Proof and picnics

I found the picture is was that proves Uncle Paul was involved in teaching my child at a young age about fire. Notice that he has a lit match in his hand! Gotta love the Crissman boys and their love of flames.

All is well around here today, very quiet now that the banging on my house has stopped. We had workers wrapping the wood trim with PVC the past 2 days. It looks great but I am glad the kids will be able to get decent naps today with the noise waking them up.

Caroline has yet to do the monkey bars again, so no picture and I can't even get her to pose for one either. I thought she might since we had a picnic lunch with all our friends today. And for a little while I had 8 kids under the age of 5 with just me watching up on the playground. Surprisingly they were all getting along remarkably well. Meaning no arguing over the 2 swings. The good thing was all of the kids can walk, so that helped alot, and the fact that they had just been fed!

Big girl stuff

Today is a milestone of a day. This morning before lunch we were up at the playground with some friends when Adrianne said, "Ms. Julie, look at Caroline!" I turn and look and Caroline is doing the monkey bars all by herself!!! She was half way across when I turned and looked and sure enough she made it all the way. I was so proud because we do the monkey bars like a million times when we are at the playground. She didn't make it across again while we were out there, but I know it won't be long until she does it again. She is the first of her little friends to make it across.


And Will is fine after getting his hand stuck in an elevator door yesterday. We were at Justin's office and Will was down the hall trying to reach the water fountain. Justin and I were walking towards him talking to others in their offices when I had that heart stopping cry of my hurt child. I run to him and he can't get his hand out of the door. The worst part was the door wouldn't open up again! All the pressing the button wasn't opening it. So what does the calm, cool, collected mother do when her child is stuck and crying? Hit Justin and yell, "DO SOMETHING!" Just at that moment Will got his hand free and the door then opens. Will is a crying mess and he takes him into a conference room to settle down. Will and I settle down but then he doesn't want to leave his daddy arms. So it was a hard good bye for Will yesterday. Surprisingly he doesn't have any bruising just a little tenderness on a few knuckles.

I might be calm when others get hurt but I can't seem to get it together when it is my own children. I am working on it!

Memorial Day weeknd

The gang walking towards the mansion.

Granddaddy teaching Will the finer points of pyromania ( like a good Crissman boy should, right? U. Paul was teaching Caroline about the love of fire at her 1st bday if I remember correctly.)
Well while Granddaddy was busy checking out the flames he didn't notice that Will decided to put the flame out by poking it with one finger, which is what Will is showing him in the picture!


But, I hope everybody had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. We did lots of things and had a great time. The kids and I sure are missing Justin after having him home for 4 days. This morning at breakfast Will turns and looks down the hallway and calls out "Dada, dada?" looking for Justin and wondering where he was.
Our long weekend started out with Justin going to go play an early round of golf with Graham then coming home and hanging out with us for naps and the rest of the afternoon. Saturday we got up ate a quick bite then went to Towson to hang out with Susan, Graham, Granddaddy, and Mimi. Then Sunday started out with me going to teach a water aerobics class then meeting Justin and the kids for church. After that we had lunch at Panera and had a fun trip to Walmart. Monday was a day full of good friends and 2 cookouts. We went over to some friends from our sunday school class and had hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch and they had a slip n' slide for the dozen or so kids that were there. Then home for naps and I decided that I would call my friend Ellie and see if their family wanted to come over for grilled chicken. The funny thing was that she was just getting ready to call me and ask the same thing. They had been in Aruba for the past week and Ashley and Caroline were ready to play some serious dress-up. Which they did and Ashley cried b/c she didn't want to leave and take the Cinderella dress off. We all out on our back porch and had a great time talking and visiting while the 4 kids had a blast playing in the sand table and playing dress-up.
After all that we go back to regular dinners and no Justin during the day. Caroline hasn't really been herself, meaning not as much singing and dancing, today, except when we were at Justin's office and there was a crowd to entertain.

