Park Days

Pumpkin Carving

You can see we went straight to the carving and skipped the cleaning out part until after (Which both kids thought was gross & would barely touch.)
Here is Dax's drawing of what he wanted his pumkin to look like. We got it pretty close except the two extra circle eyes which I was afraid would make it too weak.
Ok - so I just freehanded Calleigh's. Its not the best work, but I was trying to make it kind of girly.

We tried to use the hammer/nail things you see here b/c I thought the kids might be able to do it (since I wasn't handing over a knife) themselves. I got them at the after holdiday clearance last year for a dollar. They were a bust b/c they are so difficult to hammer into the pumkin. However, they came with a candle flashlight thing that flickers for the inside of the pumkin. These are awesome (worth the dollar I spent on each kit) and I feel alot better about putting them on my porch rather than a candle.

Random note: So Halloween is my favorite "fake" holiday and really the only one we celebrate. I have the strongest childhood memories of Halloween - of picking out our costumes at the special costume store, of my parents coming home early and helping us get our costumes & face paint and carving pumpkins and toasting the (not so tasty) seeds. Then there was the candy sorting & trading on the living room floor. This is a nonholiday worth doing for the kids.

Fall Baking with the kids. They LOVED it!!

*Dax started hiding from the camera - so this odd mid-blink pic is all I got.

Things Dax says..

I picked Dax up from MOPS and he told me his teacher told them the David & Goliath story today. (Dax LOVES hearing stories.) I asked him what it was about and he told me David killed Goliath the bad guy.. with a SLINKY:))

Beautiful Day Outside

I love that a stick & acorns are thoroughly entertaining in this digital age.

Calleigh intent on finding out what Dax is up to.


This last pic is the kids getting ready for church so Matt & I could have a few hours for a date. All the stuff at the back door made me think of when getting ready for a date meant primping for an hour - now my hour is spent packing, dressing, and making sure everyone has used the bathroom before picking up Daddy on the way to church. Thank God for kpno - its worth the work to have a little time to ourselves!

These kids sure do love each other.

I walked in on this scene yesteday morning. You have to look closely - Dax is combing Calleigh's hair for her.

"No"

How this word is just now working its way into Calleigh's vocabulary amazes me. Finally we got more than a head nod today when we were checking all the places we could think of to find baby. We go through this "is is under the bed? - no; is it in the playroom? -no;" etc. until we we find it because it keeps Calleigh calm and not crying until we do actually find it

"Baby Nigh(t)-Nigh(t)" First 2 Word Phrase

One of Calleigh's FAVORITE things are babies. The other day when our friend put her child down for a nap, Calleigh uttered her first phrase. Most children younger than Dax are babies to Calleigh.

Dax's Pirate Party

Dax is 4!

(just random stuff about Dax for Mommy to remember)

I can't believe Dax is four years old. He is such a big boy now (with lots of baby left.) Current obsessions - swords, lightsabers, guns (which must be confiscated frequently), fighting, being scared - we really have not exposed him to more than scooby doo, tom & jerry (ok - kind of violent), old superman cartoons, starwars, and a few kids movies. Dax likes stories and Daddy obliges each night with a few stories before bed or a reading of Magic Tree House. Dax has just started Awanas at church where they do memory verses. He is so proud of himself and wants to repeat them over and over once he's got it down and "reads" the memorized lines from his book. He really enjoys school (MDO) one day a week. His answer to what did you do today - "ah, just played," - that's about all I get about school. Dax loves to be outside and just about anywhere Daddy is Dax will be close behind. His expressions and intonation surprise me as he copies adult phrases and sayings to a t. It makes it easy to forget he is still a baby in so many ways - like the lovely fits of frustration when he can't do something or something breaks or Calleigh knocks his block tower over (a frequent occurrence.) He is such a mother hen with Calleigh trying to boss her and lead her around. (I sometimes cringe when I hear myself in his correcting of her - need to work on that.) They are so close and sweet together though and the best of playmates in certain activities. Dax is pretty outgoing as far as meeting stranger kids on the playground, but is terribly hurt & heartbroken when kids won't play or otherwise reject his friendship(so sad for mommy to witness.)
And despite all my early efforts to feed Dax well - he's a sugar addict. He would do just about anything for the promise of it unfortunately. (Not looking forward to the annual checkup:( I'd do better with him if we stayed home more, never had to bribe him to sit through long dinners, and had fewer ice cream nights and probably need to do all that, but I'm not a perfect mom - far from it. Oh - and Dax is the most huggable sweet kid to just about anybody that will give him a little attention. He loves hugs and doles them out quite freely to teachers, family and friends. Sweet little four year old who just can't wait to be big just like daddy.

Annual check up monday: Height 90% Weight 97%. Did hearing & vision screening - all good. Checked blood pressure with this little bitty cuff - too cute. I've never seen a child's bp checked. Was very brave for shot and cooperated for exam extremely well (esp compared to last year.)

