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Treat or Treating take 2

We had a great time at our friends house going treat or treating. This was the second round of trick or treating, we did the church Trunk or Treat last week. They first had a picnic under the park pavilion. Jerry got recruited to cook the hot dogs and hamburgers. It was nice to have some hot apple cider there. After that the kids load up on the wagon/hayride. The kids would jump on and off in between each house as they collected candy. It was a lot a fun. Caleb didn't quite get treat or treating the first time around, but the second time he had a blast. He loved carrying his pumpkin bucket, he always thought he had to walk into the houses to get the candy. We decided not to torture him with face paint this time around, due to him not feeling so great the last few days. Kate love riding on the Hay ride and run up to the house and back getting her candy. It was nice to have Jerry to help me with Caleb it was getting hard for me to get up and down off the hay ride. It was pretty cold last night. Kate ended up wearing her Tinker Bell Jacket which was green so it totally matched and she still looked like Tinker. We had fun putting on make-up for her and sprinkling fairy dust on her hair, which in fact was just glitter. She had a great time. The kids have enough candy to last them quite a while. Caleb's favorite by far is still the dum-dum suckers. All in all it was a great Halloween season. I am looking forward to more upcoming holidays.

Trunk or Treat

This past Saturday our ward had there annual Trunk or Treat. I am so grateful to my husband for being such a good sport about sewing Caleb's Clown outfit. He asked me, why is it every time we go to the trunk or treat the afternoon before he is always sewing something. It is true most times he is sewing. I have learn to sew a little more but Jerry is so much better and faster I just ask him to help me. He did a really great job I think. The first couple of times we tried the costume on Caleb he freaked out. Jerry said don't you know kids are scared of clowns and you are trying to dress him up as one. It was kind of funny I have to admit. Kate decided she wanted to be Tinker Bell this year. Her costume was so easy, we just picked it out of her dress up box added some tights. The only thing I had to buy was some ballet slippers for her to wear, for some reason they sell all the princess shoes with the corresponding dress but they don't sell any Tinker Bell shoes. Kate looked so cute in her costume. Kate and Caleb had a great time collecting all the Candy at the church Trunk or Treat. Caleb wasn't sure what to do, he wanted to eat every dum dum sucker he got. He soon got the hang of it by watching his big sister. Kate loved going up to all the cars and saying Trick or Treat. They said you could go around to the cars as many times as you want. So Kate went around twice, Caleb just watched the second time around. He didn't need all that candy, or I should say I didn't need all that candy, you all know who really eats it when they are that age. Jerry stayed by are car and passed out the candy while I took the kids. We ended up running out of candy by the time Kate wanted to go around again so Jerry got to take her around. It was nice to be able to have both of us take the kids around. After that the youth put on a spook alley in the gym. Kate was scared the first time though and Caleb came out hugging daddy around the neck scared. Then Kate and Caleb went a second time and actually enjoyed it. I lost count after that how many time Kate went back in. I was sad they didn't do the normal kiddy games this year, Caleb would have enjoyed that a lot. It was still a great time and the Kids really enjoyed themselves.

Kate's marble Jar

Kate a couple of days ago received her reward for filling up her marble Jar. She has been working hard for about 4 months to get a new bike. The old bike was getting small so with the suggestions of her daddy she decided she wanted a new bike. The reason for the marble Jar was to help motivate Kate to make good choices and to help with some of the area she had been struggling with. The way she earned her marble varied, if she help clean her room or the kids room, helped brother, stayed in her bed. She also earn them by behaving in the store or other situation that required her to be good in. It took a while at first to earn and keep marbles because we also took marbles away for bad behaviors and not following the rules. This has been a really good thing for Kate because she is such a visual learner. Kate enjoyed picking out which marble she wanted to put in the jar each time. Some tasks earn more than one marble depending a what she was asked to do. I found these really neat marble at Wal-mart that were different colors and all had names, like wizard, bubble bee, turtle, cardinal, blue bird etc. She would always tell me which one she wanted by the name not the color. So after Kate filled half of a mason jar, we all headed down to wal mart for the big event. In the pictures above you see that the bike still has the training wheels oh it, all the bikes come with them, Kate was so excited that we haven't had a chance to take them off yet. She know how to ride without them, we just have to wait for a time she isn't riding it and take them off. It was so fun to see her excitement and her joy in her achievement. I am so proud of her working so hard and not giving up on reaching her goal. This marble jar was has been a very good thing for Kate, I had tried many other things to help her learn to obey the rules and to help her in areas she struggles in. This idea came though much pray and inspiration and I believe it truly is an answer to prayer. This concept though simple in nature was exactly what Kate need for her to succeed. It was hard for Kate to see all her marble take out after she got her bike, I think because she had to work so hard to get them. Soon after she started getting excited to earn more for the next prize which she still says she is think about. Kate is not sure what she wants just yet. That's ok she has time to think. We as her parents thought that since she has to work so hard and long to fill the jar that we would make the prizes or rewards something big and significant in size or worth. We are so proud of you Kate way to go, Keep up the good work.

