Holiday

We headed to Ravenna this weekend for the holiday. The kids ran non stop. Between basketball, bubbles, playing cars, walks, play grounds etc. they barely had time to sleep. Heres a quick recap. Church with Pap:

Looking cute after refusing to sit still during the sermon:

A crazy play ground we took the kids to while Gram and Pap had a birthday party to go to. Can you see the red cheeks and sweat pouring down their faces?

In the car on the way back Ben informed us his hair was already wet so he didn't need a bath! Ellie didn't seem to mind the heat.

The Memorial Day parade:

It was too much excitement for some:

Dessert. Can you see the frosting on his eye lid?

We had a great weekend and thanks for the use of the convertible!

Wordless Wednesday: Peas

I don't think she's quite sold yet.

Cute kids

The kids have been extra cute recently so I wanted to post some pics. I feel a little guilty. We've been trying to take extra pics of Ellie for the birth parent letters and I think we've neglected the boys just a little.

The graduate

Ben graduated from Pre-K this afternoon. They had caps, came in to the graduation march, sang some songs and got "diplomas." It was so sweet and as soon as Jon moves some video from the video camera, I'll post it.I'm glad we sent Ben to school. He didn't learn much (he already knew his letters and numbers), it completely messed up nap time for Sam, but he got a lot of confidence, made friends, improved on his writing (although he still has some improving to do) and constantly surprised us when the teachers told us about this great kid who always sits still, always listens and loves to help clean up toys!

We've been thinking a lot about next year. Ben could start kindergarten next year, but with a late August birthday, we weren't sure that was the right move for him. We absolutely love his preschool so we decided to put Ben in another (but different) preschool class next year. I think he would really benefit socially from another year in preschool. Just when we were set in a plan, we decided to change it up a little bit. Homeschooling is something we've thought about for a few years now. We've talked to some good friends, done a lot of reading/research and haven't been able to find a lot of negatives on the subject. We have finally decided that in addition to preschool in the fall, we will do (kindergarten) homeschooling. When Ben turns 6 we will have plenty of options. We can continue homeschooling and repeat kindergarten if necessary or move to 1st grade work or if thats not working for us, we can enroll him in public school in either class. I'm a bit intimidated by the amount of possible curriculum's. We still have a lot of research to do, but I'm excited to have a plan and to get started on something we (I) never imagined myself doing.

Not a runner

I had a doctors appointment this morning. I am 17weeks and 1 day. So far everything is looking good. For the most part I've been feeling better, so over the weekend I decided to try running again. I haven't run since I've been feeling so lousy. Lets just say it did not go well! I mentioned it to my doctor and she has officially banned running for the rest of the pregnancy. Anything that gets my heart rate over 150 is also off the list. She threw in a comment about my age, but I'm just ignoring it and pretending this is the standard for all pregnant women. She also asked if I wanted a tubal with this c section---YES PLEASE!!! She informed me that tubals done with pregnancies are less effective than if I did it at any other time. Haven't figured out why that is yet, but that doesn't instill a lot of confidence. She also dashed any hopes of removing any other potentially cancerous parts for fear of bleeding to death! Kind of a bummer of an appointment. The only plus is that I was able to schedule my ultrasound (the one that tells us the gender) for June 7th (great b-day present)!

Ellie showing off her crazy hair:

Enjoying our short lived warm weather:
I should clarify the removing cancerous parts comment. Since its so common in my family, I was hoping to take out some non essential parts to avoid any potential, future health scares. I have no current cancer concerns!

Movie time

I've been craving movie theater pop corn so I decided it was time to take Sam to his first movie. Ellie spent the morning with my parents and we took the boys to go see Rio. Sam loved it! He had a ton of pop corn, he clapped with the music, he laughed at the birds, he was pretty quiet and only got out of his seat when he wanted to come sit on my lap. After we left, he kept repeating over and over, "you like the movie? I like the movie."

As I mentioned we saw Rio, not Cars 2, but they didn't have a poster for Rio and even if they did, nothing was dragging the boys away from that poster! Guess we'll be going back in a month.

Wordless Wednesday: So close

He still needs another inch, but hes having fun!

That time again

Every year Corrie heads to Idaho for the summer and every year it stinks a little bit more! Corrie leaves this morning and wont be back until Bens birthday. She wont recognize Ellie in August! We're excited for Corrie that she gets to travel every year and work through the summer, but its just not the same around here without her. Enjoy, but come home soon. We'll miss you!

Mothers Day

Yesterday was perfect. We had great weather, we ate good, we relaxed and we were together. I was treated to flowers (real and hand made), breakfast and dinner made by my hubby, music Jon downloaded on my anniversary/mothers day/birthday present (an ipod) and no poopy diapers! The kids were in a pretty good mood all day even though they missed their naps. Can't ask for more much more!

Early Mothers Day

Bens school had a special Mothers Day celebration last week. All the moms came in and were treated to a couple songs, a poem, ice cream, games and a couple gifts.

The kids filled out sheets and they were hung up for everyone to see:
They created little center pieces for the tables:
They made mugs and put chocolate and a tea bag in there:

Here is some of Bens performance:

It was a sweet afternoon and we both had a lot of fun!

4 months

Ellie had her 4 month doctor appointment yesterday. She is up to 11.4lbs and 24 1/4inches. Both are between the 5th and 10th percentile. She is still tiny, but she's growing. In the next two months we can start her on some baby food. I don't remember starting either boy that early, but if it helps cut back on formula expenses, thats fine with me!

She has been holding onto her cold. She still has a cough and a little bit of a runny nose. The doctor discovered she also has an ear infection. We started her on some medicine so she should be back to normal in no time. Overall, she is exactly where she needs to be.