Someone...Anyone...

Please help me!

This has never happened to me since I became a mom almost 3 1/2 years ago. I am sick.

I woke up fine. Went to play at Delaney's house just fine. Went to Target. Again, fine. Then to McDonald's for Sweet Tea and milk for the kids. No food. I thought I was fine? Came home and ended up in the bathroom. TMI here, but was sitting on the toilet and puking into a trash can while my 3 year old found me the phone.

Called Pete. Didn't answer. Texted Pete. Still heard nothing.

Drew is in his room and I am hoping he takes a nap. Of course right now he is playing with his wall letters. Note to self to take those down! Oh, just heard him say "Oh no 'R'." Which can only mean he knocked it off the wall.

Izzy is in my bed having quiet time. I am going to join her.

How do moms get sick? I guess they don't?

Let's Back up a Bit

I know you are all waiting with baited breath for my WV updates, but I need to back up to the week before we left. As you may recall Izzy was at dance camp. I've got a few more pictures and a rather boring video to share.

On Wednesday morning Izzy woke up and dressed herself. She has been big into dressing herself lately and usually does a decent job picking out an outfit. I keep telling myself every morning when I see her that I need to remember to set out two outfits at night and just let her pick one. One morning she came down in another pair of pj's because that is what she wanted to wear for the day. I then had to explain to her what her various drawers were for. Every once in a while a shirt is on backwards. If I ask her to switch her arms around then she insists on going back up to her room to do it. I am not sure exactly how she does it, but she must take off the entire shirt because although she comes down with it on "with the tag in the back" it is also now inside out. Oh well. So, this is what she picked to wear on Wednesday morning of dance camp week.



That outfit was actually on correctly. I felt bad telling her she was going to need to change. But, before she changed her and Drew took part in a new favorite game called "Puppy". How does this game work, you ask? Izzy and Drew each have a cage that they hide in. Izzy's is her oven and Drew's is under Izzy's kitchen sink. I will need to take pictures so you understand. Anywho, I then "buy" them for my pets and proceed to throw balls for them to fetch, take them on walks, and feed them. This morning they wanted to eat actual food like dogs. The best I could come up with was Coco Puffs.





Finally we were dressed and ready to head to dance


But not before my little love decided to pick me a flower (it is in his right hand)


And since the kids had to stop crawling and acting like puppies, they decided to walk other animals. The caterpillar and giraffe would be joining us on our ride to dance.


Here are the girls waiting for class to start


and an overhead shot


The next set of shots are from Thursday. Thursday was the last day of camp and we were allowed into the class for the last 15 min. to see what the girls had learned. We were prepped by Miss Betsy that the girls might be distracted by our presence and therefore unable to focus on the tasks. I was just excited to see 3 year olds in pink leotards. Oh, did that just sound creepy?

Izzy acting like the little lady she is


This is better


They started off by doing some stretches and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes".


Then onto some basic toe pointing...to the side, back and front.







We saw all the arm positions I mentioned before as well as plies and other moves I don't remember the names of. The girls concluded with a cute little curtsy.

Here is a quick video. My camera kept shutting off due to low batteries. Izzy is the blond in the middle in case you can't tell.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Drew was a complete pistol the entire 15 min. At one point in the video I start dancing with him which causes the camera to shake. Nice, huh? At one point I set him down and he went running straight for the front of the room. I don't know if he was going for the ballet bar or Izzy? Probably the bar. He just laughed the entire time - as he does whenever he escapes my restraints.

Izzy will be starting a dance class in two weeks. It is not at the same location the camp was. She will be taking classes with Delaney and Alexandra at a place Alexandra did another camp. It happens to be a bit cheaper - which was the deciding factor. Hopefully Izzy will do okay. She told me just the other day that she misses dance class. I told her that she will be starting classes again soon. She got so excited and said "I can't wait to see Miss Betsy! I've missed her." Whoops...

Have You Missed Me?

A few folks have inquired as to why I have not blogged lately? Well, I have good reason for being gone so long...THE SWYT FAMILY REUNION! This past week was spend with 15 other adults and 11 other children in good 'ole Oglebay, WV.

Here's the gang...

Not bad for a picture taken with a self timer. Can you believe that every single person is looking? I find it amazing that not one child is crying or looking away. Not a single parent is looking down at, over at or in some way a child? Pretty darn good.

