Time flies....

So I'm feeling really guilty about not keeping up with this blog lately!  Shame on me.  I'm going to do my best to think of every single little thing that's happened in the last month. (Ha!)

1.  After having some sort of activity every single day (karate, soccer, swimming, soccer, group, karate, soccer, soccer) this week we finally got a break.  Both soccer and swimming are over and we're down to karate twice a week (we choose the days) and group on Thursdays.  Ahhhh.  But after two afternoons home with the kids (from 4 to dinner time) I'm wondering what we can do now to fill the time.  They can play great together at times, but every five minutes or so there's some crisis that needs to be solved.

2.  Soccer was fun this fall - again, I was suckered into being the assistant coach.  I really don't mind, but I would like to just sit and watch Conner play without worrying about who's going in where and who wants a break and what the other crazy little boys are doing.  Conner had a great season;  it turns out that he loves to play and is great at playing defense!  The team overall wasn't great - we won one game but showed improvement throughout the year.  Our last two games (in the tournament) were their best ones; we lost the last game 1-0 in double overtime.  It was a nailbiter!  I think all involved were ready for the season to be over.

3.  Audrey's loving school.  Today was her field trip to the pumpkin farm (Cherry Ridge Farms in Georgetown, Ohio) - I took the day off to go with her.  It was a beautiful day and comfortable in the mid-60s. We walked through a corn maze, pet some horses, the kids each took a turn "scooping poop", and everyone got a pumpkin to bring home. Aud's camped out right now in the middle of the family room floor.

4.  Conner learned how to tie his shoes!  What a wonderful thing.  The next best thing will be when Audrey figures out how to swing by herself.

5.  Conner's doing great academically at school - he's reading like a champ right now.  He's having issues talking (surprise!) but has been doing better lately, I think.  We had an incident a couple of weeks ago where he'd told us he was green (good) but it turns out that he was lying and was actually yellow (a warning).  Long conversations ensued.  Tonight's a music program by the 1st and 2nd graders at his school.  Should be fun!

6. We haven't had any trips lately to Kings Island or the Zoo, but hopefully we'll get to both places this weekend.  Mom & Dad are coming down Friday night and we're thinking the zoo could be a possibility on Saturday. 

7.  We took the other bed rail off of Conner's bed the other night - he decided he was ready.  He hasn't fallen out yet, so that's a good thing!  He mentioned that he was going to wait until he was 7 but decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

8.  We got new kitchen counters last month!  The old pink ones were removed and new pretty granite ones installed.  It was a crazy weekend with a not-so-reliable installer, but I think they look great.  Yes, that's a sink full of dirty dishes.  Probably not the best time to take a picture, but it was a crazy month or so!

9.  I did the craziest thing ever a couple of Sundays ago - I partnered up with another teacher at my school and did something called The Little Miami Triathlon.  It was a 6 mile canoe, 5.5 mile walk/run, and 18 mile bike ride.  Unfortunately it was freezing cold (well, in the 50s anyway) and windy... someone told me that during the bike ride we had 37 mph gusts - not so much fun when you're riding a bike into them!  As a team we were 20th out of 30, but my partner was having some big time bike issues and took an hour longer than it took me.  I was 23rd out of 59 in our division.

10.  Audrey made a card for her friend Kamryn's birthday the other day - it was the first time I've actually seen her draw something other than big blobs!  I thought it turned out pretty cute.  She's in the process of learning how to write her name - the A, u, and r are pretty good... now we just need to figure out the d, e, and y.

11.  I got some cute pictures of the kids playing in the leaves the other night.

School pictures

Audrey brought home her first school picture today - it turned out pretty cute!  Weyla Kate was here that morning, so you never know what's going to happen. :)

She ended up getting that fever thing that Conner had.  Unfortunately, it was 4 AM last Wednesday morning when I discovered it, so that kept me home from school.  Weyla Marge made it over on Wednesday evening and stayed with her Thursday (though I think she could've gone) so I was able to go back to school.  I was out on Monday for a conference at UC, so it was definitely a crazy week!

It's been super hot this week - in the 90s every day.  Definitely not fun at school!  Hopefully tomorrow will be the last of it; looks like it's supposed to be in the 70s next week.  Whew.

School's in!

We've all started back to school (yes, it's been a few weeks) and our schedule has picked up accordingly.  Although I love that Conner's playing soccer, I'm ready for it to be over to open up a few evenings a week (and there are several weekends when he has 2 games!).

Conner's had a great three weeks.  He really enjoys his teacher, Mr. Chandler, and is having a good time at school.  At least, that's what I think is happening.  He doesn't really tell us much about school.  Luckily, Mr. Chandler is really good about e-mailing and says that Conner's doing great academically and "he and I are working on knowing the best time to talk to his friends, and when to listen."  Surprise, surprise.  There are several boys in his class that he knows from soccer/baseball/last year, so I wasn't very optimistic about his behavior from the beginning.  But he's reading great and we're keeping up with the homework that's been sent home.

