Stolen

I went to the library today to return some books. (I'm very, very tired of reading the spider-man book.) We got some books, fed Caitlin, etc. We weren't in there more than an hour.

When I got out to the car I noticed that all of the cords (phone charger, dvd charger, gps charger) were all in my seat. I KNEW that I hadn't left them there. There were also some things from the center storage place in the passenger seat. I looked and our camera had been stolen. For some reason they left all of Jon's knives and didn't find the gps. I wasn't going to do anything other than complain to Jon, but the people at the library asked me to report it because it wasn't the first time it had happened. So with two little kids I had to go down to the police station and stand around and wait for a while. Thankfully it didn't take very long and the officer was really nice. Turns out that this is only one of a ton of car thefts, including some of the people that work at the station. I had left the windows cracked and that is how they are getting in. So now we are missing a camera. It wasn't a very expensive one and we hadn't been super impressed with it since we got it a few years ago, but still.

I was upset and annoyed. I was griping to Jon on the phone and Dominic said from the back seat "Mommy, just go buy another one." He has no concept of money and thinks buying another one is the perfect solution. But it hit me. Nothing else was taken. My car is fine. My family is fine. I have the money to buy another one that is even better. And God will take care of the thief. So I just need to let it go. Easier said than done, but I'm so thankful for my kids who look at life so simply and can help me see life from their point of view.

Daddy

Dominic didn't take a nap yesterday. This is typical, but too many of these days with regular bedtime and he is in desperate need of sleep. So last night we put him to bed early. Jon was flying and I knew he wouldn't be home in time for bedtime. So I promised Dominic that Daddy would come in and kiss him when he got home.

Dominic was praying after worship and part of his prayer was "Thank you for the nice day even though Daddy isn't here." Ahwww!

I put both kids down and Caitlin just wouldn't stop screaming. She's teething (I think.) and has also been acting more hungry than normal. So I went in to get her and Dominic was almost asleep. He was rubbing his blanket and his eyes were closed. In a very sleepy voice he said "Don't talk to me. I'm asleep."

I hadn't said anything so I don't know if he knew it was me or not. I didn't say a word to him. =)

Pool side

Today was an interesting experience. I had asked the neighbor boy (about 8-9 yrs old) if he wanted to go swimming with us this morning. He loves coming over to play with Dominic even though there is about 5-6 yrs difference in age. We got there and had played for only a few minutes when a bus load of handicap children came into the pool. It didn't bother the boys that the pool was so crowded, but a few minutes later we all had to get out because someone had pooped in the pool. It wasn't a small poop either. I was extremely disgusted with it and wanted to go home, but the boys assured me that the water park beside the pool was fine until they had gotten the pool clean.

According to the life guard it takes 30 minutes for the water to cycle through the filter. So they put some chemicals into the water, scooped out all of the poop and we waited for 45 minutes. A huge part of me wanted to load up the boys and come home. I don't care how filtered it was, that water had just had poop in it. But things like this don't phase boys at all and they were overjoyed when the whistle blew to resume pool time.

I shouldn't be surprised. Dominic informed me yesterday that gross things were lots of fun. He was smearing a dead bug on his hand when he said this. Sigh!!!

Cutest kids

My kids never cease to amaze me. They are adorable and sweet children. I am so blessed!

Dominic and Caitlin still adore each other most of the time. Dominic gets a little jealous sometimes and doesn't want to share his things. But he's also her biggest cheer leader. In these pictures he's telling her what a good job she's doing when she eats. She's not good about opening her mouth and so he claps for her every time she does it right.

My kids are always laughing at each other. When I ask Dominic what they are laughing about he can't really give me a good answer. Guess it's their special secret.

These pictures were taken one morning while Jon was trying to catch a few extra minutes of sleep and they were enjoying life a bit too loudly. Poor guy!

