A special visitor

This year we began the tradition of our Elf on the Shelf. For those that do not know about this there is a book that was put out years ago about an elf that Santa sends to you house. This elf watches you all day and returns to the North Pole each right to report on your behavior. Then returns the next day to watch over you again.

We had a blast looking for him each morning and seeing what "trouble" he got in to.

The kids named him Marshmallow and really enjoyed this daily activity. They are still asking me when he is coming back.

Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving was so chill. Most years Rob is up at 5am to head over to the restaurant and begin cooking for his staff. This year most of his staff had plans so we had a very relaxed day.

Rob cooked and we watched the parade and hung out in our PJ's till early afternoon.

About 6 we decided to head out and see what stores were open and ended up buying a little Christmas tree for our apartment.

We were also able to do some good deeds that week including donating a turkey and pie to local families that did not have food for Thanksgiving and we also took dinner over to our local fire station for the crew to enjoy!

It was a great day and we had much to be Thankful for.

Our visit to Indiana

When planning a trip to Indiana I am tired before we even leave! It is a full week jammed with activity.

This trip we were able to see my sister and her twins and spend some time with them on Halloween. We went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, and had some fun out at my Mom and Robert's house.

From there it was a drive up to South Bend. We were able to see the Great Grandparents, Grandma Kathy, PaPa, and Grandpa Brian. We visited with all of our cousins and mommy and daddy got a night out :).

We finished our visit to South Bend with a trip out to Notre Dame Campus and a great game!

It was then back to Indianapolis to fly back to South Florida.

Picking pumpkins at school

I went with Caddie's class to pick out their pumpkins for school. They were able to walk over, pick out a pumpkin, read a story, and take a few pictures.

So much fun to see their excitement over a little pumpkin.

Irish themed birthday

Rob has some really good friends that don't live too far from us. So when they were having a 50th Irish themed birthday we were all about it.

I had to post our picture with Rob in a kilt because it may not happen again :).

Caddie goes to the dentist

I finally made the appointments for the kids to go to the dentist.

We brushed our teeth and headed off. When we got there Caddie was fearless and Cooper headed for the hills. I was shocked how well Caddie did. Her teeth were perfect.

Cooper we had to reschedule...

First Baseball Game

 

One of the things that we truly miss about living in the Midwest is the baseball games.  In particular the Cubs. 

 

So when Rob was able to get some tickets for the Marlin's game we dressed up in our Cubs gear and headed down to the field.  I know what your thinking...really?!? Your Cubs gear? At a Florida Marlin's game? 

 

YES!  We didn't even get harassed :) 

 

The kids had a blast eating all things ballpark from hot dogs to cotton candy. 

School Circus

 

The kid's school had a "circus" about a month ago.  It was so cute.  Each class was a different "act". 

 

Cooper's class were the strong men.  They had weights made out of paper plates and paper towel rolls.  They marched around and lifted up their weights.  Very cute, though Cooper wanted NOTHING to do with it.

 

Caddie's class, which is all girls, were the tight rope walkers.  They all wore tutu's and walked across the balance beam at the play area.  They all looked so sweet and all had a blast showing their parents and friends what they had prepared. 

 

After each class went the kids did their normal morning routine.  They sang Happy Birthday to everyone that had a birthday that day.  They sang their prayer and Jesus loves me.  It was so sweet and I had tears in my eyes the entire time. 

 

Such a fun morning at school. 

2 months! REALLY?!?! 2 months?

 

Wow I wish I had a reason for no posts in 2 months...but I don't. Just let life get busy! So I am committed to spending the rest of the day updated and uploading pictures and all the fun we have been having while I have not been blogging.

ENJOY!

"Let Me Explain"

I am finding that a smart child is sometimes a huge challenge when it comes to discipline. Last week I picked Cooper up from school and his teacher pulled me aside to let me know he had hit a boy in the face with a dinosaur.  She was not concerned about it but wanted to let me know about this power struggle and I told her we would address this issue when we got to the car.

Once in the car this is how our conversation went:

Me: "Cooper, your teacher said you hit one of your friends in the face with a dinosaur"
Cooper: "Mom it was a T-Rex"
Me; "Ok! A T-Rex!  Why would you hit your friend in the face?"
Cooper: "Mom, let me explain this to you"
Me: "Um Ok Cooper, Please explain this to me"
Cooper: "I was playing with the T-Rex and Jackson came over and wanted to play.  I told him he could play with another Dinosaur but he wanted my T-Rex.  He pulled on the T-Rex so I hit him with it.  He then started to play with the other Dinosaur"

I just sat there stunned that he just went through the entire thought process of why he had hit that child.  And honestly I could see the whole picture playing out.  We then had a serious talk about not hitting people and sharing things we might not want to.  All the while I am holding back laughter and tears at how funny this situation is :) 

We have not had another issue in class and he is back to being "Super Cooper", as his teacher likes to call him!

