Our Little Conductor

After his nap today, Jack decided that he wanted to wear his costume. This came as quite a surprise as Jack is quite picky about his clothing and required much bribery to put the costume on for Kindermusik yesterday. He likes to wear hats and always pulls them down to where he can barely see.....too funny!!

When Jason got home, Jack begged him to play trains with him. Daddy's idea of playing trains was to put them down Jack's overalls. Jack thought it was hilarious and we thought it was pretty funny watching him try to get them out!!

Halloween at Kindermusik

Jack and I went to Kindermusik this morning. It was our Halloween class so all of the kids wore their costumes. Everyone looked so cute!! We did our normal lessons for class and then at the end, the kids passed out treats to each other. Here are some pictures:

Carter's Allergies

At the recommendation of the boys' pediatrician, I took Carter for an appointment with an allergist today. The poor kid has had chronic nasal congestion for over a year now and had to have 2 rounds of antibiotics for a sinus infection about a month ago.

They did two different skin prick tests on him today. First, they took these plastic things with 8 "legs" (that's what the doctor called them) that had little "pricklies" at the end and put a different allergen on the end of each one. Then they pricked Carter's arm with them. He had about 20 pricks total. Then he had to hold his arms still on a table for 20 minutes. We played 20 Questions to pass the time which is always fun.:0) Two of the allergies caused definite reactions and a few of the others were questionable. They then took syringes with 6 of the allergens in them and injected them into the skin on his upper arm. It must have been fairly painful because he cried, but he really was such a trooper.:0) After waiting another 20 minutes, we got all the results. He has allergies to ragweed, grass, and tree pollen as well as allergies to 2 different outdoor molds and dust mites.

For now, the doctor recommended continuing his Nasonex and also adding Singulair. He also recommended purchasing allergy free products such as pillows, sheets, comforters, etc. as well as a HEPA filter system for his room. Long-term, the doctor recommended allergy shots. Carter would get a shot in each arm once a week for 9-12 months and then the doses would increase in strength and he would get them less often. The whole process would take up to 3 years (if I understood it correctly) but then he would have an 80% of being allergy-free. Jason and I need to do some research and discuss all these options before we decide what would be best for Carter. If anyone has any experience with this and would like to share with us, please do!!

Carter's 1st Football Game

Carter had his first flag football game last night at the YMCA. They play inside on one of the basketball courts which is really nice for moms like me who don't do well in cold weather.:0) His team (the Patriots) played the Dolphins and it was a tie game. Carter played very well and I think he has become more comfortable playing now that he knows what the games are like. Here are some pics of him playing and us watching:

Today, Jason and Carter decided to pool some of their birthday and buy the WiiFIT program for our Wii game console. Jason went and bought it and we all tried it out as soon as he got home. It is a really neat program because it allows you to set goals and track your progress. When you start, you create a user profile which includes your birthday and height and then it calculates your BMI. Then it takes you through some balance tests and uses the results along with your age and BMI to calculate your Wii fitness age. You can then make goals to improve your fitness age, weight, BMI, etc. We're all really excited to have it. Here are some pics of Jason and Carter trying it out:

Jack Quote

Mommy: Jack, what would you like for breakfast?

Jack: Um....I need some toast.

Mommy: Well, I don't think that you NEED some toast. I think that you probably WANT some toast.

Jack: No, I NEEEEEEEEEED some toast!!!!

So Blessed!!

Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of breaking up fighting brothers, "reasoning with" a hard-headed 3-year-old, and trying to get homework done, I tend to lose sight of how greatly God has blessed me. Well, today all 3 of my "boys" helped to remind me.:0)

First, Jack and I got to spend the whole day together at home. We had no errands to run, appointments to get to, or classes to attend. We got to stay home and just play. Here are a couple of videos of things that we did:

"How to Exert Energy When Stuck Inside!!"

"Master Artist At Work"

Then, Jason came home for lunch with this adorable basket of white daisies for me. And here's the kicker.....he got them for no other reason than "just because". He reminded me of how blessed I am to have such a wonderful, sweet husband.:0)

Then, this evening, Carter did a great job studying for two tests that he has tomorrow and I was reminded of how blessed I am to have such a bright little boy who enjoys learning and who loves going to school each day. I am SO blessed!!!

Uneventful Week

This week has been fairly low-key for us, which is a very good thing at the Hoerth house.:0) I had an uneventful day at work on Monday but did come home with one doozy of a headache. Luckily a little caffeine and tylenol did the trick and I was headache-free by bedtime.

