Airport Park, Crosswinds Cafe and Skidmore/Duke

Megan, Ian and Gavin at Duke
Gavin, Ben, Luke and Ian

What a title, huh? It sums up what we did today! Cailean was at work today and the kids and I are on our break. I can't believe NC State has pretty much a mandatory 2 week vacation due to the dates of Christmas and New Year's Day this year! Anyway, we met Jessica, Luke and Ben at the Airport Park and watched the planes take off and land. It was cooler than I had expected (okay, maybe it was 50 degrees???! LOL), so after about 45 minutes or so Jessica and I decided to take the kids to the General Aviation building to watch the planes from inside and then eat some lunch from Crosswinds Cafe. The airport seemed a bit busy, so it kept the kids occupied! We left there and Gavin fell asleep in the car on the way back home. It was a bit challenging to put him in his bed still asleep, but he did go back to bed for a little longer.

At 2:30, the boys and I left and headed over to Duke University to meet up with Megan and the Skidmore Men's Basketball Team. Megan and I did graduate work together at UAlbany and we also worked together in the Athletic Department. She is now the Associate Director of Athletics at Skidmore and was asked to go on this trip!!! I was excited when she told me she was coming down here. Anyway, we got in and saw Cameron Indoor Stadium. It didn't click that Ian was wearing his NC State hat until a few minutes later. UGH. We were in Duke territory wearing a rival hat! LOL LOL Anyway... It had been awhile since I last was in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Ian was excited and Gavin didn't mind being there. hahaha Then, we went to the next building over to the practice facility and chatted with Megan while Skidmore ran a practice. I think the last time we saw each other was July 2003! Ian was a few months old and obviously she hadn't met Gavin! We went on the next court over and the boys had fun shooting hoops and playing some one on one with Megan. Duke's Assoc Head Coach, Steve W, came over to say hi to the Skidmore team and saw Ian and Gavin. He didn't mind getting his picture taken with the boys!!

We had such a great day today!!! The boys seem to be getting better from their colds and we are able to venture away from home for a bit.

Here's a link to more pictures from today: http://picasaweb.google.com/turnbull1220/December302008?authkey=O9Z6aL6f57c&feat=directlink

Gee...haven't blogged in awhile!

We had a nice Christmas with my dad. It was very sad to see him leave Christmas night!!! We were all under the weather, so we postponed Christmas with mom and my grandparents until the day after. Everyone seemed to not be contagious and doing better, so we headed over there mid-morning. Well, around noon...Gavin didn't look too well or act normal and he seemed very warm. So, I took him home to put him down for a nap and Cailean stayed at mom's with Ian. Actually, after his short nap I had to take him to the doctor and she thought he had adenovirus. ARGH!!! Today (Monday), he seemed to have turned the corner and improving. He still has his runny nose though. Ian's cough went away and he is just draining his nose now. He spent a few hours with mom and my grandparents yesterday. I had to pull him out of Christmas soccer camp! :( Hopefully he'll be back to himself real soon! So yea...not really what I wanted to deal with over vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have been able to get together with Jessica, Luke and Ben a few times. We figured since we've all got something why don't we just hang out a few hours a day!

Ian and Gavin received LOTS of books and Ian is doing a GREAT job reading!!! He read Morris the Moose to us the other night. He was sounding out words and a lot of them were also sight words. He does such a great job! He practices his sight words list a few times a day. Gavin even knows them. He has a great memory!!! haha

We got a Wii for Christmas. Cailean got a really good deal on it and we caved in. I wasn't really for it at first, but I was convinced otherwise. A few nights ago Cailean and I played baseball, tennis and bowling. My arm was actually hurting!!!! LOL

Merry Christmas!

Grandpop reading Twas the Night Before Christmas...the kids listened well! LOL
Santa (aka my Dad) with Luke, Ben and their cousins

We enjoyed our time with my dad this week. It seems like he just arrived and before we knew it...we had to take him back to the airport to go back home! We've all been pretty much sick including my dad. Ian has that terrible cough, Gavin has the runny nose and congestion, Cailean has a cold, Dad had a sore throat and I've got a stuffy nose! What a family, huh?! I'm hoping these germs will leave soon!!!

We were able to make it to Christmas Eve service. Came home to our usual appetizers and then put the kids to bed. Then, dad got into the Santa costume and he and I drove down to the Nelsons. Luke is best friends with Ian and Ben is a few days younger than Gavin. Their two cousins were there along with some relatives, so Santa was a very nice surprise!!!! Dad did a GREAT job!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a nice Christmas. The boys ran downstairs and jumped on Grandpop and his bed! LOL I KNOW dad loved that!!!! What better than be woken up by his two grandkids, right?! Grandpop bought them a train that goes around the tree...very cool! Our family members spoiled them! Clothes, toys, gift cards, etc.

Tomorrow morning we're heading over to mom's. Hopefully we'll all feel much better tomorrow!!!

Here's a slideshow for you to watch!!! http://picasaweb.google.com/turnbull1220/Christmas2008?feat=directlink

I can't figure out how people can add comments. What did I delete???!!

Grandpop arrives!

C'mon Grandpop! Go faster!!!
Dad came from about 2 feet of snow to green grass and sunshine! They are decorating their gingerbread house now after eating some of the decoratations, of course.

The driveway in Vermont! I soooooo don't miss shoveling that!

My dad made it out of the blizzard in Vermont yesterday! His plane arrived a few hours later than expected, but he is here. Since Cailean was working yesterday, he met my dad at baggage claim. When we picked him up outside, the boys were going CRAZY in the backseat. Waving, yelling, "Grandpop you are here...finally" and had smiles from ear to ear! We got home and the boys immediately asked for the gingerbread house. A tradition dad started a few years ago!

We went to Panera Bread for breakfast this morning and then went on a hunt for new sneakers for me! Dick's Sporting Goods was the winner!!! Before coming home we went to Tom's Train Store at South Hills mall and oh wow...it was sooo cool! Dad has his own garden railroad and a few other trains in the house, so he was loving it. The boys had a blast running the trainsets!

We're taking a little break right now since Gavin is napping. Ian is watching Alvin and the Chipmunks with my dad.

Having a Friend Over

Making sugar cookies

Ian, Luke and Gavin tackling each other, but took a break to pose for the picture

We're all on a two week vacation, so we had Luke and Jessica come over in the morning. Jessica and I actually were able to sit and chit while the kids went off and played! It was so nice. Gavin asked Ian when he woke up if he could play with him and Luke. Too cute! The three had lots of energy and had a blast. I think Jessica and I started a few different conversations all at once! The big one was our planning for their New Years Eve party and what we should bring! LOL I'll need to practice staying up past 10pm!!!!!!!!

Oh, the top picture is of the boys making cookies on Saturday!

A Great Birthday!

We had basketball practice this morning and the team sang Happy Birthday to me because Leslie and Rob told the kids it was my birthday! We had an AWESOME practice this morning. The kids are really putting things together and it was very exciting to watch them in a little 4 on 4 action! Libby was a life saver for us!!!!!! She and her sister came and ran a little daycare with Gavin, Sam and another child! One less thing I had to worry about!

