The Odd Ways of Aubrey

I was talking to Kelly last night and telling her some of the strange things Aubrey does. It was then that I decided to capture them for you so that you could get a good laugh. She is such a strange child with a lot of personality already - what is yet to come? Here she is sitting in one of her favorite spots. Yes, she is in the refrigerator. I have no idea why she likes to sit there. Maybe she is hot and it cools her off. Whenever we open the fridge she makes a bee line for it and scoots her little self in.



She likes to lick the faucet on the bathtub in my bathroom while i am getting ready. Again, no idea why. I guess she likes the feel of the metal on her tongue. Yes, I do clean regularly.

This is what she does when we go out of the garage to the car. She will not step over the little (I mean little) bump going out of the garage. She sits down and scoots over it and then stands up again. She does not like getting her hands dirty though, so she always stands up with her hands out saying Ooh so I can wipe them off.
Again, she does not like the metal edge at the door to enter the church. She always stops and looks at it then puts her hand on the other door or holds my hand to walk over it. She used to not walk over this at all so we are making progress. She is so unique, but we love her and would not trade her for the world. She keeps us laughing.

Ethan is packing right now for our trip to Concord. He is packing all by himself. He needs help getting his shirts because he can not reach them. He has packed toys, 5 shorts, 2 bathing suits and 1 Elmo slipper (he could not find the other). I reminded him about underwear and he just laughed, oops I forgot. He is growing up so fast. I better go and check on his clothing selection to make sure he matches. We are leaving at 5 in the morning tomorrow to make it for Aubrey's physical therapy appt. at 1. We have never done this before. I get the first leg of the trip while everyone else sleeps. I hope it will also help with Ethan's car sickness. I will still pack plenty of bags and it is a good thing he is packing extra clothes.

First Day of Preschool

Ethan started preschool today. He says that he had a good time and was a little scared, but did not cry. I got there early to pick him up so that other kids were not leaving before him. Sometimes that makes him nervous. Here is what his day was like in his words. One boy pooped in his pants and put his finger in it and spread it on the floor. He had to go in the office and the teacher wiped his bottom and he had to stay in his clothes because he did not have other clothes. Played washing machine, played in the library center, made a shirt, some other kids cried, colored a lot. His teacher, Ms. Serina, read 4 books. One was about a kid at his first day of preschool and he was scared and the teacher in the book did not realize that. He did not go outside to play. He ate his lunch and ate all his pizza crust for the first time. He says he had a good day, but was a little bit scared. He is excited to go back again because it is a nice school.

This is what Ethan just told me to write. I think he had a good day. He will not get to go back until next Monday because we are going to visit Nana, Papa and Aunt Joy in Concord on Wednesday.

We do not have a highchair in our house any more!! Aubrey and I took a trip to Walmart and got her a booster chair to sit in. While she napped I got it together. I realized while doing her chair how much Derek has rubbed off on me. Since the chairs only come in blue and pink and those do not match the decor of our house, I spray painted the chair with special spray paint for plastic. I am very proud of my work! I even put plastic all around the uphostry of the kitchen chair so Aubrey does not ruin it. There was a time in my life where I would not have thought twice about putting a pink chair at the kitchen table even though it did not match. What has Derek done to me? He will be so proud! Here is a picture of my hard work.

See how nicely it blends in. I just have to figure out what to do with the blue straps.

First Florida Cake

Here is a picture of my first cake done in Fl. It was for a 1st birthday party for a friend at church. Derek was not sure if I should let out the secret that I make cakes. Ethan went to the party with me while Derek and Aubrey stayed at home and hung some curtains. Ethan rode a bike with training wheels and thought he was very cool. We have been looking at them some and it may be on his Christmas list.

Yesterday we went on some errands and we stopped at Toys R Us and both kids were able to pick out a toy. We were supposed to do this the other night because Ethan had been such a good helper, but his behavior took a turn and he did not end up getting a toy. He cried all the way home from Daytona (30 minutes), but I believe he learned his lesson. Only good behavior merits a prize. So, he cleaned up his room without prompting and did not whine yesterday, so we made the toy run. Ethan picked out a policeman kit. I will try to post a picture of him in it tomorrow. Aubrey got a set of keys. She loves keys and pushing the buttons. This toy has not left her side and we heard the buttons being pushed all the way home (better than the crying the other night). Maybe she will not play with Aunt Joy's keys as much now when we visit next week. She also enjoys playing under the ladder for some reason. She will just sit there for a long time. I guess it is her little spot.

Aubrey is a much different child than Ethan. She loves to get into everything. One of her favorites is the phone. She gets into the phones all the time. We have two that are within her reach when she gets on her tiptoes. Anyway, Derek found this phone and we just had to get it. It fits Aubrey perfectly. Last night she did not want anything to do with it, only her keys. Well, this morning she thought it was pretty cool. Again, she loves the buttons. I took a picture of the phone to show how cute it is because you could not see it that well in the one with Aubrey. That is about all. The home improving is almost complete. Derek has a meeting at the house tomorrow night so we are trying to get it almost complete. He is installing knobs on the kitchen cabinets right now. All that is really left is the guest bedroom (it has become the catch all room).

