Kickin' Family Fun

We've been trying to get Caelyn involved in anything for years now. She just doesn't want to join any clubs or sports. I finally told her she had to do something, so she chose karate. I thought that might be a good thing to enroll Wyatt in also as a structured setting.

Last weekend, we all went to see what it was like. On the way there, Piper said she wanted to do it. She also does dance and really wanted to do gymnastics. I told her she had to pick between gymnastics and karate because I want her to continue with dance. She's really good! She chose karate.

When we got there, the two instructors took Caelyn, Piper and Wyatt onto the mat and began some basic moves with them. Turns out Wyatt's not ready for structured lessons. He's still a free spirit. So we watched as Caelyn and Piper did punches, kicked a bag and broke boards with their feet. Okay, so it wasn't a two by four, but they thought it was pretty cool.

We decided to sign them up. Hey, they get points for listening to their parents, using manners, helping out. Of course I'm gonna sign them up. Even better, under the family plan, because we signed the two of them up, the rest of us are free!! We have our first family private lesson on Saturday. Thank goodness there aren't any cameras in there! :D While we were filling the paperwork out, we were in this little room that had one of the bags for kicking. I looked over and Larkin's kicking it with her foot. So not only is she going to dance, she's going to take karate when she's old enough, too!

I'll let y'all know how Saturday went. Oh, and we can go up to four times a week, no extra cost. So on days the kids are saying they're bored, I'll pop em in the car and make em kick out their boredom!

Who Does He Think He Is?

Jason really wanted to go to King's Island in Cincinnati over the weekend, but I convinced him the Indy Zoo would be just as much fun. And he believed me! Sunday morning we got the kids up and in the car and headed downtown. Caelyn thought maybe we were headed to the race (Indy 500). These kids don't like spending five minutes in the car and she thinks we're taking them to watch cars go around a track for five HOURS? We got to the zoo early enough that we could catch the first dolphin show. I don't think we've seen the show since before Wyatt was born, so the kids really enjoyed it. Larkin was just dancing along with the music.

The Indianapolis Zoo is a very nice zoo. They've done a ton of upgrades and new exhibits. This summer they have a couple of koalas visiting. One of the new things that opened last year is a shark petting pool. We hadn't seen that yet, so we headed over to the Oceans exhibit. After finally pushing (not really, we're patient people) our way to the edge of the pool, we watched the sharks swimming by and occasionally ran fingers down their backs. Jason and Piper were at the other end of the pool and Jason mentioned we needed to see a particular shark. We walked over to the other side of the pool to the shark resting area, where you're not allowed to pet them. Several sharks over there visited with us, but it was obvious which shark Jason wanted me to see.

Maybe he thinks the dolphins get too much attention. Or maybe he's confused on his species. Either way, he's an attention getter. The video is not too long, but all the good stuff is at the end. And just so Jason didn't have a terrible time, I let him take the older kids on the roller coaster.

An Early Celebration

Next weekend, we are headed up to IL for the joint birthday party of Grant, Wyatt and Ryan. We're gonna do that on Saturday and on Sunday, we're doing the Autism Walk at Soldier Field in Chicago. Wyatt, Larkin, Kristi, Drew and I did it last year, but this year, I think I'm getting the whole family involved.

So, because we're going to be gone that weekend (Saturday is Wyatt's birthday) we decided to open the presents Grandpa O brought up this week today. Wouldn't want them to get lost in the barrage of gifts next weekend. Or for the Benson boys to get jealous of what he might get. Wyatt had fun opening all the presents. He got a Thomas book with sounds (thanks, Mom!), he got a coloring book with crayons and markers, a tin with "Cars" magnets and his favorite, a Lightning McQueen remote controlled car.

Hopefully this works:

Be Careful What You Wish For

I decided that over the summer, I was going to start Wyatt on potty training. Except he beat me to it. Last Wednesday, as soon as he got to school, he took off his diaper and threw it in the garbage. His teacher called to tell me about it and suggested that I just send him in underpants from now on and we'll see how it goes. So far, so good. He loves to go! Unfortunately, it's every two minutes! I think his favorite thing is the Thomas and McQueen underwear. We've had it since last summer and it's just been waiting for him to be ready. I guess he's ready. He's only had one accident since we started the undies on Monday. I still have him in diapers overnight, but as soon as he wakes up, he yanks em off and sits on the toilet. Not bad for a kid who was afraid of the toilet a couple of months ago. Of course, that's because he lost his grip and his bottom fell into the water.....

