Boats, Beach and .......

I wasn't sure what I should title this post. Its been much the same around here but all of it good.  The kids and Carl all got stomach bug and got over it.  Dee (house keeper) had to take six weeks off but she is back now , oh thank god! She only comes every other week so its not like I don't clean , all I do is clean but with no Dee which also coincided with guests and then the stomach bug! Mom was done!!! OH and all the carpets got steam cleaned on Friday because for some reason with a house that is mostly hard wood floors my kids always get sick on the rugs!!!!    Dad is back home now and should be for a little while longer until he leaves for a 6 month deployment. UGHHH! It will be here before I know it and I am not mentally preparing myself I find that denial is the best way! Okay okay on to the good. Owen is doing really really well at speech. Okay now is he talking? Nope not hardly, in fact if you compare him to kids his age its discouraging and a little scary but comparing him to Owen from a month ago we are seeing improvement and we couldn't say that one month ago so I have to hope that if we keep this up things will get better. I have him going to two really really good speech therapists now and he is approved to go four times a week. I always take him at least two but try to fit in a third most weeks and well you just do what you can do.

 An evening kayak ride with Daddy. Owen loves all things boats.

 An evening trip to the beach! Mom enjoys the pool this summer because Owen does not really like the waves. Last year I only did beach , but this summer with two of the three swimming the pool is easier for me solo. We usually do the pool on Monday and Fridays after Owen's speech appointments.

 Nathan and Caitlin love to ride the waves so we usually do the beach in the evenings when Dad is around to help mom lifeguard.

 Hi Mom!

Nathan loves to ride the waves

 Waiting for just the right wave.

 Owen loves to practice his speech. These are sound flash cards that we do daily.

 You can see how well he is doing following Carls lead.

 He loves to do his homework and is really trying to talk.

 A little signing as well. This means go I think HAHAHAH!

 Carl and Owen making the same sounds! Now if only he would use his words. Okay well instead of posting on the blog I need to go read this kid a book.

July?????

Wait how did July happen already and we are almost half-way done. Well I can say we have been having fun, we hit the pool three times, the beach twice and even the boat just last week. Aunt Ali and Troy came down for the week and Grandma was able to join us on our adventures. The Fourth of July was spent on the boat followed by a cookout. IT WAS HOT!! I also didn't like the fact that I had to work the next day, I only teach on Tuesday and Thursdays this summer so that was a bummer.  There are not many pictures  as every adventure had to include water and lots of it to stay cool so the camera stayed at home. I captured a few on the iphone so I post those below. Caitlin is a dance camp this week and they have Vacation Bible School as well which they both love! Unfortunately, we have been hit by a stomach bug so far its only affected the boys but I not so sure I will remain so lucky. Time will tell!

 We spent some time on the dock fishing with Aunt Ali and Owen caught his first fish a little Perch I think. Look at that smile! This kid loves boats, fishing and throwing the cast net.

 Look at me!

 Nathan relaxing

We ate crabs twice last week. We have always been limited by bait but now we a freezer full and the crabs are so yummy!

 Lindsay took Nate and Owen to the Aquarium on Tuesday after she dropped Caitlin at dance camp. Nathan is such an awesome big brother. I can't really say that Owen is a nice little brother but maybe someday HAHAHAHAHAH

Here is Owen eating fish tacos, well it only took me three tries but I finally got an eater. That is his ear of corn and he had probably already finished Nate's dinner before starting on Carl's he just goes from person to person picking what he likes. He likes Mom's lettuce in her salad but the croutons are the best with the dressing on of course!

If I had a crystal ball!