I received lots of phone calls and emails wishing me Happy Birthday! :) My birthday is a pretty big deal...my family did a lot for me growing up making it a special day as well as my classmates. I always had lots of attention in school because I was the youngest in my entire class! So yea...I'm spoiled! LOL

Cailean and the boys took me out to the Longhorn for dinner tonight! Then, came home to make sugar cookies with the kids. We'll frost them tomorrow. :) Trying to get into the Christmas spirit! I took a picture of the boys because they had lots of flour on them!!!!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

Gavin showing the Wolfpack sign with Santa

Gavin's class with SANTA

Kim and I had the pleasure of putting together the Christmas party in the pre-school class today. Kim had the kids do a cute wreath project made out of pasta! It was adorable. We had pizza and juice boxes along with a reindeer looking treat. Then...SANTA arrived! Oh yes!!!! The kids had NO clue it was Cailean!!! hee hee When Cailean walked into the room, he used his normal voice! I was thinking, "What??? Deeper voice please because Gavin will know who it is!!!!" But, Cailean didn't hear me and he kept talking. Or he had selective hearing and chose NOT to listen to me!!!!! Anyway, the kids LOVED it and Gavin had no idea it was his Daddy!!!! He told the class that his sleigh was in the shop. Tonight at dinner Gavin told us that Santa came in his pickup truck! LOL LOL There is no way he could have seen the Titan from his room! Santa gave each kid a candy cane from a Mets stocking!!! GO METS!!!! Gotta promote them when I can, right? ;)

Gingerbread House Making in Ms. Braun's Class

Ian's finished project!

Ian's best buddy (Luke) and his mom

Ian and Erik sneaking in a few licks of the frosting!

Ian definitely loved making a gingerbread house in school this week! He brought home the final project today. He keeps taking the candy off of it and then says, "I can't wait to show Grandpop!" Well, Grandpop doesn't arrive until Monday and not sure what he'll have left. hahahaha

Ian's and Gavin's Aunt Turns 29 Today!!!!

NC State graduated today and we had quite a few student athletes graduate. As always, our department hosted a breakfast for them and their families at 7am! Tell me about it! We had about 120 people there I would say. A few of them were my former students, so I was standing there very proud of them!

Cailean went in for day 2 of the gingerbread house making with Ian's class. He forgot the camera though. :( I'll take a picture of Ian's final product when he brings it home this week!

Ian is about to lose another tooth!!!!!!! The adult tooth is already in, but gee...he needs to get rid of the baby tooth first!

Tomorrow is another crazy day. I'm one of the party parents for Gavin's Christmas party. Plus, Cailean is dressing up as Santa for his class. hee hee I asked Gavin yesterday if he thought it would be neat if Santa came to his class! He said he would give him a high five. Phew. Well, tonight I said, "Gavin, I wonder if Santa is going to surprise your class at your Christmas party." He responds, "I don't want Santa at school!" GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a lot to do at work the next two days before we are on mandatory vacation for 2 weeks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday Tuesday

I think we accomplished a lot today! Both kids went to school and I volunteered in Ian's classroom. I had my staff meeting at work, which did not last long at all! So, since I had already paid the babysitter I zipped over to the mall area and pretty much finished Christmas shopping. Then, went to Ian's classroom to help out with Part 1 of the gingerbread house making. There were about 5 parents there to help. Cailean will go tomorrow for Part 2. We were supposed to go to a Christmas party tonight, but decided not to go once my friend invited me over to scrapbook!!! I also picked up the Santa outfit. LOL Yup, Cailean is going to be Santa for Gavin's Christmas party this Thursday!!!!!! He tried it on tonight and I could NOT stop laughing!!!!!!! I really hope the kids don't freak out! UGH!!!!!

I took pictures of the gingerbread making, but will post them tomorrow probably. Sorry Ms. Braun!!!

Blah, Blah, Blah

Yesterday was a productive day! Ian went to school and Gavin and I did some more Christmas shopping at the mall, then stood in line at the post office. Sunday night I wrote down two addresses that I would need for boxes to take with me on Monday. Yea, that didn't make it with me!!! As we're standing in line, I'm putting gifts in two different boxes and packaging them up while making sure Gavin doesn't get a hold of the tape thing. A mother with her two kids were behind us. The older kid asks Gavin what his favorite animal is. I was thinking, "Gavin, please don't go into detail about deer hunting and how daddy got a deer, etc." Gavin answers, "Elephant." Okay, good answer. Well, the other boy says, "I like fawn. Do you know what a fawn is?" UGH!!!!! He proceeds to say, "A baby deer." Gavin adds, "My daddy got a deer last night." By now I'm looking forward waiting for us to go to the counter hoping that Gavin doesn't talk about deer hunting with this boy!!!! Gavin thinks everything happens, "last night." LOL

We all hit the pool last night. Ian was liking the deep end and playing basketball. Gavin was doing a great job jumping in the water holding onto my hands and going under the water.

Busy day today. Both kids have school, I volunteer in the morning with Ian, staff meeting at NCSU and then back to Ian's school to help with a gingerbread house project, home to get everyone and off to a staff party before they all head to the Athletic Dept party!

I need help with titles

We went to church and Sunday school this morning and then met mom and my grandparents at Bob Evans for brunch (well, for us it was lunch!). If we have the opportunity to go there, Ian always asks if he can get the Mickey Mouse sundae (peanut butter cups for the ears, cherry for the nose, whipped cream, ice cream and chocolate syrup) and I always tell him NO (because I am not paying!). Well, he happened to be the lucky one to sit next to my grandfather who just so happened to hear the request. Pop-pop looks at me and says, "He wants that for dessert? Well, it's the holiday season and if he wants it, then he can get it!" Okay, I guess so! LOL I told the boys if they ate their pancakes then they could order them for dessert. Well, I actually got to eat my lunch with no kids hanging onto my arms. They were focused on those pancakes!!!!! When the waitress brought out their desserts you would have thought it was Christmas morning! Ian ate the entire thing and even picked it up and drank the melted ice cream at the bottom! Good to the last drop I guess! Gavin immediately ate the chocolate and wanted the whipped cream OFF! He wanted to get to the ice cream.

So, there we were...eating a great meal and the Manager (Leslie) came over to give a card to "The Dawson Family" and she made it clear to him that it was meant for the FAMILY! hahahahaha She wrote a really nice note. We all get the royal treatment at Bob Evans!

Needless to say Gavin had a great nap. LOL We did some yardwork and then when Cailean got home we headed over to mom's for dinner. Cailean and I escaped for a little bit to do some Christmas shopping at a nearby shopping center. Mom made a good dinner and a yummy dessert, then back home for baths and bedtime!

It's the last week of school for the kids before break and I have work, too. Lots of Christmas parties, gift giving, etc. Gavin and I will be heading to the post office in the morning! Hope there won't be a line!!!!!

The Grinch...plus another fun-filled day

Yes, I tend to be The Grinch. I used to REALLY be the Grinch growing up, but now that we have Ian and Gavin, I'm trying to be much better during the holidays. I tend to go overboard for my family and since I work part-time, it's hard to keep that up. I've had an especially hard time this year. Could be due to the fact I started shopping much later than normal. But, I walk around these stores and nothing jumps out at me for my family. I'm really, really struggling!

Anyway...I found myself at JCP at 6am this morning to get their doorbuster sales! Hardly anyone in the store, so that was nice for me. We had basketball practice at 9am and that went well. The kids are having fun (it seems) and learning, so hopefully that'll continue. After that we came home to do a few things around the house and then Ian and I left for NCSU. I put together a Tutor Appreciation Gathering prior to the men's basketball game. About 30 people were there. We stayed for the first half of the game and then came home in time to put up the Christmas tree and decorate it. Then, off to Jenn's and Scott's house for a Christmas party tonight. The boys had a late night tonight, so we'll see how they are in the morning. UGH.

We're definitely looking forward to my dad flying down for Christmas! Ian is very excited about the tradition he and Grandpop have...building a gingerbread house together! This time Gavin is able to help, so Grandpop told Ian he bought extra candy because they usually sneak a few candies while decorating! hahahahahahahaha That's Grandpop!

Catch of the Day...

Ian brought home this project information yesterday, but he told me about it the entire way home from school. He said we HAD to go to the store to get a lot of candy tonight (he said this yesterday) because if he took it all in tomorrow (today), then he was going to get a FISH!!!!! At Kingswood, this is a BIG deal! Ian said that Ms. Braun was going to give out 3 tickets if people brought the paper back to school, but then she changed her mind to a FISH!!! After I read the note, I explained that we only had to fill out what we would donate to the class as they make a gingerbread house next Tuesday and Wednesday! He wanted me to check everything off, but we didn't. Just a few items.

Today when I got home from work he says, "You are not going to believe this!!!! I got a FISH!!!" He received one for "responsibility." He took it out of his bag to show me and then says, "You could put this on the blog!" hahahaha

Gavin had a good day at school. He continues to help his little buddy who needs the extra support. The Director even commented to me on Tuesday that Gavin is such a kind individual and he tries so hard to help his friend like school! He told me that a kid hit and Gavin told the kid to go sit on a chair. So, we had a chat about who gives the orders at school!

Lots to do as we enter the weekend. Ian and I are going to the NCSU men's basketball game on Saturday afternoon. I've got a function I'm putting together prior to the game for work. After the game we'll get Cailean and Gavin and head to a Christmas party. Basketball practice to kick off the morning, too!

I'm not quite ready for the holiday season that we are in...

So, this morning at work I couldn't figure out why the graduate assistants were hurrying to finalize their reports for the semester. I was thinking, "Gee...you guys need to be here all next week during exams." It turns out that I'm a week behind!!!! OH MY GOSH!!! I started hyperventilating when they told me that Christmas is in two weeks!!! What planner have I been looking at these days??? I'm VERY behind to say the least. I started shopping in September the last few years...a little each paycheck. Nope. I was sooooo focused on paying off my student loan, that my Christmas gift planning went out the window. Yes, major UGH.

I took the boys after school today to get their Christmas picture. Oh how I love Portrait Innovations. I do very well when I say to myself, "9.95, 9.95, 9.95..." That's how much it could cost someone for the package promo. But, they tend to take TONS of pictures, you fall in love with all of them and could easily walk out spending $300. Not me! Maybe it's the Scottish genes in me? I wasn't so sure we were going to do well in the picture today. Let's see...Gavin woke up from his nap 15 minutes before we had to leave to get Ian. I wanted Gavin dressed in his outfit before getting Ian. That was a major struggle. He wanted to wait until Ian put his clothes on. NO...I wouldn't have time to get both ready!!!! Gavin proceeded to scream for 10 minutes and I even bribed him with some gummy worms!!! He was not liking it at all waiting for Ian...no laughs, no smiles, etc. Picked up Ian and he claimed he wasn't going to smile in the pictures. Oh boy!!!! They did some pretty funny noises with the boys, but Gavin's tongue kept coming out during the pictures! LOL Ian looked at the workers like they were nuts. But, we managed to get a good one. So, you'll see it in a few weeks. You would think I would be stamping our cards, but NOPE...running out of time and supplies, so still need to get them! LOL

I went out with four friends tonight at Chili's and we had a great time, of course! I meant to take pictures of our group, but forgot to get the camera out!!!! Oh well...next time! I left after putting the kids to bed. I noticed as I was leaving that Ian was looking out the window. Tonight I found out that Ian had a hard time going to bed. Our kids definitely like the schedule! UGH. We need to switch up our schedule every now and then!!!

Gavin's Lunch Bunch

Gavin singing with Miss Brenda leading the group

Today was the pre-school's Lunch Bunch, which is a fundraising event for the school. We had pizza, fruit, drinks and dessert. I'm still not used to being at the pre-school for Gavin now and not Ian! Some of the teachers aren't used to it either. It's hard to believe Gavin is almost three years old and attending pre-school! The kids did a great job singing their song for their parents/relatives. Gavin was singing the words, but didn't quite grasp the hand motions to the song. He still did great though! He was looking all around the room taking a look at the amount of people there. hahahaha

I had the opportunity to volunteer in Ian's classroom this morning and I just love being in there. One kid came up and gave me a hug (and it wasn't Ian!!!). It's neat to work with Ian's friends and to observe Ian in a classroom setting. He still LOVES to write the room as part of the centers.

I had to fit in my staff meeting at work today! Yes, I'm still employed! Towards the end of the meeting, our supervisor asked if anyone had anything to share. Out of the blue I said, "Ian can read now!" I couldn't resist to share the news with my coworkers who have seen him grow since 3 months old!!! People were clapping, saying, "Ahhhhhhhhhhh..." and one coworker said, "She is about to cry now!" No, I didn't! LOL

We had our second basketball practice tonight. I think we had a great time and the kids continued to learn!!! The kids are AWESOME and the parents are soooooooooo helpful!!!! We accomplish so much because I have parents ready to help on the floor and the kids are great listeners.

Cailean returned home from fixing a plane in Savannah this afternoon. He has been gone since Sunday. I put him right to work starting with the yardwork! LOL LOL

My aunt flew back to California tonight. :( It was great to have her in the area helping out for a week!!!!!

A Whirlwind of a Day

Cailean had to go into work in the middle of the night and then ended up on a roadtrip to fix a plane. Ugh! Ian went off to school this morning and then Gavin and I headed to the library to get some new Christmas books. We ran a few errands and then headed over to mom's. She went into work with a coworker who lives near her, so we could have the van today. Gavin and I took Aunt Cindy and my grandparents to the DMV, so they could get their NC identification cards. Then, off to another building at the other end of town to accomplish another task with them. Back to their house to drop them off and get my car back, then home for Gavin to take a nap. I actually had to wake him up to get Ian on time! When we came back home, Ian jumped into his homework while Gavin was playing. After they were "wrestling" around (I was wondering when this would start...it reminds me of my cousins in CA when I lived with them!) it was time to meet mom, my aunt and grandparents at Mimi's Cafe for dinner. Aunt Cindy has to fly back to California Tuesday afternoon. :(

I thought that maybe the boys could give each other a gift at Christmas this year. I figured Gavin is old enough to understand about giving. So, I said to Gavin in the car this morning, "Gavin, what would you like to give Ian for Christmas?" He replies, "I not Santa." I said, "Gavin, Santa is not the only one who gives gifts at Christmas." He says, "Mommy, I NOT Santa! I NOT Santa!" Oh boy!!!!! I HAD to call Cailean on that way!!! It was too funny!!!!!!!!

Busy Tuesday ahead of us. Both kids have school. I volunteer in Ian's class, but will not be able to stay the full amount of time because I have to be at Gavin's school for the Lunch Bunch (fundraising event). After the Lunch Bunch, then we get home to meet the sitter and then I'm off to my meeting. After that, I come home to get Gavin and off to take Aunt Cindy to the airport before getting Ian at school.

Our second basketball practice is Tuesday night! Go Armadillos!!!!!!!

All I Want for Christmas is...

A bottle of Advil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First Day of Basketball Practice

We had an 8am practice this morning for basketball. UGH. As I was trying to wake up Ian, he kept telling me he didn't want to play basketball in the middle of the night (because it was dark outside). Gavin had a complete meltdown because he wanted to stay in his pajamas. So, yes...with it being my first ever practice as the head coach and two cranky kids...you can imagine my stress level at this point!!!!!! Better yet...most can problem picture it all. LOL

The four of us headed to Morrisville and the kids on the team are AWESOME!!!!!!! I am sooooooo excited for the season. I had a lot of different ideas to do today, but needed to just play it by ear based on the kids. Leslie and I had parents help out and I swear...that's the key!!! We were actually complimented on how well we ran practice today, so...maybe with a little Advil tonight I'll be in great shape for the next practice on Tuesday!!! hahahahaha

Ian is #15 for the Armadillos! :)

After practice we swung by mom's to say good morning and then headed home. We had to get Gavin down earlier than normal for a nap because we had a birthday party at a park in the early afternoon. It's always nice to get together with great families at the park!!!

Cailean left for hunting after the party (when is the stinkin' season over?????????????????) and the boys and I are resting until we head over to mom's for some dinner.

Ian picked up some random book last night, by the way, and just started reading it. I can't get over that Ian is reading!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm terrible at coming up with interesting titles...

Wow! I haven't blogged since Sunday. Don't yell at me!!! Aunt Cindy flew in from California on Tuesday and she'll be staying at mom's for a week. Ian and I got to see her first last night before we went to the basketball clinic. Then, Gavin hung out over there this morning. On the way there, I told him he was in charge of Pop-pop and to make sure he keeps his walker with him. So, when Ian and I dropped him off, I said, "Gavin, who is in charge of Pop-pop?" He looks at him and gives us the thumbs up and then says, "Me!" hahahahaha Tonight we went over there for dinner.

We're getting ready for basketball practice to start this Saturday. Wish us luck!

Ian's school is doing a Food Drive this week as well as Gavin's school. So, both have taken some items in to help. Gavin pretty much just says it's for people when asked why he is to take food in. Ian, on the other hand, made it VERY clear to me yesterday and today that he NEEDS to take canned food in every single day for the food drive because the food will be given to people who really need the food and can't afford it. I was impressed! So yea...yesterday and today he completely raided my mom's cupboards. Oh and yesterday when he got home from school, he took a bag and went through our closet. He put every single can in there. WAIT A MINUTE...now our closet was pretty empty! LOL

The Tick That Wasn't There...

Okay, I thought I would share this with all of you...I know you can picture it...

So, Saturday I felt something on the back of my head. It was a bump and I instantly thought it was a tick. Why? Well, Cailean got a deer last weekend and he said it had deer ticks on it, so I thought the ticks got a ride on Cody and came into the house and found me. I tried to get Ian to look at it, but he refused. I forgot about it when we were at mom's, so Saturday night I was trying to find the bump with a mirror, but I have sooo much hair and my mirror wasn't all that great. It was rather difficult. I didn't get much sleep because I was soooooo paranoid. Sunday morning I call mom's cell phone at 7:30am. It's off. I called about 10 times in the next 30 minutes and still off. ARGH. I call the house phone (hoping I wouldn't wake up my grandparents) and let it ring twice. Mom noticed caller ID and called me back. Cha-ching! I tell her about the bump and how I thought it was a tick. I had Ian look at it and he described it to me. Oh and I emailed Aunt Sandi and she couldn't focus at work and agreed to go see mom and I even told her what Ian said. hahaha So, I get the kids in the car (after Gavin threw a 30 minute fit because he wanted chocolate pudding for breakfast - yea, right!) and off to mom's we go. This is about 8:15am now and it's raining. We go in and she and Mimi are at the dining room table. I sit down and I point to the bump (mind you my mom was already on the web looking up ticks just in case). Basically, I didn't need to go over there. It wasn't a tick! LOL LOL LOL So, back in the car we go and head to the Kirk (called Aunt Sandi on the way to tell her all was good!). We were 15 minutes late for church and we sit in the back pew next to Cathy, the Associate Pastor. She looks at me, shows a big sigh like, "good...you're here...now relax!" I write her a note about the tick and she started laughing!!!!!!

That's my story...

We had a great vacation!

We had such a great week! We spoiled ourselves. We spent time with mom and my grandparents. We spent time with friends. We spent time lounging around at home. I spent time refereeing over Ian and Gavin. I scrapbooked. I started Christmas shopping. We started to hang up Christmas decorations. We went swimming. But now it's back to our routine starting tomorrow. Cailean flies home tomorrow night. Tuesday late afternoon my Aunt Cindy arrives from California for a week and then at night Ian and I have a basketball clinic. Next weekend we have another birthday party at a park! I hope it's decent weather!!!

Energizer Bunnies

Yea...that's Ian and Gavin! They keep going and going and going. We went to Walmart early this morning to continue some Christmas shopping and then we went swimming at the Y. Ian was playing basketball in the deep end of the pool. I was laughing so hard (good thing he didn't see me) because he had to go under water to push the ball up into the air to try and get a basket! A few times it hit the rim and knocked him right on the forehead. He didn't care! He was having a ball. I was holding Gavin who didn't stop laughing at being in the water. He is a fish! He thought it was so neat that he could see his feet in the water. He said, "Mommy, look down and you can see my feet." Well, he did and didn't realize he put his face in the water! He didn't expect that!!! hahaha Between his hiccups from laughing, his gagging of water because he took too much water in and his sneezes from too much water in his nose...we had a fun one hour of pool time!

We watched the NC State game this afternoon. It was a great game and it was pretty neat to watch the seniors play. NC State is the first school I've worked at longer than 4 years, so it's neat to watch them as freshmen and then play as seniors and watch them graduate.

After the game we headed over to mom's and took care of some stuff in the garage and hung up some Christmas lights outside, then stayed for dinner.

Cailean is still enjoying Vermont I think. It seems like he has been gone a month. Usually he is gone 5 days when he goes away, but this trip is a lot longer.

Another Fun Day

This morning we met the Nelsons at the IMAX theatre and watched Polar Express in 3D. It was amazing!!! The boys thought it was a little too loud in the beginning, so Gavin chose to sit on my lap for the movie. After the introductions and the movie started, Gavin says, "We have this at home." Then, twenty minutes into it he tells everyone that he wanted to go home. Once Jessica mentioned that he should wait until he sees Santa at the end, he laid back and watched the movie! Ian was really into it. During the hot chocolate part, I thought I was going to get burned because it looked like the waiters were going to pour the drink on me! Then, it was like we were on the train and going down a roller coaster. Anyway, it was great!!

This afternoon we went over to mom's and helped her start to decorate her home with Christmas stuff. That probably took care of 1/2 the boxes in their garage!!!! We had leftovers and then came home.

