Time Away

Our wonderful trip...

Friday:  After dropping the kids off with my parents, we headed south for Pensacola.  Sat in traffic for about 45 minutes.  Got to P'cola around 2:00 p.m.  Filled the cooler and headed to the beach until about 6:00 p.m.  Then rode Mom and Jay's bicycles 2 miles for dinner and drinks and live music at Peg Leg Pete's.  The bike riding was quite a sight.  Justin looked hilarious and one of the petals fell off mine.  I hate that I don't have any pics.  We were in bed by 10:00 p.m.

Saturday:  Woke up around 7:00 a.m. (Seriously.  I'll never learn how to sleep in.)  Set off the fire alarm with some burnt bagels.  Hopped back on the bicycles and headed to the Native Cafe for a delicious eggs benedict dish and bloody mary.  Bought cute t-shirts for the kiddos.  Diagnosed myself with shingles (with help from my bestie general physician, Danielle).  I never knew this, but if you've ever had the chicken pox, then you have the dormant shingles virus in your body.  It'll flare up when you're under stress or have a weakened immune system.  Luckily, my case is mild because it can get really painful.  Made an emergency plea to my real doctor back home to call in a prescription.  Went parasailing.  And it.  Was.  Amazing.  Totally recommend it. 

We, obviously kept the SLR on the boat so I don't have any in-the-air shots, but we were SO HIGH UP.  The best view was of thousands of jellyfish caught in this current line.  It was crazy to see.  Justin and I started splashing each other at the end and I guess that was cue for the 'captain' to start doing tricks...

Lunch in the condo.  Back on the beach around 1:00 p.m.  Lots and lots of boozing, music, and giggling.  Paddle surfed.  Again, no pics, but it was really fun funny.  Definitely put on a show for the beach crowd.  It's hard work on those things! Threw the football.  Dodged jellyfish. 

Headed to the pool for more boozing and music and giggling.  Dinner and the 4th Quarter of the Georgia game at Hooter's.  Bar hopping and live music and dancing until about 1:00 a.m.  We met this really cool couple early in the night and hung out with them the whole time.  He's a Canadian hockey player (shocker) who plays minor league down there.  They were crazy and hilarious.  Hope to meet up with them when we go back. 

Gotta love the horrible, late night phone pics...

Sunday:  Again, up at 7:00 a.m.  Headed home.

We had such a blast.  And took full advantage of our freedom!  Knowing the kids are in such good hands makes leaving them so much easier.  Davis and Reese are so blessed to have such INVOLVED and HELPFUL grandparents.

A Boy Being A Boy

Average monthly water bill at the Hunt Rd Residence: $15

We don't have irrigation, the garden uses the shop's water line, and I shower, on average, once every 2 days. There's so many more things I'd rather do with my 'the baby's sleeping' time.

A couple weeks ago, we all headed out for the night to stay at my mom and Jay's house. Justin and I went out with some friends while my parents watched the kids. Before leaving, though, Davis snuck around to the side of our house, turned on the water hose, splased around in the mud for a moment, and headed back to greet us at the car. We were in a hurry and didn't think much of it.

Fast forward to the next day...

I'm standing in the bathroom and can hear water running through the pipes in the walls. That's weird. We JUST got home. No one's doing anything that requires water. I look out the kitchen window to find a lake running through our yard. Davis left the water hose on. We had water running outside, continuously, for about 14 hours.

Water bill for this month: $44

Do the math, folks. That's almost 3 months worth of usage.

Five year olds don't pay bills. What do they care???

No More Babies In The House

I don't know if you guys have glanced at your 'Boogs Turns One' countdown lately (I know you all have one plastered on your fridge), but it's rapidly approaching. Less than a month away! We decided that we're having a very small, family gathering to celebrate this bittersweet milestone. I need to leave the number of people that witness my nervous breakdown to a minimum.

Here's what I've done to prepare so far...

Handmade invitations

The front

And back

These will be hanging with all of her month-to-month monkey pictures (also handmade)...

Speaking of...here's her 11 Month shot

And I snagged an awesome Groupon the other day for her First Birthday Photo Shoot! $49 for a one hour photo session with this girl, an 8 x 10 print, and DVD with 30 edited images. I'll be able to take that DVD to any kiosk and order as many prints as I want for as cheap as I want (this was the seller for me)! We decided to meet at Marietta Square next Tuesday! I can. Not. Wait.