There are days when I just wish I could have a crystal ball. Would you look into the future if you could? What if you could only look three times, when would you use your looks. That's the hardest part about kids, does this make a difference, does that really matter. Oh I would ask does all this speech therapy really matter. On Friday, I woke up and took Owen 30 minutes into Jacksonville for speech at 8:30 until 9 then drove to Havelock 1 hour in the other direction for speech with a  new speech therapist at 11:00 am. Sounds easy until you add two other kids, getting breakfast, dressed, out the door, pack lunch, grab the pool bag. Then we hit the pool for the rest of the afternoon , it was really fun.  There is good news Owen finally got in weekly with the good chic in Jacksonville starting July 23 and now turns out this other speech therapist in Havelock I just started taking him to is awesome. We have homework and lots of homework! In the past two weeks he has started really trying , repeating what we say and although he is still not using words to communicate I am sort of getting a feeling that it is coming. So today we have speech at 3 pm,45 minutes away, 30 minutes there, and 45 minutes back, speech again on Thursday and then again on Friday. It does take most of my free time, okay all of my free time and don't get me wrong I am doing it all this week but most of the time Lindsay is helping and Grandma is watching the other two when she can but oh if I only had that crystal ball. I know I know I thank my lucky stars every day that this is our only little glitch its really nothing well except for the fact that I spend most of my free days driving all over the world to get Owen to talk!!!! I sometimes think hey I have my Ph.D. , I can do this, hahahah but then we go to speech and realize that speech therapy is not my calling!!! So to all my friends out there who haven't heard from me in a while I am busy driving here there and everywhere!

Adventures

We (Janelle and I) took the kids to Ocracoke for two days. The ferry is only about 2 hours from the house but add that in with  2.5 hr ferry ride to Ocracoke and they thought we had traveled the world. We stayed the night so we got to have two entire days of beach and pool!  I left Owen at home with Lindsay and Daddy. Sorry Owen I love you soon you will be hanging with the big kids. We had so much fun! Next summer we are planning on driving the kids cross country in an RV for a few weeks.

 Getting ready to board the ferry.

 Ocracoke here we come.

Entering the Harbor.

The ocean is always so pretty!

The kids had so much fun riding the waves. They were all fearless!

Caitlin rides one in.

Getting ready to hit the pool with Bryn and Morgan! Fun Fun

We visited the Ocracoke Ponies and we even got to feed them.

Caitlin feeding the ponies.

Bryn , Nathan and Caitlin riding the waves!  Yes no pictures of mom but next blog post I promise.

 Waiting for the ferry ride home, what an awesome adventure!

Feeling Like Summer

Well I just published the third blog book so this post will start our fourth edition. It so fun to look back through the books and see how much they have grown! Mommy has no classes for the entire week so we have lots of adventures planned! We hit the beach on Saturday with grandma Poe and then we had lunch with Granny Opava today and the kids have something planned everyday this week. They are spoiled rotten but mom loves the beach and pool as well so I just blame it on them and away we go!  Well except for Wednesday and Thursday when mommy and Janelle planned a special surprise for the kids! I can't wait! Stay tuned!

 Caitlin took her second week of swim lessons and did great. She was swimming at the end of last summer but needed a refresher and she loved swim lessons.

 Owen even started swim lessons, he was the youngest in the class but the craziest!

 Caitlin just posing for some pictures.

 Nathan went to his first camp. It was called Sound to Sea, and he LOVED IT! Everyday from 9-4pm. He came home exhausted! He got to swim in the ocean or the pool everyday and even spent a day in the Sound catching fish and learning about marine environments. Hum .... of course this was mamas idea!

 Not a bad view from his lunch spot!

 Getting ready for a show for the parents!

He asked if he could go back every day this summer! Its booked solid so he will have to wait until next year when Caitlin can join him.

One last post!

