Some miscelaneous video:
Video 1 Alyssa playing in water (Frederik Meijer)
Video 2 Kaylee puppet show (Frederik Meijer)
Video 5 Niagara Falls, behind the falls
Video 7 Niagara Falls, behind the falls
Video 8 Niagara Falls behind the falls
5/3/2012 Today I have mostly pictures to update. I have a bunch of really nice ones still from Niagara Falls. It apparently made an impression with the kids because they keep asking us if we can go back there sometime. We are under three months (2 months 2 weeks and 6 days) for moving and I'm getting nervous. We had our first mover come in to tell us how much moving our stuff to Florida will cost. We had estimated it pretty close to what they quoted us. Not to big of a surprise there, but it does bring reality a little closer. We are once again living amongst boxes and we're purging even more. This is the part of moving I absolutely LOVE. Throw it all away. Of course I'm the type of person who throws away too much. Don't think I'll ever end up on the show "hoarding buried alive". Yesterday we went through our clothes closet. Between having lost a bunch of weight and moving to a warmer climate, we got rid of a ton of clothes. Our closet is nice and empty. Ready to go shopping in Florida...lol... just kidding. I am finally rid of all those maternity clothes. Dan has some interesting options for work in Florida, which is really a relief. It's hard to start looking five plus months before you get there. He's not moving until the end of August, maybe later. Next purge is the kids closets with toys and clothes. Anyway, enjoy the pics and movies.
4/19/2012 Only three months to go before we move. It's starting to get exciting. We have now started to pull out boxes already and are starting to pack up our nick nacks that we had here. It's amazing how much "crap" we still have. We have already weeded through a lot of things, but there's always more we can get rid off. We are so ready to go. Not that this place is small, it just doesn't quite fit. Ryan and Kaylee are also getting a little too adventurous outside. I found them climbing the carport roof a while back and they are also more comfortable going near the water, which is a big no no.
We have been talking about how this move is going to happen and that for possibly a couple of months they won't see daddy. I just don't want it to be a surprise. Yesterday Ryan broke down and cried because he didn't want to miss daddy. So we have been talking about how we will talk to daddy everyday and that it will only be for a short time that daddy isn't with us.
Kaylee is super excited about going to school. I have showed them the two schools they might get into. Kaylee keeps asking who her teacher will be and who her friends will be.
Ryan is still doing so so at school. The behavioral team came to observe him in class and found nothing wrong with him. I find it curious that they are there for 30 minutes and hope to catch him in behavior. The very fact that they are in the classroom may make him act differently. Of course they didn't find anything and he's still experiencing problems. His teacher told me to see if we can have his behavior evaluated by a clinic, but we're going to wait until we get to Florida. No point in starting that whole process when we are months away from moving. Dan and I have decided it's the best thing to do, because he experiences the same problems at home and whatever we do is apparently not enough. We also don't know how much of the move is affecting them (Kaylee is a lot like Ryan and we foresee similar problems with her in school, but who knows she may surprise us). There are so many things going on and Dan and I are stressed by it, I'm sure it's affecting the kids in some way as well. So we feel waiting is better.
Until then we are thoroughly enjoying this mild winter. It couldn't have been timed better. The kids get to play outside a lot. We pulled out the chalk and decorated the walkways to the appartment building. It is the first year that they really work on actual pictures instead of blobs of color. They made birdhouses, flowers, people, etc... and it was easy to recognize them. They also have room to ride their bikes, which are entirely too small for them. It's funny to especially Ryan peddling his bike. We'll get them some new ones in Florida. No need to buy them now and have to move them to Florida. It'll be a fun thing we can look for once we are in Florida.
June 6 is Ryan's last day at school. I'm looking forward to it as well. I have to bring Ryan to school every morning and it gets old having to dress all three kids, feed them, drive Ryan to school and then do the same at 11 o'clock. In addition it interferes with Alyssa's naptime. We worked around it, but I'll be glad when it's done. Of course that brings different challenges once all three of them are home all day, but that's okay.
We started a new rule in the house. No TV during the week, only during the weekend. Both Ryan and Kaylee were getting very riled up by the tv shows. We had already blocked them from watching shows that make them too hyper. It has resulted in quieter evenings. I sit with them and read books now and it is so much more pleasant. In addition, we have seperated Ryan and Kaylee's bedtime. They have always gone to bed at the same time. Bedtime has always been challenging at best. They rile each other up and as a result especially Kaylee can't settle down. So I figured I would try seperate bedtimes and it's a godsend. Bedtimes are now peaceful. Kaylee still doesn't like to go to bed, but she enjoys the one on one. About half an hour later Ryan goes to bed and for the most part Kaylee is already sleeping when he goes to bed. Ryan loves the fact that because he is older he gets to do something Kaylee doesn't. He entertains himself or talks with us about things and there are no interruptions.
Alyssa is a smart cookie. She is learning so many words. The cute ones (i think) are Hungy; Fwip fwop; Wogue; Move (to the dog); B...b...bowny (bologna, to the theme of mission impossible); Shoes; eaws (ears); Nowe (nose); ammals (animals); and last but not least Monkey. Of the three is by far the messiest at the table. The carpet is pretty much destroyed. She feeds the dog her food and she is usually covered from head to toe by mashed potatoes, spaghetti etcetera. She loves to eat yoghurt (yoyo), but will absolutely not accept any help while eating. In other words she is extremely stubborn. I think the best times are when you can tell how much she enjoys learning something new. Running with Ryan and Kaylee, or coloring with markers, showing her how a new toy works. Her eyes get big, her mouth opens in a big "o" of surprise.
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