Randomness from our life

I think I may have mentioned our weekly Taco Bell run. It started when Jon was building the house. It was the half way point between our homes and we would meet there for lunch on Sunday. So now it is a weekly tradition to go to Taco Bell for lunch on Sunday. I ate Taco Bell all through both pregnancies and while nursing so both kids are getting it every week as well. =) Dominic LOVES Taco Bell.

It looks like Caitlin likes it too. =)

Sabbath afternoon everyone was sleeping. I peeked in on everyone and saw Caitlin and Jon sleeping in almost the same position. So cute!

The other day Dominic had a "party". At least that was his explanation for why he had emptied every toy he owned and ALL of the books from the bottom shelves of all five book cases. He had a specific place for each item and somehow amidst all of the mess knew if something was out of place at his "party".

Caitlin had a ton of fun playing with all of the toys w/in reach.

Caitlin LOVES stuffed animals. If I need to get something done (like clean up from a "party") I can stick her in the crib or pac-n-play with a ton of stuffed animals and she'll play forever.

Dominic lives in the world of pretend. Here he's pretending to be in an airplane. The things around him are his luggage. He was going to visit grandma & grandpa this time. When he got there he knocked on the door and stood on tiptoes to reach grandpa (he's 6')for a hug. He then bent over at the waist to lean down and hug grandma. (She's 4'11) When I told my mom this story she wasn't as amused as I was. =)

Flight School

Jon has a new "interest". I can't really call it new because he's wanted to pursue it for a long time. But time and money have been in the way.

He has started flight school. He has wanted to be a pilot (plane AND helicopter) for a very long time. At least as long as I've known him. So now I get to worry about him in another area. =) I'm actually excited for him though.

He's thinking it will take him about 4-5 months to get his fixed wing private license and then he'll start working on the helicopter part. So we may be coming to see family in a little plane instead of the car so he can get flight hours. Should be fun!

Dying

Today I was getting into the car and my knee was bothering me. I moaned and Dominic asked me what I'd done. Pain to him means that you've hit something. He has no idea of pain from getting old. =) So I told him that my knee was bothering me.

Dominic: Why, Mommy? Did you hit it on the car?

Me: No, Dominic. I'm getting old.

Dominic: Daddy, do you die when you get old?

Jon: Yes, Dominic, eventually.

Dominic: Mommy, are you dying? Am I going to get a new mommy?"

Me: No, Dominic. Hopefully I won't die any time soon. That was just an expression."

Dominic: It's ok, we'd just pray you alive again.

Yikes! This kid's logic actually makes sense sometimes. =) It's also very apparent that he listens to the Bible stories, but doesn't have a firm grasp on reality.

Father's Day

Poor Jon's Father's Day started out a bit rough. His phone changes settings to ring at the highest volume when charging no matter what we have it set at. So this morning at 6:15am his phone rang to let us know that he had received a Happy Father's Day text from a "friend". Not sure why it had to be sent so early in the morning. Dominic had woken up during the night to go to the bathroom and so the kid's bedroom door was open. The extremely loud phone ringing woke up both kids and so I had to get up to feed Caitlin. They had slept in until 7:30am yesterday and we were hoping for the same thing today, but no such luck. I was able to keep the kids quiet so Jon could sleep some more, but he muttered some rather uncomplimentary things about some people before he rolled over to go back to sleep. =)

Dominic had made something for Jon with his and Caitlin's foot prints on it and had so much fun giving it to Jon today. Right after he gave it to him he kept asking Jon where his "Father's day present" was. We finally figured out that Dominic thinks cake goes with ALL special occasions and was hoping that Jon would share. Jon isn't real big on cake so after Dominic wakes up from his nap we'll be making a layered dessert (Jon's favorite).

Jon is a wonderful parent. As with most of us I think he was a bit afraid of what type of parent he would be. But I couldn't have asked for a better dad for my kids. He plays with them, helps give baths and even changes diapers. =) He's always pushing Dominic on the swing or giving rides on the tractor or in the Model A. Dominic and Caitlin obviously love their dad and I can see why. He's amazing and I thank God for him every day!

