We are having another baby boy this coming August! Geoff and I can't quite believe it, we both had been thinking we were having a girl, but we are both very very excited! The days leading up to the ultrasound were kind of stressful for me, so it was such a relief to see a healthy baby on the screen! The technician knew what happened last time with Daniel and was very reassuring and kind. She showed me right away that he had a strong heart beat, so I didn't have to worry about that anymore. He is a very active baby and made it hard for the tech a few times, but that's a good sign in my mind. He is measuring about a week ahead and has a big head! I think he is going to take after Sam...
The kids stayed with a good friend of mine during the ultrasound and were so excited to find out if they were getting a brother or a sister. I made them wait until we met Geoff at Olive Garden for dinner. I asked them on the way for their guesses. Sam said boy right away, and Anna said "I think boy, but I am really really really wishing for a sister!" Henry said boy, too, but I think he was just copying the other kids... They were all right, and Anna is not too disappointed, even though she is getting yet another brother! Now we are trying to think of a name...
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Fun in Florida
We spent our spring break in Santa Rosa Beach with my parents and my brother Jeff. What a great vacation- and just what everyone needed! I started out driving down with the kids on my own (Geoff couldn't make it out until later in the week), and met Mom, Dad and Jeff about 2 hours along the way. After that, I didn't need to drive at all- thanks Dad and Jeff! The drive went pretty well- I think Henry was the only one who had any issues (one pretty big tantrum that involved him trying to escape from his car seat and ended with him falling asleep). A highlight of the drive was our pit stop in Metropolis, IL - HOME OF SUPERMAN! We didn't want to take the time to go to the Superman museum or visit the enormous Superman statue, but we did get to see lots of Superman and Wonderwoman stuff at a gas station and get some pictures with Anna and Sam in front of Superman and Wonderwoman figures. This totally made Sam's day! Maybe someday we will get to the museum.
We spent the week going to the beach, the pool, taking long walks, and biking on the nice quiet road outside my parent's house. We didn't, unfortunately, spend much time sleeping... The kids were up by about 5:30 practically everyday, but they did get to sleep usually around 7 since they were so exhausted by all the outdoor activity. The weather most of the week was great- not that warm, but sunny and beautiful. It was so nice to see all the green grass and trees! The kids loved the beach, although Henry did not like how the ocean seemed to keep coming back... He tried yelling at it to STOP! but the waves just kept on coming. He spent most of his time at the beach running away from those waves. Sam and Anna both loved the water at the beach- Sam especially! So much fun to see them having such a great time, at least until they all of a sudden got so so cold! After the beach we usually made a stop at the "warm" pool. All the kids loved this- Sam and Henry liked to jump in the water over and over and Anna spent her time swimming around the edges within reach of the sides and trying to keep her face dry. All the kids got very comfortable in the water through the week- Henry wore a life jacket and would happily float in circles all by himself. Sam wore some water wings and attempted swimming on his own with great success. Anna would swim with a kickboard in front of her across the shallow areas- as long as she knew she could stand up if she needed to, she was fine. Swimming lessons this summer should be a lot of fun!
On Thursday, Geoff joined us, although a little later than he expected to- his flight had mechanical trouble and got delayed big time. He was supposed to arrive at 9:30 and Henry and I picked him up around 3... That was too bad- I know he didn't want to spend his short vacation in the airport! The kids were so excited to see him and happily showed him all the fun things they had been doing while he was stuck working. On Friday night we went out to dinner at Fudpuckers restaurant- a really fun place that had an alligator preserve! We got to touch and hold a live alligator. It was really neat and a highlight of the trip!
Jeff was kind enough to drive back home with us on Saturday morning- so I didn't need to drive yet again! I love not driving! The kids were happy watching movies and reading books (Anna finished the Narnia books "The Horse and his Boy," and "Prince Caspian" on the way). We were all pretty tired when we got back, but happy to be home again. Many many thanks to Grampy, Grammy and Uncle Jeff for a wonderful, memorable week! They were such a big help with the kids, giving me some much needed breaks, and, as always, there was plenty of wonderful food courtesy of Grammy! I hope we get many more chances to visit down there!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Happy Valentine's Day!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day this year! Twelve years ago, Geoff proposed to me, so this is always a special day for us. I had to teach gymnastics that night, so we were going to have a quick pizza dinner after I was done working, then have our "fancy" dinner over the following weekend. So, I showed up at his apartment in sweatpants and all messy from wrestling with kids all afternoon. He answered the door all dressed up- I think he even had on a tie... I felt a little under-dressed. Even so, he still asked me to marry him! I love him more than ever and am so lucky such a wonderful man found me!