Date Night

Justin and I had a special date with Davis last night while my wonderful mother-in-law and sister-in-law kept Boogs company.

I ate my body weight in sunflower seeds and the Brave's got their little hineys stomped on, but we had a blast.

Young Love

First sentence out of Davis' mouth when I picked him up today. "I saw Lucy today at school. I stared at her and said 'hey' to her." What happened to 'Hey, Momma! I missed you so much'??? I've been replaced. I'm pretty certain that I'm going to have a harder time with him dating than Justin will with Boogs. That's a definite, actually.

First Heartbreak

"Lucy is my girlfriend." Verbatum, his words to me a couple weeks ago.

Lucy is a super cute little girl in Davis' class. He's been talking about her constantly. "She's nice to me." "She's pretty." And she, seriously, is. He's got good taste.

The principal at Oak Grove sent a letter home last week letting all the kindergarten parents know that, thanks to the Title 1 funding, they hired a new teacher and added a new class to make all the class sizes smaller. Children would randomly be selected to leave their current class for the new one.

Lucy was selected.

This afternoon...

Davis: "Lucy used to be in my class, but now she's in a new one."
Me: "Oh no, Davis! Do you still get to see her in the lunch room?"
Davis: "No. She sits way, far away. Like really far away."

At curriculum night tonight, his teacher told me that he almost started crying when they came in and took her from class.

And to top it all off, the ONE 'buddy' that he talked about all the time left too!

Four Years Down

Justin and I celebrated our 4th year of marriage yesterday. It was very nice and low key. This year, we agreed that we weren't going to exchange personal gifts. We, instead, planned a trip down to my parents' condo in Pensacola for next month and plan to 'live it up for three days'. He did, also, mention getting the third ring to go along with my engagement ring and wedding band, but I'm not quite sure that's the smartest idea right now. I may change my mind during our next argument...because that's how I roll, people.

We spent our evening at home with the family. Justin made reservations for Ruth's Chris, but I told him I'd rather go out tonight and to Downtown Kitchen. We've never been and our friends rant and rave about that place all the time. Thanks, Pa, for being so flexible!

So, we played outside...

This picture is so hilarious. "Make it rain!" Movie, anyone???

Here, Davis is telling me that he's 'so, so sick of not making the basket'. 'Like, really, really sick of it.'

Already threatening to run away...


Ask me how much wine I've gone through this week.

She's thrilled...

After the golf cart ride...

Gotta love a homemade card...

Can't wait for many, many more years with Justin...laughing, supporting each other, making memories, watching our children grow...

Barfalicious

Day 4 of absences from school. That's right, folks. Davis has been sick, super-duper sick, all week. It started Monday morning with a disgusting cough. I digress...It actually ALL started about a week into school, but never really progressed into anything serious until Monday.

Back to said Monday.

I, being the great mother I am, still sent him to school thinking he could push through. Sounding out the letters of the alphabet and coloring inside the lines seemed way more important at the time. I get a call, about 15 minutes after arriving back home, from the nurse at Oak Grove informing me that Davis has just thrown up in class. Of course he has, right!?! Of course.

I, again being Supermom, didn't take him to the doctor until yesterday. I hate going there. It's a waste of time and germ exposure because they can't ever do anything for him. He gets this sinus, cough thing all the time and nothing cures it besides his inhaler. Turns out, this was something completely different, though. My first clue should have been all the vomiting. Second, the complete lack of food intake. Third, lethargy (I just spell check this and can't believe it's an actual word! Go me!). Fourth, the pain.

What's the verdict? Really bad, deep middle ear infection...in both ears. Something only antibiotics can cure. Woops. Fail for Momma.

Anyway, I'm hoping he's better by tomorrow. He's missing out on so much learning and bonding with his buds. And, more importantly for every member of this household, I'm losing my mind. If Momma's unhappy, the whole house is unhappy...all the way down to the dog. The throwing up is what's really killing me. I'm like, 'Seriously, child? Do me a solid and quit barfing all over my house.' On the brighter side, the house has never been cleaner...

Some more Debbie Downer moments...

• A bug flew into my mouth while I was sitting at the pharmacy drive-thru. It took hours to get the taste out of my mouth.


