Riding in My Pink Cadillac

This afternoon the kids and I headed out to the playground in our neighborhood. On the way we ran into neighbors who were practicing their driving skills. The two elementary school girls were sweet enough to let Wesley and another boy drive their cars.


Wesley loved driving the pink Cadillac. When he first got in the driver's seat he asked me, "How do I turn?" I told him to turn like he was turning his bike. That worked fine until it was time to back up; one of the other moms had to help him with that. Lydia was thrilled to ride in the car. Thankfully she didn't ask to drive.

Lydia also rode around with Max who is 4 1/2. I told his mom, "Oh, one day they will be old enough to car date." Max's mom replied, "Hopefully it won't be in a pink car."

Wesley also liked this Jeep.
The owner of this Jeep, who is almost 8 years old, had to help him drive because it was so much faster than the Cadillac. She was so sweet to let him have a turn and to very patiently help him.
When Chris was almost home from work tonight, he called to ask what we were doing. All I told him was, "Go get my camera and meet me at Max's house." He said he was surprised when he pulled up and found the road was blocked and the kids were driving in the motorized cars. He also thought they were very cute.

When we finally got Lydia away from the cars, she gave Daddy a sweet kiss.

A Meal for a New Mom

Wesley always gets up once within the first hour of being in bed to go potty. Now that we are potty training Lydia, she is joining in the stalling game. She is sleeping in a diaper, but night before last she was saying she wanted to go pee pee on the potty. A few minutes after I put her in bed she said she had to poopy. I put her on the potty again but nothing happened.

Last night Lydia fell asleep pretty quickly but Wesley had to get up once. He asked, "What's that smell? It smells like chocolate." I was thinking, "What are you? A bloodhound?" I told him, "I am baking a cake for a new mom. I am taking her a meal tomorrow." He asked, "Can I have just one bite of the cake, just one small bite?" No, but I can't blame him for trying.

I think the meal turned out well. I made everything last night. I put Sweet Pea Chef's pork BBQ in the crock pot and it cooked all night. This was the first time I tried cooking something over night. This morning I woke up thinking, "What is that smell?" Chris first thought I had left the oven on all night.

I also made coleslaw and Paula Deen's baked mac and cheese. Chris helped me by making the chocolate fudge cake. The cake is so delicious and it is very easy to make. I split everything but the cake because the other recipes make plenty for two families.

So, what do you make to take to new moms? Usually I make chicken pot pie.

End of the Year Potluck

Wesley's preschool had an end of the year potluck picnic last week. When we got there with our apple spinach salad, Chris asked, "Did they send out a notice that you should bring chairs or blankets?" I said, "No. I think the other moms are just smarter than me or else they have done this before." Really, why didn't I think of that? We were fine sitting on the ground; in the minority without chairs and/or blankets but fine.
There was plenty of yummy food but Wesley lost interest in eating once he found a caterpillar. He didn't even want dessert.

Wesley also had fun running around with this classmates.

Peter the One-Man Band provided the entertainment. It was nice that the kids could sing and dance and it was fun eating with live music playing. I wish we could do something like this for a MOPS event....

Lydia also had fun. This was the first outing we did with her in underwear. She told me twice that she had to go potty. I think she really liked the child-sized bathrooms.

Do you see that yellow line? She walked right down it and out into the parking lot with all the cars. When we caught up with her she said, "I was walking on the balance beam."

We had a great evening and it was fun to see so many of Wesley's classmates and their families as well as his teachers and the other families at the school.

Time Together at the Waterpark

We had planned to go camping this weekend but the weatherman was predicting rain and thunderstorms. So, Chris took advantage of a special offer from Great Wolf Lodge and booked a two night stay. We didn't tell the kids where we were going. When we pulled in the parking lot, Wesley said, "This is the swimming place with the waterslides!"

On our first stay at Great Wolf we were upgraded to a room with a loft and the second time we were upgraded to the room with the special kids' bunks. This time we were not upgraded.

We gave the kids a quick snack of rice crispy treats and fruit before heading to the water park. We love going to Great Wolf because it is a great family getaway. We spent uninterrupted time with the kids this weekend and we enjoyed seeing how much fun they had. It really was a blast.
Lydia fell off the "wood".