We started our celebration early this year with a surprise lunch on Sunday after church. This is right around nap time, but everyone managed to hold it together so we could have a nice relaxing lunch. We had one bad moment in the restaurant involving Sam and a knife, but no worries :) On the actual holiday, the kids woke up to a decorated table, homemade cinnamon rolls, and some little gifts. They were so excited- but I think all the boys ate for breakfast was chocolate... Henry says "I likee chocla, Mommy!!" Sam and Henry are all out of candy now, but Anna still has plenty left- I guess she has more self control. After we finished up Anna's morning school work we left to get to her music and drama classes. The boys and I hang out in the church nursery while she is in class, so we all have a good time. Henry enjoys trying to escape from the nursery and Sam enjoys running around the room with a plastic hammer "fixing" things. Anna has made one very very good friend at the co-op, Joy. Anna and Joy are Little Billy Goats together in the play the drama class is preparing, "The Three Billy Goats Gruff." Those girls sure do have fun together and I'm so glad Anna has made a good friend. After class ended, we went to the Valentine's Day party at the church. All the kids made a decorated box and exchanged valentines. This was so fun for the kids and brought me back to my elementary years... We had pizza and plenty of snacks- Sam ate FOUR pieces of pizza, at least two cupcakes, as much canteloupe as he could hold, and then went back for two brownies. I think he ate enough to last him the entire week and he has been wanting to compare his height to mine since then to see if he has grown bigger than me yet... Funny guy. Everyone was tired after the party, so we headed home for naps. We got a special dinner ready for Geoff and had another mini-party when he got home from work. Overall it was a really fun day spent with all my favorite people! Now we have to get ready for a party at our house that is set for Friday with a few other families. The plan is for the kids to do a craft, make their own mini pizzas, decorate sugar cookies and play. It should be a fun ending to our week!
Anna's school continues to go really well. This week we are learning the last set of math facts for the year- they are referred to in her book as the "odd-ball facts" because they are the leftovers with no real pattern in the strategy to solve them. We are also learning about paragraph writing, time zones, the South Pacific, and the nervous system. It should be a fun week! We have been having a lot of fun with the human body unit in science- Anna loves it! We are set to finish our math curriculum up completely by the end of the month. February is way too early in my opinion to be done with math for the year, so we will be starting up a separate curriculum then. It will cover many of the same topics, but in a different manner so we will be exposed to different methods and types of problems. It is also more independent, which will be a nice change. I think this will be a good review - I don't really feel the need to start up the next level right away, I would rather make sure she really knows the basics at this point. We will return to the next level of her current program in the fall. We will most likely finish up the bulk of our regular work in May. My plan is to continue with writing and math throughout the summer, throwing in plenty of fun projects and outside activities, before we start up first grade in September.
We started our celebration early this year with a surprise lunch on Sunday after church. This is right around nap time, but everyone managed to hold it together so we could have a nice relaxing lunch. We had one bad moment in the restaurant involving Sam and a knife, but no worries :) On the actual holiday, the kids woke up to a decorated table, homemade cinnamon rolls, and some little gifts. They were so excited- but I think all the boys ate for breakfast was chocolate... Henry says "I likee chocla, Mommy!!" Sam and Henry are all out of candy now, but Anna still has plenty left- I guess she has more self control. After we finished up Anna's morning school work we left to get to her music and drama classes. The boys and I hang out in the church nursery while she is in class, so we all have a good time. Henry enjoys trying to escape from the nursery and Sam enjoys running around the room with a plastic hammer "fixing" things. Anna has made one very very good friend at the co-op, Joy. Anna and Joy are Little Billy Goats together in the play the drama class is preparing, "The Three Billy Goats Gruff." Those girls sure do have fun together and I'm so glad Anna has made a good friend. After class ended, we went to the Valentine's Day party at the church. All the kids made a decorated box and exchanged valentines. This was so fun for the kids and brought me back to my elementary years... We had pizza and plenty of snacks- Sam ate FOUR pieces of pizza, at least two cupcakes, as much canteloupe as he could hold, and then went back for two brownies. I think he ate enough to last him the entire week and he has been wanting to compare his height to mine since then to see if he has grown bigger than me yet... Funny guy. Everyone was tired after the party, so we headed home for naps. We got a special dinner ready for Geoff and had another mini-party when he got home from work. Overall it was a really fun day spent with all my favorite people! Now we have to get ready for a party at our house that is set for Friday with a few other families. The plan is for the kids to do a craft, make their own mini pizzas, decorate sugar cookies and play. It should be a fun ending to our week!
Anna's school continues to go really well. This week we are learning the last set of math facts for the year- they are referred to in her book as the "odd-ball facts" because they are the leftovers with no real pattern in the strategy to solve them. We are also learning about paragraph writing, time zones, the South Pacific, and the nervous system. It should be a fun week! We have been having a lot of fun with the human body unit in science- Anna loves it! We are set to finish our math curriculum up completely by the end of the month. February is way too early in my opinion to be done with math for the year, so we will be starting up a separate curriculum then. It will cover many of the same topics, but in a different manner so we will be exposed to different methods and types of problems. It is also more independent, which will be a nice change. I think this will be a good review - I don't really feel the need to start up the next level right away, I would rather make sure she really knows the basics at this point. We will return to the next level of her current program in the fall. We will most likely finish up the bulk of our regular work in May. My plan is to continue with writing and math throughout the summer, throwing in plenty of fun projects and outside activities, before we start up first grade in September.
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