2012 Week 21

Ack!  Really?!?  Not a single photo taken this week.  Sad, because there were probably a lot of opportunities, I just didn't take the camera out and about with us.  That and the fact that I was sick, sick, sick for a lot of the week.  At the very least I need to go out and take some detail photos that relate to what we've been up to this week.  (sewing ruffles for the duvet, pool, sale pending sign next door!)
Let's see - what happened this past week?  Our 13th wedding anniversary!  That was on Tuesday.  We kept the celebrating pretty low key, skipped the babysitter and just went out to dinner as a family.  Though the kids did let us sit together on one side of the table, for once :)  It was a nice dinner, and we had fun.  Then we stopped on the way home and grabbed dessert from the grocery store.
Then of course I got a scratchy throat that night and was pretty sick for the next few days.
We've been really excited for our neighborhood pool to be open, especially with the really hot weather we have had most of the month, and it opened just in time for Memorial Day weekend - yay!  Sam had Friday off and he drug me to the grocery store to stock up on picnic type food to take with us to the pool.  As soon as Kaitlyn got off the bus Friday afternoon we headed to the pool and spent the rest of the evening there.  Saturday we had a playdate at the pool with one of Kaitlyn's friend's from school and her family.  The girls had been wanting to play together but we didn't know her family so I thought this was a good way to get to know them.  Other than the fact that they were an hour late, it turned out to be a great idea and we all had a lot of fun.  I can see ourselves doing other things with their family in the future. 
We divided our time during the last two days of the long weekend working on projects (lots and lots of projects - drying racks, the yard, etc etc) and at the pool.  It was a great way to have fun on a holiday weekend without having to go anywhere or spend any money.  And with the constantly rotating number of neighbors in and out at the pool, it felt like one giant party.  We really like the people in our neighborhood, and have had a lot of fun meeting even more new neighbors.  I'm finding that I really like the idea of having "our" pool too.  It's been a great way to combat the heat and humidity and not have to stay inside.  And the kids have an absolute blast any time we are down there.  Kaitlyn swims like a litte fish (and even gets comments from people about how well she swims) and loves swimming under water.  And Tyler is in love with the water and completely fearless.  He started out the weekend without much control when it came to swimming and prefering to either jump into the shallow end where he could touch (yay!  he couldn't last year so it was harder) or using his kickboard or a noodle to float with.  But now he can propel himself for at least 5-6 feet at a time and thinks it's really fun to swim from me to Sam and back or from one of us to the edge of the pool.  I'm predicting he will have the swimming thing pretty well mastered by the end of the summer.

2012 Week 20

"Mom I need a drink!"
The combination of warm temperatures, high humidity, and Tyler being more prone to sweat than most kids means the little guy comes in with his hair matted to his forehead quite often.  Sometimes he even looks like this when I pick him up from school.

Kaitlyn's dance recital was on Saturday and the final dance class as well as the dress rehearsal was earlier in the week.  Kaitlyn was very excited for it, (not scared a bit) and did a terrific job in the two danced (tap and jazz) her class performed.

Saturday night we rented the movie We Bought a Zoo, so it seemed fitting to head to the zoo the next day when we wanted to do something fun for the family.  The day was beautiful and not too hot.  The kids were happy, and we all enjoyed it (and completely wore ourselves out - it's a big zoo with a lot of walking). 

Kaitlyn put herself in charge of the map and determined our course throughout the day.  She cited the zebras as her favorite thing at the zoo.  Tyler was very excited about the new animatronic dinosaur section.  And I though the baby babboon was the highlight of the day.  He put on quite the show, first cuddling with his mom, then running around teasing some of the others and generally acting like a kid on a sugar high.

2012 Week 19

I pulled the camera out for some photo practice more than once this week, including during a rain storm we had one day.  It's kind of fun to take photos, just for the sake of taking photos, especially with models as cute as mine.

Yesterday was Mother's Day, which is usually a pretty good day.  This year was no exception, in fact we kind of celebrated the whole weekend.  When Sam asked me a few days ago what I wanted for a gift I told him most of my top items I wanted to pick out myself.  So that is exactly what he did - he and the kids took me shopping at the Outlet mall on Saturday.  I ended up with a new pair of athletic shoes, 2 new shirts, door mats for the screen porch, and even a new swimsuit (which was surprisingly easy to find despite the fact that I haven't managed to get myself completly in shape as I had hoped by this point).  And of course the kids gave me some great handmade gifts and cards for Mother's Day as well.  (the flower pot and handprint pot holder in the photo are from Ty, the rest from Kate)

Kaitlyn has been waking up at 6AM and Mother's Day was no exception.  In fact, Tyler even managed to roll out of bed on his own around that time.  Kaitlyn had been sure to pull her Dad aside for a planning session Friday night, so he knew she wanted to make breakfast.  By the time Sam had forced himself out of bed to check on the kiddos, Kaitlyn already had the muffins mixed and in the oven all by herself.

After taking our time getting started with the day (and putting in a little time planing down a board we were hoping to use for countdown blocks - ick.  I ended up with sore arms and some bruises and scrapes on my forearms from handling the big 6x6) we decided our fun thing for the day would be making a couple different kinds of cookies.  So we loaded into the car to hit the grocery store, stopping first to get lunch at Sonic and let the kids play on the playground.  Then we all helped make the cookies, and lick the bowl :)

Kaitlyn is getting pretty good at food prep.  She did the eggs all by herself.

Sam bought me flowers while we were at the store.  He also had a nice dinner planned, including ribs on the smoker.  But sadly one of the wood chips decided to burn instead of smoke and the poor ribs ended up practically unusable crispy critters.  In the end we had chicken nuggest and fries.  Not ideal, but still a good day.  I love my kids and husband!

2012 Week 18

Lots of photos, not many words this week

Tyler is a very funny kid.  It's usually pretty amusing just to sit back and watch how his mind works.  Or watch him go crazy/silly, which is what he was doing in this case.  He would stand up tall, do a sommersault, then sprawl out on the floor for a minute before jumping up to do it all over again.  And again.  And again.

Isn't she looking so grown up?  My pretty little girl, patiently modeling hairbows for me. 

My little exercise buddy.

We spent a good chunk of the weekend getting gifts ready for May - Teacher appreciation (this coming week), Mother's Day, Graduation cards, etc.  I had to take a photo of the kids modeling the scarves we made the Gmas for Mother's Day before we sent them off.