Then Wesley helped her stay on.


Lydia had better balance on her hands and knees.




We spent two and a half hours at the water park before heading back to our room to change clothes and go to dinner. We went to Captain George's and enjoyed the seafood buffet. The kids did great at dinner especially considering it was past their bedtime and they were very tired. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of Wesley holding up crab legs. He kept Chris busy opening them for him. The kids both ate crab legs, shrimp, hush puppies, deviled crab and mac and cheese. The buffet is free for kids under five if you order a drink for them. So for the price of two milks, the kids feasted.

The next morning Chris worked out while I had donuts with the kids (same thing on Sunday). I forgot Lydia's pajamas and she had to wear the second pair I bought for Wesley.
In January I thought the room we had was not very nice. The Lodge really is like a Super 8 with an awesome water park. This time, I thought the room was fine. The Lodge wasn't as crowded as it was for MLK and the inauguration so it was quieter. Additionally we had not just stayed at a brand new luxury resort the previous weekend. The fire alarm did go off at 1:35 AM Sunday morning. Thankfully they got it turned off very quickly. We received an apology letter under the door later this morning.

Chris tried out the flow rider on Saturday morning.

I didn't get it on video but we saw some great progress with the kids and their swimming skills. Lydia could swim with the life vest on. She enjoyed swimming between Chris and me. Wesley did a lot swimming with his face in the water (for short bouts at a time) and it looked like he could do it without the life vest but when we took away the life vest, we took away his confidence.
After three hours of playing in the kiddie pool, going down the kiddie slides, playing in the wave pool, going down the inner tube slides I was afraid Lydia would fall asleep for her nap and sleep until the next morning.
For lunch we went to our favorite barbeque place, Pierce's. This is one of the top barbeque places according to Southern Living magazine. We think it deserves all of the awards it gets. After lunch, the kids and Chris napped in the van while I did some outlet shopping. After a quick popcorn snack we went back to the water park for two hours. In January, Wesley did the slides below by himself and last night we figured out that Lydia could do them also. I went down, then Wesley, then Chris helped Lydia get started and I pulled her out at the bottom, and then Chris went down. After the first time, the lifeguard who was sitting between the two slides recognized the pattern and when I stood by the slide to get Lydia, he stood beside me. I think he wanted to make sure the little girl was okay. She loved it! I didn't get a picture of her though. This is a picture of Wesley from January.
Wesley and Lydia were able to do everything at the water park except for the Howling Tornado (you have to be 48 inches tall) and the Flow Rider (you have to be 42 inches tall).

For dinner Saturday night we had Pizza Hut pizza. They have a little Express place at Great Wolf. The pizza was excellent. I grew up eating at Pizza Hut but now that we have more choices we don't often order from there but maybe we should more often.

Lydia was happy to able to open and close the "frigerofrator" on her own.Tonight after dinner Lydia was trying to get a "ticket card" (credit card, metro card, gift card, etc) out of my wallet. I told her no that she couldn't have anything in my wallet. She replied, "But I potty trained now! I potty trained now!" (What does that have to do with my wallet?) She only had one accident in her underwear this weekend but she also spent a good amount of time in a swim diaper so I don't think we can declare that she is potty trained now.

Moving On

When Wesley was born I wanted to work part-time. I wasn't ready to give up my job but I wanted to spend most of my time with him. Before he was born I visited a few child care centers. I hated one that had a great reputation; I hated it because the babies spent their days being rotated in and out of equipment. I loved one center but they would have made me pay for full-time and I only wanted part-time.

Then I remembered that one of my former clients loved their in-home child care provider, Joan, who was also neighbors with one of my coworkers. So, I called my coworker and she gave Joan a glowing recommendation. They had been neighbors for a long time. My coworker told me, "Joan has limited hours. If you want to work, you need to work it out with her. She is the best."

That settled it. My mind was set on Joan but she first told me that she was full. I prayed about this, talked to her again, and found out that she could take Wesley three days a week from 8 to 3:30. Yeah!

