PreK and K Thread - Week of April 16th

[JoanneOR]

Hi all! I'll start this week...

Susan and Helene, are you getting all that nasty weather? Sounds horrible! Hope you're not getting hit too badly.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Our weekend was busy. Saturday Caitlyn had her ballet recital. She looked so cute. I took her to get her hair put up at a salon before the show. I was thinking it wouldn't be too expensive - didn't even ask the price. I about fell over when it was time to pay. I'm embarrassed to say what it cost! Outrageous, more than I've ever paid for a haircut. But it looked adorable. Lots of curls and bobby pins (28, we counted! ;) I took lots of pictures and will try to post a few later. She was funny. She asked me if I could do her hair like that before school everyday. Um, no, I'm lucky to get a pony tail on her!

Colin and Jameson had their first soccer game on their new team Saturday at the same time as the ballet recital, so DH took them. They wound up playing on the same team, because Jameson's team only has four players, so they let the younger kids play on his team. Well, only five kids showed up. :( The other team had nine on the field and we only had five, which meant no substitutions. DH said they played their hearts out, but were so exhausted. He wouldn't tell me the final score, but it wasn't good. Poor kids. I hope they can get more kids to play - it's just ridiculous for the kids to be outnumbered like that. Very disheartening for them, too. It was an away game, so that probably contributed to them not coming. I'm hoping they decide to combine the two teams into one - it would be terrible if every game was like that one.

Gotta run...

[RunnerKim]

Hey everyone,

Joanne - I hope you can post pictures, it sounds like Caitlyn's hair was fabulous. That must have been an exhausting soccer game to not have any substitutions. Doesn't the league balance the teams?

Lainey's second soccer practice went better but I think it's just going to be tough for her to share DH (as well as the "behaves worse for your own parents/better for other people" syndrome. Next week is the first "game."

We had a very fun weekend camping. Well not really camping since we're in a yurt - but that's all I'm willing to do in April (ith as heat). In fact tent camping is looking less and less fun - I was eye-ing all the camper options. I've never been inside a pop-up trailer - Susan do you like the one you have?

It was hailing when we arrived at the campground but that quickly passed and we enjoyed a couple of hours on the beach. For the most part the weather was great (partiuclarly for April). We brought the kite that Lainey received from Santa and it was a lot of fun (and very easy) to fly it on the beach.

We saw a bald eagle and a family of deer and almost a whale (other people mentioned it but we never spotted it ourselves).

Now I could have just used a weekend to do all the normal weekend things!

Kim

[JoanneOR]

Kim, the soccer league they are playing in is comprised of different suburbs or towns in Northern Illinois. So, each team is responsible for recruiting their own players. On Jameson's old team, his soccer coach had his two twin daughters on his team. They are 10 and they didn't want to play on the team Jameson is on now because their dad wasn't coaching it! So, it sounds like Lainey is having a normal reaction to her dad as coach! Is she excited about her game? It's so much fun to watch them at that age. The entire team chases the ball. You're brave to go camping with the weather so unpredictable. Sounds like fun, though.

Oh, I just read on the pregnancy thread that Lori had her baby!!! Congrats and welcome Jason!!!!

[MrsReber]

Hi! We got rain. Lots of rain and very strong winds- they were up to 60mph wind gusts and it's been since last night. I think it'll die down tomorrow morning. I was sitting here working this morning and I heard the school bus coming down the road. Sure enough, they sent all the kids home because the power was out. So story time at the library was out today because they had no power, either. I was wondering why we still had power. Then our power went out at 11:00. Just as I was getting ready to put DH's birthday angel food cake in the oven. Sigh. I waited and waited, but the power didn't come back on until 6:15. By then, my angel food cake batter wasn't looking too good. Some had leaked out of the pan. I even attempted cooking it on top of the wood stove since it was cranking! I had a good fire going. But no luck. After the power came back, I put the cake into the oven, but it was hopeless by then. There's a real consistency problem with it. So I made another cake- a white cake- that is almost done baking.

