Crown Royal 400

Mom called me a week or ten days ago and asked if I knew of anyone who would like tickets to the Brickyard.  Dad orders ten tickets every year and this year they only had Mom, Dad and Matt set up to go.  I told Mom right away that Faith and I would like to go. 

Soon, BJ called and told us she was bringing Emma down for the Michael Kelsey concert, so that led to a discussion of Emma staying with us for a few days to go to the brickyard.  We kept her from Thursday until the race on Sunday.  She's an angel; no trouble there. 

Todd sold 4 tickets.  Mom + Dad + Matt + Faith + Emma + me = all tickets accounted for.  Excellent. 

Emma and Faith, pre-race:

Waiting on Uncle Matt to arrive. 

Grandma, pre-race:

Walking in to the track, Faith read her Birthday Fairy book (until I told her to put the book down and watch where her feet were carrying her.) 

Faith and Emma:

Emma and Faith:

Cars, cars, cars:

 Faith liked the balloons. I had completely forgotten about the balloons! It's been a lot of years since I've visited the track.

Uncle Matt and Grandpa, absolutely looking like a father/son pair in this picture:

Little American Child

Side note: We don't often let Faith drink Coke.  The 'rule' at our house is clear, caffeine free sodas only, and only on occasion.  At the Brickyard, I let the kid have a Coke:

Have you ever been to a NASCAR race? Those cars are LOUD!  They are so loud, you can feel your eardrums vibrating - it's downright odd. 

I had warned Faith that the start of a race is super fun, and the end of a race is super fun, but the middle of a race is most definitely not super fun.  Instead of sitting in the stands, we decided to go for a walk.  We went through the tunnel under the trace as the cars raced over our heads at 170+ MPH.

Emma and Faith, in front of the tower

Faith, hanging on the fence, watching the cars race past

Faith and Emma

Our seats were directly across the way from Dale Earnhardt Jr's pit

Grandpa was being silly.  The camera caught him midway through a funny face, looking, well, funny. 

Overall, I think the girls had a good time and if nothing else, any kid growing up in the great state of Indiana should witness a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway  (IMS) at least once.  To put it in perspective for our Kentucky friends:  IMS to us is like Church Hill Downs to you.  When growing up in Kentucky, you should see probably see horses run at Church Hill Downs at one time or another.  Indiana?  Cars at IMS. 

Knock it off the list for Emma and Faith.  Done. 

Michael Kelsey

When Emma came down for Faith's birthday party, her little eagle eye spied a poster for a Michael Kelsey concert.  Michael who?!?  Yeah, exactly, I'd never heard of him either, but Emma's seen him three other times.  She loves his music. 

For a surprise, Barb brought Emma to Danville for the concert Thursday night.  Yay!  Faith and I went along, not sure what to expect and let me tell you - it was AWESOME!!  We loved it!!!

Faith and Emma

Faith, Emma and Michael Kelsey. 

Michael and Emma have a history together, but I'll get the story wrong if I try to tell it, so I'll just say they have history.  This local celebrity knows my niece, and is afraid to play one song in front of her. 

Umm hmmm. 

Although, at one point of the concert he came down and had Emma (and therefore Faith, because she was sitting next to Emma) strum his guitar.  Fun times! 

That niece of mine, I'll tell you what.  She's something. 

Day One: Pre-School

I knew beforehand that this was going to be a tough day, but I thought it would be worse for me than for the twins.  To prepare them, I took the kids over to their new pre-school/after-school club a few weeks ago:  I showed you those pictures.  They did great that day!  The twins understood completely well that this was their new school, and they’ve been talking about it at home.  Eva’s been interested in the “other Eva,” and likes to tell people that there are “two Eva’s” at her school.  Silly me, I thought they were doing well and that this day would be harder on me than it was on them. . . turns out, this day just plain stinks for all of us. 

Faith was in a mood, but Faith’s in her “birthday slump,” right now.  She does this every year around her birthday, so no surprise there.  This is always a tough 30 days for her, right after a birthday.  She didn’t want any photos taken. 

Twins did great first thing this morning.  They were excited to wake up, get dressed, stash their backpacks in the car and drive away.  They did great when we went inside the preschool, when we placed their backpacks in their cubbies and when we walked back down the hall to “the big room,” where the kids eat breakfast. 

That was when Cawood went inside and started playing a little bit.  Eva, however, stood statue still in the hallway and refused to enter the big room.  Her little lids were brimming with tears.  Terrified.  Long story short, DJ and I had to leave our screaming three-year-old in the hands of strangers while we walked away.  We made it a few steps out the door before Cawood started screaming for his “kiss hug” and we realized we were so focused on Eva, that we didn’t adequately say goodbye to Cawood.  We went back for “kiss hugs” and then left two screaming twins with strangers. 

Fast forward to 9am: I arrived for the new job and was told my first appointment is scheduled at 5:30 pm. 
“But I’m here until 6,” I answered. 
“We schedule on the half-hour.” 

Awesome. 

DJ called the pre-school at 10 to check on the twins (I didn’t want to make that phone call) and he was told that they had settled down but were sticking close together.   Eva did engage in a circle game that the kids played and were watching a movie at that time. 
Add insult to injury: my iPhone has decided it’s no longer willing to connect to 3G, and my laptop will not connect to the internet.  I’m an hour from home, an hour from my kids, I can’t connect to email, can’t check voicemail at the clinic, can’t blog I’m writing this in a Word document that I’ll copy/paste later. .  . (edited to add:3:41 and yay!  I'm online.) 

Double Awesome. 
Want to go for a triple awesome?  The twins teacher called: Eva was complaining after playtime because her back hurt.  Her teacher found two bug bites on her back but the teacher didn't think much of them.  Eva scratched them all up during naptime.  Later, on the playground she managed to get her knee stuck between two bars and will probably have a bruise. 