Singing my way up the hill

I wish I had a tape record for this one but I didn't so I will try to replay it as best I can. Caroline gets to watch a movie on the weekends otherwise no TV. Several of her favorites are Mary Poppins, Lion King, Cars, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty (Do you remember her real name Dad?), and Happy Feet. Notice the theme is singing/dancing and lots of it. The more songs or dancing a movie has the high it rates on Caroline's list of favorites. I can't wait until she is older so I can show her the Sound of Music. And if you are around Caroline for any length of time or talk to me on the phone you will her a little voice serenading you in the background. She is always singing and dancing.
But yesterday as I am heading up the hill out of our neighborhood Caroline starts singing "You can do it, you can do it, tada dada(made up words), there's nothing to it really!" from when the mice are singing about helping Cinderella fix her dress. It was so funny and it did help me up the hill though I was laughing while pedaling.
And when she wasn't singing she was asking me if we were going to clean house today and when I asked why she told me because the house is messy! Yep, that is true, but I didn't need my 3 year old to tell me!
Will on the other hand is learning new words everyday and some of his new ones are "good job" and "teetoes" for Cheeto's. Yes, I let my kids eat Cheeto's. Only at lunch at the table so the orange fingers don't get all over the place. Will is also still working on his manners as he is pretty good at saying pees (please) and tanktoo (thank you), and escuz ooh (excuse you) when he burps.

A giant among the little people

Will is following his sister's lead again and ridinig the Little People bus. Don't think this is what they had in mind for the bus' use but it works and keeps him busy. At least for a few minutes.

He was looking at the bus thinking, humm, will it still go?

This morning was dress up time. Caroline is in a Barbie Island Princess outfit and will just wants to wear all the beads he can find! In his hands is the baby monitor and he figured out how to turn it on and then put it to his ear like a phone and was saying hello.

Not too much going on today besides going to the gym (rode my bike and made it up the hill!!) and then having a picnic lunch at the playground. We shall see what this afternoon holds for us. It looks like it might rain again so instead of riding bikes (Caroline not me!) we might be playing inside.

Last day at school

This is Caroline's Terrific Two's teacher, Mrs. Pitts. They love each other and will definitely miss being in class with each other. The good thing is we will see her in church on Sundays.

Here they are dancing like butterflies. Will couldn't resist joining them (little blond with the green shirt).

It is a sad day because today was Caroline's last day of her Terrific Two program. She went every Tuesday from 915-1245 starting in Sept. She and I have loved it for very different reasons! I love having her with other kids her age and I love spending one-on-one time with Will. Caroline on the other hand has told me when I ask her "what did you learn at school today?" "Oh, nothing. It isn't a learning school just a playing school." Which isn't entirely true since they do learn a different bible story each week and work on colors and numbers and such, but play they do too. She will start back in the fall at the same church but with different teachers and going 2 days a week. She is already looking forward to her "Lunch Bunch" as they are called since they stay till 1 and have lunch together.

As a side note I made it up "the Hill" Monday after riding to the gym, teaching a water aerobics class for an hour, taking the kids swimming by myself, and then riding home. I had to say "one more tree" as I passed each tree on the way up the hill and I almost didn't make it but at last I did!

Fancy Nancy

So this is what Caroline wore to go out to dinner Friday night. Nothing like adding some color and patterns to your outfit! If you haven't read the Fancy Nancy books you have to check them out. Caroline is trying to be her own "Fancy Nancy."

This is Friday after naps. Will wasn't in the best mood but after a kiss from his sissy(that's what he calls her) he was happy. I have it so they take naps at the same time. SO that means that i can usually get 2-3 hours of sleep time from them. There are days of course that one of them decides that they either don't need a nap or only take an hour nap, but that is rare. Those few hours are very precious to me and I love them. I don't answer the phone or call people during that time either.

Saturday picnic

Running down the trail.

Looking at the fast moving water.


This weekend was lots of fun even though it rained on Sunday. Saturday we packed a picnic lunch and tried to find a park where Justin had stopped on his bike ride a few weeks ago. Well, we didn't find it but found a different spot on the C&O at lock 21 to have our lunch and then walk the trail. It was a beautiful, sunny, breezy day and it was just good to be outside. Here are some pictures of our trail walking. We saw several fish, turtles, and even a snake. The neat thing that we saw was a stealth bomber fly by. The air show was this weekend so it was probably going to that but it was so neat to see.

Tonsils anyone?

Here are a few pictures of Will with his sunglasses on.  He only likes to wear them if I am going to take his picture!