Playing Doctor

Ethan went for a check up for preschool on Monday and he decided to play doctor this morning. Here Aubrey is is patient. She was not doing too well with keeping the blood pressure cuff on her arm, so he decided to put it on her leg. Always creative!

Friendship

Today we all enjoyed some friendship. Ethan went over to Seth's house (our pastor's son) for a couple of hours this morning while I worked at church. The whole staff then went over to pastor's house and Denise cooked a great meal. We had a great time a fellowship. They then distributed gifts they got the whole staff on their mission trip to Cambodia. They just wanted to thank everyone for all their hard work. It is such a blessing to be involved with a staff that are genuinely our friends. They are such good people. Seth then came to our house for a couple of hours after lunch. The plan was to play in the pool, but that was short lived as the fire ants were out today and Ethan and Mom both were victims. They watched a movie until Aubrey work up. I am getting a concert right now. Ethan is on the guitar and Seth is on the drums. Aubrey is praise dancing. It is loud!
Here is Aubrey with her treasured Bee. She loves Bee when she sleeps and has to have Bee with her when she gets out of bed. She is quite a climber now and into everything!!!

An important announcement: Ethan's 1 week anniversary of not sucking his fingers!!!!! We are very proud of him. He still sucks them at night, but that is it. It was so hard to break. If I would have known all it would take was a $20 pair of shoes, I would have done that a long time ago. It is amazing what works with kids. I was offering a bike that he saw he wanted, but that did not work. The shoes only went up in the closet twice and that was last Tuesday. Way to go Ethan!!

Little Composer

Things were a little crazy at our house this morning. Yesterday Ethan had a fever all day and we also found out that he was supposed to start preschool today. I was not prepared for that. In Concord preschool always started a couple of weeks after regular school. Well, he was supposed to start on the same day here. We did not know much except that my deposit check was cashed, so I was hoping he had a spot. School starts a half an hour earlier than what we are used to so I had both kids fed, presentable, lunch packed and out the door at 8:15. We got to the school and nobody was there. We waited a few minutes and decided our source of information that school started today was wrong. So we went back home. I did finally contact someone at the school today and it starts next Monday. Ethan is on the list, but there is not a meet the teacher day. Anyway, as I was working on the computer and Aubrey was napping Ethan kept insisting he needed a piece of paper. This is what I found him doing with it. He had composed a song for the piano. He sat at the piano for about 20 minutes and just sang and played his heart out. It was priceless. Derek thinks he may actually have some musical talent since he is making up songs on his own. He obviously does not get that from me.

He also had a real phone conversation with Grandma today. It was so cute I took a picture. I was talking to her and he picked up the other phone and just started talking. I was making a meal for someone in the band whose wife had a baby and we really needed to go to the store, but I could not break into his conversation. He seriously talked to Grandma in real conversation for about 15 minutes. This is a record by far. I just sat in the other room and listened to him tell her all kinds of things. It was too sweet to stop him.

Sea World

Yesterday we headed to Sea World to enjoy our season pass on Derek's day off. Ethan got car sick on the way down and missed the bag. So after stopping at Target to get a new swim suit and shirt, we were on our way again. We ate the lunch Mom packed in the car when we got there and then had a day of fun.

While waiting for the Shamu show the kids got Shamu ice cream.

Ethan got his picture taken with some characters. We are not sure who they are, but he liked them.

Aubrey decided to take a nap while Ethan played in the water center.





Ethan rode the kid roller coaster with both Mom and Dad.

Ethan doing the climbing wall.

Riding the carousel. It was getting towards the end of the day and they were getting tired. There expressions do not really show it, but they enjoyed it.

Indoor Play

This morning we went to a new place in town called Let's Play. I was feeling a little guilty about all the home improving we have done and that the kids have been stuck at home with me or at church. So we decided to try it out. We stayed about 2 hours and had a great time, as you can see by the pictures. The place is a huge indoor play area. They have a jungle gym type thing like Chuck E Cheese. Here Ethan is going down one of the two slides. It puts you out really fast.




Aubrey was not so sure about it. You could see through to the ground on the mesh floor and I do not think she felt safe. She decided scooting was safer.
These were huge foam things that you could bounce on.
Aubrey decided being on the ground was better and was checking out the train table.

This is a huge basketball cage with all different kinds of crazy things to shoot baskets into.
Ethan walking across a bridge.
Aubrey getting a little more sure of herself.

Mom and Aubrey sitting on the "magic carpet". It bounced.
They also had all kinds of toys on the ground. Here they are playing in the kitchen.
Another child was playing with the baby stroller so Aubrey improvised and pushed around the high chair, smart girl. She really liked playing with the babies. I did not know she could say baby until today. It looks like a little baby with the stroller and other stuff might be a good Christmas present for her.

We had a great morning. We have a quick meeting at church and then we have a service tonight where the choir will sing and we will do baby dedications and baptisms. It is supposed to be a very good service so I am excited to go to my first Celebrate service tonight.