Aside from that, there was the Tech shooting today. I couldn't see it today since we had no power and I haven't watched the news since the tv came back on. I don't really want to watch that in front of the kids. This morning, they announced the shooting on tv and then Casey's bus pulled up so I was a little freaked out. VT is about an hour or so south of us and I didn't know the whole story. I can't believe what a mess VT is and why didn't they cancel classes after the first shooting?? Can't go back and change it, unfortunately. This is just really awful.

Well, other than that, our weekend was very quiet since we didn't go camping. I got DH to start painting the living room ceiling, at least. Now I just need him to finish so I can paint the walls.

Joanne, that's so cute about the recital! The things we do for our kids! I know what you mean about the hair styles. I can do a regular braid, pony tail and a bun (by pure chance).

Kim, what a nice trip you had! I wish I could comment on camping in the pop up! We've had it open in the yard and it's pretty nice inside. It has a fridge (propane), a little stove, a table to eat at, a little sink (you can hook up water to it) and heat and a/c. It sleeps 6, I think. There are 2 good size beds and the table can be made into a bed, too. I really can't wait to try it out. I think the kids are going to love it. They get a little scared at night when it's dark out so I'm thinking they'll like the pop up much better. Only problem is it doesn't have a bathroom, but we dealt with that when we camped with a tent so it's not a big problem.

Well, I have to get these kids settled! They're crazy before bedtime thesee days. I have no idea why. They get very loud and out of control. This is a new thing for us.
Poor DH- not much of a birthday dinner. At least we went out Saturday night. I have to frost his cake still. I had such great plans. Darn power outage. I also couldn't really work. I have a little bit of notice. Once the power goes out, I know the phone line will last about 30 minutes before it cuts off. I downloaded what I could and then just worked using my laptop battery. Tomorrow should be a better day!

[hrk]

Good morning all.
Susan- Sounds like you got it as bad as we did up here, only we luckily didn't lose power. Sunday it just poured all day and yesterday was so raw from the wind. Where did spring go???

Joanne- Glad to hear Caitlyn's dress rehearsal went well. Sorry to hear the hairstyle cost more than you were expecting.

Kim- Glad to hear you guys had a nice time camping. What kind of Kite did Santa get Lainey? Logan's birthday is coming up and he would probably love a kite.

Well we had a fabulous time at Walt Disney World, despite the fact that Ari was sick for the first half of the trip and Logan was sick for the second half. They each spiked really high fevers that lasted for about 4 days and then just disappeared. And no other problems, so not sure what it was. BUt hey if you have to be sick might as well be sick in the Happiest Place on Earth.:p

We went to the Magic Kingdom for a day and a half, did Epcot for half a day, relaxed at the hotel for a day and did the Animal Kingdom for a day so it was a full trip. Logan did amazing waiting in lines for things and really enjoyed the experience this time. We stayed late one night so he could see the light parade and also did two character dining lunches so he got to meet a lot of the characters. At one of the lunches, we got to see Chip and Dale. I don't know who was "inside" Chip but they fell in love with Ari. They picked him up, held him, rocked him and just played with him for like 20 minutes. Ari just loved it, he ws really in to the characters.

It has been hectic since we got home. Saturday we saw Paula and her family, they are doing well and Logan loved having two playmates for the day. Sunday we had our last swim lessons of the session and then a pool party in the afternoon, so it was a very busy weekend and I am still trying to catch up on all the laundry.

Lori- Congrats on the birth of your second son and hope you and your family are doing well.

Heather

[LaraW]

Hi everyone-

I have been a bit MIA the last couple of weeks. Have just had a lot of stuff going on.

