Auntie Melissa and Nana Visit

Auntie Melissa drove up to visit us for a a week.  It was great to see her and Camden and Graham.  On Sunday, we went to a pumpkin patch.  The kids had fun.  They really liked the corn pit and the hayride.  On Monday, she came over and hung out at our house.  The weather was great so we were able to play outside on the swing set.  On Tuesday, it was raining so we went to Cafe of Play.  Again the kids had a great time.  On Wednesday, our aunts from Cleveland came down and had a surprise birthday for all of the kids.  It was so sweet of them to do that.

I've had some pain and cysts on my left ovary.  It was decided it would be best to do surgery. This is was not ideal but needed to be done.  I did well after surgery.  I was tired, nauseous, and sore but I did fine.  Austin was great. When he got home from school on Thursday, he came up with a way to make a tray table by the couch.  The table was a bucket and he used a tray from his old booster seat.

My mother in law came into town on Friday.  She was very helpful.  She and the kids made lots of fun foods.  On Saturday, everyone hung out while I rested.

On Sunday, we got free tickets to Cedar Point.  I knew it was going to be difficult to go for me but I really wanted to do it.  I knew I couldn't ride any rides but I could walk.  That is what we did.  We got there when it opened.  The kids loved it.  They rode lots of rides.  They had trick or treat stations too.  Then for lunch the Cavs provided us with a fantastic lunch.  Kids even got to meet Sir CC there.  After lunch, they rode more rides.  We made sure we were at the parade too.  Austin and Sydney love parades!  We all had a great day.  I'm so happy we went.  But at the end, I was exhausted!

On Monday, Nana, Austin, Sydney hung out all day.  I was able to relax and get some work down.  It was a great day.  The kids had swim class.  It was great for Nana to see the kids swim.  Austin is in preschool level 3 and Sydney is in preschool level 2.  The next session they will both be in preschool 3 together.  They love swimming.

Sydney and Austin love each other so much even though they fight a lot.  The other night when it was bed time. They were each going to their rooms and Austin said "wait I need to give Sydney 1 more hug".  It was so sweet.  It's interesting to listen to the conversations they have with each other.  Austin usually leads the conversations but allows Sydney ideas and usually the come up with good plans together.

Sydney can now spell her name.  She is working on writing it.  She is doing the same writing homework as Austin.  Since Austin gets homework at school, Sydney is jealous so she will do it too.  We think that is impressive. She needs a little more help but her writing is pretty good.  Austin can now spell his last name too.

We are working with Austin with reading.  He surprised me the other day and read the word "me" to me.  We get several books at the library each week.  There are books that are for beginning readers.  Austin likes me to read them but he will repeat it after me.  He gets mad if I try to get him just to read it.  Sydney loves books more than Austin.  Austin enjoys them but usually he doesn't mention reading unless I say that is what we are doing. He has his favorite books which right now are The Berenstain Bears Books.  Those books are fantastic.  They teach great life lessons.  Brian actually brought over 60 of those books because we love them so much!

A sad thing that has happened is the kids no longer take naps.  For the past 4.5 years our lives had naps in them.  Sydney has always not liked taking the naps.  It would take me over an hour to get her to nap. I would get angry but it was a waste of time.  Then bedtime would take about an hour to get them to sleep.  Finally I decided let's try this no nap thing.  It was rough in the beginning because they were tired but bedtime was so much easier and faster.  They have been going to sleep around 8pm and getting up around 7am.  They still call us in the middle of the night but for the most part they sleep all night.  They will sometimes sleep at school but for the most part they no longer nap.  It makes me very sad.  They are growing up.