• I got pulled over on 92 for going 60 in a 45.


• I dropped the butter dish and cut my foot on glass.


• I've showered once since Monday.


• I can't stop eating. Every time I walk by the kitchen. I've gained at least 7 pounds this week.

They Looooooove...

...their Dadda. Especially when he gets home after a long day of work.

"He's here!"

She, seriously, FLIES over to him.

And stays glued to his sideSeriously

Dance party in the kitchen

Begging to go outside...

And begging to go to bed...

"You've gotta be careful when you've got good love 'cause them angels will just keep on multiplying." LOVE this song...

Kindergarten Lesson 2

Always give hugs before bailing out.

Davis is a complete creature of habit. Everything in his life has to be consistent. If he does something a certain way once, it has to be done that way every time after. No matter what.

Examples:

• He has to have water before bed. Normal, right? Well he also has to turn his Lightning McQueen drinking cup where Mater is facing his mouth before he can take a drink. Not normal, right?


• Also, he has to be the one to lift the drain after his baths every night. Total meltdown ensues if one of us does it instead.


• After brushing his teeth and rinsing his mouth out, he HAS to tap the spit cup on the side of the sink three times. Very OCD, I know.


• I could go on, but you get the idea.

Back to the lesson. I got side-tracked.

Davis gives me a hug and a sugar every morning before getting out of the car. This morning, though, hugs and sugars were not exchanged, resulting in a complete meltdown in the carpool line. I drove off (instead of making a sharp right into the first parking spot I saw and running to his aid with open arms) and could see him screaming, crying, and throwing himself on the curb through the rearview mirror. It killed me that I forgot the hug (for the second time this year, mind you), but I can't baby him, right?!?! It was so bad that my girlfriend sent me this email:

"Erin told me about Davis this morning!!! Is he ok?!"

Yikes.

As soon as I got home, I called his para-pro's cell. She going to hate that she ever called me from that phone. :) I emailed his teacher AND sent my my girlfriend who teaches 3rd grade a text asking her to check in on him. His teacher replied with this:

"He is doing great! I talked to him this morning and I told him that he would see you soon and he calmed down and got to work. I am so proud of him for working so hard every day. He is a great listener and a great role model in our class."

I love her. And my Wooder. Quirks and all.

Reading, Writing, and Catching a Cold

The kiddos have been sick for about a week now. It only took 5 days of kindergarten to wear down Davis' immune system. We had a rough weekend full of snotty noses, underwear accidents, and cranky parents. But he's been well enough to send to school this week, so I'm all smiles. ;)



Kindergarten is rolling along nicely. We set up a parent-teacher conference just to get an idea of how things are going. I absolutely love his teacher. She's so good at what she does. And I love how involved Justin wants to be with all this. He set up a sitter for Reese just because he wanted to be at the meeting.



What we found out: Davis is adjusting well and fitting in nicely. The kids are really nice to him. He tries to be lazy with handwriting and coloring, but we all discussed that this WILL NOT be tolerated. Justin and I both stressed how worried we are about him getting 'pushed through the school system'. She was totally on the same page, knowing that he can do all the things the rest of the class can do. I have to keep reminding myself that he IS a young kindergartner (just turned 5) and that a lot of his peers are 6 or close to it. If needed, we're prepared to make him repeat kindergarten just to give him another year of catching up, maturing, etc. But it might not be necessary.



Homework: Every night, we practice writing his name over and over again, read for 15 minutes, and complete various assignments, like coloring, tracing, and letter identification. One night, he had to circle upper and lower case letters. Line 1 was A, line 2 was B, then C, then D. He did it perfectly! I was so impressed. The next night he had to identify 6 shapes, trace them, then color them in. His coloring could use some work, but he's getting there!



Socially: On Friday, the kids filled a bag with pictures and other items to help explain themselves to their classmates a little better. Of course, one of his things was a picture of Grave Digger. He said that another boy in the class said, "I love Grave Digger, too!" Davis told me, "We're friends now." :) He also got in trouble early last week for 'splashing the water in the bathroom sink with some other boys'. I was silently THRILLED at this news! He's actually interacting and playing and acting like a REAL boy!

They lubbers each other.