We had a nice Easter. It was SO cold here, though - we even had about 1 inch of snow. Both kids were very into doing their Easter eggs on Saturday afternoon, though. It was fun :)

Natalie has been taking dance lessons 1 afternoon a week. I think she enjoys it. She loves getting dressed up in her "ballet clothes". The only problem is that when I watch the class through the door, its hard to tell who is who b/c they are all dressed alike! :)

She has also been doing GREAT with the potty at school. I think she has earned her cherry nightgown for using the potty at school for the last 3-4 weeks or so. I'm SO happy about that. She has to go the whole day w/ no accidents and also use the potty at least 2 times to earn it. She has finally decided that she prefers to use the potty than wet her pants. I'm almost hesitant to type that out for fear of jinxing it :p

The next hurdle is pooping on the potty. She still is using a diaper, but I'm just trying to clean her up and be low key about the whole thing. She had 1 day last week where she woke up dry in the morning, so that was exciting too. She usually goes to bed with underwear on and I go up later and put a diaper on her, after she's been asleep for a few hours (usually I do it before I go to bed).

Colin is 15 months old today and just in the last week started taking some unassisted steps. He is pushing the chairs from the kitchen table around a lot and is SO proud of himself :D He's waving "hi" and "bye bye" and is saying both of those words too. I know he is not talking as much as Natalie did at this age. I don't know if that is because of just his personality or if its b/c Natalie talks SO MUCH :) We have joked that he doesn't need to talk b/c Natalie talks enough for both of them.

I have a question for you moms who work FT. I'm looking at the prospect of going back to work FT (not sure if I will do 4 or 5 days/week). Up to this point, I have worked 2 days/week and the kids have been in school those 2 days. Has anyone gone from working PT to working FT? I'm just wondering about the logistics of getting up and out the door every morning, what kind of schedule DH and I would need to have to make it work.

Joanne, sorry about the soccer team. Hopefully they will get more kids to play so the teams are more evenly matched.

Susan and Heather, hope your weather improves. Susan, are you close to VA Tech? What a horrible day yesterday.

Heather, sounds like you had a great trip. Glad the kids are feeling better.

Kim, sounds like you had fun camping. I don't know if I'll ever get up the courage to do that or not.

[Sarah428]

Lara - I work FT and we have our morning routine down to a science. I go to the gym at 4:45 and shower there, home at 6:30 and DH is already up and ready and getting breakfast & the kids up. After breakfast, teeth, hair, etc we're out the door b/w 7:45-8...good luck with your decision. I think you're right, Owen doesn't talk as much because Ella does it all for him too!

Heather - Welcome back! Sorry to hear the kids were sick but sounds like you still had a blast in spite of it.

Susan - Ella has been bouncing off the walls between dinner and bedtime lately too! I think it's spring fever.

Kim - For the past 3 evenings when I'm out walking the dog I've seen kids with kites! Glad you had a great time.

Joanne - I can't wait to see pictures!

Congrats Lori & family!

We spent saturday at the childrens museum that had the Arthur exhibit, wasn't as great as I thought it would be but Ella loved it and that's what counts. Finally had some decent weather on Sunday so got out and did some cleaning of the yard & garage. I'm having a garage sale this weekend so needed to make room!

Speaking of garage sale, I have tons of baby clothes that I'm selling. I was just going to do them as a single price across the board and not mark each individually. What should I price them at??? I'm clueless when it comes to this stuff.

Next 2 weeks at work are busy ones, school is wrapping up and I've decided to put nursing school/career change on hold until I see how things pan out here with my new supervisor.

Here's a pic of Ella & Owen from Easter morning
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7da28b3127cce82bedf3ff3db00000026108EaN2LFo2bM

[RunnerKim]

Congratulations Lori & Welcome Jason - I love the name Jason. I'm glad nursing is off to a good start. It was our older child that caused the most loss of sleep!

(Thanks Heather for the heads up - I don't read the pg thread very much).

Sarah - Ahhhhhh. They look so much alike. I'm not good with pricing - what about doing a "bag" of similar clothing/size for a set amount though? I've heard of people doing that and it seems easier.

Yeah for Natalie!!! That's great and i'm sure you won't jinx it at this point. I"m glad it's finally coming together for her.