Here is my family. If anyone messed up the picture it would be me for not positioning myself better.



Now if I could just find the time to sort through the 150+ pictures in addition to all the laundry, grocery shopping and general errands I need to do then we might be in business for a recap. Oh and don't forget my most important job and reason for blogging...the KIDS! Those little buggers require quite a bit of my time and attention :) I can't quite figure out the best way to blog about our week? Once I get that figured out you will all be the first to know.

Til then...

Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum

Oh my, you are in for a treat with this post. It is funny yet disturbing at the same time.

Izzy started Boogie Babes yesterday. Boogie Babes is a dance camp this week which will help determine if she is ready for dance "lessons". My reasons for doing it weren't so much that I want her to take dance as that I believe she needs to be gently reminded that I leave sometimes. School was a bit of an adjustment for Izzy this past year and we very rarely have babysitters so I want to keep her used to the idea that mommy leaves, but always comes back. The registration form stated that "no dancewear is needed, only tennis shoes and shorts." I didn't think Izzy would care what she wore, but once we got to class 3/5 girls had on leotards.

This is Izzy before class began. She is sitting next to Alexandra who is a friend from Izzy's school and the one who told us about the class.


Here is Izzy sitting in class next to Delaney - her bestest friend.


Since Izzy knew half the girls in class I wasn't too worried that she would cry, but I can never be certain with her! I did reassure her that I would be in another room the entire time. After I walked her into her class I had to wrestle Drew off the bar to get him out of the class.

Drew and Zach (Alexandra's brother)


It was quite nice to hang out for the hour Izzy was in class. Drew and Zach got to have an hour long playdate in another room.

After class I asked Izzy if she wanted to get a leotard like some of the other girls were wearing and she said yes. I don't think she would have asked for one on her own, as she doesn't notice clothing...yet. Regardless I thought it would be cute. So, after class we searched at Target. I found a skirt, but no leotard. Later we headed to KMart where I found a pink leotard and a blue one with a built in skirt.

Once Pete came home I told Izzy we should try her leotards on for Daddy. I asked her which one she wanted to try on and she chose the pink one. "Cause pink is my favorite color you know".

Izzy was dressed and showing off her new moves when Drew approached me with the blue leotard stating "I want it! Drew's turn!"

With no further ado...Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum


Yes, I did it. I put Drew in the blue leotard. Pete was present the entire time. We were in hysterics! Izzy was teaching Drew everything that she learned in class that day. I must say that the way she was taught some basic positions was quite interesting. For those familiar with dance, first position hands are above the head with fingers gently touching. So Miss Betsy, the teacher, tells the girls that this is a "small flower" as the girls open up their arms they are told to make the flower "grow". Cute, huh? I believe it is fifth position? where the hands are held out front, chest level with fingers slightly touching. For this movement the girls are told to "catch the bubble" and then to "let it go" as they open their arms. Very cute for a group of girls. Very "know your audience",eh?

Here are a couple more pictures of my cute couple:
Little flower


"make the flower grow"


"catch the bubble"


"let the bubble go"


And finally, there were just so many pictures that I put them into a little slide-show.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Today Izzy's teacher, Miss Betsy, told me that Izzy is very serious about her dancing. She is a good listener, concentrates on her movement, and is very pleasant to have in class. My girl :)

Amusement Park

Pete has been travelling A TON lately which leaves me searching for new and interesting things to do with the rugrats. A friend told me about a place 20 min. away that had a playground and a few kiddie rides so we decided to check it out. We met up with my friend Kelli and her daughter Sydni for a morning full of fun.

As soon as we got our tickets the kids immediately spotted the train and wanted to ride it. Worked for us. As we were walking towards the train the conductor blew the whistle. This was the loudest, most ear piercing whistle that I have ever heard. It immediately sent Sydni jumping and Drew running the other way. I wasn't so sure the train ride would actually happen but with some gentle encouragement we got on. I don't have any train pics because I was too busy reassuring Drew that he would be fine.