Prayer Request

Someone very special to me lost her only child two weeks ago in a tragic car accident. My heart is so broken for her and I can't stop grieving as I try to imagine what she must be going through. Since hearing the news, I've struggled with whether or not I should share it here, but I really believe in the power of positive thoughts (and know how much her and her family needs them right now) so I'm using this post to ask that you lift her and her family up in prayer during this devastating time. Pray for strength, an understanding, peace, and healing.

Thank you.

Kindergarten Lesson 1

Big boys pee standing up.

Davis decided this morning that, because he's a kindergartner now, he wants to start going pee pee standing up. "Like how the big boys do it."

Alrighty then.

One Day Down, 13 Years To Go

Davis' first day of kindergarten went well. The teacher said he had a really great day...BUUUUUUT...

Special Ed Teacher: "He had a little accident on the playground. That's why he's in his change of clothes."

Davis: "No. It was the green tunnel. It was all wet. Really, really wet. Like, this big wet."

SE Teacher ('it's ok that you had an accident' look on her face): "It's ok, Davis. We're going to keep working on reminding him to tell us when he needs to go."

Me (in the car, driving away): "Davis. Ugh. Why did you pee in your underwear at school? Why didn't you tell your teacher to take you to the potty?"

Davis: "I didn't peed in my underwear."

So, I start digging through his backpack to investigate and find that his shorts and underwear are, in fact, just wet with water. No pee smell. Just water.

What a way to start elementary school! And it's not a big deal at all, but after the horrible experience I had with his dumbass teacher last year (I love being able to say that out loud now!), I made a promise to always speak up for him. There was a note in his folder from his para-pro letting me know about the accident and, under it, I replied, "It was actually just water, but I really appreciate the note."

He had a great day, though. He said he did hard work and fun work and went down the slide behind the pretty girl.

Last Weekend of the Summer

Friday: We finally hung our frame collage on the stand-alone wall in the living room. We're donating the bookcase that used to be there to Brother and Elle, the new homeowners. :)

Step 1: Figure out layout. This took me FOREVER. I bought about 3x more frames than I needed, all of differing sizes, and finally came up with an acceptable arrangement.

Step 2: Arrange onto wall using paper cutouts of each frame. Why didn't you just move it all over an inch to miss the thermostat, you ask? "Well it's completely center on the wall this way and I'm a psycho about things being even on both sides", says the Libra.

Step 3: Hang frames. I might try to find a metal letter 'N' or something to put in that gap. And I know some of them look a teeny lopsided here, but I fixed all that after I took this pic.

The hardest part of all this was searching through my thousands of pictures and picking 17.

Saturday: We ran a bunch of 'prepare for kindergarten' errands...school supplies, lunch stuff, etc. Justin and Davis (and some buddies) went to watch the race cars at Dixie Speedway so Boogs and I could have a girls' night in.

Today: Besides the 2 hours that Justin and Davis went swimming at the Prices', we were so lazy today...lazy enough to watch Harry and the Hendersons. Yeah. I know.

Tomorrow's the big day! When I asked Davis what he wanted to do most tomorrow at kindergarten, he thought for a minute and said, "Ummm...stay with you and hug you." I. Love. My life. Hopefully he'll say that exact same thing when high school rolls around. :)

Meet And Greet...And Watch Momma Fall Apart

Davis had his meet-and-greet for kindergarten last night. I can't believe it's here. I've been an emotional wreck about it. My baby is starting school on Monday. Real. Deal. School.

Good things, though:

• His teacher is AMAZING. I love her. She's sweet and tough. Exactly what Davis needs.



• The special ed teacher is also really geat. Davis will have her help for 3 hours each day.



• Davis' bud, Riley, is in his class. AND they're assigned seats are, coincidentally, right next to each other.



• There's only 19 kids in his class, making it the smallest kindergarten class there.



• The distance between his classroom and the lunch room, bathroom, and carpool line is super short.



• It's soooo close to home!



• EVERYONE knows him there. We walked in and people were, like, "Is this Davis?" and "I've heard a lot about you."



• And the best thing is that a girlfriend of mine is a third grade teacher there and I know she's going to look out for him and make sure he's well taken care of.

Bad stuff:

• I can't stop crying.



• I didn't see an assigned seat for me, leading me to believe that I'm not welcome to sit with him everyday and will have to spy on him from the window.