Preschool Field Trip

A few weeks ago, Michael's preschool class took a field trip to Northern Star Farm. It's the only working dairy farm in our area. The kids had so much fun touring the farm and seeing the animals. Michael was thrilled when he was able to pet a cow, a goat, a donkey, a horse and some sheep. I was completely amazed at how fearless he was when he walked up to each of them and started petting them.

After touring the milking area and visiting the other animals, we headed out to a corn maze. We were with a group from preschool and it was so funny when no none could find their way out of the maze. I have to admit that it was a bit of a challenge considering that we were in the middle of a corn field and I was trying to push AJ in the stroller. Yikes! Michael continued walking until we backtracked our way out again, but he didn't enjoy that experience much at all.




















We were then taken back inside so that we could enjoy some fresh apple cider, juice boxes and cookies. AJ was thrilled to be out of the stroller and munching on some snacks. It was the first time he was out of the stroller all morning and he was absolutely angelic.

Next, we took a ride out into the pumpkin fields to handpick our own pumpkin. It didn't take long before Michael found "just the right one". We cleaned it off and he picked it up and carried it back to the wagon. Once we got back to the farm, he decorated it with farm animal stickers.

After the field trip was over and I had loaded them into the car, I took note of the "extras" we were taking home with us: some dirty, SMELLY shoes on Michael, a class sign (but not ours) that AJ somehow got his hands on and a beautifully decorated pumpkin.

What a wonderful, fun day we had!

Not again....

Yup. Unfortunately, Michael is sick again. The poor thing is on SIX meds per day and is to be getting meds via nebulizer three times a day. My poor baby. I hate giving him Albuterol because it really affects his personality. He goes from a normal angelic state to completely out of control. After just two doses yesterday, he started throwing toys and pushing his little brother around. He would just go right up to AJ, look at him and push until he fell down. AJ would then throw a temper tantrum out of frustration - kicking and screaming while trying to find Michael so he could bite him. Michael would then start crying because AJ was going after him like a shark. Eventually, we'd get them both calmed down and put Michael in a timeout (which normally works great for him, but not yesterday). This happened over and over and over again. Luckily, Frank was off yesterday. I'm sure the poor guy couldn't wait to get to work today! Hope Michael gets better soon so I can get him off of these awful meds - for both his sake and mine!

Happy Monday!

I don't know.

It's been one of those days...

The house looks like a tornado hit it, the boys were fighting all morning and I'm just exhausted from Michael getting up at least once (if not three times) EVERY night.

So, I decided to get them out of the house today - especially since it's so beautiful (64 degrees!) We went on a simple shopping trip to Walmart (which we haven't been to in months) to see if we could find some jammies for AJ and to get some baskets for a project for work (which I am not allowed to talk about or name online). Anyway, we didn't find any pajamas I liked, but we did find some cute (most importantly - inexpensive!) baskets that will work perfectly. The boys were so pleased just to be out and about.

On the way home, I decided to grab some fast food for Michael and I so that I could feed them quickly and then get them down for a nap. Oh, I'm so looking forward to a few minutes of quiet mommy time this afternoon! I absolutely adore my boys, but I do have these type of days once in a while. Anyway, I pulled into Wendy's to grab a hamburger and fries for us. As soon as we turned in Michael said, "Wendy's!" I didn't think he would know that - it's not like I go there that often. I know he's a very smart boy, but obviously I don't give him nearly enough credit. It's probably because of the fact that, until recently, he wasn't very verbal. In the last month, he has had such a burst in his overall speech. It's been an amazing thing to see. God's really done incredible things with this little boy. His largest delay was speech and he's finally making some huge progress now!

So, we got home with our food and I was sitting there in between the boys at the table feeding AJ and talking with Michael as he was eating his hamburger and fries. I asked him if he liked it and he said, "M-hm." I then asked him if he preferred McDonald's or Chic-Fil-A. He thought about it for a few minutes and then looked at me and said, "I don't know." I couldn't believe my ears. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal at all, but for anyone who knows Michael and what we've been through - this is a huge thing. He has NEVER said that before. Obviously, he's now starting to talk in full sentences! Yae!!!!!

I really needed something exciting like that, especially on a day like today.

Funny Video

You have to click on the link below and pop over to my hubby's page and watch the video he posted from the service on Sunday. It's hilarious!

http://www.frankchiapperino.com/2008/11/2008-election.html

Baking with Auntie Krisi

We have been so busy lately, I haven't had time to put any pictures on flickr or blog our happenings. As you can see, I'm tryin' to catch up!

Last week, we were making Halloween cookies for Michael's party at school. Auntie Krisi was out visiting that day and wanted to let Michael help us out. He had a blast! He is a very detail oriented child and caught on very quickly to the process of forming the dough into a ball, rolling it out, cutting out the shapes and then putting them onto the cookies sheet. He couldn't wait to bring the cookies to school.

Fall Festival

A few weeks ago, Frank was in Chicago for a few days on business. Whenever he is gone, I try to keep the boys busy. It just so happened that there was a Fall Festival at the Sunnybrook Country Club while he was gone, so I decided to take the boys. The grounds were decorated beautifully with flowers, pumpkins and other fall decorations.

Inside there were tons of vendors selling beautiful homemade crafts and many sweet treats. Outside they were giving wagon rides. They also had fire trucks and an ambulance that you could go inside. AJ enjoyed being out and about with all the activity. I thought that Michael would love the firetruck, but when we went up to it for a closer look, he got really nervous. I think he was intimidated by its size. His favorite thing of the day was the ambulance. He surprised us all by walking right up the steps and into the back of it. He was all smiles while checking out all the equipment and showing me where 'sick people sleep'. The EMT made his day by giving him a special color book and crayons. It was so cute. He thanked him and then asked for another for AJ!