going quackers :)

Well, internet since we last talked it's been over a week. We're still alive without Rob (sad, missing him, but we are ok.) Last week I sat down with my school calendar for Joel and realized, no, he doesn't go back to school on the 3rd, he goes back on the 9th. Hmmm. Another week of sitting home and watching tv. Luckily my sister came back from Utah and we've been having a great time. So, here's what we've been up to. Kelcie and I took the kids to feed the ducks and to Pratt's Feed Store. Holy cow, they were happy. There are pictures of the feeding-the-ducks adventure below, but Joel and Charlotte both squealed with glee for about two hours straight. Teach me to try and spend money on them, feeding the ducks and going to the store are free!

Charlotte is trying desperately to walk, but when she does her chubby little legs start to quiver and I think she's still a little scared. I tell her to take her time, we waited 18 months for Joel to walk, so I've seen it all. As for Joel, his pediatrician wants him to start all these new therapies-- feeding therapy, a habilitation program designed and run by a master's student, more occupational therapy, physical therapy (for jumping, if you can believe that) and music therapy. Setting aside the fact that I have hardly even heard of most of these, it should be interesting. If we can get everything going, our house will be one crazy therapy station zoo.

Joel's always been a favorite with the chicks. What a ladies man :) He loved these little "cheep cheeps" and I had to pry him away before he loved them a little too vigorously.

After 2 years of growing it out (and 1 year of having my children constantly pull it out by its roots) I chopped my hair on a whim. I'm not a huge fan of it, but it's hair and will grow back,

Time for school, time for school! Joel has been soooooo excited to get on the bus this week. He runs to the bus with his backpack on and says "hi!" to the driver and basically is ready to leave me every day. The kid loves the bus and I have had to go on and remove him myself a few times when he comes home for the day and wants to keep on going. "We go, we go!" is what he'll say.

Our favorite game, "Wake up sister with jumpy-jumpy".  I found him sitting in Charlotte's crib with her still sound asleep. Then Joel yelled "Jumpy jumpy!!" and pretty much scared Charlotte awake. They spent the next 10 minutes happily jumping in the crib while I wondered just how long we have with this thing before my kids break the bottom. And yet, he still needs physical therapy for jumping, go figure.

Our favorite days with Aunt Kelcie end this way. Such sweet kids. This is as close as I can get to having a picture of the two of them.

Aunt Kelcie has a huge germ thing and never shares her drinks (a source of contention around here considering every cup with in a 5 mile radius is Joel's and he'll drink it before you know what's going on.) So of course little Charlotte would be sneaky and steal Aunt Kelcie's drink. Silly girl.

Joel feeding the ducks. I have honestly NEVER seen kids so excited to see ducks before. We pulled up to the park and before we could even get out of the car both kids were wildly flailing and begging to be let out to play with the birds. Joel's favorite part was throwing bread at the ducks and then running away before they could catch him, Charlotte's was attempting to eat grass, mud, duck poop, and moldy bread. When I told Rob about this he said "You guys are having too much fun without me!"

Not my best look, but Charlotte cracks me up. I let her sit in the sand and "play" while Joel burned off some energy on the slide.

Apparently I don't feed her enough. Sand and rocks are delish.

In other news, I got food poisoning on Monday. I have never been that sick to my stomach before, and that includes both pregnancies and beyond. I'm feeling worlds better, but Monday was not pretty. Other than that, we're doing great and happy. We're counting down the days till we get to see Rob again!