Good Girl

Everytime Ella does anything lately, like sits down in her rocking chair or puts something in a drawer (one of her favorite things to do), she looks up at us and says "Goo Girr" and flashes a great big cheesy grin. She is so proud of herself!!!!

Memorial Day Road Trip

Alyssa, Isaiah and myself traveled to Evansville this weekend with Grandma to see my baby cousin (who is now 6'5") graduate from high school. It was a great trip and the kids were SO great considering we did a lot of driving and a lot of sitting at the graduation. It was really great to see Judi, Steve, Katie and Kyle. I can't believe he is graduating from high school. But, we will all be watching him the next few years playing for Louisville's basketball team! Go cards! Isaiah coined one for the ages when he asked if the Bishop at the graduation was a boy or a girl and wondered if he was a boy, why he was wearing a girl's costume. The questions came in his "loud voice" during the graduation ceremony. (I will say that I have never seen a bishop in black and hot pink garb, so I think it was a legit question from a 3 year old.) Anyway, we had an awesome time jumping on the beds and swimming at the hotel too.

While we were in Evansville, dad and Ella spent over 2 days together. Tim said that they had a great time bonding. He took her out to breakfast this morning and evidently had her dressed in not-very-feminine attire and the servers thought she was a boy! It reminds me of when Alyssa was one week old and he made me put her in a Colts sleeper to go out to eat. We are all about breaking down gender stereotypes in our house:-)

The joy far outweighs the Meijer tantrums

Thank you all for listening to my rant the other night. I guess when Tim isn't home you all are my sound board. HA HA! Anyway, I had to share a beautiful story from yesterday that just melted my heart. We went to the Y yesterday morning and 30 minutes after we were home Isaiah was complaining that he was cold. He had a fever of about 101 and just became very puny, very quickly. Alyssa was playing at a friend's house and when she got home I told her that Isaiah was sick. She shrugged it off at the time and went to clean her room. When she got done with her room, she came and said "Isaiah, buddy, are you OK? Give me a hug" She then came and said "Mommy, I'm going to clean Isaiah's room for him." After she cleaned his room, she came downstairs and sat next to him and put her arm around him and he snuggled in next to her for about 15 minutes. It was a BEAUTIFUL moment and made me so happy that our kids have siblings.

These are the moments that are the reason I am here with these little beings every day. Any crazy moments at Meijer and the exhaustion and frustration that sometimes come in life with toddlers and infants are all reduced to nothing to see my children snuggling together on the couch. As cliche' as it sounds, I know that I will miss this when it is gone!

Venting

Why is it that sometimes no matter how you react, your child acts like a complete lunatic in public. Why is it that all the parenting books tell you to talk calmly and this will have a calming effect on the child . . . HA! Right! We just returned from the trip from hell to Meijer. And talking to a tantrum-throwing 3 year old does NOTHING to calm them down!! I was mortified as everyone in the store was looking at us and of course it was during check out and we had the snail lady as our checkout person! And, let me tell you what I have had it with lately is people who feel like they need to voice their opinions about you and/or your child. Complete strangers (or just pompous jacka**es) who feel like they need to help you by telling you the error of your ways or by trying to parent your child to whom they are a complete stranger!!! I hate that the older I get the more emotional I get and that I actually let rude people and irrational toddlers have such a huge impact on my psyche. Anybody up for a glass of wine??? How about a bottle, or 2. Good night!

The end of the road

Today was Isaiah and Alyssa's last day of preschool for the year. Alyssa is officially in kindergarten! WOW! I can't believe it. After much consideration, we have changed our minds and have decided to sign her up for full day kindergarten. However, the class is currently full at our school, so we are #3 on the waiting list. We are hoping that she gets in before August! I just wish people would make these decisions for me sometimes!

Attached is a picture of Isaiah with his teachers. He had a great first experience at preschool and really enjoyed his teachers and his friends. We are looking forward to him going in the fall. He will go three mornings a week in the fall and I was talking to him about how he will work on his letters, just like Alyssa did this year. He replied by saying "I am good at my letters mom. And I am good at my numbers. But some people aren't good at their letters and numbers." HA HA. Maybe we need a good dose of humility!

I was very proud of both the kids today as all their teachers just raved about them and praised their behavior and their kindness to the other kids. Alyssa's teacher, Mrs. Gall, whom we have really connected with this year was in tears talking about missing her. And, of course, I was in tears too. What a sap I am!!! Anyway, it was a great day to end the year. Ann watched Ella so I could concentrate on the older too and I think it was great for all of us!

Attached see the pictures of Isaiah and his teachers, Isaiah playing and Ella at supper. It was VERY good homemade pizzas made by her brother and sister. Can you tell? (I was a schmuck and didn't get any pictures of Alyssa on her last day. I guess we will make up for that on the first day of kindergarten.)

