Playing Catchup: Preschool Starting

Atticus and Grace both started preschool at Sonshine School this year. In September, we met their teachers (Mrs. Courtney and Mrs. Elizabeth) and the year began. Grace did a great job all fall of progressing every day to not crying and to going in on her own. She almost always (and still does a little) cries or acts sad when I leave her, but always is happy when I pick her up and sometimes by the time I walk back down the hall, she is content. We love Mrs. Elizabeth, her teacher, and Grace, just now (in January), loves to talk about her "fiends" Emmy, Tay, Cwosby, and Wyder and her teacher "Miss Thuh-Thuh". She enjoys every day and is happy to be there. Atticus, is so different from last year. I know he enjoyed his days last year, but this year, he never hesitates to go into the class and loves the activities and I can tell he is soaking up things like letters and numbers that he has never been quite as interested in before. He's always liked counting and he liked spelling his name, but otherwise, he has not, until the last couple of weeks, been interested in writing letters and spelling things and doing things with letters. I've been so proud of him and so anxious for Kindergarten and all he will get to do there. We also really enjoy Mrs. Courtney, but I think all of those 4 and 5 year olds must be a tough group! They are the "big kids" as Atticus says and they know it! So, here we are with a flashback to September when they went to Meet the Teacher and then their first day of school. Although I'm not sure I will put Grace in next year (I only did it this year at this age to help with her speech), since we will have the new baby and Atticus will be in Kindergarten, we are very happy with Sonshine School and the wonderful staff and teachers who love the kids so much!

Playing Catchup: Summer Vacation

So, I wanted to play a little catchup to mark some of these memories for my blog book. Even though these happened earlier in 2015 and I am not writing until now, I'm going to make sure they make it in my 2015 blog book! So, our summer vacation....

Each summer, Vic tries to mark off a week of time for us to do something. We have gone to the beach mostly, but this year, with the Huey and Powell and Klatt families, we went to Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park in Waller, Texas. This is less than an hour from us, and each family rented a cabin next to one another for a Thursday thru Sunday on August 13th thru 16th. Yogi Bear "National" Park, as Atticus called it, was a really fun vacation. Our cabin had one bathroom and one bedroom where Grace and I stayed and then an upstairs loft where the boys slept. It had a little kitchen and couch and TV and then that was about it. It was super air conditioned which was nice when you needed a little downtime and for Grace who napped each day on the couch. But, it was a great cabin, size and everything and as long as your kids can get up and down the stairs, you could fit 4 people in the loft and 2 in the bedroom and the couch even folded out to a bed for another person or two, if needed. It was not fancy, but perfect for what we were looking for. Outside, everyone pooled their chairs and the picnic tables and we spent most of our time, around the cabin, watching kids play together and ride scooters and bikes until late at night. We rented a golf cart for the group which was 100% worth the money to get back and forth to the pool or take kids for rides around the park. In fact, if we were not hanging outside at the cabins, we were spending all of our time at the pool. The pool area was so great for small families. It was really crowded on Saturday, because they let people come in for day passes as well to use the pool. But, the kids water slide area was great and the huge slides were great for the men who went down them over and over and over. It took the first day for Atticus and Grace to get used to the water area. And the next day, it took half the day of Vic or I riding with the kids down the slides to get them comfortable. But, by Friday afternoon, Atticus was going down the water slide and having the best time over and over and over. Honestly, I bet he did it 75 times on Friday and another 100+ on Saturday. Grace loved it too, but of course was a little small so she just had us taking her down over and over and over and Vic did most of that job. We also at smores, played miniature golf, painted some ceramics at one of the craft events, ate lots of popsicles (and tons of junk food - Atticus knows to go to Cassie who brings lots of fun vacation food!), and just enjoyed the entire trip. It was also so fun because of the families we were with. All of the kids, except little Case (who was about 15 months old and still needed naps and mama time), could play together and entertain one another and do most of the water things with less help. They had the best time and Atticus loved being with his friends. Grace enjoyed it too, but of course, was a little younger, so she needed a little more downtime and little more mama and daddy time, but she too, loved playing with friends when she was ready to play. Poor baby LOOKED rough with that black eye, but she had fun. I just think it is so fun that a couple of times each year, we will be with these families and watch all of our kids grow up together. In fact, here are the ages of each group at that time: Vic & Sarah & Atticus (4) & Grace (2); Derek & Mandee & Beck (4) & Ben (2); Todd & Emily & Haley (5) & Camden (4) & Leighton (2); and Joe & Cassie & Wesley (5) & Case (15 months). It is definitely an inexpensive trip I'd recommend to anyone with kids!

Playing Catchup: Grace's Black Eye

So, back in August, on a Sunday afternoon, when the kids were tired and we'd been at church for a few hours, I made the decision to take them on a quick trip to Joann's Fabric Store for a few things. Vic was still at the church doing some work and I was headed home after that. Well, I should have just gone home. Kids were tired and Grace didn't want to walk or be in the basket, but only held. So, by the time we got to the checkout counter, they were done. I sat Grace on top of the counter and started to get ready to checkout and pay, when she lifts that little leg up and gets off balance and crashes to the ground with a terrible sounding smack to her head. Oh it was terrible! She screamed and cried and I tried to finish paying while holding her and checking her out and just wanting to get out of there. I should not have put her there, but at the same time, she was not trying to get away and was stable enough to normally just sit there for a second. I was so close to her that as this was all happening in slow motion, I grabbed her leg which slowed her down but it slipped out as she fell. It was just awful in that split second. We get to the car where she won't stop crying and her eye immeidately swells up. I was so worried because I felt sure she hit her head and not her eye. But, nothing was popping out or in on her head and it was only becoming a little red. I would normally just watch her and go home, but that eye swelling up made me more concerned. I called Vic to meet me at the ER to take Atticus and I decided to take her in to get checked out. Thank goodness all was ok. The doctor told me that since she was still mad about it and crying and never went unconscious and that when he felt of her head, all bone was intact and nothing seemed to be wrong, that she did not have a concussion or need a CT scan or anything. He told me she just hit her head hard and that is why the swelling was happening and that I should expect to see some bruising around her eye. In fact, as soon as he gave her a popsicle, she stopped crying and started to calm down and get much happier. The ER doctor was SO nice and I was so thankful that all was ok. I was just more worried when that eye immediately swelled up! So, we went home, gave her some pain meds and then watched nothing happen, until the next day. Ironically, I got a stomach bug in the middle of the night (which must have been food poisoning because nobody else got it!) and by morning while I was feeling terrible, she was feeling better...except her eye was bright purple! Had I woken up to that on that morning without having gone to the ER, I think I would have been more worried. It looked terrible. Over the course of the next week, it went from purple to looking worse but finally the swelling went down before our Jellystone Vacation and then was just a black eye for a couple more weeks. So, sweet Grace has had her first and hopefully last ever black eye incident!! Here's a few pictures although it hurts me a little to see them again!

  

August 9, 2015 at the ER 

 

August 10th, 2015 in the morning

 

August 10, 2015

 

August 11, 2015

 

August 13, 2015