Caleb 17 months old

Before his new Hair cut

After his hair cut

Caleb is now 17 months old. It's been a while since I update everyone on Caleb so here it goes. He is 22 pounds and growing fast. He is now signing all done, more, drink and eat. It's really taken off this week with his sign language. He can now say da da, Sadie, go, ball, uh oh, and Kate which sounds more like date. He is starting to try and copy what you are saying. Caleb loves balls and cars he plays with them all day everyday. He thinks everything that's round is a ball. He loves to point at the balloons in the check out at wal-mart and shout BALL he turns my face to look at them and says ball with lots of excitements. He gives high fives, waves to every car that goes by and gives Kisses. He is a sweet little boy. When he get excited about something, he still does his oooohhh oooohhh sound, it is so cute. He loves to take baths, yesterday I was talking to my sister on the phone and said I had to go and give the kids a bath. Well Caleb heard the word bath and ran to the door knocking and lifting up his shirt trying to take it off. We now keep the bath room doors shut since he love to place things down the toilet, like Kate's tea cup. Then once we got into the bathroom he started pulling on his pants to try and get them off. After I helped him with that he started pulling on his diaper, he could hardly wait to get in the bath. He loves to play with his big sister Kate, he follows her every where. It reminds me of me and how I would follow my big sister everywhere. He loves to chase the dog and ride on her back and throw a ball to her. He is offically a blanky boy. He has a blanket he carries everywhere. He will not go to sleep with out it. I thought he would be more attrached to his Binky but that is not the case. He always picks up the blanket in the morning and gives it to me to carry out to watch TV in the morning. Caleb loves to watch Curious George in the morning, he like to sit with you for about 30 min and snuggle, and then he ventures out to play. Curious George is the one thing that calmed him down one night when he woke up crying from either a bad dream or his teeth bothering him, we don't know. We love having Caleb in our family he has been a joy to watch grown and learn. So there is the most recent update on Caleb.

Shopping Trip Success

Today I had no choice but to take the kids grocery shopping with me today. I usually go when Jerry can watch the kids. I like doing that way so I can get away for a little bit, but for some reason we just ran out of everything all at once, so we had to go today. The farther along I get in my pregnancy the more tired and excused I feel, so the thought of taking the two kids shopping exhausted me before I even got in the car. Taking Kate shopping is alot of work, there is something about a store that makes her wired, and overly excited. While with Caleb it mellows him out, and he likes to look around at everything, they are polar opposite in that respect. So I planned ahead, I got the usual toy and snack for Caleb which always keeps him happy. To help Kate I took a tip off of a show I saw about letting Kate help with the grocery list. I drew pictures of what we needed along with the words and put a box by each item for her to check it off once we put it in the cart. I had an old clip board from my teaching years and put a pen on a piece of ribbon. I had about ten items on the list all of which would be spread out through the store so she would be busy the whole time. It actually really work and went really well she had a great time and it made for a very low stress visit to the store. I often times have to keep her from touching everything and not holding on to the cart and staying out of others way. It's more work to take Kate to the store then it is to actually get what you need, she is just so excited to shop it hard to keep her calm. Kate was able to stay on task and stay focused and out of trouble. I don't know why I didn't think of this myself. We even had a box to check for her to get a treat for being good and getting everything on her list. She was so excited to help and to remind me of things we needed, she said she had a lot of fun and wants to do it all over again. All in all it was a successful shopping trip, I actually enjoyed this trip to the store with my kids, it went really smoothly.