The town of Berganu

Dominic has the funnest time making up new words. They don't make any sense, sound like anything and he rarely uses them the same again. But there is one word that he's been using since he first started talking well and I've been dying to know what he means. Well I think I finally figured it out. The word is berganu and he uses it to describe something that is wonderful. If he's going on a pretend trip he's going to the town of Berganu. In the town of Berganu there is lots of candy and five (his favorite number) cakes of all the colors. If he liked something alot it's berganu. If he can't find a word to describe something spectacular it was berganu.

Since life is one big party for Dominic and everything is wonderful I hear the word ALOT. He's also started giving this little laugh/squeal. When I ask him what is the matter he'll say "I'm just so excited because. . ." He has the most amazing outlook on life.

Caitlin's hair

My daughter has the funniest hair. It is growing very fast - in places. It's long in the back, bald spot in the middle, shorter on the sides and a huge mop on the top. She has an under layer that is quite a bit shorter that you can see through the wisps of longer hair. Poor little girl looks really funny if I don't fix it. The problem with that is she's always pulling her bows out of her hair to eat them. I hate to cut her hair when she's only 6 months old, but it is getting in her eyes all the time.

Washington, D.C.

Jon had some meetings in DC and it was cheaper to drive than to fly. So we got to tag along. Dominic thinks that trips are so much fun. He gets to watch his dvd player and play with special toys. We timed it right so he would also take a nap during the drive.

Once we got the the hotel we let him pick which bed he wanted. He thought it was the greatest thing that he got his own "big" bed. Caitlin also seemed to enjoy it, although I think it was more her brother than the bed.Don't know if you can tell, but they are holding hands. It was precious!

Today we went to the mall to a children's program. Dominic thought the man was scary and wanted to ride the elevators instead. =) I could have just taken him to a large building.

Right now we are having quiet time. Caitlin slept for about 30 minutes and woke up and now Dominic is asleep. Was hoping that I'd have some me time but I guess not today. At least I can type and hold her at the same time.

Swimming

This past week was Caitlin's first real time in the pool. Dominic loves the water and has been eagerly waiting the opening of the outdoor pool. Our pool has a top so it can be used during the winter, but it really means summer time when the top comes off.

I thought that Caitlin was going to dislike the cool water, but she surprised me. She splashed and kicked and laughed. She LOVED it. So much so that when we had to get out to go to the bathroom she cried. Her little swim suit is so cute.

Dominic gave me a little scare. He knows when he can't touch to push off the bottom to get to the top to breath. I had to feed Caitlin and put more sunscreen on her. So I left Dominic in the pool with a friend while I watched from a few feet away. I had told him not to go where his feet couldn't touch, but he saw his friend (who was wearing floaties) go into the deeper end and just followed. By the time I could get up and get over to him he had pushed off the bottom a few times. The life guard jumped in and got him over to the shallow end. He was fine until she jumped in. I think she scared him. So he cried a bit and then wanted to get right back in the water. He would have been fine until I got there since he was pushing off the bottom, but I was very thankful that the life guard was on the ball.

Caitlin's 1st meal

Other than the occasional piece of paper, Caitlin hadn't eaten "real" food yet. So this week we got everything ready and gave her a taste of what "real" food tasted like. Jon got the tripod out so we could video tape it as well as take pictures. He wanted to get the look on her face when she tasted the awful rice cereal.Sadly Jon was disappointed. She ate the stuff like it was candy. I had fixed a lot more than I needed because Dominic spit out more than he ate for the 1st few weeks. She ate almost the whole bowl. We were so shocked. Not sure if this is a good thing or not. =)

Look at her leaning forward trying to make sure she got it all off the spoon.This is the only picture that we took that looked like she disliked it a bit.

I LOVE this look on her face. I just wish I knew what she was thinking.

All in all a very fun experience!