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

A Week in the Life of Us

This past week we had two big snow storms.  The two biggest of the year, in fact.  There ended up being over a foot of accumulation which made for a lot of backyard fun-in-the-snow time.  In between storms we've had 60+ degree weather which is great because cabin fever is never a good thing.

Today was a challenging day for our Mister.  He was on a clear liquid diet almost the entire day (which was supposed to continue through tomorrow too) but it became clear around 6:00 pm that he could not make it any longer.  These were doctors orders after we visited with the GI on Thursday.  Blaine's encopresis has continued to be a real problem for him and the only solution was a 1-2 day clear liquid diet plus a GI flush to clear his system, followed by a strict regimen of Miralax and Exlax for the next six months.  Phew!  He had to get through 34 ounces of clear liquid that contained 6 capfuls of Miralax and then operate on a diet of broth, popsicles and lime Jello.  Let's just say that Blaine wasn't having it after about noon today and when I say "he wasn't having it", I mean he literally wasn't having anything.  He was so frustrated and hungry he wouldn't eat anything we offered.  His blood sugar dropped and he was dehydrated and frankly he just wanted "hard food!" (And I can't blame him.) He did awesome getting through about 24 ounces of liquid (with the medicine) and then after a long hard day we all sat down for BBQ, which hit the spot for all of us.  We didn't hit our goal of 2 days, but for a 5 year old, I think he did awesome!  Hoping this helps us jump start his system just a little bit. (And I'm certain he will appreciate this post about his GI system when he's older. :)

Other than that, we've kept extremely busy doing this and that.  Blaine is done with preschool in one month (WOW) and summer begins for us (unless it keeps snowing!)  That means summer camps and our move into a new house at the end of June.  Oh, how I look forward to that!  (NOT.)

Here are some pictures from this week's adventures.

HG and her new mitt.

Mister testing out his new bat.

Ice skating for the first time.  He did great!

"What are these on my feet?"

Happy about her ice skates.

Snow!

Dodge ball on trampolines.  Awesome.

Blaine and Ms. Sara dodging it up.

Blaine = Hamster.

Something silly, I'm sure.

I might be driving in this picture.  Ooops.  But look at that view
that I get to enjoy every day!

Ponytails.  A milestone at the Lyon home.

Blaine's summer camp had an open house on Friday.  We had a
great time and Mister was excited to see where he'll spend
part of his summer.  Right in that marsh :)

Face painting at the open house.  A unicorn for HG...

And a lizard for Mister.

Up close and personal with a Madagascar Cockroach.

On the way to the marsh.

Using nets to catch all kinds of creepy, crawly things.

And here is a video of Blaine hitting the ball.  Please notice the ball-girl, HG.  She rocks.

Flying Kites and Eating Candy

The temperature was in the 60's again today and it was super windy so we decided that it was a perfect day for flying a kite.  Blaine did a great job on his own... Hannah on the other hand was practically flown across the open space and could barely hold on (did I mention it was really windy today!)

And then at the beginning of the week we made it over to Hammond Candy Factory for the factory tour which we missed at Christmas (during the Candy Cane Festival) because the line was way too long.  What a great place!  And the candy isn't bad either.

The Boss is Out

The Boss (HG) is sleeping so I am able to report that it is now only taking 15 minutes to get her to stay in her bed rather than 45 minutes.  She only gets out a few times and then gives up because she knows we're waiting for her at the door, ready to thwart her every move.  Her retaliation is to run back to her bed, scream at us to go downstairs and then she tears off her pajamas in a fit of rage, finally passing out in her birthday suit (every night this happens... the whole birthday suit thing.)  One of her major complaints is her pull-up - that it hurts her and she doesn't want to wear it.  I noticed that one of her BF's (William) is going diaper-less to bed now so she is bound and determined to wake up dry in the morning so she doesn't have to wear a pull up to bed anymore, like William.  In fact this morning she went straight to the bathroom after waking up (with a dry pull-up) and then called to David, "Dad?... Daaaaad!?  There is no more toilet paper, Dad!"  Good morning to you too, Hannah :)

Somebody's birthday is coming up and we haven't even talked about what to do.  Mister wants to have three birthday parties: One at Great Wolf Lodge, one at Boondocks, and one at Jumpin' Jordy's.  He wants to have church friends at one, "all my grandmas and grandpas" at one, and then just Siri at one.  Apparently celebrating a 5th birthday is a bigger deal than I could have imagined!  My parents, brother and grandma are visiting us in about three weeks (my brother also has a February birthday) so we will have a celebration when they're here but "where" is the question.  We will see what is on Mister's mind when the time comes.

The cold (like single-digits cold) weather keeps me holed up in the house quite a bit.  Actually we have been having some 50+ degree days so I can't complain too bad.  Last week we actually went to the park a couple times, all bundled up, and played soccer.  But I plan outdoor activities about as much as I've been going to the gym lately (NOT MUCH AT ALL!)  It's a good thing the kids got some good toys for Christmas that are keeping us busy indoors.  Not to mention our various memberships to the local museums and zoo.

The rocket we built out of Blaine's new building set.
Put a sheet over this baby and it "rocks" :)

Playing at our rec center.

Boo and I at the Zoo last week, during one of the 50 degree days.

The kids at the Denver Firefighters Museum.

While David snowboarded today the kids and I made two kinds of soup and "the best chocolate chip cookies Mama has ever made."  (Thank you very much, Blaine!)  Potato soup - a specialty of my mom's and Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup.  I know my food photography lacks luster... but they were both fantastic.

Tomorrow we will enjoy church together and then I have a massage scheduled in the afternoon (thank you Uncle Matt Lyon :)  I may even get my nails done if I don't feel guilty about being away from home for that long :)