Audrey's finished up her first two weeks of preschool and she loooooves it.  She gets really excited about going to school every day - especially the bus ride, I think!  She's learned several of the kids' names in her class (I have a feeling she knows more but doesn't want to try and remember them by the time she gets home) and seems to be playing the most with a girl named Charlee.  By far her favorite activity is going outside to play on the playground and sliding on the "fast slide".  The bus situation has worked out great - it picks her up at Shannan's and then drops her off there afterwards.  They grab lunch then Aud crashes for a nap.  The best thing is that she's still tired enough to go to bed at a decent hour!

We were going to go to Oxford yesterday to tailgate with some friends and then (possibly) go to the Miami football game, but the weather was gray and cloudy and looked a little iffy.  It was a good thing that we didn't end up going because Conner ended up with a 103 degree temperature and ended up doing a lot of lying around the house.  He was fine after taking some medicine and just woke up with a slight (100.3) fever today.  After one dose this morning the temperature never came back.  It sounds silly, but after having perfect attendance last year I would hate for him to miss a day of school this early!  Not that I'll send him when he's sick; I just don't want to mess it up this early.

Aud's wearing panties to bed tonight!  She's been dry for weeks, but with my luck it won't hold out for this one night.  Poor Conner was a little upset about it; he doesn't understand how people can stay dry at night.  He just sleeps so soundly that he doesn't wake up and said tonight that he'll probably be wearing a pull-up forever.  Poor kid.

Another 5k

I ran in my second 5k yesterday morning (my first was in May).  Everything was great and I was happy with how I did (28:12 - a little over 2.5 minutes off of my May time!) but the funniest thing was something Conner said as I was getting ready to leave the house to go to run.

Me:  I'm leaving!
Conner: Win the race!
Me:  Oh, I'm not going to win. There are going to be a lot of people.  But I'm going to do my best.
Conner: If you see a friend, say hi. Then run past them.

It's all about the winning. :)

Our last week!

I can't believe how quickly summer went by!  (If only the school year would go this fast, too!)  The kids and I have had a busy (but great!) week together.

On Monday, we started the morning by going to the dentist (boo!) but then headed to the library to get some books and to Wendy's for lunch.  Then after we got home they decided to get the sprinkler out (which reminds me, I have pictures on my camera - need to get those uploaded!).  I had a softball game that evening, so I dropped them off over at Doug and Marge's to play while I was there.  They had fun and even talked Papa Doug and Uncle Greg to take them swimming.

We went to Coney Island on Tuesday with Amber, Brenden, and Emery.  It was a beautiful day - not too hot - so we went over and rode some rides after swimming and lunch.  Before leaving I told the kids they could go do the slide a few times; Audrey got halfway up the ladder and freaked out, saying she'd changed her mind.  She wouldn't budge!  I ended up climbing up behind her and carrying her down.  Conner had soccer practice that evening - it was a beautiful night!  Eric ended up meeting some friends for a happy hour, so the kids and I went to Gold Star for dinner (it was kids eat free night) and then to a park to play.  Fun!

Wednesday was a little cooler and cloudy when we got up; after a quick trip to the kids' doctor to pick up some schoolwork for Aud, we went to the water park at Woodland Mound.  It was chilly when we got there and I wasn't sure how long we'd last, but the sun finally came out and the kids warmed up.  We ended up staying for about 3 hours, which is quite a long time there.  It was great, though - they played and I read a book.

Today was a busy busy one.  We went to Coney again (with Amber and the kids) and had a really good time.  Audrey's still not crazy about the slide - she did go once but I had to climb up behind her - but she discovered the fun of the diving boards!  I go first and then wait for her in the water.  The first time she was really  nervous and didn't want to do it, but I talked her into jumping to me and she absolutely loved it.  I swim with her until we're about 5 feet from the ladder, then she can swim the rest of the way.  Conner was practicing his diving off of the side (and occasionally off the board).  He had a friend there (the daughter of a friend of mine) so they were off sliding and swimming together.  We ended up staying at the pool until 3, then rushed home and got ready for karate.  Class was from 4 - 4:30, then Conner had soccer from 5 - 6.  While we were at karate, Amber called and asked if I wanted to drop Aud off at their house to play with Brenden.  What a life-saver!

Almost forgot - when I came downstairs this morning (both kids were already up) Audrey was in the living room playing with her "babies". She had them all arranged in different chairs and sitting in a circle.  When she saw me, Aud told me that today is her baby Molly's birthday and that they were having a birthday party (but the strawberry cake was all gone).  What an imagination!

I'm not sure what's in the plans for tomorrow (aside from a trip to school to get stuff ready for next week) but I'm thinking maybe a quick trip to Kings Island.  We'll see!

Catching Up

If you had asked me 9 years ago what I would be doing today (on Eric's and my 9th anniversary), there are a few things that never would have come to mind.  Running 3 miles and watching a bluegrass band in New Richmond probably wouldn't have made my list.  And yet those are just two of the activities I did today!  (Eric said "taking two kids to Kings Island" but that could've been a legitimate thought. Did that today, too!)

So, rewinding and summing up our week so far....

