I thought I would be better at keeping up with this blog! So much has happened since I last "blogged".

Owen's tonsils were removed on October 17th...he did awesome! We were "mean" parents and were strict on him taking his medicines. There were times it took 30-40 minutes for him to get it down! But, it kept him comfortable enough that he drank fluids and ate pretty good the whole time. After about 8 days he was back to himself. He had to stay "quiet" for 14 days, no jumping, etc. This was very hard after day 8...in fact, he asked if I could call the doctor to ask if Owen could "tackle something". It's amazing...he no longer snores and his voice has gotten a little lower and speech is even clearer.

Grace is doing good in school. She is currently enrolled in a tumbling class and an art class. She LOVES this new techniques she is learning in art class. We had her conference at school and Mrs. Brose says she is very quiet. She mentioned that she will volunteer for things in class but is not "chatty". She even wanted to be sure that Grace likes school!! We assured her that Grace loves it but is typically quiet in these settings.

Luke....well, Luke is quite a busy little guy. He's working hard on learning new words and has improved quite a bit since we start therapy in June. In fact, we started private therapy a few weeks ago. His newest "phrase" is..."I don't know". He tries to do everything that Grace and Owen do. He is amazing at the playground climbing and sliding everywhere. Because of his height & gross motor skills, most people think he is 3. They are amazed when I tell them he just turned 2.

Jason and I are keeping busy. Jason is currently up in the attic adding insulation. Quite a messy and time consuming job. I continue to be busy with MOPS and preschool board activities. Until next time...

What a beautiful weekend here in Cincinnati. It was a bit on the warm side (mid 80's) but no complaints here. Jason took the older 2 kids to the driving range yesterday. They love doing that especially when they hit balls off the roof of the building! Luke and I ran some errands and got our pumpkins. The kids are excited about Halloween....Owen says he wants to be Darth Vader & Grace wants to be a black cat (today). Who knows what Luke will end up being...Grace and Owen have some ideas though.

We ventured out to Kings Island today. We got there when they opened which was perfect because we got to ride lots of things before it got too crowded and hot! They had a new (and neat) Halloween area set up for kids. The kids created masks, painted pumpkins, played games for prizes and got to see some characters.

I had a surgical procedure on my leg Friday to help take care of varicose veins as a result of 3 babies. They actually closed off a vein in my leg that is not working properly. It was a pretty amazing procedure...not too much discomfort. Looking forward to wearing shorts again!

Owen is scheduled to have his tonsils removed this Friday. We haven't told him yet due to his apprehension towards doctors and anything medical. Children's Hospital offers a tour of the surgical area geared totally for kids. We're going to take him on Wednesday evening. Hopefully this will go well and he will be more relaxed on Friday. Let's also hope that he is part of a small percentage of kids that has very few side effects and bounces back very quickly! He's excited to start playing basketball in November and is loving his preschool class. We're amazing at his letter recognition in such a short time.

Luke's speech therapy is coming along well. I actually got him signed up for private therapy starting in 2 weeks. He is trying to say so many words...his articulation is getting better but has a ways to go. He's learning new sounds and seems to be noticing the different shapes we're trying to get his mouth to make. He's been throwing fits on a regular basis...not sure exactly how to stop this...but we're working on it.

Grace is doing awesome in Kindergarten. She is really proud of her ability to read more and more. It's pretty amazing. She's enjoying tumbling class and is ready for soccer to be over.

Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast on Friday (Sept 12) and we got a horrible wind storm from Ike on Sunday afternoon. We had sustained winds of 55mph and gust of up to 70mph for over 3 hours. The kids and I were at Meijers doing our weekly grocery shopping when the storm hit. Meijers power went out with only a few registers working and emergency lighting on. Upon leaving Meijers, traffic was at a stand still due to all the traffic signals being down. It took us almost 30 minutes to get home and it was a scary drive. Debris from trees was blowing all around us. We saw numerous trees down in the short distance that we drove. I was thankful to get home without incident. We lost power for 36 hours total! We felt very fortunate because as of today, 110,000 people around Cincy are still without power and some without water too. We ended up renting a generator which kept our garage fridge and freezer going. We cooked our meals on the grill and were thankful for a gas water heater! Thankfully we didn't have rain or hot weather while being powerless. It's actually been an absolutely gorgeous week...mid 70's, no humidity and blue skies! The kids missed a couple days of school early in the week and were ready to get back into our routine.

