Summer Summary

I've gotten so far behind that it's been impossible to catch up, so I'm stealing a page out of Renee's book and doing one huge summary post, minus the pictures.  I get so hung up on trying to upload pictures that I just never get anything written.  I'm realizing that if I don't get myself caught up soon I might end up giving up my blogging forever!

It's sad that I have to rewind all the way back to Easter, so I'm going to do my best to fill in the past 3 months--bear with me!  Here's a snapshot of all that we've been doing:

MAY...Got an offer on our house and the packing began. Kellan started playing tee ball.  He was really unsure at first since he didn't know a thing about any sport other than soccer, but it really grew on him.  He had a few friends on his team and he enjoyed it. Alex lost her first tooth while wrestling with Marlon.  Everyone was excited and the tooth fairy brought her a couple dollars.  I was busy with MOPS and the end of Alex's school year.  We had a visit from Ehren and baby Henry.  We went to State College for Michael and Katie's wedding and got to spend time with our old neighbors.  Alex and Kellan really enjoyed playing with Grace and Edie.  We ate ice cream at the Creamery and took pictures at the Nittany Lion shrine.  Alex celebrated her 6th birthday and we celebrated with a little BBQ over Memorial Day weekend. My mom, Jon, Nolan, and Mia came out for the weekend to celebrate and help us with packing.  We visited Hovatter's Zoo, went to the park, made homemade ice cream, and spent some quality time together. My mom stuck around after Jon left to help us get the house packed up...

JUNE...Alex finished her Kindergarten year.  My mom was able to be there for her kindergarten awards, end of year party, and read aloud with her class. Kellan continued with tee ball and we got the rest of the house packed up and ready to move into storage.  My mom, the kids and I headed to PA to spend a few weeks while Marlon was working and traveling.  Alex and I went up to NYC to the American Girl store with Nana and Aunt Lauren.  As their birthday gift to her she picked out her American Girl doll and some accessories.  We ate lunch at the American Girl Cafe.  It was REALLY hot out.  A few days later I went back to NYC with Marlon's mom and sister and we saw Sister Act on Broadway to celebrate her birthday.  Marlon and the rest of the adults met up with us later and we enjoyed a late birthday dinner at Shula's.  We spent the next 2 1/2 weeks in PA/NJ visiting friends and family.  We went to Sesame Place with Grammy.  We went to the Philly Zoo with Ehren and Henry.  We went to the beach with Grammy, Renee, Nolan and Mia. (oh and during all of this we officially closed on our house, became "homeless", and started construction on our new house).  We spent many days at the water park behind Grammy and Granddad's house, playing in the water, at the park, and riding bikes.  We spent a few nights at Jon & Renee's.  We went to church with them every week too.  Alex watched Cinderella (the version with Brandy and Whitney Houston) way too many times.  She also watched Cinderella II a bunch.  We ate lots of popcorn and had plenty of Granddad's milkshakes. We spent a little time up at Eagle Rock where we made a trip to Knoebel's with Renee and the kids.  Alex rode her first real roller coasters. She loved them!  We got to have a cookout with my siblings and their families at Jon & Renee's, complete with S'mores. We headed back to WV at the end of the month to move into our temporary hotel apartment residence--a 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom apartment with a full kitchen, washer, and dryer.  Our new home on the 14th floor! 

JULY...We returned home in the heat of summer. We went to a birthday party for Alex's buddy Layla, a pirate theme that included a water fight and a pinata.  We enjoyed a cookout at our neighbors' house-Rocky and Carrie.  Our house is coming along nicely, framed out, roof on.  We enjoyed fireworks outside the hotel on the 4th with Desiree & Adelaide and the Johnson family.  Marlon was busy with his summer camps and we often met up with him for dinner in the dining commons.  I was asked to coordinate MOPS for this coming year so the planning has started in full swing.  We went blueberry picking. Twice. We spent a few days at the pool.  Alex became a deep water swimmer.  Her swimming skills have improved so much since we have spent so much time at the hotel pool.  Kellan is no longer afraid of swimming on his own with swimmies.  He will jump into the deep end on his own.  He even tried swimming underwater without swimmies while at the lake. Speaking of the lake, we went back to Eagle Rock and spent a few days with Marlon's family up there.  The kids enjoyed playing at the lake. Alex got to swim out to the platform with the big girls.  A lot of good food was eaten.  Then Marlon's family headed home and my family came up for a few days.  There was more swimming, good food, and relaxing.  The kids had a great time and it was great to have Marlon with us for a little vacation.  Alex lost her 2nd tooth and promptly swallowed it while eating a S'more.  Luckily the tooth fairy was still able to find her at Eagle Rock.  We enjoyed a few long days at the pool when we got home to keep cool. 