The infamous slide

Monday:  Met the Athans at Coney.  We had fun, did lots of swimming and playing, and as they were getting ready to leave I told Conner and Aud that we would go down the slide twice before we left (they'd been asking).  The first trip was successful; the second not so much.  I was at the end of the slide waiting for Audrey to come down when I heard a bit of a commotion back by the ladder.  I looked over and saw a little pink thing flying through the air - it ended up being Aud's water wing.  Unfortunately, it was still around her arm.  She was about two steps from the top of the ladder when she either let go or her hand slipped and she fell off.  Fortunately, she fell off to the side (instead of straight back into the shallow water) and a woman close scooped her up.  I got to her as soon as I could and grabbed her (she was crying).  Conner still hadn't come down the slide - he'd been right behind her on the ladder - so we went back to the end of the slide to get him, then headed off to the First Aid station to get Audrey checked out.  They gave us a bag of ice to put on her scraped-up side (the only signs of being hurt) and we headed home.  She fell asleep on the way home (I'm sure the whole ordeal took a lot out of her!) and after some protesting once we got home, took a nice long nap.  My girl's tough - she woke up chipper and happy and perfectly fine.  Phew.

Tuesday:  I was determined to get the kids back to Coney and Audrey back on the slide.  She told me that she didn't want to go down the slide, but when I promised that I'd follow her up she got pretty excited (I've never done it before).  It was the first thing we did once we got there.... I'm not sure what the attraction is to the thing (at least for an almost-35 year old mom) because it wasn't particularly fun for me.  I ended up with a wedgie and water up my nose.  But Audrey was happy and everything was good.

Me and Conner at the concert

Conner had his first soccer practice at 5... oh, and did I mention that it's been crazy hot this week? Upper 90's with high humidity does not make for a fun soccer practice - even for those of us just sitting and watching!  I felt bad for the boys (and coach) out there running.  Yuck.  After practice we grabbed some dinner at McDonald's and headed for Riverbend, a concert venue just behind Coney Island.  A couple of weeks ago we'd received some free tickets from Coney for a Jonas Brothers concert.  Conner's not a huge fan (it's one show he doesn't choose to watch) but he knows who they are and I thought he might enjoy seeing them.  Despite dripping sweat we had a good time, although I think he liked hanging out with some of our friends and eating their candy more than the actual concert itself.

Modeling some hats at Walmart

Wednesday (today): I thought taking the kids to the water park at Kings Island would be something different - normally we only go there when we're at KI and run over to the water park to cool off for a little bit.  We had a great time; the lines were great so we were able to do several different slides and swim in the wave pool before lunch. After eating, the kids were running around in one of the smaller kiddie pools when it started raining - not a big deal when you're already wet (and it's still super hot).  Unfortunately, though, the rain was eventually joined by thunder and lightning, so we decided to take off.  Eric's folks had offered to watch the kids tonight so Eric and I could go to dinner, so I dropped the kids off there and headed home.  It had rained here and cooled off a bit (I think it was about 75, but the humidity was still out the roof) so I went for a run before Eric got home. Then we headed down to the Front Street Cafe in NR with some of Eric's old teacher-friends to listen to some bluegrass.  I'm not a big fan, but it certainly was interesting watching them go on those guitars/banjos/mandolins!

No big plans for tomorrow.  Conner has soccer at 5, so I'll head up to Milford some time before that to get the kids (or meet them somewhere) and then we have our small group at a friend's house.  I'm definitely planning on sleeping in (which means I'll probably wake up at 7 and not be able to get back to sleep!) and maybe hitting up the mall.  Shopping by myself = my current idea of heaven.

A pic to end on...

Audrey's been doing a lot of singing and dancing lately, but only if she's wearing this skirt!  It's very cute.

What a day to forget the camera....

Because Eric's in between projects at the house right now, he was willing to spend the day with me and the kids today.  (Otherwise, it's tough to pull him away!)  It was supposed to be beautiful day today, so we narrowed it down to either the Zoo or Kings Island.  Audrey wanted to go to KI, Conner to the zoo.  I made the deciding vote on zoo just because we've spent a lot of time recently at KI and Eric hadn't been to the zoo in a while.

We drove the Jeep (always a fun ride) and made it to the zoo around 12:30.  After eating lunch (which I'd packed), we headed off to find the snakes (Audrey's new favorite) and the new Komodo dragon exhibit (Eric's choice).  We passed by a couple of zoo workers holding some sort of rainbow boa constrictor - Conner and Aud were more than happy to pet it.  Closer to the reptile house there were three more workers holding various sizes of snakes.  The smaller one (another type of rainbow constrictor) was being passed around the crowd of kids surrounding it.  It was at this point that I realized that I didn't have a camera with me!  I hardly ever have my digital camera because my cell phone takes pretty good pictures.... but I didn't even have my phone with me today!  I must've left it in the Flex at home.  Of course.

Anyway, Conner got his turn to have the snake draped over his shoulders and loved it... Audrey, despite her affinity for snakes, wasn't going for it.

The next worker had another type of constrictor that was bigger.  Instead of one person holding it, Eric, Audrey, and Conner all sat down on a bench where she laid it on their laps.  I'm not much of a snake person, so I declined their invitation to sit with them.  Again, it would've been a great time to have a camera!