Luke went for his 2 year check up this week. He continues to grow and thrive. He weighed 32 lbs and was 37.25 inches tall. At the age of 2 (for boys), they double their height to estimate what their adult height will be. So with that said...it is estimated that Luke will be almost 6' 3"....OSU here he comes!!

Grace likes to inquire about getting bangs cut in her hair. Her daddy has repeatedly told her (jokingly) that she can't do it till she is 18. She also tells us that she isn't going to college or getting married. Jason was telling her this week that we both played flagged football in college. She quickly told him that she is NOT going to college...she was going to stay home and grow bangs!

What a week! Luke turned 2 on Saturday...yes, the baby is 2! He loved opening presents and blowing out his candles. We let him blow them out a few extra times cuz it was so cute. We had gorgeous weather so we got to play outside with all the cousins. We also found out that Avery is going to be a big sister in April! On Sunday we had a family reunion here with Grandpa Jones and all of Uncle Larry's family. There were 26 of us here. Again, gorgeous weather allowed everyone to be outside playing on the swingset and trampoline. Needless to say the kids were exhausted heading into a busy week.

Grace went to the allergist on Monday to have bloodwork done to check on the treenut allergy and to check for environmental allergies. She was less than thrilled for the blood work but agreed afterwards that it really wasn't that bad.

Tuesday was Owen's first day of preschool. On the way there he asked me, "Mom, you are leaving, right?". He walked in, never looked back and emerged at the end of the day with a huge smile for me and hugs for the teachers. He had an awesome first week. He has 2 very loving and fun teachers and 10 other kids to play with. He'll tell you that his favorite is playing outside and the snack time! He wowed the teachers by already knowing the prayer they sing at snack on a daily basis. It's helps having an older sister teaching him the ropes.

Our church's 101'st Lawn Fete festival is this weekend and I'm helping out with coordinating the volunteers for the annual chicken dinner. I've been in and out of the church all week getting ready. Again, thank goodness that Jason works out of the house...Luke has gotten to stay home and have naps while I ran around this week.

Grace had a soccer game lastnight and another one tomorrow (Saturday). She does a good job of keeping up with everyone and can play great defense. She doesn't have interest in playing goalie at this time...who knows, that could always change! She is the youngest one out there...K, 1st and 2nd graders.

Owen got to meet his Preschool teachers today. He will be a Butterfly this fall on T, W, R afternoons. Yes, that's right, Grace and Owen will both be at school those afternoons and Luke should be taking a nap. How exciting for Mom. It's the first time I've had afternoon time to myself. Of course, I'm sure I'll be at both of their schools helping lots. Thank goodness Jason works out of the house...it's my saving grace! We love having him home...it allows us to do more stuff during the day keeping those evening hours for family time (instead of running errands, doctor appts, etc).

I'm trying to keep count how many and what words Luke says...hence the "list" on the side. I'm hoping this gets me prepared for the pediatrician's question...How many words does he have. He's got some tough words down but still not MaMa!! Go figure! Every once and awhile he repeats Grace and Owen by repeating "maaaaaammmmyyyy". He's doing Help Me Grow 1x/week and will probably start individual speech therapy in a few weeks. It's slow progress, but still progress. His signing of words has increased. I know what he wants most of the time, but the words are slow to come.

It's early release Wednesday, so today Grace goes to school 3o minutes earlier but gets home 1 hour soon. I told the kids we might have brunch today. Owen asked me if brunch had nuts in it. We went to dinner tonight with Jason's family and Luke was the life of the party. We'd ask him what Swiper (from Dora) says and he's give us the cutest "Oh man!". He loves to make us all laugh.