So, Wesley went to Joan's for two years. When Lydia was a couple of months old, she joined him. Then it was time for Wesley to "graduate". I sobbed that morning when I dropped them off and again when I picked them up. I was just so sad that he wouldn't be staying with Joan anymore.

I gradually decreased my work hours and Lydia continued to stay with Joan. Until today. Her "graduation".

I love Joan. She doesn't keep the babies in equipment. She has bouncy seats for the babies but they don't spend a lot of time in them. They play on the floor, she holds them, they sleep in cribs, and she puts them in the bjorn or stroller for walks. She takes them outside every chance she gets. She takes them to her neighborhood playground. She reads to them, cuddles them and plays with them.

Joan also feeds them yummy and nutritious food. I was very embarrassed when Lydia started pretending to order food from the drive-thru. My little secret was out - we aren't as healthy as Joan.


I took this picture a couple of weeks ago. I picked Wesley up first and took him in to see Joan. The kids were eating lunch. That is a piece of steak in his hand; no wonder he wanted to join them.
This is Joan and her husband. He usually works from home and he does a lot of the cooking.
Today when I went to pick Lydia up, she was outside coloring with chalk.

Joan keeps up to four little ones at a time. Here she is holding baby James who is around 8 months. Madeline is about 18 months. I didn't pose these girls. Natalie climbed up on the swing and Lydia joined her. Lydia is about two weeks older than Natalie. Natalie arrives in the mornings after Lydia. Joan told me that Lydia always give Natalie a warm, excited welcome. She is going to miss her playmate.

I didn't sob today but I was teary-eyed. The kids and I will miss Joan but I am less unsure about what is next for Lydia than I was about Wesley two years ago. Since he has already been through the transition, I feel better about it for Lydia.

Thank you, Joan. You have richly blessed our family. I feel you provided the perfect child care situation for Wesley and Lydia.

Soccer

I should probably mention that I loved swimming as a child and I have a scrapbook full of ribbons from the YMCA swim team in elementary school. I had never seen anyone playing soccer until I went to college and I still have yet to see a game. So, maybe it is genetic...

Wesley does have fun at soccer class and I think the coach is great with the kids.

The soccer coach makes up silly games for the kids to play. They were pretending to be pirates who were firing the cannons (kicking the soccer ball). Wesley was playing his own game.

In this video you can hear the coach say, "Wesley come here." Wesley says, "I am a T-rex" and the coach responds by calling him a T-rex. I think the coach does an excellent job with the kids.

Wesley likes to line up the ball with his hands before he kicks it.

Wesley cooperated very nicely with this.


At the end of the video you hear the coach ask for the parents to come out on the field. He asked the kids to pretend they were trains and kick the balls through the "tunnels" that parents made with their legs. Wesley told him, "I am not a tunnel train" and he only kicked the ball through two "tunnels."

All those videos were taken last week. This is a picture from yesterday. Wesley didn't take a nap on Tuesday so he was very tired on Wednesday. Maybe next week I can do a post on how great he did in soccer.
The soccer class is at 1:30 and Lydia falls asleep on the way there and then usually sleep for about 30 minutes in the stroller.

Swim Lessons

When I learned to write up assessments, I was taught "Say the good stuff first and then say what needs to be worked on." So, today I am going to brag on Wesley (and Lydia) and show you how well swim lessons went. (Maybe only grandparents will watch all of the videos) Tomorrow I will show you how Wesley is not excelling at soccer (to put it nicely).

I loved swimming as a kid so I am motivated to take the kids to lessons at 8:30 on Saturday mornings. The early morning time also frees up the rest of the day. Chris and I look forward to when the kids can go snorkeling us.

Lydia drinks a lot of water.

Lydia loves jumping in.

Wesley is learning to swim with his face in the water. Don't blink or you will miss it.

Blowing to move the duck through the water.

This is how he dives in; it is more like a belly flop.

Wesley teacher tried to teach him not to bend his knees when kicking.

At the end of his class, Wesley always swim over to Lydia and they exit the pool together.

Wesley's teacher said he was ready for the next level of classes. We plan to resume swim lessons in November.