On to snake #3.  This was the largest constrictor - the worker said it was 42 pounds.  We chatted with him (the worker, not the snake) for a few minutes, then Eric asked if he could hold it.  The guy said sure and draped it over his shoulders.  (Which would've made perfect camera time #3!)  Several people were unsure about having a snake so close (one girl absolutely freaked out when her kid got close enough to touch) but the worker was saying that they'd never have anything out there that could injure anyone.  Said that they're basically like a golden retriever with scales.

We spent the rest of our afternoon wandering around like normal.  The komodo dragon was pretty neat - Eric was amazed to find out that it eats up to 80% of its body weight at every meal (so at a max of 175 lbs, that's 140 lbs per meal!). We didn't make it around to the side of the zoo with the bears and manatees, but did see the giraffes and elephants and ride the train.

It was a great afternoon!  I just wish I would've remembered a camera. :(

Afternoons...

We met Amber and Brenden and Emery at Coney Island this morning to do some swimming - might not have been the best choice for us!  Yesterday I met Mom at Jeffersonville around lunchtime to pick up the kids.  They'd spent the weekend at the cottage doing all kinds of fun stuff and wearing themselves out.  We left Jeffersonville and went to King's Island for the afternoon, then went to Milford for my softball game, then to Dairy Queen for some ice cream.  It was close to 9:00 when we got home.  After saying hi to Daddy the kids headed up to bed.

I told Conner that he had to stay in bed until 8:00 (knowing that he was tired... and this is sleeping in for him!) and I know Aud slept in, too, but they're both worn out from the past few days' adventures.  Audrey had a melt down at Coney (cried the whole way home until she fell asleep) and Conner wasn't too bad aside from some not-listening incidents but I could tell he was tired.  I sent both kids up to their rooms when we got home for some quiet time.  These couple of late-afternoon hours (say, between 3 and 5) are the worst of the day!  We like to get out in the morning to do something (Audrey asks me every night when she goes to bed "Where are we going in the morning?") and usually pack a lunch to take along, but they get tired and it's time to head home soon thereafter.

Right now Audrey's crying upstairs because I won't let her come down yet (I'm hoping she'll lie down and go to sleep) and Conner's been awfully quiet in his room so I'm thinking he nodded off.  Here's hoping we can make it to dinner time without too much fuss!

A big day at Coney

We made it home from our Panama City Beach vacation on Sunday afternoon (I'll post more on that with pictures later) and have since been trying to get back into our normal summer routine.  Usually our (the kids and my) day consists of sleeping til 8:30 or so (ok, that's just me usually - the kids get up earlier and head down to watch tv and play) then deciding on a plan of action for the day.  Coney Island is a frequent choice, especially when our friends Amber, Brenden, and Emery can go with us.

Today I woke up to a rainy, gloomy day.  We went over to Walmart and got Conner's school supplies (he was pretty excited to pick out some new stuff!) then to the library to find some books and videos.  I'd originally told the kids that we could go to McDonald's for lunch but then reconsidered and decided to go home for lunch, take naps, and head down to Coney in the late afternoon.  Conner wasn't too excited about the change of plans, but I could tell by his behavior on the way home that a nap was definitely a necessity.

They both took great naps after lunch (without any extra prompting/yelling/nagging on my part!) so we all got our suits on and headed down to Coney around 4:00.  As we were walking in I could hear an announcement saying that the pool was temporarily closed because of lightning in the vicinity.  The kids and I spent some time in the pool store (Aud needed a new float and Conner some new goggles) then found a dry spot under a big umbrella to wait it out.

Once they made the announcement that the pool was back open, the kids rushed on in. It was actually pretty nice - there weren't very many people there and we were able to head to the "island" for the kids to jump without running into anyone.  Audrey did fantastic - she grew much more confident in the water last week and was actually swimming back to the ladder on her own after jumping to me.  She was so excited to tell Daddy about it when she got home!

Conner rediscovered the pool slide this summer (with a little encouraging on my part) and had gone down it several times when I asked Aud if she'd like to go.  I wasn't sure how she'd respond, but she said she wanted to try it and headed up the ladder with Conner on his next go-round.  I was a little worried that she was going to change her mind once she reached the top, but with just a little bit of hesitation, Audrey made her way down.  Her face was priceless (I'm not sure I've ever seen her eyes that big!) and she looked terrified, but as soon as she hit the bottom she popped up and was ready to go again.  I think she ended up making 4 or 5 trips and was ready for more (but it had started raining again and it was time to head home).  I know where we'll be spending the rest of our trips to Coney Island!

More big news from this week - the director of the preschool at New Richmond Elementary called on Monday.  This was the school that I'd taken Audrey for screenings in the spring but she didn't get a spot for next year.  I guess someone dropped out and now there's room for Aud!  She'll go every morning on the bus (which will pick her up and drop her off at our babysitter's - perfect!!) and will be an example of a "typical" child in a special needs class - just like Conner was when he was 4.  I'm so excited for her!

So it's summer.  Finally!  The sad thing is that we're like 3 weeks into summer and I feel like it's just about over.  Weird.

Anyway, we've been keeping pretty busy!  The kids are with Mom and Dad this week and it's been absolutely heavenly!  I really thought that I'd miss having them around, but it's honestly been so nice to be able to sleep in (until 10 today!) and do what I want when I want.  I'm sure it'll be nice to have them home, too, but it's nice to know that everybody's fine in this sort of situation.  The kids are probably getting spoiled out of their minds (thanks, Mom!) and I'm able to actually sit and read a book at the pool.  We're all happy.

