Sing-A-Long With Great-Grammy

My mom and I brought the kids up to see their Great-Grammy Cain (and the family rocking horse, "Calgon") August 1st. My grandmother lives with my Aunt Candy and Uncle Lee in Wesley Chapel so we don't get to see her very often. The kids loved playing with my Aunt's dog, a rather large labrador named Riley, rocking on the huge rocking horse named Calgon and singing "Horace, the Horse" while my grandmother played it on the piano. My dad's side of the family has always been very big into the old-fashioned sing-along and have spent many hours gathered around my grandmother playing the piano, singing songs most people have never even heard.

For those who have not had the pleasure of hearing "Horace, the Horse" belted out by a large family over enthusiastic piano accompaniment, here's how it goes...

Horace, the horse on the merry-go-round,

Goes up and down, 'round and 'round,

He's so sad since the day he found,

He's the very last horse on the merry-go-round.

The music began and away they go,

High and low, to and fro,

Poor old Horace would always say

"I'm the very last horse again today."

Horace tried and tried and tried,

But he just never could win.

Horace cried and cried and cried

Cause all the other horses were ahead of him

Then came the day on the merry-go-round

When Horace turned, looked around

Then said "Gosh oh gee --

I'm the very first horse on the merry-go-round,

All the others are following me!"

New 'Do

I wanted something different and went a little drastic... I tried a dye in a box and it barely showed up so I went to my favorite salon, Sharp Hair Design, to get it done right. Unfortunately, they had to use a color remover to remove the box dye before coloring but I think they did an excellent job.

Oldsmar Sprayground

Monday afternoon, I brought the kids to the Sprayground, a small waterpark in Oldsmar. Before, Kyle has resisted going into the actual water play area, but this time he actually joined in and had a blast! After a while, he came to me and was moving his hands on his chest immitating the sign language gesture for 'please' so I said, "Please? Please what?" then he repeated the sign for 'please' and did the sign for 'sleep'. I asked, "Please sleep? You want to go to sleep?" and he said "Yeah". We went home and he went straight down for a nap without any problems.

2 Years Old

Kyle turned two years old on July 19th!!! We celebrated at Chris' parents' house with one of the items we got with the SSI money - a Bounceland Bouncer/Ball Pit/Slide Combo. It also has a waterplay feature. It was fun. Kyle was not amuzed when we attached the water spray hose, though. The neighbor's daughter, Jacqueline came over to play and Hannah's cousin Zachary came over too. We blew bubbles, too. Kyle got one balloon, with his favorite cartoon character, Pooh.

Check-Ups

Audrey and Kyle had their check-ups (3 month and 2 year, respectively) on July 18th. Audrey was up to 12 pounds 4 ounces and Kyle is holding steady at 21 pounds. The doctors are trying to keep him low on feedings, hoping he'll get hungry enough to try eating. No luck so far, just licking stuff still. He passed his hearing screening just fine. Audrey's developmentally ahead of her age since she rolled over (even once) and is reaching and grabbing for things already, including playing with her own hands. Hannah was the same way. She rolled over really early, too.

Getting in Shape

Chris and I have started a membership at the gym nearby (Bally's Total Fitness) to try to get in shape. I was especially interested in the classes and have attended a couple of Pilates and "abs and stretch" classes. Chris has had a couple of sessions with a personal trainer and is doing excercises called "planks" to strengthen his "core".

Pilates is a popular exercise method based on the teachings of Joseph Pilates. The Pilates exercises were originally developed for dancers and focus on long, lean bodies and strong "cores". The "core" refers to muscles in the abdominal area.

Pot O' Gold

July 7th, on the way home from externship, I took this picture and thought it was a little humorous: