First Day = Perfection!

Mister, 

YOU ROCKED YOUR FIRST DAY!  You even told us you "liked it." (YAY!)

Here is the email we received from your teacher after school was over:

"Hi Jessica,

Just wanted to let you know I am so proud of Blaine! He did so well the whole day! He was the line leader, he raised his hand and he was a very independent worker! He went to an assembly and to specials just fine! Yea! Give him extra hugs tonight and enjoy your evening!

Please let me know if you have any questions--

Theresa"

We're so proud of you Blaine!

Love, Mom and Dad

Kindergarten For Real

A day I'll never forget.

Tomorrow, August 20th 2013, is Mister's first day of Kindergarten.

I didn't think they would let someone as young as this guy start school...

But apparently I'm the only one who thinks he is still a baby.  Somewhere along the way he turned five and was eligible for Kindergarten and here we are!

This is what Blaine has to say about that.

It's not that he doesn't want to go, it's just that he would rather stay home.  His teacher, Mrs.Vogt, sent home this cute poem about the first day of school and there was this "magic" confetti in it that he was supposed to put under his pillow which is supposed to help him sleep and be ready for school tomorrow. He looked at it and said to me, "This confetti is not magic and it won't do anything under my pillow.  God is the only one that makes things happen and I hope he makes me have a bad day at school."

Well then, I'm glad we cleared that up.

We prayed together for other things, hugged, kissed and he went to sleep.

Mister, you are going to be amazing in school.   We're excited to see where this year will take you.

I love you.

#1 Kindergarten Student

Cute Mister

Well, If You Must Know

It's been a while.  I know this.  So, in a nutshell...

Blaine got a mo-hawk.  But his curls are making a comeback
and I think he's going to have a curl-hawk here pretty soon. 

Blaine and David caught some fish.

They cleaned them.

We ate them.  (Mmmmmmmm!)

We watched Daddy play softball.  The best part of the game though
was when my sweet Mister asked me, "When is this gonna be over?  And
is Daddy's game going to be on TV?  I'll just watch it later." (LOL)

And then May came.  And apparently it snows in Colorado.  IN MAY!

Blaine made a super cool volcano with Ms. Sara.
But then he ran out of vinegar.  (What a project!)

Oh, did I mention that it SNOWED in May?

Tug had a growth on his eye.  The vet had to remove it surgically.
He is now sporting a cone so he doesn't paw at his stitches and
I think his eye might be permanently droopy post-op. :(  Poor thing.

Mister is still in swim lessons but now he has a fancy swim cap.

I went on a women's retreat with our church.  It was, hands down,
one of the top five best weekends of my life.  God worked
very powerfully this past weekend.  I am a grateful lady today.

More of Crooked Creek Ranch, where the retreat was held.

My kids' favorite cousin had her 1st birthday party this
weekend too.  She loved her cake.  More than any other
one year old.. ever.. I think!

And of course, Hannah G never turns down a cupcake.
Wouldn't be right.

Every time we go to see Uncle Steve (and I do mean, EVERY time)
Hannah fake cries and says, "I don't yike Uncle Steeeve.  He's a big guy."
Which is funny because she says it every time and he's not big.
Clearly she is "not" liking this book at all!

Her favorite party favor: noise makers!  Oh, I'll
get Aunt Sarah back for this someday :)

Oh, there is a lot more but I can't remember any of it right now.  I do know there are only two more full weeks of school left after this one and then it is officially SUMMER break and next week marks one whole year of David's employment at Trada!  Not to mention the biggest news of all - some little person around here is turning 3 in a month!  Wow, time flies when you're having the busiest and craziest life ever!

I'll be sure to update you all again when the kids are like 9 and 7!  Ha :)

Smartest Kid in the Class

Blaine has been doing AWESOME at school!  He is participating more and helping other children when they don't know what to do.  In fact this last week was flawless.  He received a stamp for participation during every part of his morning and he received a stamp for keeping his body safe during every part of the morning.  Perfect.  We are so proud of him and his progress.

Then on Friday the teachers administered some mid-year test to all the kids to see how they're progressing and to see how Kindergarten-ready the older kids are (kids in this class range from 3-5 years old.)  Blaine initially refused but then after the teachers told him that this test would help them determine how well he was reading and when he could start reading books, he said "fine, I'll do the test."

One of his teachers, Ms. Christie, administered Blaine's test and then relayed the following conversation to me which happened right after he finished and she scored it (which he insisted waiting for.)

