Lexington Arboretum Children's Garden

Today was a day where I woke up and had no plan for the kids. Usually I try to plan out the day the night before, but today I had nothing! We had to go to Lexington to check on my parent's house and get their mail and feed the fish in the pond. So, I knew the activity must be in Lexington. But what to do???

Driving in to Lexington, I went through downtown instead of New Circle Rd. As I was passing the stadium, I remembered seeing some friends' pictures on Facebook of their kids at the new Children's Garden at the Arboretum. The weather was super, not too sunny, cool temps, so I thought it would be a perfect day for a visit.

I am so glad we decided to go. The kids had a GREAT time. It is such a nice place to take kids and spend a couple of hours outdoors. I was a little disappointed that we had to pay to get in. But, it was worth it. Brody and Raegan could have stayed for several hours. There was lots to do: Water sprays, walking in the rocks in the stream, digging in the dirt, watering flowers, looking at the beautiful scenery. I would highly recommend going, if you have little ones.

ABC's

Here is Raegan singing her ABC's. How funny, right?!?!

It's Summertime!

It is officially Summer, or at least the weather sure feels like it! We have had highs in the 90's, bright sunshine, and super high humidity. Reminds me of August......

The kids are enjoying being outside, with lots of popsicles and drinks to keep cool. We had a nice Memorial Day Weekend celebrating Ryan's birthday. Raegan played in the pool a little bit while Ryan and Brody were at Lowe's. She's not a huge fan of water, but she got in it for about 5 minutes. Despite her brief swim, she sure looked cute in her new bathing suit!

Raegan got sick towards the end of the weekend, she ended up getting strep throat! She is on antibiotics and is slowly getting better. She still runs a fever when the motrin/tylenol run out. Hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow?

Today the kids blew bubbles on the driveway for about an hour. They each took turns blowing bubbles while the other chased them. They were busy doing this for a while, so that makes Mom happy! Any moment I can get without some child whining/requesting something/crying is soo appreciated.

We have a robin's nest in our wreath on the front door. We noticed it about a week ago. The bird made the nest on top of the wreath, which has us wondering why she chose that spot. We now can't use our front door so we don't disturb the nest. Today I took pictures of it to share. It's amazing to me that birds know how to make nests, with mud and sticks to keep their eggs safe. My door is now muddy from all of her hard work, but I'll let it be until the babies are born and on their way.

Last Day of Preschool

Today was Brody's last day of preschool! Raegan and I went to his class for an ice cream party. He was so happy. We stayed while Ms. Tia read them a story and watched him eat lunch with his friends. Raegan even got to eat lunch with the kids, which made her feel like a big girl!

I am so proud of Brody! He has grown so much this past year, physically, socially, and academically. He loves school and loves to learn. His behavior in preschool has been overall great. Just a few minor bumps in the road, but I feel that is probably normal. He is on his way to understanding what is appropriate behavior for school, and is doing really well. I can't believe Brody will be a Kindergartener this fall!

We love you so much Brody and are so proud of you. You're a great little boy, and we love having you in our family.

Confidence Builders

Last week, Ryan told Brody that starting this week on Monday, he will have to start trying to wipe his bottom. Ever since he was potty trained, we have, of course, been doing this for him. He tried a few months ago to do it himself, which resulted in a MESS and him being traumatized by the whole ordeal. But, with Kindergarten coming up in a few months, we knew we needed to get this done! After Ryan told him, Brody replied "Well, I just won't eat as much so I don't have to poop a lot!" He is so funny, and pretty smart! We all had a pretty big chuckle at that one.

So, Monday came and no #2 that day. Not sure if he was holding it on purpose, or just didn't have to go. Yesterday, I asked him if he had to use the bathroom, and he did. He ran in there and was in the bathroom for a few minutes. I heard the wipes being opened and then I heard him getting down and washing his hands. He came out so proudly, declaring "I wiped myself and I didn't get poop on my hands!"

Since then, he's had 2 other instances of success. We are so proud of him! Brody's pattern is always resisting change until he knows he can do something successfully. He doesn't like to be wrong or unable to do something. He just told me, "Now I don't need you guys whenever I go to the bathroom. I can do it all on my own!" :)

On Sunday, Brody had a soccer game. It was misting/raining and the field was super muddy. He had a game the previous day, I didn't go with Raegan. It was raining too, and I didn't want to take Raegan out in the mess. Ryan said he played really well, things were starting to click for him.

His game on Sunday, I could tell, he was really into it. He followed the ball better, stopped it and turned it the other way towards his goal. And, to our surprise and delight, Brody scored 2 goals that game! We all cheered for him and he was so happy. Believe me, this mom had some tears in her eyes! I was so happy for him. Another boost of confidence for our little guy, which is wonderful!!

Scrappers

Brody had his first t-ball game tonight. They won, they all played really well! His team is called The Scrappers!! :) He didn't get to field any balls, hardly any made it out to the outfield. But he got a great base hit! He was so proud! I'm glad he had a good experience. I think he's going to really enjoy it. Here are some pictures I got from his first game. Silly me....I was taking pictures from the wrong side when he was batting. Since he is a lefty, I should've been on the other side to get a good picture of him at bat. Next time, I'll know better!!

I tried to come prepared for Raegan. Lots of snacks and drinks and toys. But, she wasn't that impressed with what I brought. This is going to be a long summer trying to keep her busy during games!

Soccer!

Brody started soccer last month. With all of the rain, there have been several practices/games cancelled. But, he has managed to have 2 games finally! He really enjoys soccer. He doesn't always understand exactly what to do, that it's ok to get in there and try to take the ball, we're trying to score in THIS net, not that one.... It's pretty funny to watch the games. He has a really young team, lots of 3-year olds. So, believe me, we laugh a lot!!

It's funny. We spend all our time teaching our kids to play nicely, share, keep your hands/feet to yourselves. But, now that he is playing soccer, we're telling him it's ok to take the ball away, be agressive, run hard! He's a little shy about trying to steal the ball away from other kids. But, I guess he'll get it eventually! He almost scored 2 goals last game, he dribbled the ball all the way down the field, but just missed the goal. We were so proud of him, and he was smiling from ear to ear as he heard the crowd cheer him on. That's what it's all about!

I don't have a lot of pictures. It's hard to watch the game, take pictures, and keep Raegan entertained. But, I managed to take a few.... I'll be better about pictures from now on. First t-ball game is Thursday. I hope he has fun!!