Ethan has been ready to start kindergarten since we took a tour of the school back in February.  It’s all he could talk about this summer and honestly we were all getting pretty excited.  My mom even made him this kindergarten countdown poster and that’s the first thing he did every morning.

The Thursday before school started we had meet the teacher.  I think I was probably more excited than Ethan or Clay!  We have been praying so hard that God would provide the best teacher for E.  We asked our church family to be praying for us, too, as we learn how to parent a school kid.  I know God heard our prayers and provided Mrs. S. because she’s been teaching for 25 years and has pretty much seen it all.  I had a one-on-one meeting with her right before school to discuss Ethan’s allergies and she was attentive and asked a lot of questions but didn’t seem overwhelmed by all of it.  Yay!

Fast forward to Sunday morning at church.  Clay usually sits at the back to run the projector and computer so he gave Ethan a big hug when church was over.  His first question was, “Does he feel hot to you?”  And it pretty much went downhill from there.  He had a very high fever that evening, I cried a lot, he rested, I cried some more, Ethan still had a fever – the pattern was set.  I’m pretty sure I turned into some sort of thermometer police because I was checking his temperature every 10 minutes waiting for something miraculous to happen.  I came to the realization that it’s pretty sad when you need the school’s sick policy before school has even started.  Monday was not a day I’d particularly like to remember because I threw a big ol pity party for myself and Ethan that day.  But, the fever was still there and when I accepted the fact that we’d still be home on Tuesday I had to change my attitude.  We played games and went for at least one Sonic run (I will admit nothing else) and actually enjoyed the day.  He was fever free all Tuesday afternoon so we knew he would be fine to finally start on Wednesday.  We read the night before kindergarten book and laid out his clothes and I think I finally got to sleep after tossing and turning for 2 hours.


He woke up Wednesday morning feeling great and ready to go.  I made his favorite breakfast – waffles – got everyone dressed and ready and we were off.  I guess I cried all of my tears on Sunday and Monday because I didn’t cry at all at drop off.  I’m sure the other parents got a good laugh out of the mom and dad taking tons of pictures on the THIRD day of school, walking into the classroom, giving lots of hugs, etc.  If they only knew. 




He found his locker and his chair and immediately got to work on his paper and we were off.  Clay headed on to work and Rachel and I indulged in some shopping therapy to help the time pass more quickly.  I don’t think an afternoon has ever dragged on quite like that one, but 3:15 finally came and Rachel & I picked up a very happy boy.  He said his favorite part was playing on the playground and eating lunch.  I’m not surprised.

And except for a random fever Tuesday night which resulted in another missed day on Wednesday (good thing we weren’t hoping for that perfect attendance award), he’s been feeling great and loving school.  Last Thursday – his second day of school – he asked me if I could NOT walk him in and just drop him off at the door.  At least he has the self-confidence thing going for him.

I’m taking over the blog this morning to tell my wife that I love her.

These past 10 years together have exceeded whatever expectations I had of married life. I’ve watched you grow from a college girl to a woman to a mother and in each phase of our life together, you amaze me. I love you and I can’t think of any other way to tell you how much you mean to me…

(turn the sound on)

Yesterday I took the kids for what will likely be our last Hawaiian Falls trip for the year.  On Tuesday I remembered we were out of sunscreen so I ran by the store to pick some up, and then had the realization that I won’t be buying any more sunscreen until next summer.  I’m not particularly sad about not having to buy sunscreen, but it just all went by so fast.  It was just a few days ago that the kids were wrapping up preschool and getting good at swimming, and then today  the kids were talking about their Halloween costumes (btw – today Rachel wants to be the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and Ethan wants to be a leprechaun…really).  This would be a really boring post without any pictures, so I’ll do the exact opposite and post way too many to appease some grandparents out there who think I’ve abandoned my poor little blog. 

In July we visited the MOLA for the first time at the Ft. Worth Zoo

The kids spent a lot of time this summer in their dress-up clothes

We did a lot of swimming and have some nice tan lines to show for it
 - Ethan will not swim without his swim shirt and goggles
 - Rachel will argue with you that she can swim just as good as Ethan
 - they are both jumping off the diving board – Rachel needs someone to catch her but Ethan can swim to the shallow end by himself
 - we went to Hawaiian Falls a lot - Ethan’s fave is the wave pool and Rachel’s fave is the blue slide without the tube

We were able to hang out with Addi, Libby & Levi quite a few times this summer
 - and a big HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO LIBBY YESTERDAY!

We had VBS at our church earlier this month and had a great time learning about Joseph
 - Rachel earned the most bands (points) in her age group (thank you Allie & Kate for coming as her guests) which meant she got to throw a pie in our youth minister’s face…she’s still not sure why she did it
 - Ethan earned the most bands in his age group (thank you Jack, Josie, Lauryn & Zachary) which meant he also got to throw a pie
 - E also earned the most bands of all the boys at VBS which meant he got a new bike!

