playing in the dirt or gardening

What ever they want to call it it keeps them busy while I am doing dishes!  Justin asked Will and Caroline what they were doing because we couldn't hear them since we were in the house and they were in the backyard.  Will replied that they were playing in the dirt.  Caroline said, "we call it gardening!"

With kids that are 4 and 2 you get lots of funny answers.  With Will he is still having trouble saying certain words.  I don't correct him because it is just too cute.  Lately he has started calling me "Mop".  I will give him a snack and he will say thanks Mop!  And for Justin he always calls him Dad-a-lad.

Some of my other favorites are:

Mary Poppums for Mary Poppins

lellows for mandarin oranges

oranges for peaches

lilly box for litter box

oakmeal for oatmeal

pup putt for putt putt

I am sure there are more but these are the ones that I have written down just in the last few days.  I will be sad when he is not mispronouncing words.  He is getting to be such a big boy these days and while it it nice that he is able to do more on his own I will miss having my little boy around (I think).   I know I won't miss the terrible twos with him that's for sure!

I forgot one and it is the cutest one!  iz'em.  He uses this as a question.  Instead of saying, where are they, he just says iz'em?  I love it!

Week 2 in MI

While I haven't had boxes (too many anyway) to unpack this week I have been plenty busy.  I have been to the community center to exercise 4 days, been to the doctor to get a referral for allergy shots, tried to get a library card twice, found the commissary, got 2 new bras, and the biggest of all GOT A JOB!  Dad, you would be proud.  I took a water fitness class yesterday and afterwards asked the instructor who I needed to talk to about being a sub for the water classes.  She told me to speak to the pool director Ken and that he was in the office.  So after I got changed I went and spoke to Ken.  He offered me a sub spot for now with hopefully more later he said!!  I also had to go to City Hall and fill out an application to make it all official, so I did that today.  Apparently it is really hard to get a job around here with unemployment hitting around 12%.  But right now I am finding it harder to get a library card since I don't have a MI drivers license or any bills, yet, with my name on them, not Justin's.  

We have also had fun riding bikes and meeting new neighbors this week.  I have meet several more of our neighbors and even some potential babysitters.  That is the hard thing to do when you move to a new place is find someone you trust enough to leave your kids with.  What makes that harder is that I have a deadline for when I need that babysitter.  Next Friday!!!  Which I think we have covered but than I also need one for June 26th too.  We'll see how it goes.  I have also had no luck finding a suitable preschool yet, still looking though.  It makes me think of homeschooling more and more as an option.  I want a Christian preschool, one that teaches bible stories and songs and isn't just a "play school" but actually does a little with numbers, letter, and fine motor skills.  I wouldn't think that is too much to ask for, but my gym requirements were hard to find too and I didn't think I was asking for too much there either.

We found a "big boy" bike for Will at a garage sale last weekend but he refuses to ride it.  Yet!  Still working on it, but for now it sits in the corner of the garage.  Caroline loves to ride her bike and her bike handling skills are improving fast.  I think she could take off the training wheels but Justin says he isn't ready for that just yet!  Caroline says she will take them off when she is 5!  The only problem with that is it will be too cold by the time she turns 5 to be out riding.

Community center pool

So I remembered to take my camera this afternoon when we went to the pool.  I am signing Caroline up for swim lessons tomorrow and they offered free evaluations so I would know which class to sign her up for.  So after the eval we went and played on what the kids call the jungle.  We played for almost an hour and then went around the lazy river a few times before coming home.

The "jungle" is big and the kids love it.  It was a little difficult to keep up with 2 kids by myself since most of the time they like doing their own thing.  Caroline can get Will to follow her sometimes.
The video is of Caroline and Will going down the green twisty slide that you see above.  As you can tell they are both really comfy with the water.  Will dove like that every time he went down the slide.

It was great to let them get all that energy out since I drug them to the commissary with me this morning which was 25 minute drive, and then an hour sitting in the cart, then another 25 home.  Add to that it was raining on and off today so not as much backyard time as usual.  I am sure I will be at the pool a lot in the winter!  So glad it is a 3 minute drive.  I would walk or have the kids ride their bikes but there is a creek between our house and the pool with no bridge to get across. :(

No mater how we get there I love it already!!  We will take you if you come visit!

Fun at the playground

This weekend has been great.  We relaxed for the first time since getting here.  Saturday was a lazy morning and we didn't get out of the house and out of our jammies until about 1130!  Sunday we tried out a Methodist church  about 3 blocks down the road.  Then today we went to the community center where Justin and I worked out and then took the kids swimming.  This was no ordinary pool either.  it was something like a scaled down Carowinds.  There was a lazy river and lots of climbing things and water slides for little kids.  And big kids too I guess, since Justin and I enjoyed them too!  Then after lunch and naps we rode our bikes to the local elementary school.  It is a 10 minute bike ride for Caroline.  The school has a great playground that is huge.  We played for a long time and Caroline practiced and practiced doing what ever it is called.  It is like monkey bars but they twist (see video below).  She started out with 2 hands and needing help to cross to the next circle, then progressed tot he one hand idea which after a few falls and help from Justin to get to the last circle she finally did it.