This past weekend we went with Weyla Kate and Papa Dave to our annual Father's Day visit to King's Island.  It was a loooong day - we were actually there from about 10:30 to almost 7:00!  Everybody had a great time, and Audrey had a chance to go on several rides that she wasn't tall enough for previously (thanks to some thick-soled tennis shoes!).  She loved everything that she was able to ride, though - especially the Beastie (I forget what it's called now, but Aud went on it 3 times and had her hands up almost the whole time!) and this slide over at the water-park side.  That's Audrey on the left side of the picture.  Mom's on the right side.  Conner and I were soon to follow - I had to push Aud down before I could get going, and Conner needed some help from the lifeguard at the top.  It's a pretty fun slide, but I was worried about how she'd do (Conner's done it before).  My worries were all for naught - she loved it and immediately wanted to go right back up!

Last week Conner spent his days at Karate Kamp.  He was there from 9 - 3 and had a ball (though it really wore him out!).  He couldn't tell me much of what he did every day there, but they gave us a CD of pictures during his last session so we could actually see some of the activities.  His leader also posted a bunch of pictures on facebook (of which Conner seems to take a big role!) and that helps, too.

During our first full week of vacation (well, mine anyway - Conner got out before I did) we went to Washington, PA to see my Grandma Voigt (or as the kids call her, Weyla Ruth.  Or, as Aud calls her, Weyla Woof).  We went to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum (very fun) and had dinner with my Aunt Betty and Uncle Dave.  We also stopped at the Trolley Museum in Washington before heading out of town.  The kids enjoyed the ride - especially seeing the big snapping turtle hanging out on the rails!

Until our trip to Panama City Beach in July (oil stay away!), I think we're pretty much grounded for a while.  Conner's got a few evenings of VBS next week and just a couple of weeks of baseball left, but things are really calming down!  I'm looking forward to getting into a routine of heading to Coney and just hanging out with the kids.  Now if only I could get them to stop fighting.

I no longer have a kindergartner... I have a first-grader!  Conner finished up his first official year of school on Thursday with a fun field day.  Audrey and I (and Weyla Marge and Papa Doug) went to his Kindergarten Recognition Ceremony on Wednesday at his school.  It was really cute - they lined up around the gym and walked in two at a time to stand up front on some risers.

Here he is taking his turn walking to the front:

They sang 5 songs (in addition to the one they walked in to), then each student had the opportunity to come to the microphone and say his/her name before walking off the stage to get their certificate.  I'm sure as a 6-year old I would've been scared to death to do this, but Conner did great!



We then all went to the cafeteria, where they had cookies and juice available.  After hanging out for a little bit, we were ushered out so that they could get ready for the lunch that was soon to start.  I'd discovered on Monday night from a fellow mom at baseball practice that most parents take the kids to lunch and then don't go back to school for the rest of the day.  I'd taken the whole day off and could've done this, but then someone else told me that Mr. Bailey (the principal) didn't like the practice and was discouraging parents from doing this.  I ended up leaving it up to Conner.  He decided Wednesday after the program that he wanted to stay. It turned out that there were only 5 kids in his class (out of 20) but he had a ball.  They still had their normal library and computer times, but also got to go to an extra gym class. 

After we left, Audrey and I went to New Richmond Elementary for her preschool screening.  I was really worried going in that she would be all shy and not want to talk to anyone - we'd discussed it several times, and she knew that she needed to be herself (outgoing, funny, smart) but I didn't know if she'd actually do it!  She had no problems going off with the teacher when it was her turn for the screening and was chatting as they walked.  I'm very hopeful that she kept it up; I think she did.... Aud told me that she spelled her name for them and sang her ABC's (but who knows if that's really true or not!).  We'll hopefully find out early next week if she got in or not.

After a quick trip home to change clothes, Aud and I then went to get her hair cut and had lunch at McDonald's.  She does her best when I'm trying to take a picture not to look at the camera - what a goofball! 

We made it home for about an hour before picking Conner up at school (a little early) and then going to my school for a student/teacher wiffleball game.  All in all a very busy (but fun!) day.

It's been really warm this week (mid to upper 80's... definitely not what I wanted to happen before school got out!) so I took this kids to Coney Island this morning for our first trip of 2010.  They had a ball even though the water was a bit chilly.  Actually, they didn't even acknowledge that the water was cold - that was all me.  After a little bit of freaking out about floating around by herself in her floatie, Aud ended up loving to jump off of the "island" in the middle of the pool and then didn't want me to even touch her floatie.  Conner went off the diving board once (with me waiting for him in the water) but tried to do a dive and ended up doing a belly-smacker.  He didn't want to try it again.  I don't think that will last long, though!  (As we swam over to the ladder where Audrey was waiting, I discovered her standing there peeing.  Lovely.)  We stayed for an hour and a half before heading home for lunch and a nap for Audrey (who desperately needed one).

