Zoo

We finally went to the zoo on May 18 and it was Gabe's first time at the zoo and Carissa's third., Ben and I took Carissa the summer that I was pregnant with Gabe and then she went there on a school field trip last summer. This summer Gabe is going to go to the zoo on a field trip and I wanted to go with him his first time there, so we got it all together and spend a few hours at the zoo. We weren't able to see a lot of the zoo, but we bought a membership so we can go anytime we want to for a whole year now. The baby alligators, peacock, bears, and zebras were the favorites of Carissa and Gabe, which I'm sure they would have more/different favorites if we would have seen more. Actually, the big ball with water was a hit too. That night Carissa got a fever, and she spent most of last week at home, because the doctor said to keep her home until her cough went away. She is better now, and she never really got too sick, just too sick for school.

Brandon's new ktty

My brother, Brandon, got a new little kitty sometime in the last couple of weeks, so when we came over to visit with my family one day my mom told Carissa and Gabe that there was something new in Brandon's apartment down stairs. It is a munchkin, I think, so she has short front legs and she is good at hopping. Carissa and Gabe loved playing with the little kitty. They all seemed to wear each other out.

Mother's Day

I had a nice Mother's Day, we all slept in and then we went to see my mom. We spent most of the day at my parents' house doing nothing in particular. We went out to an early dinner, and at the end of dinner the waitress brought my mom and I each a chocolate covered strawberry. It was a nice surprise. And I actually got my Mother's Day presents from Carissa and Gabe during the week before Mother's Day, the ones that they made at school and couldn't wait to give me. Carissa made me a necklace, bracelet, and card.
I love Carissa's signature.
Gabe painted a little flower pot and colored some paper flowers for me.

Party

So about a week a half ago I had my second night ever of no children. I invited some friends over to celebrate the end of my first semester back in college. Which I ended up getting a 3.85 GPA for the semester and I was very happy to see that I can handle being a single mom, working part time, and going to school full time. So, I really enjoyed having a night with friends, but in the morning I was really excited to get the kids. Ben and I didn't get to my parents house until almost noon, and my mom told me that my little sister took Carissa and Gabe to the park. We got in the car to drive to the park and give them a ride back to the house when we saw them walking down my parents' street. When Carissa and Gabe saw us they told us that they didn't want to go home with us, and Gabe took off running all the way to my parents' house. Carissa followed him a minute later, and she even went in the house and took off her shoes in protest of going home with us before we caught up with her. We stayed there for a little bit, and then they came home with us willingly. It makes me happy to see Carissa and Gabe are so happy staying with my family, but it still makes me sad that they weren't as excited as I was to see them.

Gabe's first night without mommy

So Friday night Carissa took it upon herself to organize a sleepover for Saturday night. I dialed the phone for her, but she called grandma and grandpa and talked to both of them asking if she could spend the night at their house and then she asked if Gabe could too. My parents said yes to her and then she just had to ask Aunt Alyssa, so she called Alyssa and asked her about a sleepover and she also said yes. So, before I knew it my daughter had arranged for me to have one night with no kids, for the first time ever. I was shocked and excited, but as it turns out I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought, because I still had so much homework to do. But, Ben and I went out to a movie, and I got to sleep through the night without being woke up at all. Then in the morning my house was too quiet and lonely and all I could think about was going to see how Gabe did on his first night without me. Gabe did okay, but my mom said that she did get up a couple of times with him. His first two year molar is finally breaking through, so he isn't sleeping as well right now. He will have fits while sleeping, so it sounds like he is awake and upset, but usually he stays asleep.

Easter

I have been busy and didn't get a chance to put up the Easter pictures earlier, so here they are now. We had a good Easter morning, although we didn't do much more for Easter other than Easter baskets.

Skiing

Last weekend we took the kids up to Snowbird with my family and spent most of the weekend up there. The kids both had a great time, and they both tried skiing for the first time. Carissa did pretty much what I thought she would and even though she was so excited to try skiing she just cried and said it was too scary and that she will try skiing again when she is a mommy.

Gabriel on the other hand loved it, and he took to it right away. He is able to catch his own balance and turn when he needs to. My dad ended up buying a harness for Gabe, which I think made it easier to ski for both my dad and Gabe. I can't believe that my 2 1/2 year old can ski. My dad went skiing with Gabe until they closed the lift on Sunday evening.
My dad said that when the lady told them that this was their last run Gabe said, "NO." Gabe really enjoyed skiing, so we are plannig on making the time for him to go again next ski season.