Ahhh, it feels so good to catch up!  Now hopefully I can stay current.  Thanks for reading, if there's anyone still out there :)

Easter 2011

Trying to play catch up again here...here are some pictures of the kids from Easter. This year was the first time ever that the kids participated in a traditional easter egg hunt. We did one with our MOPS group and it happened to be on a day that Alex was off from school so both kids were able to go. We also did one outside in the backyard with our neighbor Adelaide.

When I was growing up we always did a scavenger hunt with clues hidden in plastic eggs that led us to our easter baskets, and my brothers and I always had fun with it. We've enjoyed keeping that tradition alive with our kids now! Here is Alex searching for her eggs.
After church we enjoyed brunch at the home of some wonderful friends. Good food is always in abundance and the kids have a great time playing while the adults get to socialize.

Time to dye easter eggs...

Funny pictures of Alex posing that I had to include...

Crayola Factory

While visiting PA we took the kids to the Crayola Factory--a place I'd never been and had always thought it would be fun to take the kids...and it did not disappoint! We went on a rainy weekday and practically had the place to ourselves--the place is connected to a Canal Museum that had water tables, boats, trains, etc. so the place had something for every kid! My mom went with us, and Renee and her kids met us there.

Clear wall that you could write on with markers--Alex enjoyed that!

Arts and Crafts

Mia and Grammy

A demonstration of how crayons and markers are made--pretty neat!

The coloring table--Mia's favorite place

Trip to Grammy & Granddad's-Part 1

For Spring Break we went out and spent a few days with our family. We got to see all of the cousins and spent a lot of quality time outdoors, at parks, and riding bikes!

This was an amazing 3 (or was it 4?) story park near my parents' new house. It was perfect because it had something for every kid!!

These may be a little out of order, but here is a cute picture of Alex and Nolan sleeping. They are good buddies and I know we will cherish these pictures as they get older :)

There is also a great park within walking distance of my parents' new house--the kids LOVED playing there and we made multiple trips there during our stay.

We were also able to have a second birthday celebration for Kellan with all of his cousins.

We are so thankful for such wonderful family :)

3rd Birthday Celebration #1

This is a bit late (as usual) but I wanted to document it before I forgot about it! Last month we celebrated Kellan's 3rd birthday with a Lightening McQueen party. Unfortunately Kellan had come down with RSV the week before and although he was feeling better by the time of the party, most of our family opted to stay home so they didn't risk getting their kids sick, which we totally understood! We just held a party the following week in Philadelphia so we could celebrate with them :)

Mommy and the birthday boy :) Enjoying cake The kids playing a our own version of a Minute to W1n it game!
Buddies Daddy and Kellan painting a wooden race car Kids painting their cars Painting hands instead of cars... Josie, Tate, and Kellan hard at work
Stay tuned for birthday celebration #2...

Happy Birthday little man!

You finally turn 3 today Kellan--Happy Birthday to my St. Patrick's Day baby! You were excited to open a few presents this morning when you woke up--some puzzles, a book, and some new Wii Fit games to share with your sister. You got to celebrate with some friends last weekend for a party and you will be able to celebrate with your cousins this weekend, which I know you will enjoy!

These past 3 years have gone by so quickly, and part of me hates watching you grow up so fast right before our eyes. You are still our snuggly boy, and you still love having your lovey for comfort (gotta start breaking that habit soon!). You are so athletic, just like your daddy, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for you when you start playing sports! You have such a sweet disposition--you are rarely mad or prone to throw a fit, and you generally are a people pleaser. You hate to see daddy or I get mad when you do something you shouldn't (like have an accident), and sometimes just a look from us will send you to tears. Oh Kellan, my sensitive child!

I sometimes struggle with how sensitive you are since you are the complete opposite of Alex's personality (and mine too for that matter), but I do love that it makes you such a tenderhearted little boy. We recently have continued to struggle with leaving you at church or MOPS, where you will burst into tears when we arrive and cry uncontrollably--sometimes until someone comes to get you. Thankfully you do well when I leave you at the gym or for bible study--not sure why you do well with some environments and so awful in others. I know it's a phase (again) and we will work our way through it, but it does frustrate me that you aren't as easy as Alex was in that regard. I want so badly for you to enjoy your independence, but I know the trade off is that aside from that one issue, your temperament is so sweet that this is where you give me peace while Alex knows how to ruffle my feathers! God finds ways to bless us through our children in different ways, that's for sure!