Family Update

I just wanted to update everyone on what everyone has been up to. We loved having Jerry's parents come visit us a few weekends ago. I'm just kicking myself that I didn't take any pictures while they were here, what is wrong with me. The kids loved playing and hanging out with grandma and grandpa. We love it when family comes to visit. We sure do miss all of our family. Well, Jerry is busy working 2nd shift, doing test flight. He enjoys playing basketball at church and Soccer and the YMCA on the weekends. I am 30 weeks pregnant now and really starting to realize how quickly this baby is coming. I am very excited to be done being pregnant, I'm at the can't sleep or get comfortable stage. I guess it is good training to get me ready for all the sleepless midnight feedings. We are struggling to find the right name for this little girl, which is making me anxious. I wish we could just find that one right name and have some idea of what she might be named. Usually one of us feels strongly about at least a few names, but we both just feel ok about certain names, nothing sticking out. I know it will come to us, I just wish it was sooner then later.

Kate loves to go to preschool, she loves singing and playing on the playground. It's been really good for her to have another outlet to do something. She also is having a blast playing soccer with her friend Bella at the YMCA. She is on the orange team. The coaches are great with the kids, they asked the kids what they should call themselves and one yelled out Giraffes. So Kate is on the Orange Giraffes team, which consist of 5 girls and 2 boys. It's fun to watch all the kids try to chase the ball and most of the time kick in the wrong goal. It just goes with their age group, you can't expect to much. They are just there to have fun and run around. It's been really great for Kate to get some of that extra energy out. I love soccer game days, because after soccer I give the kids a bath and they are so ready for bed, it makes for an early night. Kate does really well at kicking the ball, she really seems to enjoy herself.

Caleb is growing up fast. He just turned 16 months. He is the cutest boy. I love is personality. Everyday my husband and I look at each other and say he is just so funny. Just the facial expressions and the things he does. He is now starting to talk a little. He says ball, Da Da, and dog dog, and Sadie. That's right he hasn't started to say ma ma, which frustrates me, but who can compete with daddy and the dog. He loves shoes, he will ask me to put his shoes on every morning. He loves to put on Kate's dress up girly shoes, and daddy's soccer shoes, and mommies High heals. Caleb love his blanket, I thought it was his Binky that soothed him but I was wrong. Last week as church my friend took him while I did singing time, he had his Binky, but she asked me if I had his blanket with me, and I said yes. As soon as I gave it to her he calm down. He can't sleep without it, I've tried other blankets it doesn't work. I really hope this blanket hold up for a while. Caleb loves to kick the ball all around the house, and chase the dog. He is such a good eater. He eat twice as much as Kate does. He went to the doctor yesterday and we weighted 22 pounds and I am not sure about his heights . The doctor said he looks great. Well that is just a few of the update I want to write down so I wouldn't forget.

Alligator Hunting

Jerry went with some friends from work to Lake Eufalua to go alligator hunting, at night. He said he caught and Alligator within the first hour of hunting, but since they only had a permit to keep one, they decide to let it go. They wanted to keep looking and not stop so soon into hunting. The first Alligator was 8 feet. About and hour and a half later they ended up catching a 11 foot alligator but there was trouble with the line and it got away. So Jerry went home empty handed the first weekend of hunting. The next weekend they had better luck, about half way through the night on the very last night to hunt they caught a 6 foot 9 inch alligator. Jerry was very excited, I got to watch the footage he taped and he seem to be having a great time. It was quite the adventure.

I'm back!

We finally had to give in an buy a new laptop. All are attempt to revive are old computer was a bust. So I know, I know I have a lot to catch up on and Iwill fill you in on every last detail. It's funny how everyone thinks I blog way to much and gives me a hard time, but the moment I can't everyone is asking me to hurry up and update. Can't win. Anyways look for updates coming soon

Labor day Weekend!