Heather - sorry about the kids both ending up sick while of vacation. sounds like you all still managed to have a good time though. Glad to hear Paula and family are doing well too.

Susan - What a crazy day. I wondered how close you were to Virginia Tech. Terribly scary and sad. I did actually turn the news on when I got home - we never have the tv on in the evenings but I felt like I really needed to see it. Lainey did eventually ask about it and we explained in general terms.

Kim

[HRJ]

Welcome, Jason!! :) Glad to hear that things are going well, Lori! Congratulations to you and your whole family.

Sarah, what an adorable picture. I love Ella's big smile, and that wonderful look on Owen's face. Glad to hear you've made a decision about your job/school.

I'm not good at pricing stuff, either -- last time we had a yard sale, one of my neighbors "scolded" me for pricing stuff too low (the other neighbors were also selling stuff, and I think she thought my "cheap" stuff would make it harder for her to sell her more expensive stuff, even though we were selling clothes for different ages, and she had girl clothes and I had boy clothes -- but, whatever.) My main goal was just to get rid of the stuff and not have to deal with it when the yard sale was over.

Joanne, I can't wait to see the pictures of Caitlyn. Sorry it was so expensive, though. How is your DH doing?

Lara, yay for Natalie's potty progress!! I guess this means she'll be able to move to the next room -- when will that happen? I can't offer much advice on the morning routine thing -- I work PT, but at the moment we have Victor going to pre-K five days a week, so we have to deal with the getting-out-the-door routine every day. But, he's only one kid, not two; and he's older now than Natalie and Colin, so I think I've probably got it easier. Also, on the days that I do work, I have a very short commute (if you can even call it that), which I think makes a big difference.

Heather, glad you had a nice time at Disney, even though the kids were sick. Sounds like you were still able to have a lot of time in the parks. I remember hearing that most of the people inside the character costumes are young women, or female college students -- usually very petite ones, too. Apparently there's not much room inside the costumes, so men/male teens hardly ever fit inside.

Susan, sorry you got hit so badly by the storm, and sorry the birthday cake got ruined. Guess it was definitely a good decision that you guys didn't try to go camping this weekend.

Kim, that sounds like a fun camping trip. How cool that you can see whales from the shore!


We got lots of rain and some wicked nasty wind from the storm, but didn't lose power, and we were even able to get out both Sunday and Monday for playdates -- I'm glad; otherwise Victor would have been bouncing off the walls. Monday was a holiday in Massachusetts -- Patriots Day -- so he was home from school.

I guess the worst thing about the storm for us is that all the Patriots Day activities (parades, reenactments, etc) got cancelled. The holiday celebrates the start of the American Revolution with Paul Rever's ride, and the battle of Lexington and Concord. We live just a couple of blocks from Paul Revere's route, and we're one town over from Lexington, so there usually is a lot of stuff going on around here.

A "greedy child" moment to share: Victor asked what kind of presents you get for Patriots Day. :rolleyes: When I told him there were no presents involved, he asked, "So why do they call it a holiday."

Helene

[JoanneOR]

Helene, thanks for the laugh! :D That's so funny what Victor said about Patriot's Day. Sorry all the activities were cancelled. Who would think it would be so horrible in April?

Sarah, wow, you're up early! What time do you go to bed? I do get up early to workout, but it's usually around 5:30 and I'm ready for bed around 8:30, but usually don't get there for a couple hours! I'm not really sure about the pricing of the clothes either. My SIL sold a bunch at her garage sale and separated them into bags - maybe five or six pieces in each and sold them for a couple dollars each. Or, you could do something like $2.00 per piece or 3 for $5.00. This is not at all related to your question, but reminded me of our neighborhood garage sale a couple years ago. Our neighbor had a bunch of her old bras for sale. We were teasing her, saying who would buy someone's old underwear? :eek: Well, wouldn't you know it, they went like hotcakes! Love the picture of Ella and Owen!! Very cute!