I told the kids we would head to the Y in the morning to swim and get boxes down from the attic to start decorating our own house. We shall see what we get accomplished!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

The boys and I had a GREAT day! We woke up and they were hungry! So, they ate some cereal and drank some milk. The kids stayed in their pajamas for most of the morning and we watched the beginning of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This was the first time they had the attention span for about 30 minutes to watch it!!! We made some calls to the grandparents and then I felt the need to clean. LOL So, the boys helped me clean their rooms, change the sheets, dusted and picked up the downstairs. I was able to vacuum upstairs and downstairs. When I finished I knew I was already behind schedule. We got ourselves ready and then headed out the door to Walgreens. Last night I uploaded pictures since September and picked them up today, so I can add them to scrapbooks. Then, we headed over to mom's to visit, set the table, etc. POP-POP WAS THERE!!!! He his home for good!!!! He was scheduled to get discharged this morning. I had this vision that he would be waiting in the lobby of the rehab facility at 7am waiting and waiting for mom to go get him! Mom told me she would be getting him by 10am. I guess at 9:20am he called mom asking where she was!!!! hahahahahahahahaha Too funny! He's getting around just great. He has lost some weight, but probably gained some back after tonight's dinner!!!! Maybe I should enter a rehab facility? LOL ;)

We came home for a few hours to get Gavin down for a nap and to make sweet potato casserole (with the marshmallows on the top!!). We headed back to mom's and took a walk before getting ready for a nice meal! The boys enjoyed leftover pizza from last night's dinner. Ya know...whatever, right?! I am not a big fan for Thanksgiving food and it has taken 32 years for me to actually eat some of it. It was a battle I didn't want to have with them!!! So, pizza it was for them and they LOVED it! It was the boys, my mom, my grandparents and our friend Pam. Mom made a great meal (of course), but the best was dessert. She made pumpkin pie, cherry pie (I was trying to tell the others it wasn't all that great...hehehehehehe) and an apple crumb pie. Pam brought a pumpkin roll cake. Wow. We were all enjoying it! Even the kids ate pie!

This holiday brings back lots and lots of memories. We spent many Thanksgivings with my relatives in New York and going into NYC for the Macy's Parade. They spent the holiday sometimes with us growing up in Vermont. It is tradition that we watch "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"...but it's just not the same sometimes. I miss my cousins!!! Oh and when Jay would bring a big bag of chicken fingers from Friendly's the night before Thanksgiving! That's what Ashley and I would eat on Turkey Day!!! YUM!!! When I lived in California, I went with a few coworkers and some student athletes from SFSU to deliver Thanksgiving meals to the elderly before meeting up with my relatives/family with their friends for a nice meal. Then spending Thanksgivings with Cailean in Vermont, but then it seemed fitting that he would tend to get a deer on Thanksgiving night. Yup, good ole Neal would get called to duty to help his brother track the deer and okay...going into some detail!

Anyway...we had a very nice day today and looking forward to another fun-filled day tomorrow. We're headed to see Polar Express at the IMAX theatre with some friends! Yup, we splurged and treated ourselves!!!!

A Kindergarten Recipe: How to Cook a Turkey...by Ian Turner

The following questions were asked by Ms. Braun and Ian gave her the answers. :)

1. Where do you get a turkey from? The farm

2. What do you do before you cook the turkey? cut it up

3. Where do you cook the turkey? on the stove

4. How long do you cook the turkey? 40 seconds

5. What temperature do you cook the turkey in? really hot

6. what do you do when the turkey is done? You eat it!

7. What is your favorite part of the turkey? The inside of it.

8. What do you eat with your turkey? tomatoes and potatoes

So, that's the secret to a delicious turkey!!!!!!!! hahahahahahaha

Pilgrims, Indians and Singing at Kingswood

Gavin, Luke and Ian

This morning both kids went to school, I did a mad run through the grocery store before volunteering in Ian's class. I was there helping during their Literacy Centers, then raced over to Gavin's school to pick him up early in order to get back to Kingswood to see the kids during lunch and listen to the three kindergarten classes sing Thanksgiving songs since it was an open invitation. They did such a great job!!!!!!!!!!!! Kudos to the teachers who helped them learn the songs!!! I love how teachers at Kingswood are active with the kids. They are up there leading the songs and doing the same things they expect the kids to do! Gavin made an Indian head thing, so he wore that today!!!! I'm working on uploading videos and a slideshow of pictures I took!!! In the second video, you can tell it was a bit windy! The kids thought it was funny that the words to the song flipped over! Here's the link to a slideshow of pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/turnbull1220/KingswoodThanksgivingSongs?authkey=IfymxZAE9VM#

Where are my priorities??

Okay, so I made a list of some stuff I want to accomplish this week. I've already been able to cross off a few things. One of the items listed is to start Christmas shopping. Another item is to complete Gavin's birthday card invitation (of course I'm stamping them!!). So, what did I do tonight? You got it...I completed 9 invitations for Gavin's birthday. Yup, it's not until the end of January! But...it's done! :) I'm pretty impressed with my creativity...Polar Express theme! Since we were able to secure the Legion for the location this week...why not get them taken care of, so I don't need to worry about them?!

Let's see...what did we do today...Ian went to school. Cailean flew to Vermont. Gavin and I ran some errands this morning and then went to see Pop-pop for a short visit because he was in the middle of physical therapy. He didn't see us walk in. But, as he was walking, he was informing the physical therapist that he is a twin! That's Pop-pop! Then, we came home and finished making a sweet potato casserole to take to ASPSA's annual Thanksgiving luncheon at work! ASPSA stands for Academic Support Program for Student Athletes. Gavin could care less about any of the food on the table EXCEPT for the cookies and pumpkin bread. He was able to see some student athletes and my coworkers before heading back home just in time for a nap. We picked up Ian at 3:45pm and got organized at home before heading to mom's. I had to watch a video and take a test to be a basketball coach, so Mom and Mimi took the boys to see Pop-pop and have dinner at the rehab facility. Yup, a certification to add to my resume! Picked up the boys, then headed home for showers, books and bed!

Friday/Saturday

Gavin driving a school bus
Luke driving the boat while Ian and Ben are fishing

Ian, Gavin, Ben and Luke

How nice were they to include Gavin??!!!

Friday after school we went to mom's because she had just picked up Uncle Mickey. Then, we went down to see Pop-pop at the rehab facility and then out to the Longhorn for a yummy dinner! Came home and the kids were wiped out. This morning we did some cleaning up, the laundry and all that fun stuff. Went over to see Mimi and then switched vehicles with mom. Came home to put Gavin down for a nap and watched the NCSU/UNC football game. Gavin woke up and then off to pick up Luke and then to downtown Raleigh to go to Ben's birthday party at Marbles Museum. We were there for awhile and then hopped into our cars and headed to a local McD's for some chocolate chip cookie cake. We all decided not to stay for dinner because we didn't know the area real well! We had a fun trip back to Cary because we were a little lost! We dropped off Luke at his house, got some dinner and swapped cars with mom again. Bathroom time for the boys, books and out like lights!

Cailean went hunting this afternoon and got a 5-pointer. He works tomorrow and off to Vermont Monday.

Thursday, Thursday

My day started at 4:30am because I took Aunt Sandi to the airport. Get this...I actually drove towards the airport and then finally realized I had to go pick her up! Ugh. Then, was at Harris Teeter at 5am to get Cailean some soup and medicine. He was up coughing and blowing his nose most of the night. Got home just in time to take a shower and get ready for work. My meetings started at 7:15am and ended at 4:15pm. It was an interesting day! The boys both had school and of course had a blast! Cailean didn't get to volunteer today because he didn't want to get the kids sick.

Tonight I went out to dinner with my friend, Lori. There was supposed to be four of us, but it ended up being Lori and me. It was a lot of fun and nice to catch up. After dinner we went to mom's, so Lori could get some stuff back from her (she made dinner for my family one night last week!). We ended up staying there a bit and then we realized we were really tired and went home. Nope...didn't hit the bars or the clubs! LOL We sooooo need to go out with friends once a month!!!!