We had and awesome time this past labor day weekend. Jerry's Sister and her family came down to our house for a visit. It was a jammed packed weekend full of tons of fun. We ended up taking a trip to Atlanta to visit the zoo and the Aquarium all in one day. I know, I know your probably thinking we were nuts for trying with 3 smaller children, but it end up being just fine. We had a few melt downs around lunch but that was to be expected. The Kids loved to see all the fish and loved petting the sting rays. Caleb's favorite part of the day by far was the petting zoo. He made me a little nervous, he had no fear and got right up in the pigs and goats faces. It didn't seem to phase the animals, after a whole day of it, it wouldn't bother me either. Caleb did have a little run in with a goat. He decided to pat him on the butt while he was eating and the goat warn him once by turning around, then he did it again, and the goat head butted him in the chest. It was the classic funniest home video moment. Caleb was just fine, he got up and started babbling very firmly, telling the goat in his own way that it wasn't nice to push, and then Caleb did this funny stomping/dancing feet thing. We got it all on tape for future posterity. It was really funny. It was a beautiful day and I had a great time as well.
The next day we stayed home and relaxed and then the following day we headed to Panama city Beach in Florida. It about 1 hour and 1/2 to get there, not as long as our Atlanta trip which is 3 and 1/2. The beach was great, the water was so nice, warm, clear, and free from Jelly fish this time. The kids loved playing in the water and riding the boogie boards. Caleb struggle to get use to the sand, he mostly spent the day in mine or daddy's arms. He warmed up a little and let me take him out and sit in the water for a little while. Kate is such a water girl, she loved swimming with her cousins, and looking for seashells on the beach. All in all it was a busy but very fun weekend. I was really needing this little get away the everyday was getting to me, and I'm getting more and more uncomfortable the farther I get along in my pregnancy. I will be 7 months this coming Saturday, yeah I'm on the down hill! I currently don't have a working computer so I can't post the pics of our weekend until I get it fix, but I promise all you blog reader out there I will deliver the second I get a chance. I am borrowing my sister in laws before she head out tonight. Thanks so much Jennifer, Neil, Sierra, Mia and Preston, for coming down and spending the weekend with us, we made some great memories and we had a great time!

Kate's first day of Preschool

I wasn't planning on having Kate go to preschool this year, but I did quiet a few month ago sign her up on the Early Education Center in Enterprise. I didn't have much hope of them calling, she was way down on the waiting list. So my initial plan was to work with her myself, but they ended up calling. I guess a lot of people didn't want the afternoon schedule so that's why they called me to see if I would be interested. I didn't care what time it was I told them I would love to have her come anytime. So She goes every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 12:30-2:00. I know it's a weird time but the more I thought about it the better it worked out for me. Having a new baby soon and trying to get around in the morning would have been tough I can barely get to church at 9:00 on time.
Kate of course couldn't wait to start, she was so excited to get her new backpack and new tennis shoes for school. She kept asking me do I go today, is it today, she about drove me crazy. Jerry and I along with Caleb all took her to school that day, Kate thought that was really neat. It nice that Jerry schedule allowed us to do that. Kate of course did great she didn't cry or anything, she just waved and said bye mom. I figured she would be like that, she is very outgoing and not a very nervous child. It made it easier on me I think to let her go. She had a great time, she talked all the way home. She had to call her dad at work to tell him all about it. She was so excited and wired she couldn't calm down enough to take her nap. I think naps are going to be disappearing soon for her, good for her sad for me, I'm doing to miss taking a nap. I'm very excited for Kate this is going to be really something she needs and it will be really good for her. Kate needs an outlet to burn some of her energy off and use curiosity to the fullest. I like the fact that it's not everyday and it not all day long, just the right amount of time to be in school but still have a good amount of time at home with mommy and brother during the day. Wow Kate's growing up I can't believe she is already in Preschool, where did the time go!

Just like Daddy

I found Kate the other day in our room pulling out her daddy's work clothes and I said what are you doing? She said I'm going to be just like daddy. She got all dress by herself with a little help from me to help her with the long pants. The funniest part was she said, mom don't forget my boots, I haveto have my boots just like daddy, he wears boots to work. So she put on her new rain boots we got her the other day. I took a couple snap shots it was pretty cute, especially with the bright pink rain boots. Kate loves her daddy!