Sunday, March 22, 2009

Dancing and Basketball, and little learning too!

Today was a nice March Madness day in the Gengler house! It has been really warm here lately and we have been taking advantage of the nice weather but today we stayed in(it was really windy out) and watch basketball and played and danced. Although I did get to get out for a few hours alone and do some shopping! My favorite past time!
Zoey has been singing, as I told you in my last blog, and now Zach is starting to sing too! Zoey will say "Comon' Zach Hot Dog Dance". That's a mouth full for her age! She tells me to dance too, and before you know it all 4 of us are dancing. But don't worry, you don't have to see me or Jeff do the Hot Dog Dance. I'll leave the movies to the kids! Ha!
Check out the video of the kids dancing to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hot Dog Dance song.



Zoey has really been counting well. She can't tell me the numbers when I hold them up to her, she leave some spotlight for Zach, but she will count things! She doesn't always get it all right but she sure tries. These videos are cute of her counting and making dad help her!


Saturday, March 14, 2009

We've been busy

I know, I know....It's been a while since we updated our blog! But we've been busy!
The last part of February Jeff traveled to Dallas, TX for work for 3 days and then he worked 12 hour days in order to finish a project for a customer only to be rewarded with a furlong. A furlong is unpaid vacation. So he had to take 1 week unpaid vacation time. So you are wondering why we haven't updated the blog since Jeff has been on "vacation" for a week....Ha...I ask myself that too.
Jeff's mom, Johanna, came to visit last week. It was a very pleasant visit. We took the kids to a park in Chandler
called Desert Breeze Park. It's a really cool park! It has a lake, playground equipment, and a really working "mini" train.


As you may know the kids are really really into trains right now. Zach takes his trains to bed with him and lines them up at eye level with him. I guess he likes to wake up and see them! It's really cute but we have had
to limit the amount of trains he takes to bed with him or he will get all 12 or so in there and have no place for himself! Ha. His favorite train is Percy, from Thomas and Friends. I don't know why but he really likes Percy. Zoey doesn't have a favorite but she knows that Rosie is hers because it's purple. She doesn't care to take them to bed with her. She has her own snuggles. Her 2 blankets, her Elmo pillow, and her stuffed kitty cat.
So anyway...back to the park......They also have a carousel and some other ride on toys.


The kids really enjoyed riding the train. At first Zoey held my arms around tight...but she got comfy and enjoyed looking at the ducks and waiving to the people we passed. Zoey is very timid at first and her little brother always has to show her things are fun. For example, the carousel, she really didn't wanna ride it but she saw Zachy doing it and had to, but she didn't get on the animals, Jeff rode with her in the seat part. Zach on the other hand, loves the carousel. He has ridden it at the Zoo and was all excited to ride this time. He rode with Jeff first and was letting go to waive at grandma and I. It was precious! Then Zoey wanted to go and Zach just couldn't let her have all the fun, so I rode with him this time. Oh how it's so easy to be a child. I wish I was that easily pleased!

The weather was so nice we just couldn't stay indoors. We went to the children's play area here in our subdivision and fed the ducks and played with some tweens basketballs. It was a lot of fun just being outside with the family.

Summer is approaching us quickly and we are taking advantage of the nice weather while we can before we are locked inside for 9 months! We are planning to visit the Zoo ALOT this spring and even summer. We purchased a membership so we can go anytime we want without breaking the bank and getting blisters in the summer.

Zoey is speaking REALLY well for her age. She talks all day long! She sings her abc's and a few other songs, like Elmo's theme song and a song that her Grandma Cindy made up for her. It is really cute to listen to her sing and watch her dance. I will be enrolling her in a Mommy and Me Dance class this spring. The class lasts 7 weeks and they teach them basic songs and dance. I get to be there with her, which is great for Zoey because, like I said, she is timid and I don't think she would do well with a bunch of strangers and no mommy or Zachy! Zoey loves to do puzzles. This seems to be one of the only things I can say she likes to do. She likes to do everything but nothing holds her attention too long. She still loves to read, which is really great! I have been putting together Easter baskets for the kids and of course Zach's is all Thomas the tank engine, but Zoey, I can't quite figure out one thing she just LOVES. So I am getting her lots of different things like Disney Princess, Mickey Mouse, and Elmo, and anything ABC and 123.
As far as Zoey's growth goes, she is also doing good. She is 24lbs and 33 inches tall. She is in the 25th% for her weight and 50th% for her height. I always knew she would be tall! She was 1/4 of inch taller then Zach at our last appointment. She eats like crazy and runs like it too! Her little smile and laugh make my heart melt every time I see or hear them!


Zach, oh, Zach! He is definitely in the terrible two stage! UGH!!!!! Zach loves his trains and god forbid if Zoey wants to play with one, just one. He throws a fit and graciously throws himself on the floor! Ha! It's actually very cute but I don't let him know that! He loves to watch TV, which I don't like. He could sit, or stand there all day in a trance if I let him. So I am grateful he has his trains that he loves so much. Zach is working on 2 word sentences. He is doing pretty well and he will tell you a whole story and never say a word you understand but he is trying! He knows almost every letter in the alphabet. I think he struggles with E and K. He knows a few numbers 4, 5 and 9. He is your typical boy, wherever there's dirt he will find it, and eat it! Zach is my picky eater and I struggle with finding things he will eat everyday. But he loves his milk so we are doing ok. Zach weighed 25lbs and was 33 inches tall at our last appointment. The doctor keeps saying he will only be about 5'9" tall but I just don't believe it. Oh well if he is....he has an arm on him like no other. He's going to be our little quarterback or pitcher! I plan on enrolling him in Tiny Tots sports this spring. This will teach him the basics of T-bal, Soccer and Basketball. I think it will be good for the twins to have some separate activities and start being Zach and Zoey instead of the twins!


Keep reading...there's more.....

So you might be thinking......What is Tera up to? Well as you can tell, my lovely family keeps me busy and happy, but I have been doing a thing or two! I have been selling alot of stuff on eBay. I am in a nesting phase, no I am not with child, I guess you could say I am just a natural nester! I can't stand things being cluttered and unorganized. When things are cluttered an unorganized I feel anxious and scatterbrained so I am trying to get back to feeling calm and sane again! I sell all sorts of things, clothes, both mine and the kids, video games, and the kids toys. I have made quite a bit of money over the past several months. I use the money I make to buy us new clothes and toys! It works out great for me! I get this crap out of my cluttered and unorganized house, I am not bored and I make money for new things! It's very full filling. I have also been doing a lot of thinking and searching about what I will do after the children go to school. I know it's a few years away but I am at a point where I feel I have lost who Tera is. I love my children and I wouldn't ever give up the opportunity to raise them and teach them myself but what I don't love is not feeling stimulated. My children keep me very busy and there is nothing more fulfilling then knowing I taught them something today. At the end of the day when they are sleeping soundly in their beds, I still feel a need for more! Call me crazy, and I very well may be, but I am going back to school! Yes, you heard me, school! I am going to work on my Masters in Accountancy. I am not sure where or when, but I am still weighing all the options. I want to do something I truly love doing and I hope to do it for the rest of my life. I have always loved this type of work and I know I will enjoy it and feel even more fulfilled then I already am.
Jeff built a planter in the back yard and I planted some flowers in it yesterday. Here's a picture...


Here are a few more pictures of the kids....and until next time......

Zoey was smelling the flowers, she just didn't have the flower up to her nose.



Zach playing on the broken lawnmower.......