A fall update

Since it's Thanksgiving it seems appropriate to journal about what has happened this fall.

Nick started first grade, he has glasses. He gets spelling words each week. Most of the time he is able to get the all correct on Monday during the pretest so he gets 5 challenge words. He loves math and doesn't enjoy reading as much....he still loves to be read to so we are working on getting him to enjoy reading to us.

Hadley is in 4 year old preschool. She loves to play babies, dance and sing. And most of all she rules the roost...that's not a good thing :)

Both kids are active in sports which keeps us on our toes...they participated in Soccer, Basketball, Gymnastics and Swimming lessons.

Aaron continues to work for ProGas trying to start an electrical division for this company. I started working in the Radiology department at the University of Iowas Hospitals and Clinics. The commute is reallllly long and the kids certainly miss me and I them! It's been a hard transition on all of us but we continue to push through. I also just finished Data and Decisions and stats class that's part of the MBA program...Yucky is all I can say and I am thankful it's over with. I am enrolled in a marketing class and I hope I enjoy it much better.

Nick lost his two bottom teeth and he is working on the two top teeth now...He will likely be able to sing "all i want for Christmas is my two front teeth" by the time Christmas is here. He also just grabbed the gallon of milk out of the fridge took a big swig and then saw me walk into the kitchen he grinned and said, oh my dad says you're not supposed to see that.

Stitches-June 30, 2010

I was in San Diego attending the SHRM conference. On my way home, I caught a connecting flight in Denver. I called home from the Denver airport to tell my kiddos goodnight and Hadley informed me she was in the Emergency room getting stitches! I honestly thought she was kidding me. She was so calm. Aaron finally got on the phone and told me she was telling the truth.

Hadley was holding the front screen door open talking to one of her friends that was walking by our house. When she was finished talking, she turned around to walk in the house and caught her foot/ankle on the door. We still cannot figure out what she scratched it on but she did get 7 stitches.

When the doctor came in to get started, Nicholas said, "Is it okay if I wait in the hall?" One of the nurses took him to the waiting room and watched t.v. with him. Aaron said Nick gave Hadley a great big hug when it was all over with and said, "it's okay sissy, you will be alright"

Izzy and Hadley

We went and played at Todd and Tracey's, grilled hot dogs and played on the water slide. Ben and Christa brought their new puppy Izzy. Now Miss Hadley wants a new puppy! She invited herself to go spend the night with Ms. Christa so she could play longer with Izzy.

9 quiet kids-Lake of the Ozarks

The children all ate and then Aunt K turned on the Disney Channel so the adults could eat in peace and quiet. Great Idea! Nine kids really sat and watched t.v. quietly! Amazing!

Lake of the Ozarks

Lost second tooth in the Ozarks at Aunt K.

We were hanging out at Aunt K and Uncle S house at the Lake. A little girl that was also visiting pulled out a loose tooth. Nick has been working on wiggling and wiggling his second loose tooth. Shortly after the little girl pulled her tooth out Nick and Aaron pulled his second loose tooth out.

The Inevitable

Earlier in the summer Nick had his school physical. Unfortunately he had trouble reading all of the letters on the eye chart. The eye doctor recommended waiting to order glasses until right before school starts. -One so he wouldn't leave the glasses at the pool or run over them with his bike and -secondly, we could ensure we ordered the right prescription to see the chalkboard perfectly! Nick waited very patiently all summer long. Today, we drove home from the Ozarks and went straight to pick up these. He is so handsome!

School Physicals

School is officially out tomorrow. Much later than normal but with all of the snow days this year here we are. Who would have thought that Nick would still be in school on June 8th? I took a day off work for the kid's physicals and dentist appointments as well as my routine eye appointment. Unfortunately, it seems as though Nick will now have a routine eye exam too.

The pediatrician believes Nick's vision in his right eye is 20/50 and his left 20/40. We see the ophthalmologist next Friday and will find out definitive results. Nick thought this was fabulous news! He is very excited to wear glasses. I think this excitement may wear off quickly but we'll see.

Since Nick lost his first tooth the dentist did a panoramic x-ray to make sure all of the adult teeth are in the gums where they should be and ready to come in. Unfortunately it does not look like one of the lateral adult teeth (next to his front tooth) is there or could possibly be underdeveloped. This is hereditary and I have the same problem.

It stinks to find out news like that but they are both easy fixes. I thank my lucky stars for their health each and every single day. There are certainly worse things and I am so happy that I have two beautiful healthy babes!

At age 6, Nick is 46" tall, & 46.5 lbs, with glowing reviews otherwise!

Miss Hadley's vision was 20/30 in her right eye and 20/20 in her left. We couldn't tell if she was being her normal dramatically cute self so we are going to wait a year to have her eyes checked.

Unfortunately she had to have her four year old immunizations. I never like these days. Four year shots are definitely the worst...when they are babies they cry for a second and then it's done and over with. At four they wonder if it's coming....the six year old big brother sure does not help...you try not to answer the question, you know so you aren't lying. Just keep avoiding eye contact because this big pile of guilty sadness is laying on your mama heart...ugh! and then after it happens she is showing plenty of anger and madness so of course there is and even more mommy guilt. But it's all for a good reason, right?