Sorry about not posting for a few days. It seems that when ever I go to make a post I can't log on to blogger for some reason. Oh well.
I think it was Thursday at lunch time that this conversation took place between Caroline and I, I can't really remember this late at night at the end of the week. I was just sitting there eating my sandwich and the cat was sniffing my leg, not lick but sniffing and I told Caroline how much it tickled and what do you think he is smelling? Her response- sweet hair!! Well my leg was quite hairy but I don't know about sweet!! Then the conversation continued.
HER- I can't hear God.
ME- Well that is because He whispers to us and we pray to be able to hear him.
HER- Oh. I want to go to Heaven.
ME - Oh you will one day and angels will take you there.
HER- Well I don't want to be a doctor anymore, I want to be a fairy.
ME- ok, what about a fairy doctor.
HER - (face all lit up and a huge smile) Yeah, a fairy doctor.

I love the conversations and thought processes of a 3 1/2 year old ( I have to put the 1/2 part in just for Caroline). I just hope that I say the right things and use the opportunities that she gives me to teach her about the love of God and Heaven.


As a side note I made it up "the hill" 2 times this week!! Both times it was after dropping Caroline off so I only had one kid to pull up the hill. It makes it much easier but I still had to pull the whole "I think I can" postive thinking to make it!

Anniversary

Well, yesterday was our 8th anniversary and I can't believe how time has flown by.  Justin and I had a babysitter and were able to go out to eat and enjoy some time to ourselves.  Even though we were only out for 2 hours it was great.  

But earlier in the day we were all sitting at the table waiting for Justin to join us for breakfast.  I called out "honey" to see what was keeping him.  When he got back up stairs and got in the kitchen Will calls out "oney" to him.  He is starting to really develop his vocab and is copying several phrases.  It's great to be able to understand him more.

Then today for lunch I organized a pizza lunch for several mom's in the neighborhood.  I thought it would be nice to have us all get together for lunch and have the kids play.  We ended up having 5 mom's and 10 kids ages 8mo - 4 yrs.  It turned out fantastic and everybody loved it.  Somedays we all need the "therapy session" talking to other moms can be!  Besides pizza I made strawberry cupcakes, watermelon, carrots and broccoli w/ ranch dip, and grapes.  Now the kids are napping because they are worn out.

Hopefully I will be around to do another mom's lunch next year before we move.

Mother's day

Well, it doesn't look as though I proofed that last post. Could you tell it was way too early in the morning and I was rushing to get ready?!

As it turns out the doctors think she has walking pneumonia. We waited at the pharmacy for an hour to get some antibiotics and will see if this does the trick. Otherwise I have an appointment for her to go back in 2 weeks and if the cough isn't gone then on to the the allergy/asthma option.

This weekend my mom and Pete came to town and we meet up with Susan and Graham for a wonderful day at Longwood Gardens in PA. If you have never been you have to go. It is amazing and perfect. The kids loved being able to run around and I loved not have to make sure they weren't in something they shouldn't be. It wasn't crowded because it was overcast and had been raining that morning, which added to my loving it.
Then on Sunday we had a great hamburger lunch with all the fixings. Susan did a great job making the burgers then grilling them too. Besides not being able to get a nap the day was just about perfect. Caroline wasn't feeling well at all so no church and lots of laying on the couch for her but it is still fantastic to be a mom to my little crazy kids. I don't know what I would do without them!

Dr. visit

Sorry it has been so long since a post. HAd a great mother's day weekend and will write about it later, but right now I am off to get the 3 of us dresses and down to Walter Reed to take Caroline to the Dr. She is not feeling well at all and has had a cough for the past 8 weeks. SO have to get that checked out. LAter

imitating his sister

I know I just posted but Will just did this and it is too cute not to share. He saw Caroline do this while he was enjoying his lunch and since Caroline is still napping he thought he would try it too. He can't move it around like Caroline so there is lots of screeching and saying "oh, no!" I just have to laugh! And yes it is a pink baby doll car seat that he is sitting in.

the not so good sharing

Well, lots of rain today so no biking, and I am surprised that I am saying this but I kinda miss it. On the way home from Walter Reed this I stopped by the commissary for some weekly shopping and after getting back in the car the 3 of us shared a bagel for a snack. Will had eaten all of his and wanted some of Caroline's. Well being the super nice sister that she is she offered him the piece out of her mouth!!!. I had to tell her thanks but give him some you haven't chewed on yet. I am glad they share but sometimes you wonder what in the world were they thinking!

