Presents

Caroline chose to open presents first instead of eat her cake. She absolutely loved everything she got. Thanks everyone!

Pink cake with pink icing!

Lovin it all!!

Here is a video of her trying to skate. I have a longer on of her first attempt but I didn't think it would load so I did this one that is still funny!

Best Birthday Ever!!

Yesterday was Caroline's 5th birthday!! I can't believe 5 years ago I was living in Louisiana and my precious little girl came into this world! She went to school on her birthday and was treated like a rock star, at least while I was there dropping her off. Lots of kids coming up to her and say hi and telling her happy birthday! After school she and Will had swim lessons and after that I played in the pool with them for an hour. Justin met us at the pool and then we came home to change for dinner. It has become a tradition that the kids get to pick what they want to eat for their birthday. And since we don't go out much they usually pick a restaurant and it has been Red Robin for the last 2 years! Don't know what we will do if we move somewhere and there isn't a Red Robin!

I think she is looking more like me! Minus the blond hair and blue eye thing of course!
She was so excited about them coming to sing to her!
Waiting for food. The guy took for ever to bring out the food and the kids were tired if you can't tell!
After dinner it was home to cake and presents!

Watch out big Will coming!

Saturday we went down to Dearborn to the Henry Ford Museum. We have been to the outside part and the factory tour but not the inside museum stuff yet. They are having a LEGO exhibit until January and we thought the kids would enjoy seeing all the Lego's. Well the Lego's were disappointing. I was expecting at least a kid sized building made out of Lego's that they could walk in but nope just Lego's to play with and a few knights that were made out of Lego's. The Lego's below were kinda rubbery and Will had a blast playing with the big ones. While Caroline went beside that and played with some pink Lego duplos.

Here they are riding horses and jousting! It was so heavy Will could hardly walk!
The rest of the museum is great. Lots of cars, trains, buggies, airplanes, farm equipment, doll houses, and furniture. A much better American history museum than the one in DC. Below the kids (and Justin) enjoyed making "cars" out of K'nex and testing them.

Here they are getting ready to test the paper airplanes they made. Or rather the ones Justin and I made.
Will and Caroline pushing, pulling, and turning knobs in a huge steam engine.
We had lots of fun and really enjoyed seeing all the neat things. We didn't get to it all but did do some stuff twice (K'nex)! This will be a great place to go in the winter to stretch our legs. Thanks again dad!

the title of the post comes from a comment Will made as he was walking down the steps after siting in a big combine. Another girl was walking up the steps and he says, "watch out big Will comin!" Knowing good and well the girl coming up was way bigger than he was!

When I grow up...

When you ask little boy this question you just never know what you are going to get. Before this summer if you asked him what he was going to be when he got big he would tell you a kitty doctor. After this summer and going to the Cubs game he 100% wants to be a baseball player. Even announced months ago that he was going to be a baseball player for Halloween. Lately ( I'm not sure when it started) when you ask him what he is going to be for Halloween or when he grows up the answer is, "I'm going to be a baseball player and drink beer!" I don't drink beer and Justin rarely has one so it is really funny when he says this. The vet assistant thought it was funny, the grocery store clerk thought it was funny, and the neighbors too. But now I have them all wondering if they need to call CYS about underage drinking!! That boy is a hoot!!

Below are some pictures of Will from the last week. In the picture below he has on a headset and is making announcements about Redfern party of 3 your plane is leaving! This is what the kids did while I was cleaning Saturday morning and Justin was at work. Eventually all the couch cushions came off and they made caves.

