is supposed to last for a long time, and give vibrant colors)

Mix the cake mix and diet soda. (weight watchers cupcake recipe). DO NOT ADD anything else. Any diet soda will do. and give you a different flavor. I used Cherry chip cake mix and diet dr. pepper --- a nice combination.

I divided the batter to allow to make the 2 different colors. Just divide in 1/2.





Here is the cake batter color. A little off, a little more brown than usual due to the diet dr. pepper.
Here is the food coloring. I used Violet and Pink.

Here is the great pink color. I am glad I stopped here, the final product came out really dark.


The purple or violet looks a little blue-ish. I used a kid spoon to scoop the food coloring from the container since it is thick and then I used it to scoop the batter into the small mini-cupcake wrappers. Much easier than using a bigger spoon.

The final product. Sophia is not home from school yet, but I bet she will be extra excited about the "Pinkalicious" cupcakes. I just hope that she does not turn all pink like in the book.