I was going to get a picture of him on the potty and post it, but don't want to embarrass the poor kid. Hopefully we'll be done with diapers soon, but I've heard boys take a long time to train. The only experience I've had is with Jason and it's taken 12 years to get where we are. :D

The Joys of Parenting

Birth is just the beginning. It's the easy part, even without the epidural. I should be grateful that we've not had anything major happen to the kids. No broken arms, no hospital stays. We just get the annoying things. Like this morning, when Piper came downstairs before school complaining of an itchy head. And during the brushing of her hair, when little bugs fell out. And at the doctor's office where she confirmed that Piper has headlice. Yippee!!!

After buying the shampoo, we came home and I went through her hair with a comb, trying to get out as many lice as I could. Then I put the shampoo on. Directions say to keep eyes closed until the shampoo is rinsed out. It was funny watching Piper bump her way around the house for ten minutes. Then we rinsed out the shampoo and I began the tedious task of combing through it again. But half the little buggers were still alive! So I took a hairdryer to her head because heat kills. And according to one website, I also found out (later) that you shouldn't use a hairdryer because some of the shampoos have flammable ingredients. Oops!

It appears that no one else in the household have acquired the little suckers (pun intended) though I did make my mom check mine. It doesn't shock me that Piper was the one to get it. Let's just hope this is the last we see of them!

Once bitten, Twice shy?

Today I bring you some news that could have been very serious. Yesterday, Caelyn was down playing in the cul-de-sac with her friends and her friend's mom let out her dogs. There is an electric fence around the yard. But that doesn't keep the dogs from barking at the kids. So, I guess Caelyn asked the mom if she could come into the yard and meet the dogs (two pitbulls - I think- and a terrier). Kelli said okay and Caelyn stepped into the yard. The terrier came over and unfortunately, Caelyn happened to be standing right on the electric fence line. So, when the terrier came over, she got a shock and lunged at Caelyn and bit her inner thigh. We cleaned it out and put neosporin on it and I called the dr to see if we needed to come in. It was more of a scrape than a puncture. He wanted to see her in 48 hours, but we're leaving tonight for Florida, so he prescribed antibiotics as a precaution. It looked much better this morning, not as bloody but more black and blue.

The neighbor of the dog owner went down to animal control to ask some questions (they have a problem with the dogs and their girls are very scared of them) and I guess they were told that the terrier bit Caelyn. So, the doorbell rings and there's an animal control officer on our step. Because the bite happened within city limits, I was legally bound to file a report. Part of me was like, it was an accident, it wasn't a bad wound, but the other part was what if it happens again and they don't know about this incident? So, I filed the report.

The dog owner came right down after the incident and made sure Caelyn was alright, made sure I knew her dogs had all their shots, was very apologetic. She's already called her fence company to relocate it to the backyard. I'd post a grotesque picture of the wound, but it's in a very private area.

So, we're off to Florida after school. I'll be thinking about y'all as we're playing in the sand and surf!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

After what seemed like ages, today was the day we have been waiting for, counting down to, wishing would come faster. Today was the day that Caelyn got all of her hair chopped off to donate to Locks of Love. This is how she left the house this morning:



They started right after school and I tried to make it to see it get cut off, but by the time I got the kids picked up, we didn't make it there til 3:45 and she was walking out to meet me. This is how I first saw her:



They put the hair into a ponytail and chop it off. Whoever cut hers off left a strand of hair 2 inches longer in the front on each side. They had stylists there, but I guess Caelyn was trying to get a hold of me to come get her and she didn't go to get it styled. So we went over to Supercuts just to even it out. And this is how it looked after that:



It's taking her a little bit to get used to it. She keeps saying how weird it feels, how easy it is to get a comb through it. I can't wait til tomorrow when she takes a shower and I comb her hair after. No more half hour fights with combs and rats' nests. I think she looks totally adorable!



We did have an unexpected occurence today. When we got into Supercuts, Piper jumped into the chair:



Although I won't be braiding hair or putting hair into buns for ballet anytime soon, I think the girls have very cute haircuts. And I'm happy to put the time I save on haircare to better use... like fighting with Piper to do her homework!