So much to tell you.

Early last month we had a particularly nice day, it was sunny and dry, but it was cold.  The dandelions were coming out so I decided to bundle up the kids so they could play outside.  Well we went out there and I told the kids we should pick the pretty flowers (you know, try to limit the number that we'll have later).  We had a great time of it.  They got distracted pretty quickly but had a great time playing outside on the slide and swings. 

We have been working our tails off for several weeks trying to get Dillon's room done.  He climbs out of his crib regularly (has been doing it for a while) and he needs his own space.  There are a lot of times that Kayda goes back to her room and wants to play alone and I really wanted him to have that option as well.  When we were putting the first coat of paint on Kayda and Dillon both wanted to help.  They were content with the little brushes for a while but Dillon quickly got bored and Kayda decided she wanted to use the big brushes and rollers with Mommy and Daddy.   I can only say that I am VERY glad we took off their clothes before they "helped" us and that I am VERY glad that they both are so interested in being helpers.

The end of April Kayda had her second ever dentist appointment.  She actually had her own appointment this time and got to have her teeth polished.  No cavities!  Yay, way to start!  She thoroughly enjoyed going and is excited to go again.  She got to have her teeth counted, she was very shy but loved to listen to the dentist and dental hygienist talk to her.  She loved "Mr. Thirsty"  and gave the dental hygienist a hard time while the flouride was being brushed on her teeth because she kept closing her mouth!

As I said before we have been working like CRAZY to finish Dillon's room.  Since I decided I wanted to finish it completely (molding, crown EVERYTHING) so that we could say we had one room DONE (none of our house is 100% complete) it rapidly turned into getting Kayda's room DONE as well.  We ordered new furniture for both of them.  Daddy's best friend, "Uncle" Jordan is back in town looking for work and he has been helping us TONS with the molding and painting and such.  We've managed to finish the kids rooms and with the help of Kellina (aka Kina) put all that furniture together!  They look great I am SO happy with the results.  We decorated a little today and got all their toys in there, now it's just a matter of getting clothes into their new places.  We also got the hallway done.  We finally have closet doors and molding and I LOVE the new color!  Sounds silly I know but when you were tearing out carpet and raising ceilings and painting and tiling and so on, the closet doors kind of get left out of the mix.   Thanks SO much Uncle Jordan and Kellina and of course Daddy!  Oh and thanks Grandma and Grandpa G for letting us borrow the tools, they made it SO much easier.  Anyways, here are the rooms minus pictures on the walls. I think you can tell which ones which.

While the adults have been so preoccupied with doing all the necessary parts of the project (painting....painting....painting...)  Dillon and Kayda have been bonding with the other kids in our cul-de-sac.  Kylie (5.5) and Kayda are great friends and then Tazzmyne and Jasmine (9 I think) both ADORE Dillon.  They keep the kids happy and out of the way.  The kids all kind of migrate together from the front yard to the back yard, to inside to someone else's yard.  It has worked out very nicely and the kids have LOVED it!  Here's Kylie, Kayda and Dillon all on the teeter-totter on our swing set.  They all wanted to be on it together!

The kids both slept in their new beds last night.  They both love their new rooms and furniture.  They were tough to get to sleep because they were so excited.  Combine that with the fact that Kayda napped when she usually doesn't and it wasn't an easy night.  They'll get used to it though.  I didn't put up any pictures or anything in their rooms until today, the first thing I did put up was the bed net over Kayda's bed.  When she first saw it she said "So pretty thank you Mom!", then she proceeded to lay in her bed and yell for everyone in the house to come in her bed with her.  When she finally got Dillon's attention he wandered into the room, stopped, saw the net and said "Oh Cool" and then climbed into bed with her.  They are getting so big, so quickly and they are so entertaining!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  We actually managed to celebrate Easter on the day we were supposed to!  Here's what the Easter bunny dropped off for the kids!

I think Kayda must've seen part of her dress in it's hiding spot because this is our conversation from last night. 