Lara, I'm so happy to hear about Natalie's potty progress! Not as happy as you, I'm sure. ;) Will you and your DH be leaving around the same time in the morning? Will you be able to share the "getting out the door" responsibilities? I try to do as much as possible the night before. I think you just need to figure out all the steps that you'll need to do and how long they'll take and add an extra half hour or so the first couple days. ;) I get up around 5:30, workout, shower, get myself ready and get the kids up by 7:30. Feed them breakfast, wait for DH to get home around 7:45, I leave for work and he takes them to school at 8:15. Although now that DH is on disability it's easier on me. He's taking care of giving them breakfast and making sure they're dressed for school. After a week or so, you'll get a routine down and the kids will get used to it.

Heather, glad you had a good time at Disney. It never seems to fail, whenever we go away, one or more of the kids gets sick. It's usually the fever thing, too.

Susan, hope you're getting back to normal after all that horrible weather!

I've got the ballet pictures on my computer at home. I'll try to post one tomorrow. I was a bit dissapointed, though. We got a new camera that I'm not used to yet, so the ones I took at home didn't come out so well.

Friday is Jameson's spelling bee. We're just about through practicing the 20 sheets of words they gave him to study!

I was going to write more, but just realized the time. Have to go catch my train!

[MrsReber]

Hello! I got back from the school a little bit ago. I had to register Brenden for kindergaren ( :( ) I'll miss him! But he really needs it. I planned to go there around 10:45 so I could fill out the paperwork and then have lunch with Casey. I didn't tell Casey about lunch in case it didn't work out. As it turned out, her class was coming down the hall as I finished up with the paperwork. She saw me and ran over. Then she ran off to lunch. Brenden followed her so I signed us in and we had lunch. I am stuffed!! How can I be so full after eating a kid sized lunch?? I had the stromboli. It was also chicken nuggets day, which is what all of the kids were eating. They were really missing out!
I really do like the school here. It's so small and friendly. The woman helping out with registrations was retired from the county school system. She said it's like family in this area. It's so nice to have Casey with lunch. When the music teacher or even the custodian walks into the lunch room, the kids all want hugs! Casey's classmate told me that she likes hugging the custodian because "he smells good!" She told me I should ask if I could smell him when he came by again. I told her I'd pass on that! :D What funny, outgoing kids they all are.

Brenden says he's afraid of going to kindergarten because he's afraid he's going to be mean. He's given me very little trouble in the past 5 months that he's been home with me. However, as soon as DH gets home, he focuses on every little move Brenden makes. Brenden likes to practice the karate moves that he learns. DH gets offended and tells Brenden not to practice anything like that at home or he won't go to class anymore. Brenden has been known to beat up on Dallas- I am working on this with him and it's gotten much better. The big problem is that DH will get rough with the dog and Brenden is merely following his example. In the past few weeks, Brenden has called DH names and says that he hates him. I have tried to talk to DH about this- told him he's ruining his relationship with his son. I don't know how to bring peace between the two of them. DH has a tendency to punish first without looking for a reason behind the behavior. A few weeks ago, he put Brenden in his bed for doing something (or not stopping doing something, I forget) but he put him in his bed and didn't turn a light on for him (it was dark out). Poor Brenden was terrified. DH says I am the problem, I don't back up his punishments and that we're "not on the same page" --- to which Casey replied "I think YOU need to be on the same page as Mommy!" And then I had to leave the room. I think DH even laughed at that.

But I guess my question is how do we deal with this as parents? I feel that DH's punishments are handed out too easily. He never asks Brenden if he's hungry or if he feels okay when he's being uncooperative and whining. We're really not on the same page. My instinct is to sit down with Brenden and have a talk when he gets crazy or just sit with him for a time out so he can regain his composure. While I'm okay with a smack on the rear end every now and then, I cannot agree that a smack in the face for not immediately picking up a toy is warranted at any time. I'm almost at the end of my rope. Should I get DH to go to the pediatrician and discuss this with him? t's evident to the kids that there's a division in the way DH and I think. It's not good, but I simply cannot back up some of his behavior and it's really important to me that Brenden knows he's not a bad kid. Any advice would be helpful, but mostly I'm probably just looking for an outlet for these feelings. :( My poor son is now worried about being bad at school so I know there's a problem. By the way, there's no problem like this with Casey. DH says it's because she's such a good kid. Me thinks there's a bit too much testosterone in the house these days.