New Pool

We got a new pool yesterday to try to beat the heat some here. I found this on clearance at Walmart for $10. It was a great find - the kids loved it. The slide was by far the best part.
Aubrey had to get in on the action with the slide as well. She would just slide on down it and tumble into the water. She would just laugh and squeal "whee".

Sometimes there was a little bit of competition for the slide and Ethan had to be reminded that Aubrey is smaller than him and to watch out for her. He is so patient with her (most of the time).
This is the palm tree that attaches to the hose and sprays water. I could not get a good picture, but when I turned it on Aubrey just stood there with her mouth open and tongue out. The tree helped to make the slide slicker for easier sliding. We had a great time this afternoon while we waited for Daddy to get home. We played for about 1 1/2 hours. Sometimes laundry just has to wait so we can have some fun. I guess it is laundry time now.

Doll House

Aubrey is really growing up. She climbed up into her chair while I was putting her laundry away and started playing with her doll house. It was just adorable so I ran for the camera. She was talking to the dolls and just having a great time. I think the picture does a good job of capturing the moment.

Here is what Ethan does ALL day long now. He is doing the VBS songs from the DVD that Barry gave him. Thank you Barry. Honestly, he loves it. I had to teach him how to select the song he wanted with the remote and after several questions and oops, he know is a master of the remote. It was driving me crazy to stop every few minutes and select a new song. I think I know all the songs by heart now and I know Ethan does.

We are heading over to the church to do lunch for the staff. When we moved someone gave us a huge lasagna that we could not possibly eat by ourselves. We decided to share it with the staff. I added a salad and a dessert and we are good to go. We are going to stop by the library on the way home because our books are due. We have been reading the Boxcar Children to Ethan at night. This was his first chapter book and he really seems to enjoy it and follow it. I think we might try another today.

Mom's Little Helper

Some background is needed today for Aubrey's picture. We had been outside while I was mowing all morning and we had just showered and were eating a quick lunch before I had to get to a meeting at church for my new job. Ethan had a cup, not a sippy cup, of chocolate milk at the table. Aubrey decided she wanted some and tried to get it down and spilled it all over her and the floor. Never a dull moment. After clean up with paper towels, I got the swiffer out. Well, Aubrey saw me cleaning and kept saying Uh,Oh. She then went into the laundry room and got the broom out herself to try to help. It was very cute. Notice that the broom is backwards and not really much use. The thought was nice.
Here is Ethan showing off his new Crocks. They are very popular here in Palm Coast. We were out shopping and they were on sale so he talked me into them. We made a deal though. No more sucking his fingers (except bedtime). If he sucked his fingers the shoes went up in the closet and he lost them for a day. He then had to earn them back for the next day by not sucking his fingers anymore that day. Well, he tested me. I gave him several warnings the first day we had them (Sat.). Sunday morning, he lost them. Up in the closet they went. After crying for about 30 minutes he finally realized I was serious (tough love). By golly, it is working! We are two days free of not sucking our fingers!!! We will see how long it lasts. We have been working on this for quite some time.

Future Worship Leader

Ethan was playing church today and I thought this was a cute picture of him. He is a future worship leader in the making. He had Derek playing his drums, but did not think that he would appreciate me putting up a picture of that. Worked a lot on the house again today. We have one room complete! The master bath is completely done. Many rooms are close to being finished. I can not wait to be done with home improvements.

Reading Makes Me Sleepy

Today I worked on painting the trim of all the rooms. Ethan and Aubrey were left to play on their own in their rooms. Aubrey was being mean to Ethan, biting and scratching, so he decided watching me paint was more fun. Aubrey was looking at books. I did not hear her for awhile so I went to check to see what she had gotten into. This is what I found. I guess reading makes her sleepy too.

We went over to our Spiritual Development Pastor's house tonight for dinner. He lives on a small lake and Ethan and Derek enjoyed some fishing. However, they did not catch anything. They also enjoyed a boat ride. John's grandsons were over and Ethan enjoyed playing with them. We had a nice time.

Here the kids are eating dinner. Aubrey had to be a part of it and just climbed right up and scooted the boys down until there was room for her. Her catchup was not good enough either, Ethan's was better. I guess she got full because she kept wanting to feed Ethan her chicken nuggets. Crazy little girl!Here is our red wall in our living room that I am very proud of. We had left the top still white because we thought the pastor's dad was going to come back and do the professional job for us. His health had not been so good, so I took it upon myself. Not a professional job, but good enough. Derek bought this edger that has wheels. I attached it to the painting pole and it did really well. The red wall was the hardest. I thought I was all done with the painting. On the way home from dinner Derek asked me if I was saving the kids bathroom for him. I had forgotten it needed to be finished as well. I guess that is tomorrows project.

Derek is my hero tonight because he fixed our garbage disposal. A few days ago it decided not to work. It had some food in it so needless to say it was getting pretty stinky. Derek tried a few things and then thought he would try plunging it. It worked! Who knew you could plunge a garbage disposal. I am so glad to have a handy man!