Will and miles having a rare quiet moment. Will was waiting on me to get his shoes or something and the dog came right over and nuzzled in.
We wait in line to pick Caroline up from school and the van becomes his playground. He climbs in the way back and runs around since I have the seats down, he sits in the front floorboard and plays with who knows what, he pushes all the buttons he can, and generally drives me nuts. But a few days ago he decided to get on the dashboard. He fit and I laughed so hard, ask Karen I was on the phone with her when he did this. With all the climbing he does he has just as many falls.
As you can tell it is a big crate. A neighbor gave it too us and I hope Miles never outgrows it!!
Will's rainy day outfit. Complete with boots that are too big!
Caroline has what she wants to be all figured out too. She has known for several years, basically since she could answer the "what do you want to be" question that she was going to be a doctor like her grandaddy! Now she still wants to be a doctor but the follow up is that she wants to be a mommy, and now that she has been to school, a teacher too. She always asks if she wants to be something if she can still be a mommy! Must mean I am doing something right!

Pumpkin time!

Friday afternoon Caroline, Will, Miles, and I went down the street to our new church to help unload pumpkins. The kids rode their bikes and Miles and I walked. The church sells pumpkins as a fundraiser. I am pretty sure we unloaded a thousand of those orange gourd things. The kids had a blast playing with the 2 other girls that were there and also "helping". They would put pumpkins in wagons and that would be how they helped. Then we stayed and had dinner at church. The dog did go in the church and was tied to the table leg while we ate. Justin was appalled that our dog was in a church! HE minded his manners and behaved like he was in a church so nothing wrong with that I say!

There are most of the pumpkins in this picture. There are some on the other side of the truck.

Yes it was chilly! This picture was taken about 2.5 hours of unloading pumpkins.
The kids got a burst of energy when it came time to spreading hay between the squares of pumpkins.
I have our pumpkin picked out but since I was walking I couldn't quite carry the big thing home. The kids slept well after bike riding and spending 3 hours out in the cold! So did I for that matter!

Laundry

My cousin wrote not too long ago about how her 3 kids are laundry generators. And I agree that kids make lots of dirty clothes. It starts getting bad when they are about 6 months old and starting to eat solids then gets even worse when potty training and if you are lucky enough to have a boy I don't think it ever slows! Below is a picture of Will when he was about 8 months old. He was playing in the hole the for sale sign made in our yard after a rain. Susan styled his hair for him! Aunt Barbara saw this and thought he could win a "Dirty Baby" contest that Whoopie Goldberg was having on her radio show. I sent the picture in and sure enough he won!! There was a $2000 prize along with a gift bag with shout products. What did I do with the money? Bought a front loading HE washer/dryer of course!!

I couldn't quite get that onesie clean but I loved that washer! Then when it was time to move and we decided to rent our house I couldn't leave those nice washer/dryer there. So since we were also going to be renting and there was already a washer/dryer here I got my mom to bring her old top loading ones up and gave her my good ones. She loves them now by the way!! So what does our house here have? You got it, the old style top loading washer! They don't even compare in regards to how clean your clothes get. I miss my washer! I have to use stain treatments again (didn't have to with my other washer). I have to rewash some things as they don't even smell clean after washing and drying.

I was ready to have clean clothes again so Monday Caroline and I were at Lowe's getting some other stuff for our new storm door and I noticed a sale on washers. So I called Justin told him and then ended up getting just a new washer!! I was so excited and they even delivered it the next morning! I have washed 3 loads so far and am waiting for the dirty clothes to build up so I can do some more.

I never thought I would get so excited about a washing machine! I am completely satisfied and if you don't yet have one of those front loading HE machines your clothes just aren't getting clean!!
So what am I going to do this weekend? Laundry!!

Grandaddy's brief visit

My dad came to visit last Friday and the kids were so excited. Will got to miss nap because we had to pick granddaddy up from the airport around 2. And then we took him with us to pick Caroline up from school. Boy were they glad to have a playmate for the afternoon. Grandaddy was already a little tried from riding his bike across NC and then the kids thought he was their personal jungle gym! In the few hours after school and before bed the 3 of them did about everything they could. They colored, read, played with the doll house, planes, dart guns, and cars. They also played ball and chase outside, went swinging, and played "elevator up". By far the favorite! Uncle Paul has some catching up to do and I am sure he is ready to get going!!

Here is Caroline on the up part of the elevator. Then dad would drop his feet out from under her and she would sit on his shins. Caroline would laugh hysterically and want to do it faster.