This evening we all piled in the Jeep and headed down to the Taste of Cincinnati that was being held downtown.  It was a nice festival-like atmosphere with lots of different restaurants represented in booths.  Audrey and I had pizza (mine was a yummy chicken bacon caesar), Conner had fish and chips, and Eric had some sort of steakburger.  We also got fried pickles and a giant soft pretzel.  Then we went to Dairy Queen for dessert. Can't beat that!

I'm not sure how much I've mentioned this on the blog, but I started jogging in January.  After struggling through 2 15-minute miles at the beginning, I've worked my way to 3+ miles at a sub-10 minute pace.  I actually ran in my first 5K last weekend and didn't do as well as I'd liked but then I looked it up on a map online and found that instead of being 3.1 miles it was actually about 3.3.  There were also some crazy hills that weren't pleasant.  I finished in 30:51, which was 19th out of 48 in my age group.

Just 3 more days of school for me!

Conner's told me a few interesting things in the past couple of days....
1.  First, while sitting at Wendy's on Saturday evening, he told me I was his BFF.  Thought that was sweet.
2.  Yesterday, while he was mad at me for something or other, he told me that when he gets mad at me he wants to kill himself.
3.  Today, he told me that sometimes he wants to run away.

I don't think he seriously means #2 or #3 (or #1, for that matter!) and has probably just heard other kids saying things or seen it on tv or something... but to hear him say it is disturbing.

On a lighter note, here are a couple of pictures from the past couple of days.

Our last two weekends have been very soggy - I just wish the rain would stop!  Last Sunday, we suffered through Conner's soccer game in the (cold) rain.  It was definitely not a lot of fun.  I had book club immediately following and didn't think to bring a change of shoes, so I was still freezing (and wet) when I got home later.  Fortunately, today's game was canceled.

Conner had his first baseball game on Friday night (for which the weather was beautiful, thank goodness!).  This year has been quite a change for the way they're playing.  Because he's now in the D-Instructional league, they play real positions, can strike out on three swings, and play 3 outs per inning.  (None of which happened last year.)  They also play 5 innings instead of the two in t-ball.  Conner did a great job - he played 4 innings at second base, stopped the ball every time it was hit to him, and even threw a boy out at first. (Yay!)  He was up to bat 3 times and hit the ball each time.  They got him out at first once, but he made it safely every other time.  All in all, a great night.  Oh, and they "don't keep score", but the team won 12 - 5 (I'm the scorekeeper.).

He got a set of Legos for his birthday from Weyla Ruth and has been playing with them on an almost-daily basis, so yesterday Conner and Audrey and I went to Toys 'R Us to see what other Legos we could find for him.  We raided his piggy bank for some money before we left so that he would (hopefully) feel more responsible for them.  Conner wanted to get a set that made a pretty neat-looking firetruck, but I wouldn't let him (yes, I interfered even though I didn't intend to) because that would've been most of his money to make one thing. We ended up agreeing on a tub of 200+ Legos and an additional small kit that makes a cool helicopter.  When we got home, he sat for over an hour and made a couple of versions of the helicopter - it was definitely a hit!

I grabbed a few dollars from Audrey's bank before we left, too.  She picked out a little Dora bubble holder and a yellow water bottle with a straw.  She even had a dollar left!  As we were leaving, we decided that we were going to go to Wendy's for dinner - Aud said that she would pay for dinner with her dollar.  Luckily, the girl at the counter played along and humored her (Audrey actually asked for my "card" to give the girl with her dollar - she's a girl who knows her money!).  I sent her and Conner back up to the counter with dollars in hand a little later to get frostees.

We had an interesting week last week - after heading up to Pickerington for Saturday night (Eric and I went to a MercyMe concert at OSU), Mom and I decided that Audrey would stay with her for a couple of days. We decided to meet Tuesday at the Jeffersonville outlets to trade her back.  Everything was fine; we met, caught up, the kids and I went to a couple of stores and then headed out. On our way out of the mall, a girl (probably college-aged) hit us with her car.  It was crazy. She ran right into the front left corner of the Flex. It scraped up the wheel and dented up the corner. Luckily, the car was drivable though my hands were at more of a 1-and-7 position than 10-and-2 to keep the car going straight!  We left it at the Ford dealer closest to our house; Doug came and picked us up to take us home. I hadn't been able to get ahold of Eric because he was outside working all night. Everything's turned out ok with the insurance and all. I've been driving a rental car since Wednesday and will hopefully get the Flex back next Friday (though the dealership cautioned that it could take longer because they had to order parts). I actually talked to the girl's dad yesterday. He was very open about her accepting blame (as she should) and said he'd talk to his insurance agent about whether he should just pay it out of pocket or use his insurance.  I'm just glad that everything worked out ok!  It's actually been kinda nice to drive a car for a few days (it feels much zippier than my Flex!) but it's not nearly as comfortable.

Conner's now an orange belt in karate - he was very excited to finally get his favorite color!  The plan is to finish out our six months (which should go to the end of May) and be done.  If he wants to keep going, I'd be ok with doing that after this summer.  I'm really not looking forward to having baseball 3 nights a week and karate twice!