On Tuesday, Carter's class went on a field trip. Unfortunately, neither Jason or I could go so we don't have any pictures. They went to Lutherlyn which is a place about 45 minutes from our house that has hiking trails, obstacle courses, nature education, campsites and cabins for camping, etc. Carter had a great time and was very excited when he got home. They hiked on the trails, got to catch pond creatures and learn about them, and cooked their own lunches over a camp fire (hot dogs and s'mores-YUM!!). He was most excited about learning how to make a shelter out of things in nature and as soon as he finds a stick twice his height, he's going to show us how.:0)

Yesterday was busy for Jack and I. We had Kindermusik in the morning. It is so fun to watch Jack progress throughout the session. He's getting good at keeping a fairly steady beat and he knows the lyrics to a lot of the songs that we sing. He enjoys class so much, smiling and laughing the whole time, and I love the uninterrupted time with him. After class, we headed to the library there in Butler to pick out books for both boys. We LOVE the Butler library. They have such a great children's section with lots of books as well as games, puzzles, etc. to play with while you're there. After we got our books, we went over to my friend Tiffany's house to have lunch with her and her two boys. Jake is 4 and Max is just a couple months younger than Jack. After lunch, I left to go get my hair cut and colored and Jack stayed with them to play and take his nap. Having 2 hours at the salon by myself was such a treat!! When I got back to Tiffany's, Jack was still napping so I stayed to visit for a while. She has her hands full with her boys so we have quite a bit in common.:0)

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of Carter and Jack. I took these one day when they were outside playing in the leaves with Jason.

Happy Birthday, Jason!!

Jason turned 33 years old today!! It was great that it landed on a Sunday, because our congregation got to embarrass him by singing to him at all 3 services.:0) After church, we came home and he got to open his cards and present. The boys and I got him a Huskers hat and long-sleeve tee. Here he is modeling them:

We relaxed at home all day and watched the Steelers beat the Bengals (YEAH!!). We had a birthday dinner of chili with cornbread muffins and then Jason blew the candles out (with Jack's help) on his homemade Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cake. It was a wonderful, relaxing day for Jason and we pray for many more birthdays to celebrate with him.

T.G.I.F.

I love Fridays!! Mostly because it is my hubby's day off and we get to spend the day with him.:0) Yesterday, he actually had to go into work to do chapel for the day school, so I took Jack for a much-needed haircut. It's amazing how quickly his hair grow and how crazy it gets when it is longer!! Here are before and after shots:

When we were done with the haircut and Jason came home fro doing chapel, we headed down to the Pittsburgh Mills. Jason and I got coffee from Seattle's Best in Borders (I LOVE their peppermint mochas!!) and took Jack to play on the indoor playground in the mall. Jack had a great time playing and we got to relax and enjoy our yummy coffee.:0)

Carter started flag football at the YMCA last night. Jason took Jack with him to Lowe's so that I could stay at practice and be the embarrassing mom taking pictures on the sidelines.;0) Carter's team name is the Patriots, which he was thrilled about. Even though we live in Steelers' Country, he insists that his favorite team is the Patriots......who knows why?!? Anyway, he did a great job at practice and is very excited about their first game next week.

Jack Quote

While looking at a postcard with a naval ship on the front:

Jack: Oh look, Daddy, it's a boat!!

Jason: That's a kind of boat, Jack, but it's actually called a ship.

Jack: No, Daddy, it's a boat.

Jason: Look here on the postcard, it says "S-H-I-P", so it's a ship.

Jack: Oh.....okay Daddy........yeah, it's a boat. C-H-O-P, boat.

Happy Fall!!!

Last Saturday, we made our yearly trip to Myers' Farm just down the road to pick out pumpkins. Jack has been asking to get pumpkins for months now so we were happy to finally go. Carter and Jason immediately began looking for the "perfect" pumpkin to carve while Jack picked out his and then continued to fill our wagon with one pumpkin after another.

After finally convincing Jack that he only needed one pumpkin, we purchased them and came home to carve them. Carter had a great time cleaning the "slime" out of the pumpkins for us.

Jack was quite unhappy because he couldn't have the big metal spoon that we were using to scoop out the seeds. He just kept yelling "My turn, my turn!!!" over and over. Finally, he got so mad that he stomped off to another part of our yard, sat down on the grass and pouted. I followed him, laughing and snapping shots of the adorable scene.

After convincing Jack to come back and join us, Jason and I carved funny faces on the pumpkins and put them on display on our front porch.

First Post

So, I've finally decided to hop on the blogging bandwagon and create a blog about our crazy life. Carter is at school right now and Jack is taking a much-needed, long nap. Jack and I had Kindermusik this morning. I don't know if Kindermusik is something just here in PA or not, but for those of you who don't know what it is, I'll tell you. Jack's class is a 45-minute class for 18mo.-3 1/2 year olds where we explore different kinds of music, movement, rhythms, etc. His teacher, Miss Samantha is amazing and Jack has a bit of a crush on her. We sing all kinds of crazy songs, play instruments, listen to stories, and move around and play. He loves class and often sings the songs throughout the day. I hope to be able to continue to do Kindermusik with him until he can go to preschool next year.