Well, other than that, I really am enjoying spending more time with the kids. I'm so happy that I can be more involved in their lives and their education. It must show. Casey got her report card yesterday and the teacher commented that we need to keep up the good work at home. She also noted that Casey reads to the class when time permits!! I had no idea. I asked if anyone else got to read to the class. She said no. Her intelligence scares me at times. She's so low key about how smart she is. I have no idea what she's capable of. DH couldn't get the remote to work the other day. I told him to give it to Casey. He handed it over and walked into the kitchen. Casey yelled out "Daddy, what channel do you want?" She had it working immediately.

Helene, that's so funny about Victor asking for presents! Reminds me of my brother's ex-GF who wanted presents for Flag Day. Good thing she dumped him. Guess he didn't buy her enough gifts.

I sold some baby clothes before we moved. Not many people came by so I let stuff go rather cheap. Some of the things weren't even mine to begin with as our neighbors moved and left some stuff with us. As for clothes, I was selling them for $2 and $3 depending on quality and if someone wanted a few things, I'd give them a batch for $5. My main goal was to get rid of the stuff and know that it was going to good use. Plus you have to figure you can go to Target and buy brand new sale items for a couple of dollars.

Heather, I'm glad your Disney trip worked out okay, even with the sickness! We have to get there one of these days. I know the kids are at the perfect age for it. They'll remember most of it and they're young enough to feel all the magic. I've never been to Disney myself so I want to go, too!

Well, everyone around here is wearing VT colors. It's really sad. I have no particular attachment (other than wanting my kids to go there someday!) but you can't help but notice how it affects the community here.

As for the storm, I spent at least an hour picking up sticks and branches the other day. And I could probably still pick up more! I got the bigger ones, anyway. I try to get the kids to help. They lose interest so quickly. At least Casey is still helping in the kitchen. She insists on sweeping for me.


Congratulations, Lori!!!!! :D

Sarah, I love the picture. What beauties!

I need to get back to work!

[Sarah428]

((Susan)) - DH & I sometimes have the same situation and I do think your idea of having a ped appt with DH (or something with an outside 3rd party) is a good idea. I do know what didn't work w/ my DH...sitting him down and handing him a book!:rolleyes: Maybe DH & Brendan need to set aside some "play/wrestle time" when Brendan can practice his moves without the fear of getting into trouble. Are there other things that are bothering DH and he may be taking out some frustration at home?

You & DH need to sit down and discuss punishment strategies to use before a situation arises so you can appear to be on the same page. We’re working on that exact some thing right now and it seems to be helping…good luck!

Your school sounds so welcoming and friendly, that's wonderful you got to hang out with them at lunch. I'd pass on the friendly custodian hug too!:p

[cchhbb]

Hi everyone,

It's been a crazy week here. I finally got my car back late last week, but still didn't get to go anywhere. DH's sister, aunt, niece and nephew came last Friday until Tuesday am. It was a nice visit, except DH's sister broke my dining room table by sitting on one of the leaves. They also set off the security alarm at 5 am on Tuesday as they were leaving since they didn't punch in the right code. Garrett wanted to know why the fire trucks were in our house. DH left that day for a business trip too. My birthday was Wednesday SIL made him buy me a present so I got an Ipod shuffle.

