Halloween - 2010

Halloween came early this year. For some odd reason, Mooresville decided to have trick-or-treat night the night prior to Halloween. Don't ask....who knows why. The odd thing is that all towns surrounding Mooresville are still Sunday. So, that means that we had our biggest turn out EVER! Being the 1st house in the subdivision, we were hit harder then others... and we managed to run out of the 200 freezer pops that we had purchased!

Nolan was a pirate; Jillian was Snow White. We filled Nolan's pumpkin... but Jillian fell short, as she gave up on the last road. We trick or treated with the Wingate's. Mom walked with wine, which unfortunately was never offered to be filled.

Fall Break - October 2010

For fall break, we took a great adventure to southern Indiana. Our first stop was the Blue Spring Caverns. The entire family got to take a boat ride through the cave. It was a 1st time in a cave for John, as well as the kids. (The staff was a little afraid that Jillian would tip the boat, but she did great!)
The cave was DARK, DARK, and more DARK. After we were well inside, they turned out the lights to show the darkness. Odd feeling to have your eyes attempting to adjust - and just can't! We also got to hear cave thunder, which is a huge bang made by the guide at the boat & listening to it travel completely down and out the cave!

After the cave tour, we headed to French Lick for an overnight stay at Big Splash Adventure. Nolan was FEARLESS, which is a first!! He was off & it took a near miracle for one of us to keep our eyes on him. He loved the slides, the lazy river, but most of all - he loved the tube slides, where he and someone went down in an inner tube. (Mom went down only once...which resulted in we think - a broken nose. As a short explanation, the slide turned us backwards, Nolan was trying to lean forward and adjust, when we hit the bottom, where his head then smashed right into Mom's face!) Pain has now lasted 3 days, but Dr said I could avoid the ER and wait for our Dr., since nothing out of alignment!

As for Jillian, she loved the swimming pool, the kids slide, but most of all, she loved the indoor jungle gym, which resembled Plainfield's. The indoor jungle gym had 2 slides, blue and yellow. You could not keep her out of them. She just kept pulling us back up to do it again!

Library Story Time

Jillian so loves the Mooresville Story Time for toddlers! Her and Reece are here singing and dancing along, with their new friend Brinsley!

Go Colts!

Nolan did it! He got his 1st taste of a Colts game! YAH! He did great... until close to half time. He loved getting there early & buying snacks. He did great, asking tons of questions on football as the 1st quarter was under way....but then asked for dads I-phone to play games.

By the half time, he was ready to go. I am sure the drunk in the seat next to him had something to do with it too!

But, he never mentioned it & had a great experience with dad.

They came home to watch the end of the game on TV!

Field Trip - To the Bee Farm

Never mind that I could hear banjo's playing, as the school bus wandered through the back roads of Martinsville....
The kids were happy as bee's making honey, with their field trip to the Bee Farm.

With the tour, we saw an actual hive being worked. Did you know that all the boys were pushed out of the hive, as winter is now approaching? It's because they do nothing to help maintain the hive, so they were pushed out, so all the female worker bee's could start making enough honey for winter! Interesting little fact!
Did you also know that honey comes in over 300 natural flavors - no preservatives??
And that honey can last forever??

Of course, the kids knew many of these facts, due to Ms. Weber! The kids watched 3 PBS movies or bee specials, plus also worked on an anatomy chart for science.

It was one cool field trip! I am excited I was asked to be one of the 2 mom's attending!

(OH! And, did I mention how excited Nolan was to ride on his 1st school bus??!!)

Titanic!

As Nolan's reward for such a great week, he chose the Titanic exhibit at the Indiana State Museum. Here's the family pic on the Grand Staircase.

Each adult received tickets from actual passengers & we needed to check the list at the end, to see who survived and who perished. Mom - survived; Dad - didn't. Probably because I was in 1st class & he was in 3rd! LOL!

The excitement for Nolan and Jillian was the touching of the iceberg & leaving their hand imprint. While Nolan zoomed through the 1st two rooms (nervously), he finally did slow down & want to know about many of the artifacts that were recovered off the ocean floor.

When he gets older, he said he wants to scuba dive down and help recover parts of the boat. Hmmm..... he just doesn't understand that humans can't survive that far below the surface!

MI vs IU - GO BLUE!

As Jillian said, we were all wearing our "Go Blue" wear for the day! Mom, Dad, and Ashley spent the day at IU with friends from Michigan, Janet & Gregg. It was raining, cold and quite miserable for the pre-game tailgate. We made it through & were blessed with the rain moving out about an hour before kick-off.

Michigan's defense stunk... and it was a stressful game to watch. However, with 1:07 to go in the game, they moved the ball 80 yards and scored to win, with less then :17 seconds on the clock.

Nolan and Jillian spent the day with Carson! It was the first really LONG babysitting gig for us and Carson and she did great! The kids adore her! (But before we left, the kids wanted Janet to read to them!! Too cute!)

Dzia Dzia visit

Dzia Dzia came in for Grandparents Day at Nolan's school... which I know I had posted updates on before. While mom neglected to snap any shots of the two school buddies, I did pick-up the camera for Little Miss.

Poor Dzia Dzia. Jillian would not leave him alone!! He had to sit in the same spot and eat pretend food... I think for hours! When he tried to move: "No Dzia Dzia. Sit."

Nolan - Another Update

When someone has a social anxiety disorder, so many things are terrifying to that child. It can be the simple act of opening the front door that shatters their world so much that they hide. This is the life we have lived for months (years). Never knowing what would be the trigger: a fun family outing to the Family Day at Guard, swimming lessons, a family gathering in St Louis, Alpena, or Grand Rapids, and the list goes on.

However, this week Nolan braved many of his obstacles & overcame them. They may sound little to us, but for him, it has taken months of preparation and patience to achieve.

This week, he:

• Started using the drop off line, instead of mom walking him into school;
• Started participating in gym class;
• Walked to the front of church for his blessing at communion;
• Said hello to Mrs. Popp, the principal;
• Answered Father Vince's questions (without eye contact & only 2 questions);
• Welcomed Dzia Dzia at our house for Grandparents Day, then played with him for 2 days;
• Welcomed family friends into our home for their 2 day stay;
• Spent a full & great day, with Carson - our neighborhood friend and sitter.

We celebrated Nolan's accomplishments & praised his bravery at tackling things that make him nervous, with a trip to the Indiana State Museum for the Titanic exhibition. YES - he chose it! From his Titanic game, he has found a love for the boat!