Caddie Update

Our little bug is 2 1/2! She is a ball of energy and tries her best to keep up with her brother, OK run the house :) 

She is our little monkey and cuddle bug!  She knows how to use that cute little smile to get what she wants and uses it often on her father. 

She is enjoying going to school with her big brother and will run up to him while they are there to give him hugs and kisses.  (Cooper does not like that)  She is really working on communicating more though I can understand about 80% of what she is saying (still times when it is all 2 year old speak)

She is still "Daddy's Baby" and makes sure everyone knows about it.  She loves to dance and sing along with music and is not afraid to climb anything to get what she wants!

She is able to point out most of her colors, numbers, letters, and shapes (When her brother will let her).

Already she is leaps in front of where her brother was potty training.  She loves to use the potty and we have accidents only when she is having too much fun to stop and go.  Her favorite part is washing her hands and we find her in the bathroom often just washing up. 

She loves my lotion and make-up so I am always removing her from my bathroom. 

She loves dress up, books, and Minnie Mouse!

Favorite Saying:
"Why"
"I did it"
"Hi there"
"Thank You"
"I'm Daddy's Baby"
"Alright"

Favorite Color:
Pink and Purple (If sparkle was a color it would be that)

Favorite Food:
Granola Bars
Oatmeal

Favorite TV Show:
Mickey Mouse

Favorite Reward:
Staying up late with Daddy

Favorite Song:
Call Me Maybe - Carly Jepsen

Cooper Update

In true 3 year old fashion our little Cooper is the sweetest boy one minute and a trying, strong willed child the next.  He loves to hate his sister, needing her by him at all times just so they can hit and kick on each other :)  He is full of questions and trying to figure out how his world works.  He is all boy running, jumping, and climbing are an every day activity. 

At 3 1/2 we are sleeping through the night with NO issues but naps have become a thing of the past :(
He is fully potty trained with rarely an accident.  Most mornings he is wakes with a dry pull up.  He is able to wake up on his own and get his milk out of the fridge for both himself and his sister and turn on Disney Channel till 8am!!  (School days we begin a little earlier)

He is doing great at school and we have only had one issue with him hitting a boy with a dinosaur (more on that later).  He understands his days of the week now, months, and time.  He is doing amazing with knowing what word begin with with letter and is pointing them out to me while we are out each day.  He is a master at directions and could get even the worst tourist to Publix, the YMCA, and Target :)  (And Menchies)!

I am laughing at him most days :)  and enjoying watching the world through his eyes daily!

Favorite Sayings:
"Mom, I have a questions"
"Is that a deal?"
"Just a little bit"

Favorite Color:
Red and Dark Green

Favorite Food:
hot dogs
broccoli

Favorite TV show:
Bubble Guppies

Favorite Reward:
Playing a racing game on our phones

Favorite Song:
Shake it For Me Girl - Luke Bryant

Our Friends!

I can tell you that I had always thought I had it together in the department of having my children reliant on anything.  I was able to leave the house or leave them with other people without any meltdowns.  We went to bed without having to search the house for things to sleep with.  They never got into pacifiers or bottles!  So when Cooper's teacher asked us to bring his favorite stuffed animal to school last year I really had a hard time finding one. 

They did an entire week about these animals.  In fact we were trying to name ours on the way to school for the first lesson about our animals.  But from that week forward "Rexy" has been a staple at our house.  We have to find him before bedtime, he has to watch TV with us, and if I would let him Rexy would join us for dinner every night. 

So why would his little sister who is monkey do also not want to have a "lovey" to carry around.  Hence "Baby" came into play.  She carries Baby everywhere with her and we have now had multiple meltdowns due to the fact that baby had to take a "swim" in the laundry or we have even had a "time-out" for baby for flying through the air and knocking her brother in the head. 

Regardless, the kids love these little things and they love it when I let them take them out of the house with us.  We still are firm most days about everything staying home but a day at the park sounded like way more fun with our friends. :)

Quick Visit to the Zoo

We have so blessed with meeting someone we can really trust to watch the kids from time to time when Mommy and Daddy need a night out! 

 

But our children have this force field around them that make these sitters just fall madly in love with them.  Miranda is no exception.  She calls on her day off to come hang out with the kids and begs us to take a night out so she can come watch them.

 

She called one day and told us about a deal that groupon was having and told us she purchased the tickets to go to the zoo.  So we found a day we were all off and made a quick visit to the Miami Zoo.  When I say quick I mean a few hours.  It is still very hot down here and most of the animals were chilling under a tree away from view.  We wondered why we were the only ones walking around that day and we quickly realized that we were the ONLY people crazy enough to try for a zoo day in the middle of August. 

 

We were able to see a few of the animals and still had a great time.  We all agreed that it would be a great trip when the weather cooled off :)