Griffin has been sick since Sunday. He had a fever, throwing up and nasty diapers. I switched him back to diapers since he's not poop trained yet. By yesterday, he was back to using the potty for pee. He is like Lainey and has taken all responsiblity for his own potty training. He does come to you to get help taking his pants down sometimes. He still won't use the potty anywhere other than home, but boy can he hold it. He only goes about 4 times a day and that is after staying dry all night. Garrett has finally started staying dry some nights. He drinks so much water that I really don't expect him to be night potty trained for awhile.

Susan, I'm so sorry about the conflict that you and DH have about parenting. We took a class last year which helped us some. My DH just doesn't have an understanding of typical behavior and what might cause the bad behavior. I feel sorry for Brendan. It sounds like he has some pretty typical boy behavior.


Helene, Garrett thinks the same way as Victor about holidays except he's sure that any party should have cake. For the end of the year school party, he was asked if he liked the party and he said what party since it didn't have cake there wasn't a party.

Re selling baby clothes. At my consignment sale, things are priced individually. The 'good' brands go for much more than the Target/Walmart brands. We sell everything from a $25 smocked dress to $.50 onesies. I think it would work well to price everything at $1 or $2 and then bargain from there. You might want to have a 1/2 priced sale in the afternoon so you can get rid of the rest of the stuff.

Yea for Natalie. At least she asks for a diaper and doesn't poop in her undies. Our Dr. suggested asking them to poop in a diaper in the bathroom and then transition to pooping while sitting on the potty wearing a diaper.

[MrsReber]

Yes, Brenden is exhibiting typical 4 year old boy behavior, but DH has always expected more from him. I have to remind DH that he did some pretty rotten things to his sister when he was a kid (tying her to a tree and shooting dirt pellets at her with some toy gun he had) That's something Brenden wouldn't dream of doing. Boys will be boys- he has a lot more energy than Casey does. They're just very different. He's not a bad kid, he just needs to channel his energy. My sister says her 9 year old son still tackles his sister (she's 12) for no reason. It's actually been quite stressful for me. I have to really watch to make sure Brenden isn't doing something that's going to make DH fly off the handle. I'm working on it, but it seems that I am the one trying to figure out how to bring peace between DH and Brenden. He's really very calm all day long so I'm wondering if some of the problem is that Brenden doesn't want to share me with DH and Casey. He tends to be crazy in the afternoon and he's always been very close to me. He wouldn't let anyone else hold him when he was a baby.

Cheryl, that's great that you got your car back! Not so great about the broken table and early morning alarm. Yikes! But things should be sort of back to normal now, right? Poor Griffin- I hope he's feeling better.

Casey's first show is this Sunday! I don't know what classes she'll enter. They tell me it's a very low key show. If Major doesn't seem like he'll behave, they decided they'll put her in the lead line class- where everyone gets a blue ribbon. She'd like that. If he's behaving, though, they'll go in 2 walk-trot classes. I'd love to see her in the walk/trot class, but I doubt she'd get a ribbon, being her first time out. She's a good rider, the problem is that she's tiny and very light so she's not quite strong enough to control Major the way she needs to. She gives it her best shot, but if he puts his head down to try to eat grass during a lesson, she doesn't quite have the strength to pull him back up. And, being a very smart little pony, he knows this. He's usually good, but he will take advantage of her if there's something else he'd rather do than walk and trot around the ring. Their main concern at the farm is safety, which is great. They told me not to worry about a thing with the show, they'll make sure it's a great experience for Casey. We're going on Saturday to observe Casey's trainer and another rider from the farm. It'll be a long day. I can't imagine Casey letting me leave before the very last class is over!

Brenden has been asking me to buy the 'targets' for karate - the cushions that the instructor holds. I think if Brenden sticks with karate, he could be very good at it. He says he wants to keep going after this session is over. And he's got one heck of a side kick! Casey likes it, but it wouldn't break her heart if she didn't go. Brenden, on the other hand, is very concerned about learning new moves- although DH keeps threatening him that he won't allow him to go if he sees him hit anyone (uh, yeah, kids not hit?? Good luck!)