Mom:  We need to go to sleep for the Easter bunny to come.

Kayda:  Bunny bring beautiful dress?

Mom:  Maybe, I don't know what the bunny will bring.

Kayda:  Bring Beautiful dress with polk-a-dots.

Mom:  Polk-a-dots?  What color pok-a-dots?

Kayda:  Green and blue polk-a-dots on beautiful dress.

Notice the dress has green and purple polk-a-dots.  Now Grandma H also came by with a dress for Kayda that had polk-a-dots so I'm not positive she was referring to her Easter dress.  I guess we'll never know for sure. 

This morning we all shuffled out to see if the Easter bunny had come.  The first thing the kids noticed were the guns.  Then Kayda noticed the chocolate.  She was very excited about that, once she pointed it out Dillon noticed and then he was very excited about that as well. 

We managed to pull them away for the Easter egg hunt, they did quite well of course we provided generous hints for some of them.  They'll figure it out as they get older!

Then it was back to the guns!

Check out Dillon, "stick 'em up!"

And that was the longest we could keep Kayda from her "beautiful dress".  We dragged them outside for a few pictures (we knew it would be only a few because it's chilly out there)

I am in LOVE with this picture.  Kayda tried to give Dillon a kiss and this was his reaction!  Such a little boy!

Kayda decided it was too cold, Dillon didn't mind (granted boys wear more clothes than girls) and he was going to check out those plants.

 We rushed back inside and took some more pictures.  Unfortunately you can't see their outfits because they're sitting down but I must say I have two goregous children!

Easter Prep... on time for once!

After lunch today we decorated Easter eggs.  Grandma H came over for the fun before she had to run off to the store.  We stuck the kids in towels (we used clothes pins to hold them on) so we didn't have to worry about staining their clothes, I thought their togas were charming.  We tried putting the eggs in whisks to help prevent broken eggs and such.  It worked wonderfully for Kayda but Dillon decided to was great fun to just keep putting the whisk in and out of the dye, thus splashing it all over the place.  They had a good time but they definitely weren't ready to be done when we ran out of hard boiled eggs.  Kayda is very excited for the Easter bunny to come and hide her eggs, Dillon doesn't understand the concept quite as well. 

When we were finished coloring the eggs we took a break for them to dry so we could do stickers on the eggs.  During that time Dillon took a nap and we ran over to Grandma and Grandpa G's for their strawberries.  Kayda was bundled up real good in her jacket, hood up, hands in pockets..and she tripped.  Poor girl, her hands were stuck so she ended up scraping up her chin, lips and nose real good. 

Finally we were able to put the stickers on the eggs.  They didn't want to stay on but the kids had fun anyway.  They ended up sticking more of them on themselves than the eggs.

He loves to show off!

She tried so hard to smile for us... but you can tell it hurt.

What a GREAT month!

Wow... there is SO much to share but we'll start with the most important:

This week Daddy became a non-equity partner at the firm!  Congratulations to him!  He has worked so hard and we are all proud of him.  Thanks Grandpa H for getting the ball rolling!  This means that I will be able to stay home full time next year!  Daddy and I are both very nervous that something will come up and mean we need the extra income so I may still substitute occasionally.  I am THRILLED that I will be able to be home with my little ones all day, though they will miss their daily visits to play with Grandma G. 

The next most important thing is that I am declaring Kayda POTTY TRAINED!  A couple of weeks ago Grandma G told Kayda she had to wear underwear and go potty in the toilet if she wanted to spend the night (she spends the night over there anytime Grandpa G is gone).  Kayda put on underwear that afternoon and went 5 days without an accident.  Then, out of nowhere she decided that she didn't want to use the potty anymore and went back to diapers.  Well a week ago she started wearing them again and it doesn't look like she's going back again!  Way to go Kayda!  Now I don't have to be nervous about preschool, she couldn't go if she wasn't potty trained.

Now, on to getting caught up!