We've got an eventful weekend. Uncle Mickey flies in Friday afternoon. We'll see Pop-pop on Friday late afternoon and Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon the boys and I are picking up Luke and heading to Marbles Museum to meet the birthday boy, Ben and his mom. We're going to be with them for the afternoon, so that will be fun!

Is it Wednesday already???

Wow! I haven't blogged since Sunday. Sorry about that! Never a dull moment around here. Let's see...spent time with Pop-pop Monday morning along with Aunt Sandi and Gavin. Monday night I had my basketball draft (team name: Armadillos!!!) for Ian's league. Can you believe there are 20 coaches...200 kids...just for the 5/6 year old group??!! The boys had dinner at mom's house and Cailean picked them out when he got out of the woods. Both kids had school on Tuesday and I was able to volunteer in Ian's classroom. After Gavin and I picked up Ian from school, we went to the Allens. The boys played while Kim was helping me figure out my cards and supplies for my stamp-a-stack this Sunday afternoon. Left there and went to visit Pop-pop and then headed home. After school today, we went to the American Legion to book the facility for Gavin's birthday party. Then, met Cailean at the house (yup...he didn't hunt tonight...wow!) and took care of the leaves. For the last two or three days it has bothered Ian that are yard didn't look clean. I guess Ian hasn't figured out the importance of this time of year for Cailean and I certainly had my own stuff to take care of. But, the lawn was taken care of tonight. Phew. Ian can sleep tonight! hahaha Tonight Cailean had a dinner meeting and I took the boys to see Pop-pop. We met mom, Aunt Sandi and Mimi there and we all ate dinner in the family room area.

I will be taking Aunt Sandi to the airport before the crack of dawn, come home to get ready for work and then off to NCSU. Long day there, come home to do yardwork and then out with some friends. Yup...Girls Night!

Ian absolutely LOVES going to school! It's not a challenge anymore to get him ready in the morning. I actually noticed him in his class on Tuesday that he was getting rather loud during Centers! Wow! He is into reading and likes to write in notebooks.

Gavin prefers to be near Ian at all times. Recently he started to scream on Wednesday mornings when Karen gets here. He has soooo much fun with her, but he sees me leaving with Ian and it's either jealousy and/or wants to be with his big brother.

The Weekend

Gavin at the top of a slide

What's up with the redeye reduction???

waiting patiently for cake...oh yes...the Turner boys were the first to sit at the table when the cake was placed on the table...

We had friends over for dinner Friday night. It was so nice to catch up with Mel and Denise...we miss them!!! Cailean spent morning, noon and night in the woods on Saturday hunting. He didn't get anything. Mom picked us up and we went to visit Pop-pop. Came home for lunch and nap and I can't remember what we did after that. That's pathetic! This morning we went to church and Sunday School, then we met my mom and grandmother at Bob Evans for brunch. The manager was there and she knows my grandparents and mom. She could not believe what happened to "Mr. Dawson." She asked for the address of the rehab facility because Bob Evans plans on sending flowers!!!! That is how regular they are going there every Sunday after church!!!! During church service, when announcing prayers, the pastor told the congregation that Andy Dawson is at Apex Rehab. Ian put his head right up and said to me, "That's Pop-pop's name!" He claims that Pop-pop is going to get better quicker because the entire congregation at the Kirk is praying for him. Ahhhh... We came home for a nap and I actually had to wake Gavin up, so we could make it to Omaid's birthday party at 3:30pm! Cailean met us there when he got out of work. It was at TKs Jungle...had a lot of bouncy slides and houses as well as some token games. We had pizza and cake to help celebrate the birthday! There were some American Eagle families there, so we were able to see Steven and Cara! Two cuties!!! Aunt Sandi is in town this week to keep Pop-pop company and help out my mom. I have my basketball draft tomorrow night. Oh boy. What did I get myself into?????

Ian is actually excited FOR THE FIRST TIME that he has school tomorrow!!!!!!!

Thursday

Last night Ian read two books! They were level 1 books and he couldn't believe he kept seeing his sight words from school! Tonight he read Go, Dog, Do (well, 1/2 of it)!!! Go Ian! He was sounding out the words and everything! We've been talking about how to describe length and width and a few other terms...he is getting it! Cailean spent close to 2 hours with his class today. I'm jealous because I volunteer on Tuesdays, but due to teacher workday and Veteran's Day...I haven't been there in weeks!!!!

Gavin is so funny about school. He just blurts out random things at any given time about what he does at school. I'll start singing a song and then he tells me he sings that song only at school. He is probably telling me nicely to BE QUIET...I HAVE A TERRIBLE SINGING VOICE!!!

Tonight the four of us took a trip down to see Pop-pop at the rehab place. He was looking good, but was getting a bit tired. He did some therapy today (was evaluated) and told us a little about that. I'm sure tomorrow will be a lot better with therapy and starting him on a routine. He has had a crazy week going between 3 hospitals and a rehab facility. He is now just trying to figure it all out. Mom, Mimi and a couple from Williamsburg arrived at around 7:15pm. I can't remember their names, but they are on their way to Atlanta and dropped off more boxes for my grandparents (ugh) and to visit. So, Pop-pop was very surprised!!!! Lots of laughs in the room, which was nice!

Updates, Updates and More Updates

Ian is really getting into writing. He is constantly writing now. He is doing letters, sounding out words, writing on the board, he copies from things, etc. We've been working on length, width, etc. He gets great reviews from his teacher on his homework and class assignments!

Gavin will start singing a song and we wonder where he learned that. "Cool," he says. Meaning SCHOOL. He loves to sing Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Move It, Move It (that Ian brought home from school).

With the leaves falling, we've been outside taking care of them. There is Ian raking away and then jumping in them. Then, we have Gavin using his leaf blower starting it up (what a great imagination). He was next to me as I was using the blower and I think he thought his really did push the leaves!!!!

My grandfather is about to get discharged from the hospital today and then being transported to Apex to a rehab facility. I know he is very excited to leave the hospital. They were great to him, but we're moving in the right direction...another step forward to getting him home.

We've got another birthday party this weekend...lots coming up!

Sunday

Where did the weekend go??? I spent the morning with Pop-pop at the hospital on Saturday while Cailean took the boys to celebrate Justin's 6th birthday. Then Cailean went there Saturday night to check on him. The hospital is a good 30 minutes from our house. Sunday Cailean was at work and we were with Mimi at church. Ian's class sang the Anthem in the 11am service. He and his friends did a great job!!! Cailean, my grandmother, the boys and I headed to the hospital when Cailean got out of work. We had dinner there, spent some time with him and then came back home. The boys were pretty occupied in his room because it looks out onto the helicopter pad. The helicopter actually took off once, so that was entertaining. Pop-pop has a decent view of the trees and the fall colors on the leaves.

We've got an early morning...need to be at Panera Bread at 7:30am to pick up A LOT of bagels and cream cheese for the Kingswood Elementary teachers for teacher appreciation and take them to the school when the teachers arrive! Just the principal knows...it'll be a surprise (unless Ms. Braun is reading this blog tonight!!!).

Update...

Pop-pop had a succesful surgery today! He should be up and moving around shortly with the physical therapist. The Kirk has been just great with us...meals covered for mom and Mimi, visits to the hospital by pastoral staff, etc. Pop-pop has been in 3 hospitals in 3 days...I'm sure you are asking, "Why?" Well...Apex WakeMed is the closest to their house, so the ambulance went there. Had the x-ray and realized SURGERY. They don't do that there, so transported him to Cary WakeMed. The surgeon prefers doing it in the Raleigh WakeMed, so off he went last night to that one.

