Ben's 6th Birthday

 Our wild, silly, sweet boy turned 6! He had a great day at school. Brad and I (and Cate) went and had lunch with him at school and brought him Carls Jr, he got a special crown to wear, the principal came and gave him a special pencil, and he was the VIP of the day and got to share his favorite birthday present (a remote control monster truck). Papa Marc came to visit over the weekend to celebrate and took him shopping for toys and we went out for a special Birthday dinner. Lucky boy!

 Never seen anyone so excited to get string (from Abi).

He guessed the big box was a bean bag chair from Gram and Papa and he was right! He loves it.

Hulk cake

Ben's Birthday dinner

Fun Daddy

 Brad took the kids to the Coug game last weekend by himself (since I was working).

They got to see aunt Keri and baby Parker.

Then Brad took the kids to get free donuts if dressed like a pirate on Pirate Day. They each got a dozen donuts for free!

  

Back to school pictures

Just because I adore them

Ben's 2nd first day of Kindergarten

I got a call at 4:30pm on Friday saying that Ben made it into all day Kindergarten! He was first on the waiting list all week and I was hoping he'd get in before the all day kids started this week. So he technically already had his first day of Kindergarten last week in the PM class but yesterday was his first all day class. I am beyond grateful to our friends that helped ensure he got into the Kindergarten Center. I am beyond grateful he got into an all day class and last but not least I am beyond grateful that he got Mrs. Grummons as his teacher (Abi's Kindergarten teacher). I think she is quite possibly the best Kindergarten teacher to walk this earth. I feel so lucky that both my kids get to have her. I had a warm fuzzy weekend thanking the universe for letting everything work out. 

He was nervous to go all day, but really liked eating lunch at school and had a great day!

 

 Over the weekend Abi had her first volleyball practice.

 

  Then we went to have some fun at the Spokane County fair. The kids liked the animals.

Ben with his cowboy friends. Lucas rode a sheep for 4.5 seconds, it was awesome.

 

First day of 3rd Grade and Kindergarten!

Kindergarten, You’re Breaking My Heart

By Jennifer U on May 2, 2016 in Motherhood, Parenting, Preschoolers

I’m dreading September.  The thought of it pops into my mind like a firecracker whose ashes then fall heavily on my heart.  The thought of it makes my stomach turn over and my eyes fill up.  The thought of it causes an ache, the extent of which surprises even me.
In September, my middle child starts Kindergarten.
Having an older child, I have been down this road before.  I’ve dealt with the first day of school, with walking into the classroom, a hand in mine, and leaving alone with nothing but hope and a prayer.  I’ve made it through opening the front door into the silence of the house, knowing it will stay that way until 3 pm and that the silence will be repeated every day for five straight days.
I’ve witnessed first-hand the change that happens as a child begins to break out of the home and ventures out into the world, how little of his day is left to be spent in the freedom that consumed the entirety of his life.
I’ve watched homework and extra activities and friends slowly fill in the hours that used to be spent doing Nothing, the glorious Nothing of childhood.
And I detest that process.
I know I should be excited to watch his future begin to unfold, to watch his horizons broaden with all that he will learn.  I should smile through the ache of watching his life move on.
And I will.  I know where I should be, and I will get there.
But my heart breaks for what will be left behind, for the “us” that will be left behind…our stolen time, the time most mothers and children do not have the privilege of spending together because careers and schools stand in the way.
My heart breaks for all the ducks that will go unfed at the park on weekdays.  I fancy that they will wonder where their little blonde friend has gone, the one whose gleeful cackle-chuckle echoed through the trees and out across the lake.
My heart breaks for our walks through the neighborhood together, conducted to the background symphony of birds chirping and lawnmowers buzzing, his never-ending search for the very best stick, and the way he leap-hops on ahead of me lost in his own little world.
My heart breaks for our mornings together, snuggled up on the couch after his big brother has left for school, with nowhere we have to be and nothing we have to do.
Now that acceptance letters have arrived and fall plans are starting to be made, health forms filled out and turned in, I sadly commence the countdown of our last weeks before this big Change, and one story in particular keeps surfacing in my thoughts.
One summer I read the boys The Complete Stories of Winnie the Pooh, a story each day until we reached the end.  In the last story of the book, Christopher Robin’s friends have come to the realization that Christopher Robin is “going away,” although in typical A. A. Milne fashion, nobody knows why he is going or where he is going.  Christopher Robin and Pooh spend one last sweet afternoon, just the two of them {and the illustrations are beautiful}, during which Christopher Robin tells Pooh how much he enjoys doing Nothing, but that he won’t be doing it anymore “because they won’t let you.”
With our children, we get to be children again too.  We get to relive the freedom and unencumbered playfulness of childhood, and we get to do it all over again with the people who reside in our hearts and our souls and whose very smiles light us up in ways we never could have imagined.  As we watch them grow up, we also relive that process, except that we know, with the clarity of hindsight, all that is truly left behind.
So, September, forgive me for dreading your arrival.  I’m not quite ready to let him go.

So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.
– The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne

-I did a happy dance when I dropped Ben off today for his first all day class. Two kids down, only one to keep occupied. I was already dreaming of all the things I can get done during the day -cleaning, organizing, long workouts, cooking, shopping with only one kid.... But I will have to say it was also sad. I had to fight back tears at a few points during the goodbyes. The end of an era. Part of his childhood gone. Our little boy has grown up and I am happy and sad. But mostly happy for everything to come. <3 <3 <3

Fun holiday weekend!

 First Coug game of the year! If only we had won......

  

Tailgating with Papa 

   

Butch 

 

Carrie Underwood concert 

 Last summer pool day

Ben swam all the way across the pool by himself! Three fishes.