I think she cried and whimpered for an hour. I even tried bribing her with a roll of life savers from the pharmacy afterwards. She wanted no part of it.

At age 4, Hadley is 37-1/4" tall and 29.5 lbs, still pretty small but she is following her own petite growth curve so they are happy enough.

First Lost Tooth

We sure are having a fun spring and I have lots to write about but we have an exciting story to tell tonight, oh do we ever! While helping Nicholas brush his teeth on Wednesday I hit a spot that really made him flinch and writhe with pain. Upon closer inspection I found two new molars coming in on top. The gums looked very painful...the kind of thing where you could feel a heartbeat pulsing there on that very spot. I felt so sorry for my little boy. As I moved to the bottom row and started to brush we found a loose tooth and another huge bulging spot on his gums where the new tooth was trying to peek through. Nicholas was so excited. He has wiggled that tooth non-stop this week. Tonight (Sunday May 30, 2010) we had a few friends over for supper and each of the dads took a turn trying to get a hold of the tooth. I was really shocked that Nick was willing to let them try. This morning when Grandma tried to give it a tug before she went back home Nicholas was not up for it.

Joe took a try

Tyler took a try

Dad took one final attempt and the tooth came right out. There were no tears. Ms. Jenny took a paper towel and applied pressure for 20 seconds and had Nick take a drink of water and there was no more red stuff. Ms. Jenny told Nick that anytime he lost a tooth he would have to hold a paper towel right on the spot and count to 20. Nick doesn't quite understand why...he was not aware of any of the red stuff. Thank goodness!

And just like that it's out!

Even sissy is excited!


And now the new tooth is already breaking through so I am sure it won't be long before we have another loose tooth. The new tooth is growing in quite a bit behind where the old one used to be. I am curious to find out what the dentist has to say about that on June 7th. I am not sure how much the Tooth Fairy brings good little boys but Nick is excited to find out!!

Correction, I guess he does know about the red stuff...as I am typing this Nick is talking on the phone to my bestie telling her all about his big event, he just said, "Ms. Jenny said hold a paper towel on the spot and it will make the blood stop."

Skinned up knees

Hadley was playing in the driveway. She went running in her flip flops and bit the dust pretty hard. Aaron was watching from the living room window and saw the whole event transpire. He was getting ready to go out and give hugs and kiss the boo-boo when Hadley sat down on the front step (no tears or whimpering at all) she looked in the direction of her brother who was playing in the yard. Nick came running. When he met Hadley on the porch she said, "it's okay broder I will be alright I don't have to go to the nursing home". Pretty cute.

Duped by a 5 year old!

We are EXTREMELY excited for Spring. Both kids want to wear shorts and tank tops everyday...Nicholas wanted to wear a Super Mario Bros t-shirt to school on Friday. I told him it wouldn't be warm enough for only a t-shirt so he would have to wear a long sleeved shirt under the T. He didn't choose that option, instead he wore a long sleeved black Tony Hawk shirt with navy blue Nike pants...his new selection didn't match but I decided to choose my battle as 6:30 am yesterday.

Skip ahead to after school/work...

We dropped Hadley off at dance class at 5pm, and Nicholas and I went to go get an oil change. When we got to the store Nicholas took his coat off and to my surprise had a short sleeved Super Mario Bros t-shirt on!

I said Nicholas how did you get that t-shirt on? That's not what you wore to school!

He grinned the biggest grin and said I packed it in my bag and when I got to school I put it on. I didn't even zip my coat up today!

One nation under God

Hadley said mom do you know what "one nation under God means"? I said yes, it means that we are all God's people and we love each other and get along no matter what the color of our skin is or what we believe in. She said, "oh Alexis at daycare is brown but I like her".

Imaginary friend-Julie

Hadley has a "friend" named Julie. We have not been fortunate to meet this friend but she talks about her all the time! The stories she tells me about this little girl are hysterical. Aaron and I noticed this week that we haven't heard much about Julie lately so we asked Hadley where she has been and she said, "oh she was messing around and fell in the toilet so now she doesn't want to be friends anymore."

Sounding it out

Nick is learning to read something new every single day. I truly love listening to him read to me. I have once again been reminded of how odd the English language truly is. He does a really good job trying to sound out words, it's just hard because the rules of the English language don't always make sense. He was helping me type the grocery list. He wanted pizza and little marshmallows. He wrote:

Pesu
Lidl (for little marshmallows)

Too cute!

YouTube - Lost Generation

YouTube - Lost Generation

Jan 31 - Feb 6

Quick recap ~ busy week. Sunday afternoon Nicholas decorated his Valentine bag to take to school next week. I think we had every craft item we own out on the table!

I had my first Organizational Management class. The first week was cancelled due to the snow. Thank goodness, I certainly didn't want to drive 1.5 hours in the white stuff. Winter break was nice but it is nice to get back into the swing of things. I really liked the class. I love my Kindle I listen to it on my drive back and forth!

The kids were so excited for Ground Hog Day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUNI!!