A brief moment of rest.
Will's turn. Love his smile in this picture.
Mid-air
Sometimes the elevator crashes if it gets over-loaded (ie: Will jumped on!).
Finally a great video to demonstrate the elevator game!

Dad might have only been here for 17 hours but we used every single minute and he went to bed tired!

We love family visiting even if it is for a short time!! Thanks for coming dad!

Have lovies...will travel!!

Last Saturday I got up made breakfast. After breakfast the kids and I took my dad and Justin to the Detroit city airport so they could fly to DC for the Army 10 miler. While we were at the airport Justin and I talked about how little he had gotten to see the kids the past week and wished we were coming too. The kids of course cried for their dad and grandad not to leave them and so when I got home I looked to see about flights to DC. Justin and dad were landing in PA to get gas so I told Justin about the flights and prices at 1115am. We agreed to buy them and so I bought them at 1130 am for a 155pm flight! That meant I had to pack, finish getting dressed ( i had just taken a shower before talking to Justin), get some lunch, and take the dog to be boarded. Not to mention drive to the airport 4o minutes away, park and get through security.

I told Caroline to get her clothes together and bring them to me and she did great getting what I asked her to get. I threw mine and Will's clothes in the bag and put some books and lovies in my back pack. We got the dog, made sure the doors were locked, and headed out the house. Dropped the dog off and drove through a Wendy's for lunch. IT had to have been the slowest in the planet. I think they but the nuggets in the oil as we ordered them. We get on the highway and thank goodness the speed limit is 70. I was calling my friend Ellie to let her know we were coming and if we could stay with her on Monday and calling Sara to let her know we were coming. While we were driving I prepped the kids on what was going to happen when we got to the airport. Lots of running! I told Will his legs would get tired but he still had to run for me so we could fly to see daddy. I parked at 123 pm. We found a shuttle and hopped on and it took us to the terminal. We ran up to the desk and I tired to check in at the kiosk but it wouldn't let me. The guy said he couldn't either until I told him I had checked in at home but just needed him to print out the boarding passes. As we get to security I hear "Redfern party of 3....." Oh *^*& we aren't going to make it. We get all our shoes off, jackets, bags, and computer out for the x-ray. I hand the kids their shoes and tell them not to put them on and I grab my Adidas duffel bag, the book bag, my purse, and computer and we start running to our gate. Of course it is near the end of the terminal and we have to go down 2 moving sidewalks to get there. Caroline is running in front of me Will behind me both sock footed and I have all the bags. We turn the corner of the terminal and I hear " Redfern party of 3 the gate is closing in 3 minutes" and this time they say the gate which was different than what the guy at the counter had told me. We had past it!! We turn around and I run to the gate saying we're here! Will can't see me since I turned the corner and is bawling for me. HE sees me and stops and the lady tells me now that I am here there is no need to rush. Thanks goodness! So we all sit on the floor and I get the kids shoes back on and the stuff back in the bags. We get on the plane and I am sweating. Big deep breath, we made it!!

Before taking off the flight attendant is talking to Caroline and Will about taking off and what the plane will sound like. They were sitting in 1 row and I was across the isle from them. The lady was saying the plane goes vrooom up into the air. Caroline's response? My mommy did that! The guy behind Caroline laughs and the flight attendant just glances at me like what is she talking about. Caroline was right I was doing that to get to the airport!

We had a great time in DC. We stayed until Tuesday and none of us wanted to go back to Detroit. We went to our old neighborhood all day Monday and got to see all our old friends and neighbors and play at the tot lot for the afternoon. We also got to go back to our old church and see both Caroline and Will's preschool teachers and the pastor! Gosh we miss that church. We talked about the 10 commandments today at church and when the preacher was talking about coveting I asked just if it was wrong to covet our old preacher!

I am afraid I didn't take many pictures but I think Karen has some so I will get them from her and post some from our trip.

I will never try that again!! The kids traveled better than I could have imagined and loved every minute of seeing our friends, hanging out with daddy, and staying in a hotel.