Conner told me this morning that yesterday at school they had a wedding between "Q" and "U" (their letters of the week).  Mr. Bailey, the school principal, came in to oversee the wedding.  Conner got to be the "U" in the ceremony!  He was pretty excited about it.  Three girls were involved - he said that two of them had to hold the "thing that the girl wears on her head".   And then they had cake!

Conner, Audrey, and I went up to NRHS after lunch to see the district art fair.  We ran into his art teacher, Mrs. Hawk (who's very young and cute and artsy), and found Conner's entry into the fair.  It was (of course) the best thing I saw there.

Audrey had a rough week - she started coughing some on Tuesday, which got pretty bad during the night.  Wednesday and Thursday she had a bit of a temperature (99 and 100) but she spent the day on Friday with Weyla Marge and Papa Doug, where her temperature got up to 103.  I took her to the doctor yesterday evening - he said that they've been seeing a lot of summer colds lately, which is all he thinks it is.  Aud's ears were clear and her lungs sounded good, so he basically said to just give her some tylenol when the fever got high and wait it out.  (Good-bye to $20!)  She's been a lot better today - no fever, just a bit of coughing and runny nose.  Hopefully the worst of it is over!

We were lucky enough this week to have some awesome weather - I think every day until Friday was in the 80s!  The kids and I went up to the playground after school on Tuesday (because, amazingly, we had nothing else to do that day!) and they both spent lots of time outside playing.  A cold front/rain came through yesterday and it's beautiful today but only in the 50s.  I think we've been spoiled now!  Looks like it'll be nice this week, too, but only in the mid-60s.  Summer's right around the corner, though - Kings Island opened today and I got a postcard in the mail from Coney Island with the dates and times that they'll be taking pictures for passes.  We're ready!

Conner brought home his Interim Report today (it seems that they only do official grade cards at the semester break and end of year). My first thought was that Mrs. Hale was thinking of someone else when she wrote it...

After getting all "Satisfactory" x's for Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science (and no comments about not being able to sit without touching people like last time!), she wrote this under Comments:

"Conner is a brilliant reader and mathematician. He is able to plan and execute in his journal writing. I couldn't ask for a better student and I know Conner's work ethic and positive attitude will take him far in life."

Wow, huh!

Much to catch up on... but first, here are the pictures I took of Audrey and Brenden (a friend) at the Reds' Opening Day Parade today!

Spring's almost here, and our schedule has gone crazy! ('Tis the season, I guess!) At this point, Conner's become a little over-involved in activities.
Here's our schedule:
Monday - karate 5:30 - 6:00
Tuesday - swimming 5:30 - 6:15 (both kids)
Wednesday - baseball 6:15 - 7:30 or so
Thursday - small group (at our house)
Friday - nothing yet... once baseball games start, the majority of them will be Fri nights
Saturday - karate 10:00 - 10:30 (or 11 if he stays for the next class, too!)
Sunday - nothing yet... soccer games will be in the afternoons starting in a few weeks

This is probably the busiest we'll be (hopefully). We only have 2 more weeks of swimming, so that'll help for Tuesdays. We signed up for 6 months of karate starting in December, so by my plans that gets us through May. By then baseball will be in full swing (ha!) and soccer should be over (it's a 6-week spring season with games only - no practices). I'm thinking by the time that school lets out baseball will be our only scheduled event. Conner's coach hasn't told us yet what nights they'll be practicing for sure - I think they'll stick with Wednesdays, but he's said they're going to add a second night. If it's Monday that rules me out for my softball team, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

I picked up the kids yesterday from Shannan's (because Eric finally went back to work this week after being laid off since the middle of December!) and we all headed over to the Monroe Township Park (5 - 10 minutes from the house) to play. It's a nice open park with a walking/running/biking paved trail around it, so while the kids played I got a nice little 2.1 mile run in. You could tell that it was a beautiful day and that people were getting antsy, because by the time we left there were probably 8 - 10 kids playing on the playset. I don't know that we've ever seen more than 2 or 3 there before! My kids were having a ball and were upset that we were leaving, but we had things to do (see our schedule above!). I had to promise that we'd go back soon. :)

Just one more full week until Spring Break, and then we start our last quarter of the year! Crazy. I'm really looking forward to summer and the free time that we'll get to do whatever. We have our Coney Island, Kings Island, and Zoo memberships all lined up and ready to be used! It should also be nice because I'm going to try and get Audrey out of taking naps in the afternoon. She gets tired and if she's sitting around watching tv or something she'll fall asleep, but if we're out doing something she's perfectly happy and raring to go! Going back to Shannan's this week has definitely messed her up. She takes great naps there (which she wasn't doing at home lately!) but has been staying up until 10:00 or later every night. I'm hoping that she'll adjust and be able to go to the afternoon preschool next year that Conner went to last year. (If she gets in - screenings are at the end of May.)

So much in the works, but nothing's concrete. It'll be nice to be able to firm up some plans!

February was a busy month for us... I guess that would explain why it flew by so quickly!

We started off with some snow (and neat icicles! no, he wasn't standing underneath them!), so Conner's karate testing date (to go from white belt to yellow) was pushed back from Feb 5 to Feb 12. Here's the happy boy with his belt and certificate.

Then came Conner's 6th birthday. We had family over at the house on the 13th (check out the cool cake we made!), opened a few presents on his actual birthday (the 15th), then went bowling with some of his friends on the 21st. What little boy doesn't want a week-long celebration?!