B: How many did I get wrong?
C: Only one question!
B: Does that make me the smartest kid in the class?
C: (refraining from laughter)  Well... you are very smart.  You did a good job.
B: So am I?

When she was telling me this story she said, "I didn't want to tell him 'Yes' - but he is!"  She went on to tell me that there is one other boy in the class whom is at the same level as Blaine (which I was glad to hear) and he is clearly ready for Kinder.

Yay!  Go Mister :)

"I Can't."

When I went to pick Hannah up at school yesterday she was still sitting at the lunch table, which was weird because her entire class was done and getting ready for their naps.

I walked in and one of her teachers, Ms. Nina, says to me:

"She is done but she won't ask to be excused from the table."  (They have to say, "May I be excused please?" when they're done

Hannah sees me and smiles at me, entertained by her antics apparently.

Me: "Hannah Grace, are you done eating?"
HG: "Yes." (followed by devious smile)
Me: "Please ask to be excused.  Daddy is waiting at home to say goodbye before his trip."

Then Ms. Nina tells me that she had already been sitting there for ten minutes.

HG: "I can't."  (laughing)
Me: "The longer you wait to ask the longer we will sit and wait for you and you'll miss daddy because he has to leave for the airport."

At this point I stepped away and let Ms. Nina take over.  She politely asked Hannah to do what she needed to do. 

HG: "I don't know how.  I can't."

Girlfriend has asked to get up from the table for almost three months now so she clearly knows how... she was just being a little ____________.  Which has been the case lately for our little "Angel."

After several more, "I can't and I don't know how's" she finally gave in and asked to be excused.  She must think she is some sort of comedian now because she keeps bringing it up, telling me "I can't say 'cuse me peas."

That girl... she's a handful :)

33 Wonderful Years Plus!

Where has the time gone?  I celebrated a birthday, my mom has been visiting (leaving tomorrow), we've been busy with lots of activities, and we've had multiple meetings at Blaine's school and at the STAR Center.  Same ol' story though - I'm just flat out exhausted at the end of the day so the blog sits and waits.

On the weekend of my birthday (October 27th) nine years ago I was visiting Austin, Texas for the first time.  I was living in Houston at the time and David and I had just had our first date two weeks before.  He invited me to celebrate with him and we never looked back after that.  I had a lot of fun reminiscing and having fun with the kids who wouldn't be here if that relationship hadn't begun almost a decade ago. :)  Of the last 33 years of my life, the last decade has by far been the richest, most blessed I have known (or perhaps I'm just more aware now!)  Thank you to everyone who made my birthday special and full of love.

flowers for my birthday...

 

and snow for my birthday...

Mister super happy about the snow.

GG arrived last Wednesday just in time for Halloween festivities.

Waiting for GG.

Happy to wait :)

Both kids were excited to get dressed up and ask for candy since they rarely get to eat it.  Hannah was scared of D's costume and even though Blaine was nervous to go up to the houses he did super!  We were so proud of him but the best part is that he was more excited about handing out candy than he was about getting it.  In fact he ate one piece of candy and then hasn't asked about it since.  (Victory!  This Mama says :) Hannah, on the other hand, has had her fair share but hasn't cared about it much recently. 

David, my favorite poultry

I always have a list a mile-long when my mom comes - from shopping, to day-trips, to organization, to shopping, more shopping, and more organization... there is never enough time to do it all!  And the kids keep GG on her toes, demanding her attention every moment they can.  We appreciate and love her so much.  Thanks Mom!

 

She helped me make gifts for Ms. Ali and her co-workers...

 

 

She hiked with us in the Rocky Mountain National Park...

 

She helped Hanny and I shop...

She went to Boondocks Fun Center with Blaine to spend his allowance...

She was able to meet and love on our newest family member... Ms. Peyton.  (I am the oldest and Peyton is the youngest grandchild on my mom's side of the family.)

And she just helped us all have a whole lotta fun :)

And now we're all really tired!

 

 

And a lot happening in Blaine's world but I'll have to leave that for another day.  He has finished 11 OT sessions at the STAR center and we're starting to learn more about Sensory Processing Disorder and how it is affecting Blaine specifically.  Life is just sometimes rough for our Mister!  We've had two long and in-depth meetings at Blaine's school and while we're not impressed with our options right now, we're continuing with the public education system because we've invested so much at this point and we're halfway through the year.  The administration has and continues to be diligent and helpful and are seemingly putting Blaine as a top priority.  It's been exhausting to say the least...

 

I've been working on this post for hours now - multitasking at its finest!  Now it's time for bed.