There have been several scattered VERY nice days this month, beautiful days, sunny, warm... just goregous.  We've been spending as many of those outside as we can.  We're working on getting some yard debris out of our backyard and I found a frog!  I grabbed one of the kids buckets, they had such a great time looking at it.  Since we are getting rid of the debris I felt bad just putting it back so the kids and I packed up and drove the frog to a new home at Grandma G's pond.  The kids thought it was just fantastic... I did too until Kayda decided that she needed to see "just one more frog".  She was NOT happy that we couldn't produce another frog magically.

With the state testing going on at the high schools I had a day off so we had a play date down at Kent common's indoor park.  It was originally just with an old coworker of mine, Rhonda and her grandson Hank but another coworker, Liz ended up bringing her little girl Maya as well. I regret to say that I didn't bring my camera but it was fantastic!  They had all kinds of kids' toys, small slides, riding toys galore, a teeter-totter, and tons of other toys.  The kids had such a great time running around.  There was a firetruck that had a seat on the back, the kids took turns driving and being driven.  At one point I was helping them with the teeter-totter, we ended up with another two kids rotating with Kayda and Dillon.  When Kayda decided she wasn't interested one of the other girls, Grace, decided that Kayda was her new best friend.  Next thing I know they're practically attached at the hip running around the gym with a small grocery cart.  True to Kayda's character, Kayda was driving and pointing out the balls that she wanted Grace to go pick up.   Dillon would chase after them every once in a while but for the most part he just ran around, perfectly happy to ride the cars as fast as he could.  He played with whomever was doing something that could hold his interest, little mister social.

Kayda started speech therapy this week.  She'll be going every Monday and Wednesday for about half an hour.  She was supposed to get a binder to put some of the things we work on in so we bought one and decorated it for her.  She LOVES it.  Of course we got horse stickers so that's probably why.  Monday she worked on leading with the "h" sound and Wednesday she was working on a lot of random sounds.  It's great to be there and see exactly what's going on so that I can practice everything at home with her.  I'm noticing a little bit of a difference already but I can't wait until her speech is clear enough that someone that isn't around all the time can understand what she's saying. 

We also had another play date on Tuesday with a friend of mine from high school, Andraea and her little boy Braden.  We met at a nearby park, not my favorite by any means but it was nice enough.  The kids immediately started climbing everywhere and racing down the slides.  Eventually Dillon decided that he wanted to go up the slide so he figured out how to stand up, hold on and walk along the edge to the top so that he wouldn't keep sliding back down.  I was amazed that he picked it up so quickly!  After that Kayda watched him and figured it out.  Next thing you know Kayda, Dillon and Braden are all playing "monster".  Of course they eventually found a patch of dandelions and I ended up with a pocket full of them. 

Last thing... Today I decided to try a craft.  Every once in a while I get motivated.  For valentine's day we made hearts with glitter all over them.  Today we tried to make bunnies.  I just grabbed whatever I could find that might work and cut out the pieces we'd need, then Kayda and Dillon glued it all together.  They did a great job and I am ever so grateful for the fact that elmers glue wipes up so easily.  Here are their bunnies!

Kayda's Writing

Kayda and I have been working on her writing now that she knows her letters. We got special lined paper and everything.  Well we tried to write on that paper tonight. She wasn't too interested in writing on the lines and she didn't write her name this time. No, instead she spelled "CAT" which Grandma G has been working on with her. As well as "GUM" which we just did because she accidentally wrote a G in place of C and she wanted to write a word with that letter.  She knew how to write the A and the T without any help.  She made the M upside down so we had to fix that.  Here you go! Pretty darn good for a kid that's not even 3 and a half!

Kayda's Dance Class

Kayda's cousin Ella (~6 months older) has been doing a dance class. I wanted to have her take the class with Ella because they're good pals but the class starts at 10:30 and I'm not done with my classes until 10:35 so we couldn't do it. Well last Thursday Aunt Sarah volunteered for Kayda to come to class with Ella as a guest and guess what...she loved it. So we were able to figure out a way for her to go to class with Ella. Every Thursday Grandma G is taking Kayda to Aunt Sarah's and from there she'll go to class. I figure I should be able to grab Dillon and get over there by a little after 11 so I'll be able to poke my head in and watch a little. A great big thanks to Grandma G and Aunt Sarah for making it possible for her to go.

