Oh-La-La

A friend of mine had given me a little hatbox filled with some dress up clothes for Leah. I decided to break them out the other day; now that she can fit in them. Little did I know how much of a fued it would bring on between the two because there was only one pair of high heel shoes in the box! It just so happened, yesterday I bought Leah an early birthday present that has

a box filled with two tiaras and three high heel shoes for only $10.00. When I opened the box, I immediately gave them to Leah to play in. Well, Evan decided he wanted high heel shoes too. I debated on whether I should open up Leah's b-day present and eventually gave in. This morning, they both wanted to wear the clothes with their dressy shoes. It was too funny to watch!

5 Years

Greg and I went to Destin, Florida this past weekend to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary (which is in October). Wow the time has flown. We had pretty good weather, but I was feeling under the weather. In the middle of the night before our day to leave, I had a severe asthma attack and went to the doctor's office first thing in the morning, was put on Prednisone and a Z-pack. Once the medicine kicked in, I was feeling much better, but I have the worst sounding croupy cough I can't seem to get rid of.
We enjoyed some time on the beach, at the pool, visited outlet malls and went to Seaside (where the movie "The Truman Show" was filmed). We had a nice and relaxing time to enjoy with one another. This was our first vacation without the kids. There were many families vacationing in Destin and watching all of the kids made me miss my two terrbily!

We had to take two flights there and two flights back to STL. The second flight coming back was interesting. The plane had air conditioning problems and it had to be fixed before take-off. It took about an hour and a half to two hours for the air to be fixed due to employee shift changes, etc. At least we had some poetry reading from the one and only Chuck Berry over the aircraft intercom.

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband! I love you!

Warning...I BITE!

Leah has been "my biter" for the last couple of months. She usually gets time out when this occurs. Today was the worst bite she has given Evan. I have to commend Evan for not reacting with anything but a cry and "Sissy bite!" I am sure one day he will do something back to her, but for the handful of times this has happened with her biting him, he hasn't hit or bit her back.

Leah felt really bad after I told her she hurt Evan and showed her the bite mark on his back. She immediately gave him a hug and rubbed his leg. He gave her a hug back as if to say he has forgiven her and tackled her to the floor (see picture).

Japanese Festival

We took the kids to the Botanical Gardens yesterday for a Japanese Festival. The kids were really well behaved and loved seeing all of the flowers and activities that were going on. They tried some egg rolls and fried rice (didn't like the egg roll that much). Evan and Leah enjoyed swatting the Japanese flags that lined the pathways throughout the gardens. Everyone walking by that it was hysterical. I am glad the kids enjoy festivals as much as their Mommy!

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School Time

So, this morning I tried my best to hype up going to "school." The kids loved carrying their lunchboxes around the house before we left. Poor Leah couldn't even stand up with her backpack it was so big. Pink's song, "Please Don't Leave Me" was the last song we heard before we got out of the car to go into school. How ironic is that?! We walked into the church and down the hall to their room. I tried to get them all excited to play with the toys on the ground, but they didn't do anything except cling to my side. I was talking to one of the teachers and noticed Evan running out the door. As I am chasing him down the hallway, Leah is running after me like, "What's going on?" I got them both to sit on my lap, sort of. Evan was pretty much wallering on the floor and crying and then Leah started to cry after another boy was parting from his mom and crying himself. I ended up being able to leave and did okay emotionally until I left Greg a phone message of how it all went. I did break down into tears for a minute as I told him on the phone, "I just don't want them to be sad!" My mother-in-law was there to pick up the kids as I had a doctor's visit. She said the teacher report was good and the teacher said she the kids did very well for their first day. They cried a little bit here and there, but participated in activities, ate lunch, and went down for a nap on the floor (which I was worried about- they have never taken a nap on the floor before) with no problem. So, one day down and many more to go. It was nice having my friends there for me today. We went to the gym and went to Panera for lunch. Hopefully next week will go well.

Going into school

I'm ready to go Mom!
I think I am ready Mom.
At least we have each other!

Parent's Day Out

I am writing this blog entry in hopes that people will say a little prayer for me. I enrolled the kids in a Parent's Day Out program at a local church on Tuesdays from 9-3pm. Last week was suppose to be their first day of "school," but Evan had a fever from that Sunday till Wed. and ended up having an ear infection, so I couldn't take them. So tomorrow will be their first day. I am nervous as all get out because I for some reason feel bad taking them there. I know this is a good thing for them to get out and experience and a good thing for me as well, but I am really struggling with the fact that they will be there....crying. So much to adjust to in a day: new people, no blankie when you want it, no paci (which they are definitely getting better at with just naps and car), no mommy, no snacks.
I keep telling myself at least they have each other to be with, but this is the longest they will have gone without someone other than family (or an hour at the gym; which doesn't always go so well either) watching them for an extended period of time. I do have my day set to be with two friends in the morning and then a doctor's appt. in the afternoon, but I know all day I will worry.
So, please send your prayers! I will post with an update of their first day tomorrow.

Festival of Nations

On Saturday, we took the kids to the Festival of Nations down at Tower Grove Park. This was Greg and my fourth year to go and we still love going despite the huge crowd of people and the ridiculous walk from the car to the Festival. If you have never been, it's definitely something to experience. They have about 50 food vendors and there is food from anywhere imaginable. Just to name a few, you can try: Indian, Polish, Greek, Chinese, Turkish, Afghan, Bosnian, etc. We tried a chicken with veggie on pita from the Bosnian group. It was very tasty. Leah especially liked the Baklava from there as did I. Both of the kids loved watching the dancers and people walking around. There were also some men taking bales of hay and launching them over their shoulders over a very high pole. So interesting to watch!
We checked out some vendors selling crafts, etc. and bought Evan a wooden Cobra; which the tail was broken in about 5 minutes because he got it caught in the wheel of the stroller as I was pushing. We stayed for about 3 hours and then headed back towards the car and decided to check out the ducks at the pond. It was a beautiful day outside and I am glad the kids enjoyed the festival as much as we did.

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