Well, I must finish up my work and then have lunch with Brenden. We have to run to the post office and then eat (my favorite part!)

[cchhbb]

Susan,

Is Brendan getting enough exercise during the day? I know Garrett is crazy in the afternoons/evenings unless I get him out and run him around a lot. This week, due to some testing, the playground was closed and I can definitely tell a difference that Garrett didn't get his playground time. I have really tried to get him outside running around more as a result. I can also tell a difference if I haven't given him enough one on one attention.

Walk trot classes are so fun to watch. Is Major voice trained? My first horse knew the routine at horse shows and would do what the announcer said. Made it easy for me except for when there were two rings. Usually they won't let you do leadline if you enter a walk trot class. Have you bought Major or is he still in the trial period?

Major sounds like a typical pony. They often take advantage of their young riders. Is there someone small enough at the farm to ride him and remind him of his manners. There was a terrific little horse at the farm I rode at in college, but she was too much horse for her little 4 year old rider. I was smaller then and spent a lot of time working that horse so her little owner could ride her. I probably rode her more than he did. He won the walk trot at the Quarter Horse Congress at least one year.

I spent the morning being lazy. I really need some time off. I do most of the childcare and haven't spent anytime away from the kids since Garrett just turned 2. I decided that while Griffin was in school today that I was going to take a bubble bath and read a book. I really enjoyed myself.

Cheryl

[MrsReber]

I think Brenden needs more exercise, too. It's tough to get him to go run around. He usually waits until Casey gets home and then runs around with her. Also, when we go to the farm, he runs around a lot there. Today, he picked up some large sticks from the windstorm and fixed a jump (we were impressed with him!)

Major is still on trial, but probably not for much longer. I am thinking at the end of the month, we'll buy him. I have to laugh 'cause Casey will pretty much be getting a pony for her birthday. They sometimes put Elizabeth on Major when he's acting up. She's tall, but light. Major is pretty tiny- I think he's about 12 hands?? He holds his own in the field with the other horses and ponies, though. I didn't know that about the lead line. We'd all prefer to see Casey in the walk-trot class, but we just have no idea what it'll be like their first time out. I believe he's been in shows before, but he doesn't have a ton of experience. Do you ride anymore? Not that you have much time with your boys! I used to ride a lot when I was younger. I started when I was about 10 and then stopped around 12 or 13. I was sad to stop. My parents never encouraged me and my mom's relationship with her boyfriend wasn't going well (he was the one who bought the 2 horses for me and him to ride- and my mom rode sometimes, too).

A bath and a book sounds like heaven to me! I really love having this time at home with the kids, but I have to say, I don't get much time to myself. I usually have at least one child with me unless I am food shopping, and even then I usually have one. DH is working tomorrow so I'm taking both kids to the first day of the horse show. I love watching shows and I know Casey will be mesmerized. However, I wonder how Brenden is going to hold up! We have to skip karate, which starts at 9:30.

Well, I am going to relax and then probably fall asleep!

[cchhbb]

Susan, I only ride occassionally now. I really don't have the time or money. I'd have to drive pretty far to get to somewhere that leases horses. I have no desire to ride on a trail ride type horse either. I used to do some work for the horse park here, but due to time constraints I don't any longer.

I got my first pony when I was 3 and owned horses until I was out of college. I was a pretty good rider and trained a few horses for extra money. I gave lessons in college to pay for my horse habit.

Have you looked into any camps for Brendan this summer? I bet he'd get a kick out of karate camp. The girl across the street used to teach at one here. Garrett can't start karate until he's 5 so we will probably start next year. Right now he's in a soccer league and frankly not loving it.

Today we are off to soccer practice and game and then Touch a Truck. I then want to go look for mattresses for Garrett's bed. We are going to move Garrett into a full sized bed and Griffin can have his twin bed.

I also want to find someone to do a speech evaluation on Griffin. He's still not talking a lot and not putting two words together. I'll talk to his Dr. during his two year appointment at the end of the month.

CHeryl