Fun with our visitors

We have been pretty busy lately.  I have been really tired at night so I haven't posted then and I could post during Will's nap/quiet time but I have been napping then too! Sunday ended 2 weeks of visitors.  first we had Justin's parents for a week and the day they left Mom and Pete came for 5 days.  Then I had one day inbetween them leaving and our friends from Myrtle Beach coming for the weekend.  We went and did lots of things, I have lots of great pictures, and we stayed up late at night talking and playing games.  The kids really enjoyed all the visitors and I enjoyed all the help with the dishes!  I didn't do the dishes for almost 2 weeks!  Caroline still had school and soccer while we had company and both kids had gymnastics.  It was fun for the grandparents to see the kids doing their stuff.

In other news, we are staying in Michigan for another year as Justin didn't get selected for the job in NC.  I am glad Caroline gets to continue at her school for another year.  It also helps with planning our summer knowing we aren't moving.

Caroline is super excited to have a loose tooth!  Actually 2 of them!  These are her first ones and she has been wanting to have loose teeth for months now.  They have been wiggly for about 2 weeks now so anytime I expect the tooth fairy to show up for the first time at our house!  Caroline also had a ceremony with her Daisy scouts and officially became a Girl Scout.  She was very pleased and excited.  She is loving daisies so far.

And in other Caroline news she climbed a 25 foot rope (at gymnastics) all by herself for the first time on Monday!  She loves to climb and has only gotten about half-way up the rope in all her previous attempts.  The thing about this rope that makes her accomplishment ever more impressive is that it has no knots in it!

Will is adjusting to not having all the attention from our visitors and is really looking forward to having his sister home for the summer.  I can't wait either!  They play so well together that is is easier for me to have her home.  I haven't heard other parents say they are glad to have their school-age kids home, but I am looking forward to it!

Here are some pictures of some of the things we did over the past 2 weeks.

Justin and his dad rented a chater boat at lake Erie and went Walleye fishing.

Waiting for the train at the Henry Ford.

Will at gymnastics.

Caroline after gymnastics class practicing in the back yard.

Fun at the driving range with Nana and Papa.

Making apple pie with Nana.

At the zoo.  We got the hear the lion roar!

Backyard fun with the Schroeders!

I plan on getting all of our recent pictures on my website so I will let you know when that happens so you can see all of the fun things we did with our visitors.

My talkative boy!

It has been quite a while since I last posted and it isn't for lack of things to write about for sure!  We have been very busy with soccer games 2 nights a week and gymnastics 1 night.  We also picked Justin's parents up at the airport Saturday night and they are staying with us for the week.  The kids are having fun with their grandparents here.  I am enjoying not having to answer all of Will's questions!!

If you call me you will hear Will talking a blue streak in the background.  He is a BIG talker.  One Saturday morning Justin had the kids while I was doing something and when I got back with them he said Will has been talking NON-STOP!  Don't I know it!  He is a curious kid and asks questions about everything he sees especially when we are riding down the road.  He even talks during the children's message at church.  He feels comfortable there and tells them all kinds of great things.  He especially likes to tell them what color our pancakes were that morning and what movie they got to watch that morning.  One Sunday we had a guest pastor and she was doing the children's message, Will was the only boy up there, and the message went something like this.
Pastor: Has anyone been to the beach?
Will:  YES!  I went to Myrtle Beach.
P: Well, I was on vacation at St Simons Island and I brought back some sand dollars to show you.
P: On the front it looks like there is a Lily which is a flower that represents Easter and on the back is a Poinsettia which represents Christmas.  What do we celebrate at Christmas?
W: SANTA!!
P:  Looks like someone needs sunday school 101!
W: (holding a sand dollar shaking it) what's inside?
P: There are doves inside, but they don't fly.  I will break one open so we can see the doves fall out since they don't fly.  I can't get it to break!
W: I can break it!
The whole congregation had laughed several times at Will by this point and the row of old ladies behind Justin and me kept telling us how much they enjoy him!
She got another guy in the front row to break it open and they got to see the doves from the inside.

Then yesterday morning Justin and I noticed it was really quiet and wondered where Will was.  Justin hollered for him and he had gone in the bathroom with Grandma and told Justin he was just talking!  Thanks goodness!  I have been waiting for him to have someone else to talk to!

A foot of hair gone!

Today was a big day for me.  I got to go get my hair done did!!  I have been growing my hair for about 2.5 years so I could have enough to donate again.  This is the second time I have donated to Locks of Love.  I had 10 inches cut off in a ponytail and then I think she took at least another 2-3 off when she was shaping it.