In the midst of all of that, Audrey decided that she didn't want to use her bed rail (she actually wanted me to put it in her closet, but I told her maybe we should wait on that one). She's been without it now for about 2 weeks, and as far as I know has only fallen out once! Conner was still using 2 until a few nights ago when we took one off. Miraculously, he hasn't fallen out at all (that we know of). His bed is pretty high, so we took the rail off of the side that has the trundle and pulled that mattress out to make the fall quite a bit less severe.

The bowling birthday party was a hit! Conner had a blast and all of the other little boys seemed to enjoy themselves, too.Of course the little sisters had to get in the picture!

After a nice quiet few days (except for karate, parent conferences, and small group!), we decided late this morning to head to the Cincy Museum Center this afternoon to take advantage of a free pass that expires tomorrow. Instead of going to the Children's Museum (like we've done in the past), Eric and I decided to try the Museum of Natural History. The kids really enjoyed it - there were all kinds of animals and caves and fossils and skeletons to see. Very fun.

Eric headed over to a friend's house tonight to play some cards with the guys, so the kids and I went up to Walmart to spend some time (and money!). Audrey and I have been talking about getting her hair cut (she wanted it short, she said) so we went ahead and did that while we were at the store (doesn't your Walmart have a hair styling place?). I told the girl that I wanted it about chin length - I'm tired of it looking scraggly and yucky 30 seconds after it being brushed - but when she made her first cut I got a little worried. I think it ended up looking really cute, though, and Audrey seems to love it!

I almost forgot to post this! I got Audrey on video today singing the abc's... or most of them, anyway. This was obviously pre-haircut.

We got about 3 or 4 inches of snow in the past day (unfortunately didn't get a snow day out of it since it's Saturday!) and this afternoon all 4 of us went out to help Daddy clear the driveway. He'd tried using his snowblower, but it's a really heavy snow and his little blower wasn't doing any good. So Eric and I cleared the driveway (it's never seemed so long before!) while the kids played. Conner did a little sledding down the hill right in front of the house (and loved going down on his belly!) while Audrey just kind of wandered around doing various little things. She actually made a couple of snow angels on her own, which was pretty cute.

After we cleared the driveway I wanted to make a snowman, but it wasn't packing very well. Eric grabbed a couple of big buckets and started filling them up to make a snow fort. It ended up being pretty cute and they all had a good time playing. I got to be an innocent bystander since I had the camera (but I did help fill some buckets!).

I can't remember the last time I stayed home from school because I was sick. I've missed some days in the past few years because one of the kids was sick or I didn't have childcare, but I haven't been sick (aside from my annual sinus infection, which I'm able to suffer through at school) in ages. Until this week!

Yesterday, the kids and I were scheduled for dentist appointments at 4:00. I woke up with a bit of a sore throat that got progressively worse as the day went on. I called them around 2:00 to cancel my appointment (but keep the kids) thinking that the last thing I wanted to do when I wasn't feeling well was go to the dentist!

It was Aud's first appointment, and she did great! She wanted to sit on my lap in the chair (actually, the hygienist suggested it!) but was fine after that. She also got the seal of approval from Dr. Blackburn!

Conner's teeth were good, too. He just got two of his 6-year molars so they wanted to put a sealant on them. He's getting so big - he went back and did the whole process on his own! He actually misplaced his new toothbrush somewhere, too, and went back to check around and see if he could find it.

After the appointments, Eric took Conner to the library then to his karate lesson while Audrey and I headed home. I was feeling as if a truck had run me over, so I sacked up on the couch while she played, snacked, and watched some tv. I ended up falling asleep and didn't wake up until Eric and Conner got home; at this point Audrey was sitting on the floor eating a tangerine that she'd peeled herself. So funny!

I woke up this morning with a really sore throat and decided that I was going to go to school for my first class, then hopefully go to the doctor, then go home. It was a good thing that planned that because I found out that I have strep throat and am (obviously) contagious. The doctor even told me to stay home tomorrow, too, because it will take 24 hours of medicine until I'm not contagious anymore.

So now I'm just relaxing on the couch with my computer. Audrey's upstairs and is supposed to be napping (though I went up a little while ago and found her locked in Conner's room with his radio on and playing with his toys) and Eric's somewhere doing something. It's nice to have a couple of quiet hours here!

Audrey's birthday party was Saturday afternoon and I guess was a hit (at least for 3-year olds!). We invited family and 3 of her little 3-year old friends. I haven't uploaded any pictures yet (and I actually don't think I have many... I'll have to check with the grandmas to see what they have!) but will put some on when I do. I can't believe my baby is 3 already!

Snow day today! It was actually Conner's second of the week (they were off Tuesday, too), but my first. I'm hoping for a 2-hour delay tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath.

The four of us (plus the dogs) went out for a walk and a little sledding after lunch. This is a little video I took of Audrey's first solo trip down the hill (Eric was down at the bottom to catch her!).



Conner went out later, too, and did some sledding on his own while Eric was cleaning off the driveway (again). He was having a great time!


This one's from Tuesday, but cute nonetheless.