The End of May

Can it really be already the end of May? I seems like it was just the beginning of spring. And seeing that we're projected to have a frost tonight, I would argue that spring hasn't started yet. But the calendar says it's summer.
There are many things that I suppose I should be doing right now, but I'll give myself some time to blog before getting to the nitty-gritty of preparing for next week.
But we did have some wonderful weather this weekend and we got our garden in. The yard is cleaned up. The city even came and hauled away the last of our downed branches from the ice storm. The house is starting to look respectable again. We just have to finish painting the outside and fix the front steps. Then (at least for a little while) we'll be done.
We went on a short hike and had a picnic lunch today with some friends from church. It was perfect weather and the kids did just fine, which was impressive, considering we were walking for over an hour.
We had an early dinner, and since some thunderstorms had just rolled through and the sky had cleared nicely - it was perfect weather for PUDDLE STOMPING!
Caroline got some new-to-her boots and (even though they are quite girly) Sam didn't seem to mind wearing Caroline's old ones.
Caroline is apparently giving Sam the rules of puddle stomping:

I think Sam is just amazed that we're really letting him stomp through the water!

And they're OFF!

MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN!!!

I think the shirt says it all (Thanks, Sara!)...

Action shot of Caroline:

Look familiar?


CHEESE!!! This kid is such a ham.

They were both pretty soaked by the time we got home. It wast straight to bathies and bed.

But not before a hug. Sometimes they're so cute together it makes my heart ache.
We got to go to some garage sales yesterday. Caroline got a beautiful princess dress that she wore for a good portion of the day. Here the kids are sitting in the kitchen watching "Box TV". Who says you need television to keep kids entertained?!?! And yes, Sam is wearing a tutu. But the Marlins shirt balances it out.


And I have no idea why Caroline is wearing a crown, galoshes and not much else - but they look like they're having fun!

PS - Sam loves ice cream!

The Weekend (addendum).

I wanted to document this story while it was still fresh in my mind.
The details become fuzzy too soon and this one is too good to forget.
We drove back from Rochester today. Usually it's not too bad of a trip. We made it in six and a half hours out there. We were looking forward to a leisurely trip home, stopping when we needed to, but we weren't trying to set any land speed records. We had just passed Indian Castle and gave Pat and Erica a call, asking if we could stop in to say hello. We were about an hour away, so that gave them some lead time to prepare for the swath of destruction that Sam and Caroline would surely leave in their apartment.
We finalized our plans - no problem. We would see them in about an hour.
Now, let's set the stage here. Sam had just previously had two of the worst nights in recent memory (we will never, ever, ever forget the Zantac again). Ordinarily, this would not be a huge deal - but all of us were sleeping in the same room - so we all were pretty ragged. Both kids had been sleeping since about the west side of Syracuse and Jim and I were loving the peace and quiet. I was enjoying a book. We had found the Yankees game on the radio and were having a lovely time. We figured we would be able to zoom right through to Guilderland without making any stops. It's a great plan, right?
We see a sign "Next Rest Area 38 Miles."
Suddenly - we smell something. It's not pleasant. Uh-oh.
We look behind us. Sam is awake and covered, almost head to toe, with poop. Literally.
Awesome.
It takes us a couple minutes to get to a place where the road is relatively straight, so we can pull over. In the meantime, I'm trying to keep the boy entertained so we don't have any finger painting going on. We pull over as far as we can and get out of the car. We're standing in a rocky ditch. We strip Sam down so that he's naked. Jim is holding him under the armpits (by this time all three of us are covered in poo) and I'm frantically trying to clean hip up. And while the two of us are busy working, Sam is having a GREAT time waving to all the trucks going by yelling "Truck! Truck!" He was having so much fun that we couldn't help but laugh.
So we were a little late getting to Guilderland.
But all is well that ends well. =-)

The girls got new headbands this weekend:


So did Sam:

We had a lot of fun up at the carousel and the pier:


The kids had lots of fun:


Caroline even got to see the firetrucks up close:

We went for a walk on the Canal Path:



And we saw the Chili parade this morning (of course). I think we waited longer than the parade actually lasted:

The Weekend

Has been lovely so far.
Even with Sam running out of Zantac. YIKES. We've been able to get in some naps, though.=-)
We have eaten, played at the playground, eaten, gone to the carousel, eaten, watched lots of ballgames, eaten, gone to church, eaten, got to see the fire trucks, eaten, gone to the Canal, eaten and got to visit a LOT of people. Sense a pattern?
We've had a wonderful time.

PeePee Pahh-Tee.

Sam wants so badly to do everything his sister does.
Now that Caroline is potty trained, she takes full advantage of her time alone in the bathroom to read her books and magazines.
Sam, being the big boy that he is, got out the potty seat last night to be like Caroline. He was carrying it around saying "Peepee. Pahh-tee." Translated for non-Worcesterites, this mean a couple different things
1-Peepee. Potty.
or
2-Peepee. Party!

It was looking like Sam was having a good time once he got himself up on the toilet. So I'm thinking that he meant the second translation! He was reading "Who's in the Loo?", of course!
Does this mean he's out of diapers soon? (I can dream...)

I Knew...

...that two good nights in a row would be too much to ask! Caroline is currently quite upset that she had to stop watching video of the space shuttle launch and go to bed. Jim has had to do at least one "monster sweep" and an "up hug". Hopefully she'll be asleep soon.
**UPDATE- Caroline told me she needed ten books to go to sleep - I'm thinking it's going to be a long night. Sigh. **
Last night was an almost out of body experience. Both kids were down by seven thirty and we had time to talk and read. But the really amazing part was that both children slept through the night!
I think the last time that happened was....ummmm....well....NEVER (okay - maybe once - but it's foggy).
We had such a nice day today. I think we've been trying to do too much. And trying to cram all that stuff on our To-Do List into a day was resulting in getting nothing done. So, for the past week or so, inspired by a blog (Thank you, Charlene), I keep reminding myself that the only things I HAVE to do are keep my children clothed and fed. Strangely enough, when I focus on only those things, soooo much more gets done. And we have a lot more fun. And everyone naps at the same time. And the days are much less stressful. Funny how those things work, huh?
Here are Jim and Caroline watching the Atlantis take-off:

Poor Junior

Well...at least we know that most of his mass was fur.
I think he looks like Mr Bigglesworth.

Dress Up

Caroline (after I wrote that she wasn't a girly-girl) has become very much a girly girl lately.
Dresses.
Make-up.
Hair.
It's all been cute.
Sam even likes to get in on the act once in a while.

Tonight she decided she was a bride. So I got out my wedding dress and we played together for a while.

Strike a Pose

Caroline got into my make-up this morning. All things accounted for, she really didn't do a bad job. We need to work on the lipstick, though.

But then I figured we might as well turn the opportunity into a photo shoot...and (of course) CJ ATE it up. She told us she was a "Cover girl." We have NO idea where that one came from.