Arriving at the park - pre train whistle



After the train we headed to the cars. Much discussion took place on exactly which car the kids wanted to ride in. The green one was the chosen one. Izzy in front, Drew and Syd in back. All three children would have a steering wheel. Drew was so excited as soon as he sat down.



the "driver"


As soon as the ride started moving this is what happened

wouldn't you know this was the only car on the entire ride that did NOT have a seat belt! ...note to self, Drew may never again sit on a ride unless he is strapped in.

So after the car ride, which Izzy rode three times, we headed to the helicopter and airplane ride. She rode this three times as well. The first time around she couldn't figure out how to make it go up so the ride operator raised them all into the "up" position. Izzy then screamed that she made ALL the rides go up. Yup, that was all you sister.



We made a quick stop at the playground and then took a trip to the carousel before leaving.

Izzy rode the tiger


By default Drew got a horse




Once we got home Drew took a nap and Izzy had her quiet time. It was lovely as Izzy had an extra long quiet time due to the fact that she was extra tired. After this the kids played SO WELL together. Here is Izzy pulling Drew around in her baby stroller





Then I found Izzy reading to Drew


They were laughing so hard over one saying "bumpy" and one saying "smooth" when I snapped the picture. I then tried to grab the video camera but this is all I was able to get before being spotted.


Reading 7/14/08

Oh, and don't mind the messy play room. Yes, that is a couch on the left side flipped over. The kids like to crawl through/under it and use it as a fort.

I think I was blessed with extra good kids today because God knows I can only take so much being home alone with them!

Odds & Ends

Just a few tidbits from last week. With the exception of a day at the kiddie park, to be blogged about later, nothing too exciting happened. We did not go to the pool until Thursday as we had lots of rain. So we had to make due with just stuff...

As you may recall early last week I sat Izzy and Drew in front of a computer screen so that I could watch the end of Wimbledon. Did you happen to notice the cupcakes to the right of Izzy in the picture? Well, we frosted and decorated them. Here is one difference between Izzy and Drew.

Izzy eating a cupcake with little to no mess


...and Drew


Another day while we were playing outside it started to rain. Izzy asked if she could catch raindrops on her tongue. There was no thunder or lightening so I figured what the heck. Next thing I know Izzy has on her rain coat and rain boots. Thankfully I picked Drew up a raincoat at Old Navy when it was on clearance for $3.99. I wasn't sure if it would ever be worn but better safe than sorry. While he was happy to have a raincoat he was VERY upset not to have rain boots.





I just love shots from behind


...and both my rainy day friends...


On Tuesday I watched Delaney and Mia while Jen had a book show. Refresher: Delaney and Izzy were born a day apart and have been hanging out since they were about 13 months. The day went better than I anticipated. The girls got here for lunch and then left around 4. I was actually able to get Miss Mia and Drew down for naps at the same time. Unfortunately those naps didn't last more then 90 min, but oh well. It was 90 min. with only half the noise.

Here's Delaney - don't you just love those curls!


So, this is what my family room looked like


My family room was turned into an obstacle course. The course consisted mainly of jumping on the cushionless coutches and then jumping from cushion to cushion on the floor. Notice Miss Mia watching (bottom left corner).

Sweet baby Mia - isn't she so tiny? She will be a year next month!


Mostly Mia would watch Drew. He wasn't hard to miss as he stood on top of the cube and would wave while saying "Hi 'issa Eeee-aa". He LOVES her and at one point after their naps he was reading to her. He brought her a soft book and would point out the various objects in the book to her. It reminded me of the way Izzy reads to him - which is why I suppose he repeats it to others. He would say "Star. Yellow star. See the star?" So sweet.


So once the little kids went down for a nap I let the big girls play "breakable tea set". That name was derived by Izzy because...see if you can guess...well, because it could break :) We only use this tea set when Drew is napping. Let me just tell you how many times I have gotten ill off of drinking way too much "tea". Izzy insists on filling the cups and having you drink over and over and over. I've learned to time the playing of the game close to when I believe Drew will wake up.



And finally, Pete was out of town quite a bit of last week. Here he is playing Chutes and Ladders with the kids the night he got home.


I just love how hard Drew appears to be concentrating - as if he knows what he is doing. Goof.


Alrighty then. Tomorrow I will try and post about the kiddie park and some really sweet moments between my kids. ...we had just one of those all around great days. You know the kind I am talking about: kids are well behaved, getting along, listening, and you just love being a mom.