The boys are doing great! They made a card for him yesterday and they got to visit Pop-pop last night with Mimi. Mom still is at home trying to recover.

I'll have to post some more of their schoolwork on the blog this weekend. They are both loving it!

Justin's 6th birthday party is tomorrow morning!

Birthday Wishes...

HAPPY 34TH BIRTHDAY NEAL!!!!!!!!

What a week so far...

Mom has pneumonia!!!!! Soooo not good! The boys and I were able to take Mimi to her PT appointment this afternoon and we can take her on Friday. Mom has to stay upstairs at the townhome and not be near my grandparents. UGH. Mom got some strong meds, so hopefully she'll feel MUCH better in the next day or two. Cailean has been busy fixing planes at the airport and I'm trying to keep up with the boys and staying on top of my work at NCSU. I received an email about coaching Ian's basketball team tonight that included my team name and I have some mandatory meetings/clinics I'll need to attend in the upcoming weeks. Oh boy! LOL There are TWENTY teams in the 5/6 year old group! Wow!

I went to vote this afternoon with the boys. Kids could vote, but Ian told me he already voted at school. I didn't know that! I asked him who was running for President of the United States. Are you ready for this???? He replies, "Barack Obama and John McCain." Our 5 year old son knew that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I won't tell you who he voted for! hee hee

The boys didn't have school on Mon or Tues this week, so we just hung out. It was fun to watch them play nicely together. This morning they had their backpacks on...then Ian told Gavin it was time to put the backpacks in their cubbies, etc. They pretended they were in line to go to carpool. Way too cute!

Recovering from Halloween Night

Gavin, Ben, Luke and Ian

Gavin, Cailean and Ian

Vinnie, Gavin and Ian


We all had a great time Friday night! We started off at mom's and it obviously wasn't your typical trick-or-treat situation. They didn't get "one" candy...they got Halloween bowls, plates, pencils, stickers, some candy and I forgot what else! Then, we headed across the way to Vinnie's house and went around with him and Pam. This has been tradition for about 3 years now! We left there after a bit and went to see some of my co-workers, some of Cailean's co-workers and the Bunings. At these homes, again...not a traditional "one candy a piece." It's more like, "this special bag is for Gavin and this special bag is for Ian." Then, we met up with the Nelsons (Luke and Ian are in the same class and Ben and Gavin are the same age) and went around their neigbhorhood. At one point, Ian said, "We have some trick-or-treating business to do!" After going around with them in their neighborhood, we stayed at their house for a bit before heading to our neighbor's house for a visit. They dumped their candy on the floor in Melvin's and Norma's house and then Ian said he wanted to go to sleep!!!!! Wow! We couldn't believe our ears.

Saturday morning we went and picked up my grandparents (mom stayed back because she is sick) and headed to downtown Cary for the Cary Band Day Parade. There were over 16 bands and a few floats, so that was fun. We ran into our friends, so got to watch the parade together! In the afternoon, Ian and I headed to the Y to watch a 5-6 year old basketball practice/game. Oh yes I took notes! I'm now ready and not as worried when I am coaching Ian's team! We'll see though...right?!

Sunday we took my grandparents to church and then they treated us to brunch at Bob Evans after! Of course Gavin kept looking around asking where Bob Evans was...LOL! Both boys did very well there eating all their pancakes.

We had some friends over this afternoon...Lori brought over Ella and Sophia. We all played outside (soccer, basketball, baseball, etc) for awhile...it was great to see them!

Ian doesn't have school Monday or Tuesday and Gavin doesn't have school on Tuesday. We've got some playdates scheduled, so that will be fun!

October 31...lots of things happening...

What a day! First, it's Cody's birthday today! Gavin thinks that our dog needs a cake with candles. Not going to happen today, but maybe this weekend? ;)

Then, it's a major milestone in my life...I wrote out my LAST college student loan check. I graduated May 12, 1996...and I helped my parents pay for my SMC years since actually my freshman year (1992)!!! To my family and me...this is a HUGE deal! :) I am a bit sad though...it was a connection for me to St. Michael's. At any rate, I'm proud of this accomplishment!

Ian's first class field trip was today and I just got back. I am paranoid and I wanted to go! LOL Ms. Braun's class did a GREAT job. I rode over with two other moms (it was fun!!!) and met the bus there. We waited for a bit because of all the schools there...guess which school got lost??? That's right! Ours! Oh well...they made it and I'm sure the kids had NO idea! The kids had a ball and I was stressed out on the job...I was afraid I was going to lose a kid (I was responsible for 3)!!! Try going through a corn maze with some kindergarteners who have lots and lots of energy! Anyway, hay ride was fun, watching Ian play with his friends, feeding animals, picking cotton...just a PERFECT day!

On to tonight to visit with friends and do some trick or treating!

Here's a link to the photos from Ian's field trip.

http://picasaweb.google.com/turnbull1220/IanSFieldTrip?authkey=VJT-JvT7PAA#

Aunt Sandi!

Gavin's Halloween Parade: M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

This morning was Gavin's Halloween Parade at pre-school. Aunt Sandi drove my grandparents over to the Kirk to see him. It was chilly...I don't think it was even 40 degrees! The kids did a great job...they all held onto that rope and followed Miss Sherri. After the parade, the kids got together for a class photo. Gavin didn't know which camera to look at because I think there must have been about 40 aiming at them! hahaha Cailean videotaped it and Aunt Sandi and I were snapping pictures. Mimi sat back and smiled the whole time and Pop-pop kept saying Gavin's name for him to look at OUR cameras!!!

When I got home from work today we headed over to mom's and met them all for dinner. Then, we went back to her place and carved a pumpkin! It was hard to say goodbye to Aunt Sandi. She is leaving tomorrow. Ian kept telling her he was going to miss her more all the way to outerspace and back. It was very cute! Gavin claims he is flying on Delta tomorrow. LOL

I got home and realized I left my bag at mom's. :( LOL So, I'm the lucky one who will drive Aunt Sandi to the airport tomorrow morning (more like in the middle of the night). I need my bag because I'm going with Ian's class on their first field trip!!!! We're off to the farm!!!

Time with Aunt Sandi...

Our babysitter was sick today, but it all worked out because Aunt Sandi was loving the fact she got to hang out with Master Gavin this morning. The boys and I piled into the car and headed over to mom's early this morning. I got there super early (hardly any traffic), so we made a trip to Dunkin' Donuts to surprise my grandparents and Aunt Sandi with coffee and muchkins! We stayed a few minutes, so Ian could enjoy a donut before school. Gavin was all set to hang out there with his suitcase full of books, lunchbox and soccer ball. It was very rough getting Ian back into the car to go to school. He wanted to stay there with Aunt Sandi. I dropped Ian off at Kingswood and then headed to work. Later I picked up Gavin, heard everything he did there, then headed home to put him down for a nap. I actually had to wake him up to go pick Ian up from school! He was beat! Then, back to mom's we went to meet up with Cailean, see the family and eat dinner. We were home by 7pm to sit on toilets (hahahahahaha), read some books and hit the hay!
I've got a full day of meetings tomorrow, but I will be making a quick trip over to Gavin's school for his Halloween parade at 9:30am! Cailean is in charge of taking the kids to school tomorrow. Aunt Sandi will drive my grandparents over to the Kirk to watch it as well. Then, our final dinner with Aunt Sandi tomorrow since she has to take the first flight back to New York on Friday morning. :(

Happy Anniversary to Neal and Megan! Just a day late for this message!

