Sick

Once again, I have recommitted to my blogging....

Wow - it has been quite a few days! This past weekend, Uncle Fugate and Steve, Brian's two best friends from college, came into town to watch the Colts and Chiefs game. Uncle Fugate arrived Friday evening and Steve came Saturday after Carson's soccer game. Carson is on quite a hot streak - he has scored a goal in every single game! He really enjoys playing soccer and has some great footwork. I have some great pictures that I'll post soon. It can be a little challenging to keep Brooke entertained and give the game my full attention - thankfully, one of Carson's teammates has a big sister who really enjoys playing with Brooke. She is in the 5th grade and I think she'll make a great babysitter some day :)! Uncle Fugate was a huge help this weekend - he's promised to drive from Columbus every weekend to watch Carson!

Saturday evening, I went to celebrate my good friend Jay Jay's 40th birthday! Brian and his friends had a fun evening around the fire pit, which sadly, now has to be replaced after the bottom rusted out. Any ideas if, and where, we can order a replacement bowl? The frame and other components are still in great shape!

Sunday morning, Brooke woke up with a yucky stomach flu. Thankfully, our guests were very understanding about their unexpected wake-up call! We had plans to attend Becky's 10-10-10 Birthday party (several years in the making), but had to cancel. Once again, Brent and Becky proved they are some of the most amazing people, and insisted Carson come over anyway. Brent picked him up around 11:30 - and I'm pretty sure Carson had a perfect day! He admitted he had more fun than if I would have been there. I think he's right! The Houk's had a bounce house and an inflatable slide, lots of sweets and goodies and Carson played really hard for almost 6 hours! I took him back for a few hours in the evening and got to wish Becky a happy birthday in person. I am always amazed at how blessed we are with such good friends.

Brian and the guys, including our good friend Charlie, enjoyed the Colts game from a suite! I'm
not sure KC-native Fugate was happy with the ending, but Indy was thrilled with the victory!

Poor Brooke had a rough day! She kept saying, "I sick, Mommy." I stayed home with her yesterday and by the end of the day, she was doing much better. Daddy stayed home with her today and she'll be back to school on Wednesday. Thankfully, Carson has avoided the yucky germs - thanks in large part to the Houk's. I came home this afternoon with a horrible migraine - 2 migraine pills later and a 5-hour nap, and I'm much better.

We spent most of the afternoon playing outside and enjoying the summer-like weather in October. Carson went hunting for leaves for a school project. Carson Thomas from down the street decided to help him. They were a sight to be seen on their bike and scooter riding down the street picking leaves off the neighborhood trees.

I didn't take any pictures this weekend, but snapped a few yesterday.

The kids were coloring Halloween pictures. It is red-ribbon drug-awareness week at school and Carson had hat day on Monday. Of course, he wore his Butler hat. (Today was favorite college apparel and he wore his Butler Final Four shirt! Tomorrow is red day.)

Carson loves to read to Brooke!

A big smile on this freckled-face. And a gigantic pile of laundry on the chair behind him!

The sick little girl who is thankfully feeling much better. Those big brown eyes get me every day!

Our Artsy Sunday at the IMA

I knew today would be wonderful when mass closed with "Lead me Lord" - the closing song from our wedding day! I'm pretty sure I had the biggest smile on my face as Carson read the words and we sang and sang :). Starbucks, doughnuts and homemade chocolate icecream rounded out the morning! Life is good!

The IMA (Indianapolis Museum of Art) recently opened a new (FREE!) permanent exhibit called 100 Acres. Brian has been running on the trails through here several times and wanted us to see it, so we packed lots of water, snacks and took off this afternoon. The exhibit was wonderful - we can't wait to share it with all of you when you come see us! The trails were a little bumpy and rugged at times, so the jogging stroller came in handy. Unfortunately, Brooke's sippie cup of Silk leaked (ok, it actually spilled) and soaked everything in our bag. Thankfully, our camera and phones weren't in the bag. Huge bummer. Otherwise, we had a great afternoon running and playing outside, and we were so thankful for the breeze.

This exhibit was made of these big wire structures filled with Indiana limestone. It is massive and very cool.

My amazing family - and Brooke's baby, of course :).

There is a lake in the middle of the park with this igloo structure out on this island. It's TINY and there are actual human beings living there. It is called the Indianapolis Island and is only 20 feet in diameter. It is an experimental living structure (thanks, IMA brochure for this helpful explanation) and for the next four summers, art students will live here and study human behavior and make modifications to this structure. Wow is all I can say.

This is so cool! These huge disks are suspended in the air and during the summer solstice, the shadows on the ground become one. It took two years for the artist and the IMA staff to make it work.

This picture is my non-artistic attempt to show how massive this piece of art is, and how neat the shadows look. (It is so obvious yet that I am not artsy at all :)?)

This basketball structure was my fave! We took a soccer ball and Carson even made a few shots while we were out there. I'm not sure the photos adequately show how big this art is.

Sorry, Carson, that I totally cut your head off in this photo :).

This is not one of those "people jumping photos" - I would never attempt that with a 31 year old, 6 year old and 18 month old. Instead, my goal was to show excitement. I'll let you be the judge on that one!

Mommy and her baby girl - not really smiling, but repeatedly saying "cheese"!

The real basketball players!

Brooke was very interested in the little boy behind her - although I'm not sure if she was interested in him, or the rainbow umbrella.
This structure - called Funky Bones - was Carson's 2nd favorite. It's a huge skeleton and he was jumping all over it. I have decided he is part fish and part monkey!