Rainy Day Fun

See the attached pictures of kids ready to play outside, but confined because of the rain.

Happy Mom's Day

How blessed we are to have such awesome moms and grandmas in our lives! It isn't until you become a mother yourself that you truly appreciate everything that they did and sacrificed for over the years! Thanks so much for being such an example to us of what love really is! We are very thankful for all of you!!!

I hope to be half the mother that mine was to me to my own kids. But, I just don't think there is a heart as big as hers on the planet. I know mine isn't! Thanks mom!!! I love you!

Play ball

I wanna play too!!!!!

Blessing Others

I am a mentor for a group of teenagers at our church through our True Life ministry. This ministry is essentially an open forum for teenagers to come and share their struggles and for us to teach them what God has to say about them. I do this ministry with a good friend, Marissa, and her husband, Will, and we have almost been meeting for a year now. It has been a huge blessing to me and an emotional roller coaster at the same time. I told Tim last night that I just want to pick all of them up and bring them here to live with us. It is such a testament to how important a loving, united family is to a child of any age. I love them all and was very proud of them last night as we delivered blankets that the kids had made to a local homeless shelter. The shelter housed 9 families who are trying to rebuild their lives. Our kids had been working on the blankets for over a month and it was a great way for them to think outside themselves for a brief time (VERY hard for teenagers to do) and bless someone else. Anyway, see the pictures of our group in front of Vincent House in Fort Wayne.

We have had a big couple of days at the Neal household. After I recovered from my Nyquil hangover yesterday (that is a sure sign that I am getting old), the girls both got shots at the local Super Shot site. Alyssa got her kindergarten shots and was such a big girl. For the drama queen in our family, she was so brave! I was VERY proud of her. And, she also lost ANOTHER tooth. That is 5 and counting. She looks like quite the snaggletooth right now!

Today, we took part in our neighborhood garage sale. Assuming there are no surprises in our future, we took this opportunity to part with a lot of the baby gear that Ella has already outgrown. It was a little sad, for about 5 seconds:-) Anyway, Alyssa and Isaiah were so excited to do a lemonade stand during the garage sale just like they had seen on Max and Ruby. So, they did a lemonade stand and sold "Ice cold lemonade" for a quarter. They did pretty well and didn't lose interest for about an hour and a 1/2. What little entrepreneurs. Nothing like buying countrytime on sale at Meijer and marking it up!

Tonight Alyssa had her first T-ball game. See some of the pictures. She did really great for it being her first game. It probably helped that we put an "X" on her hand that her mitt goes on. HA HA. We decided that she shouldn't play first base because she was more interested in making friends with every person on the other team that ran to first base then paying attention to the game. It was hilarious and so much fun. I think she had a good time, but right now we are still more interested in the social part of activities than the actual activity! Gotta love her!!

Ella said "NA NA" today for banana!!! Also, Isaiah's latest question "Mom, how do dinosaurs go to sleep?" Any ideas? Enjoy the pics.

Prarie Dogs Forever

As many of you know, Isaiah is a HUGE fan of the zoo and REALLY, REALLY loves the prarie dogs at the zoo. When we visited on Saturday, the prarie dogs were MIA and this has been a topic of conversation ever since. We received the following in an e-mail from the zoo today. When I read it to him, he absolutely melted down. Hilarious the things that are SO huge to your world when you are "3". Oh, the joys and wonders of childhood.

Where are the Prairie Dogs?
If you’ve visited the zoo this spring, you’ve probably noticed that the prairie dog exhibit is gone. What happened to it?
Last fall, heavy rains and floods damaged the prairie dog exhibit, which would have cost thousands of dollars to repair. When we factored in plans for a major renovation at the zoo entrance (which would eliminate the prairie dog exhibit) in the next few years, we decided to eliminate the exhibit this year.
As one of the few exhibits original to the zoo when it opened in 1965, the prairie dogs were a popular feature with visitors, so the decision to remove the exhibit was thoroughly evaluated. “We always think long and carefully about changes that will affect our visitors,” says Zoo Director Jim Anderson, noting that while the zoo strives to improve, we must also be financially responsible since we receive no tax dollars for operation.

How do you feel?

I have been a bit under the weather this week and today has been particularly rough. As a matter of fact, I am counting down until naptime (20 minutes to go) and I am going to snuggle up myself and try to catch some Zzzz's. Anyway, Alyssa made me a get well card this morning (very sweet) and sealed it in an envelope. When she gave it to me she said--"Mom, do you feel like a big pile of poop?" Cracked me up! I replied an emphatic "YES" but assured her that the card made me feel better!

Anyway, here is a picture of the finished siding and Isaiah and Ella. His face is a little disturbing in this picture and I don't know if I should be concerned about his fascination with having Ella in a headlock or not!