Last week, the kids made me cupcakes for my birthday at Grandma's house and she sent them home in one of those large cupcake carriers. I washed it up and had it on the dining room table to return to her this weekend. While I was cleaning up from dinner, Isaiah and Ella found the cupcake carrier and this is what they decided to do with it. Ella LOVED it! She has definitely become our "me too" kid. She wants to be big!

On another funny Isaiah note--I am in my friend Marissa's wedding this weekend and we had to go pick up my dress today from the alteration shop. I told him last night we were going to get my red dress in the morning and he said "are we getting your sassy shoes too"? The shoes are pretty sassy for me too! He hit that one right on the head!

Yesterday on the way to the splash park, Alyssa and Isaiah were fighting in the back seat (an all-the-time occurrence right now--UGGHH). They were both pulling on the seat belt and Tim said "LET GO" in his raised dad voice. A second later, we hear Ella say "ET GO"! I am glad someone is trying to keep them in line! HA HA.

On a more serious note, we were praying at dinner tonight. Alyssa and Isaiah both like to say prayers at mealtime (and it is often a fight of who goes first--again, UUGGHHH), anyway, Isaiah went first and said a very nice prayer. Then Alyssa prayed and said something like this:

"Thank you God for this wonderful day. Thank you for letting mommy and daddy find a new house so soon. We pray that we have a great life in that house. Thank you for helping us find it."

Needless to say, mommy and daddy were both crying when the prayer was over. Her little world is so uncertain right now, but she somehow knows that wherever we are, we will be together and it will be OK. I just hope mommy can remember that during the next few months!!

A visit from cousin Carter

Ella, the waterbug, and Carter at the splash park.
Going for a bike rid. Mommy's legs got a workout with the 2 in the trailer. Check out Ella's helmet. Isn't it hilarious!

Cheese.
At the Copa, Copa Cabana. . . .

Partners in crime
Carter at the splash park. He loved it until he got under one of the big buckets full of water that poured right on his head.
Drying off.
We LOVE the piano.
Run Isaiah Run.

Carter came and stayed all night with us on Friday night. It was so much fun! The kids loved it and I think he had a good time once he caught up on his sleep. Thanks Andy and Jo-Jo for letting him come stay with us. Here are some pics.

The first Day

I apologize for the delay. I got a virus on my PC and had to take it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy to get fixed and just got it back today! Anyway, I am attaching some pics from Alyssa's first day of kindergarten. She was so excited and did great. I got a little teary after she walked in, and then when my mom called me. (Why is it that no matter how old you get, your mom's voice can make you cry!) Please notice the Hannah Montana shirt she is wearing. I made a big deal out of a "mommy and Alyssa" date night where we went to get school supplies, go out to eat, get her haircut and then pick out an outfit for the first day of school. Needless to say the outfit we picked out went by the wayside when Grandma got her a Hannah Montana shirt! Ya gotta love Grandmas!!

Day 2 was a little harder, because she rode the bus. It was REALLY hard to watch her get on that big bus. She was so nervous and shy acting. And, it absolutely broke my heart when I picked her up and she said that when she got to school she couldn't find her classroom and cried until 2 older girls helped her to her class. UUGGGHHH! That was the worst. Mom didn't know that the bus lets off at a different door than the front door, so we had practiced and talked about completely WRONG directions! But, day 3 was much better and now she thinks she knows the way to her class. We'll see. She informed us on Friday that she had music class and gym class and she LOVED music class. Anyone surprised???

Ok, so maybe tomorrow is the "BIG" day!

Tomorrow is the bid day

Please stay tuned for all the kindergarten pictures and stories (in between the tears) tomorrow. I really didn't think I would be emotional since she has went to daycare 4/5ths of her life, but lo and behold, I am! She is not very happy that mom and dad are taking her the first day rather than riding the bus, but I told her that she can ride the bus every other day! Miss independent!