I LOVE IT!!  It feels great and will be perfect for warm weather (if it ever comes to MI!).  It is a little shorter in the back but not too much and has layers so I wouldn't have a mushroom cut (as Karen calls it).  When Will first saw me he told me I didn't look like  Julie!  Caroline said she likes it.  So far I like it so much I think I will keep it this way for a while. 

And as for the "hair done did" Caroline answered the house phone and told a telemarketer that I wasn't home that I was getting my hair done did!  I am sure the person on the other end wasn't from the south and had no clue what she was saying!  While my kids might not have ever lived in NC they sure do sound like they have been living there all their short little lives!  Gotta pass on the good stuff! (it is all my doing too!) 

Laced-trimmed socks

Caroline has a series of book about a girl named Fancy Nancy.  Nancy is the only fancy person in her family and loves to use big fancy words (right up Caroline's alley).  One thing Fancy Nancy says is lace-trimmed do help her play soccer better.  Caroline might not have lace-trimmed socks to play soccer in but she does have one awesome Aunt to help he get close!

The socks are mismatched.  On purpose! and they come in pairs of 3!  One of the socks she has on is squares with orange bottoms and the other is ovals with green bottoms.  She LOVES them.  The other set of socks she chose is light pick because the outfit didn't have any pink.  She was really hoping for a pink jersey.

We don't think she enjoys playing soccer very much but found out last game when se was put in as goalie that she is good at it and then liked the game better.  So she volunteered to be goalie again today.  She got to play the entire second half as goalie and stopped all but 1 ball!  Last game she stopped all the balls that came her way.  She will go out and grab them and not just wait for them to come to her, most times anyway.  Tonight it was wet and very muddy out.  It wasn't raining during the game but it had been raining most of the week and finally stopped about lunch time.  The kids loved playing and splashing in the puddles and several parents told their kid if you kick the ball then you can splash in a puddle.  There was a huge puddle right in front of the goal Caroline was defending and it often times helped slow the ball down so she could get over and grab it.  One time she even had to bend down and grab the ball in the puddle while others were kicking at it.

What a happy goalie!  Even with mud all over her!  Way to go Caroline!!

This is her cleaned up spring school picture.  I took a picture of it!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!  My day has been wonderful.  I got to sleep in, enjoy being outside, go to church, not do any dishes, play Candy Land with the family, go on a walk, and take a nap.  Caroline even told me that I am surrounds by love!  How true is that!  I am so surrounded by lots of love from so many people and feel so blessed by all that love!
After church this morning we went to Greenfield Village (Henry Ford Museum) to see Thomas the Train.  It was pretty chilly today (about 52) but the sun was out and it was nice to se the kids so enjoy themselves.

Riding on the train.  Will was thrilled and wanted to ride it again as soon as we got off.

In case you aren't familiar with him, this is Thomas.

Typical scene in Greenfield Village.  Horse-drawn wagon and coal train (Thomas in background).  You are also likely to see model-t cars on the road and old-timey buses too.  The oldest train turn-table in the mid-west is also here.

Here are some attempts by Justin to get a Mother's day picture of me with the kids.  It is just as hard as my cousin Laura describes it in her blog!

He stopped after Will burst into tears!  He tried but today wasn't the day for a mommy and kid picture!  

Teddy Bear Tea Party

Last Saturday Caroline and I went to Oakland University to Meadow brook Hall with her Daisy troop.  The place was a beautiful mansion! I have no idea why it is an important place but it was very impressive.  The girls had an abbreviated tour and then went up to the fourth floor to the girls playroom and had "tea".  They sat at little white tables and had 2 cookies and lemonade in cups and saucers.  They had a blast!

This is just the main part of the house but there are several wings that go off this "house".  The many chimneys are all different and the picture does them no justice.  The brick work on each of them was amazing. 

Caroline is in the back with a yellow dress on.  The moms were busy taking plenty of pictures!  I had a fun time hanging out with just Caroline.  With her in school all day it is very nice to have that one-on-one time with her.

There is no news about Justin's job yet.  He did find out today that he will find out something between the 16-31.  WHAT!  So more waiting.

Expecting

Yes, it is what you think and we are expecting another baby!!  Due in November.  We are so excited and these next six months will move very slowly for the kids.  Caroline is beyond excited and is so glad she can tell everybody now.  Will just wants it to be blue (a boy)!  We will find out what we are having on my birthday!  It is so much fun to see this from the kids perspective.  Caroline keeps touching and kissing my belly (even though it isn't much bigger yet).

In other news, Justin flies to NC today in about 3 hours to interview for a job.  Not just any job but a job with the NC guard to teach at Appalachian!!  His interview is Monday afternoon and then he will fly back to MI later Monday.

Also, our sweet, wonderful dog ( i mean that) turned 1 yesterday.

Will refers to him as his buddy and that is so true.  He follows him around all day while Justin and Caroline are gone.