One last post until I publish our third blog book, it has been two years since I published the blog. Wow time sure flies when you are having fun! I only have one copy of each blog book so the kids will have to visit me if they want to see them! I also realize that they might not even care and that's fine I enjoy looking back through our life! Well its Friday again. The kids have been waking up so so so so early but today we did get to sleep until almost 6:00! A hour hour later than usual! Whats up!!!! I woke up and cleaned the house and we have been hanging out at home all day.  Nathan was begging for the pool but after a week of swim lessons Caitlin was a little tired so we are having a day of rest but I promised to go to the pool tomorrow (that means beg Carl to come with us!) as the boat is in the shop and I am not sure if we will get it back tomorrow. Okay well our much anticipated screened in porch is now complete aka Priechenfried Party Pad! Yes, we have used it and I told Carl we need a chess table or something out there or I will soon need an AA meeting because something about a screened in porch and drink just seem to go together and we still have quite a few more friends to have over!

 Here it is empty , just waiting for all my friends and family.  A six pack or awesome appetizer required for admission!

 The view is like always very nice!

 Owen making his Fathers Day painting, yes it was fun like always:)

 Caitlin made a pumpkin but its a secret so don't tell!

 This is Owen, I had walked out of the room for one minute after I had just finished washing the kitchen floor. This looks safe right. Just look how well he sits in his chair. Such a good lad!

 Too bad I had the chair on the table to wash the floor! Kid you will be the death of me!!!!!!

 Pool time fun fun fun! With boats of course!

Like I said stop reading the blog and get in the car and come on over, we are waiting.  If you are waiting for us to call we will not we shut the door so we can't hear the phone ring and no cell phones allowed on the deck!!!!

Summer has begun!

Well it hasn't really felt much like summer yet. We have had some cool temps but the heat and humidity are back today so let the games begin!

  We had a great day out on the boat on Saturday morning the weather was perfect!

 Owen putting his boat in the sink just like at the boat ramp. This kid loves all things boats!!!

Here is Owen at the pool. I put Nathan and Caitlin in some group swim lessons this week. They are close to the house at the local golf course. I really just did Nathan so he would get to go in the pool. After the first day they moved him to the advanced class and he has been working on stroke development. He passed the base swim test last week and he has his first real camp next week so he will be ready to go!!! Caitlin is really enjoying swim lessons and she should be swimming by the end of the week but I think we will go next week as well as they are on the way home from dropping Nate off at camp and then she can be done for the summer! I will be so happy when two of my three kids can swim! I know I will still not be able to leave Caitlin this summer but at least she is on well on her way to have gills like her momma!

The kids love swim lessons and they love that DD is on the way!!!!! These are just pics with my iPhone so I promise to take some real pictures this weekend and post more very soon!

Look whos here!!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Poe have officially moved in down the street, and the kids and (Carl and I) are in heaven. Nathan is allowed to ride his bike there alone but Caitlin has to wait for an adult. She is learning the hard rule that Nathan is older and he’s a boy so he gets to do more. He also looks for traffic, while Caitlin is clueless!!! Nathan is still in school we are counting the days only two more to go! We can’t wait so we can start our summer fun! It does not feel much like summer this week but that’s okay with me I am sure the heat will be here before we know it. I am down about Owen today, oh Owen I think I have said this 100 times. It is become apparent that we have a real problem here. Owen has his six month speech evaluation and he met none of the milestones and frankly they were a joke. We still don’t even have 10 words! Oh I am trying my best to work with him every time I can, reading  and making him look at me but he really has no interest in me I am just boring mom. It is frustrating for the both of us and well it’s hard when all you hear is how this kid or that kid didn’t talk until they were 50 and they turned out fine but here we are with a kid that  can say less than 10 words but uses only two words to communicate, Bye and Boat! Great that will get us far!!!! The last few weeks have been busy and next week at this time when we are in summer vacation and it’s warm and we can head out on the boat! One of Owens words by the way! All will be better I guess. Okay I will take some pictures, I have something really cool to show you but was waiting until I put the finishing touches on it before I show you so check back soon.  

A trip out on the boat with the Fleming Family! Good times!

Caitlin's Pre-K Graduation

Caitlin getting ready for graduation!

This is the girl that used to cry at preschool events!

They sang 12 songs, it was so cute!



The family with the graduate!

Caitlin was the only student that hugged her teacher after she got her diploma it was so cute!