The kids had a blast at their friend Scarlett’s circus-themed birthday party

Cara and I took all the kids to the airplane musuem a couple of weeks ago and were pleasantly surprised when they allowed us to eat our packed lunch right beside this airplane

Rachel took a trial gymnastics class a couple of weeks ago and she’s hooked.  I’ve been telling her all summer that when Ethan started kindergarten she could start gymnastics…better add that to my weekend to-do list

Monday night Clay & I had 3 other families over who are all sending their oldest child – all boys – off to kindergarten on Monday.  We enjoyed dinner together and then all of the Dads prayed over their son.  I definitely want to keep doing this as we move forward in our school years.

And then today we went to see a live production of Alice in Wonderland to celebrate Allie’s 4th birthday.  The kids LOVED it.  I think this was their first play so hopefully they’re hooked.

I wish I would have done a better job this summer of photographing the ordinary and every day moments.  We really enjoyed pajama days, catching bugs in the back yard, trips to the library, summer Bible study, having friends over to play, riding the carousel, dollar movies, and picnics in the living room.  I’m sure that in 20 years I’ll be wishing I had pictures and video of these things. 

Goodbye summer and hello school!

It’s official – I love summer. I think this kid does as well…

In honor of my 500th post, I thought I’d share my employment predictions for my children.  For my firstborn, I’m thinking the world’s first reality TV exterminator.  Last night Ethan was in the bathroom getting ready for bed when I heard him say (while slightly gritting his teeth), “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”  And then he squashed a bug on the first swipe.

As for Rachel, I see professional choreography in her future.  As evident in this video, she’s been channeling her inner Paula Abdul lately.

As we speak, my children are snuggled up on sprawled all over the couch watching Toy Story 2 … again.  I’m sure it’s just a phase.  I remember a couple of summers ago when I’m pretty sure Ethan watched Cars once a day for 37 days in a row. 

So, to feed the Toy Story obsession, we took the kids to see TS3 again, but this time at the drive-in on the 4th of July.  We left evening church and drove about 45 minutes to the Galaxy Drive-In and had one of our best family nights ever.  My aunt, uncle and cousin happened to be in town that day so they got to go with us, too. 

The movie started around 9:00, so we played putt-putt until showtime.

When the sun went down we got cozy in the car, put the big red speakers in the windows, enjoyed the summer breeze, and just relaxed.  Well, the kids and I practiced our scared faces first.

Rachel and I went for a snack run to the concession stand (I think the large drink was $1.50 – I love this place!), and then we settled in.  Definitely a night we’ll never forget (probably doesn’t hurt that the kids ask me at least 6 times a day when we’re going back).

Last weekend I thought it would be a great idea to take Rachel for her first manicure and pedicure while I used a gift certificate on a pedicure for myself.  While we did have fun and she did feel very special, I don’t think it’s natural for a 3 year old to wake up in the morning asking if we can send Ethan somewhere so I can take her to go get her nails painted at the REAL place (of course no mention of me getting my nails painted). 

*WARNING*

If you take your five-year old to see this…
 …

it will likely access the obsessive part of his brain which could result in any or all of the following:
  * identity crisis
  * loud noises
  * trying incessantly to take flight off of furniture
  * a dislike for all former costumes and/or clothes in general
  * a new focus for all artwork

A couple of weekends ago we had a good old fashioned family fish fry (try to say that 7 times in a row) to celebrate my Meme’s 82nd birthday.  I think I’ve said this before, but she’s amazing – beautiful inside and out.  All she wanted for her birthday was to be surrounded by family – she got that, lots of wind, the smell of hot oil that will not come out of your clothes, the spray of water guns, kids blowing out her birthday candles, a few mosquitoes, and a ton of great food.  We reserved a pavilion at a local park that has a great playground and a splash pool so there was plenty to keep everyone busy and occupied all afternoon and evening.  The weather was overcast and windy – perfect for an outdoor June celebration.  I remember being a kid and having a big ol’ fish fry at my Pop & Meme’s house under the green roof on their porch (and my Pop shaking worms off of the tree onto my head).  It was a pretty good feeling seeing Clay, my brother, my Dad and my uncle frying up the fish (and of course grilling some salmon for the lighter fare crowd) – I love it when things come full circle.  I pray that I’m as spry, as aware, as loving, and as faithful when I’m 82.  I love you, Meme.

 

My dad, Uncle David & Clay doing the prep work

five crazy cousins sitting in a row

the cooks and helpers

blowing out the candles

And I really wish we had a video of the work it took to get this picture.  Just imagine 3 Aggies down in some type of ditch thing trying to get the tripod just right and the camera zoomed in just so and 5 children under the age of 8 wondering why had to keep looking directly into the sun…and why we had to look happy about it.  Good memories.

A couple of weeks ago I took the kids and invited a bunch of friends to go see David Chicken Live at the Levitt Pavilion here (if you have one in your area then you should definitely check it out – free outdoor concerts all summer long!).  Even though it was super hot, we still had a great time.   Throughout the concert David Chicken would have kids come up on stage to help sing and dance.  Rachel thought she wanted to do it and then chickened out (I couldn’t resist!).  But, with some prompting from Ethan, Brant & Kendall, she was all for it.  I thought I would be the mamarazzi and snap photos, but boy was I wrong.  So, Kelly decided to take pictures of all of us on stage making our big debut.  It actually was a lot of fun and the kids got a kick out of it so that’s all that matters.