I know that!

Well, I finally made it up the huge hill. Last night I rode again to the gym for a quick upper body work out and some stretching. And I made it up the hill on the way home!!! Yippie!! But I didn't make it this morning after returning from the gym. Oh well, I can try again tomorrow.

Caroline's new thing is to say, "I know that!" about anything Justin and I try to tell her, mainly when we are disciplining her. I guess that is typical 3 year old stuff but I think she is just being to big for her little britches and is about the get in some serious trouble.

It typically happens like this. I will tell her she can't talk to me that way and her reply is, "I know that!" Well if you know that then please don't talk to me that way again.
Or if she picks her brother up (something she is not allowed to do) and I have to tell her or put her in time out then I get the "I know that!" response.

I have asked her not to use that phrase but to no avail because she "knows that" it pushes my buttons.

Oh well, I am hoping this phase doesn't last long but I am afraid that this is how it is going to be for a while.

One less car on the road

Since I missed so many days of posting I decided I would do 2 today for my faithful readers!!

I mentioned in the last post about riding my bike while pulling the kids in the trailer. Well I took Caroline to her school this morning on the bike. It was a 45 minute ride there and a 30 minute ride home. Round trip was less than 10 miles but it felt about 3 times as much pulling 60+ lbs up all the hills around here. It was a great way to start the day and I look forward to riding more and it getting easier because right now I am wishing for more baby gears on my bike for these hills!!

For anybody that has been to our house you know the hill when you turn into our neighbor hood. It is lined with 23 Bradford Pear trees which are beautiful until you are riding you bike up beside them. I didn't make it up the hill but was 9 trees short of the top and could barely breathe. My goal is to be able to make it up the hill to get home and pass all those trees!

I will keep you informed of my progress.

A wild ride of a weekend

This weekend started out really early, like 430am early. Not what I had in mind after putting both kids to bed and having Caroline end up staying awake until 1030 because that is when Justin got home. That left me to get his bag packed for his overnight bike trip, do the dishes, and load the car with his bike and bag.
I desperately needed a shower because I started doing something new on Friday. I have decided that for short trips around town I am going to ride my bike and have the kids in the bike trailer. SO I took Caroline to her dance class and Will and I rode around some of the neighborhoods while she was in class and then we rode home to get dinner. Her dance class isn't far less than 5 miles but up lots of hills. It was fun to do and the kids loved it and all the bumps.
But back to Friday night, I finally got in bed and then Will wakes up and I get him back to sleep and then it is midnight and he wakes up again. Really not what i needed but you got to love your kids at all times right? Saturday was a beautiful day and besides having trouble finding the rest stops so we could meet up with Justin along the way it was good and the nap was perfect. I ended up driving way to much around Montgomery county looking for them before I gave up and just came home for the rest of the day. After naps we drove north to Frederick Community College where the riders were having dinner and spending the night. We were able to have dinner with Justin and play outside some before heading back home for bed. The best part of the weekend was Sunday for sure. We got up and I made pancake and then we all got in the tub to get clean before heading to Gettysburg to meet Justin. I also did some fun shopping at the outlets in Gettysburg before going to the finish spot.
After a late lunch and getting Justin's things in the van we drove the short hour back to Gaithersburg and played outside and then had pizza for dinner.
What a busy but fun weekend and I will look forward to doing it again next year. Anybody is welcome to come and participate in the ride next year too.

Hiding spots and a funny girl

Will is a big snacker. He is constantly going to the pantry and bringing me boxes of cereal so I can give some to him. It doesn't matter if we just finished eating, he will go and bring me cereal. One of his favorite places now to go and take something that he knows he shouldn't have or to do his business is under the kitchen table close to the sliding door. This is not such a great hiding spot as I can easily see him. Caroline on the other hand takes boxes of cereal and goes onto the dining room and hides at the end of the table where it is darker and I can't see her as well. Today after lunch he wasn't asking for more food but he wanted water in a big boy cup. I wasn't going to give it to him because he was out of his high chair. This is where a loving, helpful, big sister says, "Oh, I'll get him some." So Caroline got Will a cup of water from the bathroom. Luckily he didn't spill and I got a great picture of him in his "hiding" spot.



This picture reminds me of cousin Maddie when she was little.