I have lots more to tell you: we had a busy weekend.   Now that I have so much less time, I'll have more time for blogging (isn't it odd how that works?!?) 

First Dental Appointment

I don't think these pictures need a whole lot of commentary, so I'll just introduce and you can scroll through.  Eva and Cawood had their first visit to the dentist on Wednesday morning, just after we visited their new preschool.  Yes, I realize we are about six months late on this first appointment, but we had some lag time between coverage so I delayed.  Both twins were exceptionally well behaved - I was shocked!  I was 100% sure Eva would give us some trouble (fear) but she did not at all. They did great!

Picking out their prizes: Eva choose a pink bouncy ball, Cawood a yellow/green.

Believe it or not, this dentist office is what sunk into my head how horrific the economy is right now - and they didn't intend to pass on that message.  I knew things were bad, but I didn't realize how bad, for everyone.

Faith had an appointment a week ago Monday, but I had to cancel it to wait on our new insurance to kick in.  I called on Tuesday and let them know I'd like to reschedule (and could you please squeeze her in before school starts, pretty, pretty please?!?!) They told me they could get her in the very next day, Wednesday.  Time?  10:30, 11:30, 12:30. . . Wow.

While I was checking Faith out from that appointment, I asked if they'd be able to squeeze in a pair of twins anytime soon.  Again, they asked when and I suggested the following Wednesday (the 18th.)  Time?  Again: 8:30, 9:30, 10:30. . .

This is one of the best dental practices on Indy's west side.  I'm accustomed to making my dental appointments six months in advance, and then having to wait a month or two on those rare occasions when I need a re-schedule.  This is  a spectacular practice, but I'm 100% confident that dental appointments are one of the first cuts made in tough times. 

Tough times we are in. 

Sonshine

Here's the deal: For the past three years, Jessy has been taking night classes at a local community college so that she would be available to watch the kids by day. A few weeks ago she let me know she now has day classes scheduled. These past few weeks Jessy has only been available to watch the kids on Monday until noon, all day Tuesday, and Thursday until noon. Other than that, she's at school, which is a bummer for us but school is where she belongs.

At that exact same moment in time, we were figuring out that I'd soon be taking a full time job an hour away, in addition to the half-time position that IVA is already giving me so I'll be out of the house more than ever. Something's gotta give. It's a bummer, and we hate to lose Jessy, but she's outgrown us. We've always known this day would come, but we still hate to see it arrive.

Anyway, DJ's been talking to some people and he found a great Christian preschool for the twins. As much as I hate to lose Jessy, the timing for the twins is just perfect. They are 3 1/2. We can all agree that it's time for preschool. Just by pure luck, the preschool is immediately across the street from Faith's elementary school. Faith will be attending all-day with them the first two weeks (in the big kid room, of course) and then she'll be bused to Sonshine after school until DJ picks up all three kids after work.

Cawood:

Eva:

Bummer! I came and shut down this video without realizing what Faith was doing.

Ohmygosh! This video is adorable (until I come in and tell Faith to take regular pictures, bummer.)

I tried to get a picture of the kids in front of this sign at the school. Eva did not like the idea, so Faith had to physically restrain her. Hey, you do what you gotta do.

The kids start at Sonshine on July 30 - the same day I start my new gig. Big changes ahead!

July 17

Goodbye Five!  Here's a picture of Faith before bed the night before her birthday.  This is one of the very last moments I saw my firstborn at five.  We stayed up late this night watching the American Girl movie "McKenna"

Good morning sweet six-year-old!  You'll notice two of my three children woke in my bed.  Typical.

The only thing Faith really wanted to do on her birthday was go see Brave.  Check! 

It was an early show!  It started at 10:50.

After the early movie, Faith wanted Subway for lunch:

And Orange Leaf for dessert:

Faith had asked for Kids Bop 19 and 22 for her birthday.  Our neighbors gave her 19 but 22 was not released until her birthday, so they gave her a gift card for 22.  I made sure we went to Target to pick up the other half of that present. 

Faith loves to pick out a Target cake on her birthday from their huge selection.  Last year she chose an octopus cake, this year sea creature cupcakes.

I do my best to not work on my kids birthdays.  My boss required me to work a half day on Faith's third, because I had the twins that year and he wasn't willing to give me another day off nor trade days, but other than that I've never worked on their birthdays - I spend the day with the birthday kid(s).  However, I have a few special clients that live nearby and one of them texted me on the night of the 16th requesting I give her cat a shot.  It wasn't a big deal and Faith LOVES their farm, so we stopped by to poke the cat.  These people have 13 hives, and one of Faith's favorite things about visiting this farm is they always, always, always give her honey sticks.  YUM!  It's a very favorite treat.

We were there for about 15 minutes before I explained that I had to rush this sweet child home to be with her father for 4:14, her birth minute.  Away we rushed!

Well, isn't that just life? 
The next three pictures were shot in rapid succession.

(Faith's holding the dolphin she picked out for her special birthday gift from Barnes and Noble.  She also chose an American Girl book on how to do doll hair.) 

Our last stop: the library!  Faith requested we visit the library for her birthday, so I put it on the list of things to do.

Once at home, she was given her gifts from the family.  Cawood gave her the DVD "My Babysitter's a Vampire," Eva a stuffed bear to color and DJ and I gave her an ice cream maker (along with some other stuff.) 

Faith opening the bear Eva chose for her:

Oh!  Nana gave Faith a scooter, but she has outgrown her helmet, so we gave her a new helmet too.

There she blows! 

 

Happy sixth, Faith!