You continue to love trains and cars, and you find a way to play soccer with any toy: a group of crayons, bouncy balls, cars, colored pencils... :) Soccer is still your all-time favorite sport, although you will be introduced to t-ball this spring since I recently signed you up! You have taken a liking to daddy's ipad and have become amazingly good at navigating through it and playing games--you enjoy skeeball, basketball, soccer, and the talking animal apps. You also enjoy playing the Wii Fit and doing puzzles, which I love. You don't care for books quite as much, and you don't have much of an interest in writing or drawing. You are still a lover of all kinds of fruits and juice, pasta, veggies, and meat, but you don't really like breads and cheese.

You've been doing very well since becoming potty-trained--you have the occasional "mini accident" where there's some wetness but you've managed to hold most of it until we get to the bathroom--you have gotten a bit lazy with telling me when you need to go so I have to continue to be diligent with making sure you go periodically. We still use pull-ups for bedtimes and when you take naps because I do not need to deal with cleaning wet sheets in the middle of the night!

I love your cheesy smiles, the way you caress my hair at times when you're sitting with me, the way you are usually very obedient and cooperative, especially in places like the grocery store. You are a great helper to me, and we are thankful that God has given us the privilege of being your parents! We love you bubba! Happy Birthday!

Things I don't want to forget.

I have not taken many pictures at all recently but I wanted to still take some notes on what the kiddies are doing!

Alex
She is loving kindergarten and everything about it. She loves her helper days when she gets to bring snack, show & tell, and get to be first in line all day. She tried roller skating for the first time a few weeks ago and felt it was a lot harder than ice skating. I was surprised because I always remembered roller skating to be easier, but all the kids were continuously falling on the floor so it was definitely a challenge for them!

We finally found a movie that she enjoyed a few weeks ago--Gnomeo and Juliet. I was shocked at the end of the movie to hear her say she liked it (never happens) and that she would want to see it again (also never happens). So I guess there's still hope!

Alex has been enjoying her gymnastics class--she's doing great with cartwheels, working on backwards rolls, handstands, balance beam, and the trampoline.

Kellan
Still as sweet as ever (most of the time), he has started to dislike going into his class at church again--I thought we'd outgrown this phase when he turned 2, but he seems to be struggling with it again. He is very much aware of when I leave him places, which I do a few times a week, whether it be at MOPS, the gym, or church. He always asks if I'm going to leave him there, who will stay with him, etc. I hope to just keep continuing to take him places and perservere until this phase passes again, which I know it will! A few months ago Kellan discovered the Wii Fit and he just can't get enough of it! He is able to maneuver through the screens using the remote, and he can play just about all of the games on there with the exception of a few--the tightrope, the bubble river one to name a few. He loves the running games, as well as the soccer one (of course!). He could play it for hours if I would let him. He's also been enjoying typing on my computer in Word. It is allowing him to practice finding and identifying his letters, and he's quickly learned how to spell and type his name without any help. Now we are working on the names of other people in the family. He has also learned how to play games on Marlon's iPad, so he will happily sit just about anywhere and play a variety of games that Marlon has downloaded for him. Ahh--gotta love technology!

We've signed Kellan up for t-ball this spring--we're looking forward to seeing how that goes, but we figure it will probably be pretty funny!

Here are a few pics/videos of the kids. Last week my friend Ehren and her little boy Henry came up for a few days to visit. We took the kids to the women's basketball game--here are the kids cheering for the mountaineers!

Here is Alex giving sweet baby Henry is bottle. This is such a cute photo--Henry is just the sweetest, most laid back baby ever--always happy and smiling. (love him touching her face!). Henry is probably the first baby that Alex really remembers seeing from back when he was in Ehren's belly, then holding him as a newborn, now seeing him crawl and start walking. She really loves him!

Yesterday we made an impromptu stop at Chuck E Cheese (on a Saturday afternoon no less)--the kids were supposed to go to a party there that ended up being postponed because the little boy was sick, and Alex really wanted to stop while we were up in Pittsburgh, so we went in for a bit--barely an hour because the place was such a madhouse--wall to wall people. Remind me never to book a party there on a Saturday afternoon!! But the kids enjoyed the brief time there--we pretty much divided and conquered--Kellan and Marlon stuck together (here they are playing air hockey), and Alex and I worked together.

Guess that's all for now--I will be posting again soon about a celebration for a certain little boy who is getting ready to turn 3!