Playing in the sprinkler this weekend.
Doing what Will calls "Super 5".  It is a jumping spin which he can almost make it all the way around.
Here is the video.  so amazing how strong she is.

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.  Thanks for all who have served, are serving, or will serve this great country.

Holy pile of boxes batman!

I am exhausted!  The movers came Monday morning and delivered 7 crates (10,400 lbs) full of our stuff.  They were done unloading and putting everything back together by 4pm.  Below is the progress made as of Wednesday afternoon.  The boxes that aren't flattened are full of packing paper.  We are down to our last 30 or so boxes that need to be unpacked.

Part of our backyard.
More of the backyard.  Plus the all important swing set that Justin put together this morning.
The back of our house.  The windows/doors on the first floor from left to right are: den, 1/2 bath (window above Caroline's head), kitchen, and dining room.  The top floor are: hall (above sat.), bath, office (4th bedroom). Also along the back but with out a window is the kids room.  Their window is on the other side.
The front of the house.  You can't really see being this far away but on each of the 3 columns are little black fairies!  Caroline loves that aspect of the house, me not as much!  The window on the left is the master and the other is the guest room.  On the bottom is the living room.
I will post inside pictures when it is a little more put together.  Tomorrow we tackle the basement/ playroom/ storage room.

Finally arrived

We finally made it!!  We are at our new house in Michigan.  We arrived around 515 hoping to see the realtor, not ours but the listing one, with our keys waiting for us.  Well she wasn't and we waited and waited and finally got in our house around 645 pm.  

The kids were really excited and were glad to be in their new house.  This will be the 4th state in as many nights.  Some of then getting better rest than others.  I am hoping after we get all our stuff back tomorrow the sleep will be even better!

Our new address

31708 Wixson Dr.

Warren, Mi 48092

Our phone numbers are our cell numbers, no house number.  

We met some of our neighbors and even used their potty already.  Seems like a great street so we can't wait to meet more of our neighbors in the next couple of weeks.

More later and of course pictures!

The Wisp Hippy

We had a great weekend at Myrtle Beach with Christian, Rachel, and Brandon.  The kids played in the pool in their back yard lots and lots, we went the the neighborhood pool, we went to the beach (forgot my camera on that one), and played putt-putt (or as Will calls it Pup pup).  Rachel and I also got mani/pedis for mother's day.

Here is a picture of Caroline leaping into the pool.  She thought she was hot stuff getting in the pool this way.

The title of the post came from this move below, demonstrated by Will then Caroline.  Christian was swinging the kids up like in the picture and he told Caroline it needed a name.  So she came up with "wisp hippy", not sure how or why but it stuck and they would run around chasing Christian asking him to do the wisp hippy.
The kids also loved it when Christian would do the wisp hippy with a back flip.  HE had to be careful with Caroline's long legs though.  Christian did that so much his triceps were sore the next day!  What a fun guy to have around.

Thanks Christian, Rachel, and Brandon for having us to your house, feeding us, and letting me do some laundry.  We can't wait to see the new one here soon!

Jumping in the water

I remember when I was little and at the beach the most fun thing to do was to jump.  Jumping out the house windows on to the dunes below, jumping over waves, or pretending to do the long jump were some of our favorites.  It is a favorite of my kids too and I am glad they get the chance to enjoy the beach as much as I did and still do.  While they don't get to jump out the windows the are enjoying jumping the waves and just jumping in the  water in general.  The water is cool but not so cold that we can't get in.  Justin is showing the kids a sand flea.

Caroline jumping in the waves.
Will's turn to jump.  He has a slightly different technique than Caroline.  She lands on her knees and he lands on his rear end.  I like that I took the picture while they aren't touching the ground.
They aren't afraid of the water or it getting in their cute faces.  They both enjoy spitting so it isn't a problem!
Loving on the cat after lunch yesterday.  The cat loves it at the beach as much as the kids do.  He is great at letting Will "love" him oh so gently.  Jake has never hissed or clawed at the kids and they have more than once deserved something like that.
I of course have lots more pictures that I will get posted or sent out soon but for now it is off the see friends in Myrtle Beach for the weekend!

A little tired

We have going full steam ahead the past few months.  Everyone is ready for a break including the cat, Jake.  We are finally out of our house in Gaithersburg and after stopping on the way to Burlington to see some friends from Fort Polk, stay at Mimi and Granddaddy's house, and to see more friends that live in Mebane, we are at the good ole Wheel house!  I will post some pictures of us on vacation soon.

This is a picture of Caroline and Jake sleeping in the car on the way to the beach.  I had to take this picture even though I was driving.  Rear view mirrors come in handy  for more than looking out the back of the car!

Sunday before  the property manager came on Sunday to look through the house and take pictures Justin laid on the dining room floor to stretch his hip.  Well the stretching became nap time with the added bonus of a warm comfy cat on his back.  I think the cat was missing the sofa to curl up on.  He ended up sleeping like this for about 45 min.  No pillow, no arm to lay his head on, just the cat for a blanket.
This weekend we are heading down to Myrtle Beach to see Christina and Rachel and will be back to the Wheel house on Monday to enjoy the rest of the week.  This is the first vacation in 2 years that Justin hasn't had to check and keep his blackberry on!  He turned the blasted thing in before we left DC!  We plan on doing some major relaxing while we are here.