First Day at the Big Pool

My whole extended family was pretty busy this weekend with their own things and Adam had to work, sooooooooooo, Cori and i went to the Piqua Pool today. Little did i know that the pool was nearly not even opened this year. WHAT?! I guess the City Manager was complaining that Piqua (like every other town in the country) is losing money. Apparently, the pool hasn't turned a profit in the last 5 years. Hmmm, you mean since Troy opened it's amazing municipal water park 5 years ago, the Piqua Pool (23 years old) has been losing money? Go figure!
But our ever community conscious council members over-ruled the city manager and the pool opened on schedule. I figure those city council members were thinking that the kids who normally go to the pool would be terrorizing the neighborhoods if the pool was closed and they didn't want that to happen.
It was a beautiful day for a trip to the pool. Did i mention the pool is a block and half from our house? For $5.50 Cori and i had all the water fun we could handle! The pool has 3 water slides. One for tots like Cori, one for older children and the Eviscerator (Ice Age 2 reference) for the adventurous. For now i have convinced Cori to stay with the tot slide. We will see if she has graduated to the larger slide by the end of the summer. Ain't no way i am taking her down the HUGE slide. Maybe Adam will do that for her.
Cori is such a social butterfly. She says "Hi" to every kid she passes. It doesn't matter what age they are. If they are breathing they are fair game for Cori to introduce herself to. She even tries to make conversation with the adults. At one point i felt bad for the lifeguard who was assigned to the area of the kiddie slide. I had to tell Cori that the lifeguard was busy watching the water for potential drowning victims and didn't have time to listen to her stories or play her game of 5million questions. Shy she ain't!
If the weather holds out, we are going back tomorrow. Cori wants Daddy to go with us. Should be a good time!

What???

Tonight Cori put on her best pouty face and announced rather loudly the following: "Mommy doesn't love me. Daddy doesn't love me. Shelby doesn't love me. Nobody loves me!" She then drug her feet to her room with her chin upon her chest and slammed the door. Adam and i both said, "What??" A minute later the door to her room flew open and she ran out hollering, "Everybody loves me! YAY!!" She is 3. I thought insanity didn't show up until much later.

Yesterday morning she came into our bedroom at 7am and announced that it was now time to go swimming. What??

And earlier today Cori told me that her friend Himmen and his pet rhinoceros were coming over for dinner and we needed to have peanut butter and jelly, carrots and dip and jello. WHAT??

She must be Adam's kid.

And so it begins!

Summer officially starts the first day Cori is in a pool. So i guess that means that yesterday, summer started. Cori and i went to K-Mart and picked out a little pool. It amazes me what $9 can buy. I am sure it was made in China and full of lead and tainted baby milk but hey, it was $9 what do you expect?

We were filling it up when Adam arrived home from work just in time to save us from droopy pool side disaster! By 6:30 we were adding some hot water and Cori was swimming. The water was freezing and her lips started turning blue but she was having a blast! It was 90 degrees outside so i am guessing the cold water felt good. Can't wait til the Piqua pool opens and she can really swim!

1....2.....

I was putting Cori down for her nap today as usual, and i read her a story, as usual. I have to stop at 1 story and be firm about it or Cori sets out to demonstrate the old addage, "give an inch, they take a mile." While she knows she gets one and one story only, this doesn't stop her from asking for two once in a while. When she asked today, i said, "No Cori, it is naptime." to which she replied, "Don't make me count to 3 Mommy."

I know that my Mother is laughing her head off somewhere as she reads this and is thinking that payback is a ..... well, you know what it is.

Allergy Update

We just returned home from the allergist. He interpreted the blood tests Cori had several weeks ago and informed me that in reality, the allergy antibody numbers were pretty low. He discounted the grass pollen allergy altogether. After listening to what i had to say about her positive reaction to the elimination diet she was on and then doing a skin test for 14 different allergens, he concluded that Cori must stay away from dairy products and "pure egg" products. She can have products with milk or egg in them as long as they are baked in. I have a list of foods that are off limits due to milk or egg content.

This is really good news for Cori. Many of the foods i had eliminated from her diet are now available to her again. I still need to be watching labels for content and noting any reactions, but i feel a lot better than i did before we met with the allergist.

Bring on the pasta noodles and pop tarts!

Random Photos taken by Budding Photographer who is 3

Cori's pack

Self portrait of feet

Mommy's pack

Cori socks

and of course, Daddy!

The kids and their puppets

John with his puppet.

Molly and her puppet

Jacqueline and her puppet

Erin made a really cool bee puppet

Emma and her puppet

Birthday Pics Continued

Someone always gets you clothes. :)

Cori in her painter smock.

Outdoor tools. Cori has gotten a ton of use out of these this spring. She LOVES to help Adam in the yard.

More kid crafting.

Photos from the Birthday Party

The party theme was "Bees". I had to make all of the decorations. No one sells a bee theme.
The bee in the photo is the Pillow Pet Cori wanted for her birthday. Of course, she wanted the bee!

Cori and her Moon Sand.

I had to buy black and yellow paper plates to make some bee cupcake holders. All in all i was pretty happy with my bee decorations. I made hives out of inverted clay flower pots.

The kids made paper bag puppets. I stole the idea of having a craft instead of a game from Kerry. I am not proud, i will steal ideas. Especially when they are good ones!

Crafty Kids!

The Camera is broken

I think we have to say it is official. The camera is broken. I was handing it to Cori so she could take a picture and it fell to the ground and hit with a loud "CRACK". I am going to try to download some of the pics on the memory card, but, we will have to see how it goes.

We have baby rabbits in the back yard. Cori and i like to watch them from the patio doors. Shelby just sits and whines and wants out so she can chase them. Whenever Shelby does this, Cori will sternly tell Shelby to "Go lay down and leave those rabbits alone!" It is pretty comical. Especially since Shelby listens to her.

We Decided to Skip April

HA! Actually, i found that it was easier to post a few sentences on Facebook than post several paragraphs here. However, i am going to start cross posting any information that pertains to Cori.
Mother's Day: Went with my family, my Sister's family, my Brother's family and my Mom and Dad to El Sombrero for lunch. This is my Mom's favorite restaurant and so we take her there every Mother's Day. Cori gave me a beautiful beaded bracelet that she made at preschool. It is now the most precious piece of jewelry that i own. :)
May 7: Nearly got myself a brand new 12 point hood ornament for the truck last night. Glad to know the brakes on the truck work well!
May 5: Cori is allergic to egg and milk! Oh yes, egg and milk. You would be surprised at the number of foods that have egg and milk in them. You would be surprised at how many of those foods are Cori's favorites. These two allergies have caused most of Cori's medical issues these last two years. The bumps on her arms, the mystery rashes that appear out of no where and disappear with the same mystery. The persistent coughing without any other symptoms. The hoarse voice that she sometimes gets. All from these food allergies. Makes me angry that it took 2 years to finally test her, makes me happy that we now know the problem. She sees an allergist in one week.