Happy 2nd Birthday Raine

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!

I can't believe my baby is 2 yrs old. She is growing up way too fast! Reece helped me make the cake. He especially loved putting all of the mini m&ms on it. Raine was so excited about the little Elmo figurine I found at the dollar store. Then the two kids dove into the cake like nobodies business. It was so funny. Reece was a very helpful big brother. He wanted to unwrap every one of her presents. It was a really sweet family night. Raine loved every aspect of it.

Batman

Reece has become quite fond of Batman this past month. Mo picked up a DVD before the drive back across the country and it is now all Reece talks about. He has told me several times that he wants to have a Batman birthday and dress up as Batman for Halloween. We have already begun looking for the costume online. I think I will buy it for him for his birthday so he can play dress up with before the big trick or treat event! Yesterday, we picked several coloring pages from the computer to print out and color. Today, as we were driving home from VBS I was giving the play by play of what would take place when we got home.

Reece then replied, "I wish I was Batman! He could do anything he wanted to do and he won't have to take a nap!"

I chuckled and said, "You're right Reece Batman does get to do whatever he wants, can I be him too?"

Shouting, "NO MOM, there is only one Batman! You can be the bad girl, Poison Ivy!"

All I could do is laugh right out loud!

Life with Reece is so funny; see why I don't want to head back to work!

Changes

I've been feeling kind of morose lately. Fall is a very hard time of the year for me. I hate leaving my kids with a babysitter after being home with them all summer long. It brings me to tears every morning for about a week straight. School is starting in a week and I haven't even started rearranging and setting up my classroom. Ahhhh!

I am excited about this school year because I get to go back to 5th grade. 5th graders are so much fun, PUNKS but fun! We are trying a new block schedule to help the 5th graders prepare for the transition into 6th grade. There will be 2 reading & language arts teachers. I get to teach reading & language arts to 60 students instead of 120 students. I will be able to use all of that great stuff I learned 5 yrs ago during my master's degree program! I can't wait for this new experience but really I can, maybe just a couple more weeks...

I just want to go back to this place:

Fishing in Penny Peck Creek

I have so many pictures from our summer vacation that I need to post some events that were never recorded when they actually occured.

Friday, June 27, 2008 Fishing in Penny Peck Creek
After leaving Butler, PA we headed to Mo's hometown of Hatboro, PA for a few nights before checking in at the Jersey shore. Mo always takes a trip through his favorite place in the world, Penny Peck. He really wanted to take Reece fishing there, so we tried to get there in the early morning before the 98% humidity got a hold of us. It was fun to watch Mo in his happy place. He had a ball sharing all of the neat facts about the creek and woods to his children. Raine hung back on the edge of the creek with me and played in the dirt. She had just as much fun as her big brother.



The best part of the morning was when Reece caught his first fish! His daddy was explaining that the fish were biting at the little pieces of corn so they put some on his Spiderman rod. It was in just a few seconds that Reece had a little yellow sun fish on his line. Mo said that will be the best part of the summer hands down. Reece catching his first fish in Mo's favorite place; the creek he grew up fishing!

Philadelphia Zoo

Sunday, July 13, 2008 Trip to the Philadelphia Zoo
Remember when trips to the zoo were about looking at animals? Well when you take a 1 yr old and 3 yr old it's about camel rides, pony rides, the petting zoo and getting your face painted. Reece choose to get Batman painted on his face. It was very hot and humid so his paint would smear every time he touched his face. Look how much fun he had riding the miniature pony.

Reece and Mo fed the goats at the petting zoo. Reece enjoyed it immensely and said that it tickled when their tongues touched his hands. He would crack up laughing every time the goat licked him.
Here we are waiting to ride on the camel. Mo said he would take pics since he was too heavy for that poor camels back. It was interesting, glad it was only 100 yard ride.





The kids love checking out Reece's face in the mirror. He loved his Batman face more than you'd ever imagine! Thanks Pa Pere for that special treat.


Three generations of Maurice!

Thanks Aunt Amber for letting us borrow your season pass. We were so glad we saw half of the zoo. Maybe next summer we can see the other half!

August Already :(

I can't believe it's August! While on our 5 week road trip vacation time went rather slow. Now that I am home the days are flying by and I don't feel like I've done very much at all. My friend had her baby so I brought them dinner and loved on their beautiful baby girl. I went back a few days later and borrowed her other two girls for a morning of swimming. I purged 5 bags of clothes from our newly organized closet and 3 boxes of clutter from our home. I finished my 3rd book this summer. I bought the kids their birthday presents from Target and Borders. I restocked our fridge and pantry with food. I watched 2 movies, read lots of bloggs and emails.

But the best thing I have done since I've been home is play with my kids! It's been awesome playing with Raine. We are working on her colors and shapes. Her vocabulary is improving and she is speaking more clearly. She just started to say YEAH, when she wants something. If I ask her if she wants a drink she'll say YEEEAHH. It's a nice change from her saying NO all the time. She still says MINE a lot though. Raine is finally sitting still while we read books and really becoming interested in them. She still obsesses over Elmo but has grown very found of Monk Monk aka Curious George. Raine was very excited when her brother came home. Yesterday the two of them were playing dress up with their old Halloween costumes. Reece was Spiderman and Raine was Tigger. It was hilarious!

I love being home with my kids, as much as they drive me crazy they sure do crack me up! Only 16 more days of summer for this teacher. BOO HOO!