School Days...

Ian is getting more comfortable with heading off to school. He has made significant improvements. No more tears in the morning...maybe a "I don't feel well" comment, but that's about it. He is talking more about what is going on at school and sometimes his favorite part of the day is "centers" instead of "going out on the playground" or "seeing you" or "going home." He draws pictures and then writes sentences about them. On one assignment he wrote, "Somr is Ian's favorite season. I like to swim in the somr. The words in bold is what he had to fill in. The document you see here is the "Writing the Room" assignment they can do in Centers. Ian thinks it's cool to get paper on a clipboard and search in the room the hidden words. Ms. Braun puts these words all over the room. Then, if there is time, they can draw a picture of the word and color it in.

Gavin is loving pre-school! Every Tuesday we hear about Miss Amy and music. We hear about earning a skittle at Bible Time. We here that you need to be quiet in the elevator and that you have to sit down. When he gets into the car at pick up time, he stops non talk and holds up the carpool line because he wants to tell me everything before he gets into his carseat! You can see the great coloring he did in part of his Apple Book!

Aunt Sandi arrived late yesterday afternoon. After school we headed over there for dinner. We'll be able to see each other each day and the boys were very excited to see Aunt Sandi!

Off to school and work...we're a bit out of our routine this week again! I'm usually in Ian's classroom Tuesday morning, but am headed to NCSU to complete some work since I am going with Ian's class on a fieldtrip this Friday!

Birthday Parties...

What a Sunday...went to church this morning and then off to Vinnie's birthday party after Gavin's nap. Yup...cupcakes for lunch and some chips. LOL Then, we left there and went to Emily's 1st birthday party and had cake for dinner (since the boys refuse hamburgers...argh). We had a great day today!!! Back-to-back birthday parties! :)

An Evening with the Reids

Tonight we met up with Rob, Leslie and the boys at Two Guys for dinner and then we all headed to the "Spook-Tacular Haunted Trail" at the Morrisville Community Park. Cailean got back from his hunting trip this afternoon, so he joined us. The kids got to wear their Halloween costumes, so that was exciting. I'm pretty excited about their Halloween costumes this year. I was all about making them since my mom did that for Matt and me. But, I've found out that sometimes it costs more to buy the items to make costumes than to just buy the costume! So now I've turned into "How can the boys be what they want to be the least expensive way??" We ended up at a second hand store near our house a few weeks ago. There was one rack of costumes. The ONLY one left that would fit Ian was Superman. The ONLY one left that would fit Gavin was Mickey Mouse. So, Ian was fine with his. Gavin didn't want to try his on. But, I told him if he wanted to go trick or treating this year...he would need to try it on. He replies, "Okay...I be Mickey Mouse for Halloween." SOLD! I bought the two costumes for $9 total!!! But, I couldn't find the ears. This morning we were at Walmart and I bought a $1 hat and made the ears out of the cardboard...safety pinned them on and VOILA!

Okay, back to tonight...so we had a great dinner with the Reids and then we headed off to the park for the haunted trail. It was cute! The kids had a blast and it was nice to catch up with Leslie and Rob. Leslie is my assistant basketball coach this season and Rob will be helping out! Yay!!!!!

Fun Run at Kingswood

Ian's school had a fundraising event today called the Fun Run. Each grade came out and ran laps on the "track" for 15 minutes. The 3 Kindergarten classes kicked it off at 11:40am. Each class was assigned a color and they were to wear their color today. Ian's class was RED. That was easy to dress him in red since he's a State fan! When they completed a lap, then they were given a rubber band. At the end of the 15 minutes, then we had to write down how many rubber bands they had since that determined the number of laps. I think Ian had eight!! He ran probably 6 1/2 laps and walked the rest. He and his class did a fantastic job! Eight NC State student athletes came to volunteer. How nice was that? When Ian's group was out there was a wrestler there. Baseball players showed up later...followed by women's track, another wrestler and football. They were so helpful and it was neat to watch them in a different setting than Case Academic Center! Ian is pretty shy asking for money (not from us, but others!!!), but if you ever want to donate to his school to help improve the Media Center...just let us know!

Gavin spent most of the time playing with Norma, our neighbor. I wasn't sure if Gavin could handle being outside for that long of a time while I was helping out. He loved his time with Norma though. They even went on a fieldtrip! Yup...over to her house for lunch. I had packed his lunchbox to take with him!!!

What am I doing????

So, I've been asked to coach 5-6 year old basketball through the Town of Morrisville this winter and Ian is signed up for it. Now...I've been tossing around the idea for awhile and Cailean has been telling people I'm going to be a head coach, but I am very scared of commitment. Yes, me! I like being the assistant in soccer. But, head coach? That freaks me out. I asked a ton of questions and just decided (at 11:09pm tonight) to submit the application. UGH. Supposedly people put my name down, but I don't know exactly who they are. I just hope I'm able to get the soccer kids on my team. Leslie is my assistant! Go Leslie...Go Leslie...THANK YOU!!!!!!

Well...just another thing to add to my plate, right?! I'm sure it'll be fun and everything will go just fine. RIGHT??????

Welcome Back Karen

So our Wednesday childcare provider, Karen, has been busy the last few weeks and today was her first day back with us! She got married on the beach and then went off on a honeymoon! As a wedding gift, we had their lawn decorated from www.lawnannouncements.com and it was a surprise to them! hee hee Anyway, she brought back gifts for the boys and they LOVED them. Goggles and snorkles...as you can see in the picture...they are sporting their new gifts! Thanks Karen!

Catching up with some pictures

Here are some photos from the last few days. On Sunday we rode bikes at mom's house. Gavin is growing out of his big wheel and I think Santa mentioned something might be coming to the house on 12-25, so that should be interesting! ;) Ian is sporting a smile on his bike, too! Then, the third photo is from the fair tonight. We were supposed to go this Saturday morning, but I guess it is probably going to rain. Mom and I decided tonight would be the night again. The plan was to see the animals and see things we didn't see Monday night. The petting zoo wasn't that great and the other animals were sleeping. So, sorta a waste...but it was nice to be outside and walking around! The fair only comes once a year. Mom and I did decide that when we prebuy the tickets again...we'll plan on going just once.

NC State Fair

After school today, mom met us at the house and the four of us (Cailean went hunting) went to the NC State Fair in Raleigh. We hit up a bunch of rides...Ian wasn't too fond of the big roller coaster like he was last year, but he did go on it. We went on the little one as well and Gavin got to go on it this year! That little guy let go to do a "double wave" to Mimi as we're heading down a hill. He has no fear at all! They got to sit in a truck and jump on the bed that was in the cab. They sat in a school bus. They played on a gym. They talked to a clown. They ate cotton candy. They went on a wave runner together. We did lots and lots and lots of walking and still didn't see the horses, go on the pony ride, see the pig race or go to the petting zoo area. Oh and Ian found out that he can milk a cow for $2 and he wants to do that with my help. WHERE WILL CAILEAN BE??????????? HUNTING!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, we'll go back Saturday morning to do that. I think I'll be taking a stroller for Gavin. I had to carry him 1/3 of the way tonight. LOL LOL I can't believe I forgot the camera. ARGH!!! Sorry!!!!