Nick celebrated his 100th day of school. He had to take "100 of something" to school to make a large trail mix for his class to share. He chose raisins.

Aaron and I started a Love and Respect seminar at Jeff and Carrie's church over in LaHarpe. We really enjoyed it. I highly recommend the book!

Nick had to take his favorite book to school for sharing this week. The little stinker took Underwear Do's and Don'ts! Probably not the most appropriate choice for 5 year olds. I had no idea he had it in his bookbag until after school. It is one of his favorites since he can read it himself.

Hadley had dance practice.

Nick brought a teddy bear home in a fancy gift bag on Wednesday night. On Thursday morning he decided he would take the girl $1 and 2 Reese's p.b. hearts. I talked him out of the $1 so he borrowed his sister's beads and made her a bracelet instead. Cute. She called Thursday night and invited him to attend Family Fun Night at her church. We went and it made her night! She's adorable!

Isn't she cute?! When I picked the kids up from daycare on Friday night, Nick pulled $6 out of his pocket. I asked him where he got it and he informed me Boyd owed it to him for borrowing his crayons at school. Little Stinker!!! Of course I instantly called Boyd's father to tell him Mr. Nicholas would be returning the $6 on Monday. At Family Fun Night the girl's mom told me she talks non stop about Nick and Boyd. I have a feeling these three will be having all kinds of fun together over the 12 years!

We volunteered at the Red Cross B-ball tournament on Saturday and Sunday. The kids had a great time using a Sharpie to mark an X on the spectators hands so they could go back and forth between the two schools for the tournament. I am pretty sure each person was afraid to put their hand out for an X via sharpie from a 3 or 5 year old. Here's Hadley in action!

Saturday I went to the movie Dear John with great friends. Enjoyed margaritas afterwards, yum!

The kids enjoyed a few minutes outdoors Sunday. We all needed it! We are praying for little Audrey to come through her major surgery this week. I'm looking forward to Naomi's Kitchen next Saturday. My freezer needs replenished.

Little Miss crashed at 6:30pm. I hope she does not wake up at 4am. This is exactly how I feel right now...I think she's wearing the tank top praying for Spring.

January fun...a few firsts

Roller Skating...

Early in January Favorite boy was invited to 2 birthday's on the sameday. First he went to a local indoor swimming pool to celebrate Charlie's 6th birhtday and then went to a sleepover at his buddy Hunter's house to help him celebrate his 5th birthday! So much fun.

The week after that, Favorite girl was invited to Ellie's 4th birhtday party at Happy Joe's! Lot's of celebrating! The kids are thinking up some great ideas for their birthdays this SPRING!

We attended our first High School basketball here in SE IA. Kind of funny to me that this was our first game since that is all I had to do when I was younger. We used to attend every sporting event!

Last Saturday we went roller skating for the first time. The kids did so well. I was really amazed at how quickly they caught on! I was really afraid that I wouldn't be able to do it anymore. I am so thankful Carrie and Adam invited us along!

We had so much fun last weekend, that we decided to do it again this weekend. Favorite Boy called Grandma at 8am on Saturday morning and begged her to join us for the fun. And she did! She drove 2 hours just to go roller skating with us! We went out for dinner at Gator's and then enjoyed the movie Up! at home. A very nice relaxing weekend.

Favorite boy is already asking if we can go again next weekend!

GyMnAsTiCs!

Both kids are in gymnastics at the YMCA and really loving it. I can't wait to capture pictures of their somersaults. They really want take swimming lessons but I don't want them going out in the cold weather with wet hair. Hopefully they are still as excited to participate next session when the weather warms up. I hope to post some recent pics very soon. FG accidentally dropped my camera in September and I finally replaced it! I have been going crazy without a digital camera for 4 months!!

We got the bug!

CAUTION THIS IS ABOUT VOMITING YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ THIS POST...

Favorite Boy woke up Sunday morning around 2am vomiting in his bed, yuck! Every hour or so he had another episode, poor guy! This lasted until 11am. I really can't complain because we have been so fortunate this year. Other than a few sniffles and coughs we have been very healthy!

As soon as dad was up for the day he was off to the gas station for 7UP. Both kids enjoyed sipping soda for the day. Favorite Girl was happy as could be all day so we sort of wondered if FB got sick on Saturday at his first ice fishing trip with dad, grandpa, and uncle Chris because uncle Chris was very sick on Sunday as well...but we could be confusing his with brown bottle flu...you can never be to sure???

We couldn't be so lucky, Favorite Girl came to my room at 445 Monday morning and in her most excited voice said, "Mommy I throwed up in my bed just like broder!!!!!" I could hear the glee in her voice even at 445am. Aaron and I jumped out of bed to go clean up the mess and we asked her why she was happy to be sick. She said she was happy to be sick like her broder. She remained happy the whole day. She also was sick until 11am and then took a five hour nap and woke up feeling good. Aaron stayed home with her and when I got home from work he told me she was the happiest puker he'd ever met. She even made it to the bathroom every single time (unlike her brother who insisted on having a bowl right by his side the whole day).