Ella was sick today so Grandma G brought Kayda and bravely tried to occupy a very tired, grumpy two year old (he hasn't been sleeping much the last few nights). Before Grandma G left I was able to snap a few pictures.

Well, Grandma G left before Kayda was done in the hopes it would avoid a tantrum. She has been a Grandma's girl completely since she's been staying the night there whenever Grandpa's gone. She doesn't want to leave when I go to pick them up after work, she's constantly asking to go over there and constantly asking Grandma to sleep there. The plan kind of worked. The last couple minutes of class the mom's can go in and watch so I came in to watch holding Dillon. They're doing the hokey-pokey and Kayda is just sitting there looking sad. I wave her over and she has the silent tears running down her face because she wanted Grandma. She went back over to get her stamps but she was sad that Grandma was gone. Hopefully she'll stay happy the whole time when Ella is with her.

It's been a while...

Well, it's been quite a while since I've updated so here's a quick summary... Our family has been hit with illness after illness after illness. The kiddos were basically sick from mid-December to mid-February. So we haven't been doing a whole lot. Here's a few things we've done that I have pictures to go with.

Kayda and Dillon love to ride their trikes, this is their newest invention. Dillon figured out how to pedal and then stopped all together, maybe this is why.

Kayda and Dillon love to color. Kayda has discovered that she LOVES glitter, I haven't been brave enough to try that one with Dillon yet. Here are some examples of her masterpieces. I drew out the shapes and then she did most of the cutting, I helped hold the paper while she did it though.

While our little family has been sick we've spent a lot more time than we like indoors. Well a couple of weekends ago it was gorgeous outside and Daddy decided that we should go for a walk. A walk turned into a trip to Lake Meridian with our little family, Hank, Grandma H. and their new dog Jake. Gotta love how nice the weather has been. It definitely doesn't feel like March, and it didn't feel like February and it didn't feel like January. Not so sure we had much of a winter... maybe 2 or 3 weeks worth.

For Christmas Kayda got moon sand and I was finally brave enough to take it out again. Kayda had a blast, Dillon liked to smooth everything I made for him but got bored quickly.

Another big step this month was a trip to the movies...again. We took the kids to see "Planet 51" at the $3 theater. They BOTH did great this time. They sat and watched the whole movie and had a great time of it. Kayda recently went with Grandma and Grandpa G to see "The lightening theif" and did very well.  She didn't get scared at all and wanted to go see it again!

As I've said before Kayda can officially write her name, but now it's without help! Way to go! She even wrote out every letter of the alphabet with me a couple of days ago and the important part...most of them looked the way they are supposed to! She wasn't learning her letters very well because she would get bored so I finally bought the letter factory and it has made a huge difference! She knows all her letters and the sounds they make. She's so excited to know them that she'll read off the letters on posters and such. It's helped some with her speech but we'll still be happy to get her into speech therapy; we're still waiting for the official results of the evaluation. Kayda loves the book "Snug House Bug House" and enjoys reading it to us (she has it memorized). Last but not least, Kayda is officially signed up for little chargers starting next fall. Now we just need to get her to potty train. I wish she was interested. Hopefully the no potty, no school rule will help.

Now for little Dillon. We have discovered that Dillon does not like it when Kayda isn't home. She has started staying the night at Grandma G's a lot and he is miserable without her. He adores his sister and is more than a little lost without her nearby. One good thing about it is that he gets to ride in the Jeep which he adores! He is starting to talk like crazy and many of the words are recognizable. He is the most charismatic little boy I know. When we go anywhere he's waving at everyone, talking to them, saying bye to them and giving them his sweet smiles. He's a charmer, watch out girls here he comes!