Calleigh's First 56 Spoken Words

baby, (banana)mana, ball, ba(ll)oon, bag, ball, bear, bike, bir(d), bobo, boot, bow, bow(l), box, bubble, bug, car, cat, choochoo (train), daddy & dadda, Dac (Dax), dog, duck, ear, egg, ele(phant), eye, (fr)og, (h)at, hor(se), (h)ot, ice, (l)ight, (l)ion, man, me,
mi(lk), mine, mine, mmm (as in yum), momma & mommy, moo, more, mine, pee, poop, (s)ock, (sh)oe, (sl)ide, (st)ar, teeth, dat (that), uh-oh, (w)alk

Dax Swimming Lessons

I am so proud of how far Dax has come in two weeks of swim lessons. He was quite fearful of the whole process and had to be pushed/dragged out of the lobby into the pool area the first day. He cried a lot the first day because he wanted his sucker DURING the lesson. His teacher was awesome with him and so patient - he must have responded to the sucker request 20 times that first day - "after class" "after" "after class" - and the teacher never appeared frustrated. The whole class the teacher is talking them through it & singing songs. At the end of class they get to hug Mr. Rudy until he screams - they think that is super fun. There were just 2 kids in his class. Dax would tell me how he likes his new friend and his teacher. He doesn't tell me much else, but can see him and ask questions about what he was doing. Dax quickly grew to like going and now LOVES the water. He is proud of himself too! He can float on his back, turn over and get to the side and hold his breath to get rings from the pool floor.


(The last day of class they let the parents come in and take photo/video. Before that, parents are behind a one way mirror in the lobby. I was trying to manage the camera, video, & Calleigh all at once - so excuse the videography:). The challenge was keeping Calleigh seated happily with me on the bench, away from my camera and recorder and all out of the pool- we made it:)

Working Outside

Matt's been working outside a lot on our yard. The kids love being out there with him.

My day was great until this evening when...

The garage attic ladder fell on my head. (Major bump.)

My bow boards wouldn't hang right.

The light cover on my livingroom ceiling fan just randomly fell & shattered denting & scratching our new coffee table. (Thank God noone was in the room.)

Calleigh stepped on a shard of glass.

Dax pulled a bookshelf full of toys onto himself. (Hadn't gotten it secured to the wall yet.)

We can't get the pin boards in the playroom straight.

I found another sloppy paint spot where things were painted around instead of taking them off the wall. (Most of the paint that was left from the previous owners is for the ceilings! -So I guess we are starting from scratch with yet another room.)

Calleigh - 20 Months

Calleigh B the drama queen! I've often wished away these days of incessant crying and constant frustration (for all involved!). But interspersed in the drama are the sweetest moments of pure love and joy. (okay - that sounded kind of cheesy - but she is just so intense at times is what I'm getting at) She jumps at you to give you a hug and cuddle without regard to what you are doing or what level she is falling from. She LOVES her family. She talks in her sleep "Daddy" all the time. When she gets up (first of course) and we are getting her breakfast, she insists we fill Dax's bowl and cup despite the fact he won't be up for another 45 minutes and shows him that we've prepared it when he gets up. She practically panics when Dax is away from her for a period and every time the door opens, she runs calling "Daddy, Daddy!!" looking for him. She is such a cuddler. She has begun begging for books more and more (yes, I'm a slacker with our second - but she tears them and won't stay on the page I'm trying to read and its not my favorite thing - but lately this is better and she's become more focused.)

And then there are the babies that she LOVES!! She sleeps with the one on the left because its soft and has a rattle she can hear in the pitch dark (that is required to sleep). She collects all her babies and carries them around rocking them. she wants them wrapped in blankets a certain way - I hide the blankets to avoid this drama.

And she has begun lining things up. (Dax obsessively did this with cars.) Calleigh does it with books, Dax's cars, crackers, whatever she finds. Then there is the shoe thing - she's not even two and the girl goes crazy for shoes! And the phone - she walks around the house pretending to talk to Daddy. Dax yells at her telling her Daddy is not on the phone. (We are working on that:) Dax and Calleigh love to play together. They fight, but really - they get along far beyond my expectations of this age.

The Great Outdoors - An End to Cabin Fever

So here in the south we get stuck indoors with the kids for most of July and August (instead of winter) avoiding the 100 degree heat. But we finally got a break in the heat this week and we got to spend some time outside. Can't wait for Fall to really hit. I think its my favorite season especially this year since Calleigh can join Dax on the playgrounds and such.

First Day Back to "Church School"

Dax was super excited to start back to his MDO program. (When he began he was 2 and I wasn't sure how to explain it to him so we started with the comparison to church and it became "church school.") He knew exactly what he wanted to wear, double checked that I'd packed lunch to his liking and we actually made it on time despite the longer commute this year. Dax ran right in and apparently charmed another teacher. (I think he is more obedient outside of my care.)

Child Labor

So in contrast to Dax who just like to supervise and direct my daily tasks, Calleigh wants to take over. I gave up my bowl and sponge to her and got another for myself, but she took that one too! Not much help other than getting the floor nice and slippery, but she had a ball.