Chan's 5th Birthday

Chandler celebrated his 5th birthday last weekend and had a fun filled few days. On his actual birthday he went camping with Nate,Spence, Ryan, Emmett, and a few of Emmetts friends. It sounded like they had a great time, anytime the boys are outside they are happy. On Saturday we made his cake, he wanted Scooby-Doo and this was the best I could do with the time that I had to make it. Then we went to Chuck-E-Cheese for a few hours. Then it was back home for presents and cake and ice cream. Funny story about the ice cream..pregnant lady left it out in the car for a few hours. When Nate went to get Chan's bike out of the car he saw it and brought it in. Surprisingly it was still pretty cold. Chandler got some great gifts...Bolt the movie; clothes; workbooks; shark attack; bike; and a game. He was really excited to open Bolt, as you can tell by the picture with his mouth wide open. Thanks to all three sets of grandparents; Hannah and Hunter for the money; and the great card from Sydney, Reagan, and Addison. Chandler is a great kid and we are so proud to have him in our home. We love you Chan Man.

Chuck-E-Cheese

Chandler has been talking about going to Chuck-E-Cheese for his birthday for about four months now, so we knew had to go. Originally we were planning on inviting friends and that never panned out, so maybe next year. We celebrated his birthday on Saturday, because he was camping on his actual birthday. So we drove down nice and early, to avoid crowds. The first one we went to there was no tables to even sit down at, so we decided to try the other one that was in the complete oppposite direction. The one in Frederick was ten times nicer and quieter than the Gaithersburg one. Chandler had a blast riding the rides and collecting the tickets for a prize at the end of the evening. We ended up with enough tickets that all three kids were able to get two small prizes. All in all I think everyone had a great evening.

Enjoying Chan's birthday toy

Chandler was so excited to get a gift card in the mail from grandma and grandpa Barker that we had to rush to Target. He chose this shark attack thing that Spence and Lexie loved playing with too. They love that the shark talks and the phrases that he says. I thought that it was really cute that Chan actually wanted his brother and sister playing with his new toy.

Being an Example

I meant to post this a few days ago, and it never happened. Well we had our first negative expereince in regard to the kids around the area. On Sunday we had the living room window open and Chandler and Spencer love to look out and talk to kids that are in the playground right in front of our house. Well Chandler was saying kind of loudly hello, so that they could hear him. Chandler gets excited and so he starts to talk fast, so his speech problems are more pronounced. Well they started laughing and calling him names, names that Chan has never heard, so he didn't know they were putting him down. To make matters worse was that there was an adult out there with them laughing at the names that they were calling him. Luckily for the adult out there, Nate was the one that heard them saying this and closed the window. If I had heard that I would have walked out there myself and given that adult a piece of my mind. I don't now this person, but it made me think what kind of adult would make fun of a five year old boy trying to say hello and be friendly? It made me really think what kind of an example am I to my kids sometimes? I try really hard to show my kids that everyone is different from each other, and that is what makes us each special and individuals. I realize that there are going to be issues with children in school, bullies are always around. Hopefully I can teach my kids tolerance and love for one another. Sorry for getting on my soapbox here, this topic is one that is very sensitive to me. I hope that we all can try to be good examples for the kids in our lives.

Easter Fun

Easter was a great day at our house. The Easter bunny found our house and kids. Chandler for the past few weeks has done a countdown to Easter, he is a little bummed today that it is over. The kids woke up nice and early and came into our room wanting their Easter baskets. We hid the eggs that we had dyed the night before and mainly Chandler was the one to find those. After Spence and Lexie found their baskets they were only interested in what was in them. Then we hurried and got ready for church and had a wonderful time there. Ryan and Anne came for Easter dinner with their kids. After dinner we hid plastic eggs in the playground out front of our house. The kids found the eggs in a matter of seconds. I thought that the picture of Spencer and Leia was really cute sitting next to each other. It was fun to have them over. The kids were sad when their cousins had to go home, they always have a great time together.

National Zoo

Chandler had Spring Break last week and we decided that we would take advantage of some good weather. It started out to be a good idea and ended in not such a great idea. We left our house at 11 and got parked at 1:30, should have been a 45 minute drive. The closer we got to the zoo I realized that everyone had the exact same idea that was also on Spring break. They were not letting anyone park in the actual zoo parking, so the quest began to find a spot. I am not real familiar with the outlying streets, so we got lost a few times. The time I wish I had a map, and even if I had one could I really read it? We hit a few run down scary areas and just kept driving. I was not going to give up after promising the kids a visit to the zoo. Well we finally found a spot behind the zoo that was a two hour parking spot. Only problem I had to parallel park, which is a huge weakness of mine. So we get parked and have to hurry and go through a few exhibits. If anyone has ever been to the National Zoo you realize it is pretty big and lots of hills. The pictures are mainly of the kids backs. All the kids really enjoyed the sea lions and the seals. Lexie made a huge fit when I told her we had to leave the sea lions. All in all we had a pretty good time while we were at the zoo. Promise to myself that we will not go to the zoo during a school break, and if so we will get there at the crack of dawn.

Peek-A-Boo Lexie

They are starting to build the townhomes next to our house and Lexie had to see what was happening. She enjoyed a little game of peek-a-boo with me while she was at it. Yes we still have sheets in our windows, the blinds have not been put up yet. That is a downside to a new home, you have to buy all new blinds for the windows. This is her favorite past time, looking out the window at what is happening around her. She especially loves it when we have the window open and the wind is blowing. She likes playing with the sheets moving back and forth. Spencer thinks that the sheets are being moved by ghosts, when it is just the wind. It is kind of cute to hear him talk to the supposed "ghosts" and tell them to stop moving the sheets.

Our Photographer

Chandler has decided lately that he wants to always have the camera. Most of the pictures that he takes are pretty good. Our camera is a little slow, so sometimes we get ones that are not as good. I didn't realize that he had the camera when I was moving things from the apartment to our house. Spencer I suppose did not want his picture taken. Lexie is always a willing participant to have her picture taken. We may want to consider getting him a camera for his birthday in a couple weeks.

New Baby or Babies

We just got home from the big ultra-sound and came away a bit surprised. We are having twin boys. They didn't catch the other heartbeat until they saw them on the screen. Lexie is going to be a little outnumbered. We will definitely be done after these ones. Time for some spending and rearranging at our house.