A new house

Ok, I promise to everyone that around Thanksgiving I might be able to blog regularly again! Things have been quite crazy here in the Fort. We sold our house in Fort Wayne in 11 days. Yes, 11 days. Much faster than we thought we would. So, there became a sense of urgency to find a house in Tennesse (Johnson City). Tim and I took a "code blue" trip there this weekend and lo and behold, we have a signed, accepted offer on a house. Assuming all goes well with our closing here in Fort Wayne, we will be heading to Tennessee around Sep 15th. This is MUCH faster than we were anticipating. And, it really takes me a little while to become ok with something, so I am in a little bit of an inner panic! Tim and I both are wearing the stress on our faces--zits and cold sores, YUCK!

Anyway, I am attaching some pictures of the house that we took. We are expecting everyone who reads this blog to come and visit us. Tennessee is much prettier than Fort Wayne!!!!

Ella's first fingerpainting adventure. She kept saying "more, more".
























































The sea lion wanted to say "Hi" today at the zoo. It was awesome! It stayed for about 2-3 minutes just "talking" to the kids.

Isaiah "being difficult". Alyssa took this picture and I am SO looking forward to him seeing how silly he looks when he acts like this. He is in a phase right now. The 3 year old power struggle, UGGHHH!

Isaiah and Ella pretending to be Joeys at the zoo.

More sea lion.

The girls playing the piano. Alyssa said "Ella, hit it" and Ella began pounding away.

A few cute things from the day

There was a HUGE thunderstorm here last night around midnight. The type where I woke up and turned on the weather channel to make sure that we didn't need to head to the basement. Alyssa woke up and slept the rest of the night with me, but Isaiah and Ella slept right through it. I asked Isaiah this morning if he heard the storm. He said "No". A few minutes later he piped up, "Mom, I know why I didn't hear the storm. My ears were asleep."

We went to the Y this morning so I could get in a run (Only 7 more weeks until my mini). When I went to pick up the kids, Ella made a Beeline to me. She was so excited and moving her little legs as fast as they would go. She said "PAAAAYY" when she got to me and turned around to go back for more. It was VERY cute!

Last but not least, when Isaiah woke up from his nap today, he was running a fever and complaining of a sore throat. So, tonight at bedtime, he was REALLY heading downhill. He decided to lay down in his bed while I got Ella a bath and in bed. When I came out of Ella's room, Alyssa was sitting on the side of Isaiah's bed reading him a book and had gotten a cold wet washcloth and put it on his forehead. It was a beautiful moment! I hope I remember those moments instead of the 15 screaming matches they had throughout the day!

Overall, a good day at the Neal house.

Back to Normal???

My apologies to everyone for the lack of updates on the blog. As almost all of you now know, the Neal family will be moving to Johnson City, Tennessee sometime in the next few months (assuming our current house sells). So, we have been SWAMPED with getting our house ready to show and then Tim and I made a trip to Tennessee to look for houses. So, I think we will now be back to normal and I will have more time to keep you updated.

When Tim and I were in Tennessee, all 3 kids stayed with Ron and Julie (bless them--I think they are coming down from their acid trip now)! HA HA! The kids had an awesome time! The kids and I then went and stayed with my mom for a few nights. Then, on Saturday, my dad had his annual Smith family cookout for the entire Smith clan. All 3 of these grandparents have houses that are in the country with a lot of land. For Isaiah, this means he can pee ANYWHERE! As a female, I have never experienced the pure joy of being able to freely pee in the outdoors. For a 3 year old boy, it is a highlight in his life. While at dad's on Saturday, I think he peed a dozen times--ALL outside. If he would have quit drinking the pool water, it may have not been so much. See the attached pic taken by Shannon. She couldn't resist.

Shan also posted a bunch of pictures on her blog--She has triplets, so even if you don't know her, her blog is entertaining. Check it out: http://thewrighttrips.blogspot.com