Of course, Brooke thinks she can do anything Carson can do. Here, she is saying "Ready" and then "Go" - I help her jump on go!

This is a gigantic plastic pier that is overlooking the igloo (yes, where actual people are living for the summer!). Carson looks so big and handsome to me. He has grown SO MUCH this summer. Brian and I took turns with Carson out there (it wasn't stroller-accessible), and while we were there, Brooke was yelling "Bubby, cmhere." Translation: Carson, come here. We were all laughing at her!

If you want to learn more about this exhibit, visit: imamuseum.org.

We still love our Colts!

Even if they didn't win the big game, we still love the Colts (and we always will)!

Look at that mouthful of teeth! Bless her heart - she has two more molars coming in, has a cough, a runny nose and yucky, draining ears.... we're so blessed she has JOY in her heart!


Ready for the game!

February is Snow Fun!

This weekend brought us 6 inches of snow! And we have another round coming this week - we may have another 6, or more, before it's all said and done. Brian took Carson to a local park on Saturday and they had fun sledding (thanks for the sled, Papa and Nana!).

Looking so stylish in his shades!

The snow was very wet and heavy. With the wind gusts, some of the snow in our driveway was up to Brian's hips!

This is what we woke up to on Saturday. Thankfully, the sun was shining all weekend!

Brooke was so excited - she kept saying "ooh" and pointing outside.

Stay tuned - we may have more snowy pictures to share in a few days.... Happy February!

Welcome, 2010!

We had such a blessed holiday season - and instead of blogging about it, I just enjoyed every moment I could! I'll try to post pictures more regularly this year, but please be patient with me for the next 10 weeks. I finish my master's on April 14 - I cannot wait to have free time again! Since I started school when I was six months pregnant, I'm not sure what it feels like to have two little ones without a "part-time job!" For now, I'll try to catch you up on all that has happened this year! I cannot believe it is already February! We rang in the New Year at home, just the four of us. It was a perfect evening.

I love you, bubba!

B and Carson braved the bitter cold to light off fireworks!

We searched for the pickle ornament on New Year's Eve. Carson hid it for us and when we found it, he told us our surprise was going to get doughnuts the next morning! How could we object?!? After a trip for breakfast, we went to the Children's Museum. We wanted to catch the Yule Slide and visit the awesome new Barbie Exhibit (be sure and check out that great advertising someone I know handles :))! Carson loves the dinosaurs. This was our first visit where Brooke really interacted and showed a lot of interest.

She certainly would have liked to roam the halls, but she spent most of the time in the Snugli!

The boys waiting in line for the Yule Slide!

My beautiful Barbie outfit - I conned Carson into helping me design it. He was less than thrilled!

Brooke is getting bigger and bigger every day. It seems like she is growing leaps and bounds since her 1st birthday on December 18. She is still a little peanut - weighing in at 17 lbs, 6 ounces, and nearly 32 inches tall at her one-year appointment. Some days she has a better appetite than Carson, so we're not sure where she puts all that food. Her tummy is huge, especially when she is in just a diaper. She loves to steal the Wii remotes and run and hide!

Brooke has discovered the joy of cinnamon and sugar toast, just like her big brother! I wish you could see her face a little better!

A few weeks ago, an entire box of powdered doughnuts fell on the floor during the morning rush. We thought they had all found their way back into the box, but when I brought the kids home, we learned otherwise! Brooke is usually very anxious to get her coat off, but this day, she wanted out of my arms and quickly disappeared. A few moments later, I heard Carson say, "Baby girl, what are you eating?" We found her hiding under the kitchen table covered in powdered sugar! We laughed, grabbed the camera and naturally, let her finish!

Carson is an amazing big brother. Brooke is so blessed! He is patient with her, a constant protector and is really enjoying her newfound imitation skills by training her to pick up his toys! Carson has learned as long as he claps for her, Brooke will do almost anything he wants her to! I captured one of their many fun moments on film. Priceless.

Brian was offered tickets for a Pacers game and picked the Pacers-Lakers game. They invited our good friend Charlie and his son, one of Carson's buddies, Jack, also in Kindergarten. They had a great time and especially enjoyed the snowcones! At the old age of 5 1/2, Carson has seen both Lebron James and Kobe Bryant play basketball! What a life!

Carson lost his first two teeth over the holidays, but his permanent teeth are quickly coming in. He is becoming an excellent reader and has started journaling with phonetic spelling. We are constantly amazed at how grown-up he is getting. It's hard to believe he will be 6 this Spring.

Brooke moved into the 'big girl' room at her daycare on Monday, graduating from a Baby Beluga to a Guppy! She was obviously very excited, as you can see by this huge grin on her face.

Brooke has 10 teeth now, with two more molars and two other teeth coming in. She eats almost anything you put in front of her and insists on running everywhere! She has a bit of a temper and her vocabulary is expanding nearly every day. She can say Dada, Mama, Bubba which is evolving into Bubby, hi, bye-bye, uh-oh, ball, Papa, Nana, baby, "mo" for more, puppy, duck....every animal says, "huh, huh" and she pats her head for every body part you ask her to identify. We laugh, which just encourages her even more. When we're in public, she acts like she is in a parade - smiling, waving and saying hi to anyone who will look at her. It's usually really cute - until communion at mass! Brooke can be a pistol, but we keep telling ourselves she will be a strong woman some day. We cannot imagine our life without her.